here what high and noble priviledges are signified and sealed to us by our Baptism Regeneration Adoption and Remission To which our Church explaining this Article in her Catechism adds Inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven What Obligations to an holy Life can there be greater or stronger than these Tim. None surely Tit. Add hereto the Covenant on our part to renounce the Devil and all his Works to believe the Articles of the Christian Faith and obediently to keep Gods Holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of our Lives Which Covenant unless we perform and keep we have no right to or benefit by the aforesaid Priviledges Nay our Baptism will prove but an aggravation of our Condemnation in the day of Judgment and an unbaptized Heathen would not change estates at that day with such a baptized Christian Moreover we who are made Ministers do most solemnly devote and dedicate our selves to God to holy services and gaining of souls as the Deputies of Christ in the day that we enter into holy Orders And if none of all these bonds will hold us certainly we are the worst of men and deserve the highest Censures the Church can inflict upon us And our Church will never be glorious till all such Apostates he either throughly reformed or totally ejected out of her Tim. I hope I do forsake all the Works of the Devil Tit. Except Drunkenness and Swearing Tim. Truly 't is very seldom In a passion perhaps an Oath may slip and when I meet with good Company I am loath to part and apt to be merry but 't is rare And bating these I think I have no fellowship with the Works of darkness Tit. But there is another Vice I know not whether you will allow it a Work of the Devil or not you are almost incurably infected with for 't is Chronical Tim. What 's that Tit. That which I think in a Minister as bad as either of the former Tim. I can't imagine what you mean. Tit. I mean Sloth horrible Sloth and Idleness spending little or no time in fitting and improving your self for the difficult and weighty Duties of your Office. And this Vice exposeth you to the rest and all other whatever Besides this makes you so profoundly ignorant that you are not able in any tolerable manner to defend our Religion against Papists and Sectaries and your weak defence of the Truth confirms them in their Errour and makes them cast off all thoughts of reconciliation to our Church Doubtless therefore Idleness in a Minister is a great sin a woful shame and the Mother of many sins And till I see you reform this I shall have small hopes of you as to the rest But this is all I shall hint to you from this Article which puts you in mind of your Priviledges and Obligations by your Baptism Now proceed ART 28. Tim. The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the Love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christs Death Insomuch that to such as rightly worthily and with Faith receive the same the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and likewise the Cup of blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ Transubstantiation or the change of the Substance of Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions The Body of Christ is given taken and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was not by Christs Ordinance reserved carried about lifted up or worshipped Tit. You may read the two following for they both relate to this ART 29. Tim. The wicked and such as be void of a lively Faith although they do carnally and visibly press with their Teeth as S. Augustin saith the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ yet in no wise are they Partakers of Christ but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the Sign or Sacrament of so great a thing ART 30. The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people For both the parts of the Lords Sacrament by Christs Ordinance and Commandment ought to be ministred to all Christian men alike Tit. What is your sentiment of these three Coherent Articles and what do you observe from them Tim. I think they contain very sound Doctrine and I observe our Church throws out Transubstantiation and Half Communion Tit. Nothing else Tim. No What Observations do you make from them Tit. Such as I think reprehend both your Practice and Doctrine Tim. Pray what are they Tit. First this Twenty ninth Article which with the rest you have subscribed â—x animo to be agreeable to the Word of God declares That wicked persons void Vid. Canon 3â— of lively Faith receiving the Sacrament in no wise partake of Christ but rather to their own condemnation And doth not your Conscience tell you you have been oft such a Receiver Tim. I bless God not in the least Tit. I am sorry for it For whoever continues in any known sinful Courses open or secret is a wicked Person Now to omit secret Impieties not observable by Man yet are not by any Coverts to be hid from the notice of God your Swearing and Drunkenness and Idleness are publick sinful Courses and continuing in these as you do hitherto I cannot learn by this Article how you can be a worthy Communicant at this Sacred Ordinance nay I wonder you do not tremble to think of that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. He that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 judgment to himself Tim. But before I come to the Sacrament I repent of these miscarriages Tit. What Repentance without Reformation This is new Divinity Repent of Sin and not forsake Sin The Scriptures teach us other manner of Repentance than this Repent and turn Ezek. 18. and Let the wicked forsake his way Esa 55. And our Liturgy will tell you in her Confession That true Repentance consists in sorrowing for Sin forsaking Sin and living soberly righteously and godly for the time to come Besides had you this lively Faith in Christ which our Church saith is necessary to make us worthy Receivers I must tell you it would purifie your heart and reform your life 1 John 3. 