Exaltation namely Resurrection Ascension and Glorification in Heaven ARTICLE V. The third day he rose again from the dead Tho' being a Christian I need no Proof of Christ's rising from the Dead yet to confirm my belief of so eminent an Article God has given me the Testimony of Angels of the Men that guarded the Sepulcher the many Apparitions of Christ after he was risen the Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles the Miracles done by them in his Name So that I have just ground to believe and profess That the Body of Christ saw no Corruption as did the Bodies of the Patriarchs And because it was impossible he should be holden of the Power of Death I do believe that he did really rise again and that the very same Body and Soul of our Saviour which were separated by Death were by his own Divine Power reunited in his Resurrection And as to the time when he arose I have been taught and do believe That it was the Third day after his Death which hapned to be the First day of the Week Which Day we celebrate in memory of his Resurrection and which has immemorially been called The Lord's Day ARTICLE VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth c. I believe That Christ ascended by the same Power he rose And that this was no other Power than that of his own Divinity by which as an High-Priest of good things to come he once ascended visibly and locally into the Heaven of Heavens as the High-Priest once every Year entred into the Holy of Holies And the End of his Ascension was I believe to prepare a place for Believers and to receive them to it that where he is they might be also After Christ's Ascension into Heaven he took his Place at the Right-Hand of God Not that I think God who is a most absolute Spirit hath either Right or Left Hand but that this is spoken after the manner of Men who place those whom they will most honour upon their Right-hand And from Christ's being thus placed in Heaven I collect That he there took up his Abode in a State of Majesty and Power to shew that he was above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and that he is exalted to be the King of Saints and Judge of Sinners the Prince of our Salvation and High-Priest of our Profession and that in him there was an Union of the Regal Power and Priestly Office when he sat down at the Right-hand of the Father Almighty So that by the former he is perfectly able to subdue all his Enemies and by the latter he doth ever intercede for and eternally save those that are his ARTICLE VII From thence he shall come to judge c. As I believe that Christ redeemed me by his death and passion and that by his Ascension he is become my Advocate and Intercessor with God so I believe that he shall come the second time from Heaven with great Glory to judge the World For besides the particular Judgment that passeth upon every Man immediately upon his Death when the departed Soul is set at God's Tribunal and examined of all its Thoughts Words and Actions I say besides this particular Judgment I believe their shall be a general Judgment when all shall be judged as well the Quick that shall be alive at that day as the Dead who shall then be raised up And that this last Judgment Christ himself as a Supream Judge shall pass the final Sentence and that the Saints as Assessors shall pass their Sentence of Approbation I believe too That I and all Men shall be judged of all things done in the Body whether Good or Evil And that upon the pronouncing of the Sentence the truly penitent shall pass to an Estate of Eternal Happiness and finally the Impenitent to an Estate of Eternal Misery ARTICLE VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost Having briefly declared what my Faith is in God the Father and God the Son I am next to declare what I believe concerning God the Holy Ghost And first I believe That without Faith in the Holy Ghost I cannot believe in God the Father nor in his Son as my Lord. For no Man can call God Father but by the Holy Ghost nor can any Man say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Whom I believe to be the Third Person in the Divine Being and therefore True God And that as he proceedeth from the Father and the Son which I believe he doth he is a Person distinct from both The Spirit in whom I believe is called Holy because in himself he is without all Pollution and sin and because he is the Author of all Holiness in me and all who truly believe in him So that all my Holiness is but a Ray or Effusion of the Holy Ghost which doth furnish my Heart with spiritual and saving Graces by the Work of Sanctification ARTICLE IX I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints After this plain Account given by me of the Articles which concern the Blessed Trinity I will now give the like Account of those that follow which respect such only as truly believe in and obey and Worship the Trinity in Unity and who are here called the Church Which I plainly take to signifie all those whom Christ hath called out of the World to be his peculiar People Over whom he hath a Sovereign Authority in regard of which they willingly and chearfully pay him Homage and obey his Law and Ordinances For by Church I have been taught to understand the Corporation and General Family of all true Believers which Family truly deserves to be called Holy in respect of its Head which is Christ who is Holy in himself and whose Holiness is imputed to all sincere Believers And who through the Grace given to them do labour study and endeavour to be Holy And the Church in this familiar acception I believe is Universal as well as Holy and that there are in all the Quarters of the World those who by Baptism are admitted into it and so made Members of Christ's Mystical Body who are guided by his Spirit nourished by the Word and Sacrament and who are obedient to the Rule and Government of the Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to their Offices And of this Society of Believers which constitute the Church some are in a state of War continually fighting against their own and Christ's Enemies but yet in daily expectation of Triumph and a Crown And these are called the Church Militant which is on Earth And some are in a state of Peace for having fought the good Fight of Faith and finished their Warfare they are entred into their Master's Joy And these make the Church Triumphant which is crowned in Heaven Now these I hold are not two divers Churches but the same Church under a different State and Condition For I believe the Church to be essentially but one And as Christ's Mystical Body the Church
God hath ordained in his Church to convey unto me this Remission and to perform the Condition on which it is promised My believing the Rising again of my Body should make me watchful against all things that may keep it from being in a fit condition to rise to Glory and to practice all such Vertues as may prepare it for that Heavenly Condition to which I expect it should be raised And my believing the Life Everlasting should make me diligent to employ my short moment of Time here that my Everlasting Life hereafter may be a Life of Joy and not of Misery And thus from all the Articles of the Creed I am to draw Motives to strengthen me in all Christian Practice to which end my learning and believing of them is designed And till I do this I cannot rationally pretend to make good what I promised when I was baptized namely To believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And without this I think my self unfit to partake of the Lord's Supper I now proceed to Obedience which you have frequently taught me is the second Head of my Christian Profession and that it has the Ten Commandments for its Rule and of these as well as of the Creed I ought to have a convenient Knowledge both as to the Words and Meaning before I come to the Lord's Table Because the keeping of God's Commandments is one part of that Vow which I have broken and come thither to renew And first I have been Catechised That in eaâ—h Commandment there is something required and something forbidden so that I may be guilty of transgressing it either by doing what I ought not to do or by leaving undone what I ought to do As to the things forbidden by the First Commandment I have learned that they are chiefly Atheism or the Denial of God's Being and the multiplying and serving of false Gods as also the not serving the only true God aright And of this last I look upon my self to become egregiously guilty when I suffer any thing to share with God in my Worship of him and when I am guilty of Hypocrisie Irreligion Indevotion Lukewarmness Heresie Schism Apostasie Infidelity Presumption Despair Carnal Security Pride Disobedience Impatience and Murmuring and wilful Ignorance of his Word And I