enormities which may be more peculiarly call'd the works of the Devil as pride malice and envy revenge lying and cruelty with such like which are his daily practice Those truly Christian graces of humility charity speaking the truth from the heart love meekness and the like which are plainly visible in the lives of many Christians are evident proofs of this matter it being utterly impossible that they should be so zealous as they are in the practices of these virtues if they did not renounce and utterly abhor those devilish practices which are contrary thereunto From hence also we may infer the possibility of renouncing the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and the sinful lusts of the flesh For as God has commanded us by St. Paul Rom. 12. 2. not to be conformed to this world but to be transform'd by the renewing of our minds proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God So St. John 1 Ep. 5. 4. plainly supposes the possibility of doing this for says he this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith And then as to our ronouncing all the sinful lusts of the flesh as we find St. Peter supposing the possibility of doing this when he exhorts us 1 Ep. 2. 11. as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul so we find St. Paul making it necessary in order to our attainment of everlasting Salvation telling us Rom. 8. 13. that if we live after the flesh we shall dye but if we through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body we shall live Finally 't is either possible for us to keep this part of our Baptismal Vow or else Christ has no true Disciples in the world for St. Paul has plainly told us Gal. 5. 24. they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with their affections and lusts Now it 's not to be doubted but there are a great many sincere Christians in the world and consequently 't is possible for us if we be of that number to mortifie our earthly members and to crucifie our fleshly lusts Whatever therefore some people may pretend as to the impossibility of performing this part of our Baptismal Vow 't is certain they are under a great mistake since it is not possible either for sin or Satan to prevail over us but only so far as we yield unto them they may indeed allure and entice but they cannot hurt us unless we wilfully deliver over our strength into the hands of these our enemies Would we but arm our selves with the mind of Christ firmly resolving to serve the will and pleasure of the Almighty we need not fear what sin and all the powers of Hell can do against us 'T is true in our selves we are weak but that which gives us the surest grounds for our hopes of Victory over these our Enemies is the powerful assistance of God himself for if he be for us who can be against us and we may be sure that he will not be wanting to us if we earnestly seek after him for he never fails to help those that are engag'd against his Enemies but will certainly derive that strength and power into his People which will at length make them more than Conquerors through his beloved Son Let me therefore advise you my Son to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might do but use your best endeavours to mortifie the old man and to crucifie the Flesh with its affections and lusts to subdue all those outward vices of Luxury and Wantonness Revenge Injustice c. and to abstain from all appearance of evil withdrawing the fuel of any vice which you are in danger of and constantly applying your self unto God by prayer and then you need not question but you shall break Satans head however he may be able to bruise your heel tho' you may suffer a little by him yet at last you shall be victorious over him In the second place whereas we also promis'd in your name that you should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith I shall not need to insist upon proving the possibility of your believing them there being nothing that I know of contained in that Creed but what all Christians of what perswasion soever do consent unto I shall therefore now pass to the third and last part of your Baptismal Vow which is to keep Gods holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of your Life Now that there is no more impossibility in the performance of this than the other parts of this solemn vow we have the plain Testimony of our blessed Saviour who for our greater encouragement has told us Mat. 11. 28 29. that his commands are so far from being intolerable that they are easy and full of Comfort for says he take my yoke upon you and learn of me and ye shall find rest unto your Souls for my yoke is easy and my burthen is light And St. John the beloved disciple in like manner assures us that as our keeping the Commandments of God is the best evidence of our love to him so they are all reasonable and every way suitable to the nature of mankind as 1 Ep. 5. 3. this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not grievous And now altho these Texts of Scripture might be sufficient one would think to put the matter beyond all dispute yet because it is possible you may meet with some unreasonable men who will be ready to ask you as they have done me whether there was ever any man in the World that was able to do these things I shall now give some few examples of good and pious men who as we may conclude from what is said of them found it possible through the grace of God to renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh and to walk before God in purity and holiness of Life yielding such an uniform obedience to all his Commands as he was pleased to accept of In the first place therefore may we not reasonably suppose that Noah did this it being said of him Gen. 6. 9. that he was a just man and perfect in his generation and that he walked with God And what reason have we to doubt of Abraham's doing the same thing who as he was the father of the faithful so he manifested the sincerity of his faith by the uniformity of his obedience for as St. James tells us ch 2. v. 22. Faith wrought with his works and by works was faith made perfect In like manner may we not conclude the same thing of Job of whom the Lord himself was pleased to give this character ch 1. 8. that there was none like him in all the earth a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil And tho Satan moved God against him as it is said ch 2. 3. to destroy him without a cause yet
