here in same latitude 3ly If any large expressions were used in our Liturgy concerning wicked men they might be justifyed by our Lords Parable which calls the man who had not on his wedding garment friend Matt. 22.12 because by coming to the wedding supper he professed himself a Friend by his saying to the Traytor Judas Matt. 26.50 friend wherefore art thou come when he professed friendship to him by a Kiss by St. Paul's saying to the Church of Corinth 1 Cor. 12.27 that they were the body of Christ and members in particular and to the Galatians Gal. 3.26 27 28. ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus for as many as are baptised into Christ have put on Christ you are all one in Christ Jesus and many other like expressions Object 2 2ly It is objected that the Apostle Paul setting out a meet Form of Congregational Praises and by proportion of Prayers also sheweth that it is the will of the God of Order that for orders sake one should be as the mouth of the Congregation to speak for them and from them to the Lord and the rest give their assent by yielding their Amen to what is spoken by him but the Common-Prayer Book proceeding much in another Form ordereth all the people syllabically to repeat many petitions after the Minister as if they did not acknowledge him to be their mouth to God Thus also do the Presbyterian Commissioners except P. 4. desiring that the repetitions and responsals of the Clerk and People may be omitted the Minister being appointed for the people in all publick services appertaining to God and the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament intimating the peoples part in publick prayers to be only with silence and reverence to attend thereunto and to declare their consent in the close by saying Amen Answ 1 That the Apostle sheweth that it is the will of God that one should so be the mouth of the Congregation in her Prayers and Praises as that the rest should only say Amen cannot be proved for in the place referred to viz. 1 Cor. 14.16 the Apostle only intimates that at least the Idiot should say Amen not that he may never say more 2ly He speaketh there not of the ordinary service to be continued always in the Church but of extraordinary Prayers and Blessings performed by the gift of tongues to which indeed it was impossible the people who were not inspired as the speaker was should do more than say Amen as in prescribed Forms they may 3ly that this was not the only Form for Congregational Praises is evident because they had their Tehillim or Psalms of Praises which they sang together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 5.19 saith Paul sibi invicem canentes saith Pliny singing one to and with another Answ 2 Though in those parts of Liturgy which are imployed in benediction consecration or administration of the Sacraments or in the exercise of the power of the Keys it is reasonable that the people should not bear a share because all these are acts appropriated to the Ministerial Office yet do I see no reason why they who are to join with the Minister in Prayer and who are a spiritual Priesthood 1 Pet. 2.5 9. to offer such spiritual Sacrifices to God should bear no share in uttering any part thereof to signifie the joint consent and union of their Spirits with him in that duty but rather much to plead in favour of the custom of our Church 1. From examples of such Responsals and Petitions occasionally used in the Jewish Church for as the Psalmist in the general doth call upon all men to exalt Gods name together so Psal 34.3 though the Levites were appointed to sing in the Publick Service yet did the people also praise the Lord and say For his mercy endureth for ever 2 Chron. 7.3 Moreover De vita Mosis l. 3. Philo Judaeus doth inform us that the Song of Miriam was uttered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with alternate melodies and the words in the Seventy plead fairly for the same for thus they run 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 15.21 and Miriam began unto them saying Let us sing and of the Essenes he saith Euseb Hist Eccles l. 2. c. 17. p. 57. vid. Philon de vit contempl non procul à fine That the President of them standing up sung an Hymn composed in praise of God and after him did others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their orders in convenient manner and when they come unto the close of the Hymns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then all both Men and Women sing together So of Judith it is said Judith 16.1 That she began her Confession to all Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all the people sang after her the same Song 2. Because this practice hath obtained from the purest Ages of the Church this custom being introduced saith Socrates L. 6. c. 8. by the great Ignatius did universally obtain on which account Eusebius concludeth of the Essenes Ibid. that they must be Christians because they sang by turns answering one another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 3. p. 107. And Gregory Nazianzen saith That Julian the Apostate in imitation of the Christians did appoint among the Heathens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Form of Prayer to be said in parts Moreover in the Constitutions stiled Apostolical we find this injunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2. c. 57. l. 8. c. 5. that one should sing the Psalms of David and that the people should sing after the ends of the verses that they should all answer and with thy Spirit that they should servently pray for those that are baptized thus Lord have mercy upon them Cap. 8. Save them O God and lift them up by thy mercy that when the Priest hath said Cap. 12. lift up your hearts they should Answer We lift them up unto the Lord when he saith Let us give thanks unto the Lord they should Answer Adding that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. 63. ad Cler. Neocaes It is meet and right so to do that they should all say Holy Holy Holy Lord God of hosts Heaven and Earth is full of thy Glory that when the Bishop said Holy things to holy persons they should all Answer There is one Holy one Lord one Jesus Christ to the Glory of God the Father blessed for evermore Amen St. Basil tells us That in his time they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sing alternately and then permitting one to begin the melody 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rest sing after him Athanasius Apol. de suga p. 717. that he commanded the Deacon to read the Psalm and the people to Answer For his mercy endureth for ever Sozomen saith that they who were skilful l. 5. c. 19. were Praecentors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the multitude answered by consent And lastly Chrysostom
the Law Matt. 23.23 viz. Judgment and Mercy Mark 12.33 That to love God with all our hearts and our Neighbour as our selves is more than all Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices That to pray hear read the Word receive the Sacrament to fast are but the means which God hath in his Word ordained for the encrease of Justice Equity Mercy Love Peace Humility and Temperance and such like Christian Graces and therefore these must be the things in which God is concerned mostly that we should yield obedience That when the Scripture reckoneth the Graces of the Spirit Gal. 5.22 it tells us they are Love Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Righteousness and Temperance not prayer fasting hearing receiving of the Sacrament c. And lastly 't is observable that we are call'd to imitate our heavenly Father in acts of Love and Mercy our Lord and Saviour in Meekness and Humility Bowels of Mercy Compassion and Self-denyal but not in prayer and fasting and in such like duties Since therefore God is more concerned for matters of this Nature than for his outward worship his Word must be more perfect in prescribing of these duties than any circumstances of his worship if then it be unlawful for us to submit to any Ceremonies commanded by man which respect his worship because Gods Word must be a perfect Rule not only of all parts but of all modes of Worship it must be more unlawful to submit to any humane constitutions touching Equity and Justice Mercy and Compassion Love Charity and Peace because Gods Word must be supposed in these more weighty and substantial matters to be a Rule more perfect And therefore all the Laws and Statutes respecting matters of this Nature which cannot be collected from the Words of Scripture must by this doctrine be cashiered as vain Inventions and Christians must stand obliged to refuse obedience to them For instance I am commanded to worship God in publick but whether I must do it in a Church or in the Field in black or white or any other garb by stinted Words or by Expressions of my own immediate Invention in this or that or a 3d posture is not expressed in Holy Scripture If therefore in these cases I must not yield obedience to any power that will command me to worship God in white to pray in stinted Words to do it kneeling or the like because that Scripture which is a Rule of Worship hath not determined of these things must I not do the like in other cases of an higher Nature and because Scripture hath commanded that I should be charitable and give Alms but hath not said what portion I shall give nor when nor in what place or to what persons nor in what manner whether by my self or by the Overseers of the Poor am I not bound as much to shew my disobedience to those Laws which rate me to the Poor and which give power to Officers to strein on my refusal to pay that rate If I must not joyn with an Assembly that doth use a stinted Form of Words that riseth up at the rehearsal of the Creed or with a Pastor that doth officiate in white because these things are not commanded in the perfect Rule of Worship how dare I to commence a sute of Law to arrest a person for a debt or to indite him for a trespass without Scripture warrant these things being no where commanded in that perfect Rule of Equity and Justice The Scripture having said There is utterly a fault among you that you go to Law one with another 1 Cor. 6.7 Luk. 6.35 Matt. 5.40 lend hoping for nothing again if any man take away thy Cloak let him have thy Coat also but never said If any man officiate in white or by a Form of Words do not joyn with him is it not matter of just admiration that they who never scruple to act contrary unto the letter of the Scripture in the former cases should be so very scrupulous in things no where forbidden in the Word 3ly This dangerous opinion will force men to be troublesome in all the Churches of the World and to refuse communion even with those Assemblies they are joyned with nay had they lived in the Jewish Church or any other Age of Christendom they must have been continual Separatists For where I pray you could they have found a Precept for all the Jewish Practises and Observations which I have mentioned in the foregoing Arguments If they had lived in the next Age to the Apostles with Polycarp and Ignatius who did converse with the Apostles where would the Scripture have afforded any warrant for observation of the Feast of Easter which both the Churches of the East and West observed in the days of Polycarp L. 5. c. 24. as is recorded by Eusebius or any Precept for bowing to the East Resp ad quest 118. which Pseudo-Justin mentions as a thing practised in his days or for the Observation of the days on which their Glorious Martyrs died Apud Euseb