Sun that such Persons are unfit for such an Ordinance as the Lords Supper for they are incapable of reaching the ends of its Institution Since therefore none but Baptiz'd Persons may approach the Lords Table but all Baptiz'd Persons may not the Question is Where the discrimina tion of some from others of them proper to this case lies And what it is that is necessary as a pre-requisite Qualification I answer the difference lies here That some stand to their Baptismal Engagement and others don 't and the qualification pre-requir'd is an owning of it For if Persons don't own the Vow they once came under 't is to no purpose to think of Repeating it again NOW the owning of this Vow is pre-requir'd to Persons Right Receiving of the Lords Supper in a double respect either with Reference to God or the Church 1. WITH Reference to God and so the Hearty owning the Obligation of this Vow is necessary without which we cannot approve our selves to him or so transact with him as to reap those Benefits which he designs for us by that Ordinance whereto we are suppos'd to pretend Our Hearts must be really Consecrated and our Lives Devoted to him according to the tenour of our Engagement in Baptism before we can justly pretend anew to strike Covenant with him who searcheth Hearts and trieth Reins as we are to do at his Table 2. OUR owning our Baptismal Vow is also requisite with reference to the Church to our admission to the Lords Table We must make a Credible Profession of adhering to it of which kind is every such Profession as is not contradicted by an Unsuitable Life and Conversation This Credible Profession of an Adherance to the Baptismal Vow is necessary that it may appear there is a difference between those that are admitted to Church Communion and those that are debarr'd it and for the same reason it would be well if it were Publick It would be very becoming and Advantageous did Persons every where before they first Communicated freely profess their Sincerity and Constancy in their Baptismal Covenant or Vow and openly declare themselves in the face of a Christian Congregation Enemies to the Devil the World and the Flesh And this is the most considerable part of that which hath been wont to be call'd Confirmation A thing much practic'd and insisted on in the Primitive Church tho' of later times much neglected and by some quite laid aside as useless the more 's the pity IT much Rejoyces me therefore and I cann't forbear mentioning it on this Occasion to know and hear of several even of the Dissenting Congregations in the Nation wherein this Practice is still kept up Among whom 't is usual for the Pastors after their private Transactions with those who are to be Admitted to the Lords Table either on some day in the preceeding Week or just before the Administration of the Holy Communion Publickly to demand of them whether they don't stand to their Baptismal Vow and take it on themselves Whether they don't cordially give up themselves to God the Father Son and Spirit according to the tenour of it And whether they don't engage to walk agreeably to all the Laws of the Gospel Or to that purpose Which is really a thing of great weight and moment and I could wish 't were more universally minded This as I was saying is the most considerable part of that which the Antients us'd to call Confirmation And such a Declaration as this made by Persons in the face of a Christian Congregation is really an Act of Confirmation for they do thereby further ratify and establish the Contract which is between God and them and by confessing it to be valid and good and openly owning that the Vow of God is upon them bind themselves still faster to him whose they were before Some may perhaps think this to be more ado then needs by reason the very coming to the Lords Table with antecedent Preparation and siting down there among the Faithful who are bound to God by Covenant is a Tacit or Virtual owning of the Baptismal Vow And at most they may apprehend that the doing this in private before the Pastor of the Church might be sufficient To whom I can without any difficulty grant that what I aim at is indeed virtually imply'd in such a case and that the private performance of it may suffice to render Persons worthy Communicants But yet it follows not but that the Publick Transacting of this matter may be much more Eligible Many Instances may be produc'd where very near as much depends on the manner of doing a thing as on the thing it self and this I take to be one For I pray observe Persons upon their first coming to the Lords Table pass out of the state of Infant into that of Adult Members of the Church The faster therefore they are bound to GOD the more likely will they be to credit Religion of which the generality of the World are apt to pass a Judgement from the Demeanor and Conversations of such Persons Now the more publickly such a Profession is made the more likely it is to influence them since they will have so many as Witnesses against