the highest Thankfulness and Love For how can a Rebel be fit for Pardon if he is not thankful when 't is offered him 'T is therefore necessary that we should so long so seriously remember the exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour thus dying for us even before we come to the Solemn Sacramental Commemoration of it till our Hearts burn within us as did the two Disciples that we may thereby be in some measure fitted to meet our Saviour and that he may make himself known unto us as he did unto them in breaking of Bread St. Luke 24. 32. But we must take care that this Remembrance have a future lasting influence on our Lives Ill Men may remember Christ's Death but it 's certain that whatever they may pretend they do it presumptuously not thankfully because it is not productive of a Holy Life It makes them nothing better but rather encourages them to go on in their Sins whereas true thankfulness will naturally produce unfeigned Obedience And to make us both obedient and thankful one would think there should need no more than to consider deeply from what Evils Christ has saved us by his Death no less than the Power of Sin the Wrath of God and everlasting Misery And what Benefits he has obtained for us by it the Pardon of Sin the Favour of God Grace to serve him and eternal Happiness some of which are actually conveyed as all of them are assur'd and seal'd in this blessed Sacrament to every penitent faithful grateful Receiver § XV. The last thing necessary to a worthy Communicant is Charity To be in Charity with all Men. When we bring our Gift to the Altar we must be first reconciled to our Brother We must offer it and sincerely desire and endeavour it and if he refuses to be reconciled the Fault is on his side nor ought another's Crime to keep us from our Duty and Happiness This Charity must also show it self in an universal Love to Mankind wishing praying for endeavouring and as much as in us lies promoting their temporal and spiritual Welfare But especially this Holy Love is to be acted and exercised towards all Christians and particularly towards those with whom we communicate not forgetting the Poor whom we are to relieve as well at the Offering which ought not to be neglected at the Sacrament as any other way that lies in our Power The exercise of this Divine Grace is more eminently necessary when we approach to this blessed Feast because 't was one great End of its Institution it being designed to increase Christian Unity and Holy Love among the Faithful who herein communicate both in temporal and spiritual good things who Feast and make a Covenant with each other as well as with the great Inviter and being many are hereby made one Body and one Bread 1 Cor. 10. 17. We are therefore carefully to examine our selves before we come thither whether we heartily forgive our Enemies and are ready to render Good for Evil Whether we feel this Divine Flame in our Hearts and dearly love all those that bear the Image of the heavenly And in order to produce in us both parts of this Grace one would think we should need do no more than consider seriously how many Talents our Lord has forgiven us how much he has done and suffered for us even while we were his Enemies and that we are all Members of one Body whereof Christ is the Head § XVII And thus have we finished what relates to our Preparation for the Sacrament and those several Graces concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach unto it Repentance attended by good Resolves Faith Thankfulness and Charity Not that we should forbear to come thither if we do not find all these in the utmost perfection but where we find any of them weak and languid we must strengthen the things that remain and be humbled for our Imperfections and endeavour earnestly after higher degrees of Grace and consider the means appointed to encrease them especially the Holy Sacrament wherein they are to be all exercised and renewed as will appear in the next Chapter And in the mean time most humbly and devoutly to fall upon our Knees and in the following or any better Forms * See the excellent Devotions added to the Whole Duty of Man or those in the Christian Sacrifice of Prayer thus address our selves to the Giver of all good things for a Supply of our Necessities A Confession when we are Preparing for the Communion ALmighty and most merciful Father who mayst for my Sins be most justly displeased with me for ever cast me off from thy presence and condemn me to Everlasting Misery I am ashamed O Lord and blush to lift up my Face unto thee for all my misdeeds are before thee and my most secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance I was shapen in Iniquity and conceived in Sin by Nature dead in trespasses and sins averse to Good and violently inclined to Evil ignorant of God and an Enemy to him in a lost and undone Condition and utterly unable to help and to deliver my self And I have added to this Original Sin many hainous actual Trangressions Here let the Penitent repeat those Sins whereof on the former Examination he has found himself guilty The Remembrance of all which I desire may be most grievous as their burden is most intolerable unto me for I have done all these abominations with many aggravating Circumstances which have highly encreased the Guilt of them without regard to thy tender Mercies or to thy terrible Judgments or to my own repeated Vows and Resolves of Repentance and Obedience O make me to abhor them and my self for them and to repent in Dust and Ashes I know that my sorrow for them is no satisfaction to thy offended Justice yet since thou dost require it of me to render me capable of thy Mercy work in me I beseech thee by thy Holy Spirit such a true and unfeigned Remorse for them that I may entirely forsake them and come Pure and Holy to thy Heavenly Feast O God be merciful to me a Sinner who cry unto thee in an acceptable Time and in the Day of Salvation O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon me a miserable Sinner O God the Father of Heaven who didst send thine Only Son out of thy Bosom to tast Death for every Man that we might not die eternally accept his Attonement accept his Intercession and be reconciled unto me thro' his Blood In my Father's House is Bread enough and to spare O let me not perish with Hunger O Son of David have mercy on me and if thou canst do any thing since thou canst do all things help me By thine Agony and bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy precious Death and Burial Good Lord deliver me I desire not to be saved from the Guilt of my Sins only or