l. 4. c. 15. which yet the Church of Smyrna mentions as a thing practised by the Christians not long after the death of the Apostles or for the Water mixed with the Sacramental Wine of which both Justin and St. Cyprian speak Apol. 2. Cypr. Ep. 63. Just M. ibid. or for the portions of the Sacramental Bread sent to the Sick and absent to signify they were partakers of the same Sacrifice and belonged to the same Altar or for their standing in their publick worship from Easter unto Whitsunday Resp ad quest â—15 Can. 19. and every Lords-day to testify their belief of our Lords Resurrection which yet by the Great Nicene Council was required to be observed by all Christian People and which they did accordingly observe Tertullian gives us a Catalogue of many observations which the Church used in his days and which she vindicated not from the Scriptures De Coron Milit. c. 3 4. but from the Patronage of Custom and Tradition I will begin saith he with Baptism where coming to the Water we testify before the President or Bishop that we renounce the Devil his Pomps and his Angels then are we thrice dipt answering something more than Christ commanded in his Gospel The Sacrament of the Eucharist which our Lord instituted after Supper we partake of in our Meetings before the day arise we think it wickedness to fast or to pray knâ—eling on the Lords day we kneel not from Easter to Whitsunday whensoever we go forth or come in or whatsoever we are conversant about we sign our Foreheads with the sign of the Cross and if you do require a Law of Scripture for these Observations you will find none Tradition will be alledged as the Author and custom the Confirmer of them For these are observations which we defend not from Scripture but from the title of Tradition and the Patronage of Custom This was the Practice of the first Ages of the Church
the Firing of London the Thirtieth of January a Day of Humiliation for the Execrable Murder of our R. Martyr Charles the First And that none can have just cause to doubt if they consider Est 9.28 1 Macch. 4.59 Zech. 7.5 that the Feasts of Purim and of Dedication were lawfully appointed by the Jews for an Ordinance for ever and that they had their stated Fasts of the Fifth and the Seventh Month to humble themselves at the remembrance of the Judgments God then brought upon them 3. He adds that the Great Blessings of an Apostolick Ministry and of the stability of the Martyrs in their Sufferings for Christ being so rare and notable a Mercy to the Church I confess I know no reason why the Churches of all succeeding Ages may not keep an Anniversary Day of Thanksgiving to God for Peter or Paul or Stephen as well as for the Powder-Plot deliverance I know not where God hath forbidden it directly or indirectly if his instituting the Lord's-day were a virtual Prohibition for Man to separate any more or if the Prohibition of adding to God's Word were against it they would be against other Days of Humiliation or Thanksgiving especially Anniversary Days which we confess they are not if the Reason be Scandal lest men should have the Honour instead of God I answer 1. An honour is due to Apostles and Martyrs in their places in due subordination to God 2ly Where the Case of Scandal is notorious it may become by that accident unlawful Const Can. An. 1640. Can. 7. and yet not be so in other times and places 3ly Our Church expresly hath declared that she gives Religious Worship unto God alone and doth observe these Daies to God and in them celebrate his Praises for his Apostles and for the assistance of his Grace and Spirit vouchsafed to them and the Great things done through that assistance by them for the good of men and so can Minister no Ground for such a Scandal 4ly p. 150. He saith that in the lawful Observation of Days it is most orderly to do as the Churches do which we live among and are to join with Especially if they do only that which hath been done by all the Churches of Christ about Twelve hundred years and upward as we do in the Observation of all our publick Festivals or that which hath been done from the beginning as in the Observation of the Easter Festival 5ly p. 151. He saith That it is long ago decided by the Holy Ghost Rom. 14.15 That we must not be contentious contemptuous nor censorious against one another about things of no Greater Moment than the Jewish Days were though some observed them without just cause because the Kingdom of God consisteth not in Meats and Drinks and Days but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost and he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men we must follow therefore after the things which make for Peace and wherewith one may edify another which by submitting to the Constitutions of our Church concerning Festivals Dissenters certainly would do if they are capable of Edification by hearing and joining in Good Prayers and Praises by reading of the Word by hearing of good Sermons and by commemoration of the Mercies we then celebrate § 13 And whereas Mr. Baxter adds that the Controversy whether it be lawful to keep Days as Holy in celebrating the Memorial of Christ's Nativity Circumcision Ascension c. p. 151 152. Disp 5. of Cer. Cap. 2. § 46. is the hardest part of this Question which he is not sufficient to determine I shall first lay down some few Arguments to justifie the Observation of these and other Holy-days prescribed by the Church of England And consider the Scruples he and others have against them And 1. I argue for the expedience of these Holy-days from the consideration of the end for which they have been instituted by the Wisdom of the Church for those things saith St. Austin are celebrated by the Churches Anniversaries which were very excelelnt when done Contra Faustum ManichauÌ„ Lib. 32. Cap. 12. and by their excellency have signalized certain Days that so the celebration of the Festival may preserve the whole some remembrance of them in our Hearts Now even Reason teacheth that the Day on which these things were done tends to excite the mind to more intent consideration of and so to effectual remembrance of the Mercies which we have received upon that Day Whence God himself requires his People to Remember that day in which they came out from Egypt out of the Land of Bondage Exod. 13.3 And of that very Night he saith It is a Night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt this is that Night to be observed of all the Children of Israel in their Generations Exod. 12.42 Now if for the Remembrance of that Mercy God did not only order his People Israel to be continually meditating and discoursing of it Exod. 12.26 13 14. but also to observe the very Day for a Memorial Exod. 12.14 if he appointed the Feast of Pentecost to be observed in Memory of the Law then given from Mount Sinai to them the Feast of Tabernacles in remembrance of their sustentation Forty years in the Wilderness why may not Christians though obliged daily to have these things in their remembrance observean Annual Festivity for the more full Commemoration of the Mercies they enjoy by virtue of our Lord's Nativity Ascension c. Again these Feasts have been instituted and observed by the Wisdom of the Church to give thanks to God for the benefits vouchsafed to us at those times and by such Persons now publick benefits are publickly to be acknowledged and celebrated with publick thanks which cannot better be performed than by prescribing stated Days for publickly Assembling to these ends And as St. Paul declares that the great liberality of the Corinthians would Glorifie God by causing many thanksgivings to him for that Grace 2 Cor. 9.12 so wil the Institution of such Festivals tend to his Glory by causing many thanksgivings for the Grace vouchsafed to us upon these Days both to us and to those Martyrs and Apostles whose Memories we celebrate Moreover no Man can deny buâ— the benefits flowing from the great actions of ouâ— Saviour and the advantages accruing to us froâ— the Apostles and Evangelists by their faithful preaching the Gospel of Christ and giving testimony by their Sufferings to the Truth of the samâ— Doctrine is to us more valuable and advantageous than any temporal benefit whatsoever If then 〈◊〉 be esteemed highly convenient to celebrate oâ—â— deliverance from the Gun-powder-Plot thâ— happy Restoration of our Prince our Laws anâ— Liberties with constant Anniversaries have wâ— not equal reason to celebrate the Memory oâ— those great Spiritual Mercies by like Anniversaries 2ly This may be further argued from thâ— utility and benefit which
had all the plausible pretences which have prevailed on our Dissenting Laity to make an Actual Separation to move them so to do Inf. 2. §. 12. Hence it will also follow that great Corruptions in the Lives of our Church-Pastors will not warrant our separation from Communion with them or our Refusal to attend upon their Teaching provided we be not enjoyned to allow of or to comply with them in their sins Our Saviour sent the Leper to the Priest to offer by his Hands the accustomed Sacrifices altho the Priesthood then was much degenerated both in its Office and in the manners of those who ministred at the Altar we find that Christ himself was present at their solemn Feasts and therefore did not come empty which the Law forbad but brought his Sacrifice and by so doing owned their Priesthood he was a Member of a Synagogue and so he joyned in the Service of their Synagogues upon the Sabbath and upon other Solemn Days and yet their own Josephus tells us that the whole Jewish Nation were then a very wicked people they were saith truth it self an Evil Wicked and Adulterous Generation The Teachers and the Rulers of the Church whom Christ commands the multitude and his Disciples to obey in all things lawful Matt. 2.7.12.34 Matt. 5.19 Matt. 6.23.7 8. Matt. 12.14 v. 24. were a Generation of Vipers they were such whose Righteousness could not qualifie any Person for the Kingdom of God They were Hypocritical and Vainglorious in their Prayers Alms and Fastings They consulted how they might destroy the Saviour of the World They were many of them guilty of Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Matt. 23 13. v. 14. v. 15. v. 23. They shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against Men. They devoured Widows Houses out of pretense of Piety They made their Prosclytes ten times more the Children of the Devil then themselves They neglected the more weighty Matters of the Law They were full of Extortion Covetousness Excess And yet from the Communion of such Men our Lord himself and his Disciples did not separate in matters which concerned Gods Publick Worship he called none to come out from them and be separate but rather countenanced their hearing of them with Caution and Discretion which shews how groundless and unwarrantable a thing it is to separate from our Legal Pastors upon these accounts Hence 3ly Inf. 3. §. 