3. He that hath this hope c. Believe it therefore that Faith and Repentance that consists with the allowed and daily practice of such foul irregularities in the Life will never render you a worthy Receiver at Christs Table on Earth or procure you admittance into his Kingdom in Heaven Often read this Article and take this Reprehension
say worse Tim. You would not have me talk contrary to what I believe would you Tit. What is that Tim. I believe every man hath a power and freedom of Will to good Works as well as Evil. Tit. What Naturally and in an unregenerate Estate Tim. Yes Tit. This is contrary to the Tenth Article as Aye and No directly Opposite to Scripture Which saith the Carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God nor indeed can be so then they that are in the Flesh cannot please God. The Natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are Spiritualy discerned No man can say Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God And without me ye can do nothing saith our Saviour Repugnant is your belief also to many Prayers of our Church As the Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent. The Fifth Sunday after Easter The Ninth Sunday after Trinity The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity The Nineteenth The Collect on All-Saints Day and many more Now what a rare Believer are you to believe contrary to the Word of God the Articles you have Subscribed and the Prayers you constantly Rom. 8. 7. 8. 1 Cor. 2.14 1 Cor. 12.3 2 Cor. 3. 5. John 15.5 make use of and are obliged to put up to God on those several days in the prescribed Words and no other But what 's the next part of your Belief in this matter Tim. That as I have a Power and freedom of will to Good Works so I must do them in order to my being Justified before God. Tit. This is as Corrupt and Erroneous as the Former and as opposite to the next Article read it Article XII Albeit that Good Works which are the fruits of Faith and follow after justification cannot put away our Sins and endure the severity ef Gods Judgment yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the Fruit. Tit. Here you are Taught That Good Works are pleasing and acceptable to God but so far are they from justifying without Faith that they are the fruits of Faith and follow after Justification Plainly implying That we must have true Faith and be justified before we can do any Works good pleasing or acceptable to God. So that I believe according to our Church that Faith in Christ justifies the Person and Good Works the Faith Or thus I take it that God justifies Judicially Christ Jesus Meritoriously Faith Instrumentally and Good Works Declaratively Tim. So then you will make Good Works of little worth and it matters not whether a man hath them or not Tit. No such matter I believe they are absolutely necessary to Salvation that no man can go to Heaven without them for they are as this Twelfth Article tells you the genuine and necessary fruits of a true and lively Faith and that there can be no such Faith without them And St. James saith as much in the Second Chapter of his Epistle at large I believe that Text of Holy Writ which tells me Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord with an equal Faith that Heb. 12.14 Heb. 11.6 I do that which saith Without Faith 't is impossible to please God. That is that both are necessary to make a good Christian and there is no other I am sure shall ever enter into Heaven And to close this Discourse I believe he that Teaches such Doctrine as this stands further off from Rome comes nearer to the Analogy of Faith the Tenour of the Holy Gospel and the sound Articles of our Church then those Men who Teach or Preach otherwise and I hope by this time you think so too Tim. I am inclinable to such thoughts Tit. And the more you think on 't the more inclinable you will still be if you do not wilfully shut your Eyes against the Light of Gods Word and of the following Articles grounded upon it Article XIII Works done before the grace of Christ and the Inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Jesu Christ neither do they make men meet to receive Grace or as the School Authors say deserve Grace of congruity yea rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done we doubt not but they have the nature of Sin. Tit. What think you of this added to all the rest Tim. It still helps to Confirm what you have said and to convince me of my Errour without any farther Comment Tit. Proceed then to the next viz. Article XIV Voluntary works besides over and above Gods Commandments which they call Works of Supererogation cannot be taught without Arrogancy and Impiety For by them Men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do but that they do more for his sake then of bounden duty is required Where as Christ saith plainly When ye have done all that are Commanded to you say We are unprofitable Servants Tit. I have such Charity for thee Tim. as not to think thee so