this Sacrament the solemn Seal of God's Covenant with us and of the Nature of that Covenant which he has made with us by his Son is presupposed in every Communicant Tho' where any are ignorant of these first Principles they may find some account of them in the first Chapter of this Manual Nor ought any to presume to receive without they have such knowledge however an equal clearness in these Matters cannot be expected nor is it required from all sorts of People but a Man shall be accepted according to what he hath if he has made the best of his Opportunities of Knowledge And after all a Person that is truely humbled for some degrees of ignorance in these and other spiritual Matters is in a much safer Condition than those whom Knowledge puffs up without either Humility or Charity § IV. A competent Knowledge being presupposed of the Nature of these Holy Mysteries there will not need much proof that some actual Preparation is highly requisite before we receive them 'T is true the Preparation of Man's Heart in this as well as all other Cases is from the Lord But none are so weak as not to know their own Endeavours are also necessary we must judge our selves if we would not be judged of the Lord. We must purify our selves before we eat the Passover for he that presumes to eat it in his uncleanness that is without repenting of his Sins that Soul shall be cut off from among his People We ought to be cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary and if we have done our Endeavours the good Lord will pardon what is unavoidably wanting Iosiah commanded the Levites to prepare and sanctify themselves and to prepare their Brethren against that famous Passover which was kept in his time And if Preparation was so necessary for the Jewish Passover we cannot think it altogether needless when we are to partake of this Christian Feast which we ought to keep neither with the Old Leaven of Judaism or Heathenism or an open notorious wicked Life neither with the as dangerous Leaven of malice and hypocrisie but with the unleavened Bread of sincerity and truth Without such preparation we may eat and drink unworthily kindle God's Wrath against us and provoke him to plague us with divers Diseases and sundry kinds of Death § V. But a great part of this Preparation as has been said consists in Examination For how can we know how Accounts are between Heaven and us unless we look into them What our Debts are What Mercies we receive What we still want and which the best way to obtain them What Sins we are to confess and to fight against Where we are to plant our Batteries Where to expect an Assault What the best methods of Defence What Auxiliaries we want and where to obtain them This the Apostle strictly commands every Man to do to examine or prove himself and so to come to the Holy Table not to come without Examination or to stay away on pretence of not being examined Something indeed of this Nature is the Practice of every good Christian every Day of his Life as it has been even of moral Heathens to examine his Conscience before he sleeps what Sins he has that day committed and by what Steps he fell into them and penitently and earnestly to implore Forgiveness for what 's past and Grace for the future to do better And 't is not easie to imagine how any Man should be a very good Christian without it whereas whoever does constantly and carefully practise it for which he may find excellent Rules and Directions among the Devotions annexed to the Whole Duty of Man and for want of that there are some Questions added at the End of this Treatise must needs make a more than ordinary Progress in Christianity and will more especially find a wonderful advantage therein as to the easiness of his actual Examination and Preparation for the Communion § VI. Which actual Preparation and Examination immediately before we receceive are highly requisite because they may make up for defects in the habitual as being more exact and more solemn than our daily Inquisition into the State of our Minds And this may be done with very great Advantage by setting apart some one day in the Week before the Communion where a Person is at his own disposal and his necessary Affairs will permit him entirely for this great Concern in order to search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. This would be near the End of the Week because otherwise the Impression made by it may be apt to wear away again before the Sacrament or at least not to be so deep and lively as at less distance Nor might it be so convenient to put it off to the very last Day of the Week lest something or other should intervene and hinder it But for those who have not really leisure for such a solemn Preparation or in the case of an accidental Communion which could not be foreseen if they are before habitually prepared we have already seen the Opinion of our best Divines that they ought not to reject such an Opportunity for want of a more solemn actual Preparation However he who has but a little time ought to do his