them ready to admonish them upon occasion of their open Engagement which cann't but strike an awe And but that it would be too great a Digression I could make it appear that the Scripture favours such a publick Recognition of the Baptismal Vow and it is agreeable to the Practice of the Church in several Successive Ages True it is in process of time the Romanists in a shameful manner abus'd it but that 's no just Reason for our slighting or rejecting it who may have it pure and free from their Abuses However this I think is plain and clear That a Recognition of the Baptismal Vow is necessary to Persons Regular Admission to the Lords Table I add further 5. THAT the more Solemn this Recognition of the Baptismal Vow is 't is so much the better where I mean not Ceremonicus by Solemn as if this matter would be ever the better the more Ceremonious it was No that is far from my Intention The Papists indeed have made it a Sacrament and turn'd it all into Ceremony for they use Oil in the Administring it and Balsam and sign with the Sign of the Cross c. But of these things we can safely say They were not from the beginning for the time when they first began to be us'd in the Church can be mark'd out But my meaning in the word Solemn is this that the more Seriously and Gravely it is manag'd on the part of the Persons coming to Confirmation and the more Authoritatively on the part of the Minister as Christ's Officer the more likely is it to Answer its End The Establish'd Church of England hath taken care enough in this latter point as to the Authoritativeness of this Transaction but 't is the Desire and Wish of all sober
to come unto his Table when I am invited and call'd And to joyn in that Sacred Solemnity that I may thereby testifie my Union with the Church my Charity for all and my Thankfulness to Christ And will never forget his Unspeakable Love to my poor Soul manifested in his Sacrifice of Everlasting Vertue and will hope according to the Integrity of my Heart that tho' my Failings be many yet he will encrease my Graces and Heavenly Comforts upon my waiting upon him therein AND in the keeping of this my Vow and acting agreeably thereunto I Resolve by the Assistance of that Grace which God hath promis'd to Persevere and hold on to the end of my days Living in the constant expectation of Death Judgment and Eternity and my Lords Return THIS is the Nature and Purport of that Vow or Engagement which Christianity obliges all its Adult Votaries freely to come under And this is the substance of all our Religion I Appeal to all that will take the pains to read and review it Whether this Vow thus drawn up contains any thing unreasonable Whether there is not the highest Reason running thro' it Whether any Branch of it is liable to any just Exceptions Whether those who refuse to come under it or being under it to obey it are not Enemies to themselves as well as to God Whether it contains any thing impossible to a willing Mind And whether it would not be happy for the World and reflect a great Lustre upon Religion if it were faithfully and punctually kept by all that are under it HERE I desire it may be Observ'd 1. THAT it was much more usual for Persons first to come under this Vow in Baptism in an Adult State in the Primitive Church than in after times For when Christianity first made its entrance it found the World in possession of sundry Religions in which those of that Age were bred up and in the practice whereof they persisted till they were better inform'd by Gospel Light which spreading and diffusing it self far and wide insinuating it self into Mens minds and carrying its own convictive evidence along with it which was back'd by the Miraculous Power then resident in the Church brought in Proselites in abundance from Iudaism and Gentilism in all its Forms to Christianity in a full age till which time therefore they were incapable of being Baptiz'd and coming under the Vow foregoing But when Christianity having justled out its Rival Religions came to be fixt and setled Parents generally thought it their Duty to get their Childrens Names inscrib'd in the Christian Roll from their Infancy and to enter them into a Sacred Bond to be the Lords in Baptism and actually did so So that afterwards none remain'd to be Baptiz'd when Adult but either those whose Parents neglected to devote them to the Lord by that Sacred Rite in their Infant state or those who were themselves Proselyted to Christianity after they came to Maturity which after the three or four first Ages of the Church were all along comparatively few 2. THAT the more publickly this Vow is made by those who are Baptiz'd when Adult 't is so much the better In the Primitive Church 't was generally in the face of a Christian Assembly that this Affair was transacted and tho' it cannot be justly pretended that its validity at all depends upon the publickness of it yet is it unquestionable that its ends will be thereby the better answer'd It makes it much more