admitted Proselytes into their Religion by this Rite or Ceremony of Baptizing besides that of Circumcision as hath been observed unto us by men well verst in Rabbinical Writings and the Rituals of all ages as Ainsworth on Gen. 17.12 Heins. his Exâ—râ— on Act. 18.3 Lud de Dieu his Append on Matth. 23.15 and more fully and copiously Doctor Hammond in his fourth Quaere But indeed the Jewish and the Christian Baptisms had different purposes and designations by the one the Proselytes were baptised into Moses that is the Mosaic Law and Oâ—conomie by the other into Christ that is into his Faith Rule and Discipline And it is farther observed by the forementioned Writers that of the Jewish proselytes not onely men of years were baptized but their young Children were also baptized with them and received into the bosome of that Church to be instructed in their Law when they should come to years Which usage was taken up by John the Baptist and afterwards by Christ and his Apostles and continued in the reformed Common wealth though to another purpose and design as we touched before and this Ceremony was thought sufficient to be retained for that end when Circumcision was abolished If the issue of the Question touching Infants-baptism lay upon this Whether the Apostles of Christ did baptize Infants The Scripture by its own light doth not clear the doubt it tells us they baptized whole housholds which testimonies do of themselves make it but probable that they baptized the children of those housholds but if Catholic tradition and the voice of the Church he allowed so much civility and credit with us as to be believed for a matter of fact and story then the business would soon be put beyond all pretensions of scruple and made as secure and firm to our sense as any Article of our Creed As upon the testimony of Travellers and credible men I might be induced to believe firmly and undoubtedly that there is such a City as Constantinople though I neither saw it nor doth the Scripture make any mention of it APHOR. 6. Where it may not be had desire supplies the defect THis must be understood of the adulti or men in years that have not participated of the holy mysteries but do earnestly desire and long for them but by some impediment and invincible necessity cannot obtain them If the fault be not on their side there is no danger but the internal benefit of the Sacrament is communicated to them without the external symbols The penitent Thief on the cross went to heaven without Baptism when Simon Magus went to hell with it the children of Bethlehem that were baptized in their own blood were qualified for heaven by that Baptism without the Baptism of water and Martyrdom in any other doth entitle them to a crown even a crown of glory though unbaptized When the Emperour Valentinian died without Baptism but had determined to receive it but that he was prevented by death St. Ambrose doth state his case thus Quem regeneraturus eram amisi sed ille noâ— amisit gratiam quam poposcit I lost him saith he whom I was about to regenerate or baptise but he hath not lost the grace oâ— fruit of that Ordinance which he desired In such cases Baptismus flaminis supplet baptismum fluminis the Baptism of the Spirit doth supply the want of water-baptism and the Spirit himself doth officiate for the Minister sometimes From hence we may infer that the case of children dying without Baptism is not forlorne and disperate we may not be such Rhadamanths as to passe damnatory sentences upon them for want of that which was not in their power to compass God doth not tye any to those ordinary Laws and methods whereby he saves man but such as may have them and are capable to use them If the Parents be wanting to their child in this duty the sin sure lyes at their door and not the child's and God will require it at their hands as he did at the hands of Moses In like manner the Church of England hath declared her judgement touching the want of the Eucharist if there be no more than the bare defect If any person by extreme sickness or any other just impediment do not receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper if he truly repent him of his sins and stedfastly believe that Christ died for him he doth eat and drink the body and blood of Christ profitably to his souls health though he do not eat the Sacrament with his mouth So the Rubric for the communion of the sick A Prayer occasionally conceived upon the entring into a ruinous Church where no Prayers or Sermons had been in many years before O Eternal Holinesse and immense Goodness how sad and desolate is this place which was lately frequented by a people called by thy name to call upon thy name to seek thy face and to find thee here in thine own appointments and holy dispensations how forlorne is it now become being made a Court of Owls and a place for Satyrs to dance in I acknowledge the hand-writing upon the walls and the charactets of thy just displeasure