of what he hath so purchas'd The belief of these and the like Articles of our Faith being as manifestly presuppos'd to the belief of those Promises which in this place we are required to intend III. That which will it may be more concern us to enquire is what our Catechism means by a stedfast belief of them For my more orderly resolution whereof I will enquire first what it means by belief and then by a stedfast one Now by belief may be meant either a simple assent of the mind and in which fense there is no doubt it is oftentimes taken in Christian Writers Or there may be meant also a belief with affiance and such as beside the assent of the mind or understanding to them doth also connote a trust in them or in God because of them By vertue of which as I have elsewhere discours'd (k) Expl. of the Decal Com. 1. Part 3. concerning the grace of trust the heart or will is prompted to desire as well as assent to the matter of the divine promises and acquiesce in those for the obtaining of it And indeed if we may judge any thing by our Homilies to which the Articles (l) Art 11. of our Church do also particularly referr us in the point of justifying Faith this latter belief must be here intended Because a belief which hath for its end the remission of sins in Baptism and consequently a justifying one For the right and true Christian Faith saith one of our (m) Homily of Salvation Part 3. Homilies is not only to believe that the Holy Scripture and all the forecited Articles of our Faith are true but also to have a sure trust and confidence in God's merciful promises to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ And it is not only saith another (n) Hom. of Faith the common belief of the Articles of our Faith but it is also a sure trust and confidence of the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ and a stedfast hope of all good things to be receiv'd at God's hands In fine saith the same (o) Ibid. Homily the very sure lively Christian faith is not only to believe all things of God which are contained in holy Scripture but also to have an earnest trust and confidence in God c. Which suppos'd as we may because we can have no more Authentick interpretation of it to be the sense of the belief here intended it will not be difficult to shew what our Catechism means by a stedfast one For considering the belief of these Promises as an Assent of the mind to them so a stedfast belief will imply that which is free from all doubts and which the mind of man gives to those Promises without any the least fear of there being any Collusion in them Which the mind of man may well give considering whose those Promises are and that they have both God and Christ for the Authors of them On the other side if we consider the belief intended as including in it also an affiance or trust and by vertue of which the heart or will is prompted to desire as well as believe the matter of those Promises and acquiesce in those Promises for the attaining of it So this stedfast belief will also imply such a one as is firmly rooted in the heart or will and can no more be rooted out of it by the force of temptations than the other by doubts or scruples And indeed as I do not see how any other belief than that can answer such glorious promises as are made to us in the Sacrament of Baptism so I see as little reason to doubt IV. What evidence there is of that being the Faith or belief which is pre-requir'd by Christianity to the receiving of it For though S. Luke may seem to intimate by the account he gives of the Baptism of the Samaritans (p) Acts 8.12 that they were baptiz'd upon a simple belief of what Philip preach'd concerning the things of the Kingdom of God Yet he doth much more clearly intimate afterward that Christianity requir'd another sort of belief and such as was accompani'd with an adherence of the will unto them He making it the condition of the Eunuch's Baptism afterward that he should believe with all his heart (q) Acts 8.37 Which is an expression that in the language of the Scripture referrs rather to the will and affections than to the understanding but however cannot well be thought not to include them there where the believing with all the heart is requir'd And indeed as I do not see considering the Doctrine of our First Reformers why this notion of Faith should be so exploded as it seems to me lately to have been As I do much less see why men should so boyle at that Justification which was wont to be attributed in an especial manner to it So if I live to finish the work I am now upon I will in a Comment upon the Epistle to the Philippians which I have almost gather'd sufficient materials for endeavour to clear both the one and the other that men may neither take occasion from thence to discard good works as unnecessary nor yet stay themselves upon any other than the promises of Christ and on which the holiest men upon earth when they have been approaching near God's tribunal have found themselves oblig'd to cast themselves In the mean time a little to repress the youthful heats of those who can hardly forbear smiling at such antiquated notions I will set before them the advice which was order'd to be given to sick persons when good works to be sure were not without their just repute It is among the Interrogatories which are said (r) Field of the Church Append. to the 3d. Book p. 303. to have been prescrib'd by Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury and particularly after that which prompts the Priest to ask Dost thou believe that thou canst not be sav'd but by the death of Christ and the sick persons Answer that he did so Go too therefore as the Priest was taught to proceed and whilst thy soul remaineth in thee place thy confidence in this death alone and in no other thing commit thy self wholly to it cover thy self wholly with it immerse fix and wrap thy self wholly in it And if the Lord God will judge thee say I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy judgment otherwise I contend not with thee And if he say that thou art a sinner say Lord I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my sins If he say to thee thou hast deserv'd damnation say Lord I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my evil deserts and I offer the same death for that merit which I ought to have had and have not If he continue as yet to say that he is angry with thee say Lord I oppose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me
cleansed by the washing of it The like evidenc'd from the same Scripture concerning the latter even our new birth unto righteousness As that again farther clear'd as to this particular by the consentient Doctrine and practice of the Church by the opinion the Jews had of that Baptism which was a Type and exemplar of ours and the expressions of the Heathen concerning it The Doctrine of the Church more largely insisted upon and exemplified from Justin Martyr Tertullian and S. Cyprian p. 77 The Contents of the Seventh Part. Of our Union to the Church by Baptism OF the relation of the sign of Baptism to our Vnion to the Church and that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby that Vnion is made This evidenc'd in the first place from the declarations of the Scripture more particularly from its affirming all Christians to be baptiz'd into that Body as those who were first baptiz'd after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles to have been thereby added to their company and made partakers with the rest in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayers The like evidence of the same Union to the Church by Baptism from the declarations of the Church it self and the consequences of that Vnion shewn to be such as to make that also to be accounted one of the inward and spiritual Graces of that Baptism by which it is made p. 85 The Contents of the Eighth Part. Of the Profession that is made by the Baptized Person THE things signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized brought under consideration and shewn from several former discourses which are also pointed to to be an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and particularly of the Trinity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws Our resolution of