the Baptismal Vow 2. To prove unto you the possibility of keeping it 3. To shew you how great an Obligation you lye under to observe it Therefore whereas you promised by us to renounce the Devil c. you must know that by renouncing any thing is meant a declaring against it or a forsaking it and resolving to have no more to do with it a refusing to comply with it or to be govern'd by it And thus our Church has explain'd the word in the first interrogatory to the Sureties For says the Minister unto them Dost thou in the name of this Child renounce the Divil and all his works the vain pomp and glory of the world with all covetous desires of the same and the carnal desires of the flesh so that thou wilt not follow nor be led by them To which they are required to make answer and say I renounce them all By which is meant that whosoever Covenants with God to be his faithful Servant does thereby oblige himself not to be at Satans beck nor led by the vain customs of the world or the lusts of the flesh And in this sense we find the word renounce us'd by St. Paul 2 Ep. to Cor. 4. ch 2. where speaking in vindication of himself he declares that he had not been slothful in the work of the Ministry but had renounced the hidden things of dishonesty i. e. he disdained to have any thing to do with those base Arts and cunning Tricks which some others made use of in handling the word of God So that in promising to renounce the Devil the World and the Flesh you declared by us that you would oppose all their temptations and no way comply with them to the dishonour of God and the destruction of your Soul 2. Whereas you promised also by us to believe all those fundamental Doctrines of Christianity which are briefly comprehended in that form of sound words which is called the Apostles Creed I cannot suppose that there is any necessity for explaining that part of your Baptismal Vow in this small Treatise because as there are no great difficulties in it so there are no great disputes about it it being generally received in the Christian Church by men of all perswasions how different soever from one another in many other points However this one thing I cannot omit letting you know viz. that you are so to believe all these Articles as to take care that the practice of your life and conversation be answerable to all those things which you profess to believe That is to say you must so believe in God as to dread his almighty power and greatness and yet adore and love him for his immense mercy and goodness You must so believe in Jesus Christ as to walk according to those excellent rules of his holy Gospel which he has given us and you must so believe in the Holy Ghost as not to grieve him by following any vicious or idle courses and thus in reference to all the other Articles of our Christian Faith you must so reflect upon them as to be admonished thereby of your duty and effectually moved to the performance of it And now 3. Wheteas you promised also by us to keep Gods holy will and commandments and to walk in the same all the days of your life it is requisite that I give you a more large explication of this part of the Baptismal vow because there are so many and so great mistakes among Christians about it You must know therefore that you are not hereby to understand a perfect and unsinning obedience for it is utterly impossible for any man to live without being guily of disobedience to God upon many accounts but by keeping the Commandments of God now under the Gospel is meant our using the most sincere endeavours to do those things which God has required being unfeignedly sorrowful for all our frailties and imperfections heartily begging Gods pardon through Christ for what we have done amiss and conscientiously putting our holy resolutions of new obedience into practice still exercising our faith and relying upon Gods mercies in Christ Jesus towards us So that in acknowledging our selves bound to keep Gods holy will and commandments and to walk in the same all the days of our life we do not in the least mean that our good works are meritorious or that we can be sav'd purely through any the most excellent works of righteousness which we can perform but our obedience to the Gospel is required as the best testimony of the sincerity of our faith And hence it is that our Saviour is said Heb. 5. 9. to be the author of eternal Salvation to all that obey him Let no man therefore deceive you by extolling faith to the disparagement of good works for as St. John has told us 1 Ep. 5. 3. that our keeping the commandments of God is the best evidence of our love to him so St. Paul has taught us Ephes 2. 10. that we are Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that we should walk in them In like manner St Peter 2 Ep. 1. 5 6. tells us we must not think it sufficient that we are made partakers of the Divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust but says he besides this giving all diligence add to your faith vertue and to vertue knowledge c. for if these things be in you and abound they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ And thus my Son having shew'd you the true meaning of your Baptismal Vow I shall in the second place prove unto you the possibility of keeping it And for this I suppose there needs no better proof than Gods requiring these things of us in order to our Salvation and his setting before us the examples of holy men in Scripture for our encouragement and imitation of them in this matter For so infinitely just and merciful is our heavenly father that he expects no more from us than he knows we are able to perform through the gracious assistance of his holy spirit concurring with our own sincere endeavours In the first place therefore as to our renouncing the Devil has he not commanded us by his Apostle St James ch 4. 7. to restst him promising withal that thereupon he shall flee from us Has he not enjoin'd us also by his Apostle St Paul Eph. 4. 27. not to give place to the Devil And in like manner has he not also told us by St Peter 1 Ep. 5. 9. that we should resist the Devil being stedfast in the faith Now surely if we are to resist him and to give no place unto him it must be possible for us to renounce him by making all opposition against him and all his temptations And if it be possible for us thus to renounce the Devil it cannot surely be impossible for us to renounce all sin and particularly those