who doest proportion punishments to the offences and makest the one legible in the analogy and suitablenesse of the other Lord if my sins have drawn thâ—se lines of confusion and of stones emptiness if by any remisness or perfunctoriness in holy Ministeries if by want of zeal for thy glory or any other way I have awaked thy justice lo here in all humility I prostrate my self before thee imploring mercy and pardon and confessing to thy glory that thou art just in all that is come upon us And if the sins of the Congregation that used to meet here have contributed to this judgement and turned away thy presence from this place either by sleighting the Mysteries that were here dispensed or the Dispensers of them we must say again that righteous art thou O Lord and true are thy judgements Thou hast been just in shutting up the doors of thy House against them that did shut their ears and hearts against thee and in taking away that food from before them which they loathed or lightly regarded Yet O Lord be mercifull both to Priest and People and turn not away thy face utterly in displeasure from them as we confesse thy justice so we implore thy mercy Lift up the light of thy countenance upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate and cause thy face to shine upon it Turn thee unto us O Lord and renew our dayes as of old Have mercy upon a distressed Church and a distracted â—tate Behold thy Ministers that are smitâ—en into Corners and their respective Congregations that wander like sheep without a shepherd that travel to and fro â—o seek the word of the Lord and cannot â—ind it Gather them O thou Shepherd of Israel â—nd do thou guide and lead them forth â—nd let thy rod and staff comfort
of the Gloria patri originally in the Church Mr. Cartwright in his Exceptions against the public Liturgy of our Church thought it meet that both this and the Athanasian Creed should now at last be laid aside because saith he the fire of Arrianism is well quenched and the sore being healed there is no need of a plaister How well this fire was quenched in the first hearth of it I know not if it was extinguished in Egypt or Asia it brake forth in other places far more neer unto us as Poland Transylvania and other places and from thence the sparks have flown over into this Kingdom and the fire hath prevailed much and gotten no small strength since this Hymn and Creed have been cashierd among us so that if this little bucket was of use to quench that fire at first there is very great need to revive it and resume it again for that purpose OF THE COMMANDMENTS APHOR. 1. Of the obligation of the Moral Law under the Gospel THe Moral Law is legibilis honestas as Parisiensis terms it honesty made legible in characters and transcribed from that original coppy within us which every man carries about him in scrinio pectoris It is the voice of common reason prescribing nothing but what every man indued with reason would judge to be aequum bonum to be very honest fit and reasonable to be done if they had never been commanded yea if there were neither heaven nor hell neither reward for well-doing nor punishment for evil-doing after this life Cicero in his book de Republica cited by Lactantius giveâ— this character of it It is the law saith he of right reason agreeable to nature a constant sempiternal Law that calls every man to his duty teaching what he should and what he should not do A Law that admits of no addition or defalcation much less of dissolution which neither Senat nor People can dispense with and which needs no Interpretation or Comment An universal Law which binds all men in all places and rules at Rome as well as at Athens yea rules the Rulers and is irreversible and unchangeable Of this delineation the same Lactantius gives this Elogy Quis Sacramenta dei sciens tam significanter enarrare legem dei posset what Theologue well verst in Scripture could so Graphically describe Gods Law as the pen of this Heathen hath done This Law is the fundamental Law of all Nations the â—ared Pandects all the laws that are extant are but the issues and emanations of the Moral Law By this civil governments do stand and humane societies subsist Our Saviour came not to dissolve this Law or to absolve men from it some other Rites and Ceremonies and temporary Ordinances he abrogated but not this He did not mean that his followers should be a lawless crew sons of Belial without yoke and the Christian Common-wealth a Synagogue of Libertines Let no man deceive himself or others with scraps of Scripture misunderstood which too many being inchanted with this Circean cup of liberty do often wilfully mistake and wire-draw to their own sense and destruction both There is never a line in all the New Testament to countenance disobedience to superiors or a loose and licentious course of life We were not called to uncleaness but unto holiness saith the good Apostle Paul And without holiness we shall never see