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A47430 An admonition to the dissenting inhabitants of the diocess of Derry concerning a book lately published by Mr. J. Boyse, entituled, Remarks on a late discourse of William, Lord Bishop of Derry, concerning the inventions of men in the worship of God / from William, Lord Bishop of the said diocess. King, William, 1650-1729. 1694 (1694) Wing K521; ESTC R2391 38,117 65

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other Ordinary Parts of Worship which you might very well do tho' you scrupled Baptising your Children with the Sign of the Cross Especially since in case of necessity our Church had allowed you Baptism for them without it or Godfathers as appears in our Office for private Baptism 2. I found the defects and additions of your Directory so very great in this Office of Baptism that I thought they deserved a Discourse by themselves and am still of the same Opinion First There is no express Covenant ordered in your Directory to be made in the Name of the Child Baptised either by the Parent or any else tho' there be no other known way of engaging a Child that cannot Covenant for it self Secondly There is no profession of the Christian Faith required in the Directory from the Parent or Offerer of any Child Thirdly There is no solemn Recognition of the Vow of Baptism required from Persons Baptised in their Infancy when they come to understand their Duty as it is in Confirmation with us Fourthly The express words of the Covenant are not prescribed out of the Word of God but it is left to the discretion of every Minister to impose what he will on the Baptised and some have been very indiscreet in this point imposing the solemn League and Covenant on persons that brought Children to be Baptised or else refusing them Baptism all which are observed by Mr. Baxter an eminent Man of your Party many years ago in his Infant Baptism Chap. 6. Object 1. where he complains that they were taken away from you when you were in actual Possession of them for the Substance of these saith he was in the Common Prayer and he gives us to understand with regret that these plain Duties were wiped out and the Directory made more defective than the Common-Prayer in this point And besides these defects in matters of so high moment as the Covenant of God there are several Additional Conditions required by your Directory contrary to Scripture Precedents such as in Mr. Boyse's Phrase may be reckoned Stated Appendages of this Sacrament for it is ordered that Baptism is not to be Administred in private places but in the place of publick Worship and in the face of the Congregation A Rule directly contrary to Scripture Precedents and by which many that have had a just Title to Baptism and some that have been very desirous of it without any fault of their own have been denied the benefit of it Christ Commands us to Teach all Nations Baptising them c. and He that repents and believes is Entituled to Baptism whatever his circumstances are but tho' a Man do both these and profess them in the most hearty manner yet if he be not able to go to a Publick Place of Worship or cannot procure a Congregation to be present he shall die without this Sacrament meerly on the account of this rigid ceremoniousness of the Directory and many Children have thus died which in this point is literally that Sin our Saviour taxeth Mark 7.13 Making the Word of God of none effect through your traditions I might instance in some other things as material as these but I hope this may be sufficient to convince you that it was not for want of matter of exception that I deferred imparting my thoughts to you on this part of Gods Worship and indeed I am afraid that now they may not relish well with you but I desire you to consider that I have been forced to do it in my own Justification II. I am now in the Second place to shew you that Mr. Boyse's Arguments against the Cross in Baptism are of no force His great Objection against it is That we make it a new Humane Sacrament and then it must be a Human Invention and he owns that generally all Dissenters have agreed to condemn it on this account as unlawful but I doubt not to make it appear that we ascribe nothing of a Sacramental nature to it and that it is a great Injustice to alledge as he doth that we Teach otherwise I am the more willing to handle this Subject because I find many of you ill Instructed in the nature of Sacraments and hope what I say may be useful to you I desire you therefore to consider that there are Three things necessary to make up a Sacrament First an Outward Visible Sign instituted by God signifying some Spiritual Grace or Benefit which we expect from him 2dly An Obligation on God by some promise of his to grant us that Spiritual grace or benefit when we duly use the visible Sign 3dly Our use of this outward sign For from the other two it follows as a Consequence that if we wilfully omit or neglect the use of that outward or visible Sign appointed by God we must not expect the Spiritual Grace or Benefit Signified by it I think it necessary to prove by Scripture first that each of these belong to a Sacrament And 2 dly To shew that we ascribe none of them to the Cross in Baptism and consequently that it hath nothing of a Sacrament in it The first Sacrament we find in Scripture is Circumcision instituted by God Gen. xvii 11 Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be a token of the Covenant between me and you Here Circumcising the flesh of the forekin is the outward and visible Sign instituted by God and the spiritual grace or benefit is the Covenant whereof it is called a Token and when it was duly observed it laid an obligation on God to be a God to the person so circumcised according to God's promise v. 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee And lastly whoever wilfully refused or neglected this Sign lost the spritual grace or benefit signifyed by it According to which we find in the 14 v. and The uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised that soul shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my Covenant The like is observable in the institution of the Passover another Sacrament of the old Testament But we are more especially concerned in the Sacraments of the New And therefore I will shew that these three things are to be found in each of them First in the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper the Bread and Wine are appointed by Christ to signifie his Body and Blood Here is the first thing An outward and visible Sign appointed by God to signifie some Spiritual grace or benefit 2 dly The Bread and Wine are declared to be the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ 1. Cor. x 16. The Cup of Blessing which we bless Is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The bread that we break Is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers of that One