acting agreeably to the Laws of Christianity more particularly consider'd and the Profession thereof shewn by several Arguments to be the intendment of the Christian Baptism What the measure of that conformity is which we profess to pay to the Laws of Christianity and what are the consequences of the Violation of that Profession p. 89 The Contents of the Ninth Part. Of the right Administration of Baptism AFter a short account of the Foundation of the Baptismal relation and reference made to those places from which a larger one may be fetch'd Enquiry is made touching the right Administration of Baptism as therein again First Whether Baptism ought expresly to be made in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it Thirdly to what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred Fourthly Whether it may be repeated The two first of these spoken to here and first Whether Baptism ought to be expresly administred in the form propos'd Which is not only shewn to be under obligation from the express words of the Institution but answer made to those Texts which seem to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus only The Baptism of Schismaticks and Hereticks more largely shewn to be valid unless where they baptize into a counterfeit Faith and the several objections against it answer'd p. 95 The Contents of the Tenth Part. Of the Baptism of those of riper Years TO what and what kind of persons Baptism ought to be administred Which as to those of riper years is shewn to be unto all that come duly qualified for it What those qualifications are upon that account enquir'd into and Repentance and Faith shewn from the Scripture as well as from our own Catechism to be they That Repentance and Faith more particularly considered the definitions given of them by our Church explain'd and established The former whereof is effected by shewing what Repentance doth presuppose what it imports and to what it doth naturally dispose us The latter by shewing what those promises are which by the Catechism are made the object of our Faith or Belief what that Belief of them doth presuppose what is meant by a stedfast Belief of them and what evidence there is of that being the Faith or Belief requir'd to the receiving of Baptism p. 103 The Contents of the Eleventh Part. Of the Baptism of Infants WHat ground Infant-Baptism hath in Scripture and particularly in what it suggests concerning Christ's commanding his Disciples to suffer little Children to come unto him S. Paul's giving the Children of the faithful the title of Holy and the Circumcision of Infants The concurrence of Antiquity therein with the Doctrine of the Scripture and that concurrence fartherstrengthned by the Pelagians so freely admitting of what was urg'd against them from thence A brief account of that remission and regeneration which Infants acquire by Baptism and a more large consideration of the Objections that are made against it More particularly of what is urg'd against the Regeneration of Infants in Baptism or their ability to answer what is prerequir'd to it on the part of persons to be baptiz'd or is to be performed by them in the reception of it Where the Regeneration of Infants is more largely considered and what is promis'd for them by others shewn to be both reasonable and sufficient p. 111 The Contents of the Twelfth Part. Whether Baptism may be repeated WHat the true state of the present question is and that it is not founded in any suppos'd illegitimateness of the former Baptism but upon supposition of the baptized persons either not having before had or forfeited the regeneration of it or fallen off from that Religion to which it doth belong Whereupon enquiry is made whether if such persons repent and return they ought to be baptiz'd anew or received into the Church without What there is to perswade the repeating of Baptism and what the Church hath alledg'd against it The Churches arguments from Eph. 4.4 and John 13.10 proposed but wav'd The Churches opinion more firmly established in the no direction there is in Scripture for re-baptization in those cases but rather the contrary and in the no necessity there is of it The Arguments for rebaptization answer'd p. 131 ERRATA In the Text. PAg. 22. l. 1. after do add not p. 47. l. 46. after of add that p. 81. l. 3. corruption p. 109. l. 32. for boyl r. boglt In the Margent Pag. 3. l. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibid. l. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 23. l. 44. for Sacramentum r. incrementa p. 83. l. pmult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM PART I. Of the Rite of Baptism among the HEATHEN and the JEWS The Contents The Heathen themselves not without the knowledge of another World and of the insufficiency of natural Religion to bring them to the happiness thereof Occasion taken by them from thence to enquire after other ways of obtaining it and by the
that distinct profession of the Trinity which Baptism was intended to declare but the appearance there is of the Churches using a threefold immersion from the beginning For not to mention any other proofs Tertullian who flourished within an hundred years after the last of the Apostles doth not only mention the threefold immersion as a thing in use in his time but as a thing which was derived to them from * Tert. de Coronâ c. 3. Ergo quaeramus an Traditio nisi scripta non debeat recipi Plant negabimus recipiendam si nulla exempla praejudicent aliarum observationum quas sine ullius scripturae instrumento solius traditionis titulo exinde consuetudinis Patrocinio vindicamus Denique ut à Baptismo ingrediar Aquam adituri ibidem sed aliquanto prius in Ecclesiâ sub Antistitis manu contestamur nos renunciare Diabolo pompae angelis ejus Dehinc ter mergitamur amplius aliquid respondentes quà m Dominus in Evangelio determinavit Item adv Praxeam c. 26. Tradition and which considering the time wherein he liv'd cannot well fall short of an Apostolical one And thus much certainly ought to be allow'd to this and other testimonies that in or near the Apostolical Age the more fully to express that distinction of persons into the Faith of which Christ commanded to baptize Men were with the command or allowance of those who presided in the Church plunged into the Baptismal Water at the mention of each person's name But as that threefold immersion cannot be collected from the command of Christ because simply enjoyning to baptize into the Faith of the Trinity and which one immersion may declare as well as a threefold one As there is as little appearance of such a threefold immersion from the account we have in the Scripture of the administration of it So it is but reasonable to think that as ancient as it was yet it was postnate to the single one and had its rise from some Men's beginning to call the Doctrine of the Trinity in question as we find by Tertullian they did very early and the better to colour their own errour as well as to overthrow the other admonishing Men from S. Paul that Baptism was peculiarly intended to baptize Men into Christ's death For beside that they who consider the primitive face of Christianity will need no other proof than that to perswade them to believe that the more simple any Rite is so much the more ancient it ought to be thought to be That Apostolick Canon †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 50. which commands the deposing of him who should not use a threefold immersion but a single one doth not so much as preferr the threefold immersion to the single one simply and absolutely considered but as opposed to that single one which was made use of to baptize Men into the death of our Lord and not into the Faith of the Trinity Thereby not only not condemning the single immersion considered in it self but also intimating the triple one to have been rather instituted at first to obviate that heretical opinion And if this were the rise of the triple Immersion as is probable enough from the premises The single one abstracting from any command of the Church to the contrary will at least be as lawful as that and nothing therefore left to us to enquire but what is to be thought of those additions which were anciently made or continue as yet in being in the outward solemnities