most notoriously displeased God and defiled our own Consciences The Exercise of these things in sincerity though not in Perfection are Essentially necessary to secure unto us the Pardon of our Sins and a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven Which as it is the main design of all our receptions of the Lords Supper so should it be more especially our business when we perform this Duty at great and solemn Festivals and so extraordinary a Time when the very newness of the Year will powerfully invite us to newness of Life Such as are perfectly deaf to this Call and can resist all the Invitations we have from the very Time and Custom to amend our ways are not likely to make it much the business of their Thoughts for the remaining part of the Year To begin well does not absolutely necessitate a good Conclusion but certainly is a considerable step towards the same otherwise it would never have been familiarized into a Proverb What 's well begun is half ended Let us all then I beseech you in the name of God take care how we enter upon the New-year without newness of Life after having received so many Mercies and committed so many Sins the Year past Among those Gifts which Custom doth oblige us to bestow let us in the first place give our Hearts unto God Let the Glutton and Drunkard renounce his sottish Intemperance Let the common Swearer renounce his inexcusable sin of Profanation of God's Name Let the Malicious renounce his Malice and Revenge Let the Proud and Imperious renounce his Haughtiness of Mind Let the wretched Miser renounce his Avarice and oppression of his Brother Let the Furious and wrathful renounce his Anger and Impatience And lastly let the stupid Sluggard I mean chiefly in reference to Religion forsake his Sloth and carelessness of his precious and immortal Soul Let every Sinner renounce his most beloved sin and seasonably discharge himself of that Burthen which may chance as light as he makes it to press him before another Anniversary into Hell We are all yet God be praised alive and have our Day of Salvation continued to us and are capable to lay hold on Eternal Life Our merciful and gracious God hath carried us thus far through the dangers of Body and Soul wherewith we have been from our Cradles incompassed But that we should all here present every individual Person live to see another Year and to enjoy the blessed opportunity which I fear too many of us will wilfully reject of Feasting on our Saviour's Body and Bloud in this very place is hardly possible to conceive It is highly probable that sundry of our Friends and Acquaintance who did with as much confidence as we do at present promise themselves long life a year ago are now mouldred into Durst and gone before us into the Land of Darkness where they inherit as the Wise man speaks as to the state of the Body nothing but Worms and creeping things And that we should think our selves more immortal than those that have gone before us is contrary to all Reason as well as daily Experience Certain it is that it would become us the best of us if we consider our selves but as men indued with Common Sense to take a little more care of our future state and how we do launch forth unprepared into the Ocean of Eternity and descend into the Grave out of which there is no Redemption Upon these and the like Considerations methinks we should without any more ado all resolve for the remainder of our days to be as constant Guests at our Lord's Table as he requires and our Duty obligeth us to and in particular none should dare let slip the present Call we have from the very Season to a Heavenly Banquet where we may have Communion with the God of Heaven Converse with the Holy Angels and Feast on the Son of God and thereby be made partakers of those inestimable benefits Christ purchased for us by his bitter and bloudy Death and Passion namely pardon of Sins sanctifying Grace and a Title to the Kingdom of Heaven Here here is the best 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and truest Trial not only of our growth in Grace but of our sincerity in Religion I mean how we stand affected to the holy Sacrament of Christs pretious Body and Bloud If we make that which if rightly performed is the most Essential part of God's Service a Ceremony to be done when we have little or nothing else to do and can contentedly without just or lawful Impediment absent our selves from God's House even at the most solemn times of Celebration or can boldly without scruple turn our backs on the Lord's Table a higher Act of profane Contempt than the former when we see it ready furnished and hear our Dear Lord and Saviour summoning us by his Ministers and inviting us to Sup with him in order to our being Everlastingly happy we are either grosly ignorant stupendiously negligent or egregiously profane To produce in our Souls an earnest longing to be united to our Dear Lord and Saviour by Faith Hope and Charity and to receive these Pledges of his Love in these holy Mysteries is the main End both of our Prayers and Sermons And therefore to dote so much on a Sermon as to justle out the Sacrament the highest Office of Christian Religion is a most Preposterous way of Devotion and a Piece of Anti-Christianism rather than Christianity for the chief design of Sermons is to fit and prepare for this Sacrament without doing whereof no Sermon can be prevalent and effectual to a holy life which made a great and holy Writer of our own Country declare in his Works That he knew not what those Sermons did signifie that did no ways dispose towards the Reception of the blessed Eucharist which cannot be denied to be the most undoubted Instrument and best means to convey Grace to and promote Vertue in a Christian Soul This caused the Church of England too we may conceive to keep her ground in the Reformation in retaining part of her Communion Service on all Sundays and Holy-days even when there is no Celebration Proclaiming that she is always ready to give it as a worthy Church-man notes whensoever any People shall be so Religiously disposed as to desire it nay absolutely enjoyning it in all those solemn places whether Collegiate Churches or Colledges where she was assured of an Assembly of Priests and Deacons from whom she might justly expect more constant attendance and higher Devotion taking care that when she rejected the Corruptions Superstitions and Idolatries of the Mass she might pay as much respect as a degenerate and indevout Age would bear unto the Communion no where condemning the Daily Celebration heretofore practised or yet retained in any Christian Church but the solitary Communion of the Popish Priests and their way of Offering up Christ daily as a Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead neither of which can be