be spiritually affected toward their Children And how far soever many are now a days from being so it 's not to be doubted but that they were much more tenderly affected toward them in antient times For names are usually given at first according to the nature of things and therefore it is not reasonable that any of us should be so averse both to the name and the office because some are so very careless in the performance of what they do undertake It is our duty rather conscientiously to undertake and discharge this office which we may do if we will to the glory of God the spiritual advantage of one anothers Children and the comfort of our own Souls Let no one therefore deceive you and make you believe that there is any thing of Popish superstition in the use of Sureties for it is certain from the antient Histories of the Church that there were God-fathers in the Christian Church many years before there was any such thing as Popery known in the world And such Sureties are at this day retained not only here in England but in those Churches beyond the Seas who never did embrace the Popish Religion Thus having shew'd you what is meant by God-fathers c. I shall in the 2d place show you what reason our Church has to justifie the use of them for it being matter only of Ecclesiastical discipline I do not suppose that there is any necessity of an express command or example in Scripture for it It may suffice us therefore that it be go runded upon good reason and so I suppose it is For if we will allow that Children should be baptiz'd as we very well may and not doubt but that God will also allow the same we must by consequence allow them the benefit of having others to Covenant with God for them and who may be obliged afterward to see them instructed in the principles of the Christian Religion And that it 's no new or impossible thing for Children to covenant with God by others we may learn from Deut. 29. 10 11 12. for there we find that not only the elder Persons who could understand and speak for themselves but even their little ones were brought to covenant with God which they could not do but by others and yet those Children were as much obliged to stand to that Covenant as the elder persons who were of age and understanding to Covenant for themselves as appears by those and the following verses in the fore-mentioned Ch. of Deut. Besides this is no more than what is daily practic'd in behalf of Children in worldly matters for when Parents dye and leave Estates and Portions for their young Children they leave some Friends in trust with them and these persons contract and make bargains in their names and if those be fair and advantageous the Children in whose names they are made are obliged to stand to them and make them good when they come of age And that we have no reason to doubt of God's accepting the Faith of Sureties in behalf of Children may appear not only from Gods acceptance of Abraham's Faith for circumcising his Son but from Christs ready acceptance of the woman of Canaans faith for the cure of her Daughter Mat. 15. 22. as also from his accepting the charitable intention of those that brought the man sick of the Palsey to be cured by him Mark 2. 5. Thus having shew'd you that the Churches use of Baptismal Sureties is grounded upon good reason and therefore has been so long approved of through all parts of the world where the Gospel has been preacht from the Apostles times or very near them to this day one would think there should not be so much dispute among Christians about this matter but because there are many Objections made against this order of our Church therefore I shall now proceed to give as satisfactory answers as I can to those Objections which I have met with Obj. 1. Therefore say some we find no such thing commanded in Scripture as God-fathers and God-mothers nor example of any such matter nor so much as any such words therein mentioned and therefore we cannot think fit to make use of them Answ In answer whereunto it is to be considered that God has no where in his holy word ty'd us up so strictly in matters of Church discipline that we must do nothing but just what is expresly commanded or what we have an example for for what Sect of Christians is there who do not for love and orders sake observe some things for which they have neither a particular precept noâ— example It may be sufficient that such things are agreeable to the general rule of the Apostle 1. Cor. 14. 40. that all things be done decently and in order and tending to edification v. 26. This rule supposes that the particular matters of Church Discipline should be left to Church Governours and to the custom of the Church not contrary to the rule of Scripture and no way derogating from the Glory of God So that this having been the constant custom of the Church in the purest times of the Gospel after the Apostles days to require Sureties for Children at their Baptism why may not the Churches custom justifie our practice especially in this case wherein there is nothing of indecency but what may very much tend to edification and the Glory of God if it be rightly observ'd As to your finding no mention made of the words in Scripture that 's no argument against the things for neither do we find the word Trinity nor the word Sacrament in Scripture and yet we think fit to make use of those words the one being most proper to express the three persons in the Godhead and the other to signify the two great ordinances of the Gospel viz. Baptism and the Lords Supper But 2. It is not good say some to undertake this office nor to desire others to do it because there are none that discharge their duty in this matter To this I answer that some have discharged their duty is most certain and I could give you some instances to prove that to the pious care of Baptismal Sureties in instructing some of your Royal Princes in the Principles of sound Religion we owe in a great measure the enjoyment of the Protestant Religion in this Nation And that all others do not discharge â—heir duty is not because there is any impossibility in the nature of the thing for cannot any of us use our best endeavours to see that a Child be taught so â—oon as he shall be able to learn what a solemn Vow Promise and Profession he has made by his Sureties cannot they take care that he may learn the Church Catechism which contains in it all the fundamental truths which a Christian ought to know and believe to his Souls health cannot they call upon him to hear Sermons unless they happen to be removed at too great a distance from each other