far Popefied as to oppose this Article Tim. You may for surely we who neither do nor can do all that God Commands have little ground to boast of doing more Tit. Honestly said Tim. I hope to find thee right as to the next too Article XV. Tim. Christ in the truth of our Nature was made like unto us in all things Sin only except from which he was clearly void both in his flesh and in Spirit He came to be a Lamb without spot who by sacrifice of himself once made should take away the Sins of the World and sin as St. John saith was not in him But all we the rest although Baptized and born again in Christ yet offend in many things and if we say we have no Sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us Tit. I know nothing contained in this Article that you do Oppose or Cavil at and therefore think the best never loving to make quarrels when there is not just and apparent Cause for it Therefore let us view the following one Article XVI Not every deadly Sin willingly committed after Baptism is Sin against the Holy Ghost and unpardonable Wherefore the grant of Repentance is not to be denyed to such as fall into Sin after Baptism After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall into Sin and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives And therefore they are to be Condemned which say they can no more Sin as long as they live here to deny the place of forgiveness
There is a predestination of Men unto Everlasting Life 2. Predestination hath been from Everlasting 3. Not all men but certain are Predestinated to be saved 4. They which are Predestinate unto Salvation cannot perish 5. In Christ Jesus of the meer will and purpose of God some are Elected and not others to Salvation 6. They who are Elected unto Salvation if they come unto years of discretion are called both outwardly by the word and inwardly by the Spirit of God. 7. The Predestinate are both justified by Faith sanctified by the Holy Ghost and shall be glorified in the life to come 8. The consideration of Predestination is to the Godly most comfortable but to curious and carnal persons very dangerous 9. The general promises of God set forth in Holy Scripture are to be embraced of us 10. In our actions the word of God which is his revealed will must be our direction These are the several Doctrines laid down and asserted in this Article Would you have any more Tim. No here is enough and as much as all that ever wrote for Predestination and Election can say and had our Church enlarged this Article to the bulk of the Common Prayer she could not have spoke more to the purpose than she hath in this one Page I wonder the Reverend Fathers of the Church will suffer her Sons to wrong her as they do dayly openly making her speak through their Mouths and often through the louder mouth of the press those Tenets which she never held nay which in the very body of her Articles she so plainly disowns and contradicts Tit. I rejoyce at your Conviction Now these being fundamental points it may not be amiss I think nor time ill spent to see a little for your fuller satisfaction and confirmation what ground and footing each point in this Article hath in holy writ the perfect Rule and Touchstone of all matters of Faith and manners Tim. No sure no loss of time but time well improved and if you will take so much pains I shall thankfully partake of it Tit. For the vindication of our Church reprehension of those men who have subscribed to her and yet oppose her and for thy establishment Tim. I will do it To begin with the first then 1. There is a Predestination of men unto life Everlasting To sit on my Right hand and on my left is not mine to give but shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father For many are called but few chosen But for the Elects sake those dayes shall be Math. 20. 23. Math. 22. 14. Math. 24. 23. Joh. 6. 37. shortned All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me To this truth also doe the Evangelists St. Luke and St. Paul give witness the former saith that of the Gentiles at Antioch so many as were Ordained unto Eternal life believed and the other saith whom he foreknew he also did Predestinate And Paul blesseth God for this saying Blessed Act. 13.48 Rom. 8. 29. be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who c. hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world having Predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ unto himself Are not these Texts to the purpose Eph. 1.3 4 5. Tim. As clear as can be Tit. Besides the Example of the Elected Creatures Men and Angels of the two brethren Abel and Cain Isaac and Ishmael Jacob and Esau of the two servants of King Pharaoh of the two Kingdoms of Juda and Israel the two peoples Jews and Gentiles the two Apostles Peter and Judas the two thieves upon the Cross the two men in the fields the women at the Mill are a great illustration to this truth The next is 2. Predestination hath been from Everlasting or before all times Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world which the Apostle understands to be Math. 25. 34. from Everlasting saying God hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world Again God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Eph. 1. 4. Jesus before the world began And as good footing on the same word hath the following point viz. 3. Not all men but certain are predestinated to be saved Rejoyce that your names are Luk. 10.20 Joh. 10.14 written in heaven saith our Saviour and I know mine and am known of mine I suffer all things for the Elects sake And our Church in her order for burial of the dead prayes 2 Tim. 2. 