have been taught That by this same Commandment it is required of me to acknowledge but One God and to have him for my God and to love fear obey and trust in him above all others and to serve him truly all the days of my life And as to the things forbidden in the Second Commandment I doubt not but they are The appointing of any kind of Image for Religious Worship the representing of God by a visible likeness of any thing the worshipping of Creatures the neglect of the Worship of the True God or the worshipping him after a false manner And the Duties enjoined in this Commandment are to worship the only True God according to his own Prescription to worship him both in my Body and Spirit to bear a due regard to all the Parts of his Worship as Prayer the Word and Sacraments to come to them with suitable Preparation and to yield a due Veneration to all Places Times Persons and Things rightly set apart for God's Worship And to such as thus worship him he hath promised Mercy and Kindness but has threatned to be a severe Punisher of them that do otherwise In the Third Commandment I am forbidden all irreverent Thoughts of God all Blasphemy or dishonourable mention of his Name all Perjury or Breach of lawful Oaths all occasioning the Name of God and True Religion to be blasphemed And on the other side I am enjoyned to think and speak reverently of God's Name and Attributes to glorifie him in his Holy Word and Ordinances to use his Name with Reverence in taking Religious Oaths to obâ—â—â—â—â— such Oaths with an holy Care and Conscience and to glorifie his Name by a pious Conversation The Fourth Commandment requires me to keep holy or to sanctifie all such days which are separated from a Common to a Religious use After God had in six days finished the Works of the first Creation he sanctified the Seventh Day and commanded his People to sanctifie it But after the Resurrection of Christ instead of the Seventh Day from the beginning of the Creation the First Day of the Week was hallowed and called emphatically the Lords-day And the Observation of it has been the universal practice of the Christian Church And I think my self bound to spend this day in an especial attendance on God's Service such as Prayer Preaching Participation of the Sacrament Relieving the Poor Meditating upon the Works of Creation and Redemption c. And on this day I have been taught that I am forbidden all Worldly Undertakings and Employments vain Sports and Recreations and all actions but those of Piety Mercy Necessity and Decency Now these four first Commandments respect my Duty toward God and the six that follow regard my Neighbour and my self And the first of these six which is the Fift of the Ten Commandments may be called the Commandment of Relations For it teaches me first my Duty to my Natural Parents and that I am to honour them Which implieth that I am to fear reverence succour and obey them It secondly teacheth me my Duty to my Political Parents namely the King and all in lawful Authoritâ— under him Whom also I am to honour and obey It thirdly teaches me my Duty to my Ecclesiastical Parents Spiritual Pastor and Teachers And it likewise binds me to carry my self lowly and reverently to all my betters In short I have been taught that this Commandment doth concern all the mutual Duties among all sorts and degrees of Inferiours and Superiours from the King to the Master of a Cottage And there is an especial Promise annexed to this Precept to encourage all to obey it in performing their respective Duties one to another In the Sixth Commandment which concerns Man's life all those things are forbidden me which any way tend to the injury of the same as Hatred causless and revengeful Anger contrivance of Man's Death occasions of and actual and wilful Murder And at the same time this Commandment requires me as far as I am able to preserve the life of Man and that I sustain it with Food and Raiment that I prudently avoid all Dangers and conscientiously fly from all such Vices whereby Humane Life is hazarded and which are destructive both of the Body and Soul of him that commits them Such as Drunkenness Uncleanness c. In the Seventh Commandment which concerns a chaste Conservation I am forbidden all acts of Adultery and Fornication together with unlawful Marriage And likewise all such Thoughts Looks Attire and Words as prompt and inveigle to Uncleanness I have further been taught that by this Commandment all such things are forbidden as may occasion any of these as Idleness Excess in Eating and Drinking
other Appointed means but by a due receiving the Holy Communion The Young Persons Devotions upon his first Admission to the LORD'S TABLE Expostulation WIlt thou then O God vouchsafe me to partake of that which my Soul has so long thirsted after Shall I this day be admitted a Guest at that Divine Banquet from which my own unworthiness ought for ever to exclude me Wilt thou be so gracious to a miserable sinner as to accept of a renewing of the Covenant I made in Baptism after that by numerous ways I have violated and broken it Then Lord I will not absent my self but draw near hoping to be found in the number of those whom thou dost invite even of those who truly and earnestly repent of their sins who are in Love and Charity with their Neighbours who intend to lead a New Life to follow thy Commandments and to walk from henceforth in thy Holy Ways For upon these and no Terms else do I come to the Holy Sacrament which yet I dare not receive till with all Humility of Soul and Body I have prostrated my self and made Confession of my sins The Confession ALmighty God Father oâ— our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judge of alâ— Men I acknowledge and bewail my manifold Sins and Wickedness which I from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty provoking most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for these my Misdoings the Remembrance of them is grievous to me the burden of them is intolerable Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me most merciful Father for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive me all that is past and grant that I may ever hereafter serve and please thee in Newness of Life to the Honour and Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Prayer for Pardon FOrgive me O Lord whatsoever I have transgrest against thee from the time of my Baptism even to this very Moment whether against Knowledge or through Ignorance at home or abroad sleeping or waking in Thoughts Words or Deeds Whether occasion'd through the fiery Darts of my Ghostly Enemy or by the unclean Desires of my own Heart Have Mercy upon me and grant me pardon through Jesus Christ Amen Remember not the sins of my Youth nor my Transgressions According to thy Mercy remember me for thy goodness sake O Lord. Lord the sins of these my Younger Days are many the Breaches innumerable wherewiâ—â— I have ignorantly or foolishlâ— for want of Knowledge or Coâ—sideration offended against thee Lay them not I beseech thee tâ— my Charge but of thy owâ— free Mercy and Compassion to 〈◊〉 wretched sinner be thou pleased to be reconciled unto me anâ— seal the same to my Soul by thiâ— blessed Sacrament For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great I have many ways greatly sinn'd against thee and have no ground of hope for Mercy but only from thy free abundant Pardon which I know exceedeth my Sins and for which I am the more abundantly qualified by how much my state is more truly Miserable On the account therefore of thy Free Pardon to the greatest sinners so they be truly penitent I beseech thee be reconciled unto me who this day unfeignedly repent and turn to thee For Purifying the Heart ALmighty God unto whom all Hearts be open all Desires known and from whom no Secrets are hid Cleanse the Thoughts of my Heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that I may sincerely love thee and worthily magnifie thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Lord give me Grace this day to receive the blessed Body and Blood of thy Son my most blessed Saviour into a Clean Charitable and Thankful Heart that it may perfectly cleanse me from all Dregs of sin that being made clean it may nourish me in Faith Hope Charity and Obedience with all other Fruits of spiritual life and growth in thee That in all the future Course of my Life I may shew my self such an engrafted Member into the Body of thy Son that I may nevâ—â— be drawn to do any â—hing thâ— may dishonour his Name Granâ— this O Lord I beseech theâ— eveâ— for his Merit and Mercy sake Amen For Self-Examination ALmighty God and most merciful Father give me I beseech thee that Grace that I may duly examine the inmost of my heart and my most secret thoughts that I may