13. we infer that it is lawful to comply with such Churches as enjoyn some significant Ceremonies not mentioned in the Word of God for the sake of Peace Order Unity and the avoiding of Scandal to submit unto them when by Authority they are imposed for this we find our Saviour and his Apostles did he ate the Passover prepared according to the Custom of the Jews and so he did partake of that thick Sawce which signifyed the thick Clay which they in Aegypt formed into Brick he ate the Passover in such a Posture as was used by the Jews to signify their Rest and their Security in the Good Land of Canaan He when he went into the Temple did put off his Shoes altho that Ceremony was used to signify their Reverence toward the Temple or to that God who dwelt in it he did not go into the Temple with a Staff or Scrip but did comply with all the Ceremonies enjoyned by the Jewish Sanhedrin to those who dayly came unto it He when he read the Law stood up as was enjoyned by the Jews in honour of the Law and when he taught the people he constantly sate down according to the Custom which had then obtained The Imposition of hands in their ordinary Benediction was a significant Ceremony Mark 10.16 it noted properly the Efficacy of the Divine Blessing the Hand being the instrument of Force and Vigor it was done also in Testimony of Gods Favor to them and yet that Ceremony was by our Lord observed in his Benediction of the little Children which were brought to him tho it was not commanded in the Law of Moses Inf. 4. §. 14. Hence 4ly we infer that it is not unlawful to use a publick Form of Prayer and that the using of such Forms can be no sinful sâ—inâ—â—â—â—g of the Spirit For our Lord scrupled not the Time the Number the Form the Matter of the Jewish Prayers both he and his Disciples were present at the 18 Prayers used in the publick Service of the Jews And he himself prescribed a Form of Prayer to be used by his Disciples He therefore did not think that his own Spirit was stinted by using of a Form or that he stinted the Spirit of his own Disciples by prescribing of it and yet Christ and his own Disciples when they attended on these Prayers had a more plentiful Effusion of the Holy Spirit then we can pretend to Hence also we conclude that we stand not obliged in all Punctilios of Time Inf. 5. §. 15. or Place or Gesture to follow the Example of the first Institution of the H. Sacrament of the Lords Supper For albeit a standing Posture was prescribed at the first Institution of the Passover and every Master of a Family by the same Institution was to keep up his Lamb four days before the Passover yet Christ complyed with the Custom of the Jewish Church which for prudential Reasons laid aside or changed these Customs Even so altho Christ celebrated the Sacrament after Supper and albeit he did it in a posture of Recumbency we do not stand obliged to conform unto these Circumstances they being done upon such grounds as do not now remain for we have now no Paschal Supper to be eaten before the Sacrament nor is it the Custom of our Nations to lye down on Couches when we eat nor have we any cause to do it in token of our Rest in Canaan And if we are obliged to use that very Gesture which our Saviour did why are we not as much obliged to the same time I mean not only after Supper but annually on the same Night in which our Saviour was betrayed why are we not as much obliged to receive in the same place viz. an Inn or in an Upper-chamber And lastly tho it be unquestionable that in the Primitive Institution Wine was mixt with Water for so the Primitive Christians testify and so the Hebrew Custom and their Canons teach and albeit this seems more fit to represent that Water and that Blood which issued from our Saviours Side yet because now it ceaseth to be the Custom to drink Wine mixt with Water Laightf Temp. Serv. p. 147. few scruple to receive it without such a Mixture and therefore on like grounds and from our Saviours Aphorism I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice I think we should not scruple to baptise by sprinkling altho our Lords Disciples did baptize by dipping and that more perfectly doth represent that Death of Christ into which saith St. Paul we are baptized and the ensuing Resurrection Inf.
many other things of a like Nature which he most truly saith are all left to humane Determination ibid. §. 27.28 and to humane Prudence And yet according to his Argument seing no reason can be given why the Determination of most of them would not be equally useful in all Ages and all Churches they must be the matter of an Universal Law if of any and so of an Universal Law-giver and so cannot be left to humane Prudence or Determination Again when the same Person Argues against the Imposition of our Ceremonies thus Disp 5. Chap. 4. §. 3. If these things are needful now why not throughout all Ages and all Churches if therefore Christ did neither by himself nor his Apostles institute and impose these Rites then either the imposing of them is needless and consequently noxious or else you must say that Christ hath omitted a needful part of his Law which implyes that he was either ignorant what to do or neglective of his Affairs This Argument again condemns all the Churches of Christ throughout all Ages since the Apostles times who have always used some Ceremonies which neither Christ nor his Apostles thought fit to institute And 2ly It also renders it unlawful for humane Prudence to determine any of those things which saith he Christ and his Apostles have left undetermined they being mostly such as are or may be equally useful in all Ages of the Church and such of which it may be said whensoever they are determined by humane Prudence if they are needful now why not always c. CHAP. V. The CONTENTS Obj. 5. Those Ceremonies which God himself appointed to teach his Church by their signification may not now be used much less may those which man hath devised § 1. Answ 1. That as St. Paul submitted to some Jewish Rites unlawfully required by the Jewish Christians that he might gain the Jew and Minister to their Salvation so may the Christian submit to Ceremonies unfitly imposed by Superiors for like good ends Answ the 2d This Argument offers nothing against signs Natural and Customary such as are kneeling at the Sacrament the Cross in Baptism standing up at the Creed But only against signs arbitrary from the imposing of which the Excellent Bishop Taylor doth excuse our Church § 2. Obj. 6. The use of the Ceremonies is superstitious and therefore cannot be submitted to Answ By stating the true Notion of Superstition and shewing 1. That Superstition is a species of false Worship and therefore where no Worship is exhibited by the act done or intended by the Doer or Imposer of it as in the case of our Ceremonies there can be no Superstition in that Act. 2ly That Superstitious Worship undue as to the manner of it can only be performed by offering that as acceptable and pleasing to God or as an Exercise of Religion or an Acknowledgment of some of Gods Perfections which is not so 3ly All Superstition consisting Fundamentally in this mistake and formally in the ensuing Practice It follows that the Forbearance of an Act upon the like mistake viz. That we conceive it well-pleasing to God and tending to his Honor to forbear it when indeed it is not so is Superstition § 3. Hence our Dissenters must be Superstitious provided that the Rites that they refuse Submission to be lawful in themselves 1. Because they do and must esteem this their refusal as an Act of special Honour done to God 2ly Because they must esteem themselves by this forbearance Preservers of Gods Worship pure and spiritual 3ly Because they must esteem themselves under a necessity of displeasing God by joyning in Communion with us § 4. § 5. What is the true Import of Edification § 6. Obj. 7. We must not submit to the Institution or Introduction of New Sacraments And therefore not to the Institution of the Ceremonies of the Church of England they having the Nature of Sacraments § 7. Answ 1. That the Ceremonies of the Church of England are not appointed to be signs of Spiritual Grace or to confirm Grace to us 2ly That the designing of these Ceremonies to express signify or bring into our minds Spiritual Duties cannot make them Sacraments With reasons why the Representation of some Spiritual Duty by a mystical Rite cannot as properly pertain to the Nature of a Sacrament as the sealing some Spiritual Promise doth § 8. Many things required in Sacraments which are all wanting in our Ceremonies § 9. Mr. Baxters Arguments to prove the Cross as used in our Church a Sacrament are answered § 10. CHAP. V. BUt say Dissenters Obj. 5 If those Ceremonies which God himself ordained to teach his Church by their signification may not now be used § 1 much less may those which man hath devised now God hath abrogated his own not only those that were appointed to prefigure Christ but such also as served by their signification to teach moral duties and so as now without great sin none of them can be continued in the Church no not for signification and therefore to bring in others of like Nature is to Judaize To confirm this Argument they add that if men may impose such Ceremonies because of their significancy they may reduce into the Church of Christ all the whole Mass of Jewish Ceremonies as v. g. 1. Those of moral signification as the not eating of Blood to teach us to avoid cruelty towards the life of man and beast the not eating of unclean beasts to denote our abhorrence of the impurities and immoralities which by that abstinence the Jews were taught to refrain from the not touching any thing unclean to mind us of avoiding all filthiness of Flesh and Spirit to omit infinite instances of like Nature 2ly By the like reason many Jewish Rites which were Types and Shadows of things to come may be reduced into the Church upon other accounts as v. g. Circumcision to mind us of the Circumcision of the Heart the Paschal Lamb to signify our Gratitude for passing from Darkness unto Light or from our Spiritual Thraldom unto sin into the Liberty of the Sons of God all Sacrifices of Thanksgiving and all whereby they owned God to be the Author of Life and Death and all their temporal Mercies and did Acknowledge that they deserved to die for sin and all the Jewish Garments importing Spiritual Duties to be performed by their Priests with many things of a like Nature And indeed saith Bishop Taylor If the Church might add things Duct Dub. l. 3. c. 4. R. 20. § 7. or rituals of Signification then the Walls might be covered with the Figures of Doves Sheep Lambs Serpents Birds and the Communion Table with Wine Herbs Tapers Pidgeons Raisins Hony Milk and Lambs and whatsoever else the wit of man can invent But the manner of teaching these truths by Symbolical things actions is too low too suspicious too dangerous to be mingled with Divine Lyturgies Christ may as he please consign his own good things