10 for the accomplishment of the number of Gods Elect. And again in the same Office come yea blessed receive the Kingdom prepared for you And in the form of Baptism we pray that the infant to be baptized may remain in the number of thine Elect Children c. not all men but a certain number are Elected or Predestinated to life 4. They which are Predestinated unto Salvation cannot perish All that the Father hath Joh. 5.37 given me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand who is greater than all And the gates of hell shall not prevail against them Moreover whom he Predestinated Joh. 10. 28 29. Math. 15.18 Rom. 8 30. Rom. 11.29 them he also glorified The gifts and calling of God are without repentance They went out from us because they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have continued with us So the next point which these men so much stick at is as cleerly taught in Gods word as any of the former namely 5. That of the meer will and purpose of God some men in Christ Jesus are Elected and â—ot others unto salvation a Rom. 9.11 That the purpose of God according to Election might stand b Eph. 1.5 Having Predstinated us according to the good pleasure of his will. c 2 Tim. 1.9 Not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace d Exod. 33.19 I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy c. f Eph. 1.4 5. He hath chosen us in Christ and Predestinated us through Christ g 1 Pet. 1. 18 19 20. Ye e Rom. 9. 15. are not redeemed with corruptible things c. but by the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb c. who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you Who hath Predestinated us to the praise of the glory h Eph. 1.5 6. of his grace The Lord hath made all things
Word doth import our own renouncing of Sin the World and the Devil and our Engagement to Christ and Obligation to live according to his Gospel And shall we entertain and encourage Sin in our Lives against all these Professions and Testimonies of our own O what Treachery and Perfidiousness is this to make such a stir against Sin in the Pulpit and yet to give it Countenance by our Practice O'tis this promotes Atheism and Debauchery 't is this that casts Contempt upon our Church reflects great Dishonour upon God and obstructs the Power and Prevalency of the Gospel Methinks if we are sincere Christians to whom the Glory of God is dearer than their Lives it must needs wound us to the Heart to hear the Name and Truth of God reproached for our sakes To see Men point to any of us and say There goes a covetous Priest a scandalous Preacher an open Tipler a frequent Swearer and secrer Whoremonger These are they that preach for Strictness and Holiness that condemn us by their Sermons and themselves by their Conversations Brethren bear with me for my Plainness and Zeal 'T is good saith the Apostle to be zealous in a good thing My Zeal for the Cause of God and Religion which lyes bleeding amongst us constrains me Whose Heart can endure to hear Men cast the Dung of our Iniquities in the Face of the Holy Ghost in the Face of the Gospel which we Preach and in the Face of all that desire to fear the Lord. For if one of us a Leader of a Flock be but once tho he continue not in it ensnared in a scandalous Crime all the pious Ministers and other Godly Christians round about him suffer by it For the Wicked and Ungodly and all our Enemies cry out they are all alike Their being nothing more common with evil Men than for the Faults and Crimes of one Professor especially if a Minister to reproach the whole Party O take heed therefore Brethren in the Name of God of every Word you speak of every Step you tread of every Action you do For you bear the Ark of the Lord you are entrusted with his Honour and dare you let it fall and trample it in the Dirt If you do God can find out ways enough to wipe off all that can be cast upon him but you will not so easily remove the Shame and Sorrow you hereby bring upon your selves Remember therefore that standing Decree of Heaven Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed saith the Lord. And know thus much that all our Preaching and Persuation of others will prove but dreaming and trifling Hipocresy till we be throughly wrought upon to live according to the Word our selves For he that hath not so strong a Belief of the Word of God and the Life to come as will take off his own Heart from the Vanity of this World and set it upon a resolved Diligence for Salvation it cannot be expected that he would be faithful in seeking the Salvation of other Men. Surely he that dares damn himself dares let others alone in the way to Damnation He that will let go his hopes of Heaven rather than leave his wordly and sensual Delights I think will hardly leave these for the good and saving of others In reason we may conceive he will have little pity on others that is willfully cruelly to himself and that he is not to be trusted with other Mens Souls that is unfaithful to his own and will sell it to the Devil for the short Pleasures of Sin. I beseech you therefore Brethren as you tender the wellfare of your own Souls and the Souls of others as you would have the Church of God flourish the Kingdom of Satan lessened and the Gospel of our ever blessed Lord run and be gloryfied in the Conversion of Sinners and in the Lives