of Baptism 4. As touching the additions which were anciently made in this particular and concerning which they who desire an account may meet with an ample one in Dr. Cave's Primitive Christianity (f) Part 1. c. 10. They were either such as they thought more peculiarly warranted to them by an Apostolical Tradition of which nature till better information I must needs think the triple Immersion to have been or such as were brought into the Church by those who presided in it the more effectually to declare the intention of that Sacrament to which they were added by it Which they thought they might most assuredly do if they made use of such farther Rites as did represent yet more to their senses what that Sacrament was intended to declare And indeed as that way of Instruction was in part warranted by the Sacraments themselves because professing by sensible things to teach Men Spiritual ones As it became yet more necessary by the grosness of the Vulgar sort and that infinity of Ceremonies to which they had been before accustomed So that which afterwards made them faulty was either the exceeding multitude thereof and which experience assures us doth rather obscure yea overwhelm the thing signified by them than help toward the declaration of it or their advancing by degrees into the same repute or necessity with the signs of Christ's own Institution Which is so true that they came in fine to be represented as means and conveyers of Grace as well as significative thereof Thereby making them Sacraments rather than appendages of such and which whosoever goes about to do must necessarily usurp the place of God and Christ as to whom alone it doth belong because the only givers of Spiritual Graces to make any ceremony the conveyer of them But as that Church whose Catechism I explain hath been so far from multiplying Rites in Baptism that she hath contented her self with one single one even the Sign of the Cross So she hath so explain'd her own meaning in it both in that form of words (g) In the Office of Bapt. wherewith she appointeth it to be made and in a Canon (h) Can. 30. devised expresly for that purpose that it will not be easie for considerate Men to believe that she represents it as a Sacrament or indeed that she may not require the conformity of her Children to it Only because they who separate from the Church have made the injunction of that Ceremony one of the particular reasons of their separation and occasion may well be taken from thence to shew the ground both of that and others which are as yet retained in the Church of England I will set my self to consider the exceptions that have been made against it and return a particular answer to them Now there are three sorts of charges which are brought against this Ceremony and which therefore it will be necessary to consider It s being a Ceremony and so Iess agreeable to a spiritual and substantial Religion It s being an addition to the Institution of Christ and therefore implying something of imperfection in that As lastly its being a relique of Popery or giving too much countenance to the errors of it The first of these is certainly one of the most unreasonable charges that were ever advanced against our Church by the Adversaries thereof As will appear if we consider the nature of those for whose edification that
baptized ones to set before them in the next place the consequences of the violation of their profession Whereof the first that I shall assign is that so far as they depart from that Profession of theirs so far forth they sin against that very Baptism of theirs which was intended for their recovery from sin and against that saving Religion into which it admits them That Baptism which enjoyns upon them the making profession of a good Conscience enjoyning consequently the answering that profession by a sutable piety as without which that Profession would be but an hypocritical one From whence as it will follow that there will be little reason to believe that they shall enjoy the benefits of Baptism who answer not the Profeson of it So much less if we consider what that was that made their Profession to be of any avail at the first even the presumption it gave that the person that made it would as occasion offer'd it self give sutable demonstrations of it For if that presumption were the thing which made the Profession of a good Conscience to be of any avail at the first Those demonstrations failing those benefits must be suppos'd to fail which were collated upon the presumption of them But from thence it will follow Thirdly that they who answer not their former profession can much less promise to themselves farther spiritual blessings here or an interest in the other World They who could not be admitted to the first priviledges of Baptism but upon a presumption of their future piety being much less likely to be admitted to the participation of others after that presumption appeareth to be null It will follow Lastly that they who answer not the Profession of Baptism by a piety sutable to it must consequently fail altogether of the benefits thereof if that Christianity into which it entred them had not provided them of a remedy against the violations of their Profession Which though it will not make the case of those violators desperate yet will shew it to be so dangerous as to oblige all who have a care of their Salvation to prevent what they may such violations of it or endeavour to repair them afterwards by a speedy and severe repentance and a more fixed and setled piety Lest as it may some time happen they be cut off before they can make use of the remedy propos'd or by reason of their former violations have not the grace given them to do it PART IX Of the right Administration of Baptism The Contents After a short account of the Foundation of the Baptismal relation and reference made to those places from which a larger one may be fetch'd Enquiry is made touching the right Administration of Baptism as therein again First Whether Baptism ought expresly to be made in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it Thirdly to what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred Fourthly Whether it may be repeated The two first of these spoken to here and first Whether Baptism ought to be expresly administred in the form propos'd Which is not only shewn to be under obligation from the express words of the Institution but answer made to those Texts which seem to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus only The Baptism of Schismaticks and Hereticks more largely shewn to be valid unless where they baptize into a counterfeit Faith and the several objections against it answer'd I Have hitherto entreated of the outward visible sign of Baptism of its inward and spiritual Grace or the things signified by it and the farther relation that outward sign beareth to them It folllows that I entreat of the foundation of that relation the Fourth thing propos'd to be consider'd Now as the Foundation of that relation hath been shewn * Expl. of the Sacrament in general Part 2. to be no other than the Institution of Christ as that again not so much as deliver'd by him as appli'd to that water in which it is subjected So I have in the same discourse said †Ibid. Part 2 3. so much concerning the Institution of this and the application of that Institution to the outward visible sign thereof that I shall need to say the less here It may suffice briefly to observe from thence that what the Minister hath prepar'd the water of Baptism by a declaration of the end of its Institution and by imploring the Holy Spirit on it Christ who hath promised to be with him in that ministration of his gives it the relation of the Sacrament of Baptism and consequently makes it apt to convey the several graces thereof to those who are to partake of it Which will leave little more for us to consider as to the Sacrament of Baptism than the right Administration of it or what may without any violence be reduced to it Now there are Four things which are especially to be enquir'd in order to the clearing of that which is now before us I. Whether Baptism ought expresly to be administer'd in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost II. Whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it