Solemn there will be the more Witnesses who may be afterwards Monitors if there be occasion and the greater Force will it probably have and the greater is the Awe that is likely to be thereby imprest 3. THAT this Vow is by no means to be confin'd to the Adult But even those who are Baptiz'd when Infants areas much concern'd in it For 1. their Infant Dedication to God in Covenant obliges them to stand to and keep this Vow as much as if'twere Personally made in their first Consecration And 2. Their Infant Baptism obliges them actually to make a Vow of this Nature when they come to Age and so are capable of Personal Covenanting for themselves Which matters will receive no small light from the following Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Baptismal Vow as to those Baptiz'd in Infancy An Account of the distinct concern of Parents and Children in it and a distinct Address to each concerning the Duty thence resulting THO' the case of Persons Baptiz'd when Adult be more clear yet is that of those Baptiz'd in Infancy much more common in the days we live in and so it hath been in the Church now for several Ages Tho' the Obligation of the former by the Baptismal Vow be more immediate and therefore more obvious and sensibly discernable yet is that of the latter as fully and sufficiently evident if rightly stated I design not to run out into Disputes and shall therefore take that for granted which so many Eminent Persons of all Professions have so Laboriously and Clearly Prov'd viz. That it is the Duty of all Christian Parents to enter their Children while Infants into the Visible Church and the Christian Covenant by Baptism and so from the first to bring them under the Vow fore going I lay that down here as a Postulatum and take it to be but a reasonable one And supposing it evident shall set my self to show what Apprehensious we are to form of the Engagement which such Baptiz'd Infants come under and of the manner of their coming under it And here I think it undeniable That as 't is in the Parents right that Infants are admitted to Baptism so 't is by their engagement that they are brought under the Vow which that Solemnity carrys in it That we may be clear in this matter therefore it is needful distinctly to consider 1. THE part and work of Parents in Devoting their Children to God and bringing them under the Baptismal Vow 2. THE concern of Children in what upon that occasion is done by their Parents for them and on their hehalf And 3. THE Parents Power to bring them and the Childrens Capacity of being brought under such an Obligation as the Baptismal Vow 1. AS for the part and work of Parents in Devoting their Children to God and bringing them under the Baptismal Vow that is compriz'd under the following Particulars 1. THEY disclaim all Right to their Children that is inconsistent with Gods Absolute Propriety and Resign them as a part of themselves entirely to his Management and Disposal From him they receiv'd them and to him they return them begging his acceptance of them for his own 2. THEY bring them to God for his Blessing and hold them up before him with earnest desires that these little parts of themselves may be not only under his Providential Care but under the entail of his Covenant Love As they embrace that Covenant which the Gospel offers for themselves so is it also their earnest request
's now consider the concern of Children in this Transaction of their Parents on their behalf of which you may take an Account in the following Particulars 1. THEY are hereby bound to lead a life of Holy Devotedness to God the Father Son and Spirit To this they henceforth stand bound not only by that DivineLaw that requires it of them but also by their Parents Engagement and Stipulation which in matters of plain Duty to be sure is binding whatever it may be in things that are indifferent We find Samuel under the Law thought himself oblig'd by his Mothers Vow and therefore gives himself freely to serve the Lord in his Tabernacle according to the dedication she had made of him Yea Iepthath's Daughter complies with her Fathers Vow tho' as most think it was to be offer'd up in Sacrifice My Father saith she if thou hast open'd thy mouth to the Lord do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy Mouth How much more then must those Children who were in Infancy enter'd into the Christian Covenant by their Parents be oblig'd to stand to it when it engages them to nothing but what was of it self antecedently their Duty It 's a part of the Honour Nature hath made due to Parents from their Children that they own themselves bound by their engagements for them and interest in this case falls in with Duty the advantages of a compliance with their Parental Dedication being very great and the mischiefs of a Refusal evident and notorious Withal they are bound to conform to the Rules of that Family in which they were born and to the Master whereof their Parents brought them to pay so early an Homage And