that the custom of the Churches is Non abnuo hanc esse Ecclesiarum consuetudinem c. Dial. Orth. Lucis that the Bishop should go abroad and imposing his hands pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost on them whom Presbyters and Deacons far off in lesser Cities had already baptized And for good reason did the Apostles restrain this to themselves and their Successours when we consider these following things 1. That this did secure unto them the honour of their Apostolical Chairs for the safety of the Church depends much upon the dignity of its Superiours the respect that is given to their persons the reverence that is paid to their functions Whereas if the chief Governours of the Church shall communicate to inferiour Orders their whole power reserving nothing by way of pre-eminence to themselves to distinguish them from others their power being thus made cheap will become vile and despicable the Hierarchy that Christ hath established in his Church will soon be destroyed their Offices confounded and that question of St. Paul 1 Cor. 12.29 Are all Apostles are all Prophets are all teachers would be answered in the affirmative and to be short such a levelling of all Sacred Orders would be the undoubted parent of multiplied Factions and Schisms And though it may be objected that Confirmation is not of equal value with either of the Sacraments both which inferiour Priests are capable of administring yet it is by its restraint alone sufficient to secure the honour of the Function for though a Velvet coat be of far greater worth than a plain linnen coif Hook Ec. Pol. lib. 5. p. 355. and the first may be worn by every common Lawyer yet the second being appropriated to Sergeants and Judges procures them a respect due to their place and dignity 2. From hence the Apostles to whom the chief care of the Church was committed were fully satisfyed as to the diligence and industry of the inferiour Officers whom they had deputed When they should see 'em bring in full shoals and multitudes of Baptized Converts offering up solemnly to God such fruits of their labours and presenting them to the Apostles for their Fatherly Prayers and Benedictions this could not but be a sufficient testimonial of their pains and faithfulness and by this the Apostles visited the Clergy exacting an account of their labours as well as confirmed the Laity And indeed no Society can be of long continuance where there is not such a due subordination an Independency in the Church looses the bands and weakens the sinews of Government That Congregation wherein every Priest is a Bishop and every Bishop a King cannot be long without Tyranny and that Assembly whose Members are superiour to the Pastor and uncontrolable cannot be long without Schism and Anarchy But blessed be God it was far otherwise in the Apostles times and once again we see it otherwise in this our established Church where the members of it in matters of Religion and Conscience are to be directed by their several Pastors the Presbyters and Deacons owning themselves accountable for it to the Bishop the Bishop to his Metropolitan the Metropolitans to the King and the King unto God And when all these in their several spheres shall do nothing that they are afraid or ashamed should come to their Superiours cognizance but rather be forward to give an account of their stewardships when required this is the way to preserve the Church in its honour and unity We of the inferiour Clergy giving demonstrations of our pains and industry and our Superiours the Prelates and Fathers of the Church reaping the comfort of seeing their Orders obeyed by a regular and industrious Clergy 3. What a great comfort and satisfaction must needs arise to the Apostles when they saw by the industry of others whom they had deputed so great a part of their own burthen discharg'd the seed of the Gospel growing up and flourishing in such tender plants the great mysteries of Religion imbib'd by all sorts of people young and old and particularly so great a number of Samaritan-converts owning them not only as Ministers of Christ but as the principal Stewards of the Mysteries of God! What an opportunity was here offer'd them of glorifying of God whose praise they found in the mouths of such Infant-Converts The unspeakable comfort which they foresaw would arise from so grateful an object might probably induce them to reserve this Office of Confirmation to themselves and their Successors which though of an inferiour nature to Baptism yet well becomes the highest Order in the Church for hereby they do not onely own and ratifie the proceedings of those whom they have deputed setting their hands to the legality of it which you know is the proper act of a Superiour but they also confirm the Proselytes in their lately received Faith provided themselves set no bar to hinder it And this brings me to the fourth thing viz. IV. The qualifications of those to whom this Office is to be administred which are these that follow 1. It must be