III. To what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred IV. Whether it may be repeated I. The ground of the first of these even whether Baptism ought expresly to be administred in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is not any the least doubt of those being the express words of the Institution or of their not admitting consider'd in themselves of any variation from it but the accounts we have from the Scripture of the administration of that Sacrament either by the hands or at the command of the Apostles and other such inspired men Those seeming to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus as comprehending within it an acknowledgement of the other two persons and indeed of all other the substantial Articles of his Faith in whose name we are so baptiz'd For thus when those Jews to whom S. Peter Preach'd on the day of Pentecost were wrought upon so far as to ask what they ought to do in order to their Salvation S. Peter's answer was †Acts 2.38 that they should be baptiz'd in the name of the Lord Jesus Which accordingly we may believe to have been done by those that gladly receiv'd the word because it is afterwards (a) Acts 2.41 said of them that they were baptiz'd that is as one would think in that and that only name which had been prescrib'd Thus again it is said (b) Acts 8.16 of those who had been baptiz'd by Philip at Samaria that they were baptiz'd in the name of the Lord Jesus without any the least hint of their being baptized in any other name As in like manner (c) Acts 10.47 that S. Peter
those 46 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 47 †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Canons of the Apostles which do so far reprobate the Baptism of Hereticks as to require a reiteration of it For if the Hereticks there intended were such as are before described as is not unreasonable to believe even from the words of the Canons themselves there is no doubt their Baptism was and ought to be look'd upon as null because deviating from that Institution which gives validity to all But because it appears from a passage of S. Augustine (k) Caeterum quis nescit non esse Baptismum Christi si verba Evangelica quibus symbolum constut illic defuerint Sed facilius inveniuntur haeretici qui omnino non baptizant quam qui illis verbis non baptizant De Bapt. contra Donat. li. 6. c. 25. that whatever the antienter Hereticks did yet later ones or at least for the most part kept to the words of the Institution Therefore we must go on to enquire whether Hereticks may not however be presum'd to baptize into a false and counterfeit Faith even that which they themselves advance and consequently give such a Baptism as is null and void And to speak my mind freely though with submission to better judgments I conceive such Hereticks may be presum'd to do it who advance a Heresie that directly and manifestly contradicts the Faith of Baptism and particularly the Faith of the Holy Trinity Which I do in part upon the Authority of the Nicene Council (l) Can. 19. and in part also upon the Authority of Reason For though there be not the least presumption that the followers of Paulus Samosatenus made use of any other form of Baptism than the Catholicks did Though there be some presumption on the contrary that they made use of the very same form because though they deny'd a Trinity of Persons yet they asserted one and the same God to be rightly entitled by the names of Father Son and Holy Ghost Yet did the Nicene Council notwithstanding because of their direct and manifest denial of the Trinity and their affirming Christ to be a meer Man so far disallow their Baptism as to require the reiteration of it As indeed why should it not when those Paulianists did so directly and manifestly contradict the sense of that form whereby they pretended to proceed That direct and manifest contradiction of theirs proclaming to the World that though they baptiz'd in the same form of words with the Orthodox yet in a perfectly different sense and consequently departed alike from that Institution which was to give force to it I say not the same of the Baptism of the Arians where they made use of the same form of words which the Institution prescrib'd as it is certain that many * De Arianis qui propriâ sua lege utuntur ut baptizentur placuit Si ad Ecclesiam aliqui de hac haeresi venerint interrogent eos sidei nostrae sacerdotes symbolum Et si perviderint in Patre Filio Spiritu sancto eos baptizatos manus eis tantum imponatur ut accipiant spiritum sanctum c. Concil Arel c. 8. of them did Partly because the Church receiv'd those that had been so baptized by them without any new Baptism And partly because neither so directly and manifestly contradicting the Doctrine of the Trinity by their own nor varying from the prescribed form as some other of them did they may be reasonably presum'd to have left the form by them us'd to its proper sense whatever that was and to what he who prescrib'd it did intend it Which suppos'd what should hinder Christ from giving force to that Baptism which is so administred by them These as they do not at all vary from the Institution of Christ so in this particular even in the application of the Baptismal water to the Baptized parties acting not in their own or in their peoples names but in the name of Christ and who therefore may the rather be supposed to give force and vertue to it The result of the premises is this A Heretick is indeed oblig'd to baptize into the truly Christian Faith neither can any man otherwise promise force from that act of his But if he baptize into that faith as he may even whilst he continues such his Baptism is valid neither can any man doubt of a blessing from it who comes prepared for it and when he comes to know in what company he hath been engag'd renounceth that and their Heresie and both submits himself to the discipline of the Church and keeps to the communion of it PART X. Of the Baptism of those of riper Years The Contents To what and what kind of persons Baptism ought to be administred Which as to those of riper years is shewn to be unto all that come duly qualified for it What those qualifications are upon that account enquir'd into and Repentance and Faith shewn from the Sripture as well as from our own Catechism to be they That Repentance and Faith more particularly considered the definitions given of them by our Church explain'd and established The former whereof is effected by shewing what Repentance doth presuppose what it imports and to what it doth naturally dispose us The latter by shewing what those promises are which by the Catechism are made the object of our Faith or Belief what that Belief of them doth presuppose what is meant by a stedfast Belief of them and what evidence there is of that being the Faith or Belief requir'd to the receiving of Baptism III. BEing now to enquire Question What is required of persons to be haptized Answer Repentance whereby they forsake Sin and Faith whereby they stedfastly believe the promises made to them in that Sacrament according to the method before laid down to what and what kind of persons the Sacrament of Baptism ought to be administred for my more advantageous resolution thereof I will consider it first as to those of riper years and then as to Infants and Children That I give the precedency to those of riper years though such Baptisms as those are little known among us is because there is no doubt Baptism began with them and could not indeed have found any other entrance into the World The Baptism of Infants in the opinion of those who do most strongly assert it depending upon the Baptism of their Parents or of those who are in the place of them Of whom if some had not been baptiz'd in their riper years those Infants that claimed by them could not with reason have pretended to it Of those of riper years therefore I mean first to entreat and shew to what and what kind of persons among them the Sacrament of Baptism ought to be administred Now as it is clear from our Saviour's injunction * Matt. 28.19 of discipling and baptizing all Nations that none of what condition soever are to be excluded from
