the point of Death for the same Reason But in answer as 't is granted that Sins after Baptism may be forgiven on true Repentance so doubtless they may after the other Sacrament for not only the Corinthians but even the Apostles themselves were guilty of failings after the Communion A confirm'd Habit or inveterate Course of Sin is damnable as well before the Sacrament as after it But the devout and frequent receiving of it is the best way to prevent the falling into such a desperate Condition And for lesser failings from which none are free those will be forgiven if we are truly penitent for them and constantly strive against them § XXVI Another Pretence something allied to this last is That Men are at Variance with their Neighbours and that keeps them from the Sacrament In answer 'T is own'd that we ought to come to this Feast of Love with true Charity forgiving all our Enemies which if we do not practise every day we cannot so much as repeat the Lord's Prayer without imprecating a heavy Curse upon our selves But in the present case the matter may be brought to a short Issue Either you have really offended your Neighbour or he has offended you or as it often happens you are both to blame If the former you know your Duty Leave thy Gift before the Altar and be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy Gift If the second and he trespass against thee seven times a day and say I have offended forgive him and receive together with him If both are in fault both must make satisfaction If either refuses to be reconciled the Fault is in the Refuser not in him that is willing who shall not be punish'd for the other's Guilt tho' the uncharitable Person is by no means fit for this Holy Table while he continues in that unchristian Temper § XXVII Multiplicity of Business is another Excuse or Objection against Receiving The Cumber of worldly Affairs and being troubled like Martha about many things while this one thing which is so very needful is too often postpon'd and neglected exactly the same pretence with theirs in the Parable already mention'd who when the King sent to invite them to the Marriage of his Son began with one consent to make Excuses and went their way one to his Farm another to his Merchandise One said I have bought a piece of ground and must needs go to see it which as indifferent an Excuse as it was was yet better than theirs who absent themselves from God's publick Worship only to go and see their Ground when they long before have bought it Another I have bought five Yoke of Oxen and I go to prove them He had his Stock to look after which he thought an unanswerable Reason for his absence As the third did who had married a Wife and could not come but must stay at home to look after the Affairs of his Family 'T is well worthy our Consideration how open the Holy Spirit has here laid the common Springs of Mens neglect and indevotion in these and the like matters All which Excuses are so contriv'd that they seem to insinuate as if the Sacrament were only for recluse Persons such as are abstracted from the World and live like Monks and Hermits whereas it 's evident that 't was designed for all Christians and one great End of it was to take off our Hearts from the World and fit us for Heaven But to be more particular 't will be easie to shew that this pretence of Business to excuse Persons from receiving the Sacrament is almost always either false or vain or wicked or altogether § XXVIII 1. It 's often false in Fact and we are not really so hinder'd by Business but we might be there if we had any regard either to the Feast or to the Inviter since that Business can only excuse us which could not possibly be done before which cannot be done after and which must of necessity be done at the very time when we should receive But if Men would be ingenuous they would be forced to acknowledge that they very rarely have any Business of this nature And indeed what Business unless of such high necessity and mercy has a Christian to do on the Lord's Day the very Name whereof shews the propriety and that 't is none of our own but set apart for a Holy Rest and Christian Sabbath and the immediate Service of our blessed Redeemer Nor is it at all probable that those who can find time notwithstanding all this urgent Business for Visits for the Entertainment of their Friends for idle and unprofitable Discourse both before the Lord's Day and even upon it and it 's well if not for their Sins too should yet be able to find no time for their Saviour when he invites them to his own Table Judge then how wretched an Excuse this is when by a palpable Falshood Men would defend their Disobedience § XXIX But secondly This Excuse is weak and foolish For supposing we should really find out some little Business to employ our selves in just before and during the Celebration yet what can be more foolish than to put off a greater Affair for a less a matter of Life and Death for what 's of little or no moment But what 's the whole World to my own Soul and what a miserable exchange should I make if thro' the Cares of this World and the deceitfulness of Riches I should by gaining the one eternally lose the other Besides if Business could defend a Person for one neglect or omission how immodest as well as foolish is it to bring always the same Excuse and still to postpone our own Happiness included in our Obedience § XXX And such a practice is as wicked as 't is foolish For 't is a high Affront and Injury both to the King and the King's Son and will they not both extremely and justly resent it 'T is a Wrong and Injury done unto them as much as 't is in our Power to injure them like him in the Gospel rather to leave our Saviour than to part with our Possessions or so much as to step out of the World for a few moments To say we 'll not come because we are busie is in effect to say we 'll come when we have nothing else to do To put it off till another time is fairly to own we think it a matter of no great concern for whatever we think so we set immediately about it § XXXI But there 's oftentimes something very bad at the bottom of this Excuse and those who make it would do well seriously to ask themselves whether by Business they mean not something worse some appendage to it which stings their Consciences and dares not let them come to the Sacrament Are they not guilty of Intemperance or Injustice in their Dealings in the World If they are they must be remitted to the Answer given to those under the former Head
the highest Thankfulness and Love For how can a Rebel be fit for Pardon if he is not thankful when 't is offered him 'T is therefore necessary that we should so long so seriously remember the exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour thus dying for us even before we come to the Solemn Sacramental Commemoration of it till our Hearts burn within us as did the two Disciples that we may thereby be in some measure fitted to meet our Saviour and that he may make himself known unto us as he did unto them in breaking of Bread St. Luke 24. 32. But we must take care that this Remembrance have a future lasting influence on our Lives Ill Men may remember Christ's Death but it 's certain that whatever they may pretend they do it presumptuously not thankfully because it is not productive of a Holy Life It makes them nothing better but rather encourages them to go on in their Sins whereas true thankfulness will naturally produce unfeigned Obedience And to make us both obedient and thankful one would think there should need no more than to consider deeply from what Evils Christ has saved us by his Death no less than the Power of Sin the Wrath of God and everlasting Misery And what Benefits he has obtained for us by it the Pardon of Sin the Favour of God Grace to serve him and eternal Happiness some of which are actually conveyed as all of them are assur'd and seal'd in this blessed Sacrament to every penitent faithful grateful Receiver § XV. The last thing necessary to a worthy Communicant is Charity To be in Charity with all Men. When we bring our Gift to the Altar we must be first reconciled to our Brother We must offer it and sincerely desire and endeavour it and if he refuses to be reconciled the Fault is on his side nor ought another's Crime to keep us from our Duty and Happiness This Charity must also show it self in an universal Love to Mankind wishing praying for endeavouring and as much as in us lies promoting their temporal and spiritual Welfare But especially this Holy Love is to be acted and exercised towards all Christians and particularly towards those with whom we communicate not forgetting the Poor whom we are to relieve as well at the Offering which ought not to be neglected at the Sacrament as any other way that lies in our Power The exercise of this Divine Grace is more eminently necessary when we approach to this blessed Feast because 't was one great End of its Institution it being designed to increase Christian Unity and Holy Love among the Faithful who herein communicate both in temporal and spiritual good things who Feast and make a Covenant with each other as well as with the great Inviter and being many are hereby made one Body and one Bread 1 Cor. 10. 