and Conversations of his Saints take heed to your ways and become exemplary in your Lives that others seeing your good Works may glorify our Father which is in Heaven Nor would I put you only to an outward sober and civil Conversation but also as the means to it to look after an inward Renovation We as well as other Men have vitious and corrupt Natures which must be sanctified and renewed or we can never be saved Prove your selves therefore whether you be in the Faith in Christ by a through Sanctification and serious Repentance or not Take heed you be not void of those Graces of God's Spirits which you offer to others and excite others to pray for and endeavour after That you preach not the Word of Conversion to others and your selves being yet unconverted should prove Castaways And know that a Gospel Conversion or work of true Grace implys not only sober and righteous Actions but sanctified and renewed Affections not only blameless Lives but clean and pure Hearts and you shall be able to judg of the one by the other For if the inner Man be renewed the outward Man will be reformed where the Heart is truly sanctified by God's Spirit there the Life will be conformable to God's Law. And being satisfied about our own Spiritual State that it is safe and good let us in our respective places vigorously endeavour the Renovation and Conversion of others studying and by all means striving to fit our selves for so great a work as these that are sensible of the difficulty of it O what Qualifications are necessary for us who have such a Charge upon us as we have He must not be a Babe in Knowledg that will teach Men all those mysterious things that are necessary to be known in order to Salvation How many Difficulties in Divinity to be opened How many obscure Texts of Scripture to be expounded How many Duties to be done wherein our selves or others may miscarry if in the Manner End Circumstances and Matter they be not well informed How many Sins to be avoided which without understanding and foresight canâ—â—t be done What a number of Satan's Wiles of his sly and subtile Temptations must we open to our Peoples Eyes that they may escape them How many weighty and yet intricate Cases of Conscience must we dayly resolve And can such work and so much work be done without Knowledg and other due Qualifications O what strong holds have we to batter and how many of them what subtile diligent and obstinate resistance must we expect at every Heart we deal with Prejudice hath block'd up our way we can scarce procure a patient hearing but many think ill of what we say while we are speaking We cannot make a Breach in their groundless Hopes and carnal Peace but Men have twenty Shifts and seeming Reasons to make it up again and as many Enemies that are seeming Friends ready to help them We Dispute not with them upon equal Terms but have Children to deal with that cannot understand as we have distracted Men in Spirituals to reason with that will bawl us down with rogueing Nonsence we have Atheistical Persons to encounter that deny Principles wilful and unreasonable People that when they are silenced are never the more convinced and when they can give no Reason will give you their Resolutions I will not believe you nor all the Preachers in the World in this nor change my Mind nor alter my Course say what you will. Like the Man Salvian had to deal with that being resolved to devour a poor Man's Estate and being Lib. 4. de Gubernat p. 133. entreated by Salvian to forbear told him he could not grant his Request for he had made a Vow to take it so that the Preacher ita religiosissimi sceleris ratione was fain to depart Now when I consider all this and much more incumbent upon us Ministers which is no Burden for a Child 's Back I cannot but break out with the Holy Apostle and say What manner of Persons ought we to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Lord What manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Resolutions and Endeavours for our great indispensable and weighty work Let us therefore with Seriousness and holy Resolutions separate our selves from the World and devote our selves with our Might to God and the good of Souls labouring both by our soundness of Doctrine and holiness of Living to add unto the Flock of Christ the Church of God such as shall be saved And to approve our selves in the sight of all Men to be the Lights of the World the Ambassadors of Christ a Chosen Generation and a Royal Priesthood shewing forth the Practices and Vertues of him who hath called us out of Darkness into his marvelous Light. Which that we may all do I conclude with that excellent Prayer of our Church pertinent to this Exhortation That it may please thee O Lord to illuminato all Bishops Priests and Deacons with true knowledg and understanding of thy Word and that both by their Preaching and Living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly And let every one that wisheth well to Zion say Amen ERRATA PAge 4 line 16. for sin read some P. 5. l. 46. f. there is r. therein is P. 7. in the Margent dele Pompin P. 10. l. 33. f. are r. â—s P. 10. l. 44. f. tongues r. thanks P. 13. l. 30. r. the sin of Nature P. 17. l. 19. f. this r. their P. 22. l. 58. f. the men r. these mâ—n P. 24. l. 4. f. new r. now P. 35. l. 26. dele a Commissaries P. 35. l. 42. f. proceeded r. proceeded P. 36. l. last f. examine r. ex animo P. 37. l. 27. f. there r. then P. 38. l. 39. f. last between them r. between us FINIS