supposed that they are already made Disciples by Baptism and that by persons lawfully ordained and appointed thereunto by the Apostles or their Successors as we find the Samaritans here were by St. Philip the Deacon and therefore according to my present apprehension those who have received their Baptism from Lay-hands who cannot pretend to such a derived power are not qualified for this holy Rite unless perform'd in a time of absolute Necessity And as for those who have received their Baptism from persons lawfully ordained but such as by Schism or Heresie are professed enemies to our Church I will not say that Rebaptization is necessary lest I should seem to fall into the errour of St. Cyprian and his Carthaginian Council but that it is highly necessary for such to address themselves to this holy mystery that by imposition of hands they may be incorporated into the Church and desiring the Bishops paternal benediction acknowledge his superiority over them That this is highly reasonable in it self and agreeable to the practice of the Primitive Church I need not prove to any one that has a competent share of Reason or the least acquaintance with Antiquity 2. It must be presumed that either before or after Baptism they are endowed with actual Faith in Christ before Baptism if they were adult persons or after Baptism if they were Infants at the ministring of it A general faith before Baptism was sufficient at the first planting of the Gospel the belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God was enough to entitle them to Baptism but when Churches were well constituted great care was taken to instruct the adult Proselytes in all the Christian Fundamentals such were the Catechumens of old and both them and the Baptized Christians were fully instructed in all necessaries of Faith before they were presented to the Bishop for Confirmation as appears from the fore-cited Dialogue of St.
and prayed And for this cause how I my knees unto the God and Father c. And he requires the Christians to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting 1 Tim. 2.8 So ceremonious were Christ and his Apostles that they would not sit when they could kneel they would not irreverently lean upon their elbows when they could lift up holy hands Sitting or leaning if that can be proved to have been the posture was well enough becoming the Apostles at the first institution of the Lords Supper Christ being then in the flesh in his state of humiliation and not requiring from them then those outward tokens of Divine Worship or Adoration But now being glorified as God and challenging obeysance from Men and Angels Holy Church for good reason hath changed that posture of Leaning for this of Kneeling For although we have known Christ after the flesh and leaning in his bosom might be the effect of his great condescention yet seeing we know him so no more seeing he hath declared himself to be Alpha and Omega the first and the last Rev. 1.8 11. God blessed for ever 't is fit we should change that familiar way of communicating with him and lest we should be accounted Socinians who use a Table-gesture as not owning the Divinity of our Saviour with all humility upon our knees revere and adore not the Consecrated Elements but the glorified Person of the Blessed Jesus But that we may speak particularly to the instance that is here before us the Apostles were not scrupulous to use this ceremony in the Text although joyned with Prayer a substantial part of Divine Worship nay although it was amongst the Samaritans who from a Doctrine that our Saviour had taught them might be as much prejudiced against such practices as our lately nice and scrupulous Dissenters They might have objected after this manner Did not your Master in whose name ye teach tell a woman of our City that God is a Spirit St. John 4.24 25. and he that will worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and do you his pretended Disciples come into our City and act contrary to your Masters Doctrine either renounce your pretended Discipleship or lay aside these childish and Superstitious Ceremonies which are so inconsistent with the worshipping of God in Spirit and in Truth 'T is true the Samaritans might have objected this but we find they were wiser than to do so they well understood that our Saviour in that saying of his alluded to the Religion to which they had hitherto been addicted 2 Kings 17.24 26 29. a Religion of a mixt nature consisting of Jewish Sacrifices offered up not onely to the God of Israel but to Heathen Idols and therefore she hour would come when those Jewish Sacrifices would be laid aside and God would be worshipped with the spirits of men and not with the bodies of Bulls and of Goats and those Heathen Idols which are vanity or a lye must be dasht to pieces and God who is the eternal truth must be worshipped by them This they knew to be our Saviours meaning and that such innocent ceremonies were no way inconsistens with that Spiritual worship he required So