bore towards their Christian Brethren And such is kneeling and prostration in prayer embracing and shaking of hands Such saith the Apostle was that covering of the Womans Head in time of Publick Prayer even that which Nature taught 1 Cor. 11.14 15. Such are the Festivals of the Church viz. Expressions of our Praises for the Mercies then received And the standing from Easter to Whitsunday and on the Lords day used in the ancient Church was not to teach by way of signification any duty but to express and testify their Belief of our Lords Resurrection and for this end we also stand up at the Creed now that such signs may lawfully be used and required I know no cause of doubting from any thing which this Objection offers they being not instructive in but only expressive of our Faith and Duty and under this head may be comprised kneeling at the Sacrament as an Expression of our inward Reverence and signing with the Cross as an Expression of our Faith in and owning of the crucifyed Jesus Signs Arbitrary are such as neither of themselves nor yet by any antecedent Custom do signify distincty and determinately to others that which they are instituted or imposed to teach or signify such are the Elements of Bread and Wine for the breaking of Bread doth no more naturally signify the breaking of Christs Body on the Cross than the breaking of any other thing would do and such are all the moral significations of the Rites appointed by the Jewish Law concerning clean Beasts for Sacrifice and unclean forbidden to be sacrificed or eaten and such is the wearing of a Surplice to teach or signify purity it being naturally or by any antecedent Custom no more proper determinately to teach or signify to the Beholder or our selves this Grace than the putting of it on upon black Garments to signify Hypocrisy and a Pharisaical Temper and that we are like Scpulchres white without but black within Against the fitness of the Imposition therefore of such arbitrary signs to teach those duties which are more plainly and determinately taught already in the Word of God I fear this Argument too strongly doth conclude But then the Excellent Bishop Taylor doth sufficiently excuse our Church from this supposed guilt by saying that There is reason to celebrate and honour the Wisdom and Prudence of the the Church of England Ibid. §. 8. p. 327 which hath in all her Offices retained but one Ceremony that is not of Divine Ordinance or Apostolical Practice that is the Cross in Baptism Which tho it be a significant Ceremony and of no other use yet as it is a complyance with the Practice of all ancient Churches so is it very innocent in it self and being one and alone is in no regard troublesome or afflictive to those that understand her Power and her Liberty and Reason I said she hath one only Ceremony of her own appointment for the Ring in Marriage is the Symbol of Civil nor a religious Contract it is a Pledge and Custom of the Nation not of the Religion and those other Circumstances of her Worship are but determinations of time and place and manner of a duty They serve to other purposes besides signification they were not made for that but for Order and Decency for which there is an Apostolical Precept and a Natural Reason and an Evident Necessity or a great Convenience Now if besides these uses they can be construed to any good signification or instruction that is so far from being a prejudice to them that it is their Advantage their Principal End being different and warranted and not destroyed by their superinduced and accidental use sect 3 The use of the Ceremonies is superstitious Oâ—â— 6. and therefore we say they cannot submit unto the Practice of them without sin That the use of the Ceremonies in Religious Worship is superstitious they prove by Arguments already answered viz. That it is super statutum or more than God hath in his Word required and that they are imposed as parts of Worship Moreover these things say they cannot be used without Superstition in the Service of God which have no necessary or profitable use in his Service for as vain Thoughts and Words are forbidden in the Holy Scripture so is it not to be doubted but that vain actions are forbidden especially in the Worship of God Answ 1 To give a Satisfactory Answer unto this Objection it will be only necessary to state the Notion or true import of Superstition that by applying it to our own Practice and to the Practice of Dissenters we may judge who are most guilty of this vice 1. Therefore Superstition being a species of false Worship whereby we do exhibit Worship to an Object to which it is not due or to that Object which deserveth Worship in an undue manner it follows plainly that where no Worship is exhibited by the act done or intended by the Doer or Imposer of the act there can be no Superstition in the Exercise of such an act there may be Vanity and an abuse of Power in the imposing rites unprofitable and unnecessary but there can be no Superstition or Will Worship where there is neither any act of Worship nor any Will to worship God by the Performance of these Rites nor designation of them unto such an end 2ly Superstitious Worship undue as to the manner of it can only be performed by offering that as acceptable and pleasing to God or as an Exercise of Religion and honor to God or an Acknowledgment of some of his perfections which is not acceptable or well pleasing to him which rendreth him no honor and doth not tend to the Acknowledgment of any of his Attributes or perfections for by performing that which indeed is pleasing and acceptable to God or which doth render honor to him we cannot be superstitious hence it must follow that when men make those things a part of their Religion which God hath not commanded or forbidden and think God is pleased with their meer doing or abstaining from doing them they in so doing must be superstitious Two things are therefore necessary to compleat this species of false Worship viz. 1. That the matter about which it is conversant relate to the doing some supposed Religious Act that is some Act of Service acceptable and well pleasing to God and which directly tends unto his honor 2ly That he who doth it do really mistake in judging such an action to be indeed Religious and tending to his honor and therefore acceptable to him 3ly All Superstition consisting fundamentally in this mistake and formally in the ensuing practice thereupon it must with equal reason be concluded that the forbearance of an act upon the like mistake viz. that we conceive it well pleasing to God and tending to his honor to forbear it when indeed it is not so is Superstition because by that Forbearance we equally design to please and honor God and do it as unduly
which must therefore be unlawful according to this Argument because prescribed by no Apostle in the Holy Scriptures This is a business which if it were necessary would be equally necessary to all Ages Ob. 2. Ibid. and parts of the Catholick Church and therefore it cannot be necessary but it must be the matter of an universal law now God hath made no such law in Scripture and so Scripture sufficiency as the Catholick Rule of faith and universal obedience is utterly overthrown Answer The Answers given to the first objection do also manifestly shew the vanity of this for may it not as well be said of the Festivities of the Apostles and first Martyrs of the Church as of the feast of Christmas the Ascension of our Lord c. That If they are necessary to be observed they must be necessary to all Ages that God in Scripture hath made no law concerning them c. May it not as well be said that if Publick Assemblies are necessary to be set apart now that if any unprescribed forms of Prayer are necessary to be used now or any words in Scripture not prescribed in consecration or celebration of the Sacraments that if standing on the Lords day in time of Prayer if Stationary days if the Penitential Discipline observed in the Primitive Church were necessary in any Age or part of the Church they must be necessary in all Ages and parts of the Catholick Church and that God hath in Scripture made no laws concerning them and so Scripture sufficiency is and was by the observation of them overthrown 2ly Tho we do judge the observation of these Festivals expedient yet we by no means hold it necessary not by necessity of precept for we pretend not to any precept of this kind not as a necessary means for we acknowledge God may be duly praised and Worshipped and magnified for the mercies we then celebrate on other days and therefore we confess that * Non putandum Ecclesiam Christianam aliquancessitate astringi ad obser vationem immotam festorum dierum sed statuendum dies hosee humanâ authoritateconstitutos eddem posse tolli mutari c. Dav. in Coloss 2. v. 16. if the Church thinks fit she may leave all men to their liberty in the observing or not observing of these days only we add that sure the General Rule of doing all things for edification will warrant her appointment of them for the forementioned ends as well as the appointment of a Lecture-day or of a Sermon before the Assizes God himself hath appointed a day for the same purposes as these are pretended for Ob. 3. Ibid. for the Lords day is to commemorate the Resurrection as the great triumphant act of the Redeemer implying all the Rest of his works so that tho it be principally for the resurrection above any single work of Christ yet also for all the work of Redemption and the whole is on that day to be commemorated with Holy joy and praise now when God himself hath set apart one day in every week to commemorate the whole work of Redemption it seems an accusing of his Institutions of insufficiency to come after him to mend them and say we must have an Anniversary day for this or that part of the work Answer 1. That God did institute the Lords day for the particular Commemoration of the whole work of the Redemption is Gratis dictum what Scripture or what declaration of Any Father of the Church saith so 2ly This Argument makes it unlawful to set up a lecture upon any day but the Lords day for that day being appointed for publick reading and hearing of Gods Holy word for men to set up another day for that end is to accuse his institutions of insufficiency 3ly This Argument condemns the universal Church of Christ from the Apostles days for they did then observe the feast of Easter and so tho God had set apart a weekly Commemoration of the resurrection of our Lord they did come after him and observe an Anniversary day for the same thing and so according to this way of Arguing did more apparently accuse his institutions of insufficiency 4ly This objection seems to accuse the wisdom of Gods own institutions for tho the Jewish Sabbath was instituted with a peculiar respect to their deliverance out of Aegypt Deut. 5.15 yet for that mercy which was far inferior to those which Christians do enjoy by our Lords Birth his Death his Resurrection and Ascension he required other solemnities to be observed yearly viz. The great feast of the Passover why therefore may not the wisdom of the Church in imitation of this pattern besides the Lords day weekly set apart for celebrating the work of our Redemption require other solemnities to be observed yearly for a peculiar Commemoration of the most Signal parts of that Redemption Obj. 4 The fourth Commandment being one of the Decalogue seems to be of so High a nature that man must not presume to make the like Ibid. but it seems a doing the same or of like nature to what God hath done in the fourth Commandment if any man will make a necessary stated Holy day to the universal Church Answer 1. Who goes about to make a Necessary stated Holy day to the Universal Church sure none besides the Church of Rome pretendeth to give laws unto her But what the Universal Church hath thought fit to observe I hope our Church may prudently comply with and call upon her Children so to do 2ly Is not this done as much by the stated Festivals which you allow of as by those you do condemn was it not done as much by appointing the feast of Purim to be observed yearly and by ordaining that these days should be remembred and kept throughout every Generation Esth 9.27 28. every Family every Province and every City and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews nor the memorial of them perish from their seed was it not done as much by the whole Congregation of Israel when they ordained that the days of the Dedication of the Altar should be observed from year to year by the space of eight days And yet neither our Lord 1 Macc. 4.59 nor any of the Prophets charged them with violation of the 4th Commandment on that account or with presuming to do the like to that which God had done in the institution of it Object 5 Where there is no law sure we are there is no transgression but there is no law of God Commanding Christmas or other Holy-days therefore there is no trangression in not keeping them But then it is not sure that there is no transgression in keeping them therefore the surer side is to be taken Answer 1. That this Argument plainly destroys his former grant of the expedience of observing and enjoyning other Holy-days for which no law of God commanding them can be produced 2ly That this Argument may be retorted thus