17. We are therefore carefully to examine our selves before we come thither whether we heartily forgive our Enemies and are ready to render Good for Evil Whether we feel this Divine Flame in our Hearts and dearly love all those that bear the Image of the heavenly And in order to produce in us both parts of this Grace one would think we should need do no more than consider seriously how many Talents our Lord has forgiven us how much he has done and suffered for us even while we were his Enemies and that we are all Members of one Body whereof Christ is the Head § XVII And thus have we finished what relates to our Preparation for the Sacrament and those several Graces concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach unto it Repentance attended by good Resolves Faith Thankfulness and Charity Not that we should forbear to come thither if we do not find all these in the utmost perfection but where we find any of them weak and languid we must strengthen the things that remain and be humbled for our Imperfections and endeavour earnestly after higher degrees of Grace and consider the means appointed to encrease them especially the Holy Sacrament wherein they are to be all exercised and renewed as will appear in the next Chapter And in the mean time most humbly and devoutly to fall upon our Knees and in the following or any better Forms * See the excellent Devotions added to the Whole Duty of Man or those in the Christian Sacrifice of Prayer thus address our selves to the Giver of all good things for a Supply of our Necessities A Confession when we are Preparing for the Communion ALmighty and most merciful Father who mayst for my Sins be most justly displeased with me for ever cast me off from thy presence and condemn me to Everlasting Misery I am ashamed O Lord and blush to lift up my Face unto thee for all my misdeeds are before thee and my most secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance I was shapen in Iniquity and conceived in Sin by Nature dead in trespasses and sins averse to Good and violently inclined to Evil ignorant of God and an Enemy to him in a lost and undone Condition and utterly unable to help and to deliver my self And I have added to this Original Sin many hainous actual Trangressions Here let the Penitent repeat those Sins whereof on the former Examination he has found himself guilty The Remembrance of all which I desire may be most grievous as their burden is most intolerable unto me for I have done all these abominations with many aggravating Circumstances which have highly encreased the Guilt of them without regard to thy tender Mercies or to thy terrible Judgments or to my own repeated Vows and Resolves of Repentance and Obedience O make me to abhor them and my self for them and to repent in Dust and Ashes I know that my sorrow for them is no satisfaction to thy offended Justice yet since thou dost require it of me to render me capable of thy Mercy work in me I beseech thee by thy Holy Spirit such a true and unfeigned Remorse for them that I may entirely forsake them and come Pure and Holy to thy Heavenly Feast O God be merciful to me a Sinner who cry unto thee in an acceptable Time and in the Day of Salvation O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon me a miserable Sinner O God the Father of Heaven who didst send thine Only Son out of thy Bosom to tast Death for every Man that we might not die eternally accept his Attonement accept his Intercession and be reconciled unto me thro' his Blood In my Father's House is Bread enough and to spare O let me not perish with Hunger O Son of David have mercy on me and if thou canst do any thing since thou canst do all things help me By thine Agony and bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy precious Death and Burial Good Lord deliver me I desire not to be saved from the Guilt of my Sins only or
this Representation of Christ's Death in the Sacrament has a respect to others to whom we are to declare it as well as it relates like the Commemoration before-mention'd to our selves and to God We do by this proclaim unto Men and Angels the manifold Wisdom and Goodness of God and the Kindness and Condescention of our ever blessed Redeemer and in a manner preach the Gospel to every Creature while we here represent so considerable a part of it as our Saviour's Death and own that we are not asham'd of his Cross but rather Glory in it § V. We represent it also to our selves that is we do by this sacred significant and lively Action fix it more deeply in our Affections and Memories The Bread represents our Saviour's Body who is the true Bread of Life that came down from Heaven The Wine his Blood The Breaking of the Bread the Torments he endur'd on the Cross and the Wounding of his sacred Body as the pouring out of the Wine is a most lively Figure of the shedding his most precious Blood But of this more hereafter § VI. But in the last place we also represent our Saviour's Death to God the Father in the Holy Communion This we do by those Actions which he himself has appointed as means of supplicating him and obtaining his Favour Beseeching our heavenly Father who of his tender Mercy did give his only Son Jesus Christ to suffer Death upon the Cross for our Redemption that we duly receiving the Holy Mysteries according to our Lord Jesus Christ's Holy Institution in remembrance of his Death and Passion may be Partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood The Priest neither makes nor offers the real natural Body of Christ in the Holy Communion but he makes his spiritual or sacramental Body and therein represents his natural Body as well as he also represents what he really suffer'd for us in the verity of that Body this he represents to God as well as to us and every devout Communicant should faithfully joyn in the Representation § VII The next thing observable in our Description of the Holy Communion is That 't was instituted by Christ in the room of the Iewish Passover This as it gives great Light into the Nature of it and the most weighty Controversies concerning it so the Matter of Fact it self is too evident to be doubted or denied and of too great moment to be lightly pass'd over As will appear if we consider the Time the Form the End of the Institution of this Sacrament compared with that of the Passover and the Expressions of Iohn the Baptist and the Apostles relating to the Communion it self or to our Saviour who ordained it The Time of its first Institution and Celebration was the Night of the Paschal Supper immediately after Supper We are told by * Buxtorf Synag cap. 13. p. 302. de Paschat celebrando Fagius in Exod. 12. learned Men that the old Iews had a very antient Tradition amongst them that the Messias should come to redeem them the very same Night in which God brought them out of Egypt the Night of the Passover whereon they also say that God vouchsafed to the old Patriarchs and holy Men most or all of those famous Blessings and Deliverances which we read of in the sacred Writings which is no obscure Indication that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was to succeed the Paschal Supper § VIII The manner of their celebrating the Passover also proves the same For the Master of the House took Bread and brake it and gave it to those about him and said This is the Bread of affliction which our Fathers did eat in Egypt * Buxtorf ubi supra that is the Memorial of that Bread in the same Sense that our Saviour said This is my Body after he had taken Bread and blessed and brake it and gave to his Disciples as the Iews also call'd the Passover The Body of the Paschal Lamb. And in like manner the Cap. The Master of the Feast took it after Supper and when he had given Thanks gave it to the rest and said This is the Fruit of the Vine and the Blood of the Grape This was the third Cup which they drank at the Passover and call'd it The Cup of Blessing * Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 260. All the Company drank of it the sick as well as the healthy †Buxtorf p. 296. Thus our Savior after Supper took the Cup this third Cup and when he had given Thanks gave it to his Disciples and said Drink ye All of this for this is my Blood of the New Testament New Covenant or this Cup is the New Testament New Covenant in my Blood * St. Mat. 26. 28. St. Luk. 22. 20. As Moses said when he sprinkled all the People with Blood †Heb. 9. 20. Exod. 24. 8. This is the Blood of the Covenant which God made with you it was not only the Seal of the New Covenant but likewise the Sanction of it And 't is remarkable that our Saviour calls it the Fruit of the Vine as did the Master of the Feast at the Passover And so the Apostle calls the Sacramental Cup the Cup of Blessing § IX There 's yet another thing remarkable in the Passover which our Saviour retain'd in his Sacrament and that is the Hymn or great Hallel which the Iews always sung at this Festival and still continue to use it in that shadow of the Passover which they yet retain * Buxtorf ubi supr Patrick in 113 Psalm It consisted of six Psalms from the 113 to the 118. inclusively wherein were mentioned as their Rabbins teach 1. Their Deliverance from Egypt 2. The Division of the Red Sea 3. The Giving of the Law 4. The Resurrection from the Dead And 5. The Sorrows of the Messias †Lightfoot Vol. II. p. 354. 