the negligence and connivance of the Governours and Pastors of it gives no just cause to any to Separate from her I begin with the first That an external Profession of the Christian Faith c. This Profession in grown and adult persons is to be made by themselves Thus it was at the first erection of the Christian Church when Persons by the Preaching and Miracles of the Apostles were converted from the Pagan Superstition and Jewish Religion to the Christian Faith they were to believe and with the Eunuch to declare their belief I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God In Infants and Children not grown up to years of discretion by their Parents and those who at the request of their Parents do together with them undertake for them So great an interest and propriety have Parents in their Children so intire an affection and concern for their good and happiness so unquestionable an authority over them so binding and obligatory are all their reasonable commands upon them that we have good grounds to believe that they that are born of Christian Parents will be brought up in the Christian Religion and at years of understanding take upon themselves what their Parents and Sureties promis'd for them and upon this account that profession of Faith made by others at their Baptism in their behalf may in a favourable sense be reckon'd as made by themselves so God accounted it in the Jewish Church upon the account of their Parents being in covenant with God were the Children of the Jews esteem'd an holy Seed and at eight days old admitted by Circumcision into the same Church and Covenant with them And the same reason holds for admitting Children born of Christian Parents into the Christian Church by the Rite of Baptism which is the Sign and Seal of the Covenant under the Gospel as Circumcision was of that under the Law Now that this external profession without any farther signs of saving grace is ground sufficient for those with whom God hath entrusted the Keys and Government of his Church to admit persons into it will appear from these particulars 1. This is the qualification prescrib'd by our Lord he is the Head and Founder of his Church to him therefore does it appertain to appoint the terms and conditions of admission into it and what these are we may learn from that commission he gave his Apostles when he sent them out to gather a Church under him viz. the becoming his Disciples Go ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Teach all Nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Disciple all Nations Now a Disciple is properly one not that has already attain'd to the full knowledge and saving effects of the Gospel but only understands so much of it as to be willing to be admitted into the Christian Church in order to his being farther taught the one and to have the other more throughly wrought in him Whether men are sincere in their profession of the Christian Faith and in their desires to be admitted Members of Christ's Church and whether this great Priviledge and Blessing of Church-membership will be effectual to produce in them that regeneration and new creature for which it was design'd the Pastors and Governours of the Church cannot know This their bare profession and desire is enough to give them a title to it and qualification for it By this rule the Apostles of Christ walkt as to this particular even when they liv'd with him here on earth and were under his immediate direction The Pharisees heard that Jesus made and baptiz'd more Disciples than John tho' Jesus himself did not baptize but his Disciples Now if as it was fam'd abroad and is not in the Text contradicted Jesus's Disciples baptiz'd more than John it follows that he baptiz'd more than were sincere when we read that so few not above an hundred and twenty continued with him to the last 2. It appears from the Apostles practice afterwards in admitting persons into the Church Nothing but a profess'd willingness to receive the Gospel tho' they receiv'd it not from the heart was requir'd by them in order to it The Text tells us that they that gladly receiv'd St. Peter 's words were baptiz'd and the same day were added to the Cburch about 3000 souls It 's true St. Peter exhorted them all to repent in order to it but whether they did so or no he stay'd not for proof from their bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance but presently upon their profest willing reception of the Word they were baptiz'd and added to the Church One might have been apt to suspect that amongst so great a number all would not prove sincere converts and so it fell out Ananias and Saphira were two of the number in whom ye know that glad reception of the Gospel was found to be but gross hypocrisie By the same rule St. Philip proceeded in planting the Church at Samaria when the people seeing the miracles he did gave heed to the doctrine he taught concerning the Kingdom of Heaven and the Name of Jesus and declar'd their belief of it without any farther examination they were baptiz'd both men and women And amongst them was Simon Magus whose former notorious Crimes of Sorcery Witchcraft and Blasphemy might have given just grounds of fear to the holy Deacon that his Faith was but hypocritical and his Heart not right in the sight of God as appear'd afterwards yet upon his believing he was baptiz'd such other Members of Christ's Church were Demas Hymeneus and Alexander they had nothing it seems but a bare outward profession of the Faith to entitle them to that Priviledge since afterwards as we read the one embrac'd this present