all those Decent and Reverend Postures and Gestures which are Commanded by Authority and so strictly required at all Times and in all Places even where External Reverence and high Solemnity are more dispensable than in the Quire of a Cathedral that whosoever shall dare to neglect them in this solemn Place I dare pronounce him a man of more than ordinary Assurance and Profaneness And this Affront done to God and his Worship is most unpardonable in those that have no Pleas against our Liturgy from an Erroneous or Scrupulous Conscience Fifthly To pay the Honour due to God's House and Service by resorting to it for all those Church Offices that are commanded to be performed publickly in the Congregation and never moving nor pressing the Priest to bring that into the Church which by the very Nature of the the Thing as well as Order of the Book is absolutely confined to the Chamber Sixthly To observe all those Holy Days Times and Seasons which are by Lawful Authority set apart and Dedicated to God's Service and Worship in such devout manner as the Church requires and good Conscience obligeth all pious Christians making it often Matter of serious Thought and Consideration so as to mannage and order the Business and Affairs of our Lives and Callings that they may not Interfere and Clash with our more Imediate Duty and Homage to God which is of greater and higher Obligation and through want of Religious Foresight to multiply necessities of our own making and then to plead them as a sufficient Exemption from doing our Duty to God and think them sufficient Motives to tempt us to rob God both of his Time and Service I mean our Holy Festivals and proper Offices on them which is a certain piece of Sacriledge and of an higher nature than what we sometimes term so not unworthy the consideration of those who pass for and pretend to be great friends to both but give small Evidence thereof by their due respect to either Seventhly Remembring that Religion and our Church enjoyns Fasting as well as Feasting and allows Days and Seasons for the Exercise of Repentance as well as Spiritual Joy it concerns us rightly to imploy and improve them for the Necessities of our own Souls as well as the Example of others sacrificing sometimes our own Reputations to revive such wise and Godly Institutions if we cannot do it at a cheaper Rate since the contempt of them especially among pretended Friends those that should have supported the Honour of them hath proved sadly to the decay of true Piety and Devotion for the restoring whereof there are no more probable means I am apt to believe than the Restauration of the Primitive use of them Lastly And which comes nearest to the Point that I have chiesly pressed in my Application duly to frequent the holy Sacrament that Celestial Feast and Banquet at the Table of the Lord where it is most Just and Congruous here in this Church that there should be higher Festivity than elsewhere since our Local Statutes oblige us to extraordinary Feasting at our own And those who regard not the frequent spiritual Calls they have from God's Church and Ministers to the one more than the Lay-Invitations they have to the other discover less Conscience than Civility It is I humbly conceive without all Objection that there is scarce a Church in England that may more justly expect than the Church of Durham a Communion Table well furnished with Guests and devout People crouding up to the Horns of the Altar in as great Numbers on our constant ordinary Communion Days which are too often Thin even to scandal as we usually have on our high and greatest Festivals which very badly deserve the Name when they have not the Celebration of the Eucharist on them and are in some sort turned into Fasting days when there is great Feasting at our own Tables and none at the Lord's A Meditation I am sure no ways improper for this Place and Country which is so great a Pretender to and which doth so much surpass other parts of the Nation in Hospitality And here having presented you with a brief Scheme of that Conformity which the Church expects from all her Children give me leave to add that a bare outward Respect and Regularity cannot denominate us true Conformists He that is not a sincere Christian is not a right Conformist and however he may chance to Evade the Penalties of the Law yet can no ways approve himself to God The wholsom Rules and Orders of our Church are wisely contrived for the Promotion of Godliness and Piety in the Souls of men And he that doth Conscientiously use and obey them will quickly find the truth of what I say by experience Every Christian that doth faithfully and devoutly labour to put his Soul into a right Frame to recite his part of the Publick Prayers in a spiritual manner and with Understanding shall never fail to profit his own Soul and please God And whosoever doth heartily strive to do this daily in a better manner and certainly it is all our Duties so to do and we cannot more profitably direct and imploy our Private Devotions than to this end