that you see though these were babes in Christ and as tenderly to be dealt with as new-born Infants yet this ceremony joyned with Prayer as the Apostles would not wave it so the Samaritans were wiser than to be scandalized at it This then being a plain and undeniable truth that innocent and significant Ceremonies may lawfully be used in the Church of Christ Proceed we to the second thing II. To inquire into the nature of this particular Ceremony what it is significative of c. I need not tell you that the hand is the member or instrument by which we bestow our largesses or convey our gifts and kindnesses to others nor that even Nature carries the Fathers hand towards the Childs head although at that instant he knows not how or why he does it when he outwardly prays for or inwardly wishes him a blessing The Eastern Heathens were not strangers to this custom Naaman the Syrian being offended at the Prophet for directing him to so unlikely a cure as washing seven times in the River Jordan 2 Kings 5.9 huffingly replyed I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God and strike or lay his hands over the place and recover the leper And that this Ceremony long before the giving of the Law was usually joyned with paternal benedictions is plain from the Father of the Patriarchs Gen. 48.14 who by prayer and imposition of hands blessed the Sons of Joseph Under the Law the consecration of things or persons to the service of God Num. 8.10.12 was by Divine appointment to be performed by laying on of hands So when Moses made Joshua partner with him in his Government and conveyed to him the right of succession Num. 27.18 by Gods commandment he laid his hands upon him by which he did not onely impart the honour but the more necessary qualifications of Majesty for by this he became full of the spirit of wisdom Moses having laid his hands upon him Deut. 34.9 And as Blessings spiritual and temporal were convey'd by imposition of hands under the Law so our Saviour and his Apostles under the Gospel thought good to retain that Ceremony when they recovered the Sick when they absolv'd the Penitents when they blessed Infants when they Confirm'd the Baptized and when they ordain'd Priests and Deacons To instance in each of these would require more time than is here allotted it s own evidence makes it sufficient that I hint unto you that in all these several Offices together with the substantial duty of Prayer they made use of this very antient Ceremony and that probably for these two Reasons 1. To lignifie that at that time there were true and real not airy or imaginary Blessings convey'd to the partakers for what can be more real than the Spirit of Wisdom and godly Fear what can be more real than Courage and Magnaniimty sufficient to conquer the World and baffle the strongest Enemies of mankind as I shall have occasion presently to shew and what could better signifie the real exhibition of these than laying their Hands on them 2. To signifie that the Bishops and Pastors of the Church were the ordinary Means and Instruments the Hands which God makes use of to convey his Gifts and communicate his Blessings unto men Such publick and solemn Offices as these wherein extraordinary Blessings were invocated as they were not rudely and nakedly to be administred without the decent attendance of some significant Ceremonies so neither were they to be perform'd nor the Blessings to be expected without the ministration of consecrated persons 'T is their Office to attend us from our Birth to our Grave by their hands we are regenerated in the laver of Baptism
The Sacred Rite OF Confirmation Discoursed of in a SERMON Preach'd at Okeham in the County of Rutland At a Confirmation there Administred by the Right Reverend Father in God WILLIAM Lord Bishop of PETERBOROW On May 17. 1683. By John Savage Rector of Morcot in Rutland ACTS 15.41 He went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the Churches D. Hieron Dial. advers Luciferianos Si Scripture authoritas non subesset totius Orbis in hanc partem consensus instar praecepti obtineret Hookers Eccles Polit. lib. 5. p. 355. There is no cause we should doubt of the benefit of Confirmation but surely great cause to make complaint of the deep neglect of this Christian Duty Let Them not take it in evil part the thing is true their small regard hereunto hath done harm to the Church of God LONDON Printed by J.C. and F.C. for William Hensenian at the Kings-head in Westminster-hall 1683 TO THE Right Reverend Father in God WILLIAM Lord Bishop of Peterborow May it please your Lordship IN Obedience to your Lordships commands I first Preacht and now Publish this ensuing Discourse Whether I have offer'd any thing herein that may probably win any to a love of and veneration for this great Office I shall not presume to judge none being more conscious of its defects than my self But since it hath past your Lordships approbation and was favourably receiv'd by the Reverend my Brethren of the Clergy I do the less value