Christian sort and by a disuse of any other to incapacitate our own and our admirers devotions for the other and make both our selves and them uncharitably censorious of all Forms of Prayer and those who use them that is of the whole Catholick Church except a new and inconsiderable party CHAP. XI The Contents The Proposition That there is nothing in the Liturgy prescribed by the Church of England to which her Lay Communicants may not yield obedience The general Objections against it Answered are 1. That the phrase throughout the several Offices is such as presumes all persons in the Communion of the Church to be regenerate and in an actual state of Grace § 1. The falseness of which suggestion is shewed in ten instances and the phrase of the Liturgy is justified from like expressions of the Holy Scripture ibid. 2. Obj. That the people do not only say Amen but bear a part in the Prayers Answ This is justified from the practice of the Jews and Primitive Christians and the benefit of so doing § 2. 3. That the same Prayers are oft repeated which seems to be the vain Repetition forbidden by Christ Matth. 6.7 8. Answ These Repetitions are justified from Scripture-Examples and the practice of Christ § 3. Objections against several parts or expressions of the Liturgy Answered As 1. That in several parts of the Liturgy all profess to put their trust in God whereas it is to be feared that many in our Congregations do not so § 4. 2. That we all profess to Repent and be heartily sorry for our sins We all say on Sexagesima Sunday that God seeth that we put no trust in any thing that we do after the Communion we all give thanks to God that he hath assured us of his favour and goodness to us And in the Third Collect after Trinity we all profess that God hath given us an hearty desire to pray which professions cannot be thus generally made in truth § 5.3 That we pray that God would give to all Nations Unity Peace and Concord that he would save among the remnant of true Israelites all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks that he would have mercy upon all men which petitions cannot be put up in Faith there being no promise of so large extent in Scripture § 6.4 That we pray to God to succour help and comfort all that are in danger necessity and tribulation to preserve all that travail by land or by water all Women labouring of child all Prisoners and Captives and so we pray for Robbers Pyrats Whores c. § 7. Some passages in the Liturgy which seem obscure or Metaphorical explained As 1. There is no health in us 2. Give peace in our time O Lord Because there is no other that fighteth for us but only thou O God 3. Lighten our darkness 4. From Fornication and all other deadly sins 5. From sudden Death Good Lord deliver us 6. By the Mystery of thy Holy Incarnation by thy Holy Nativity and Circumcision and by the coming of the Holy Ghost Good Lord deliver us 7. That our bodies may be made clean by his Body and our souls washed by his most precious blood 8. That God by the Baptism of his Well-beloved Son did sanctifie water to the mystical washing away of Sin 9. The Prayer after the Fourth Commandment Lord have mercy upon us and encline our hearts to keep this Law 10. With this Ring I the Wed with my body I thee worship and with all my worldly Goods I thee endow § 8. The Conclusion THAT there is nothing in the stinted Liturgy prescribed by the Church of England to which her Lay Communicants may not yield obedience or which can render their Communion with her sinful or unlawful to them As will be evident by answering the scruples Dissenters do suggest against the whole or any portion of that Service in which they are obliged to join with us And to begin with the Objections which respect the whole body of the Liturgy § 1 1. It is Objected That in the whole Common Prayer there is not any Petition or Confession which imports any doubt Dr. Chambers paper of unaffected scruples or fear that any of those who join in that Service are in a state of unregeneration or enmity to God whereas there are many in our Congregations of whom the Lord hath cause to complain as of the Jews that they hold fast deceit and refuse to return Jer. 3.5.11.15 To this effect runs the Objection of the Commissioners at the Savoy viz. P. 7. That throughout the several Offices the phrase is such as presumes all persons within the Communion of the Church to be regenerated converted and in an actual state of Grace which had Ecclesiastical discipline been truly and vigorously executed in the exclusion of scandalous and obstinate sinners might be better supposed but there having been and still being a confessed want of that as in the Liturgy is acknowledged it cannot rationally be admitted in the outmost latitude of Charity Answer This plainly seems to be a great mistake or false suggestion against the frame and constitution of our Liturgy For 1. The Sentences of Scripture appointed to be read at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer are fitted to the state of unregenerate and wicked persons and call upon them to turn from their wickedness that they have committed Ezek. 18.27 and do that which is lawful and right that they may save their souls alive To rent their hearts Joel 2.13 Dan. 9.9 10. and turn unto the Lord their God To acknowledge that they have rebelled against the Lord their God And have not obeyed the voice of the Lord to walk in his ways which he set before them Luke 15 18 19. And that they have sinned against their heavenly Father so as to be no more worthy to be called his servants 2. The Exhortation calls upon them to confess their manifold sins and wickednesses and not to dissemble or cloak them but confess them with an humble lowly penitent and obedient heart to the end that they may obtain forgiveness of the same through Gods infinite goodness and mercy and so it manifestly doth suppose that many of them who are thus exhorted have not yet obtained forgiveness of their sins 3. The General Confession doth acknowledge that we are miserable offenders and that there is no health in us and prays that God would restore them that are penitent according to his promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord and so suggests that they have need of Repentance to interest them in those promises 4. The Absolution begins with a declaration that God desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live adding that God will pardon and absolve all those that truly repent and therefore calls upon us to beseech him to grant us true repentance and his Holy Spirit and doth suppose that many present want
the grace of true Repentance and the sanctifying operations of the Spirit 5. The Venite or Psalm first read unto the people exhorts them not to harden their hearts lest God should swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest 6. The Litany prays for mercy upon us miserable sinners for deliverance from Hypocrisie and all other deadly sins from hardness of heart and contempt of Gods word and Commandments and begs that God would give us true Repentance 7. There is a Prayer appointed to be used before the two final Prayers of Morning and Evening Service desiring that though we be tyed and bound with the chain of our sins we may be loosed from them by Gods mercy 8. The Prayer to be said during the time of Advent is that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light the Prayer to be said every day in Lent begs that God would create and make in us new and contrite hearts 9. The Exhortation to the Communion supposeth that many of the Congregation to which it is read are grievous sinners who have need to repent and amend before they come unto the table that many of them may be Blasphemers of God or hinderers and slanderers of his word Adulterers or such as live in malice envy or other grievous sins And therefore they are charged not to come unto that Table till they have repented of them Lastly The Church hath appointed her Office of Commination on purpose to awaken such notorious Sinners to Repentance Let therefore any reasonable person judge whether there be no Petition or Confession in the Common Prayer which imports any doubt or fear that any who join in our Service may be unregenerate whether there be no Prayer made to the Lord with special relation to such persons or whether the whole phrase of all our Offices be such as presumes all persons within the Communion of the Church to be regenerate as is suggested and whether it be not matter of just admiration that such exceptions as are so grosly and manifoldly false should with such confidence be made against our Liturgy Add to this that all our Congregations being mixt of good and bad it seemeth to have been great wisdom in our Church that she hath so composed her Confessions and Petitions as that they may be applicable in some good sense to both and therefore they betray their ignorance and folly who upon this account do blame her 2. N. 15. To this Objection it is Answered by our Commissioners That the Church in her Prayers useth no more offensive phrase than St. Paul useth when he writes Rom. 1.7 to all that are in Rome beloved of God Saints called Giving thanks to God for them all vers 8. telling them that they were grafted into the good Olive tree 17. and were partakers of its root and fatness that they stood by Faith Rom. 11.17 vers 20. that they had obtained mercy vers 30. To the Church of God in Corinth the sanctifyed in Christ Jesus 1 Cor. 1.2 the Saints called giving thanks to God who had enriched them in all wisdom and knowledge So that they came behind in no gift V. 5 7 waiting for the revelation of Jesus Christ and saith unto them all are yours and you are Christs Chap. 3.22 23. V. 16. Chap. 6.15 1 Cor. 3.13 Chap. 4.6 Chap. 6.8 that they were the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelled in them that their bodies were the members of Christ of some of whom he notwithstanding saith that they were carnal that they were puffed up one against another that they did wrong and defrauded even their brethren that they walked not charitably chap. 8. that some of them were guilty of Idolatry and partaking of the table of Devils chap. 10. that they came together to the Lords Table for the worse not for the better that some of them were drunken did eat and drink unworthily not discerning the Lords Body and that for this cause many were weak and many sick among them and many fallen asleep chap. 11. 