know how I stand before thee Lord I confess all my sins and my unworthiness to present my self at thine Altar But thou and thou only canst forgive sin and give true Repentance do both gracious Father and them behold I am clean to come unto thee Lord make me a worthy Receiver of that for which I come even Christ and Forgiveness of sin in Christ and that for his own Mercy-sake and thine Amen For belief of Christ's Presence without disputing the manner O Lord God hear my Prayers And while others dispute grant that I may stedfastly believe behold I quarrel not the Words of thy Son my Saviour's blessed Institution I know his Words are no gross unnatural Conceit but they are Spirit and Life and supernatural He hath promised me if I come worthily that I shall receive his most precious Body and Blood with all the benefits of his Passion without amusing my self then about the manner of receiving Him Lord make me able make me worthy to receive Him For grant me this Favour and I know I can no more die Eternally then his Body and Blood can again die and be shed Lord so wash and cleanse my Soul that I may now and at all times else come prepared by hearty Prayers and Devotion and be made worthy by thâ— Grace of this blessed Sacramenâ— the Pledge and Earnest of Eternâ—â— Life in the Merits of the same Holy Jesus who gave his Body anâ— Blood for me Amen Immediately before the sight of tâ—â— Bread O Lord God how I receive thâ— Body and Blood of my moâ— blessed Saviour the price of mâ— Redemption is the very wondeâ— of my Soul Yet that I do receivâ— them is my firm and constant belief At this time they are graciously tender'd to me and my Faith Lord make me a worthy Receiveâ— and be it unto me according to mâ— Saviour's Word Amen Looking upon the Bread and Winâ— say O Thou that sittest on high with the Father and art here invisibly present with us come and sanctifie these thy Creatures of Bread â—nd Wine and those by whom â—hey are to be received Amen As the Bread is coming to you say LEt thy Body I beseech thee O Lord Jesu Christ which was given for me preserve my Boâ—y and Soul unto Everlasting Life â—nd grant that I may take and eat â—n Remembrance that thou hast died for me and feed on thee in my Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving Amen As the Wine is brought say LEt thy
your heart by his Holy Spirit if you do not resist and quench it which gives you strength to overcome Temptations to sin and enables you to do what God requires of you And that you might have no pretence to refuse the Kingly Government of Christ as too heavy and difficult he has made his Yoke easie and Burden light having taken off from the hardness of the Law first given to Adam and instead of that sinless Obedience or the never committing the least sin upon pain of death which was required of him he now looks for no more than your honest and hearty Endeavour to do what you are able and accepts of sincere Repentance where you fail or miscarry And it being the gracious nature of Christs Kingly Office thus to govern and rule you and to subdue your Enemies it would be something worse if possible than disingenuity and ingratitude to disobey and hold out any disloyal passion or rebel-lust against him not to vow and pay unto him perfect Loyalty and entire Allegiance not to entrust him with your Protection not to have Peace or War with any but his Friends and Enemies not to pay him your Homage and Reverence not to give him a tribute of your Substance by Relieving his necessitous Members c. Now to keep you from flattering in these particulars and to oblige you to a cheerful discharge thereof Christ as your King hath promised and will not fail to prefer you in his Celestial Court to an eternal weight of Glory and to make you co-heir with himself of that Kingdom of Heaven which he went to take possession of at his Ascention and which he will give to all who by their impenitent continuance in iniâ—uity make not themselves unfit â—o receive it Your duty herein â—s to be exceeding careful not â—o forfeit your share in that â—ingdom which Christ has purâ—hased for all that faithfully oâ—ey him which certainly you â—o if you continue impenitent â—n any sin XIV And when you have thus â—lainly consider'd the Mercies â—hich in the second Covenant â—re on Gods part made over to Man you are next to consider that those Conditions are â—hich on Mans part are requiâ—ed by God and which you â—re to observe if ever you hope â—o be partaker of the Benefits of â—e second Covenant And â—ese you will find to be not â—1 a perfect absolute exact Obedience so as never to â—â—fend in any kind this was tâ— Condition of the first Covenanâ— Nor 2. never to have foâ—merly committed any delibâ—rate sin Nor 3. never 〈◊〉 have gone on in any habituâ— or customary sin for the timâ— past though this be be moâ— heinous and provoking anâ— may justly throw you into thâ— fearful apprehension of the Dâ—vine displeasure But it is thâ— New Creature or a reneweâ— sincere honest faithful Obâ—dience to the whole Gospeâ— giving up the whole heart unâ— Christ the ready performinâ— of that which God enables yoâ— to perform and bewailing yoâ— frailties and cordially sorrowinâ— for the iniquity both of yoâ— past and present life and beseching Gods pardon in Christ iâ— all that you have done amisâ— sincerely labouring to mortiâ— every sin and perform Uniform Obedience unto God and from every Fall rising again by Repentance and Reformation In short the Condition required to make you capable of the Benefits of the second Covenant is first by Faith to accept of Christ as your Priest to Save your Prophet to Teach and your King to Rule you Next to have all those Graces Faith Hope Charity Self-denial Repentance c. mentioned in the Gospel united and truly and sincerely rooted in your heart though mixed with much weakness and imperfection and perhaps with many sins which if not wilfully and impenitently lived and died in cannot debar you of the Benefits of the second Covenant But if you neglect these things your condition will be worse than if no second Covenant had been made for you shall theâ— be to answer not for the breach of the Law only but for the abuse of Mercy which is of all sins the most provoking XV. Now if your guilty mind tells you that you have broken these Conditions and therefore forfeited the Mercies of the second Covenant then know that it cannot be renewed but by a worthy receiving of the Secrament and worthily you cannot recieve it till you repent oâ— your sins and all those thing are to be accounted sins anâ— transgressions of the Covenant which are disagreeable to you Vow of Baptism in which thâ— general parts of your Duty anâ— contained and it is a competent Rule by which all you actions ought to be measur'â— Knowing then what in Baptism you have vowed to do by applying your actions unto that Vow you may easily conclude wherein you have done amiss Only take heed you deal not partially with your Soul by looking upon your sins in gross but do your utmost endeavour to discover the particulars Recal as far as you can all the passages of your life Consider all the instances wherein your Vow has been transgressed as wherein you have yielded to the Temptations of Satan and the World to gratifie the sinful lusts of the flesh How you have failed of that holy Conversation to which you solemnly bound your self when you promised to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith every one of which Articles is a Pledge of good living And how you have wandred from those Commandments in which you vowd to walk all the days of your life XVI And you will find this partâ—cular search of your sins botâ— proper and necessary in ordeâ— to their Forgiveness which cannot be expected withouâ— confessing and forsaking them But how either of those can bâ— done without a distinct knowledge of your sins or how yoâ— can distinctly know them without this particular search I aâ— not yet so far under the poweâ— of Fancy as to imagine Anâ— albeit that by no possible diâ—â—gence you can discover or caâ— to mind every sin committeâ— since Baptism and albeit toâ— there is no particular confeâ—sion requir'd of the sins when of you are insuperably ignoranâ— yet ignorance of your sins will be no Plea when it is supine and occasioned through neglect and proceeds from a want of timely considering what you have done XVII In drawing up a List of your sins take heed of setting down such only as hang scandalously in the Eye of the World and â—re so notorious as that the Sun bears witness of their commission But you are to search your Soul to the bottom to â—ifle every corner of your heart as knowing you have â—o deal with God whose Law â—n nothing more declares its peâ—uliar excellency than in reachâ—ng mans thoughts and desires â—nd forbidding him no less to â—ovet than to steal his Neighâ—ours goods and no less to lust after another mans Wife than to commit adultery with her And this consideration is argument enough to inclineâ— you to an accurate search anâ— enquiry first