diligence to give of that Little A Servant or labouring Man may at least redeem an Hour or two either in Mornings or Evenings for this great Work which they can do for their worldly Interest on any extraordinary Occasion Few have so much Business but they can find time for their Diversions many for their Sins and are our Souls only not worth a few Hours which he who bought them so dearly assures us are more worth than all the World Besides most of the following Directions may be observed while a Person is employed in many sorts of Work especially in the Fields and concerns of Husbandry And for many Tradesmen they have yet greater leisure which one would think should be much better filled up this way than in a shameful Idleness or in what is yet worse the reading ill Books and profane and immoral Plays which scarce ever fail of rendring the mind not only weak and trivial but even averse to Piety and unfit for all the Offices of a Holy Life For those who are really straitned as to time there will be particular Directions for Examination and for their Ease the following Rules are abbreviated But this is not the case of so many Persons as plead that Excuse since we shall frequently hear Men complain that their Time lies upon their Hands and they know not how to employ it And for such as these and all those who can command so much time as to go through them the larger Directions which now follow are chiefly intended § VII When the Day approaches whereon we expect one happy Opportunity more to meet our Saviour at his own Table whose Invitation by his Ministers we are to receive with the
awful presence of that God to whom he had made them Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before my Face that I might not sin against him And Psal. 119. 106. I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Iudgments § XIV The third thing concerning which we are to examine our selves before we approach this Holy Table is Whether we have a lively Faith in God's Mercy thro' Christ. Not a dead cold and unactive but a lively Faith for Faith without Works is dead and such is the ungrounded fatal Presumption of every impenitent Sinner for what is more common than for bad Men who live in direct contradiction to our Saviour's Laws in repeated Acts of Intemperance Injustice Uncleanness immoderate Love to this World and in the neglect of their Duty of Praying of God's Word and Sacrament What is more common than to hear such mistaken Wretches as these cry out that God is merciful that Christ has died and they hope to be saved tho' they bring forth no Fruits meet for Faith or Repentance They believe the Promise of the Gospel tho' they never take care to perform the Conditions of it But they forget or are willingly ignorant that it contains threatnings too and that very terrible ones against the Impenitent and Disobedient and that Christ himself has told such that he 'll say to them at the last day Depart from me I never knew you because Workers of Iniquity But the true lively Faith here required is Such a Belief of God's Word and such a Trust in his Mercy thro' his Promises by our Saviour as produces a constant and ingenuous Obedience Now if we find this Faith weak and languishing we must pray as the Disciples did Lord encrease our Faith And to that End we must consider the Promises of God unto us for the sake of his dear Son our Lord in whom all the Promises are Yea and Amen ratified and certain In whom alone the Father is well pleased by the Merits of whose Obedience and Sufferings his Satisfaction his Intercession and Mediation he is reconciled to lost Mankind and offers Pardon to all that are penitent and obedient And this is all our Salvation and all our Desire the Hope of Holy Souls the Ground of their Consolation and their Triumph which are fixed so firmly upon that Rock of Ages that they can never be moved who has told us That if we believe in God we must believe also in him as the means of conveying all the Father's blessings nay as being himself as he is God the Author and Finisher of our Faith Whence it follows that he himself the second Person of the glorious Trinity may and ought to be the object of our Trust our Faith and our Adoration both in this Life and in the hour of Death as he was of blessed St. Steven's who cried out in his last Agonies Lord Jesus receive my Spirit * Act. 7. 59. And thus in our preparation for the Holy Sacrament without the reception whereof I see not how any can live comfortably or die happily we must actually advert unto deeply and seriously consider those Promises which God has made us by his Son of Grace and Pardon on our Repentance and Obedience That those who come to the Father by him he will in no wise cast out St. Iohn 6. 37. That they shall not see Death but are passed from Death unto Life St. Iohn 8. 51. 5. 24. That there is no condemnation for them which are in Christ Iesus and who those are we are immediately told who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Rom. 8. 1. That all who are weary and heavy laden with the Burthen of their Sins if they come unto him he will refresh them St. Matt. 11. 28. and several others of the same nature the substance of the Gospel being promises of eternal Life to those who yield a sincere and impartial tho' not absolutely sinless and perfect obedience to the Commands of it all the threatnings thereof being only the unavoidable Consequences of wilfully rejecting it Now the very Nature of the Sacrament shows the necessity of Faith towards worthy Receiving for how can we renew our Covenant with God unless we believe he 's really willing to be reconciled to us and have a firm Faith in his Truth his Power and his Goodness And how could we have any well grounded hopes of Pardon but from the Revelation of the Gospel and by the merits of a Redeemer And to the exercise of this Grace the Church also directs us when we approach this Holy Table requiring us to have a lively and stedfast Faith in Christ our Saviour and so in the Exhortation the Sunday before the Communion that 't is requisite that those who come thither should have a full Trust in God's Mercy Not that all are required to have the same degrees of Faith for there are doubtless different measures of it as in the Resurrection one Star shall differ from another in Glory 1 Cor. 15. 