for sin when considered only with reference to its appendant punishment being likely enough to dispose us so to confess and ask pardon of it if it were only to unburthen our selves and free our selves by that and prayer from the punishment we have deserv'd How much more then when consider'd as a sorrow for that affront which we have by means of our sin offer'd to God's both Authority and Goodness He to whom such an affront is matter of sorrow being likely enough to be thereby dispos'd so far to acknowledge that Authority and goodness as to own them upon the postfact by confession and prayer for pardon He who confesseth and asketh pardon of God acknowledging that God had and hath an Authority to command and punish him as he who doth the latter that God is of equal goodness as of whom otherwise it would be in vain for him to ask pardon for his offences Whence it was that when the Church proceeded by strict and safe measures she not only taught those that offer'd themselves to Baptism to ask of God with fasting the forgiveness of their forepast offences but as we learn from Justin Martyr (f) Vbi supra added her own prayers and fasts to theirs so the better to encourage and give force unto the others I reckon of the same nature secondly a resolution to forsake sin and pursue the contrary vertues Which I do not only upon the Authority of the foremention'd Father who reckons that (g) Loco prius citato also as a prerequisite to Baptism but as it is a thing to which sorrow for sin doth alike naturally dispose us He to whom sin is so irksome needing no other motive than that irksomeness to oblige him to forsake it and pay a more perfect submission to that Authority and goodness of God which he hath before so shamefully violated I reckon thirdly as a thing to which sorrow for sin doth equally dispose us a present forsaking of those sins which we are under a temptation to commit as well as a resolution to do so for the time to come There being the same force in a due sorrow for sin to dispose men to that as there is to a resolution of afterward forsaking it For which cause the Antient Church did not only refuse such persons Baptism as were of any unlawful Profession (h) Introd concern Catech c. till they actually abandon'd it but made proof (i) Ibid. also for a considerable time of the resolutions of others and till they had given her such proofs did not admit them to it They finding no doubt by manifold experience that many that offer'd themselves to Baptism made little Conscience afterward of avoiding those sins which they had before so solemnly resolv'd against and made publick profession of abandoning And though it do not appear that the Apostles themselves took this course they baptizing men immediately upon the bare profession of their Repentance and a resolution afterward to bring forth fruits meet for it Yet as the reason of that possibly might be either because of that exuberance of Grace which was then bestow'd upon their new Converts or because by means of their Ambulatory life they could not well deferr the Baptism of those that offer'd themselves till they had made some considerable trial of them which will exempt such Churches from their example where there is no such exuberance of Grace and where moreover they have setled Pastors to intend the affairs of them So we cannot think the Apostles would have ever given Baptism to such persons as should before that Baptism of theirs have fallen into those sins which they erewhile made profession of abandoning Sorrow for sin where it is hearty and real no doubt disposing men as well to a present forsaking of it as it doth to a resolution concerning it Which will make the Repentance pre-required to Baptism to be as our Catechism expresseth it a Repentance whereby as occasion offers we actually forsake sin as well as resolve for the future to abandon it An account being thus given of the first thing pre-requir'd to Baptism and our Churches definition of it both explain'd and established Pass we on to that which is alike pre-required to it even that Faith whereby we stedfastly believe the promises made to us in that Sacrament Where again I will enquire I. What those promises are which we are so to believe II. What that belief of them doth pre-suppose III. What is meant by a stedfast belief of those promises IV. What evidence there is of that being the Faith or belief which is pre-requir'd by Christianity to the receiving of that Sacrament I. Now though that Catechism which I have chosen to explain give no other account of those Promises than that they are such as are made to us in that Sacrament Yet is it not difficult to collect from thence and from what is before said concerning the Parts of a Sacrament that the Catechism means no other promises than those which make a tender of its inward and spiritual Graces For a Sacrament being before divided into an outward and visible sign and an inward and spiritual Grace as the only proper parts of it And the outward and visible sign being in like manner represented in it as no farther of value than as conducing to possess us of the other No other promises can be suppos'd to be intended here than such as make a tender of those inward and spiritual Graces as which indeed are the only things considerable in it Which will consequently make the promises here intended to be those which make a tender for the present of remission of sins and sanctification and in the end of everlasting life II. Those therefore being the promises which are to be the object of the Catechumens Faith and which accordingly he is stedfastly to believe It will not be difficult to shew what that belief of them pre-supposeth which is the second thing to be enquir'd into For that belief of them must at least pre-suppose a belief of all that which is necessary to bring us to the belief of the other More particularly it pre-supposeth as to our selves that we believe our selves to be naturally under a state of sin and death as without which there could be no place for that sanctification and remission which is promised in Baptism And that we are yet farther off from any title to Everlasting life as which if we had there would have been no need of a Promise in Baptism of it It presupposeth again as to Christ in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen a like stedfast belief that there was such a person as Jesus Christ and that he was appointed by God to convey such graces to us That agreeably to the predictions of the Scripture and the will of God concerning him he took upon him our nature and suffer'd in it to purchase those Graces and that he ever since intends the exhibiting
him in order to their partaking of his blessing and Kingdom And indeed as Origen who liv'd not long after him doth not only assert the same practice of Infant Baptism but affirm * In Rom. 16. the Church to have receiv'd it as a Tradition from the Apostles So Tertullian's Scholar and great admirer S. Cyprian †Epist 59. gives such an ample testimony to it that I know not what need to be added to it For one Fidus having question'd him concerning the cause of Infants who he thought ought not to be baptiz'd till the eighth day according to the law of Circumcision S. Cyprian in a Council of sixty six Bishops made this following Answer to his demand That he and the whole Council that was with him had quite other thoughts of that affair they universally judging that the mercy and grace of God was to be deny'd to none that was born of men And again that if remission of sins were upon the faith of the parties given to the greatest Offenders neither was any of them debar'd from Baptism and grace how much less ought a new-born Infant to be debarred of it who had no other sin to answer for but what he drew from Adam and who came so much the more easily to receive pardon of sin because it was not his own proper sins but those of others that were to be forgiven him For which cause the opinion of the Council was that no one ought to be debar'd by them from Baptism and the Grace of God and that if that were to be observ'd and retain'd as to all persons whatsoever it was much more to be observ'd and retain'd as to Infants and new-born persons whose very tears wherewith they enter'd the World seemed more to deserve it both from them and the divine mercy I omit for brevity