into all the several sorts of sins whereof yoâ— may justly suspect your self tâ— be guilty carefully looking into such which by reason of theiâ— abstruser nature are not so sooâ— taken notice of either by youâ— self or others and researchinâ— into the sorts and kinds of sinâ— you will find them all reducibâ— to those of Thoughts Speecâ— and Action XVIII The first sort of these sin those of Thoughts you mâ— learn from Gods own Observâ—tion Gen. 6.5 when he saw thâ— every Imagination of maâ— heart was only evil continâ—ally To which our Saviour had respect St. Mat. 15.19 when he said that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts And though the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there spoken of may reach further than Reasonings and bare Thoughts even to some subsequent Actions because they are said to come out of the heart and Mark 7.20 to come out of the man yet this excludes not ordinary evil thoughts thereby to be signified For these are doubtless the seeds and beginnings of all those wicked Contrivances Designs and Machinations which men act and are guilty of in the world XIX Thoughts indeed are of so vanishing and transient a naâ—ure so easily escaping your obâ—ervation and so apt to leave â—ou ignorant how therein you have offended that you have great cause to be signally diligent in their search Besides men are apt to imagine thoughts are not so evil as indeed theâ— are because Custom hath taughâ— them to say Thoughts are freeâ— Whence they vulgarly concludâ— they may think as they please without offence And had yoâ— only to do with Creatureâ— short-sighted like your self therâ— might be some ground for sâ— saying But being to deal witâ— God whose Law reaches youâ— Thoughts and forbids them tâ— be wicked you want no Reasons moving you to search hoâ— far therein you have offended and to repent thereof e're yoâ— come to the Holy Table Evil thoughts are the more immediate defilers of the heart they pollute the very spring 〈◊〉 all your Words and Actions and till the thoughts of you heart be cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit it will be no more fit to receive Christ in the Sacrament than the Manger was to lodge him at his birth XX. The second sort of sins you are to seach into are those of your Words which being spoken in earnest are Testifications of what is in your heart and nothing else but your thoughts made audible And though the inconsiderate make little account of their words deceiving themselves by fancying they are but wind yet seeing there is a day coming when all such as are idle that is wicked shall be accounted for by God in bestowing Rewards and Punishments upon men you have all imaginable reason to examine how you have sinn'd in your Tongue XXI Among the several wayâ— whereby your Words become sinful I shall reckon up a few leaving the rest to your own observation XXII And first your Words are wicked when they are filthy All filthiness is so abominable to God as that he will not admit it in your very Tongue having by his Apostle commanded you to let no corrupt communion proceed out of your mouth Ephes 4.29 That you avoid all unclean discourse as you would putrid and rotten Meats which turn to contagion and instead thereof to use such Language as is wholsome profitable and instructive both for your self and them who hear you Otherwise your Speech will be so noisome that it will drive from you the Holy Spirit of God and leave you without the Soul and Mark of a Christian XXIII Next Words become sinful when they are scoffing and reproachful tending to the vilifying and disparagement of others To which the most Holy Jesus had respect when under the abusive and scurrilous words of Fool and Racha he forbad Division Scoffing with all such Language as might impair the Credit which wise men generally prize next to Life and often above it And when Christ forbad Reproach as well as Killing and requâ—red of all professing his Religion to be no less tender of the good Names than Persons of their Brethren he display'd tâ— excellency of his Doctrine shewing how far it surpass'd boâ— the Law of Moses and the Hithen Theology For though Mâ—ses in the Law to the Jews stricâ—ly commanded they should 〈◊〉 no Murder and that he who dâ— so was to be try'd for his life bâ— the Court of twenty three oâ— lesser Sanhedrim to whom belong'd the Cognizance of capâ—tal and greater matters yeâ— by what Christ superadds tâ— that precept in Mat. 5.22 iâ— may seem Moses had made nâ— provision against vilifying anâ— deriding Language And as to the Heathen Theology thougâ— in many instances it forbaâ— Murder yet it did not so to Calumny For when Minerva one of their Deities counselled Achilles not to draw the Sword against Agamemnon she gave him leave to rail against and revile him Hom. Iliad 1. But Christ will have your Tongue as free from contemptuous Language as your Hands from Violence and that you carry your self as harmlessly towards the Reputation as the life of your fellow Christian XXIV Words are thirdly egregiously wicked when they are false for Truth gives them all their substance and solidity making the Tongue answer the end for which it was given man namely to speak the truth in his heart and not to have one thing upon the Lip and another in the Mind which deceitful carriage though never so usual was ever thought so abominable that Agur earnestly pray'd God to remove it far from him Prov. 30.8 And the Apostle declared against it when he said Lye not one to another Making it a principal part of that Heathen course renounced by the Colossians to suggest or say any false thing to the injury of others Col. 3.9 or to use craftiness or any of the evil Arts of deceiving And the Divine Revel 22.15 excludes all who love and make a Lye all hypocritical treacherous persons from being any more than Equivocal Members of Christ's Church which instead of having any part of the benefits of Christians shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 XXV Words are fourthly eminently wicked when they run out into Oaths and Execrations which were utterly prohibited by Christ when he confin'd all Discourse among his Proselytes to Yea yea and Nay nay to serious and earnest affirmations and denials asserting that what else is used in ordinary conversation proceeds from an evil principle or that evil One the Devil who hath variety of Snares wherewith to catch Souls and intrap them in Idolatry Errour and Unbelief Such as is swearing by Heaven Earth c. as Christ instanceth St. Mat. 4.34 where all needless promissory Oaths are wholly forbidden When you therefore hear vain men replenishing their Discourse with Oaths 't will be no breach of Charity for you to conclude that this ill Custom proceeds either from a vain glorious humour delighting in big and swelling
offend both against your self and Neighbour yet the Law is God's which thereby is transgressed and therefore Reparation in the first place is to be made to him And seeing sins have both the nature and name of Trespasses and Debts Justice requires they be satisfied and paid and all that you can do in order hereunto is Repentance In which God receives a sort of Reparation because he requires no other satisfaction for your faults but that you truly bewail and amend them which is the sum of Repentance toward God Acts 20.21 XLI But for Trespasses done against your Neighbour there is another-guess satisfaction required For to those from whom you have exacted more than is due you are bound to make restitution Which was esteemed such a principle of common Equity that it was acknowledged by those whom the Jews esteemed the worst sort of men For the Publican in St. Luke 19.8 finding himself bound freely offer'd to make fourfold restitution according to the Law for Thieves of whatever he had falsly taken from any man And though this may have a harsh and unpleasing sound yet if you consult Divines antient and modern in this paticular you will find them all concluding Repentance without Restitution to be like an arm of flesh without strength and service or as a City wanting walls unfit to secure the Inhabitants And therefore fail not to make satisfaction to those you have wrong'd if it be in your power but if wholly unable then let your desire of so doing be so express manifest and plain that good men no less than God may be moved to accept the will for the deed But to tell him whom you have injur'd You are sorry for what you have done and yet offer him no further amends when you are able I