43. But our Faith ought certainly to be so strong as to overcome our Infidelity to over come the World It is to be sincere and then it will not want acceptance tho' it be but as a Grain of Mustard-Seed for our gracious Lord has promised that he will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax St. Matt. 12. 20. Tho' we are always to press forward that this as well as all other Graces may still be encreased towards which nothing can more highly conduce than the frequent and devout reception of this Sacrament § XV. The 4th thing concerning which we are to examine our selves in our preparation is whether we have a thankful Remembrance of Christ's Death whereunto the Church directs us in such pathetical Expressions as were scarce ever excelled and I question whether equalled in any other Liturgy tho' not only the antient Churches but our Protestant Brethren particularly the French and the Tigurine have excellent Forms on this occasion I mean that passage wherein we are exhorted * Exhortation at the time of the celebration above all things to give most humble and hearty Thanks to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for the Redemption of the World by the Death and Passion of our Saviour Christ both GOD and Man who did humble himself even to the Death upon the Cross for us miserable Sinners who lay in darkness and the shadow of Death that he might make us the Children of God and exalt us to everlasting Life This we are to do above all things because this true and unfeigned Gratitude is the principal Ornament of the Wedding-Garment This seems to have been the chief and immediate End of the Institution Do this in Remembrance of me and hereby ye shew forth the Lord's Death till he come And how is it possible for any ingenuous mind to remember to reflect upon our Saviour's sufferings without the most tender Resentments
from those heavy Punishments that are due unto them but from their Power and prevailing Influence on my Mind from all my Sins even those which have been most dear unto me and am willing to cut off my Right Hand or pluck out my Right Eye so I may but enter into the Kingdom of Heaven My Saviour came to take away the Sins of the World He has born all our Griefs he has carried our Sorrows he was wounded for our Transgressions he was grieved for our Iniquities he has excepted none out of that General Pardon which he has purchased for Mankind and offered to all those who are qualified for receiving it I present the Merits of his inestimable Sacrifice before thee O offended Majesty of Heaven I have no Merits of my own I have nothing I am nothing but vile Dust and Sin But he is worthy for whose sake I beg Mercy of thee which I most humbly implore and expect only in that way which thou hast appointed and on those Conditions which thy Son has revealed in his Holy Gospel by an unfeigned Repentance a firm Faith a sincere and an impartial Obedience O therefore take away all mine Iniquities and receive me graciously who like the Prodigal desire to return to my Father's House And since 't is thou alone who dost both put into our Minds good Desires and canst also give us Grace to perform the same assist me now and ever in those Holy Resolves which I make of new and better Obedience Vouchsafe me thy Grace to avoid all those Occasions and Temptations whereby I have been too often drawn to Evil. Let thy Blessed Spirit evermore comfort and guide me and lead me into all Truth and all Goodness Let me henceforth Evidence my unfeigned Love to my Saviour by keeping his Commandments and let that and all other Graces be excited and encreased in me at this Time in my approaches to his Holy Table Pardon the frivolous and sinful Excuses which I have too often made for my Absence from it my want of Preparation for it the Deadness and Indevotion of my Soul in receiving it and my shameful Unprofitableness by it O that I may now sit under my Saviour's shadow with great Delight and that his Fruit may be sweet unto my Taste That I may in this Sacrament receive greater Strength than ever against my Sins and be thereby nourished up unto Everlasting Life that so after this painful Life is ended I may sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of Jesus Christ who ever lives to make Intercession for us in whose most perfect Form of Word I conclude my unworthy and imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Collect for Perseverance O GOD of all Power and all Love who art the same yesterday to day and for ever and hast assured us in thy Holy Word that thou wilt not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax. Accept I beseech thee for the sake of thy Dear Son any weak beginnings of Goodness which thou mayst have wrought in me by thy Holy Spirit Despise not the Day of small things Help me to continue to the End that I may be saved And now that I have put my Hand to the Plough grant I may never look back lest I be accounted unworthy of the Kingdom of Heaven My Strength O Lord I ascribe unto thee for my own Heart has often deceived me and I know that all my Strength is weakness and my Wisdom folly Assist me therefore by the mighty Aids of thy Holy Spirit and while I am to wrestle not only against Flesh and Blood but against Principalites and Powers let the strong Man be bound by a stronger than he and the