the censures of others I am not ignorant that this Age in the Vniversities and Cities especially abounds with great Scholars and eminent Preachers the glory of our Church as well as the envy of our Adversaries and I hope those great men will not disdain to have a Mite thrown in now and then though by the meanest Rural Divine to make some little addition to their Treasury When your Lordship first limited me to this subject I thought it a barren soyl because not commonly manag'd but after a few thoughts spent upon iâ— and turning up some of the surface I promised my self it would prove to speak like a Countrey-Parson of the same nature with new broken up ground which usually yields a double Crop I found the matter so copious and the Office which St. Paul reckons amongst his six Fundamentals so easily defendable that it has run this Discourse into a more than usual length for which I hope the great usefulness of the Subject though not the way of handling it will apologize if not make sufficient amends That your Lordship hath highly advanced the honour and interest of this Church in general and particularly retriev'd the almost lost Reputation of this Sacred Office stopping for ever the mouths of our Adversaries who are apt to bellow against unpreaching Bishops and the neglect of those Offices that bring no secular advantage by your frequent Preachings publick Exhortations and constant Ministration of this holy Office That by your candour and condescension you oblige your Clergy to a regular Conformity and a love to your Lordships injunctions as well as person That by force of Argument manag'd with a winning mildness and sweetness of disposition you have worn off the natural ruggedness of many of the Dissenters and prevail'd upon them to promise a submission These things are not unknown to us who have the happiness to live within your Jurisdiction nor will it be deem'd a piece of Sycophantry by any who have the least knowledge of your Lordships Person or Actions And amongst the many demonstrations of your Lordships known candour these are not the least That you command me to Print this ensuing Discourse thereby shewing your readiness to encourage the industry of the meanest That you please to undertake the protection of it from the proud and censorious And that you give me leave in so publick a manner to subscribe my self Your Lordships most humble and Obedient Son and Servant J. S. The TEXT Acts 8. Chap. 17. v. Then laid they their hands on them and they received the holy Ghost SAint Luke having in his Gospel given an account of the Actions and Sayings of our blessed Saviour from the time of his Birth till his Ascension into Heaven which glorious Ascension of his we do this day commemorate and whose gifts soon after bestow'd are on this day to be distributed does in this Sacred History inform us of some of the most remarkable passages in the Lives of the Holy Apostles Whereof some are common unto all others peculiar to a few those that are peculiar he restrains especially to St. Peter and St. Paul the one of the Circumcision the other the Apostle of the Uncircumcision and by restraining his History to these two he does tacitly insinuate that the rest of the Apostles were no less industrious in their several Provinces to propagate the Gospel of Christ Amongst those actions that are common unto them all none more properly relates to the occasion of this present Solemnity than that remarkable Office of Confirmation here recorded in the Text which the Apostles by St. Peter and St. John their lawful Delegates did administer to a numerous company of the baptized â—â—â—…aritans For St. Stephen being Crowned with Martyrdom Chap. 7. and a violent persecution being rais'd against the Church in the beginning of the 8th the six surviving Deacons with many other Christian Professors were scattered abroad throughout the Regions of Judea and Samaria preaching the Gospel of Christ But the Apostles having not as yet compos'd the common Symbol of Faith or having not by lot or suffrage assign'd to themselves their several Provinces continued still at Jerusalem where they soon received the joyful news of that wonderful success the Gospel of Christ had obtained by the preaching of St. Philip the Deacon who by Apostolical assignment as some or by Divine impulse as others going to Sebaste a Town founded by Herod the great to the honour of Augustus and the Metropolitan City of Samaria verse the fifth rescu'd that whole City from the inchantments of Simon the Sorcerer and converted them to Christianity for though all from the least to the greatest had given heed unto Simon saying This man is the great power of God v. 10. yet when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ they were Baptized both men and women v. 12. and those were the people with one accord v. 6. The news whereof coming to the Colledge of the Apostles then residing at Jerusalem they unanimously sent Peter and John to compleat and perfect by their Apostolical Authority what was so happily begun by Philip the Deacon v. 14. who being come to Samaria and praying for them that they might receive the holy Ghost and that in a more eminent and abundant measure than they had at their Baptism v. 15. their holy and servent prayers met with a suitable return this Sacred Historian assuring us in the words of the Text That having then laid their