leave it to common construction whether this can be deem'd satisfactory XLII Minds truly Christian cannot be at ease till they have repaired the wrongs they have done for it is a burden upon the Conscience of which you cannot be rid but by satisfying your self in making satisfaction to him you have injured If you wrong your Neighbour it is your fault and you and not he ought to repent and be grieved for it but if the injury be done to you either quite forget it being content that God to whom Vengeance belongs keeps it in memory or if the injury be of that nature that you are oblig'd to take notice of it then implore God to direct you to such ways of satisfaction as are agreeable to Peace and Honour free from Blood and Cruelty Ever remembring that Charity and Meekness are more noble and worthy than Impatience or even Valour it self The tops of those Mountains which are above the Clouds are not beaten with Hail and Rain and Spirits truly high and generous are above the insolencies of unadvised persons and enjoy serenity and a calm during such tempests It is in your power to falsifie the Italian Maxime Chi offende non perdona Mas He that offends never pardons In a word if Jesus our great Master forgave those who put him to death and was careful to heal the wound his Disciple had given Malchus you can never refuse to cure the wounds you have either given or received XLIII The last branch of Repentance is a resolution to sin no more or a stedfast purpose to lead a new life to follow the Commandments of God and to walk in his most holy ways For without this all other parts of Repentance will be to no more purpose than it is to pump in a Ship without stopping the leak In the Law if a man held the unclean thing in his hand he was unclean though he wash'd his hands never so often Which is easily applicable to those persons who confess and sorrow for their sins but take no care to avoid them Whereas the very Heathen according to A. Gellius Noct. Attic. lib. 17. cap. 1. never thought that a man repented till he was displeased with the things he had done and changed his mind concerning them and became another man Your Repentance then is imperfect till you resolve against all sorts and degrees of sin for the time to come XLIV And because your Duty consists in Obedience to Gods Commandments your Resolution must have a respect unto them all And being each sin is a trnsgression of some one Command in particular and that you as all men are proner to some than other sins you are to enquire what the sins are to which you are pronest and to have the Commandment continually in your eye which you are so apt to violate and so to watch more especially against the violation of that particular Commandment XLV And having resolved upon every branch of Duty and entire observance to every Commandment apart you are then to make trial of the sincerity of your Resolutions whether they be not only formal and customary such as people usually put on when they come to the Sacrament or but only politick and carnal to keep up your credit with the World to further some design you have on foot or to quiet some present troubles of mind For if your Resolutions are of this sort they will soon vanish but if they are sincere and truly religious then will they prove lasting and you will use all possible endeavours to continue them unto the end and to bring all your good purposes to good effect XLVI Nothing is more certain than that you cannot worthily receive the holy Sacrament without a perfect hatred of every sin and it is also most certain that your hatred of sin is not perfect if you are not fully resolved to forsake and avoid it For who can imagine you hate what you ever embrace and pursue Resolutions though never so good are seldom durable if they are sudden and vehement He that makes a Resolution without due consideration will in like manner break and reverse it And though you need not consult whether you are to turn from Satan unto God and to forsake Wickedness and follow after Vertue yet the means of keeping such a holy purpose ought to fall under your most sober and serious thoughts And you haâ— need herein to be careful hoâ— you advise with flesh and blood for these will counsel you tâ— take part with your ease anâ— seduce you to reject even thâ— fittest means of keeping you Resolutions when they becomâ— difficult and unpleasing Anâ— therefore as you resolve upoâ— the end so you must also upoâ— the way thither though neveâ— so irksome to the flesh considering that even the recoverâ— of bodily health seldom is procured without the use of disgustful Medicines XLVII And as you are thus to resolve upon the use of the likelâ—est means to further and compleat your holy purposes so likewise to avoid all things thaâ— may divert and hinder them And amongst the fatal Impediments of your religious intenâ—ions all things are to be reckon'd which any way lead â—empt and invite to sin And
you may here do wisely to call to mind by what occasions and with what baits you have been â—nd still are apt to be drawn away and enticed to the end you may with greater vigilance and courage avoid and resist them For common Prudence will teach you to strengthen the Fence where the Beast useth to break in and to re-inforce that Avenue where the Enemy is wont to make and prevail in his Attack XLVIII The last thing I shall mention concerning your Religious Resolutions is their speedy execution for delay therein has ever been thought dangerous aâ— having a throat wide enough tâ— swallow the biggest opportunâ—ty And you cannot be suâ—â— till you practise what you puâ—pose for seeing your life coâ—tinually walks to and fro â— a breath and that you have 〈◊〉 warrant of being able to do thâ— the next hour which this yoâ— neglect and put off this througâ—ly concludes for the present dâ—ing of what you purpose Anâ— if holy Resolutions might safeâ—â— be delay'd yet they can be delay'd no longer than your comâ—ing to the Scarament becauâ— you cannot safely approach thâ— Ordinance without stedfastâ— purposing to lead a new lifâ— for till you are a new Creaturâ— or begin to lead a new life yoâ— are in sense of Scripture deaâ— And how absurd a thing is it 〈◊〉 put Bread and Wine into a deaâ— mans mouth none so stupid aâ— not to imagine You may indeed naturally eat and drink the Bread and Wine receive into your stomach the elements of the Sacrament but if you live in the liking much more in the commission of any thing you know to be sin you can receive no more spiritual nourishment in the Sacrament than a dead Carcass at the best Entertainment XLIX And this is another consideration that lays upon you a necessity presently to renounce your sins to give them a Bill of Divorce and to withdraw from them all degrees of kindness and respect For without this you can be in no fit disposition to be married to Christ and to embrace all the Graces flowing from him In short that Resolution which I call a branch of Repentance and which is indispensible required of you when you come to the Lords Table is made up of these two things First Renouncing of all sin Secondly Embracing of all Christian Vertues The first without the second is but sweeping the house without furnishing it And therefore when you have cleansed your Soul of the nastiness and dirt of sin you are not to let it lye empty but to furnish it with all those Graces commanded you in the Gospel such especially as are required in every one coming to the Supper of the Lord. And those are chiefly three namely Faith Charity and Devotion L. The necessity of Faith is expresly taught you by your first Catechism where it saith That a lively Faith in Gods Mercies through Christ is required of every Communicant and that the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper For it is by Faith that you there look upon him whom God hath set forth to be the Propitiation for your Sins even Jesus Christ the Lamb of God that taketh away the Sins of the World Rom. 3.25 John 1.29 You easily perceive the necessity of Faith when you mind that in receiving the Holy Sacrament you are to believe that Jesus is the true Seed of the Woman which was promised in the beginning and was sent in the fulness of time that in hiâ— all the Nations of the Earth iâ— they will may be blessed he being the Universal and Mighty Saviour who both will and can save all that come unto him there being no other in whom Salvation is to be expected Yoâ— are likewise to believe that he was crucified or died an ignominious or cursed death and that the Merits of his death are sufficient to save all Sinners and that all those Merits are convey'd to you in the Sacrament when it is worthily received LI. But as to the clear Nature oâ— that Faith now required of you the Church fairly intimates whaâ— it