1 Cor. 15.12 that some of them said there was no resurrection of the dead that some of them did look on the Apostles as men who walked after the flesh that he was afraid of them 2 Cor. 10.2 lest that as the serpent had deceived Eve so their minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ Chap. 11.3 Chap. 12.20 21. that he was afraid lest when he came unto them he should find them such as he would not lest there should be among them wrath contentions c. To the Saints in Ephesus Eph. 1.1 4 5.13 and the faithful in Christ Jesus elected before the world predetermined to sonship sealed with the spirit of promise with many other things of a like nature which he without distinction speaketh of them To the Saints in Coloss Coloss 1.2 5 8.3 12. and to the faithful brethren in Christ Jesus And notwithstanding there were many who by their known sins declared themselves to be otherwise yet he gives the denomination to the whole from the greater part to whom in charity it was due and puts the rest in mind what they have by their Baptism undertaken to be and what they profess themselves to be and our Prayers and the phrase of them surely suppose no more than that they are Saints by calling sanctifyed in Christ Jesus by their Baptism admitted into Christs congregation and so to be reckoned members of that society till either they shall separate themselves by wilful schism or be separated by legal excommunication Now to this it is replyed That there is a great difference between the titles given to the whole Church from the better part Reply Reply to the Comiss p. 45. and the titles given to individual members where there is no such reason that a field may be called a corn-field though there be tares in it but none of these tares may be called by the name of corn that they will not perswade the people that every notorious drunkard fornicator worldling c. that is buried is a Brother of whose resurrection to life eternal we have sure and certain hope Answer I am humbly confident that no one instance of this nature can be produced where any individual member of our Church Dr. Combers Comp. part 4. p. 474 475. who is notoriously wicked is represented as a Saint or a regenerate person We bury those who do depart this life in sure and certain hope of the resurrection in the general not of the resurrection of the deceased person in particular to life eternal and though the common use of the word eternal life apply it to the better part yet the word strictly considered signifies both the state of the good and evil after the Resurrection and so it is expounded by those who consider it in the Creed and therefore may be used
saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 36. in 1 Ep. ad Cor. p. 487. l. 3.24 484. l. 5. that one may be said to sing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though all sing after him so that the voice comes as it were from one mouth all which testimonies sufficiently convince us that what we do in this particular is sutable to the practice of the whole Church of God in Antient times 3. This custom doth commend it self unto us from the consideration of the benefit which may accrue unto us by it For 1. We hereby shew that Symphony which Christ requires in our prayers Matt. 18.19 that they may be prevailing and that we fully do agree to the Petitions that are made in our behalf Rom. 15.6 and praise God with the Minister not only with one heart but with one mouth 2. Our attention is hereby both quickned and engaged which might be apt to stray the more if we should bear no part in the whole Service for when the people bear a share in the performance of this duty Combers Comp. part 1. p. 177. They must expect before it come that they may be ready when it is come they must observe that they may be right and after take heed to prepare against the next Answer they are to give How pious therefore and prudent is this order of the Church thus to intermix the peoples duty that they may be always exercised in it or preparing for it and never have leasure to entertain those vain thoughts which will set upon us especially in the house of God if we have nothing to do Object 3 Our Saviour reprehends the vain Repetitions of the Heathens in these words When you pray § 3 use not vain repetitions as the Heathens do for they think to be heard for their much speaking be not ye therefore like unto them Matt. 6.7 8. Now of these vain repetitions the Common Prayer seems to be guilty say Dissenters 1. In the frequent use of the Lords Prayer that being there appointed to be used four times in the Morning Service viz. after the Absolution the Creed the Litany and in the beginning of the Communion Service 2. In those words used in the close of the Litany O Christ hear us Lord have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us Lord have mercy upon us and in the frequent repetitions of the Gloria Patri To this Objection I Answer Answ 1 That our Saviour cannot be supposed to reprehend such repetitions as these are proceeding from a fervency of Spirit 1. Because he himself used the like expressions when He prayed most fervently for the Evangelist St. Luke informs us That being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly Luk. 22.44 And Matthew doth assure us that He repeated thrice the same Petition for he saith Matthew prayed the third time saying the same words Chap. 26. vers 44. This therefore cannot be vain Repetition unless our Lord himself did practise it in contradiction to his own command Moreover our Saviour sung an Hymn with his Disciples at the conclusion of the Sacrament according as the Jews were wont to do at their Paschal Supper Censent viri eruditi cantatos à Christo hymnos qui paschate cani solerent à Psal 113. ad Psal 118. inclusivé Synopsi Cum in plurali dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inde colligi ipsos una hymnum omnibus notum cecinisse quomodo Christo accinere potuissent discipuli si ille novum insuetum hymnum cecinisset Buxt de coen Dom. §. 84. which Hymn began at Psal 113. and ended with the 118 Psalm This saith the Learned Buxtorf was a very Antient custom mentioned in the Jewish Talmud and there delared to be prescribed by the Prophets Now that our Saviour sung this very Hymn is highly probable say the Learned because he did in other things comply with the Rites used by the Jews in celebrating of the Paschal Supper and therefore may be well supposed to have done so also in this Case Now in this Hymn Psal 118. we find the same words in the four first Verses viz. for his mercy endureth for ever parallel to those in the end of our Litany and in the last Verse we find the same words again and indeed the whole Psalm is full of Repetitions as you may see v. 8 9 10 11 12. as also Psal 115.9 10 11 12. The sweet Singer of Israel affords us many like Examples so Psal 119. we have this Prayer teach me thy statutes v. 26 64 68 124 135. teach me the way of thy statutes v. 33. teach me thy judgments v. 108. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes v. 5. make me to go in the path of thy commandments v. 35. let my heart be sound in thy statutes v. 80. so that upon the matter we find him ten times repeating the same thing Six times in the same Psalm he prays that God would quicken him according to his word and loving kindness viz. v. 37. 88. 107. 149. 156. 159. And he professes his love of and delight in Gods Law in the same Psalm as oft as there be Letters in the Alphabet In Psalm 42 43. which are assuredly twins their matter being alike and they having no title to distinguish them we find the same thing thrice repeated viz. why art thou cast down O my soul c. Psal 42.5 11.43.5 In Psal 107. we find this Prayer four times repeated Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness viz. v. 8 15 21 31. and lastly in Psalm 136. we find these words O Give thanks unto the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever four times repeated and that Clause for his mercy endureth for ever twenty six times To these Examples it is Answered Reply Presb. Comission p. 85. that there is a great difference betwixt what is unusual and what is our daily course of worship Answer Be it so nevertheless once usage is sufficient to shew that the thing cannot be unlawful or forbidden by the Text forementioned since Negative Precepts always do oblige and so that which they forbid can never be done without sin 2. The Assemblies Annotations tell us that some of these were common constant forms as well for ordinary daily praises in divine service as for extraordinary occasions and this appears from 1 Chron. 16.34 where it is said that Heman and Jeduthun and other men were chosen to give thanks to the Lord because his mercy endureth for ever So also 2 Chron. 5.13 they praised the Lord saying Psalm 136. for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever So Ezr. 3.1 they sang together in course praising and giving thanks to God because he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And Jer. 33.11 is mention made of them that should say praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good for his mercy endureth for ever from all which places it seemeth evident that Psalm 136. as well as
the Paschal Hymn was part of their usual devotions 3. Whereas Dissenters say there is great difference betwixt a Psalm of praises 〈◊〉 ◠15. and our ordinary Prayers and that more liberty may be taken in Psalms and be an Ornament 1. This is said without proof no reason being given why I may not say four times Glory be to the Father as well as Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness 2. Some of the instances here given are of perfect Prayers as those from Psalm 119. and our Divines acknowledge that thanksgiving is a part of Prayer and 3. in the Prayer of Daniel we have the same thing four times repeated in three Verses O our God hear the prayer of thy servant ch 9.17 O my God encline thine ear and hear v. 18. O Lord hear v. 19. whence this Conclusion will arise that the Repetitions used in our Churches Liturgy cannot be charged as vain Repetitions without reflecting upon the practice of our Lord and of the Royal Psalmist Wherefore the thing reproved by our Lord under the name of vain repetition and much speaking is not all length of Prayer or repetition of the same words from such a fervency of spirit as quickens and inflames devotion but it is a lengthening out the time with tautologies out of a vain Opinion that we shall be heard for our much speaking our frequent using the same words and crying out from Morning unto Noon O Baal hear us 1 Kings 18.26 or for the multiplicity of words the time and labour which we spend in Prayer though it be only the labour of the lip The scruples which concern our Liturgy in general being thus dispatch'd I proceed to the consideration of the Objections made against the several Portions of it and of those more especially which do concern the daily or the weekly service of our Church against which it is thus objected viz. Object 1 That whereas Christians are obliged to pray in Faith § 4 and utter words of truth in their addresses to God there be many passages in our Liturgy which cannot be put up to him in faith and truth as v. g. In the Te Deum it is said O Lord in thee have I trusted in the close of the Litany Dr. Chambers Let thy mercy O Lord be shew'd upon us like as we put our trust in thee In the form of the solemnization of Matrimony of Visitation of the sick of Churching of Women and in the Commination is appointed to be said O Lord save thy servant who putteth his trust in thee Now say Dissenters putting trust in the Lord is one discriminating Character of Gods truly holy people Psal 34.8 Psal 121.1 Nah. 1.7 in which number no man of understanding can conceive that all Married Persons all Women delivered from Childbirth all sick persons yea all that join in our Congregational Worship are to be rank'd who yet are plainly and with personal particularity of times avouched to be persons trusting in the Lord no Charity say