by their hands we are abundantly strengthened against all spiritual Enemies in Confirmation from their hands we receive the holy Eucharist the benefits of our Saviours Death and the I ledge of his eternal Love from their hands if we fall under the censures of the Church we receive Absolution and from the laying on of their hands together with the holy Chrism a custom far different from what is now us'd in the Church of Rome the Primitive Christians were freed from their several bodily Distempers or at least from their hands they then received the symbol of Christs Body and Bloud as the last and eternal Viaticum of their Souls I should be infinite in recounting unto you all the Blessings which God by these his Servants was and is pleased to communicate unto men and that under this holy and significant Rite of Imposition of Hands Here then in this solemn Office of Confirmation great and unspeakable Blessings being to be convey'd and those by his superiour Servants the principal Stewards of his Houshold what fitter and more significant Rite could possibly be devis'd whereby to secure a Blessing to the one and Honour to the other than that which the Light of Nature hath affixt to Paternal Benedictions than what the holy Patriarchs before the Law did practise than what under the Law in several the like cases was enjoyn'd than what our Saviour did frequently use and to conclude than what humane Reason could not possibly invent any thing more plain and significant But will some say Was this all that the Apostles used and did the Blessings of God follow the Imposition of Hands onely No surely there was something else belong'd to this great Office and that of a higher and more valuable nature in it self than what is here mentioned We are told vers 15. that the Apostles when they were come to Samaria prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost Prayer is an essential part of the Divine Worship but Imposition of Hands is onely a decent and significant Ceremony proper and adapted to the present occasion Their servent and devout Prayers were the holy charms that invited the Spirit of God to descend from Heaven but Imposition of Hands must be acknowledged onely as a decent Rite made use of mainly to signifie that this Spirit would ordinarily come to none but by the mediation and ministry of those whom he had appointed 'T is very evident that Prayer was the main Duty and Imposition of Hands the principal Ceremony and this is All that we find here recorded concerning the nature of this holy Office Where then shall we find the holy Chrisin consecrated by the Bishop which the Church of Rome calls the Matter where stands recorded that jingling Sentence Signo te signo crucis confirmo te Chrismate solutis in nomine Patris c. which they say is the Form of their pretended Sacrament If you will find them you must search Pope Eugenius's Decretals to the Armenians with the approbation of the Council of Florence or if that will not satisfie you may consult the Council of Trent and the Roman Catechism which give a large and more plenary account of it but let me advize you not to search the Scriptures for it for there you shall not find the least tittle concerning it And yet 't is somewhat strange the Scriptures should be silent in a business of such importance to record nothing but Prayer and Imposition of Hands and to pass by the Matter and Form the two essential parts of a Sacrament seems to be an unpardonable omission in those holy Pen-men But you will find the mistake was not theirs this Sacriledge or holy Cheat must be imputed to the Church of Rome who ingenuously acknowledges that Loco illius manus impositionis datur in Ecclesiâ confirmatio i. e. if we may be so bold as to render it into its true English Prayer and Imposition of Hands is justled out and the holy Cross with sanctified Balsam and a kind of Charm at the end of it is got into the Chair and commenc'd a Sacrament Had the Romanists retain'd Prayer and Imposition of Hands not advancing it to the honour of a Sacrament but honouring it as a Sacramental completion which is as much as it will amount to and added the Cross and Oyl onely as decent and significant Ceremonies to attend upon it they had kept themselves within the bounds of modesty for the truth is Chrism was of very ancient use even in this holy Office together with the honourable badge of our Saviour's Cross as Tertullian who lived in the latter end of the second Century testifies in his Tractate De résurrectione carnis Caro abluitur ut anima emaculetur Caro ungitur ut anima consecretur Caro signatur ut anima muniatur Caro manus impositione