and purpose shall not fail to improve himself in Virtue and Devotion and grow in Grace and Christian knowledge till from a very Babe he become a strong and perfect man in Christ Jesus especially if he keeps pace with the Church in that high respect which she pays to the holy Eucharist and blessed Memorial of Christs Death and Passion which as it is and ever hath been esteemed in the Church of God the very top of our Christian Services so it is rightly used Equivalent to them all and will prove to all humble well-meaning Souls that approach thereunto with a Habit of sincere Devotion though by unavoidable Incumbrances and Impediments deprived of much time to be spent in Actual Preparation more Efficacious than all other Performances How great stress the Church lays on the constant use of a Liturgy and the offering up to God Forms of Prayers and Praise stamp'd with Authority every Morning and Evening in Publick is sufficiently evident from her own Injunctions and how much greater stress she lays upon the offering up unto God a Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving in the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud at the Altar which ought to be esteemed by us equal to a whole weeks other Services appears by her great Zeal for the Communion in the Reformation when she rejected the Superstitions crept into the Roman Missal injoyning as great Frequency as any Church in Reformed Christendom And how great sin both of our Forefathers as well as our selves may be charged on us for deserting God's Altar and how great Vengeance may hang over our Heads and the Heads of our Posterity for such Profane and Contemptuous trifling with God and our Souls as hath been and is customary in most Assemblies of our Nation and in none
THE Compleat Conformist OR SEASONABLE ADVICE CONCERNING STRICT CONFORMITY AND Frequent Celebration OF THE Holy Communion IN A SERMON Preached on the seventh of January being the first Sunday after the Epiphany in the Year 1682. at the Cathedral And in a Letter written to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Durham By Denis Grenville D.D. Archdeacon and Prebendary of Durham LONDON Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1684. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND Right Reverend Father in God NATHANIEL Lord Bishop of DURHAM AND Clerk of the Closet to His Majesty My Lord AS it hath been matter of great Joy to all Devout Christians that God hath put it into the Heart of our most Reverend Primate of All England to attempt the Revival of Primitive Piety and the long Eclipsed Honour of our Saviour by restoring a weekly Celebration of the Holy Sacrament in his Metropolitical Church so I am confident it must needs be an extraordinary satisfaction to the Regular Clergy of your own Diocess where Conformity hath fluorished in a high measure blessed be God ever since the Restauration As I acknowledge it my Duty my Lord to render my self by all means whether in season or out of season serviceable to God's Church especially to the Jurisdiction under you wherein his Providence hath placed me so the due Obedience and Reverence I justly bear you oblige me to dedicate to your Lordship the pains I have taken to promote a frequent Parochial Celebration of the Holy Communion humbly beseeching your Lordship to Countenance this seasonable performance of my Duty and honest Design to quicken my Brethren in the faithful discharge of their Office And I do assure your Lordship that I shall never Endeavour to promote my own private Phantasies either by adding to or diminishing from the Established Laws of our Church but as firmly as my weakness will permit shall strive to maintain that excellent Order and Discipline which the Publick Authority of the Church hath obliged us all unto and as both your Self and Predecessor have enjoyned me I shall as strenuously and prudently as I am capable administer the same for the promotion of the true end thereof the Glory of God and Salvation of those committed to my Care Since I know I can neither do God nor your Lordship more real and I hope more acceptable service than in so doing That my Sermon which was preached in my ordinary Course at the Cathedral was never intended for the Press will easily appear from the Examination of the Discourse it self and that it was not Vanity nor an Itch to be in Print which was the motive to this Publication will I am persuaded be readily granted by all those who consider that it carries with it no Temptation to expose it to publick View but some well meant Zeal which in a Censorious Age is more apt to procure Contempt than Commendation Had I not in the Applicatory part for the sake whereof I now set it forth pressed with some earnestness the Topick of Conformity and the chief part thereof frequent Communion which to promote is the main design of this Application to my Brethren it had never seen the Light at present But having in the Conclusion of the Sermon set a Scheme of Conformity before the eyes of the Laity as I have in my Letter to the Clergy presented them with another belonging to Ecclesiasticks I judged the Discourses not unfit to accompany since they may strengthen one the other As an honest desire to contribute to the Publick Good was my chief reason for publishing my Sentiments in these matters so is it a considerable motive for my presuming in this manner to present them to your Lordship that I may discharge my own Conscience and demonstrate how much I am My Lord Your Lordships most obedient and most humble Servant D. G. Newly Published SHort Discourses upon the whole Common-Prayer designed to inform the Judgment and excite the Devotion of such as daily use the same by Tho. Comber D. D. The Laver of Regeneration and the Cup of Salvation two plain and profitable Discourses upon the two Sacraments The one laying open the Nature of Baptism and earnestly pressing the serious