'T is expresly said that our Saviour and his Apostles sung a Hymn after they had eaten 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they all doubtless joyn'd in it as was the Custom of their Country-men which they could not have done had it not been a Form well known unto them And what more proper than those Psalms already mentioned which shows the Lawfulness of singing in the Christian Church and of the whole Congregations joyning in it some think Iudas not being here excepted ‖ Lightfoot and that in a set Form out of the Psalms of David which have made a great part of the Liturgy of the Church for near Three Thousand Years Nor was this Sacrament ever celebrated without singing by any regular Christians St. Chrysostom on Heb. 10. says of those of his Time That in the Sacrament they did offer Thanksgiving for their Salvation by devout Hymns and Prayers to God And before him Pliny's famous Letter mentions the Christians as jointly singing Hymns to Christ And Tertullian in his Apology has left it on Record that it was
awful presence of that God to whom he had made them Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before my Face that I might not sin against him And Psal. 119. 106. I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Iudgments § XIV The third thing concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach this Holy Table is Whether we have a lively Faith in God's Mercy thro' Christ. Not a dead cold and unactive but a lively Faith for Faith without Works is dead and such is the ungrounded fatal Presumption of every impenitent Sinner for what is more common than for bad Men who live in direct contradiction to our Saviour's Laws in repeated Acts of Intemperance Injustice Uncleanness immoderate Love to this World and in the neglect of their Duty of Praying of God's Word and Sacrament What is more common than to hear such mistaken Wretches as these cry out that God is merciful that Christ has died and they hope to be saved tho' they bring forth no Fruits meet for Faith or Repentance They believe the Promise of the Gospel tho' they never take care to perform the Conditions of it But they forget or are willingly ignorant that it contains threatnings too and that very terrible ones against the Impenitent and Disobedient and that Christ himself has told such that he 'll say to them at the last day Depart from me I never knew you because Workers of Iniquity But the true lively Faith here required is Such a Belief of God's Word and such a Trust in his Mercy thro' his Promises by our Saviour as produces a constant and ingenuous Obedience Now if we find this Faith weak and languishing we must pray as the Disciples did Lord encrease our Faith And to that End we must consider the Promises of God unto us for the sake of his dear Son our Lord in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen ratified and certain In whom alone the Father is well pleased by the Merits of whose Obedience and Sufferings his Satisfaction his Intercession and Mediation he is reconciled to lost Mankind and offers Pardon to all that are penitent and obedient And this is all our Salvation and all our Desire the Hope of Holy Souls the Ground of their Consolation and their Triumph which are fixed so firmly upon that Rock of Ages that they can never be moved who has told us That if we believe in God we must believe also in him as the means of conveying all the Father's blessings nay as being himself as he is God the Author and Finisher of our Faith Whence it follows that he himself the second Person of the glorious Trinity may and ought to be the object of our Trust our Faith and our Adoration both in this Life and in the hour of Death as he was of blessed St. Steven's who cried out in his last Agonies Lord Jesus receive my Spirit * Act. 7. 59. And thus in our preparation for the Holy Sacrament without the reception whereof I see not how any can live comfortably or die happily we must actually advert unto deeply and seriously consider those Promises which God has made us by his Son of Grace and Pardon on our Repentance and Obedience That those who come to the Father by him he will in no wise cast out St. Iohn 6. 37. That they shall not see Death but are passed from Death unto Life St. Iohn 8. 51. 5. 24. That there is no condemnation for them which are in Christ Iesus and who those are we are immediately told who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That all who are weary and heavy laden with the Burthen of their Sins if they come unto him he will refresh them St. Matt. 11. 28. and several others of the same nature the substance of the Gospel being promises of eternal Life to those who yield a sincere and impartial tho' not absolutely sinless and perfect obedience to the Commands of it all the threatnings thereof being only the unavoidable Consequences of wilfully rejecting it Now the very Nature of the Sacrament shows the necessity of Faith towards worthy Receiving for how can we renew our Covenant with God unless we believe he 's really willing to be reconciled to us and have a firm Faith in his Truth his Power and his Goodness And how could we have any well grounded hopes of Pardon but from the Revelation of the Gospel and by the merits of a Redeemer And to the exercise of this Grace the Church also directs us when we approach this Holy Table requiring us to have a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ our Saviour and so in the Exhortation the Sunday before the Communion that 't is requisite that those who come thither should have a full Trust in God's Mercy Not that all are required to have the same degrees of Faith for there are doubtless different measures of it as in the Resurrection one Star shall differ from another in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. But our Faith ought certainly to be so strong as to overcome our Infidelity to over come the World It is to be sincere and then it will not want acceptance tho' it be but as a Grain of Mustard-Seed for our gracious Lord has promised that he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax St. Matt. 12. 20. Tho' we are always to press forward that this as well as all other Graces may still be encreased towards which nothing can more highly conduce than the frequent and devout reception of this Sacrament § XV. The 4th thing concerning which we are to examine our selves in our preparation is whether we have a thankful Remembrance of Christ's Death whereunto the Church directs us in such pathetical Expressions as were scarce ever excelled and I question whether equalled in any other Liturgy tho' not only the antient Churches but our Protestant Brethren particularly the French and the Tigurine have excellent Forms on this occasion I mean that passage wherein we are exhorted * Exhortation at the time of the celebration above all things to give most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both GOD and Man who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life This we are to do above all things because this true and unfeigned Gratitude is the principal Ornament of the Wedding-Garment This seems to have been the chief and immediate End of the Institution Do this in Remembrance of me and hereby ye shew forth the Lord's Death till he come And how is it possible for any ingenuous mind to remember to reflect upon our Saviour's sufferings without the most tender Resentments