to continue in the service of that Lord whose Badge they so soon receiv'd till they can find a better and if they stay till then without all question they 'll never quit him The Obligation Infants by vertue of their Baptism come under to an Holy Devotedness is of a mixt Nature 'T is partly Natural and partly Positive 'T is Natural so far as it is an effect of the Parental power duly exercis'd 'T is Positive so far as there is any force in the Rites then us'd which are of Divine Institution and the case was in this respect the same as to Circumcision of old St. Paul observes That every man that is Circumcis'd is a debtor to do the whole Law Circumcision oblig'd all that receiv'd it to a subjection to the whole Mosaick Law and that altho' t' was administred to all of Jewish Extraction in their Infancy and on their Parents Account and at their desire they were bound by it without staying for their consent So also are all Baptiz'd Persons tho' Infants bound to asubjection to the whole Gospel And the denial hereof by any so Baptiz'd is a spitting in their Parents face nay a pouring contempt on God's Sacred Institutions 2. THEY are bound to own their Baptismal Obligation as soon as capable If they are bound to stand to it there 's certainly all the reason in the World they should own they do so They are bound to own it in Duty to their Parents who by giving them up to God more effectully consulted their Happiness and Welfare than they could have done any other way They are bound also to do it in Gratitude to God for so Inestimable a Priviledge as is so early an admission into his Family and coming under his Covenant It 's necessary they should do it in order to the securing the entail of Covenant Blessings to which their own personal taking upon them that Vow which they first came under in Baptism is necessary For they are no longer to be consider'd as part of their Parents than till they arrive at a Capacity of acting for themselves at which time God expects both that they should own their Baptismal Dedication to have been a signal Mercy declare their readiness to stand to the Vow they were then enter'd under and personally make it for themselves and in their own Names as ever they expect to reap the Blessed Benefits that depend thereon And tho' this Vow was really binding when it was meerly Parental yet is it more firmly binding when it thus becomes Personal And those must look upon the power of Parents over Children to be very small that question whether they may rightfully exert their Authority in bringing their Children under a Bond to do that when they come to Age which is their unquestionable Duty then to do whether there be such a Prior Engagement or not But however we may hence observe another notion of the Baptismal Vow that is proper enough viz. That it is that Vow which we by vertue of Infant Baptism are oblig'd to make explicitly when we come to Age in which case the Form drawn up in the foregoing Chapter is as suitable as 't is with reference to those who are not Baptiz'd till they are Adult 3. THOSE who stand not to their Infant Baptismal Obligation when they grow up are liable to be treated as obstinate contemners of the Divine Favour as Sacrilegious Alienators of what was peculiarly devoted and as perjur'd Violators of Gods Covenant Their case is not the same with that of the rest of the World who remain Undedicated and Unconsecrated to God But as their Advantages would be great if they were Faithful so will their Miseries be great if they are false to the Vow they came under in their Baptism That very Bond that should have kept them close to God will consign them over to the more aggravated Woes when put in suit against them For tho' Parents were the main Agents yet are they mainly concern'd and bound and on them therefore will the Penalty annex'd take place 4. THE Minister that Baptiz'd them their Parents that Devoted them and as many as were Spectators of their Infant Consecration are so many Witnesses for God against them if in their after Life they break Gods bands in sunder and cast away his cords from them They are Witnesses I say for God against them and as such will be ready to appear at the last day Ministers will then be ready to say Lord here are such and such that we Baptiz'd in thy Name and introduc'd into the visible Church in the method which thou Institutedst and thine Apostles practis'd But before we did so we thought we bound them fast unto thee we exacted of their Parents on their behalf a Renunciation of the Flesh the World and the Devil and a free consent to all thy claims and demands that they were engag'd to this we are Witnesses If they have broken therefore the Vow they then came under and persisted so doing we can testify they are perfidious Traytors and Faithless Rebels and deserve the Severest Treatment Pious Parents will also be ready to say Behold O Lord we gave these Children of ours to thee from whom we receiv'd them in thy Service we Listed them and under