consideration and religious observation of the Sacred Vow made by all Christians in their Baptism The other pressing as earnestly the frequent Renewing of our Baptismal Vow at the Lords holy Table Demonstrating the indispensible necessity of Receiving and the great sin and danger of Neglecting the Lords Supper with Answers to the chief Pretences whereby the Absenters would excuse themselves The General Catalogue of Books Printed in England since the Dreadful Fire 1666 to the end of Trinity Term 1684. To which are added a Catalogue of Latine Books Printed in Foreign parts and in England since the year 1670. Printed for Robert Clavell at the Peacock in S. Pauls Church Yard A SERMON JOHN I. 29. Behold the Lamb of God THE very first word of my Text doth powerfully command your attention and require you to behold him to day whom the Church presented as manifested yesterday which will be no unseasonable Meditation you will find if you examine the Services of the respective Sundays after the Epiphany till the Purification It is no small matter in Scripture that hath an Ecce prefixed thereunto and nothing can better deserve it than those passages that relate to our Lord 's wonderful Incarnation namely God manifested in the Flesh to be true and very man Born of a Virgin the chief subject of Devotion on the Feast of our Lord's Nativity or the man Christ Jesus manifested to be God the subject of the Devotions on the Feast of the Epiphany three several ways First By the Wise mens coming to worship him twelve days after his Birth Secondly By a Voice from Heaven at his Baptism thirty years after And thirdly By his first Miracle in Cana of Galilee where he turned Water into Wine Which way soever we turn our Eyes to behold either God manifested to be Man or Man manifested to be God the Spectacle will be glorious and wonderful and every way deserving of our highest Admiration and Praise which is in a particular manner proper for our consideration at this Instant when we are approaching to the Table of our Lord to feed on his blessed Body and Bloud And that that holy Duty of the Altar as well as the other of the Pulpit may succeed to the honour of God and comfort of our Souls let us beg the assistance of God's most holy Spirit c. Ye shall pray for the holy Catholick Church of Christ the Congregation of Christian People c. Behold the Lamb of God Never any Spectacle in the world so well deserved a Crier to call the People to behold it as this in the Text Nor was there any man in the world so fit to call Spectators to this Spectacle as the Baptist God is come down into the World in the Form of a
may be available for the Remission of your sins He was baptized in his Natural Body that you might be Baptized Spiritually in his Mystical Body He came not to cleanse himself by the Water of Baptism for he was without sin but to sanctifie the Water of Baptism for your Purification To cleanse the Font and not himself To elevate the Water of Baptism above its natural Condition To be the Instrument of the Holy Ghost for the spiritual washing of our Souls to make it indeed such a Fountain of Water as was promised to be opened to the House of Jacob for Sin and for Uncleanness Zach. 13. 1. Behold then in the first place an Innocent Lamb. 2. As Christ is a Lamb for Innocency so likewise for Patience and Meekness St John Baptist might have called him as in the Revelation The Lion of the Tribe of Judah but then they might have feared him for what more terrible than a Lion But that he might not hinder their Baptizing whose Baptism he came to sanctifie St. John calls him a Lamb which as every one knows is sincerum simplex sine fraude Pecus the meekest sincerest and most simple Creature Every other Creature hath some Frowardness in it Even the Fly hath its spleen and the Worm that is trod on turns again but the Lamb is led to the slaughter without striving and is dumb before the Shearer not opening his mouth Esay 53. A most notable Instance whereof was seen in our Lord Jesus's sufferings for was not Christ just such a Lamb shorn if I may so say and shaven by the cruel Censure of an unjust Judge at Gabbatha John 19. 13. and slaughtered by his bloudy Crucifiers at Golgotha ver 51. and yet all this while never moved to any Impatience They Fleece him of his Coat fley him of his Skin if not wholly yet in part by their Whipping and Scourging and Goaring of him more Pitiful to his Coat than to his Skin and Body and yet he is still as meek as a Lamb. He endures all their Butcherly handling of him with silent Patience without Clamour and without Complaint who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not 1 Pet. 2. 23. There was a Sword drawn by one in our Saviours defence and a wound given by it but it was much against his Will who to shew his dislike Cured the Wound and check'd his Disciple for giving it Mat. 26. 52. John 18. 11. and therefore this Act of the Disciple can be no prejudice to his Master's Patience who was so harmless that he never did hurt to other and so wonderfully meek that he never resisted those that injured him Though the Wrongs he suffered were extreme the Indignity he bare to Flesh and Bloud intolerable yet in this Extremity he commits his Cause to him that judgeth righteously and for all the Cruelty and Indignity which he underwent he never opened his mouth in anger not one ill word against his Persecutors but many good ones for them All the Revenge that he desires is that no Vengeance be taken on them Father forgive them for they know not what they do Moses the meekest man upon the Earth had his Patience moved at Meribah Numbers 20. 