bread Here is the 2d thing required in a Sacrament even an obligation on God when we duly use these outward Signs to communicate to us the Body and Blood of Christ and make us one Body amongst our selves 3 dly Whoever negligently or wilfully omits the use of these Signs must expect to lose the Spiritual Grace or Benefit signified by them that it is the Communion of Christ's Body and Blood for he who wilfully or negligently omits Communicating in the Lord's-Supper when he may have it plainly betrays a defect in his Faith since nothing can hinder us from feeding on the Body and Blood of our Saviour in his Supper but want of Faith to feed on him in our Hearts and therefore when we wilfully neglect the use of these Signs we must not expect the Spiritual Grace or Benefit from God that is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ which is the third thing required in a Sacrament I am afraid few are truly convinced of this Truth and yet till the generality be convinced of it we can never expect a constant Celebration of this Sacrament from Ministers or a constant Receiving of it from the People nor will it be possible to restore the Discipline of the Church to its vigour till People apprehend the Danger of not Communicating for the Force of Discipline depends chiefly on keeping refractory Sinners from the Lord's Supper The want of which by this Doctrine is so penal that whoever in earnest believes it will readily submit to any terms that are not directly sinful rather than be debarred from it Baptism is the other Sacrament of the New Testament which Christ Instituted Matthew 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptising them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost The Spiriritual Grace or Benefit of which is declared to us Rom. 6.4 We are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life A Death therefore unto Sin and a new Birth unto Righteousness is the Spiritual Grace or Benefit signified by the Outward Sign of Water appointed by Christ in Baptism which is the first thing necessary to a Sacrament 2. Christ has promised Mark 16.16 That he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved Which is an Obligation on God by his promise to give to those who rightly use this Sign the Spiritual Grace or Benefit signified by it which is the second thing requisite in a Sacrament 3. The wilful neglect or refusal of this Sacrament is damnable and depriveth the obstinate refuser of the Spiritual Benefit signified in it according to John 3.5 Except a Man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Which is the third thing we find requisite in a Sacrament Let us now in the Second Place see whether our Church ascribes any of these to the Cross in Baptism for if we do not it is a great misrepresentation to say as Mr. Boyse doth p. 164. That there wants nothing but Divine Institution to make it as much a Sacrament as Baptism it self First then we do not Teach that the Sign of the Cross was Instituted by God to signifie any Spiritual Grace or Benefit we expect from him On the contrary it signifies only the Duty we owe to God It is not used to signifie any Grace or Benefit communicated from God to us as Signs do in Sacraments but only to signifie the return we ought to make to God for the Benefits he has vouchsafed us in Baptism That is Not to be ashamed of Christ Crucified but manfully to Fight under his Banner and continue his Soldiers and Servants The first Thing therefore necessary to the nature of a Sacrament is altogether wanting to the Sign of the Cross. And it was incumbent on Mr. Boyse to shew us what Spiritual Grace or Benefit from God this Sign signified with us before he affirmed it to want nothing to make it a Sacrament as much as Baptism For since Baptism signifies A death unto Sin and a new birth unto Righteousness which are Spiritual Graces we expect immediately from God he ought to have shew'd some such Spiritual Graces or Benefits which we imploy the Cross to signifie or else it plainly wants this part of the Nature of a Sacrament But Secondly The second part is as much wanting Our Church never Taught that God was obliged by any promise or that we ought to expect on our due use of the Sign of the Cross that God would grant us any greater Benefit by it On the contrary we unanimously Teach that the Cross is not used to signifie any Spiritual Grace or Benefit expected from God but to profess and declare a duty of ours to him even that we ought not to be ashamed of his Sufferings Our Church Teacheth us to expect that whereas by Nature we are Children of Wrath we shall in Baptism be made Children of God And in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper we are Taught to expect The strengthning and refreshing of our Souls by the Body and Blood of Christ as our Bodies are by Bread and Wine But we are not Taught to expect any such thing in the use of the Sign of the Cross or that God has annexed any such promise to it And therefore to alledge that according to our Church there is nothing wanting but Divine Institution to make the Sign of the Cross as much a Sacrament as Baptism it self is a misrepresentation without ground or colour Let me add that this Obligation on God by promise to grant us the Spiritual Grace or Benefit signified by it on our due use of the Sign is the very thing that Constitutes a Sacrament and distinguishes it from all other Signes and this being wanting tho' a Sign had all other things like a Sacrament yet it would be no more a Sacrament then an Image that in every thing else except a Soul were like a Man wou'd be a Man But Thirdly As the two First things necessary to a Sacrament are wanting to it according to our Doctrine so is the Third since we do not Teach that the neglecting or omitting this Sign deprives us of any Spiritual Grace If we wilfully neglect or refuse Baptism 't is a damnable Sin and deprives us of our Title to the Kingdom of Heaven And the like we Teach concerning wilful neglect of the Lord's Supper That it deprives us of the Nourishment which we should derive from the participation of the Body and Blood of Christ. But we never Taught any such thing concerning the Sign of the Cross. Neither can any such thing be shewed in our Articles Canons or Offices On the contrary the 30th Canon expresly Teaches That the Sign of the Cross used after Baptism addeth nothing to the Vertue or Perfection thereof Nor if it be omitted doth it take any thing from the substance or efficacy