sake the many testimonies of S. Augustine to the same purpose and his affirming †Aug. Serm. 10. de verbis Apost in particular that the Church always had it always retain'd it and receiv'd it from the faith of it's predecessors And shall content my self as to this particular with his and the Church's pressing the Pelagians * Vossi Histor Pelag. li. 2. part 1 Thes 5. with the practice of Infant Baptism and those Pelagians how much soever straitned by it yet choosing rather to evade the force of it than to deny in any measure the truth of the thing alledg'd It being not to be thought that if there had been any the least suspicion of the Antiquity of Infant Baptism or indeed of its being derived to the Church from the Apostles either the Catholicks would have so confidently alledged it against the Pelagians or the Pelagians so easily and without any the least opposition have admitted it III. Now as if we allow Infants to be capable of Baptism we must consequently allow them the graces of that Sacrament because Baptism was intended to convey them So I must needs say I do not see why supposing Original sin which hath been before sufficiently establish'd we should scruple to attribute to them the graces of that Sacrament and particularly remission and regeneration For if Infants are naturally under the guilt of Original sin there is so far forth place for and a necessity of remission And if the same Infants are naturally under the pollution of it or as our Catechism expresseth it are by nature born in sin and the children of wrath they are alike capable by Baptism of being regenerated or made the children of grace Not that there is or can be even in baptiz'd Infants any actual perception of or adhesion to that which is spiritually good but a disposition to both and by vertue whereof the soul is fitted and inclin'd to each when years and opportunity invite As the same soul is to reason and will when it arrives at years of maturity by vertue of those natural faculties that are from the beginning in it Which is a sort of regeneration that is most sutable to the state of Infancy and beyond which therefore whilst they continue in that state we are not reasonably to expect But is withal as true a regeneration as that which is wrought in those of riper years and by which the souls of the parties regenerated actually perceive and cleave to that good which the other is only disposed to That actual perception and adhesion being not so much any part of their regeneration or new birth as the effects or issues of it IV. But because how clear soever Infant Baptism may thus far seem yet it cannot be deny'd to be encumbred with many and great difficulties or at least such as appear so to men of prejudiced minds Therefore it will be but necessary before I leave this head to select such of them as seem to be most pressing and return a satisfactory Answer to them Whether they be such as relate to the grounds on which I have endeavour'd to establish it or such as strike more directly at the thing it self That which is most to be consider'd of the former sort is that (a) See Jer. Tayl. Liberty of Proph. Sect. 18. num 13. which pretends to evacuate the Argument from the Circumcising of the Infants of Abraham's posterity to the Baptizing of the Children of Christians Which it endeavours in part from Circumcisions being but a Type or figure of Baptism and so either proving nothing at all without some express to signifie such a thing to be its purpose or after the nature of such things directing us rather to a spiritual childhood in order to Baptism than shewing a natural childhood to be a due subject of it And in part also from Circumcisions being not in all things a rule to the Christians Baptism and particularly not in the persons that are to be baptized Women as well as Men being confessedly the subject of the latter nor in the time of their receiving of it For if Circumcision be a sufficient direction for the baptizing of Infants why not also a like direction for the confining of it to the Males And if it were to be a direction as to the baptizing of Infants why not also as to the baptizing of them upon the eighth day which was the day of administring Circumcision as that Fidus whom S. Cyprian answer'd seemed to be persuaded and accordingly argued it from the like administration of Circumcision As to what is objected concerning Circumcision's being but a type of Baptism and so either proving nothing at all without some express to signifie such to be its purpose which is not pretended in the present case or if proving any thing as to the matter of childhood yet directing rather to a spiritual than a natural one I answer that as I see not why Circumcision should be look'd upon as only a type of Baptism nor indeed as any type at all unless it be in a general sense and as a thing that is like unto another may be look'd upon
as to the former of these from the Scripture's pre-requiring Faith and Repentance to it as the latter from that stipulation which Baptism involves and which Infants are equally incapacitated to make The Answer which our Catechism makes to these difficulties or at least to the former is that they promise them both by their sureties which promise when they come to Age themselves are bound to perform And possibly this Answer might be better digested than it is if the minds of those who argue against Infant-Baptism were more free and unprejudic'd than they commonly appear to be Because first what is urg'd against Infant-Baptism upon the account of its being a stipulation or Contract is equally of force against the Circumcision of Infants because that was equally a Covenant or rather a sign of it and a means of entring into it Which notwithstanding the Infants of Abraham's posterity were by the Command of God himself admitted to it and thereupon reckon'd as in Covenant with him Now if the Infants of Abraham's posterity were by the Command of God admitted into Covenant with him What should hinder the Infants of Christians from Covenanting in like manner with him and so far forth from being admitted to the participation of that Sacrament which is a sign of the same gracious Covenant and a means of entring into it Again Secondly though Infants cannot in strictness Covenant with God because neither having reason enough to apprehend the terms of it nor will to determine themselves to the performance of them Yet as they may by favour be admitted to a partnership in a Covenant and where God or Christ is the person with whom they contract obliged when they come of years to answer their part in it so by the same favour of him with whom they contract what is done to them or for them may be interpreted as a promise on their part for the performance of it By which means though they should not be capable of a strict and proper stipulation yet they may of that which is interpretatively such The only farther doubt in this affair is whether God accepts of such a stipulation which his accepting of it under the Covenant of Circumcision and from the Children of Abraham's natural posterity will easily remove For the Covenant of Baptism being no way inferior in it self to or rather but the same Covenant in a different dress with the Covenant of Circumcision nor the Children of Abraham's spiritual seed inferior to those of the natural one What was accepted of under the Covenant of Circumcision and from the Children of Abraham's natural seed may as reasonably be presum'd to be accepted of under Baptism and from the Children of his spiritual How much more when as was before shewn his Son and our Saviour Christ (g) Mark 10.14 hath commanded Children to be brought to him for his benediction and grace and his Apostle and our great Instructer S. Paul declar'd the Children of Christians to be holy yea where but one of the Parents is so Thus we may rationally answer what is objected against the stipulation of Infants and consequently against their taking upon them what is requir'd of them in the receiving of Baptism Which will leave nothing to us to make answer to but their supposed incapacity for that faith and repentance which seem to be pre-required to it and which one would think they that are to be baptiz'd should bring with them in some measure as well as