10 11 12 13. The Patience of Job is famous even to a Proverb and yet he often complained Beyond these and all other Examples Christ suffered more than all with the incomparable meekness of a Patient Lamb. When I think of this I cannot but wonder at the Nature and Disposition of them that call themselves Christians and yet herein are quite opposite to the nature of Christ And that such a glorious Example of Virtue should be no more prevalent with us and have no power on us He indured for our sakes all things that were most painful to Humane Nature without the least kind of murmuring or complaint He suffered Reproaches Revilings Scoffings Scorning Buffeting Whipping Death it self nay a most painful and shameful one without the least desire of Revenge When we alas poor despicable Worms cannot for any sake God's sake or Christ Jesus sake suffer the least contradiction either to our Nature or our Humour A little loss of Reputation or Goods which are less valuable a Blow or but a Word sometimes are thought things intolerable All our power and might on such trifling accounts as if Vengeance were ours and not God's is presently raised to revenge our Quarrel In this our Nature crosseth our Title for if we be Christians we must be Anointed with some Drops of that Oyl with some degrees of those Virtues that so much abounded in him So saith St. Peter in the present Case He gave himself an Example that we should follow his steps Christs sheep hear his Voice and follow him Joh. 10. 27. His Disciples all that belong to him are Sheep not Goats not Wolves but Lambs Innocent and meek Lambs 3. As Christ is Innocent and meek so like a Lamb he is profitable also As a Lamb to the Owner affords both his Fleece and his substance one to Cloath him the other to Feed him so is Christ to us both our Garment to cover our Sin and our Food to nourish our Souls How Christ is our Garment to cover our sin hath been the subject of a former Sermon and the design of this Discourse and Duties of the Day will not give leave to repeat how he becomes our Food I hope you will find soon after by experience in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper on which I shall reflect in the Application but before that we have two particulars to be yet briefly handled It is remarkable the Baptist calls him not simply a Lamb but The Lamb and not barely so but The Lamb of God II. Behold The Lamb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Lamb which the Prophet Esay foreshewed to be the Propitiatory Sacrifice for the sins of his People Esay 53. 7. The Lamb prefigured by Moses in the Passover Exod. 12. As the Bloud of the Lamb sprinkled upon the Posts of the Door saved the Israelites from the Plague of the Destroyer so the Bloud of this Lamb sprinkled by Faith on our Hearts shall preserve us from Sin and all the Powers of Darkness In a word The Lamb that was Prefigured in all the other Lambs under the Law That in the Daily Offering That in the Trespass Offering and That in the Peace Offering all of them and all other Legal Sacrifices the Truth the Substance of them all is in this Lamb. Which Lamb is our Passover 1 Cor. 5. 7. We have no other Way or Means to make the Lord pass over the houses of our Souls in the Day of his Wrath but by the observing of this Passover He only is our Propitiation 1 Joh. 2. 1. We have no other Sacrifice for Sin no other Peace-Offering our Reconciliation our Atonement is only in his Bloud who alone was perfectly Innocent fit to Redeem Sinners essentially Meek and Patient fit to
termed a Communion For a private Mass when no one Communicates with the Priest or when there doth if the People are deprived of the Cup can neither in Logick or Grammar deserve the name The Church of England would by no means descend so low as the Church of Rome doth in her expectation from the Laity that Church requiring Lay-men to receive absolutely but once in the Year under Penalty but imposeth on every one of the People in the most busie Circumstances and in the most inconsiderable Parish or Chaplery where there be fewest Communions an Obligation to receive at least three times in the Year looking on it as certainly it is an intolerable Relaxation to let People go lower Which yet it is to be feared is as high or higher than many of us go who live nigh a Cathedral where there are Celebrations Monthly and cannot be denied Weekly if any reasonable Number of devout People did heartily desire that great Priviledge that the Church allows them Which rightly considered is the greatest Benefit and Happiness of a Son of the Church of England as it is one of the greatest Honours and Ornaments of our Common-Prayer-Book that there is a Rubrick or Rule which supposeth a Priest weekly Officiating at the Altar There is not among us a more undeniable Relique or Remainder of Popery which may be truly so termed than the notorious and scandalous contempt of the Communion This was I well remember declared in one of our first Synods of the Clergy by our Diocesan after the Restoration No Church in the Christian world pretends more and shews less respect to the Communion than the Church of Rome most of their Tokens of Respect being the highest Dishonour and disgrace that was ever cast upon the Son of God and his holy Sacrament of his precious Body and Bloud This sad Contempt of the chiefest means that ever Christ instituted for the support of Religion which loss of ground in the Church of God gave the greatest Wound that ever was given unto Piety hath been fairly or rather foully Copied by the Separatists from the Church of England insomuch that we may term seldom Communicating to be a piece of Fanaticism as well as Popery the holy Eucharist being never so disgracefully Rejected and vilely Trampled on as in the Times of Schism and Rebellion when those who shewed great Zeal for Sermons in many places daily were contented without a Sacrament Yearly nay those that would have three or four Sermons on a Sunday did not once in some places Celebrate the Lord's Supper in three or four Years no I dare affirm and I know what I say in thirteen or fourteen years together A blessed Reformation So egregious and lamentable a Contempt of Christ's Death