is when she calls it a lively Faith in Gods Mercy through Christ LII And Faith is said to be lively when it works through Love shewing it self in well doing for where Life is there will be Action And the Life of Faith like that of Nature will shew it self in the Heart Tongue and Hands In the first by sincereness of Devotion and holy Thoughts in the second by wholsome and gracious Communication And in the last by works of Justice and Charity LIII The Object of this lively Faith is God's Mercy upon which it reflects as the Fountain whence the Scriptures have proceeded in which Gods Covenant for Mans Redemption is established and his Promises to believing penitent Sinners are contained And if you shall inquire into the reason of all this you will find that nothing but his meer Mercy moved God to make known his Will and in the Holy Scriptures to reveal the Means of Salvation and make the way to Heaven plain and easie It was onely to shew the great love wherewith he loved you and the exceeding Riches of his Grace that prevailed with God to be thus kind unto you LIV. But all this is through Christ he is the Conduit of all these Blessings being of God made unto all Believers Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification Redemption He is the Author oâ— all true Knowledge the cause oâ— your Justification your Sanctification and will be also of your Deliverance and rescue from all Calamities that you are subject to in this Life and at last from Death it self by raising you again 1 Cor. 1.30 And as by a voice from Heaven God declaed with Solemnity that he was well pleased with Christ so he hath likewise declared that he is well pleased with Believers only for his sake By Christ you are predestinated adopted accepted and pardon'd and shall be glorified So that in your own Person you may speak as the Apostle did in the Name of all Christians Ephes 1.3 4 5 c. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed me with all spiritual Blessings in heavenly things in Christ according as he hath chosen me in him that I should be holy and without blame before him in Love LV. In whom I have Redemption through his Blood the forgiveness of Sins according to the riches of his Grace c. It is impossible in any Duty without Faith to please God or to be accepted of him because whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin But in the matter of the Holy Sacrament Faith hath a more appropriate Office for by it as by a Hand Mouth and Stomach you receive eat and digest the spiritual Food and heavenly Sustenance by which your Soul is nourished to eternal Life And in the sense of the Spirit to eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ is properly to believe on him
kept so long for this speaks it your want of Will and not of Power and that it was not your Weakness but something else that moved you to leave the Road wherein you had walked so long a time with ease and safety XC Use makes hard things easie the chief if not onely difficulty in Holiness is want of practice and a being accustom'd to the contrary The ways of Gods Commandments neither waste the Spirits nor gall the Feet of those who use constantly to walk in them Let the like serious and holy Thoughts possess your Soul for the future that you have the day of receiving and continue to co-operate with that Grace God gives you at the Sacrament and I see not why your whole Life may not be all of the same piece and your Conversation continue as vertuous and well-govern'd after as it was at the time you came to the Holy Communion from which I will no longer stay you than with this hearty Wish That when you come thither to renew your Covenant in Vows and Purposes of better Obedience God may vouchsafe to assist you with his Grace and to strengthen you with his Power that you may pay the Vows you then make unto him and that by Virtue of the heavenly Nourishment you there receive you may grow up in Grace and Holiness till at last you come to be a perfect man in Christ Amen THE Communicants Assistant BEING A COLLECTION OF DEVOTIONS To that purpose A Prayer before communicating WHY should I O God who by innumerable wayes have offended thee why should I dare to come to thy Table which none ought to approach but obedient Children and faithful Servants But seeing thy fatherly Goodness this day doth invite me to receive the blessed Pledges of my Peace and Reconciliation with thee and seeing thy well-beloved Son whose Death I now with all Thankfulness commemorate doth call unto him those and only those who travail and are heavy laden to whom the remembrance of their Sins is grievous and the burthen of them is intolerable Finding my self in this number I know thou wilt not reject me Raise O raise up my Heart and Spirit unto thee Strengthen my Faith and help my Infirmities Grant me power to perform and to persevere in all those good things thou now requirest at my hands and grant that the whole course of my Life may be answerable to the present purposes of my Heart and bring me at last to the enjoyment of those Blessings which at this thy holy Table thou art pleased to propound unto me Amen O My God raise up my Thoughts unto thee increase my Faith Hope and Charity warm my Heart with the divine Fire of thy Love purifie my Conscience with the Spirit of Sanctification Grant this day I may with full affiance in thee receive the Pledges of thy Goodness and the Seals of that Covenant which thou hast graciously contracted with me by the Mediation of thy Son my Saviour O My God save and deliver me from all my Offences and at the end of my Life receive me into thy heavenly Kingdom to the accomplishment of all those things which are represented at thy holy Table Let my future Conversation be as one of thy Sheep living in thy Church an Example of Peaceableness Charity Humility Patience and Justice Give me a firm reliance upon thy Promises a holy zeal for thy Worship and a sincere obedience to all thy Commands Fill my Heart with spiritual Joy keep me from the immoderate Cares of the World and among all disquiets here give me that Peace which the World can neither give nor take away from me For forgiveness of Sins FOrgive me my Sins O Lord forgive me the Sins of my Youth and the Sins of mine Age the Sins of my Soul and the Sins of my Body my secret and my whispering Sins my presumptuous and my crying Sins the Sins that I have done to please my self and the Sins that I have done to please others Forgive me my wanton and idle Sins forgive me my serious and deliberate Sins forgive me those Sins I know and those Sins which I know not the Sins which I have striven so long to hide from others that at last they are even hid from mine own Memory Forgive them O Lord forgive them all and of thy great Goodness let me be absolved from all mine Offences Amen PRAYERS FOR The several things required of those who come to the Lords Supper 1. To repent them truly of their former Sins A Prayer for true Repentance TO thee O God all Hearts are open all desires known and from thee no Secrets are hid so that if I would I cannot conceal my Sins from thee And now that I confess my Sins unto thee it is not to inform thy infinite Knowledge but to obey thy gracious Pleasure and to make me capable of that forgiveness promised to all who confess their Sins With a sorrowfull Heart therefore I confess my Sins unto thee I accuse my self here before thee of innumerable wicked thoughts and desires which I have conceived form'd and foster'd in my Heart of infinite corrupt and evil Words that I have utter'd with my Tongue of many naughty and ungodly Deeds which I have wrought with my Hands by all which I have provoked most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me but it is thy Nature and Property always to have mercy and to forgive the Sins of them that are penitent Grant me therefore Holy Father the Grace of true repentance create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Grant I may truly lament my Sins whose burden is intollerable and whose remembrance is so grievous unto me And for the future inable me to cease from evil and learn to do well to cast away the Works of Darkness and to put on the Armour of Light and to bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the Praise and Glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ my blessed Redeemer 2. Stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life A Prayer for Perseverance in good Purposes GRant O God that I may bring the good Purposes with which this day I come to thy Holy Table Grant I may bring them to good effect I know I am light and unconstant turn'd with every blast diverted by every allurement and ready to yield to every Temptation But do thou O God who art the same Yesterday to Day and for ever do thou graciously impart some of thy unchangeableness to establish my Understanding in Truth and to keep it from the Snares of all seducing Spirits that I may not be led away with the Errours of those who are cunning to deceive Fix my irresolute and wavering Will and cause it faithfully to adhere unto that which is good Let neither the Flatteries of the World nor of my own Heart so far work upon my Affections as to draw me from that intire Obedience which I resolve from this day forward to