IV. Our Behaviour in it And in the V. After we have received and during the whole course of our Lives especially the Time betwixt different Celebrations To which shall be added Prayers Meditations and Hymns suited to the several Parts of this Holy Office CHAP. I. Of the Nature of the Sacrament § I. THE Sacrament of the Lord's Supper may be thus described 'T is a Memorial and Representation of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ instituted by Christ himself in the room of the Jewish Passover wherein by the breaking of Bread and drinking of Wine we renew our Covenant with God praising him for all his Goodness and testify our Union with all good Men and whereby the Benefits of our Saviour's Death are sealed and applyed to every faithful Receiver § II. 'T is a Memorial of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ. I confess the whole Sacred Action has been stiled by the Fathers as well as by some Excellent Persons of our own Church the Christian Sacrifice the unbloody Sacrifice and is indeed such in the same Sense that Prayer and Praise whereof it is in a great measure compos'd are styled under the Gospel spiritual Sacrifices Nay it comes yet nearer to the Nature of the old Eucharistical and other Sacrifices because 't is an Oblation of something visible namely Bread and Wine to be consum'd to God's Honor which are then offer'd when the Minister places them on the Christian Altar or Holy Table as was done more solemnly by lifting them up in the antient Church immediately after which in the Prayer for the Church Militant he beseeches God to receive our Oblations as well as Alms and Prayers which may relate to the Bread and Wine newly offered But since it has no shedding of Blood therein which has been thought essential to a proper Sacrifice * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 macto facio is used in the same Sense and that the shedding of our Saviour's Blood is only Sacramentally represented in it and not actually and properly poured forth as it was upon the Cross whereon he was once offered to take away Sin and since the Sacrament is a Memorial of that one Oblation of Christ and 't is contrary to the Nature of a Memorial or Remembrance of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ to be the same with that Sacrifice it remembers for these Reasons we cannot own any such proper propitiatory attoning Sacrifice * Homily of the Sacrament Part 1. We must take heed lest of the Memory it be made a Sacrifice exactly as Eusebius who says our Saviour left us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Sacrament as the Romanists do believe any more than we can think with them that 't is available both for quick and dead of neither of which we find any Footsteps in the Holy Scriptures Suffice it therefore that we believe it a Sacrifice in the highest Sense that Prayer and Praise are so call'd in the New Testament because it requires and is compos'd of the most exalted Acts of both that we believe it an Offering or Dedication of the Bread and Wine to the sacred use as well as we therein offer our selves anew to God and that we believe the whole Action a Memorial a Commemoration and Representation of the inestimable Sacrifice of the Death of Christ whereby alone we expect Life and Salvation § III. First 'T is a ' Memorial or Commemoration of Christ's Death and of the Sacrifice which he thereby offer'd for us That is by this sacred Action we record and keep it in mind till he come again to Iudgment And that according to his own Command as St. Luke * St. Luk. 22. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 24 25. relates it of the Bread and St. Paul both of the Bread and Wine This do in remembrance of me As forgetfulness of God's Goodness and Ingratitude for it must needs have been great occasions of the fall of Man so that very fall renders us still more forgetful and ungrateful Mankind will therefore have always need enough of Helps to their Memory in religious Matters And some of these God has appointed wherever there has been a revealed Religion Thus the Sacrifice of the Passover was instituted for a Remembrance of what the Israelites suffered in Egypt and of God's wonderful Mercy in delivering them from it as well as to typify or shadow forth unto them Christ himself our great Passover The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was in like manner instituted That we might keep in memory that which Christ suffered for us and delivered to us such a sensible Sign and remarkable solemn Action being much more likely to preserve a lively impression of it than if it had been only barely recorded in History Now this Commemoration may be considered either with respect to our selves or with respect to God as it respects our selves we not only therein commemorate God's Love in general to Mankind in giving his Son and our Saviour's Love in giving himself a Ransom for all Men to bring them into a Capacity of Salvation on their Faith and Obedience but yet farther the actual Application of his meritorious Sacrifice to our selves on our performing the Conditions of his Covenant and his infinite Goodness in making us partakers of his Holy Word and Sacraments and thereby calling us to this State of Salvation and preserving us in it As this Commemoration relates to God we do also in the Communion present a Memorial of a sweet Savour before him and beseech him for the sake of his dear Son and by his Agonies and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion and precious Death to have Mercy upon us and grant us the Remission of our Sins and all other Benefits of his Sufferings Not that God is either ignorant of our Wants or unwilling to relieve us or forgetful of us But we must be sensible of these things our selves and of God's Power to help us and seek for Relief in those ways he has appointed And well may we more solemnly commemorate our Saviour's Sacrifice in this Sacrament when we do the same in some degree even in our daily Prayers and ask all for his sake and in a Sense offer him anew to his Father applying his Attonement and pleading his Merits and trusting in his Intercession and Meditation Nor ought we to forget that the antient Liturgies did not only commemorate our Saviour's Death in the Sacrament but likewise his Resurrection and Ascention into Heaven § IV. Secondly But there is not only a Commemoration but a Representation too of our Saviour's Death in the Holy Communion 'T is not a bare Remembrance of it 't is a lively Scheme and Figure of what he endur'd As oft as ye eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup says the Apostle ye do shew forth or rather by way of Command shew ye forth the Lord's Death till he come Declare it proclaim it tell the People what great things he has done Whence
from those heavy Punishments that are due unto them but from their Power and prevailing Influence on my Mind from all my Sins even those which have been most dear unto me and am willing to cut off my Right Hand or pluck out my Right Eye so I may but enter into the Kingdom of Heaven My Saviour came to take away the Sins of the World He has born all our Griefs he has carried our Sorrows he was wounded for our Transgressions he was grieved for our Iniquities he has excepted none out of that General Pardon which he has purchased for Mankind and offered to all those who are qualified for receiving it I present the Merits of his inestimable Sacrifice before thee O offended Majesty of Heaven I have no Merits of my own I have nothing I am nothing but vile Dust and Sin But he is worthy for whose sake I beg Mercy of thee which I most humbly implore and expect only in that way which thou hast appointed and on those Conditions which thy Son has revealed in his Holy Gospel by an unfeigned Repentance a firm Faith a sincere and an impartial Obedience O therefore take away all mine Iniquities and receive me graciously who like the Prodigal desire to return to my Father's House And since 't is thou alone who dost both put into our Minds good Desires and canst also give us Grace to perform the same assist me now and ever in those Holy Resolves which I make of new and better Obedience Vouchsafe me thy Grace to avoid all those Occasions and Temptations whereby I have been too often drawn to Evil. Let thy Blessed Spirit evermore comfort and guide me and lead me into all Truth and all Goodness Let me henceforth Evidence my unfeigned Love to my Saviour by keeping his Commandments and let that and all other Graces be excited and encreased in me at this Time in my approaches to his Holy Table Pardon the frivolous and sinful Excuses which I have too often made for my Absence from it my want of Preparation for it the Deadness and Indevotion of my Soul in receiving it and my shameful Unprofitableness by it O that I may now sit under my Saviour's shadow with great Delight and that his Fruit may be sweet unto my Taste That I may in this Sacrament receive greater Strength than ever against my Sins and be thereby nourished up unto Everlasting Life that so after this painful Life is ended I may sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make Intercession for us in whose most perfect Form of Word I conclude my unworthy and imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Collect for Perseverance O GOD of all Power and all Love who art the same yesterday to day and for ever and hast assured us in thy Holy Word that thou wilt not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax. Accept I beseech thee for the sake of thy Dear Son any weak beginnings of Goodness which thou mayst have wrought in me by thy Holy Spirit Despise not the Day of small things Help me to continue to the End that I may be saved And now that I have put my Hand to the Plough grant I may never look back lest I be accounted unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven My Strength O Lord I ascribe unto thee for my own Heart has often deceived me and I know that all my Strength is weakness and my Wisdom folly Assist me therefore by the mighty Aids of thy Holy Spirit and while I am to wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but against Principalites and Powers let the strong Man be bound by a stronger than he and the God of Love bruise Satan under my Feet Let me be content to suffer shame for thy sake and never be drawn