and the last Commands of a dying Saviour Do this in Remembrance of me as we see our Adversaries on both hands do concur in should create a holy Indignation in us who in some things are forward enough to have a kind of Antipathy against them and oblige us to distinguish our selves by a contrary Practice as much as possible from such false and pretended Catholicks and Protestants who by their Pretences thereto God knows have almost brought both Catholick and Protestant Religion into Contempt And here a kind of Spirit of Opposition or Contradiction whereby too many do only measure their Religion would be very laudable and the most effectual means under God to preserve us from the Machinations or Malice of either True Piety as it is the best Policy will be the most sure defence against our Adversaries of every Persuasion Let us be sure to be in truth and reality what they Profess and would be thought to be sticking closely nay giving up our selves intirely to God and Goodness in a sincere spiritual and devout use of those means of Salvation which are undoubtedly of Christs own Institution not fondly pretending to be Honourers of God's Word and yet down-right Contemners of his Worship whereof this Sacrament to which we are approaching is the most excellent part nor Friends to his Sanctuary when we are none to his Sacraments nor to be zealous Assertors of the Religion of our Church and yet live contrary to the Established Rule of God's Worship i. e. our Common-Prayer-Book wherein every Member of our Church though they are not engaged thereto by so Sacred a Tye as the giving an Assent and Consent publickly in a Congregation hath a part to act and a great one too which would require much serious study and consideration and which by a few particulars I hope to demonstrate First It is without all doubt that every Lay-man of our Communion is bound to assist at as the Minister is to say Divine Service daily when God placeth him in such blessed Circumstances as you are to enjoy the same and the necessary and indispensable Affairs of his Life and Calling will permit and when they will not which is a just Impediment on days of business to send if possible some Person of his Family to be a Representative and keep up its Interest in that continual Sacrifice appointed by God and the Church to be Offered up in behalf of the whole Congregation and which extends to the Faithful that are lawfully absent as well as the present Secondly Without all dispute it is the Duty of every Person when he comes to God's House to labour as much as in him lieth to secure a whole Service and more especially the Beginning and the Conclusion I mean the Confession and Absolution together with the Final Prayers and Benediction which a multitude of People through their slothful negligence in repairing to and profane haste in departing from the Temple seldom enjoy all the Year long thereby losing the chief ends of their coming and such People too oftentimes their own Consciences can bear me Witness who are very loth to be Herded among Non-Conformists Thirdly It is of unquestionable Obligation that all Persons of every Sex should joyn not only with Heart but Voice at all the appointed parts of the Service belonging to the People and study the Order and Rules of the Book to which it is a horrid shame and sin for any to be a stranger so as to be by no means ignorant of what is Incumbent on them making it their Business or at least their Divertisement at home in their Houses especially when God hath blessed them with a Harmonious Voice to qualifie themselves for the performance of their Duties in Publick I mean chiefly the Eucharistical parts of the Office which are the special parts of God's Publick Service and which truly make it the Sacrifice of Praise the best Fruit of our Lips and part of our Christian Sacrifice which we are to offer up to God continually all the days of our Lives by and through Christ our High Priest now entred into the Heavens giving Thanks unto his Name Fourthly It is every Persons Duty that hath no Infirmity of body to observe punctually
I fear more than in these relating to this City on this Account I leave to God and your own Consciences to judge Beseeching him that by a seasonable shunning of the Sin you may effectually avoid the Punishment Now to God the Father c. Soli Deo Gloria ADVICE CONCERNING Strict Conformity and frequent Celebration of the Holy Communion c. Reverend Brethren SINCE the most Reverend PRIMATE of all England hath at this time judged it expedient to restore the Blessed Eucharist in his own Metropolitical Church and sundry other Cathedrals so far to its due Honour as to revive those Rubricks which necessarily suppose a weekly Celebration thereof in all Cathedral Collegiate Churches and Colleges and that there is reasonable ground to hope that other Cathedrals will speedily follow so good an Example I humbly conceive it the Duty of every Arch-Deacon and other Ordinaries that have Jurisdiction to improve this present occasion by stirring up all the Clergy committed to their charge to imitate as far as in them lies an Example so pious and worthy of their high Station by celebrating the Holy Communion more frequently than of late hath been accustomed in Parish Churches even as often as the Circumstances of their People and Cures do require and will bear it being the Duty of every Parson of a Parish to quicken his Flock to repair more frequently and with more zeal to God's Altar since God's Providence and the care and wisdom of our Governours do now at an extraordinary conjuncture of Affairs invite them thereto when not onely the Church of England but other Reformed Churches nay all the Christian Churches in the World call for solemn Devotions Prayers and Praises to God Accordingly I do very gladly embrace this happy occasion to invite you my Brethren to put your helping hand to this pious work of Reforming