adumbratur ut anima spiritis illuminetur Caro corpore sanguine Christi vescitur ut anima de Deo saginetur Where you see betwixt the two Sacraments he gives us an account of Confirmation and the three Ceremonies that did then attend upon it viz. The signe of the Cross Vnction and Imposition of Hands And St. Cyprian about the middle of the third Century mentions the signe of the Cross in this holy Office in his Epistle to Jubaianus Vt per nostram orationem ac manus impositionem spiritum sanctum consequantur signaculo Dominico consummentur So that it must be confest that these Ceremonies were of ancient use in the Church and had they been retain'd onely as such the more sober sort of Christians 't is likely would not have been offenâ—â—â— But for the Church of Rome to lay aside the Apostolical institution and to advance these extrinsick Ceremonies to the same honour with the holy Eucharist is a far greater crime than she committed in the Council of Constance where she onely denies the Cup to the Laity as resolving to keep them sober but retains the use of both kinds to her proper Representatives their Priests standing on tiptoe rather than leave the least drop behind them Here then you may plainly see the ignorance of some and the impudence of others who are Adversaries to our Church The ignorance I will not say the malice of our late Dissenters who alledg'd that this Office of Confirmation as it is us'd in our Church is a superstitious practice and no better than a Transcript of the Popes Decretals whereas if they are compar'd together they are as opposite as light and darkness their old Master Cartwright who first broacht this Scandal openly retracting it upon better information Here you may likewise behold the forehead of those who pretend to pay a great reverence to Antiquity who yet curtail one of the Sacraments with a Non obstante and to make amends for it adde five more as of equal dignity 'T would be matter of wonder that these things should gain so great a repute even amongst the
the inward effects ought not to prejudice any considerative person against the power and efficacy of this Office Will some say How is it possible that upon so slight an action as laying on of hands and the Bishops Prayers so much strength against all Temptations so much ability to perform all acceptable Duties should be conveyed unto us 'T is true the meanness and simplicity of the Ceremony is apt to scandalize him who understands not the invincible power of God which oftentimes effects great and stupendious Works by light and improbable means here is nothing as in the Church of Rome of pomp and solemnity to attract your eyes and raise your admiration nothing but what the holy Apostles did practise and that in a very plain yet comely dress My Father said the Servant of Naaman if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather when he saith unto thee Wash and be clean Dispute not then the possibility or manner of its conveyance but since thou hast as much need of the Holy Spirit in thy capacity as the primitive Christians had in theirs fully perswade thy self that he will not be wanting to thy devout desires but as readily assist thee as he did them and will no more scorn to be invited down now than heretofore he hath been by Prayer and Imposition of Hands For if this Objection be of any force we may upon equal grounds be scandaliz'd at the two great Sacraments the visible signes whereof are altogether as mean and in themselves improbable Nihil adeo est says Tertullian quod tam obduret mentes hominum De Baptis quam simplicitas divinorum operum quae in actu videtur magnificentia quae in effectu repromittitur Others may again object that if Miracles did now as heretofore attend this Office they should then have reason to believe that great and valuable are the inward effects of it but since those are ceas'd they see not why this Office should not cease with them But in answer to this we must know that Miracles were not of the essence of this holy Office for if they had they would have been essential to other Offices which they did sometimes attend upon The Holy Ghost we find in a visible manner descended upon our Saviour at his baptism S. Mat. 3.16 and yet the Holy Ghosts visible descent never was lookt upon as essential to that Sacrament When St. Peter preacht the Gospel to Cornelius and his Companions we are told that while Peter yet spake those words Acts 10.44 46. the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word for they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God and yet the Gift of Languages never was imagin'd to be of the essence of Preaching So that we may with equal reason be scandaliz'd at those two great Offices and pretend that the internal Gifts of Gods Spirit do not follow the performance of those Duties because the external ones are wholly ceas'd Neither ought this to scandalize any That they do not meet with sensible alterations violent motions strong convulsions and tremblings for though