away by the Number or Greatness of bad Examples Lead me not into Temptation and let me never be so hardy and presumptuous as to rush into it Keep me always sober and vigilant temperate and humble ever upon my Guard watching and praying that the Enemy may obtain no advantage against me Accept and confirm all my Vows and Resolutions of Obedience Let me have a constant Respect unto the blessed Recompence of Reward and by patient continuance in well doing seek for and at length obtain Glory Immortality and Eternal Life thro' thy Mercies in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! Amen For Faith O LORD who hast said that he who has but Faith as a Grain of Mustard-seed may remove Mountains and that without Faith it is impossible to please thee Increase my Faith and let me thereby overcome the World and the Flesh and quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Let me firmly believe all thy Promises to the Penitent and Obedient and all thy Threatnings against impenitent Sinners Let me not rest in a dead Faith a presumptuous Opinion that I shall be pardoned or saved without performing all those good Works which thou hast prepared for me to walk in Give me that Faith which worketh by Love and by an impartial Obedience to thy Commands Let me firmly believe in the Lord Jesus that I may be saved and not trust in my own Righteousness but in his Merits who is the Way the Truth and the Life Let me always hope in him for Pardon of what 's past and Grace to serve thee better for the future Let me have a lively and stedfast Faith in him when I approach to his Table that I may draw near and take the Holy Sacrament to my Comsort and that it may powerfully help me forward in the right way which leads unto Everlasting Life To the unfading Glories of that happy State where Faith shall be changed into sight where with Holy Souls who are departed this Life in the true Faith and Fear of thy Holy Name I may enjoy the End of my Faith the Salvation of my Soul and see and love thee to all Eternity thro' Jesus Amen A Thanksgiving before the Sacrament WHAT shall I render to thee O God of all Grace for the Riches of thy Goodness towards me a miserable Sinner How utterly unworthy am I even of the common Blessings of Life And yet art thou pleased out of thy infinite Mercies once more to permit me to invite me to tread thy Courts to sit at thy Table and to Feast on Angels Food O that my Heart could be fully possest with Thoughts of Gratitude and Love O let my Mouth be filled with Thanks and my Lips with Praise for those inestimable Benefits God will in very deed dwell with Man tho' the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him My Saviour will fulfil his gracious Promise and be present with his Church in his own Institutions till the End of the World I have now one happy Opportunity more offered me to renew that Covenant which I have so often broken to obtain greater Strength against my Sins and to sacrifice
To acknowledge them and to bewail our manifold Sins and Wickedness since we can by no means hide them from the Eye of Heaven and they are the truest and justest Causes of Lamentation and Sorrow Nor are we to rest in generals but here again to call to mind the greatest and most hainous Sins whereof on our former Examination we have found our selves guilty whether in Thought Word or outward Action These we are to acknowledge we have most grievously committed which may imply the hainous aggravation of them for which we must own that we have provoked most justly God's Wrath and Indignation against us that we have deserved his Anger and all the dreadful Consequences thereof in the Punishments both of this and another World § V. And having thus confest and acknowledged our Sins their number continuance extent and aggravation we are directed to proceed to the formal Act of Repentance for them to profess that we do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings and woe to him who tho' he joyns in this solemn protestation with all good Christians yet does not truly and earnestly repent of his Sins nor is heartily sorry for them which how can he be thought to be when he falls into them again on the next Temptation whereas if we do truly repent of them the Remembrance of them will be indeed grievous unto us and their Burthen intolerable We shall know how evil and bitter a thing it is to depart from the Living God and be weary and heavy laden and fly to Christ to give us rest Which Repentance and abhorrence of our Sins ought to be raised to the greatest heighth at the time of Consecration when we see Christ's Sacramental Body broken and his Blood poured out for us and just at the time of receiving when we ought with an Holy Indignation to bring our Sins and nail them to the Cross of Christ to kill those Murderers as Benaiah did Ioab at the Horns of the Altar to sacrifice them there and hew them in pieces before the Lord in short to be deeply afflicted for them and to make firm Resolves to forsake them § VI. In order to which we must in the third place ask mercy for Christ's sake and pardon for all our Sins as the Church teaches us in those moving and tender Expressions Have mercy upon us Have mercy upon us most merciful Father For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive us all that is past And this we have need to pray for since without Forgiveness the past Guilt remains as well as the Punishment due for our Sins tho' we should no more commit them But both are remitted in this Sacrament to the worthy Receiver not by Virtue of our own Merits or any Preparation Examination or Repentance or even of the very Act of outward receiving but merely for Christ's sake on account of his Merits and Intercession and by the Virtue which flows from his wounded Side his spiritual Flesh and Blood inwardly received by the Faithful in this Ordinance § VII Now we are taught to conclude this Confession with praying that God would grant us that we may ever hereafter serve and please him in newness of Life without which all that 's past is in vain nor is there any that 's so perfectly renewed that he has not still need to purge out something of the old Leaven And tho' God will give such Grace to those who worthily partake of this Sacrament yet has he appointed Prayer as the means to obtain it and of our perseverance in well-doing and daily encreasing in Goodness which Prayer does virtually contain a Promise to use our own utmost endeavors to amend our Lives that Resolution of better Obedience which seems to be the very Act wherein we renew our Covenant with God and engage to fulfil our part of it which if we do faithfully perform he will never be wanting to his § VIII Thus much for Repentance The second Grace to be exercised at the Sacrament is Faith which we are to reduce into Act when the Minister declares in the Absolution That Almighty God has promised forgivenness of Sins to all them that with hearty Repentance and true Faith turn unto him further praying ' That God would have mercy upon us pardon and deliver us from all our Sins confirm and strengthen us in all Goodness and bring us to Everlasting Life Which Absolution we are humbly to receive upon our Knees as an authoritative Declaration from one commissioned by Christ himself to bind and loose and to remit and retain Sins to which we are to add a hearty and faithful Amen as being fully assured that God will perform what he has promised by his Son if we neglect not our parts in the Covenant Faith is here more eminently necessary as well with respect to all the Promises of the Gospel as to the particular Benefits of this Sacrament and the application of them to our selves For our Lord has said He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last Day The faithful Receiver eats and drinks Salvation this Sacrament shall eminently conduce unto it He is thereby united to Christ one with Christ and Christ with him and by virtue of that indissoluble union sealed in this Holy Ordinance he receives a Principle of Immortality whereby he shall be not only raised from the Death of sin in this World but at length raised from the Grave and live in endless Happiness which also seems to be the meaning of the Prayer in the very delivery of the Elements The Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve the Body and Soul to Everlasting Life to which most devout Christians add their private Amen as being fully perswaded that it shall have that happy efficacy to every worthy Receiver And the same Act of Faith they are to exert when they hear the Minister read those comfortable Words which our Saviour saith by himself and his Apostles to all that truly turn unto him Come unto me all that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you c. To which the devout Soul will be ready to answer Draw me and we will run after thee or with St. Peter To whom should we go but to thee thou hast the Words of eternal Life And so in the rest of the Sentences applying them to himself by a particular Act of Faith and saying Lord I believe help my unbelief And this Faith will be mightily advanced by our actual advertence to Christ's spiritual presence in this Holy Ordinance more eminently graciously and peculiarly than in any other And the highest Act of it is to be exercised at the very instant of receiving § IX Devotion is in the third place highly necessary to a Worthy Communicant at the time of Celebration and in all the parts of that Holy Office By which Devotion is meant the intense abstraction or withdrawing of