the unaccountable neglect of the blessed Sacrament the most necessary and assured means of Grace and Edification which has by the Indevotion of the Age too far prevailed whereof our Governours now seem very sensible not onely in Parochial Churches but even in Cathedrals themselves to the great scandal of our Religion and detriment of Mens Souls Craving therefore the liberty to remind you that as God hath put it into the Hearts of our Reverend Prelates to rectify this great abuse in sundry Cathedrals so it seems to be in a particular manner the Duty of the Clergy of our Diocese to lead on others within the Province by their good Examples in this great piece of Piety and Devotion since we did by the zeal care and vigilance of our deceased Prelate sooner than other Dioceses arrive to a high pitch of Conformity and more exact observation of the Laws and Rules of our Church established by Authority and expressed in our Common-prayer Book I may say it without Injury to others than any other part of England In this Order established among us by Bishop Cosins we have been encouraged to continue by our present Diocesan in his publick Discourses to the Clergy in his primary and later Visitations and more particularly in his last Discourse which he made to the Clergy in the Church of St. Oswalds in August 1683. when he advised all Ministers to take heed how they governed themselves by their own Fancies in the Execution of their Office rather than the Rule of their Book And I hope you will all do me that Justice as to ackowledg that I have always endeavoured ever since I did relate to the Arch-deaconry of Durham which is somewhat more than twenty years faithfully though weakly according to my bounden Duty to see the Injunctions of both these my Lords the Bishops put in Execution without allowing any Liberty to any of the Clergy to vary from the clear Rules of the Church whereto they have given their assent and consent and that among other matters I have not failed to use some honest zeal to move you to the frequent celebration of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the main end both of our Services and Sermons desiring that it should be administred in every Church so frequently that all Persons might have an opportunity to participate so often at least as the Law requires under Penalty which is thrice in the year But sundry of the Clergy notwithstanding mine and more powerful Arguments in several Episcopal Visitations having not been prevailed on to administer the very Sacrament it self oftner than so which renders it impossible for a confiderable part of the People to comply with that important Obligation I could not satisfie my Conscience to let slip this very fit occasion of pressing them to the performance of their Duty in this particular that tho' through the profaneness of the Age the number of Guests may chance to be very few at the Lord's Table yet that there might not lie so much Guilt at the Clergies door as not to furnish the Table and give the People frequent Invitations thereto nor more Guilt at the door of the Arch deacon in ceasing to press them to a Duty of so great moment as the frequent and Reverend Administration of the Holy Sacrament I have judged meet at this time thus to apply my self unto you The serious consideration of such a Duty now incumbent upon me did first put into my Thoughts the publication of the foregoing Sermon the conclusive and Applicatory Part being an Exhortation to that Duty which not onely your unworthy Arch-deacon but our Superiours at the Helm call you unto hoping that it may by God's Blessing give you some occasion to consider the greatness of the Sin of this Age in the contempt of this most holy Institution of our blessed Lord and Saviour and the fitness of this present Conjuncture for all us of the Clergy to return to the discharge of this most essential part of our Ministerial Function which hitherto we have to our shame and sin too generally neglected It is now a matter of Prudence as well as Piety to remove so great a scandal since this Return to our Duty begins regularly and is the result of the wise and godly Counsels of our Governours The chief Metropolitical Church by its Example inviting all Cathedrals to Celebrate the Eucharist according to the Rubrick every Lord's Day at least The Example of Cathedrals begins already God be praised to encourage this good work of Piety for the encrease of Devotion wherein they seem decently to admonish the Parochial Churches to a proportionable frequency That as the Mother Churches advance on towards the Primitive practice of a daily celebration of the Sacred Memorials of Christ's Death and Passion so may they as obsequious Children advance as far as is practicable and morally possible for them towards a weekly Communion by celebrating the Holy Sacrament at least Monthly in all considerable Towns and populous Villages For even a daily celebration of the Sacrament was retained by the Apostolic zeal of our Blessed Reformers and required
assurance of our eternal Salvation to their just honour and use by frequent celebration the want whereof hath caused them to fall under a most grievous neglect if not heinous contempt even among the generality of reformed Christians a great part of them going no farther than just to satisfie the Law not good Conscience and many who yet pretend much zeal for our Church not far enough to satisfie either To set about so excellent and Christian a Work besides the Call at this time from our Superiours we have more Arguments to encourage than discourage us For First There do appear blessed be God some better tokens both of Religion and Loyalty than for some years past among the people of the Nation Men seem better than heretofore disposed towards good order in general and begin to be awaked into some sense of their Duty to God and the King nay into some real feeling it is to be hoped that