Gods face as the same Apostle assures us Which holiness consists in a sincere and hearty desire indeavour and study to walk in all Gods Commandments and to live conformable to his pure and holy Laws quoad nôsse posse according to the best of our skill and power They that prâ—tend to the Spirit and yet wallow in all filthy and libidinous desires Ego nescio quem Christum fabricantur quem Spiritum eructant I know not saith Mr. Calvin what Christ they profess or what Spirit they breath or belch rather for surely it is not the Spirit of God which is a clean spirit and loves clean bodies and souls to dwell in as the Dove which is its emblem loves a clean coat It is a duty incumbent upon all Ministers as a good man admonisheth to teach the people the perpetual obligation of the moral law and that it must be retained and upheld or else Christ cannot be retain'd for the contrary perswasion iâ— destructive to piety and morality and disposeth men to turbulencies and rebellions and le ts loose the reins to all extravagant and inordinate desires as the experience of late ages hath made it evident and legible to the world APHOR. 4. Of the perfection of the Moral Law at the first enacting of it HOw that Law that came forth from the mouth of God was by him prescribed as a Rule of obedience to his chosen people Israel was an imperfect Law a kind of monogram or rude draught that was to receive full proportion colours and consummation by a skilfuller hand I do not yet well apprehend For King David who was a sedulous student of the Law all the day long was his study in st tells us that the law of the Lord is a perfect law converting the soul And the same student mooting this prime question How shall a young man cleanse his way makes answer even by ruling himself after thy word So that the Law is sufficient to cleanse a mans waies that is to keep him in an exact frame of dutifullness and conformity to Gods will and to regulate his thoughts wordâ— and actions which is totum hominis the all of man And sure no Law can go higher or be screwed to a higher pitch There is but internal and external obedience requlred by the most exact Law that is imposed and both these is included in every precept of this Law for the Law like the Law-Giver is spiritual There is not onely a literal but a spiritual sense in every mandate and this is the perfection of it that iâ— reacheth to the thoughts and intentions of the heart which other Laws do not nor cannot do We are forbidden to worship not onely the Images of our hands but also the Imaginations of our hearts false Opinions and Heresies having no reality or existence in the word and which some men do passionately dote upon come within the compass of the Law of the second Commandment We are forbidden also to kill not onely with the hand but also with the tongue by slander and with the heart by inveterate malice and unmeasurable wrath these are incruenta homicidia dry murthers which stain the soul as deeply as where life is destroyed Nay all the legal administrations of the old Testament did carry a spiritual importance and intendment the Circumcision of the foreskin did betoken the circumcision of the heart which is inward in the spirit not in the better and Gods whole drift and design in that Oeconomy was to make men
holy as he is holy a royal priesthood and a holy nation Exod. 19.6 The Sacrifices of the Law were not only figures of that great Sacrifice that was to be offered once for all to put away sin but the slaying of beasts did also import the killing of our lusts the mortifying of our earthly members the offering up of our selves a holy and lively sacrifice Sacrifices of righteousness were the true sacrifices which God required Deut. 33.19 these should have been done and the other not left undone for both were under precept the omission and neglect of the one made the other unacceptable yea made them to stink before God And the true servants of God were not ignorant hereof and the Doctors of the Law were not wanting to teach it in the Schools Sacrificia laudis charitatis erant sacrificia primae intentionis saith one of the best Scholars of the Jewish Nation to wit R. Moses Ben Maymon of whom Cunaeus gives this testimony Maimonides primus solusque in illa gente fato quodam nascendi rectè intellexit quid hoc esset non ineptire De Rep Hebr Indeed the greatest part of the Jewish Nation through corruption of manners not any defect in the Law did rest in outward performances and some that sate in Moses his chair did gratifie the peoples humors with false glosses upon the Law and perswaded themselves first and the people nexâ— that they were righteous enough if they kept the Letter of the Law and had a varnish of sanctity enough to blind the eyes of men But Christ told his Disciples that except their righteousness exceeded that measure of Pharisaical sanctity they should come short of heaven and notwithstanding their frequent purifications and washings