God of Love bruise Satan under my Feet Let me be content to suffer shame for thy sake and never be drawn away by the Number or Greatness of bad Examples Lead me not into Temptation and let me never be so hardy and presumptuous as to rush into it Keep me always sober and vigilant temperate and humble ever upon my Guard watching and praying that the Enemy may obtain no advantage against me Accept and confirm all my Vows and Resolutions of Obedience Let me have a constant Respect unto the blessed Recompence of Reward and by patient continuance in well doing seek for and at length obtain Glory Immortality and Eternal Life thro' thy Mercies in Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen! Amen For Faith O LORD who hast said that he who has but Faith as a Grain of Mustard-seed may remove Mountains and that without Faith it is impossible to please thee Increase my Faith and let me thereby overcome the World and the Flesh and quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil Let me firmly believe all thy Promises to the Penitent and Obedient and all thy Threatnings against impenitent Sinners Let me not rest in a dead Faith a presumptuous Opinion that I shall be pardoned or saved without performing all those good Works which thou hast prepared for me to walk in Give me that Faith which worketh by Love and by an impartial Obedience to thy Commands Let me firmly believe in the Lord Jesus that I may be saved and not trust in my own Righteousness but in his Merits who is the Way the Truth and the Life Let me always hope in him for Pardon of what 's past and Grace to serve thee better for the future Let me have a lively and stedfast Faith in him when I approach to his Table that I may draw near and take the Holy Sacrament to my Comsort and that it may powerfully help me forward in the right way which leads unto Everlasting Life To the unfading Glories of that happy State where Faith shall be changed into sight where with Holy Souls who are departed this Life in the true Faith and Fear of thy Holy Name I may enjoy the End of my Faith the Salvation of my Soul and see and love thee to all Eternity thro' Jesus Amen A Thanksgiving before the Sacrament WHAT shall I render to thee O God of all Grace for the Riches of thy Goodness towards me a miserable Sinner How utterly unworthy am I even of the common Blessings of Life And yet art thou pleased out of thy infinite Mercies once more to permit me to invite me to tread thy Courts to sit at thy Table and to Feast on Angels Food O that my Heart could be fully possest with Thoughts of Gratitude and Love O let my Mouth be filled with Thanks and my Lips with Praise for those inestimable Benefits God will in very deed dwell with Man tho' the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him My Saviour will fulfil his gracious Promise and be present with his Church in his own Institutions till the End of the World I have now one happy Opportunity more offered me to renew that Covenant which I have so often broken to obtain greater Strength against my Sins and to sacrifice
Church accordingly tells us That to the End we should always remember the exceeding great Love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus Christ in dying for us he has instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries as Pledges of it And the actual and lively Consideration hereof of Christ's wonderful Love towards us miserable Sinners so ungrateful so unworthy so often guilty of broken Faith and broken Vows who have loved the World and our own Lusts more than him who have grieved him who have wounded him who have crucified him by our Sins and who continue to do so for there is no Man that lives and sins not and all this to him who still loves us and still offers us Peace and Pardon and Grace and Heaven and even his own blessed Body and Blood in this heavenly Feast Shall not all this prevail with us to give him our worthless Love again for the rest of our Lives To give it him without exception and without reserve It must it will it cannot fail of having this happy effect if we carefully regard every part of this sacred Action and intently consider our Saviour's Death as represented therein especially while the Minister is consecrating the Elements the whole Prayer of Consecration being made up of a lively and thankful Recognition of our Saviour's sufferings and of his instituting the Sacrament in memory of them We are therefore in order to the exercising and encreasing of our Love to Christ diligently at that time to regard the Minister with our Eye and Christ with our Hearts When we see the Bread broken and the Wine poured out then to consider with all the Agonies of our Souls and with Hearts pierced and melted with the Love of Jesus what Agonies he himself endured for us both in his Body and Mind Then to look on him whom we have pierced and mourn for him and delight in him and hate those Sins which were the cause of this and which can only divide us from his Love and especially when we actually receive Then are our Souls to be intimately united to his Divine Person Then are we to embrace him as the chiefest of Ten Thousands and fairer than all the Children of Men to adore his infinite Perfections to be lost in the contemplation and admiration of them and to be wholly ravished with his Love § XIII Which will mightily assist us in the exercise of the other branch of Charity Love to our Neighbour for this cannot but be easie to us when our Minds are raised to this happy Temper The Love of Christ will subdue the Enmity of our Natures towards each other that Pride which is the cause of almost all Quarrels that bitterness of Spirit and Rancor and Malice and Revenge and Anger Those obscene Birds will all fly away before the Beams of the blessed Sun of Righteousness as did the Devils