they will justify these professions made with respect to particular persons many of which persist in such ignorance and wickedness as testifyeth to their faces that they neither truly know nor trust in the Lord their God Answer It is confessed even by those Dissenters who do thus object that in publick Prayers made in a mixt Congregation Dr. Chambers it sufficeth that the words though uttered in general forms be suted to the state of some particulars in such Congregations and indeed otherwise there could be no publick professions of our sence of our sin and misery our shame and sorrow for them our repentance for our past sins no professions of our good desires no promises of amendment or of a thankful remembrance of Gods mercies if he be pleased to vouchsafe them to us no publick thanks return'd for spiritual mercies for regenerating and sanctifying Grace and no expressions of our hope our faith our trust in God Whereas we find expressions of this nature frequent in the Holy Scriptures As for instance 1. By way of Confession and acknowledgment our transgressions are with us and as for our iniquities we know them Esa 59.12 We acknowledge O Lord our wickedness and the iniquity of our Fathers Jer. 14.20 2. By way of promise of amendment and that they will return no more to folly Return we beseech thee O Lord God of Hosts look down from heaven behold and visit this Vine Ps 80.14 So will not we go back from thee quicken us and we will call upon thy Name v. 18. thus doth the Prophet Hoseah counsel all Israel to say take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render thee the calves of our lips Hos 14.2 We will not say any more to the works of our hands you are our Gods v. 3. Help us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name Ps 79.9 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever we will shew forth thy praise to all Generations Vers 13. 3. By way of profession of their waiting upon him for mercy Psal 123.2 Behold as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a Maiden to the hand of her Mistress so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us where note that this is one of those Psalms of degrees which were sung before the people upon some Ascent or Desk Vid. Hamm. in Psal 120. and it is a profession that they all thus diligently waited upon God therefore will we wait upon thee for thou hast done all these things saith Jeremiah in the name of all Israel Jer. 14.22 by profession of their stedfastness in Gods service notwithstanding all the Calamities they suffered thus the Psalmist having complained that God had cast them off caused their Enemies to triumph over them given them to be eaten up that he had given them up for a reproach and spoil unto the Heathens and scattered them among them c. Psal 44.9.16 He saith all this is come upon us yet have not we forgotten thee nor have we dealt falsly in thy Covenant our heart is not turned back neither are our steps declined out of thy way v. 17 18. if then according to these instances the Jews in general might make profession of their diligent waiting upon God of their stedfastness in his service under all Calamities and of the undeclining streightness of their steps if they might generally promise that they would not go back from God that they would call upon his name to the performance of which duty a promise of salvation is annexed Rom. 10.13 Act. 2.21 that they will render him the calves of their lips and will shew forth his praise though these things actually were done these promises performed only by some why may not we profess in general our trust in God though some who do present themselves before
him are defective in that Grace why may not we say of our people as David doth of his let thy mercy O Lord be shew'd upon us like as we put our trust in thee Psalm 33.22 Secondly I Answer that as there is a fear and a faith which in some is only temporary and in others permanent Exod. 14.31 Exod. 15 14. a joy which in some is only for a season â—n others lasting Luke 8.13 16. a remembrance of God and turning to him and enquiring early after him by men whose hearts are not right with him nor are they stedfast to his Covenant Psal 78.34 35 37. as well as by those persons who perform these duties in sincerity so is their a trust in God which is a discriminating mark of Gods upright Servants and a trust proper to such persons as have only some desires wrought within them to forsake their evil ways and turn unto the Lord. Wherefore we say it is sufficient to justify the use of these Petitions that we in charity stand bound to judge that they who do present themselves to be partakers of these Ordinances or call upon us to perform them do indeed trust in God according to the exigency of their present state viz. that wicked persons trust God will be merciful to them upon their repentance and pious persons that God will still continue his favour and his goodness to them Object 2 Thirdly It is objected that those Prayers are appointed to be used by all § 5 which truly and in faith can be said only by some few in our Assemblies v. g. Dr. Chamberâ— in the Communion Service it is said of all that do participate we do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings the remembrance of them is grievous to us the burthen of them is intolerable and after the receiving of the Holy Sacrament is this Prayer used we most heartily thank thee for that thou doest vouchsafe to feed VS who have duly received these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy son and doest assure us thereby of thy favour and goodness towards us and that we are very members incorporate into the mystical body of thy son which is the blessed company of all faithful people and are also Heirs through hope of thine everlasting Kingdom Now say Dissenters how few there be of Communicants who do earnestly repent and are heartily sorry for their misdoings to whom the remembrance of them is grievous the burthen is intolerable it is matter of lamentation to all men to consider who behold the little amendment that is in their lives after the participation of the Holy Sacrament nor can we apprehend how all Communicants can be warrantably directed to speak of themselves in Gods presence as persons who have duly received the Holy Mysteries at Gods Table and are thereby assured of Gods favour and goodness to them c. whereas it is a known Scripture truth that Men and Women may eat and drink at the Lords Table unworthily and that they who do so drink damnation to themselves and that there are no such unworthy Receivers in our Congregations no Charity should or doth perswade any considerate person betwixt God and his own Soul to believe as we ought to think charitably of others so also to speak truly of our selves and not vainly to boast our selves beyond our measure in the presence of the Lord. Moreover in the Prayer for Sexagesima Sunday all present are directed to say Lord God who seest that we put no trust in any thing that we do whereas say they what roots and fruits of self dependance are in multitudes of our people the Lord seeth and Ministers cannot but see great cause sadly to bewail rather than to profess before the Lord that it is otherwise with them In the Collect for the third Sunday after Trinity all are directed to say Grant that we to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray may by thy mighty aid be defended whereas an hearty desire to pray is a special disposition of the renewed Children of God Rom. 8.15 Act. 9.11 humbly to be prayed for rather than boldly professed by many in our Congregations Answ In reference to this Petition and that of duly receiving the Holy Mysteries the Objector seems to be mistaken in putting an unnecessary sense upon them For they are no profession that all present have this hearty desire no intimation that all Communicants have duly received but the first is only a Petition that as many as God hath given this hearty desire to he would vouchsafe his aid the other is only an intimation with thanksgiving that as many as duly receive may rest assured of Gods favour and goodness towards them c. Moreover there are Prayers in Scripture so like these two that the objections here produced against them seem as strongly to conclude against those Scripture Prayers Thus Nehemiah saith O Lord I beseech thee let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name Neh. 1.11 which is as much as this to whom thou hast given a hearty desire to pray And Daniel prayeth thus concerning a people as prone to trust in their own righteousness as others are we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness but for thy great mercies Dan. 9.18 It therefore may not be denied but that in mixt Congregations men may be said to do what they do outwardly profess and inwardly stand bound to do and many of them truly in some good measure do Thus Solomon declares that it is better to go to the house of mourning than of feasting for this is the end of all men Eccles 7.2 and the living will lay it to heart and yet alas how few do so indeed And God doth by his own Example teach us to judge thus charitably for having sent his Son unto the Jews Matt. 21.37 he saith they will reverence my son whereas these Murtherers of the Lord of Life did very scurvily express their reverence unto him Answ 2 Secondly Such Arguments as these will not permit us to obey our Saviours Precept by saying the Lords Prayer in publick Congregations in which too many cannot say Our Father they being of their Father the Devil too many cannot truly say that they forgive them that trespass against them much less can they say it as St. Luke records it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for we forgive every one that is indebted to us Luke 11.2 nor must we if these niceties prevail use in a mixt Assembly any expressions of our desires to repent or to amend or of our sorrow for our past offences there being many all too many in them who are not truly sorry for them nor do desire to reform them Answ 3 Besides what I have said to satisfy the former scruple which is here applicable also it may deserve to be observed farther 1. That the Hallel