make a promise of But beside that those Texts (h) Mark 16.15 16. Acts 2.38 Acts 8.37 which speak of these prerequisites do all manifestly relate to adult persons and such as are brought to Baptism by the preaching of the Gospel and therefore not lightly to be urg'd in the case of Infants There are these three substantial reasons to make a difference between Infants and Men as to this particular First that Infants are not admitted to Baptism and the graces of it upon the account of any right in themselves but of the right of their Parents Secondly that they are admitted for the present to a lesser portion of the Divine graces than adult persons are and such as are rather the seeds of them than any throughly form'd or well setled ones Thirdly that what right they receive by their Baptism to future and more perfect priviledges depends for their actually attaining them upon their exhibiting that faith and repentance which at the time of their Baptism they only made a promise of For if as is alledged in the first reason Infants are not admitted to Baptism and the Graces of it upon the account of any right in themselves but of the right of their Parents What should hinder the Church from lending * Accommodatillis mater Ecclesia aliorum pedes ut veniant aliorum cor ut credant aliorum linguam ut faceantur ut quoniam quod aegri sunt alio peccante praegravantur sic cum hi sani sunt alio pro eis confitente salventur Aug. de Verb Apost Serm. 10. or Infants from borrowing from it the feet of other men that they may come the heart of others that they 〈◊〉 believe the tongue of others that they may confess that because in that they were sick they were pressed down by anothers sin they may when they are made whole be saved by the confession of another If again as is alledged in the second reason and prov'd before in the matter of regeneration Infants are admitted for the present to a lesser portion of the divine Graces than adult persons are and such as are rather the seeds of them than any throughly form'd or well setled one Who can think but that a like difference ought to be between them as to the prerequisites of their Baptism and that therefore not to be urg'd as to the case of Infants which was prerequired of the other In fine if as is alledged in the third reason what right Infants receive by their Baptism to future and more perfect priviledges depends for their attaining of them upon their exhibiting that Faith and Repentance which at the time of their Baptism they only made a promise of It may be time enough when that right is to be actuated to exhibit that Faith and Repentance and so make way for it as they who are of years do Otherwise more shall be suppos'd to be requir'd of Infants than is of adult persons themselves Because that Faith and Repentance is not requir'd of the latter till the full priviledges of Baptism are to be bestow'd upon them And I shall only add that if care were taken that the Faith and Repentance of those who were baptiz'd in their Infancy were as well enquir'd into and prov'd as their knowledge in the Catechism is before they were allow'd to be confirm'd The Church would not only better discharge the trust that is reposed in her as concerning those persons whose Faith and Repentance were not before prov'd nor could be but
receiving God's Creatures of Bread and Wine according to his Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy Institution may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood In fine it gives us to understand * Art of Rel. 28. which is yet more express that to such as rightly worthily and with a true Faith receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the Bread which we break is the partaking of the Body of Christ and likewise the Cup of Blessing a partaking of the Blood of Christ For what more could have been said unless it had made use of that particular Expression which yet it doth use where it declares the general nature of a Sacrament what more I say could have been said to shew that this Sacrament is no naked or ineffectual Sign of the Body and Blood of Christ but such a Sign as is also ordained as a Means whereby we receive the same and so sure and certain a one that if we rightly and worthily receive that Sign we do as verily receive the Body and Blood of Christ as we do the Sacrament thereof How well the Scripture agrees with the Doctrine of our Church in this Particular will not be difficult to shew whether we do consider its making use of the most emphatical Phrase which our Church doth concerning this Sacrament or the Effects which it attributeth to it For it is St. Paul (a) 1 Cor. 10.16 as well as our Church that affirms that the Bread which we break is the Communion of the Body of Christ and that the Cup which we bless is the Communion of his Blood Words which considering the place they have in that Chapter from whence they are borrowed cannot admit of a lower sense than that the elements of this Sacrament are at least a Means of that Communion because alledged by him as a proof or at least as an illustration of their really having fellowship with Devils that partook of the Sacrifices that were offer'd to them For if the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament were not a Means as well as a sign of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ Neither could the Gentiles Sacrifices be a Means of their or other Men's Communion with those Devils to whom they were offer'd and therefore neither charge them with any real fellowship with Devils but only with a sign or semblance of it Which how it agrees with St. Paul's charging the partakers of those Sacrifices with having fellowship with Devils as that too upon the account of the Gentiles Sacrificing to Devils and not to God I shall leave all sober Men to judge Such evidence there is from that one place of St. Paul concerning the Lords Supper being a Means as well as a Sign whereby we come to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ And we shall find it no less confirm'd by an effect which the Scripture attributes to one of its Symbols and which is in that place by an usual Synecdoche set to denote the whole Sacrament That I mean where St. Paul affirms (b) 1 Cor. 12.13 that we have been all made to drink into one Spirit For as the foregoing mention of Baptism makes it reasonable to believe that these words ought to be understood of the Cup or Wine of the Lord's Supper So we cannot without great violence to the words understand less by being made to drink into one Spirit than our partaking by Means of that Cup of the Blood of Christ and the Benefits thereof of which the Spirit of God is no doubt one of the principal ones To be made to drink into that Blood or the Spirit of God importing somewhat more even in common understanding than to receive a naked sign of them And though I know that some of the Reformed Churches and particularly those of Zuinglius and Oecolampadius's institution have been charg'd with meaner thoughts concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Yet whosoever shall take the pains to peruse what our Cosins (c) Hist Transubstant Papal cap. 2. hath collected upon this Argument and particularly what he quotes from Bucer (d) ibid. will find that they always thought or at least now do that Christ's true Body and Blood are truly exhibited given and taken together with the visible signs of Bread and Wine as well as signified by them But because the question is not so much at present concerning this Sacrament's being a Means whereby we receive the Body and Blood of Christ as what kind of Means it is how it conveys to us the Body and Blood of Christ and how we receive them by it Therefore enquire we so far as we may what our Church delivers in these particulars and what evidence there is from the Scripture of our Churches Orthodoxy therein Now though we may not perhaps find in any Monument of our Church a distinct and particular Answer to the questions before propos'd Yet we may find that in the eight and twentieth Article of our Church which may serve for a general Answer to them all and for a particular answer too to the last of them The Doctrine thereof being that the Body of Christ and the same mutatis mutandis must be said of his Blood