of old from their Oracles All our Hatred will be against our Sins all our Indignation our Resentments our Revenge for neither were those in vain implanted in our Minds will be turned quite another way O how happy would the World be did but the Body of Christians frequently and worthily receive the Communion I am confident nothing could sooner heal the wide Wounds of Christendom as I believe the neglect of it has been the great Original of them as well as of all our own Factions and Divisions All good Men must love one another if they often met at this Holy Table They could not they dared not there retain or nourish any pique against each other They would Love much both Christ and his Members because they so often considered that much was forgiven them And tho' this may seem a Digression yet the Truth and Consequences thereof appear so plain and so considerable that I knew not how to omit it But to return Charity is here to be actually exercised towards all Christ's Members especially towards those with whom we communicate We are to knit our Hearts most closely and intimately to them with the Bands of Holy Love Poor and Rich without exception only loving those most that love God most We are to pray for them all and not only in the Offertory but on other occasions to do them all the Good we can by faithful Counsel by tender and prudent Reproof and by all lawful and possible means promoting the welfare of their Souls and Bodies And lastly by devout Prayer to God for them as we are directed That all who are partakers of this Holy Communion may be filled with his Grace and heavenly Benediction But tho' our Charity is to begin there we are not to confine the Exercise thereof to those only who then actually communicate with us for we are also directed by the excellent Spirit of our Church shewing it self in those Holy Confessors and Martyrs who composed her Liturgy humbly to beseech God to grant by the Merits and Death of his Son Jesus Christ and thro' Faith in his Blood that not only we but also his whole Church may obtain Remission of our Sins and all other Benefits of his Passion Which may he grant who has so dearly purchased it for us to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be all Glory Honour and Dominion now and to Eternal Ages Amen! If there be any time between the Consecration and actual Receiving the Communicant may make use of these following Devotions An Act of Penitence O Infinite offended Goodness who art a consuming Fire to the obstinate Sinner but infinite to pardon those who confess and forsake their Sins I desire earnestly to repent of all my Misdeeds I will acknowledge my Transgressions before thee and mine Iniquities will I not hide I have sinned I have sinned O Father against Heaven and before thee Against thy Mercies and thy Judgments the Thunder of thy Law and the still small Voice of thy Gospel Against the clearest Manifestations of thy wonderful Love in sending thy Son to shed his Blood as an attonement for the Sins of the whole World which precious Blood of his I have too often trampled under Foot and crucified the Son of God afresh by my repeated Iniquities Not all his bitter Agonies have been so far able to pierce my hard Heart as to make me entirely forsake my Sins which were the Cause of them Tho' he sweat Drops of Blood in the Garden tho' his Soul was exceedingly sorrowful even unto Death tho' he endured the Contradiction of Sinners tho' he was mocked and buffeted and spit on and crowned with Thorns and scourged and fainted under his Cross and was nailed unto it and raised in the Air a spectacle to Men and Angels tho' he there groaned under the weight of our Guilt and of our Sins imputed unto him tho' he thirsted tho' he fainted tho' he cried out as if thou thy self couldst have forsaken him tho' he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost O! shall all this nothing move me shall my Heart be as hard as the nether Milstone
Mercy we having need of it because all born Sinners and that it was free for all Persons to receive it Iust. Mart. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therefore he must include Infants as well as others And to the same purpose Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France who was partly cotemporary with Iustin Martyr both of them flourishing near the middle of the Second Century for he mentions Infants Children young and old as born again unto God by Christ Now 't is notorious that by being born again or Regeneration the Fathers understand Baptism which is called in the Scriptures also as has been already observed The Laver of Regeneration Nor is it any valid Objection that several in the Primitive Church did delay their Baptism and some of them to the Hour of Death since this proves more than the Objectors would have it who are not for delaying it till this time and besides they did this upon particular Reasons See this elaborately handled by Mr. Walker in his excellent Treatise of Infant-Baptism some because they thought all Sins damnable which were committed after Baptism others because they were of Opinion that Baptism purg'd away all Sin original and actual and it may be more than either because they were unwilling to leave their Sins and live a strict and an holy Life but this no more shows the deferring of Baptism to have been the received Doctrine of the Church than it is the Doctrine of the Church of England that People may without Sin absent themselves from the other Sacrament because too many actually do it and 't is to be feared for the same Reason namely lest they should be obliged to forsake their Sins and lead a better Life But this we affirm that there is not one Instance to be found in Antiquity of any Orthodox Christian who denied Baptism to Children when brought to be baptised and believe we may be