to all sorts Believers and Vnbelievers Ans Yea so doth all bodily healing of any kind Yea to them chiefly Answ But if Unbelievers be understood in the largest Sense it s a great mistake and contradicted by himself afterwards for he saith and its true That all that were healed by the extraordinary Gift of Healing were to have the Faith of Miracles It s true Tongues and Prophecying were for Conviction of the Truths of the Gospel and said to be Signs but the immediate effect of the Gift of Healing was to Heal and its certain Christ and the Apostles did Heal both Believers and Unbelievers and a secondary Effect and End was for Conviction and Confirmation of Truth Heb. 2. Arg. 5. Taken from the generality of the extent of this Ordinance If any amongst you be Sick which argues it not to be extraordinary for when any were healed by an extraordinary Gift it was by a Faith of Miracles concurring Ans Then they were not Unbelievers in the largest Sense but when a Gift of Healing is in the Church the call to resort to it is indefinite and the call to wait upon God for any Good is a call to exercise that Faith which is suitable to those Ways and Means God calls Men to the using of Arg. 6. From the Means appointed Oil now the extraordinary Gift of Healing was not confined to Oil c. Ans It s true it was not but being Oil was used in extraordinary Healing sometimes why might it not here also in the same manner Arg. 7. From the generality of the Command the same Argument with the First but followed a little otherwise that if extraordinary Gifts were meant then none should have died Ans Why will this follow any more than in Christ's and the Apostles times And yet it was free for all to resort to them none was refused as we read of that came or sent None of these Arguments conclude the Question That its a standing Institution for they all run upon this Supposition That the Vnction mentioned by the Apostle James was either an extraordinary Gift or it was a Standing Institution but it was no extraordinary Gift therefore a standing Instituted Ordinance and the minor he proves by these Seven Arguments how weak they are in that regard we have made appear so that for all that hath been said by that worthy Man it might be an extraordinary Gift that is here intended But we also deny the Disjunction and say there may a third Reason be assigned that 's intended by the Apostle as we shall shew anon § 3. Our Learned Author proposeth divers Objections and returns Answers which we proceed to reply to Obj. 1. This is to make more Sacraments than two Which he Answers by way of Concession only distinguishing betwixt Seals of the Covenant of Grace and Seals of other Promises Reply There are no Promises made even of outward good Things to God's Children but in Christ Jesus and contained in the Covenant of Grace and there needs no other Seals but what are Seals to that Circumcision Sealed the Promise of Christ to Abraham and all the Promises of the Land of Canaan and of External Blessings therein He instanceth in the Rainbow Gen. 9.11,12 c. But that was God's confirming Seal of the Covenant of Grace to Noah and of an External Good promised to the Church and to the World for the sake of the Church and accordingly applied by the Prophet Isaiah to the Covenant of Grace as a Confirming Sign to us But what is this Instance to our purpose Whatever the Rainbow was it was no Instituted Church Ordinance and cannot be called a Sacrament for that is such a Sign and Seal as is Instituted by Christ for our Obedience thereto wherein by some Acts of ours appointed by Christ we shew forth some Spiritual Thing that our Faith is exercised on thereby Obj. 2. If it be a Seal it s of Remission of Sins for that is spoken of in the Text by the Apostle Ans Remission of Sins there is not that general and eternal Forgiveness promised in the Covenant of Grace but the taking away of a temporary Guilt Repl. But is there any saving Remission but what belongs to the Covenant of Grace And must there be one Seal for Eternal Remission and another for Temporary If a Seal of Remission must be carried to the Sick it makes much to justifie a Popish Practice in carrying the Lord's Supper to them It is true there is a Forgiveness spoken of in Scripture which is only not to punish with Temporal Punishments and is not Saving as to the Soul as Psal 78.38 And there 's no Seal as I know of belonging to such a Temporal and Negative Salvation properly considered remaining as an Ordinance in the Church Obj. 3. All Sacraments are Seals to absolute Promises and when rightly used in Faith have certainly their effect But this hath not for so none should dye who in Faith should use it Ans True all Sacraments of the Covenant of Grace are such but yet God may have appointed another Seal for the Confirmation of the Promises of outward Mercies Of this nature is the Ordinance of Imposition of Hands Repl. We have no ground to believe that God hath appointed any other Seals than such as belong to the Covenant of Grace which He hath annexed thereto by his Institution He instanceth in Imposition of Hands which he saith is a Sacrament for increase of Gifts But 1. Was it not used at first for bestowing Gifts How comes it now to be changed from the first Intention 2. Whatever Sacrament is for encrease is to be often repeated but so is not Imposition of Hands according to the zealousest Assertors thereof 3. Sacraments as Signs hold forth and signifie by way of Symbol always some spiritual and inward Grace we never find they terminate upon common Gifts and corporeal Benefits and we read of a Sacrament for encrease of Grace but none for encrease of Gifts 4. Why should not Unction be for encrease of Health as well as Imposition of Hands for encrease of Gifts and so to have a double use for Recovery of Health and encrease or continuance of it after recovery 5. What is there in Imposition of Hands to encrease Gifts Is it naturally so or by Institution None can say the former if the latter there 's a Promise annexed for encrease of Gifts and then the oftner used the more Gifts will be encreased but we find no such Promise annexed neither is it reasonable to say that those Rites that were used in bestowing Gifts in the Primitive Times should be continued to ours for encreasing them 6. We read of a Sacrament to signifie the gift of Grace and another for the encrease of it why not two Sacraments in respect of gifts also for those distinct ends Obj. 4. This gives Countenance unto the Papists extream Unction and condemns our Reformed Churches for rejecting it Ans 1. The Church of