offer'd to God so is our Holy Supper a Feast upon the Sacrifice which Christ once offer'd for us And as their Feasts upon their Sacrifices were Faederal Rites and Bands of Faederal Communion between God and them so the Lords Supper which is also a Feast upon a Sacrifice must needs be a Faederal Feast between God and us where by Eating and Drinking at his own Table and partaking of his Meat we are taken into a Sacred Covenant and Inviolable League of Friendship with him As God by those Sacrifices and the Feasts upon them did Ratify his Covenant with those who did partake of them in as much as they did in a manner Eat and Drink with him so doth he confirm his Covenant with us by the Sacred Symbols at his Table of which he allows us to partake And as the People by Feasting on those Sacrifices with God did Ratify and Confirm the Covenant on their part so do we by feasting on this sacrifice ratify confirm the Covenant between God and us Finally as the Jews joyn'd themselves to God by Feasting in his House on his Sacrifices so we joyn our selves to Christ by Feasting in the place of his Worship at his Table upon the Memorials of his Body and Blood And our Obligations to stick to him follow and obey him do as much exceed all other tyes in their Sacredness Strength and Vertue as the Sacrifice of Christ excels that of a Beast or the Eating and Drinking his Body and Blood is beyond all participation of the meat of the antient Altars There being therefore in the Lords Supper so plain a Representation of a Sacrifice which ever had a relation to a Covenant and it being a feasting upon the Memorials of this Sacrifice which feasting was ever a faederal Rite must needs be a faederal Ordinance Add hereto 4. THE Consideration of the Adjuration which naturally seems to be imply'd in this Ordinance Our Lord is at his Table Represented in our view as a Sacrifice for Sin enduring the utmost Torments Miseries and Dolours for our sakes all which have a loud voice to us He seems as it were at his Table to adjure every one by his Agonies and Conflicts by his Blood and Wounds by his Cross and Passion by all that he underwent for their sakes to Love him and be faithful to him to hate and flye from Sin and Renounce the Devil and all his works lest they as much as in them lies undo what he hath been doing Crucify him afresh and renew his Pain Those therefore who after this lay their hands on the Memorials of the Broken Bleeding Body of Christ do as it were call Heaven and Earth to witness That they 'll ever Live to Him who Dy'd fot them and rather Dye than renounce his Service Now the very Heathens reckon'd that a Vow or Oath made when Persons laid their hands on the warm Entrails of a Beast which was upon occasion customary with them was the Solemnest Oath that could be made How much more Solemn then should we esteem Vows made when we lay our hands on the Memorials of the Sacred Body of Christ 5thly and Lastly IT hath been the sense of all Christians down from the first Ages to the present day That the Lords Supper is a Faederal Ordinance which is a consideration of no small weight in a matter of this Nature Among many Evidences that might be given hereof I shall mention but two The Old Primitive Christians did so Sacredly and Solemnly bind themselves by Vows at the Lords Supper to their God and Saviour that the Heathens were ready to suspect them of dangerous Plots and Conspiracies from which charge while Pliny the younger a Learned Heathen doth candidly endeavour to acquit them he at the same time gives us an account of some of the Vows they every time Renew'd at this Ordinance They Assemble themselves says he in a Letter to Trajan the Emperour still extant before day break and sing an Hymn to Christ as if he were God and then bind themselves with a Sacrament or Oath not to do Mischief to any that they will not Rob or Steal or Commit Adultery nor falsify their Words nor deny their Trust and the like and then after they have eaten together says he they depart to their own homes But tho' his account is made up of Negatives we may be well satisfied they added Positive Vows to them My other Evidence is taken from the name of Sacrament which they gave to this Ordinance joyntly with that of Baptism The word Sacrament is no where to be found in Scripture but is plainly of Humane Original and it was us'd very early in the Church to express and signify those two Ordinances of Baptism and the Lords Supper and in process of time 't was also apply'd to other things Now the word Sacrament properly signifies an Oath It was originally the Military Oath which the Soldiers took when they swore Fealty to their Emperours When therefore we find this term of Sacrament apply'd by Christians in the first Ages to the Lords Supper and us'd all along ever since whereby to express it it implies that they have all been sensible that it was a Faederal Ordinance since the word they have made use of for it intimates that we in that Ordinance come