much to respect the Peoples Fancies as proficiency in Religion the informing of their judgments and directing their Consciences and not the humouring of their caprices ought to be their chief aim and travel 3. That they cannot deserve the Name of Guides who are ruled by those whom they should rule the issue whereof will be no better than that of the blind leading c. 4. That if Catechising be a way of Instruction which will best preserve the Unity and Peace of the Church and most solidly and securely advance the edification of the people then there is no need to be sollicitous for any other ends or interests 5. And as for the constant repetition and audience of the same Truths necessary to Salvation as they are the Contents of the Church-Catechism it may be justified by that old saying Nunquam satis docetur quod nunquam satis discitur Those Lessons can never be too much taught which can never be too much learned For repetition in this case is to make the Catechism what indeed it is the Words of the Wise fastned like Nails by the Masters of Assemblies And though in all the blows of the Hammer the act be the same yet there is no stroke superfluous while every one tends to compleat the Work We may bring the same quarrel against reading Books and hearing Sermons for they are but old matter in new words and if stript of Dress and Disguise they would easily be discerned to be but so many varied repetitions In Religion if any thing be pretended to be new we may safely conclude it is false 6. But to evacuate the whole Objection a diligent Catechist will find enough in the Church-Catechism to entertain his Congregation with variety and to delight and profit all but itching Ears For it wants nothing that is requisite to defend us in our Journey or to save us when come to our long home And those who are therein duely instructed will find themselves so sufficiently guarded that no Machinations of Heresie or Schism will be able to batter or undermine them Indeed the diligent use of Catechising will be its best Vindication and most effectually answer all Objections against it And without all Controversie there was never a greater necessity of enforcing what we now treat of than the conjuncture wherein we live For we see Satan is let loose and lays hard at the Souls of Christians not only by such Opinions as disturb our Peace but would utterly destroy our Christianity Insomuch that we have great need to speak to every one as that famous Anchorite to his Pillars upon the approach of an Earth-quake Stand fast for ye shall be shaken And stand fast we cannot if we want a sure Foundation in Religion and this cannot be expected where it is not laid in a full and timely Catechising CHAP. XIV The Church-Catechism to be preferr'd before others for its Authority Usefulness Accomplishment Contents c. BUt if after all that hath been or can be said concerning the antiquity and benefits of Catechising in general or more particularly in regard of its necessity and advantages in respect of the present temperament of our own Nation it should be disputed what Catechism ought to be of publick use I shall return first that although there are many excellent Catechisms both in our own and Foreign Languages composed by private persons out of the consideration of the great emolument accrewing to the People from this of Teaching yet there is none which with those of this Communion ought to be of equal esteem with the Catechism of the Church if we consider as we ought its Authority Usefulness and Accomplishment And in the first place as for its Authority the Church-Catechism hath no less pre-eminence above others than the Decrees of Councils above the Instigations of a private Spirit For the difference betwixt this and Catechisms penn'd by particular persons is like that between the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom and the advice and judgment of private Subjects This is not to cast any imputation or disrespect upon those Catechisms penn'd by grave and learned Divines which are good in themselves and useful in their station but to shew that the Church-Catechism commands of us a peculiar Veneration by reason of its publick Authority In the next place by virtue of its Authority the Church-Catechism hath an especial Usefulness in being the common Test by which we may try who are of or against our Communion It is likewise an excellent Form of Religion whereby particular persons may examine their own Opinions and Sentiments and give an account of their Faith to those who would therein either establish or subvert them In the last place the Accomplishment of the Church-Catechism greatly enhaunseth its Commendation For if its Contents fall under an upright Review it will merit no less praise than those Composures which are so exact that they are neither defective nor redundant For although some have objected its deficiency as not taking any notice of the great Points of Faith Justification Sanctification c. It may hereunto be truly answer'd That these Points are rather briefly exprest than totally omitted and that it is not the omission but the short and Orthodox Expression thereof which is the ground of the Exception But if the nature of a Catechism were rightly weighed it would be no Objection against the Churches that some things are therein either more darkly or more succinctly set down For if every point of Doctrine were in a Catechism discuss'd at length it would lose and forfeit its Name But besides all this it is easie for a Clerk of ordinary Industry and Letters to make all those Points plain and obvious out of the Church-Catechism whose want is objected against its compleatness And we have no reason to wonder or repine that the Church hath left something to exercise the labours and abilities of her Clergy But to conclude If we maturely examine the Catechism we shall find therein such a natural evenness in the Method and Stile and such a consistency and soundness in the Matter as is not in any like composition easily to be matcht As for the Introduction it naturally carries us to all the circumstances of our admission into the Church shewing when by whom after what manner and by what means we became Christians Next it acquaints us with the great Priviledges Benefits and Duties of Christianity as also how by solemn Vow we stand obliged to perform them The Question is plain and short the Answer full and pithy wnd the Compilers thereof have manifested a singular wisdom and care in delivering the Rule in the fewest and plainest words For if they had loaden it with long indicative Periods they might at once have both puzzl'd the understanding and oppressed the memory of those tender Capacities for whom chiefly it was designed If we look into the principal Chapters of the Catechism the Church therein has followed the Copy of the best and
And by this short account of what the Godfathers and Godmothers do for the Infant in Baptism it is easie to apprehend that none need withdraw from this Pious Work for the supposed Difficulty of its Discharge And therefore those who rightly understand this Suretiship and yet refuse it they may be thought rather to want Charity than Power and that they are unwilling and not unable to perform it Nor doth it less reflect upon their deportment who turn this pious Custom into an idle Ceremony by privately devolving upon the Parents what they publickly undertook for their children which doth at once frustrate and contradict the intendment of the Ohurch and delude the Congregation of God's people But it may be further objected That the Vow of Baptism being made by others renders the Performance and Observation thereof by the Child a thing of constraint and not of election for the baptized when grown up doth not follow his own choice but his Sureties and allows of what was at Baptism promised in his behalf not out of willingness but pre-engagement all which is oppposite to the genuine Nature of a Vow And in Answer to this Objection it will be convenient to observe That the Vow and Promise made by Sureties in Baptism is not absolute for in an absolute sense no man can undertake for another But the Vow is conditional and the Child when come to age must either own it or forfeit the benefits of Baptism And as those who are married being