as well as backward in remembrance of his Death and he who eats and drinks with the Drunken will soon be apt to say My Lord delays his coming tho' to such he himself has said That he will come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in sunder and divide him his portion with the Hypocrites The frequent Reflection on our latter End will also mightily confirm us in our holy Purposes of Obedience the time of our own particular Iudgment or at least of our passing into our unchangeable Eternity which we should often meditate upon and Discourse concerning it with our Fellow Christians instead of those impertinencies and worse which make up so great a part of common Conversation And those who thus speak often one to another and remind each other of their Duty need not be much concerned tho' they are despised for it by ill Men since the Lord himself will hearken and hear and remember them for it when he comes in Vengeance to destroy the Ungodly Malac. 3. 16. 4. 1 2. § VII In the next place we would do well to consider that the Sacrament is appointed for our perfection in Grace as well as Conquest over our Sins 'T is not enough merely to escape the Pollutions of the World but we must also aspire towards Perfection to be strong Men in Christ. We are all called to be Saints to Glory as well as to Vertue and why should we then be content with the lowest measures He that thinks he 'll be just good enough to be saved if he does not miss of that must not however expect much Comfort Nay not to go forward is to go backward in the way to Heaven We are obliged by the Sacrament to do all we can for him who has done so much for us Always to abound in the work of the Lord since when we have done our best we shall be so far from Supererrogation However as Health and Strength are infallible Signs of Life so we shall obtain this great Advantage by stronger Degrees of Grace that we may be better satisfied of the Truth and Sincerity thereof Consider that this would render God's Service much more easie and delightful to us But this must cost us constant Pains and Labour for Sloth is the greatest Obstruction to our growing in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ and is commonly the last Enemy in this World that is destroyed in a Christian. Conquer that and all is done Shake off that Ague of the Soul remember your Vows call for Strength believe and all things are possible Give Diligence to make your Calling and Election sure for he that does these things shall never fall and the higher we rise in Piety here the shorter Steps we shall have to Heaven and it 's very probable the higher Degrees of Glory among those many different mansions in our Father's House § VIII In the last place when we are called again by God's Providence to another Sacrament which happy Opportunity we will be careful never to neglect let us in our Preparation and Examination impartially enquire how we have performed those Vows we made in the last and how we have profited by it To rejoyce and bless God if well to be humbled if otherwise and the greater the Defect the deeper the Humiliation I speak here of lesser Infirmities rather than of presumptuous scandalous Sins the Habits whereof while unreformed and unrepented do utterly exclude from the Sacrament as well as from Heaven Nor ought we by any means to be ungrateful if we find that thro' God's Grace preventing us that we might be willing and assisting us when we were willing we may have obtained any Advantage against our Spiritual Enemies If any Sin be weaker any Vertue stronger whether Patience or Humility or Resignation or Devotion for which we are again to approach full of Gratitude to the Holy Table to offer the Sacrifice of Praise and take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. These things if we observe and do thro' the whole Course of our Lives we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour but an abundant Entrance shall be ministred unto us into his Everlasting Kingdom To whom be Glory in the Church throughout all Ages Amen! Questions for the Evening 1. WHAT Mercies have I received this Day Answers of Prayer Deliverance from Evil common or extraordinary Blessings 2. What Sin have I committed What Duty omitted 3. What have I done endeavoured or designed for God's Glory or the Good of my Neighbour or have I lost any Opportunity for either 4. With what Success have I encounter'd those Sins to which my Circumstances or Constitution most incline me Passion Sloth Impurity Intemperance Vanity c. 5. How have I improved my Time this Day Am I any wiser or better than I was the last Have I thought of Death and Judgment 6. Have I Pray'd and How And the same of Meditation and Reading 7. What Mercy do I want for Soul or Body my Self or Relations that I may now ask it 8. Have I remembred my Promises made at the last Sacrament and how have I performed them Questions for the Morning 1 DID I Read and Pray Meditate and Examine my self last Night and in what manner 2. Did I think of God last and first 3. What Sin have I committed in Thought Word or Deed What Duty omitted since Evening 4. What Occasions may I probably have this Day of serving God or my Neighbour 5. To what Temptations am I like to be exposed 6. What Mercies have I received What do I want Short Directions for those who are really straightned for Time and cannot go through the larger Methods of Examination already given 1. BE sure this be more than a pretended Necessity as in the case of indispensible and unavoidable Business or the like since the more conscientious and exact you are in your Preparation and Examination Note That this Sheet is to be plac'd after Page 186. you may generally speaking expect the greater Advantage by the Sacrament Turtle-Doves or young Pigeons were not accepted of Old unless where the Presenter could not reach a more costly Sacrifice 2. This being taken Care of never indulge any ill grounded Scruples so far as to suffer them to hinder you from coming to this Divine Banquet See what has been already said on this Head both from Authority and Reason in Answer to the Objections against Receiving 3. It can scarce be supposed but you may redeem some time on the Morning of the Lord's Day when you may retire from the World and 1. Use the Prayers here at Preparation or any other that is proper for that Occasion 2. Consider the Nature of the Sacrament and your Happiness in having one Opportunity more of partaking in it 3. Examine your Conscience by the Ten Commandments
anxious Thoughts distrest God's bounteous Love does thee restore To wonted ease and rest 8. 9. My Eyes no longer drown'd in Tears My Feet from stumbling free Redeem'd from Death and deadly Fears O Lord I 'll live to thee 10. When nearest press'd I still believ'd 11. Still glori'd in thy Aid Tho' when by faithless Men deceiv'd All all are false I said 12. To him what Offerings shall I make Whence my Salvation came The Cup of Blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now I 'll take 13. And call upon his Name 14. Those Vows which in my greatest straits Unto the Lord I made Shall now be at his Temple Gates Before his People paid 15. That Life which thou O Lord didst save From raging Tyrants free 16. That ransom'd Life thy Bounty gave I dedicate to thee 17. My Heart and Voice at once I 'll raise Thy Goodness to proclaim With loud and grateful Songs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Praise I 'll call upon thy Name 18. Yes all those Vows which in my straits Unto the Lord I made Shall now be at his Temple Gates Before his People paid 19. His Priests shall mix their Hymns with mine His Goodness to record And all Ierusalem shall joyn With me to praise the Lord. PSALM CXVII 1. YE Nations who the Globe divide Ye numerous People scatter'd wide To God your grateful Voices raise 2. To all his boundless Mercy shown His Truth to endless Ages known Require our endless Laud and Praise Doxology To him who reigns enthron'd on high To his dear Son who deign'd to die Our Guilt and Errors to remove To that bless'd Spirit who Grace imparts And rules in all believing Hearts Be endless Glory Praise and Love PSALM CXVIII 1. GLad Hymns and Songs of Praise rehearse To th'Maker of the Universe Whose Goodness does so far extend Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End 2. Let Israel now no more oppress'd With Quiet and with Plenty bless'd Praise him who all their Bliss did send Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End 3. Let Aaron's Sons who round his Throne In sacred Hymns his Goodness own While his bless'd Service they attend Confess his Mercy knows no End 4. Let all who with Religious Fear Approach his Gates and every Year With Gifts fair Sion's Hill ascend Confess his Mercy knows no End 5. With deep distress encompast round To him I cry'd and succour found He me from Exile did retrieve And safe and free as Air I live 6. He 's on my side and I 'll despise 7. Th' Efforts of all my Enemies 8. On him 't is safer to rely 9. Than Princes who may fail or die 10. Tho' Troops of Foes besieg'd me round 11. As angry Insects swarming sound 12. Their short liv'd Mischief I can scorn Noise without Strength like Fire in Thorn 13. At once they charg'd and prest me all Yet staid by God I could not fall 14. My Saviour he to whom belongs The Tribute of my grateful Songs 15. Nor shall my single Thanks be paid Lend me ye Saints O lend your Aid Let Health and Joy be spread around With Praise let your glad Gates resound 16. God's own Right Hand has Wonders wrought And conquer'd those against him fought 17. He smiles and grants me happier Days And here I now my Saviour praise 18. Heavy his angry Strokes did fall But ah I well deserv'd 'em all Yet in the Confines of Despair And Death he found and sav'd me there 19. Now to his Holy House return'd Who late a helpless Exile mourn'd Thro' th' Everlasting Gates I 'll go And pay him part of what I owe. 20. 