under an Oath to Christ much like the oath of Fealty which the Soldiers took to their Emperours And indeed if we would acquit our selves rightly we must every time we come to the Lords Table Vow and Engage That we 'll continue Christs Faithful Servants and Subjects and Soldiers and never do any thing against his Crown and Dignity as long as we live Le ts then a little Reflect and make a pause Le ts think how strange an instance 't is of Condescention in the great Majesty of Heaven That He should vouchsafe to hold any Faederal Communion with such as we are With us Sinners who have so much Provok'd him as to deserve to be utterly abandon'd by him With us Sinners of the Gentiles who were once without God and without Christ and strangers to the Covenant of Promise That God should suffer us to lay hold of his Covenant That he should admit us to feast with him upon the signs and seals of it admit us to such an instance of Familiarity and advance us to such an Honour which is at the same time so much â—…or our Benefit Comfort and Security Oh Bless the Lord and Magnify his Name Exalt him highly and shew forth his Praise Who disdains not to regard us tho' Low and Mean and Vile and Despicable nay who treats us poor Mortals time after time as if we were a sort of Angels admitting us to Feast and to Rejoyce with him in our Commemoration of his Love and Renovation of his Covenant Le ts think withal and that Seriously of his great kindness to us in multiplying Tyes and Bonds upon us that so he may the more effectually engage
acceptably enough at other Instants during the Administration of this Ordinance But the Reception of the Elements seems to be the most advantagious season At every Sacrament therefore when thou takest the Bread and Wine as sensible Representations of Christ and his Benefits as visible Pledges of the Love of God through Christ to thy Soul do thou give up thy self afresh to God thro' Christ to live continually in his Love and Fear and in strict Obedience to his Laws till thou shalt be taken to Glory When the Minister as Christs Messenger puts the Consecrated Elements into thy hands then do thou after a thankful Adoration of the Divine Clemency and Bounty expressing it self by such inexpressible Gifts as are thereby represented then I say do thou from the bottom of thy Heart cry out I willingly accept of thine offer'd Covenant O Lord my Soul doth gladly take thee for my God and Father for my Saviour and my Sanctifier And here I give up my self to thee as thy Own thy Subject and thy Child to be sanctified and saved by thee to be beloved by thee and to be happy in loving thee to all Eternity O seal up this Covenant by thy Spirit which thou sealest to me in thy Sacrament that without Reserve I may be entirely and for ever thine Direct VI. EVERY time thou at the Sacrament Renewest thy Vows to be the Lords take care particularly to vow the Death of that Corruption that sticks closest to thee whereby God is most dishonoured and thy Comfort and Welfare most endangered Give it up freely to be sacrificed for him who gave himself a Sacrifice for thee Thy Darling Corruption is thy nearest thy closest and one of thy most dangerous Enemies Vow therefore to maintain a constant Combat against it that tho' thou canst have little hope of quite eradicating it yet Divine Grace assisting thee thou wilt not yield and give way to it thou wilt not be over-power'd by it Take care expresly to vow an opposition to that which by its prevalence would make all thy Vows ineffectual Direct VII THOU shouldst at every Sacrament not only vow to be the Lords in general but to be his in all Conditions Give up thy self time after time to be disposed of by him in all respects as he shall see good Take this particularly into thy Vows at the Lords Table That thou wilt Acquiesce in all the Disposals of Providence and be contented in every state whereinto God sees it fit to bring thee Disclaim being the Carver of thy own Lot By thy Renew'd Vows willingly resign all that belongs to thee to Divine Management and Conduct and resolve that thou wilt cleave to God whatever it cost thee that tho' he slay thee yet thou wilt trust in him that thou wilt follow him when he frowns as well as when he smiles that thou wilt bear his Rebukes as the Chastisements of a Father design'd for thy good that thou wilt look on every thing as best whatever he allots thee in a word that thou wilt intirely resolve thy will into his The doing this at every Sacrament seriously would prevent us a great deal of Trouble it would be a Spring of Peace and Comfort to us what ever were our Condition whatever should befall us Direct VIII TAKE care that the deepest Thankfulness be a constant Concomitant of all thy Renewed Vows No greater occasion for Thankfulness than this That we have any ground at all for hope of being accepted upon our Devoting our selves to God thro' Christ Tho past Vows have been broken we may be again accepted upon Renewing them That we have Hearts