Minors when come to mature years may chuse whether the Marriage shall be ratified or rescinded So it is in the power of the Baptized at years of discretion to acknowledge or renounce the Vow of Baptism If he allow of and consent to what at holy Baptism was vowed in his Name which is still supposed at the making of the Vow then he is bound actually to believe and do it But if he disclaim it which is in his power then he disowns all Interest and Priviledge in Christ with all the benefits of that Society into which by Baptism he became incorporate The Catechism teacheth us out of the Creed to believe That God the Son hath redeemed all mankind which cannot be true say many because he died only for the Elect. But they would have no reason to impugn the Churches Doctrine in this particular if those Scriptures were impartially considered by them Ezek. 18.23 32. S. Joh. 3.16 Heb. 2.9 Rom. 1.4 5. S. Joh. 4.42 1 Tim. 4.10 S. Joh. 1.7 2 S. Pet. 3.9 whereon this Position is founded A few of which are here barely quoted in the Margin on purpose to shew the ground of the Churches Doctrine and to guide those to the Topicks of their confutation who gainsay this I believe in God the Son who hath redeemed me and all mankind That his death was both sufficient and intentional to save all mankind but is effectual and efficacious for none but true Believers is a distinction which being wisely and soberly understood would remove that clashing which some fancy there is betwixt the Catechism and the Seventeenth Article of the Church Many other Scruples brought against this excellent Catechism are purposely omitted because they will easily be obviated in its intended Exposition Besides I have bound my self to observe the Laws of an Essay which I must unavoidably violate if I should venture upon all such Enlargements as the Subject would naturally endure I had rather be censured for having said too little than too much Deus dedit his quoque finem THE CONCLUSION WE have hitherto examin'd the Age and Advantages of Catechising and found it to stand above the imputation of being either Novel or Superfluous So that the only remaining Enquiry concerns its Practice And this will exact no long disquisition seeing every Station of men are therein so perfunctory and negligent Now as in a common Contagion no less care must be had of the sound than infirm and the cure of single persons is required to the removal of the Epidemical Disease So remissness in Catechising being become a common Malady it behoves every one to look after amendment to the end that the Church may be healed of all those Distempers faln upon her through lack of Catechising and which if not prevented with a timely interposition thereof will effect that destruction which they threaten and prognosticate And if we look into the persons who are capable herein to be delinquent they may be reduced either to such as the Church has ordained to administer or receive this Sovereign Medicine The former are the Clergy in the whole denomination for he among them who excepts deceives both himself and the Church And notwithstanding that the Clergy in Sacred Writ bear divers appellations importing the Dignity Power Holiness Excellency Care Tenderness Discretion and Incommunity of their Functions yet there is no Title wherein they are more concerned than that of Catechist For it doth first more immediately relate to that Errand on which from the beginning they were sent into the world Go teach c. And next unto the want and supply of those over whom God hath made them Overseers And while they own themselves to be the Churches Ministers they should take care to serve her in her own way For since that was left for paths of their own and more oyl and labour has been spent in arguing than in teaching the Principles of Christianity it is sadly visible how Religion has thriven among us For from endeavouring to support Christianity with Buttresses of our own captious and malitious Enemies take occasion to conclude that it cannot stand without them The superstructure seems to be the proper matter of our care where we believe the Ground-work lies immoveable And blessed be the Author and Finisher of our Faith that he has founded it upon a Rock and maketh it so strong that the Gates of Hell the strength and subtilty of her greatest Enemies can never be able to prevail against it Were we to deal with open Adversaries of the Faith Jew Mahometan Pagan the Ancient Fathers have shewn us an excellent way of procedure but having to do with Professors whose evil manners have corrupted their Understanding not the proving of the verity of the Christian Religion but the enforcement of its Practice seems to be the only necessary prescription But without being decisive or stinting the spirit of any man I hope it may be lawful to wish that the Clergy out of a true sense of what they are enjoyn'd and bound to obey by the 59th Canon would return to the good old way of Catechising for since this was shoulder'd out by Sermoning the people have been possessed wâ—â—h strange Whimsies in Religion and hurried on by the Spirit of Schism and Sedition into all manner of Villanies A learned and pious Bishop of this Church doth as I am told in his own Person and Cathedral perform this Office A few such leading Examples would soon raise the sunk Esteem of Catechising and vindicate it from being thought a Drudgery fit only for children and Curates And I humbly conjecture that there is no Clergy-man need think it any lessening of his Greatness and Learning to be seen teaching God's People after the manner of the Holy Apostles and Primitive Bishops Our Ancestors who knew something as well as we were not ignorant of the necessity and benefit of what is now most affectionately recommended when Queen Elizabeth made it her 44th Injunction and King James his command That afternoon-Lectures should be converted into Explanations of some necessary Rudiments of the Catechism out of a prudent fore-sight that this would be more advantageous to the People than some ex tempore irruptions or enlarging a few contrived Breviates upon desultory Texts The Laity are the next sort that herein can he faulty to whose attentive thoughts I would most earnestly recommend first the serious perusal of the Rubrick adjoyned to the Catechism together with the 59th Canon Next the examination of their knowledge in Religion that by that former they may know their Duty and by the latter their want of being catechised And by both be induced to embrace what to their own damage and the Churches affliction they have undutifully neglected FINIS THE CONTENTS The Introduction Fol. 1. CHAP. I. OF Catechising It s Name Use Secular and Religious p. 5. CHAP. II. The Age of Catechism The Institution of Adam's and Abraham's Family The Schools of the Prophets The continual use of Catchising among the Jews particularly after the Erection of the Synagogues Their Benefit thereby p. 9. CHAP. III. Catechising in times of the Apostles Evidences thereof in St. Pauls Epistles The Contents of their Catechism p. 25. CHAP. IV. The Apostles Catechists in several Provinces The Declension and Restauration of Catechising Catechists Styled Exorcists c. p. 32. CHAP. V. The Antiquity of Catechism probable upon the account of its convenience In respest of the Object Method of Instruction p. 35. CHAP. VI. Catechism necessary in respect of the encrease and advancement of Spiritual Knowledge To have a distinct Understanding of things necessary to Salvation c. p. 39. CHAP. VII Catechising the most sutable means to heal the Distempers of this Church Several Propositions to be supposed A short digression concerning our Disorders p. 42. CHAP. VIII The Methods used for our reclaiming surveyed proving ineffectual p. 57. CHAP. IX The Just Matter and Subject of Controversie in Religion examined How by Catechising and not Dispute we are therein in to be reconciled p. 62. CHAP. X. Disputation unfit for the capacity of the generality of Dissenters Catechising proper c. Reasons against Disputes p. 68. CHAP. XI Preaching what it is the several ways thereof used by the Church What kind of Preaching among the Old Jews and Primitive Christians The Homilies considered p. 80. CHAP. XII Preaching insufficient to restore our Dissentions Catechising proper for that purpose c. A Scruple removed p. 92. CHAP. XIII The Benefits of Catechizing 1. In respect of the Civil State 2. The Clergy 3. The People The Mischiefs of private Schools Objections against the constant practice of Catechizing removed p. 99. CHAP. XIV The Church-Catechism to be preferr'd before others for its Authority Usefulness Accomplishment Contents c. p. 102. CHAP. XV. An Account of some Objections usually brought against the Church-Catechism 115 The Conclusion p. 135