it is their Interest to stick close to the established Religion and Prerogative of their Sovereign rather than to consume all their zeal in a needless concern for the Liberty and Property of the Subject in less danger than any where in the World Most People seem now very well convinced of the necessity of the execution of the Law and in particular of the Act of Uniformity the scandalous neglect of which upon Examination may be found one special cause of the disorders both in Church and State And very considerable steps have been made in sundry places of the Nation towards a better settlement Our gracious Sovereign hath for his own part done even Wonders in new modelling the Capital City of the Nation wherein God's Providence hath evidently appeared in blessing His Majesty in the dexterous management of Affairs by reducing that ungovernable body to so considerable degree of Obedience A famous Lord Mayor and sundry Loyal and faithful Members of that Body for whom the whole Nation hath great reason to bless God have also done their parts worthily in withstanding the Rabble who it were and not the City of London that did so furiously bend themselves under a specious shew of Religion to destroy the Government And it is well known that some faithful and painful Divines have done great things beyond expectation upon this account with very considerable success even in the City of London which one would have believed in such a degree tainted that it had been scarce possible to have reduced any Congregation to half that order and decency which is by the mercy of God visible in many And we have Instances God be praised of the like nature not only in our City of London but in other parts of the Nation Devout People also in several places have made Addresses to the Clergy to enjoy more frequency of Communions What remains then but that we of the Clergy should faithfully and vigorously do our parts in our respective Stations towards the restoring decayed Piety by the diligent and reverend use of the most effectual and infallible means to produce so desirable an end which are those of Christ's own Institution namely the faithful and religious Feeding at his Table eating his Body and drinking his Bloud Thus piously commemorating the pretious Death of our dear Lord until his coming again And these things considered it is more easie for all Priests for us especially to set about the faithful discharge of their Duty than it hath been for many years past God hath defeated the Rage and Craft of the Enemies that would undermine us as well as those that would devour us We have in some manner regained God make us sensible and thankful our lost ground and are or may be if we please in circumstances to do the same things that were unhappily slip'd in practice though enjoyned at the Restoration Clergymen may now more plausibly set upon the performance of those Duties which they have long lived in the neglect of nay they can with no more safety of Reputation than of Conscience live any longer in the Omission of them For the very Laicks of our Communion do not onely invite us by their Examples to more exact conformity but very powerfully press us thereto by their Writings who with divers eminent Writers convince the Ministers as well as People of the wrong Notions they have received concerning Conformity and constancy of communicating for which honest zeal they deserve much praise In which Christian Attempt we of this Diocese have less reason than others to be remiss The Bishoprick of Durham hath been stiled long since Terra Sacerdotum and ever since the happy Return of our Sovereign it hath been more famous than other parts for Conformity and very justly for though there happen to be some Omissions even to scandal which an honest Visitor can no way approve of and which I never did nor ever shall yet in respect of most Dioceses of England we have long led the Van and outstrip'd them in good order and regularity of publick Worship to wit in a more exact observation of our Rubrick in daily Prayers and constant Catechising nay in some Country Parish Churches have enjoyed monthly Communions celebrated by fuller numbers than perhaps in some great Cities I might add and speak what I know than in some Cathedrals It is manifest therefore that the time requires an exact Conformity to the Rule of God's publick Worship being thus quickened by the Government and chief Governours of Church and State by the pious Laity as well as Clergy by both our Friends and Enemies These and other Encouragements which we have God be thanked to provoke us to attempt a higher pitch of good Order and Conformity than has ever yet obtained since the Restoration ought to ballance all the discouragements we can possibly have to the contrary and should create in us rather a hearty concern for our own excellent Religion established than an excessive aversion to other Mens We have talked Preached and written sufficiently sometimes more than enough against Fanaticism and yet all the while have lived in so constant a Breach and contempt of clear Laws of great importance and easily practicable that the Nonconformity of the Clergy hath a second time been like to prove our ruin And so on the other side while many have been enflamed with a mighty preposterous zeal against Popery they have not been concerned for the most truly and best Reformed Religion in the World yea among our selves for the last is the sin of our Adversaries for these hundred years past we have shewn much more Indignation against the corruptions of the Mass than hearty love to the Communion the contempt of which holy Institution of Christ seems to be the most visible Flaw of Professors in Reformed Christendom which is the most unaccountable part of the practice of the Church of England Men and the weakest place that we have to defend if we are attacked against our Adversaries If we therefore would ever do