and Inclinations to Renew them that we have any ground to hope for strength from Heaven to enable us to keep them when we have Renew'd them that we have so advantagious a Season for Renewing them as the Sacrament brings with it all minister cause of Thankfulness Let 's therefore with an holy Exultation of Soul with that Chearfulness and Joy that are the Natural Indications of a Thankful Heart give up our selves to God from time to time that it may appear we don't look upon it as a piece of Slavery or Drudgery but as our greatest Happiness THESE few Directions well follow'd would make Sacraments otherguess things than they ordinarily are and would help us to a much more sensible encrease of Grace and strength by them than we are wont to receive CHAP. IX Of the Nature Sacredness and Strength of the Obligation that lies on all those to lead an HOLY LIFE who often repeat Sacramental Vows NOTHING's more obvious to be observ'd Than that Persons may in many cases be several ways oblig'd to the same thing Those who are under no Sacramental Vows at all do yet stand bound to the same thing to which they oblige those that are under them viz. To Love and Serve the Lord all their days with all their Heart and with all their Might to Live continually in his Fear and Walk in all Holy Obedience to his Laws All Rational Creatures as such are plainly oblig'd hereto without any such Vows Antecedent as those before explain'd or with part of them only Suppose Persons therefore to remain Unbaptiz'd which yet methinks none that are come to the use of their Reason who have any value for their Souls should be content to remain and so not to have come under the Christian Vow at all with any of the prescrib'd Solemnities or suppose them to have taken the Christian Vow initially upon them in Infant Baptism without a Solemn Recognition of it when at Age and without ever coming to the Lords Table to Renew and Repeat it which is the much to be lamented case of many who pass for Christians in the days we live in notwithstanding the defects in either case the Persons concern'd are yet highly oblig'd to be the Lords and to live to him Withal Vows made on a Sick Bed or in any hour of Distress and Danger give a Superadded enforcement to the same Obligation But there is a peculiar Sacredness and Strength and binding force in those Vows that are manag'd in the Order before describ'd and which particularly are frequently repeated at the Lords Table For 1. THE Obligation Persons are hereby laid under hath all the marks of Freedom and Voluntariness which is to be understood of their Confirming and Renewed and not of their Initial Vows Persons hereby freely oblige themseves to that whereto God had before oblig'd them They own the validity of the Obligation they were under to God antecedently to any consent or act of theirs by owning the Justice Equity and Reasonableness of his Claims and consenting to yield to them And so that which both was and is the matter of their Duty appears to be the matter of their Choice for of their own accord they bind themselves to a Faithful Performance Now this is a great Additional Obligation because it is a Self Obligation I am bound to be the Lords before
Vows upon Vows without any serious sense of their force and without any real hearty endeavours to answer and pay them MANY there are alas too too many who were Solemnly Dedicated to God by Baptism in their Infancy who own'd the Obligation of their Baptismal Vow when they came to Age and afterwards went to renew it at the Lords Table where they have again and again repeated it engaging to Live Soberly Righteously and Godlily in imitation of their Redeemers Example under his strict Discipline agreeable to his Laws and under the conduct of his Spirit and so are bound by many and strong Sacred Tyes and yet all this while they have no serious suitable sense of their Force They heap Vows upon Vows to be the Lords without ever heartily and in earnest endeavouring to answer and pay them nay the stated course and tenour of their Lives is oppoposite and contrary to them So far are they from the Psalmists temper and practice who seriously and solemnly looking up to God Heartily owns that his Vows are upon him that they wilfully break all Bonds and snap the strongest ties asunder that they may have scope for their Lusts and without controul live as they list The Unhappiness of such Persons case deserves to be consider'd THE Apostle speaks of some that are Hearers of the Word and not Doers whom he likens to Men beholding their natural face in a glass who behold themselves and go their way and straitway forget what manner of men they were They 'll give the word of God whereby both their Tempers and Lives ought to be Regulated the Hearing but never mind it afterwards I doubt such Hearers are very numerous amongst us at this day otherwise we should certainly see otherguess effects of so many Serious Awakening and Useful Sermons as are time after time deliver'd in the