positive that not one of the Fathers or antient Writers for the first Eight Hundred Years at least ever held it unlawful And that it has been the Practice of all the regular Churches ever since is as clear and manifest whereas we know that whenever the Popish Errors were brought into the Church they were neither early nor universally received For not only our own Ancestors when first converted to Christianity not only all our European Churches but the African too formerly did and still do baptise their Children both the Coptis in Egypt and the Abyssines in Ethiopia as well as the Churches of Asia and even those of St. Thomas who had for many Ages scarce any Correspondence with our Parts of the World The Matter of Fact being thus cleared we may reasonably conclude from it that since Infant-Baptism has been generally received and practised by the Church of God in all Places and Ages since we can track it up as high as those who lived in the purest Ages of the Church and were almost cotemporaries with some of the Apostles for Polycarp who was Irenaeus his Master lived in some part of the First Century for these Reasons we cannot think it unlawful we must believe as St. Austin says that it was certainly handed down from Christ and his Apostles and that as it has now continued without interruption in the Church of God for near Seventeen Hundred Years so it will by God's Grace continue therein in like manner to the End of the World Whereas on the contrary it would follow that if Infant-Baprism were not true Baptism there has been yet no true Church since our Saviour since there has been none which did not baptise Infants no entire Church which has thought it unlawful though some private Persons should have had private Opinions Not even those of Piedmont though it is true they often delaid Baptism when they could not have it without the superstitious Appendages of the Romanists and if there were any sheltered amongst them who did wholly deny Baptism to Infants they also denied Baptism it self and the other Sacrament I shall close this Head and the whole Argument for Infant-Baptism with this one Remark That if there be no true Church but that of the Antipoedobaptists that Promise has never yet been fulfilled That Kings should be nursing Fathers and Queens nursing Mothers to the Church for they never had but one King and Queen of their Opinion and those they do not love to hear of Now we are not to think that God has forgotten this Promise for 1700 Years together nor will they affirm it there having been many excellent Kings and Princes Protectors of Churches which have baptised Infants and have been in their Infancy themselves baptised whence it it follows that Infant-Baptism is true Baptism and that tthose are true Churches who use it if there ever yet were any since our Saviour § XXI To sum up the Evidence for Infant-Baptism If outward Baptism be generally and in an ordinary way necessary to Salvation if Infants may be saved as well as others and we ought to neglect no means to save them If our Saviour commands such to come to be brought unto him and did himself put his Hands upon them and bless them and called them Believers and says That of such is the Kingdom of Heaven and was angry with those that would have kept them from him and said It was better for any to have a Mill-stone tied about his Neck and be cast into the Sea than to offend them and it be the greatest Offence to keep them from Baptism which is the Gate to the Church and so to Heaven If the Children even of one believing Parent have Holiness federal Holiness by their Parents Charter and may have the beginnings of real actual Holiness wrought in them by the Holy Ghost because they have had extraordinary Gifts and are therefore much more capable of the ordinary if they are capable of making a Covenant or having a Covenant made for them by others with Privileges and Obligations annexed if they have right to be Members of a Church if they were in the Iewish Church and even in Abraham's Covenant which was a Covenant of Faith an Evangelical Covenant and were never excluded by Christ who would rather give them new Privileges than lessen the old if supposing our Saviour had designed that Children should not be baptised he must have expresly and formally excepted them from Baptism and have forbidden his Apostles to baptise them which otherwise they would certainly have done because the Iews did admit Children to be Proselytes by Baptism as well as grown Persons and yet 't is not so much as pretended that he ever did thus forbid them nay he commanded his Apostles to make Disciples out of all Nations by Baptism as the Iews did before them if it is highly probable even from the Letter of the sacred Scripture that the Apostles did baptise Children because they frequently baptised whole Housholds and it would be strange if there should be no Children among them and
out of all Nations to admit Children among others by Circumcision tho' they could not actually signify their Belief of the Law nor promise Obedience to it then the Apostles who were sent to make Proselytes to Christianity by Baptism could never think of excluding Children whom the Iews before admitted seeing the Reason for their admission was the same in both cases unless our Saviour had expresly forbidden it If it be asked wherefore Infants are not as capable of receiving the Lord's Supper as of Baptism we answer that the Reason is plain because the Lord's Supper is a confirming Seal Baptism only the entring Seal of the Covenant by which Children may now be admitted into it as they were of old by Circumcision But we may argue more strongly that the Apostles did admit Children for Proselytes by Baptism as well as we know they admitted Women tho' neither of them actually mentioned in their Commission because