21. A pious Crowd I 'll with me bring And with glad Heart my Saviour sing 22. That Stone the Builders once displac'd Now to the Corner's Head is rais'd 23. God's Hand the great Event has wrought Wondrous and passing human Thought 24. This is the Day the Lord has made Therein let all our Vows be paid 25. Still hear and save O still defend And heavenly Joy and Comfort send 26. Blessed be he who'll Blessings bring Pardon and Grace from Heav'ns high King We who from his high Altar bless Will for his People ask Success 27. He from the Confines of Despair Has rais'd us to the Lightsome Air. Let the crown'd Victims haste away And Thousands after Thousands slay Wash the broad Courts with sacred Gore Till Bashan's Fields can send no more 28. And what thou valuest far above Thee O my God! I 'll Praise and Love 29. Whose Goodness does so far extend Whose wondrous Mercy knows no End FINIS BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Charles Harper at the Flower-de-Luce over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet THE Life of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. An Heroic Poem dedicated to her most Sacred Majesty in Ten Books Attempted by Samuel Wesley M. A. each Book illustrated by necessary Notes explaining all the more difficult Matters in the whole History Also a Prefatory Discourse concerning Heroic Poetry The Second Edition revised by the Author and improved with the Addition of a Large Map of the Holy Land and a Table of the Principal Matters with Sixty Copper-Plates by the celebrated Hand of W. Faithorn Folio Linguae Rom. Dict. Luculentum Novum A New Dictionary in five Alphabets Representing first the English Words and Phrases before the Latin Second The Latin Classic before the English Third The Latin Proper Names of Persons Countries c. Fourth The Latin Barbarous Fifth The Law-Latin The whole compleated and improved from the several Works of Stephens Cooper Gouldman Holyoke Dr Littleton a large Manuscript in three Volumes of Mr. Iohn Milton c. In the Use of all which for greater Exactness recourse has always been had to the Authors themselves Cole's Dictionary in Octavo Eng. Lat. and Lat. and Eng. The Pantheon representing the Fabulous Histories of the Heathen Gods and most Illustrious Heroes in a short plain and familiar Method by way of Dialogue Written by F. Pomey For the Use of Schools The Second Edition wherein the Whole Translation is Revised and much amended and the Work is illustrated and adorned with elegant Copper-Cuts of the several Deities c. The Lives of the Roman Emperors from Demitian where Suetonius ends to Constantine the Great Containing those of Nerva and Trajan from Dion Cassius A Translation of the Six Writers of the Augustean History And those of Dioclesian and his Associates from Eusebius and others with the Heads of the Emperors in Copper-Plates dedicated to His most Sacred MAJESTY In two Volumes By Iohn Bernard A. M. English Examples to Lily's Grammar Rules for Children's Latin Exercises with an Explanation to each Rule For the Use of Eton School Gratii Falisci Cynegeticon cum Poematio Cognomine M. A. Olympii Nemesiani Carthaginensis Notis perpetuis variisque Lectionibus adernavit Tho. Johnson M. A. Accedunt Hier. Fracastorii Alcon Carmen Pastoritium Jo. Caii de Canibus Libellus Ut Opusculum vetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dict seu de Cura Canum incerto Auctore
out of all Nations to admit Children among others by Circumcision tho' they could not actually signify their Belief of the Law nor promise Obedience to it then the Apostles who were sent to make Proselytes to Christianity by Baptism could never think of excluding Children whom the Iews before admitted seeing the Reason for their admission was the same in both cases unless our Saviour had expresly forbidden it If it be asked wherefore Infants are not as capable of receiving the Lord's Supper as of Baptism we answer that the Reason is plain because the Lord's Supper is a confirming Seal Baptism only the entring Seal of the Covenant by which Children may now be admitted into it as they were of old by Circumcision But we may argue more strongly that the Apostles did admit Children for Proselytes by Baptism as well as we know they admitted Women tho' neither of them actually mentioned in their Commission because it was the Custom of their Country to do both and neither was forbidden by our Saviour As if any of our Ministers goes among the Heathens and converts them he would certainly baptise Infants and give the other Sacrament in both kinds to the adult because such was the practice of those Protestant Churches whence he went § XIX A fifth Argument for the Baptising of Infants is because it is very probable if not positively certain that the Apostles themselves did baptise them Supposing those two Instances of Baptising Women had not been recorded in the Acts of the Apostles yet we might fairly have concluded that when so many Thousands so many entire Housholds were baptised Women were not excluded especially when it was the known Custom of the Iews to admit them Proselytes by Baptism and the same holds of Children nay more strongly on the account of Circumcision three Thousand were baptised in one day by the Apostles Acts 2. 41. and it is likely five Thousand in another Acts 4. 4. And can it rationally be supposed that there were no Children among such vast Numbers Nay does it not seem highly probable there might be many such there some in their Mothers Arms others in their Hands as is usual in such a publick Concourse especially when there were Children present at the Repetition of the Law already mentioned and likewise at our Saviour's preaching who in his miraculous Feast is said to have sed five Thousand Men besides Women and Children St. Matt. 14. 21. Again the Apostles baptised many Families or Housholds nay we hardly read of the Master of a Family who was made a Convert and baptised but his whole Family as was before the Custom among the Iews were converted proselyted and baptised together with him Thus the Iaylor's Houshold Acts 16. 33. He and ALL his The Houshold of Gaius which was so large that he is called the Host of the whole Church Rom. 16. 23. of Stephanus and Crispus the chief Ruler of the Synagogue and ALL his House Can we I say suppose that in all these Housholds which we read were without exception baptised there should not be so much as one Child or Infant when we may observe very few of our own little Families taking them one with another that are wholly without Children But what if besides all this we should find someting still more express for the Baptising of Children in the Acts of the Apostles In St. Peter's Sermon already mentioned Acts 2. 