sometimes the Spirit upon strong convictions may produce such effects yet here where a due preparation is suppos'd and not a dispossessing of Satan but strength against him is wrought such a violent commotion of the Spirits cannot be expected But the Holy Ghost comes here in a soft voice works gently and mildly upon the rational and intellectual parts of man and by degrees moulds and fashions him into the perfect stature of the Sons of God As we are not sensible of our natural growth how every day new accessions are made to the several parts of our body and yet that we do grow our senses do sufficiently evince so neither can it reasonably be expected that we should understand the mode of the divine operations and the way how such vital strength and nourishment is convey'd to our Souls although after a competent progress in the ways of Vertue we may safely conclude that we are grown in Grace The Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the Sons of God IV. Behold then the excellency the usefulness the necessity of this great Office an Office whose antiquity bears date with the holy Scriptures whose lawfulness the great Examples of our Saviour and his Apostles not to say any thing of the constant and uninterrupted usage of it in the Church for many Ages do vindicate an Office whose expedience and necessity of continuance the great ends and purposes for which it was instituted viz. the conveying the manifold Gifts of Gods Spirit do sufficiently evince an Office always accounted so sacred that our late Vsurping Presbyters never durst pretend to the actual exercise of it an Office from which baptized persons may expect such great and admirable advantages as far surpass whatever the Gift of Tongues could express or Miracles declare an Office whose good influences nothing can hinder but the bars and obstructions that our selves do set finally an Office which in no part of it lies open to any solid Objections even from the worst of Adversaries To conclude then this our long and as I am afraid tiresom Discourse let all be perswaded in their several Spheres to promote the honour of this excellent Work Old men and maidens young men and children of what state or quality soever let 'em be ready to entertain this blessed Spirit who is now as it were hovering over your heads and willing to come down into all prepared hearts And you that intend this day to be partakers of this great Mystery that desire this holy Comforter to descend from Heaven and take possession of your hearts you that earnestly long for the refreshing and strengthening Graces of Gods Spirit you who are now to engage with Principalities and Powers with the deceitful World and your own Lusts and come hither to be enabled to fight that good fight and to come off Conquerours Let me request you deeply to imprint upon your thoughts not onely the excellency of this Duty with the gracious effects thereof but especially that solemn profession that you are here to make the Covenant with God and his Church that you are about to renew the strict Obligations that lie upon you from thence of being pious and devout just and charitable meek and temperate For if you come prepar'd with such generous Christian resolutions as these you need not question but the Graces of Gods Spirit will by the mediation of this his principal Steward be conveyed unto you for which you have the same warrant as the judicious Hooker observes which the Patriarchs Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 5. Prophets Priests Apostles Fathers and men of God in all Ages have had for such their particular Invocations and Benedictions Address your selves then to the holy Altar with decency receive the Blessing with Faith and Humility turn not the Grace you are this day to receive into wantonness but treasure it up in an honest heart and let the fruits thereof be discernable in your lives then will you secure to your selves that seven-fold Gift of the Spirit which the Bishop with the Congregation will presently pray for The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly strength the the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and the Spirit of his boly Fear And for us of the Clergy as we have reason to glory in the number of our Catechumens and to magnifie the God of Heaven for this joyful fruit of our labours So let us be perswaded to continue this good Work that is so happily begun and by catechizing and wholsome instructions prepare the younger sort successively for the like Blessings This will engage his Lordship to continue his intended kindness in coming as it were to our doors though to his great charge to administer this Office and we shall all reap this comfort by it that the Children that are yet unborn will stand up and call us blessed And that this holy Office may have its desired effect that when the Bishop lays his hands upon them they may be filled with the Holy Ghost Let us All here assembled at the pronouncing of each Benediction unanimously say AMEN FINIS