it was the Custom of their Country to do both and neither was forbidden by our Saviour As if any of our Ministers goes among the Heathens and converts them he would certainly baptise Infants and give the other Sacrament in both kinds to the adult because such was the practice of those Protestant Churches whence he went § XIX A fifth Argument for the Baptising of Infants is because it is very probable if not positively certain that the Apostles themselves did baptise them Supposing those two Instances of Baptising Women had not been recorded in the Acts of the Apostles yet we might fairly have concluded that when so many Thousands so many entire Housholds were baptised Women were not excluded especially when it was the known Custom of the Iews to admit them Proselytes by Baptism and the same holds of Children nay more strongly on the account of Circumcision three Thousand were baptised in one day by the Apostles Acts 2. 41. and it is likely five Thousand in another Acts 4. 4. And can it rationally be supposed that there were no Children among such vast Numbers Nay does it not seem highly probable there might be many such there some in their Mothers Arms others in their Hands as is usual in such a publick Concourse especially when there were Children present at the Repetition of the Law already mentioned and likewise at our Saviour's preaching who in his miraculous Feast is said to have sed five Thousand Men besides Women and Children St. Matt. 14. 21. Again the Apostles baptised many Families or Housholds nay we hardly read of the Master of a Family who was made a Convert and baptised but his whole Family as was before the Custom among the Iews were converted proselyted and baptised together with him Thus the Iaylor's Houshold Acts 16. 33. He and ALL his The Houshold of Gaius which was so large that he is called the Host of the whole Church Rom. 16. 23. of Stephanus and Crispus the chief Ruler of the Synagogue and ALL his House Can we I say suppose that in all these Housholds which we read were without exception baptised there should not be so much as one Child or Infant when we may observe very few of our own little Families taking them one with another that are wholly without Children But what if besides all this we should find someting still more express for the Baptising of Children in the Acts of the Apostles In St. Peter's Sermon already mentioned Acts 2. 38. thus he exhorts Repent and be baptised every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the Remission of Sins c. For the Promise is to you and to your Children The Answer was indeed to those adult Persons who ask'd What shall we do These he bids Repent and be baptised but it reacht further than to those that made the Question and tho' Children could not actually Repent yet they might be baptised and there are two things in the words which shew they were here included 1. Because the Apostle addresses himself to every one of them and among every one Children must be contained 2. They are expresly mentioned The Promise is to you and to your Children without any exception and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord your God shall call That is all Gentiles to whom the Apostles or their Successors should come to gather Proselytes from among them § XX. The last Argument for baptising of Infants may be taken from the general Practice of the Christian Church in all Places and all Ages since the first planting of Christianity For the Truth whereof we have unexceptionable Evidence in antient Writers St. Austin St. August de Genesi ad Literam Lib. X. Cap. 23. for the Latin Church who flourished before the Year four Hundred and Origen Origen on the 6th of the Rom. for the Greek who was born in the Second Century and famous about the middle of the Third both affirming not only that the universal Church did then Baptise Infants but likewise that they received this Custom of Baptising them from the Apostlos themselves as we know they also did the change of the Sabbath and other things of like nature not clearly asserted in the Scriptures St. Austin speaks of it in the most posicive Expressions proculdubio says he without doubt it was delivered down from our Lord and his Apostles St. Cyprian is likewise clear for it and a whole Council with him as appears in his Epistle to Fidus and other places So is Athanasius who flourished Anno Three Hundred Twenty Six and he founds Infant-Baptism on the same places which we still make use of to the same purpose suffer little Children to come unto me Now are your Children Holy c. St. Chrysostom is of the same mind and proves the Necessity of Children's Baptism from their being guilty of original Sin And even Gregory Nazianzen is for having them baptised in mere Infancy in case of Danger which he founds on the Circumcision on the eighth day and tho' in no Danger he would not have it deferred till they were above three Year old Tho' even this was a singular Opinion of his but such as does no Service to the Cause of the Antipoedobaptists since they are for baptising adult Persons only Siricius Bishop of Rome about the middle of the fourth Century was for the baptising of Infants So was St. Ambrose And to go higher tho' Tertullian seems to have been much of the same mind with Nazianzen as to the delaying their Baptism yet his very Advice in this matter fairly implys that it was then the general Custom to baptise Infants And he in other places affirms that of Baptism which is a sound Argument for admitting Infants to it namely that it is necessary to Salvation and that without it none can enter into Heaven Iustin Martyr says that the outward Circumcision which was to be performed on the eighth day was a Type of the true Circumcision that Christians received this true spiritual Circumcision by Baptism thro' God's