is given taken and eaten in the Supper after an heavenly and spiritual manner only and again that the mean whereby the Body of Christ is receiv'd and taken in the Supper is Faith For if the Body and Blood of Christ be given taken and eaten or drunken in the Supper after a heavenly and spiritual manner only that Supper must so far forth be a means purely heavenly and Spiritual the conveyance thereof of the same heavenly and spiritual nature and the reception of it also And if again the Mean whereby the Body and Blood of Christ are receiv'd and taken in the Supper is Faith then do we in the opinion of our Church receive them by Faith which will serve for a particular answer to the last of the questions propos'd To all which if we add our Churches teaching us to pray to God even in the prayer of Consecration that we receiving the Creatures of Bread and Wine according to our Saviour Jesus Christ's Holy Institution may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood so we shall be able to make out a more particular answer to the questions propos'd and such as we shall find reason enough to allow For it appears from the premisses and particularly from the prayer of Consecration that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is such a spiritual Mean as depends for the force of it not upon any vertue that is infus'd into it and much less upon any natural union there is between that and the Body and Blood of Christ but upon our receiving it on the one hand according to our Saviours Holy Institution and God's bestowing on the other hand Christ's Body and Blood upon such a reception of it It appears therefore that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
sin is generally Luxury and Vanity If in a City or other place of Trade Deceit and Covetousness If in a mean estate any where repining and murmuring If in a more honourable one oppressing or Lording it over other Men. By one or other of these marks a Man may come to know his prevailing Sin and knowing it to know also the truth of his repentance for them and others For if he finds himself to get ground on such sins he shall not need to doubt of the truth of his Repentance because there cannot be a better proof of that than its leading Men to abandon their sins and particularly such of them as have the greatest force with the committers of them and are therefore the most difficult to be overcome And though it be true that all Men neither have nor can have that proof of their Repentance For they who have but lately begun to make a strict search into themselves must of necessity be without it how true soever their Repentance is Though they ought not therefore if they find no other reason to question the truth of it to condemn or doubt of that their Repentance because true Repentance must of necessity precede the Fruits of it Yet I think they will act most safely for themselves and most for the comfort of their own Souls I do not say if they stay so long from the participation of this Sacrament till they can have the Fruits of their Repentance to justifie the sincerity thereof but if when they may they think betimes and often what Repentance they are to bring with them to this Sacrament and accordingly set themselves as early to improve what they have and bring forth the fruits of it in those instances wherein they have been most peccant and are by their natural inclinations most likely to be so still For so they shall be able to see by the event what the nature of their Repentance is and accordingly be stirred up to labour after a more sincere one or be satisfied by the fruits they have brought forth that they are so far duly qualified for the partaking of this so excellent a Sacrament Having said thus much concerning the examination of our Repentance which I judge of all other things to be most necessary to be enquir'd into I shall need to say the less concerning that which follows even the examination of our stedfast purpose to lead a new Life as well as of the truth of our Repentance For as it is evident from what hath been said elsewhere (t) Part V. that that ought to be enquir'd into because the thing we are to make profession of in the receit of this Sacrament So he who is satisfied of the truth of his Repentance by the fruits which it hath produc'd may by the same fruits satisfie himself of the stedfastness of his present Purpose to abandon his former sins and pursue the contrary Graces There being no great likelihood of his departing from his present Purpose who knows himself to have already produc'd those good fruits which he now resolves upon as that too out of the Conscience of his own obligation to them and the just sense he hath of his former aberrations and the Affront he offer'd to his both Authority and Kindness to whom he now devotes himself anew Only if any Man find not in himself this most sure proof of the stedfastness of his Purpose and yet find in himself a disposition thus to shew forth his Saviour's death and a desire to partake of the several Graces and Benefits of this Sacrament Let him see whether he can by his own earnest Prayers and reflections and God's Blessing upon them both bring himself to resolve as well against the particular ways and means whereby he was formerly train'd into sin as against the sin it self and upon such particular ways and means also whereby it is most certainly prevented For so I do not see why he should not look upon his Resolution as stedfast and such as God will both accept of in the present case and add farther strength to by the participation of this Sacrament those Resolutions which prove in the event to be uncertain and tottering being for the most part only general ones and such as descend not to those particular ways and means whereby men come to be ensnar'd or whereby that seduction of theirs may be certainly prevented Thus for instance if a Man who hath heretofore given himself more liberty in drinking than the Laws of Temperance will allow should reflect so far upon his former failings this way as not only to resolve against the like intemperance for the future but against such Company too so far as he may by which he hath been drawn into it or to keep however within such measures that there can be no danger for him of offending I do not see why that Man may not look upon such a Resolution as a stedfast one and which God the giver of all Grace will add farther firmness and stedfastness to and make it hold out even against those temptations which at present it may be it is not in a condition to grapple with The Catechism goes on to tell us That we ought to examine our selves in the third place whether we have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ As well it way when he who was the Institutor of this Sacrament prompts us to receive the Elements thereof as that Body of his which was broken for us and as that Blood which was shed for the remission of our sins That as it supposeth that we ought to look upon the mercy of God as convey'd to us by Christ's death and accordingly expect that mercy by it and trust upon that death for it which is that our Church understands by Faith (u) See Expl. of Bapt. Part 10. so supposing too that we ought to approach this Sacrament with such a sorrow for sin and resolution against it as so great a Benefit requires which will convert this Faith or trust into a lively and operative one Now whether we have such a lively Faith or no we may easily satisfie our selves by its being attended or not attended with that sorrow and resolution and which how they are to be known I have already accounted for I shall hardly need to say any thing concerning examining our selves in the fourth place whether we have a thankful remembrance of Christ's death Partly because that thankful remembrance is one of the principal things enjoin'd in the celebration of this Sacrament and we therefore to bring that with us to the due receiving of it And partly because it will not be difficult for us to discover whether we have such a Remembrance or no That being to be judg'd in part by our own desire of receiving the present Sacrament but more by the care we take to prepare our selves for it as by other ways and means so by an earnest reflection upon the Benefits of that Death