was sung over at the Passover from Ps 113. to Psal 118. inclusivè and yet it cannot reasonably be thought that all the Jews could truly say all that those Psalms contained Could they all say I love the Lord because he hath heard my prayer because he hath enclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live v. 1 2. return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Psal 116.7 I will pay my vows unto the Lord v. 14. O Lord truly I am thy Servant vers 16. Could they all truly joyn in those expressions of the 118 Psalm I called upon the Lord in distress the Lord answered me and set me in a large place vers 5. The Lord is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me vers 6. The Lord is my strength my song and is become my salvavation vers 14. I will praise thee for thou hast heard me and art become my salvation vers 21. Thou art my God and I will praise thee thou art my God I will exalt thee vers 28. If all these expressions would not suit with many of the Jews who were all bound to celebrate the Passover Leight Temp. serv p. 139. Buxt exercit de coen Dom. §. 84. and so to join in singing of this Hymn which by their Constitutions was not to be omitted if lastly Christ himself with Judas sung this Hymn as most Interpreters conceive then doubtless may such Hymns and Prayers be offer'd in a mixt Assembly which do not properly agree to all who meet in that Assembly Moreover the 92 Psalm was the Psalm used in the solemn Service of the Jews upon the Sabbath Day as by the Title we may learn and yet perhaps all of them could not truly say the Lord is my rock vers 15. nor with good ground cry out My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an Vnicorn I shall be anointed with fresh Oyl Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine Enemies c. vers 10 11. The 94 Psalm was sung saith Dr. Lightfoot every Wednesday Temp. serv p. 59. and yet it may be doubted whether all the Stationary men and all that came unto the Temple Service could say When I said my foot slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul vers 18 19. much less The Lord is my defence and my God is the rock of my refuge vers 22. And therefore this can be no good exception against the Service of our Church that every passage in it will not suit with the condition of all that hear it or join in it Object 3 It is objected That some petitions in the Common Prayer seem to be without any promise in the word § 6 Dr. Chambers upon which to bottom them That they may be put up in Faith as when we are directed to pray that God would give unto all Nations Vnity Peace and Concord for the word gives us no hope of any such state in the world but teacheth us to expect the contrary Gen. 3.15 Matt. 24.7 And when in the Collect on Good-Friday we are directed to pray that God would have mercy on all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks and take from them all ignorances hardness of heart and contempt of his word and so fetch them home to his flock that they may be saved among the remnant of true Israelites Whereas the word say they gives us no hope of any such universal conversion to be obtained from the Lord but assures us of multitudes of obstinate Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks among whom are such as sin against the Holy Ghost Matt. 12.32 that they shall never be brought unto the fold of Christ and be saved among the remnant of true Israelites but that the Lord will be glorified in their justly deserved destruction as may be seen Rom. 9.27 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. Rev. 13.16 compared with Revel 14.9 10. Such also say they is that petition that the Lord would have mercy upon all men there being no promise in the word on which to found such a Petition That the Lord would have mercy upon all men to Salvation And since the Lord hath plainly declared in his word That he will leave multitudes of the world to perish in their own ways and wickedness to the glory of his justice we see not say they how any except the Origenists can pray either in Faith or Hope that the Lord would have mercy upon all men when they know assuredly from his own mouth that he will not have mercy upon all men but will make some the vessels of his wrath We know from Scripture that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and the rest he hardneth Rom. 9.15 18. by giving them up to their own hearts lusts and leaving them to walk in their own Counsels Psalm 81.2 Rom. 1.24 The Prophet David in Faith and Charity no doubt made his Prayer in direct contradiction to this general Prayer of our Liturgy Psal 59.4 And therefore we can look on this no otherwise than as a groundless Petition which hath some shadow of Charity but no substance of Faith or Hope in it without which Prayer is weak and worthless before God Jam. 1.6 Now to the first instance in this Objection I Answer Answ 1 That this is an Objection against the general Petition of the whole Church of God for the Liturgy of St. James runs thus See Dr. Combers Compan p. 126 127 128. we beg of thee ut totus mundus pace fruatur That the whole world may have Peace and Concord The Liturgy of St Chrysostom and Basil thus We pray unto thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Peace and Vnity of the whole world Secondly It is prophesied of our Lord Jesus That he should rule among the Nations and cause them to beat their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks so that Nation should not rise up against Nation neither should they learn War any more Isa 2.4 But shall sit every man under his own Vine and under his own Fig-tree and none should make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Mich. 4.3 4. For the accomplishment of which predictions surely we may pray in Faith because the mouth of him that cannot lye hath spoken them Again the Lord hath promised that none shall hurt in all his Holy Mountain and that because the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea Isa 11.9.65.25 Hab. 2.14 and therefore we may pray that this may be accomplished in all Christian Nations 1 Tim. 2.1 Thirdly Christianity was to be planted in all the Nations of the world by promise and being planted so all Christians are obliged by precept to pray for Kings and all that are in Authority that under them they might live peaceable and quiet lives
or at the least we understand not how they can be said with any certainty of truth And Q 1 What say they is the meaning of that Metaphor in the Confession There is no health in us Answer The meaning is That we have no power to help or save our selves out of the misery which by our sins we have deserved that there is nothing in our selves which can preserve us from perishing under the guilt of our iniquities this is the frequent import of the word health in Scripture So Psal 42.11.43.1 God is the health of my countenance i. e. the help of my countenance Psal 42.5 Salvation is far from the wicked Psal 119.155 N. Transl Health is far from them saith the Old And again Trust not in Princes or in any sons of men for there is no help in them Psal 146.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no health or no Salvation in them say the Seventy Q 2 What is the meaning or at least the appositeness of that Respons Give Peace in our time O Lord. Resp Because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou O God Answer To lay the foundation of a perspicuous Answer to this Question consider 1. Vide Comber part 1. p. 363 364. 1 Chron. 22.9 Isai 39.8 That it was one of Gods gracious Promises to his pious Servants of old that he would give peace in their days and so this is fit matter of our Prayer 2. Consider That God is in the Scripture stiled the God of Peace that it is He who makes peace in our borders and by his providence preserveth peace among Nations Psal 46.9 breaking the Bow and knapping the Spear asunder Consider 3. That this God is our only sure defence against our Enemies and that our Armies and Navies will be unsuccessful to defend us without his good providence or to procure peace for us And therefore it behoves us to apply our selves unto him for these mercies Conlider 4. That the end of all just War is Peace men therefore sighting in their own defence that they may oblige their neighbours to live peaceably by them This being so what is more proper than this Prayer Give peace in our time O Lord thou God of Peace either by keeping us from War or rendring our Arms so happy and successful that they may procure us a lasting peace This do we beg of thee because there is none other who can keep us from War or save us in it or make our fighting tend unto our lasting future peace but only thou O Lord. Q 3 What is the meaning of that Metaphor Lighten our darkness O Lord Answ I Answer It is a Scripture phrase used Psal 18.28 Job 29.3 importing our desire that by the goodness of our God we may be kept in a joyful comfortable prosperous state which state in Scripture is usually signified by the word light being preserved still from all calamities and miseries if we at present are free from them or else delivered from them by his power and mercy if we labour under any kinds or degrees of them and the ensuing clause is but an explication and application of it to the then present night Q. 4 What mean you by your Prayer for deliverance from Fornication and all other deadly sins Do you not by it seem to approve that Popish Doctrine which holds that some sins in their nature are venial that is do not deserve Eternal Death Answer This cannot rationally be suspected of that Church whose Doctrine it is That all sin is in its own nature deadly though all in the event do not and according to the tenor of the Covenant of Grace will not prove deadly to the Christian. For that New Covenant declares God will accept of our sincere obedience that is of such obedience as is consistent with sins of ignorance and weakness and that such sins will not exclude us from Gods favour but will be pardoned upon our general Repentance and our desire to be cleansed from our secret sins The import therefore of this phrase is this That God would graciously deliver us from-all those sins which are therefore deadly 1. Because they do declare him who commits them to be unregenerate or dead in trespasses and sins And thus it is declared concerning Fornicators Eph. 5.5 For no Fornicator hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but is a son of disobedience vers 6. He is yoked with the prophane Heb. 12.16 and doth commit that sin which is contrary to his cleaving to Christ and which permiteth not his body to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost And 2. 1 Cor. 6.16 19. Because they leave us under the sentence of death so that whosoever dies without particular Repentance for and reformation of them will be obnoxious to Eternal Death they being sins for which the wrath of God comes upon the Children of disobedience So is it said of Fornication Coloss 3.6 and to all Fornicators it is threatned That they shall have their portion in the lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev. 21.8 and St Paul plainly saith Fornicators and Adulterers God will damn Heb. 13.4 And 3. Because they usually end in death few ever escaping from them or being renewed to Repentance such is too frequently the fate of him who goeth to the Harlots House For none that goeth to her house saith Solomon Prov. 2.19 returns again or takes hold of the paths of life The mouth of a strange Woman being a deep pit Prov. 22.14 into which he that is abhorred of the Lord doth fall Now these sins being too many to be named particularly and being difficult to be exactly stated and enumerated are comprehended under this general appellation To humble the bold committers of them by minding them that if they be not speedily repented of which is but rarely done they will end in their Damnation or Eternal Death Q. 5 Why pray you for deliverance from sudden death which if it happen to the prepared Christian seems to be no evil Answer Though some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euchol p. 776. who it seems think that they are always sit to dye do inconsiderately blame this petition of our Liturgy as unbecoming Christians and thereby blame the Church of God which for a long time hath made use of this petition yet I suppose that none of them would wish or if they well considered be as much contented to dye by the immediate suddain hand of God as to have time to recollect themselves before death to dye as did Jobs children or they on whom the Tower of Siloam fell but rather would conceive it were a mercy worthy of their thanks to be delivered from such a death And that 1. Comber part 2. p. 61 62. Because this suddain death affords no time to settle our Estates but leaves our temporal concerns entangled and involves our Relations in Law-suits and contests 2.