Rome retains almost all Ordinances only she hath perverted them as she hath perverted this from being an Ordinance of restoring Health and forgiving temporary Guilt of particular Sins to become a Sacrament of Justification and Forgiveness of all Sins and so a Seal of the Covenant of Grace and that not for the Sick but for all dying Persons when past Recovery in which case it should not be used Repl. 1. Though the Church of Rome make an Image of every Ordinance of Christ it cannot be said to retain all Christ's Ordinances and its retaining some argues not that all their Ordinances are Christ's 2. If the Church of Rome use Unction to a sick Person though in articulo mortis how doth she pervert it for there 's nothing in the Text that excludes any sick Person from the use of it And if the said Person may be Prayed with and for why not Anointed too For how many of such as are apprehended to be in a dying condition do recover notwithstanding And how much the rather should Vnction be used to such if one end be for the removal of temporary Guilt that the Decumbent may not depart under it 3. How come Sacraments for Forgiveness of Sins to be of two kinds some for Forgiveness of all Sins and some for Forgiveness of some only Where there is a Sacrament for Forgiveness of all there needs none for Forgiveness of some if Christ in his Wisdom had Ordained so no doubt but He would have Ordained the Repetition of Baptism as Temporary Guilt should be contracted 4. If the Forgiveness here spoken of be Soul-saving from Guilt it must belong to the Covenant of Grace and the Papists must be right in making it a Sacrament of Justification and must be of special use in articulo mortis allowing it to be instituted for the above-said end and purpose 5. Who knows when a sick Person is past Recovery If he be so 1. Is he not to be prayed for and with by the Elders 2. May not he be under Temporary Guilt And is there not need enough of Forgiveness to him in that respect 3. And why should not all means be used for Recovery especially by an Ordinance whilest there 's Life there 's hope 4. It s becoming extream Unction is praeter intentionem Agentis some as is here granted do die and so far the Unction Administred by Protestants must be extream Unction 6. There will need in this case a Directory with a double Catalogue of Diseases to tell in which Unction should be applied and in what Cases not as it may be Queried whether it s to be used in Acute Diseases only or in Chronical also especially such as are known to be incurable for the most part as in Pthisis Gout Stone Dropsie c. And whether if used it may be repeated often while the Patient is long under a lingering languishing condition Whether so often as the Elders pray with the Patient they may anoint Whether if the Physician pronounce the Disease Mortal any Unction at all ought to be applied What should be done in cases of Diliriums and Distractions In case also of Lameness Dumbness Wounds c. there will a hundred Queries arise necessary to be resolved when to Anoint and when not if it may not be used in all Cases of Sickness Ans 2. The Reformed Churches seeing that such a Sacrament could not be and this must needs be a perversion of it did justly reject it as they used it only in rejecting it they went too far as in some other things even denying it to have that use of restoring the Sick as a Seal of the Promise and an indefinite means to convey that Blessing which God in Mercy hath appointed it to be Repl. What is here acknowledged to be done by the Reformed Churches in rejecting Unction as a Sacrament upon all accounts is most Justifiable neither have they gone too far herein nor in laying aside Four more of the Popish pretended Sacraments neither doth it appear by all that hath been said that Unction hath now any Sacramental use in restoring of Health or that any Promise here or in the Scripture is any more of Health than of Food and Raiment c. or hath any Seal annexed to it any more than Promises of outward Good have their respective Seals Neither is there any real Forgiveness of Sin Temporal or Eternal but what belongs to and is bestowed by that Covenant of Grace therefore there can be no Seals of it but what are Seals of that Covenant and if Anointing be a Seal of a Promise that belongs not to the Covenant of Grace it must be a Seal of a Promise made in the Covenant of Works or else quite out of Doors § 4. The Apostle James in this Chapter from ver 7. Exhorting and directing Christians to a holy and exact Conversation in all sorts of external Conditions Prosperity and Adversity the things that he is particular in especially are 1. Patience in Suffering 2. A due Reverence of the Great Name of GOD in our ordinary Conversation ver 12. where he doth not forbid all kind of Swearing but Swearing by any Creature and Swearing in common Discourse according to the Words and Sense of our Lord Jesus Christ Mat. 5.34 3. He shews what Duty is most suitable to an afflicted Condition viz. Prayer to a prosperous Condition Singing of Psalms and insists more largely upon the former of these two viz. betaking our selves to Prayer in Affliction of any sort or kind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth any among you suffer evil It s to be understood of afflictive Evils of any sort and because we are so incident to Sicknesses and bodily Infirmities which do most commonly of all others unfit and indispose us to Pray he exhorts Christians as follows either to send for the Elders of the Church to Pray with the Sick ver 14. or Pray one for another ver 16. Whence the Apostle's direction is 1. General in case of any Affliction to Pray 2. Particular in case of Affliction by Sickness that a Person is indisposed and unfitted to Pray to send for the Elders to pray with him or to get other Christians to pray with him in case Elders be not to be had for the fervent Prayer saith he of any holy Man prevails much And this he saith lest we should think that he laid all the stress of obtaining the sick Man's Benefit upon the Eldership he saith no for a Holy Christians Prayer prevails much for his Brother or Neighbour and in the same way and kind as the Elders both in respect of Healing and Forgiveness ver 16. § 5. Now from the Text it doth appear That the Apostle James intends not an Institution of any Sacramental Ordinance in the Church 1. From the manifest design of the Apostle appearing from the Text and Context which is to recommend to Christians the use of Prayer in the Day of Affliction performed by our selves or others for us