Publick Assemblies And I as little doubt that there are many who go Sacrament after Sacrament reaking in their Lusts to renew their Engagements to be the Lords over the Sacred Emblems of his Body and Blood and then and there make fair Promises of denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts of living as becomes the Gospel and leading mortify'd holy heavenly Lives who go their way and are no sooner come into the World again but they presently forget what they have seen and what they have done and what sort of Bonds they are under what manner of Persons they ought to be and what they have engag'd they would be I would willingly give such Persons who upon serious Reflection and searching their own Consciences find themselves herein too justly chargeable matter for their sober thoughts to work upon that so if it be possible they may be awaken'd out of their secure and dangerous Estate I know very well that there are some in the World who while their thoughts and Opinions of others run very low have so high Conceit of themselves and those of their own way as to take all for real Saints that are in Communion with them And therefore they continually speak of them and to them and in all respects deal with them as if they were wholly such and free from all mixtures on which account they cann't bear being dealt with on the Supposition which I now take for my Foundation All that I shall say is I wish their Actions would shew them to be such as they take it for granted that they are But when all 's done let Persons pretend to what Purity they will above their Neighbours and let there be never such care taken while the Church is on Earth there will be Tares among the Wheat the Gold will have a mixture of Dross there will be some of the Devil's Servants wearing Christ's Livery there will be some that make so splendid a Profession that none can justly debar them from Eating and Drinking in our Lord's Presence and at his Table whom yet He at the last Day will publickly disown and cause to depart from him as Workers of Iniquity and wilful Violaters of the Vows they came under to him as appears from Luke XIII 26 27. But tho' such Persons may and often do creep into the purest Communions without any ground at all for a Charge of Negligence on the part of those to whose Inspection God hath subjected these matters by reason 't is not in their power to know Mens Hearts and tho' they may continue Church-Members and in reputation too for Piety through their deceitful Wiles and Artifices while they keep their Viees out of the reach of Publick Observation yet so long as they live in wilful and allow'd Breaches of their Christian their Sacramental Vows and persist in violating the sacred Engagements they time after time Renew at the Lords Table their Case is inconceivably dreadful Which must needs appear if the Aggravated Guilt which they contract and the Proportionable Danger they incur be but duly Considered Both which I 'll a little open and unfold 1. LET us consider the Aggravated Guilt which those Persons contract who are under many Vows to God but mind them not who professedly give up themselves to their Saviour Month after Month at his Table and engage to live like his Disciples and Followers but falsifie their Professions and break their Engagements by the Carelesness Irregularities Wickedness and allow'd Disorders of their Lives The following Particulars will give a sufficient view of such Persons Guilt 1. THEY stand chargeable with the utmost height of Profaneness 'T is an abominable thing to see to how high a contempt of all that 's Sacred some that are the profest Enemies of Religion arrive but in reality 't is not comparable to that of those who pretend to be its Votaries and great Admirers who yet live oppositely to the Rules and Laws of it All Profaneness is very provoking to the blessed God by reason of the unworthy and dishonourable Reflections it casts upon him but none so much as that which is cover'd with glozing Hypocrisie Which being the case here carries the Profaneness of the Person concern'd to the highest pitch For 1. Heaven and Earth God Angels and Men are often call'd to witness to that Transaction which is of it self of the greatest importance but is by such Persons hartlesly manag'd and little minded They pretend frequently to come in the Fervours of Devotion to Commemorate their Dying Lord to recollect their Obligations to him and feast on the Tokens of his never-to-be-forgotten Love to own themselves Redeem'd by him from Misery and Ruine and to give up themselves to him as his purchas'd ones They pretend through him to strike Covenant with their offended God and Father that is in Heaven having the Memorials of that Sacrifice that alone hath Vertue to procure them Acceptance in their View in their Hands and in their Mouths They pretend to lay their Hands upon their Hearts and their Faces in the Dust humbling themselves for past Offences Renouncing for the future all even their most