38. thus he exhorts Repent and be baptised every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of Sins c. For the Promise is to you and to your Children The Answer was indeed to those adult Persons who ask'd What shall we do These he bids Repent and be baptised but it reacht further than to those that made the Question and tho' Children could not actually Repent yet they might be baptised and there are two things in the words which shew they were here included 1. Because the Apostle addresses himself to every one of them and among every one Children must be contained 2. They are expresly mentioned The Promise is to you and to your Children without any exception and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord your God shall call That is all Gentiles to whom the Apostles or their Successors should come to gather Proselytes from among them § XX. The last Argument for baptising of Infants may be taken from the general Practice of the Christian Church in all Places and all Ages since the first planting of Christianity For the Truth whereof we have unexceptionable Evidence in antient Writers St. Austin St. August de Genesi ad Literam Lib. X. Cap. 23. for the Latin Church who flourished before the Year four Hundred and Origen Origen on the 6th of the Rom. for the Greek who was born in the Second Century and famous about the middle of the Third both affirming not only that the universal Church did then Baptise Infants but likewise that they received this Custom of Baptising them from the Apostlos themselves as we know they also did the change of the Sabbath and other things of like nature not clearly asserted in the Scriptures St. Austin speaks of it in the most posicive Expressions proculdubio says he without doubt it was delivered down from our Lord and his Apostles St. Cyprian is likewise clear for it and a whole Council with him as appears in his Epistle to Fidus and other places So is Athanasius who flourished Anno Three Hundred Twenty Six and he founds Infant-Baptism on the same places which we still make use of to the same purpose suffer little Children to come unto me Now are your Children Holy c. St. Chrysostom is of the same mind and proves the Necessity of Children's Baptism from their being guilty of original Sin And even Gregory Nazianzen is for having them baptised in mere Infancy in case of Danger which he founds on the Circumcision on the eighth day and tho' in no Danger he would not have it deferred till they were above three Year old Tho' even this was a singular Opinion of his but such as does no Service to the Cause of the Antipoedobaptists since they are for baptising adult Persons only Siricius Bishop of Rome about the middle of the fourth Century was for the baptising of Infants So was St. Ambrose And to go higher tho' Tertullian seems to have been much of the same mind with Nazianzen as to the delaying their Baptism yet his very Advice in this matter fairly implys that it was then the general Custom to baptise Infants And he in other places affirms that of Baptism which is a sound Argument for admitting Infants to it namely that it is necessary to Salvation and that without it none can enter into Heaven Iustin Martyr says that the outward Circumcision which was to be performed on the eighth day was a Type of the true Circumcision that Christians received this true spiritual Circumcision by Baptism thro' God's
Mercy we having need of it because all born Sinners and that it was free for all Persons to receive it Iust. Mart. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore he must include Infants as well as others And to the same purpose Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was partly cotemporary with Iustin Martyr both of them flourishing near the middle of the Second Century for he mentions Infants Children young and old as born again unto God by Christ Now 't is notorious that by being born again or Regeneration the Fathers understand Baptism which is called in the Scriptures also as has been already observed The Laver of Regeneration Nor is it any valid Objection that several in the Primitive Church did delay their Baptism and some of them to the Hour of Death since this proves more than the Objectors would have it who are not for delaying it till this time and besides they did this upon particular Reasons See this elaborately handled by Mr. Walker in his excellent Treatise of Infant-Baptism some because they thought all Sins damnable which were committed after Baptism others because they were of Opinion that Baptism purg'd away all Sin original and actual and it may be more than either because they were unwilling to leave their Sins and live a strict and an holy Life but this no more shows the deferring of Baptism to have been the received Doctrine of the Church than it is the Doctrine of the Church of England that People may without Sin absent themselves from the other Sacrament because too many actually do it and 't is to be feared for the same Reason namely lest they should be obliged to forsake their Sins and lead a better Life But this we affirm that there is not one Instance to be found in Antiquity of any Orthodox Christian who denied Baptism to Children when brought to be baptised and believe we may be positive that not one of the Fathers or antient Writers for the first Eight Hundred Years at least ever held it unlawful And that it has been the Practice of all the regular Churches ever since is as clear and manifest whereas we know that whenever the Popish Errors were brought into the Church they were neither early nor universally received For not only our own Ancestors when first converted to Christianity not only all our European Churches but the African too formerly did and still do baptise their Children both the Coptis in Egypt and the Abyssines in Ethiopia as well as the Churches of Asia and even those of St. Thomas who had for many Ages scarce any Correspondence with our Parts of the World The Matter of Fact being thus cleared we may reasonably conclude from it that since Infant-Baptism has been generally received and practised by the Church of God in all Places and Ages since we can track it up as high as those who lived in the purest Ages of the Church and were almost cotemporaries with some of the Apostles for Polycarp who was Irenaeus his Master lived in some part of the First Century for these Reasons we cannot think it unlawful we must believe as St. Austin says that it was certainly handed down from Christ and his Apostles and that as it has now continued without interruption in the Church of God for near Seventeen Hundred Years so it will by God's Grace continue therein in like manner to the End of the World Whereas on the contrary it would follow that if Infant-Baprism were not true Baptism there has been yet no true Church since our Saviour since there has been none which did not baptise Infants no entire Church which has thought it unlawful though some private Persons should have had private Opinions Not even those of Piedmont though it is true they often delaid Baptism when they could not have it without the superstitious Appendages of the Romanists and if there were any sheltered amongst them who did wholly deny Baptism to Infants they also denied Baptism it self and the other Sacrament I shall close this Head and the whole Argument for Infant-Baptism with this one Remark That if there be no true Church but that of the Antipoedobaptists that Promise has never yet been fulfilled That Kings should be nursing Fathers and Queens nursing Mothers to the Church for they never had but one King and Queen of their Opinion and those they do not love to hear of Now we are not to think that God has forgotten this Promise for 1700 Years together nor will they affirm it there having been many excellent Kings and Princes Protectors of Churches which have baptised Infants and have been in their Infancy themselves baptised whence it it follows that Infant-Baptism is true Baptism and that tthose are true Churches who use it if there ever yet were any since our Saviour § XXI To sum up the Evidence for Infant-Baptism If outward Baptism be generally and in an ordinary way necessary to Salvation if Infants may be saved as well as others and we ought to neglect no means to save them If our Saviour commands such to come to be brought unto him and did himself put his Hands upon them and bless them and called them Believers and says That of such is the Kingdom of Heaven and was angry with those that would have kept them from him and said It was better for any to have a Mill-stone tied about his Neck and be cast into the Sea than to offend them and it be the greatest Offence to keep them from Baptism which is the Gate to the Church and so to Heaven If the Children even of one believing Parent have Holiness federal Holiness by their Parents Charter and may have the beginnings of real actual Holiness wrought in them by the Holy Ghost because they have had extraordinary Gifts and are therefore much more capable of the ordinary if they are capable of making a Covenant or having a Covenant made for them by others with Privileges and Obligations annexed if they have right to be Members of a Church if they were in the Iewish Church and even in Abraham's Covenant which was a Covenant of Faith an Evangelical Covenant and were never excluded by Christ who would rather give them new Privileges than lessen the old if supposing our Saviour had designed that Children should not be baptised he must have expresly and formally excepted them from Baptism and have forbidden his Apostles to baptise them which otherwise they would certainly have done because the Iews did admit Children to be Proselytes by Baptism as well as grown Persons and yet 't is not so much as pretended that he ever did thus forbid them nay he commanded his Apostles to make Disciples out of all Nations by Baptism as the Iews did before them if it is highly probable even from the Letter of the sacred Scripture that the Apostles did baptise Children because they frequently baptised whole Housholds and it would be strange if there should be no Children among them and