yet except they were pure in heart they should never see God and therefore in the first Sermon that ever he made he laid open the true and genuine sense and meaning of the Law to his present auditory and did wind up the strings of each precept to its right key and tun'd the * Decachord of the Commandments as it had been tun'd at first which in process of time had been disordered some strings being stretched too high and some being lâ—t fall too low Medium tenuêre Beati The learned Author of the Fundamentals speaks right herein That Christ did bind some parts of the yoke closer than they were before thought to be bound upon them Exâ—ending the precepts farther than they were thought to extend and in raising them to more elevated degrees of perfection sinking them deeper than the outward actions even to the purity of the heart Some men perswaded themselves or were perswaded by others that if they had an outside sanctity they were well enough which conceit our Saviour Christ doth every where reprehend and beat down and pronounceth a wo to the Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites who made clean the outside of the platter and left the inside soul and nasty that seem'd lambs without but within were ravening wolves Introrsum turpes speciâ—fi pelle decoâ—â— APHOR. 3. How the Law is possible to be performed NOaâ— Gen. 6.9 Joâ— Job 1 1. Loâ— 2 Pet. 2.8 are termed â—â—ghteous persons by the Spirit of God that is such as had kept Gods Laws and fullfilled his Commandments But this is to be understood cum grano sâ—lis in a sense of favour and â—qâ—ity not precisely and categorically but either in comparison of others of their generation or in a benign and courteous interpretation they were esteemed righteous before God It is said of David that he kept Gods Commandments and followed him with all his heâ—rt to do that onely which was righteous in Gods sight and of good Iosiah that there was no King before him like unto him that turned unto the Lord with all his heart and all his soul and all his mind 2 Kin. 23.25 so of Asa 2 Chro. 15.15 These are high expressions and Elogies And yet we know that these men did bestow sometimes a piece of their heart that is of their affection upon the world and some carnal designes The magnet is not so constant to the North or Pole-star but it hath its variations and digressions from it And so the best of Gods servants do not so wholly fix their eyes upon their Master and Maker but they give an oeillad sometimes an amorous glance upon other objects Nevertheless because God hath the best share of their love and because they soon recall their hearts and do not suffer their affections to wander far nor to dwell long upon excentrical objects and desire to love God sincerely and with an upright heart non corde corde God accepts of their love and so they are said to love their Maker with all their hearts And moreover God is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} of a benign and gentle nature not {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as Aristotle interprets the word not rigid or severe to mark what is done amiss or one that stands upon his points and power and strict terms of Law with his subjects {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} one apt to extenuate faults and give them a favourable gloss or construction and being rather unwilling to find faults where they are than to make some where there are none Gods Law is high and excellent pure and exact in it self worthy of that infinite wisdom and purity that did frame and enact it But in exacting the duties of it and in examining our obedience Mercy and Benignity fit in Commissâ—â—n with his Iustice so that he never standâ— upon the rigor of his Laws and nice puntilios of obedience with humble and pâ—nitent sinners which he might do and do no man wrong but remembers whereof we are made that we are men not Angels and that the best of men are but men at the best Wherefore that the Law is absâ—lutely possible or impossible are both false Eâ—â—â—tiations if taken without lâ—mitation or distinction but with some restriction both are true and the Question may be stated either way with equal truth though not with equal conveniency or prudence For with submission to better judgements I conceive that it were more prudent to hold forth a possibility of fullfilling the Law than the contrary for this later damps all our indeavours weakens our hands dulls our edge and makes all our hopes faint and languid whereas a perswasion that Gods Law is feasible though not facil that it may be performed to such a degree and measure that may find acceptance with him who sets us on work makes us stretch and strein our faculties and keeps us in heart while we run the race that is set before us Non habeo vires Christus sed jussit habebo Cur me posse negem posse quod illâ— putet Invalidas vires ipse excitat juvat idem Quijubet obsequium sufficit esse meum In the