World and the other two made shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience 3. This appears from the representation Christ hath made of his Church in the Gospel fore-instructing his Disciples by many Parables that it should consist of a mixture of good and bad It is a field wherein wheat and tares grow up together A net wherein are fishes of all sorts A floor in which is laid up solid corn and light chaff A vine on which are fruitful and barren branches A great house wherein are vessels of gold and silver and vessels of lesser value wood and earth A marriage feast where are wise and foolish virgins some with wedding garments and some without some had oyl and some but empty lamps St. Hierome compares it to Noah's Ark wherein were preserv'd beasts clean and unclean when the Apostle said They are not all Israel that are of Israel his meaning was that in the Jewish Church many more were circumcis'd in the flesh than what were circumcis'd in heart and when our Saviour said many are call'd but few chosen he declar'd the same thing that in his
Church many more were call'd and admitted into it by Baptism than what were sanctified by his Spirit or should be admitted into his Heaven 4. The many corrupt and vicious Members in the Churches which the Apostles themselves had planted is another proof of this The number whereof in all likelihood could not have been so great had they been so cautious and scrupulous as to admit none into them but whom in their judgments they thought to be really holy In the Church of Corinth there were many that had not the knowledge of God that denied the Resurrection of the Dead that came drunk to the Lord's Table that were Fornicators unclean and contentious Persons In the Church of Galatia there were many that nauseated the Bread of Life and made it their choice to pick and eat the rubbish of the partition wall which Christ had demolisht The Rites of the Law which expired at the death of Christ they attempted to pull out of their graves and to give a resurrection to them They were so much gone off from the Doctrine of Christianity to weak and beggarly Rudiments observing days and months and times and years that by reason of this their superstition St. Paul signifi'd his fears of quite losing them and that his labour was bestowed upon them in vain Amongst all the seven Churches in Asia there was not one but what had receiv'd such Members into it that were either very cold and lukewarm in their Religion or by their vicious lives proved a reproach and scandal to it The Church of Sardis so swarm'd with these that St. John tells us that there were but a few names in Sardis that had not defil'd their garments Now if the Apostles of our Lord who had the extraordinary assistances of the Holy Ghost for the discerning of Spirits at that time and were thereby enabl'd far beyond what any of their Successors can pretend to to distinguish betwixt the good and the bad did notwithstanding admit many meer formal Professors into the Church of Christ we may conclude that they apprehended that 't was the will of Christ it should be so 5. No other rule in admitting persons into the Church is practicable Whether Persons are really holy and truly regenerate or no the Officers of Christ who know not the hearts of men cannot make a certain judgment of they may through want of judgment be deceiv'd through the subtilty of hypocrites be impos'd upon through humane frailty passion or prejudice be misguided and by this means many times the door may be open'd to the bad and shut against the good Now that cannot be suppos'd to be a rule of Christ's appointment which is either impossible to be observ'd or in observing which the Governours of his Church cannot be secur'd from acting wrongfully and injuriously to men In sum Christ hath entrusted the power of the Keys into the hands of an Order of Men whom he hath set over his Church and who under him are to manage the Affairs of it but these being but earthen vessels of short and fallible understandings he has not left the execution of their Office to be manag'd solely by their own prudence and discretion but hath given them a certain publick Rule to go by both in admitting persons into his Church and in excluding them out of it for the one the Rule is open and solemn profession of the Christian Faith for the other open and scandalous Offences prov'd by witnesses 2. The second Proposition is That every such Member has a right to all the external Priviledges of the Church till by his continuance in some notorious and scandalous sins he forfeits that right and by the just censures of the Church for such behaviour he be actually excluded from those Priviledges For the explanation and proof of this Proposition these three particulars are to be done 1. What 's meant by external Priviledges 2. What kind of Offenders those are that forfeit their right to them and ought by the Censures of the Church to be excluded from them 3. Upon what the right of those Members that have not so offended is grounded 1. What 's meant by external Priviledges As there are two sorts of Members in Christ's visible Church so there are two sorts of Priviledges that belong to them each sort having those that are proper and peculiar to it according to the nature of that relation they bear to the Head and their fellow Members 1. There are Members only by foederal or covenant-holiness such as are only born of water when by Baptism they were united to Christ and the Church and took upon them the Profession and Practice of the Christian Religion Now the Priviledges that belong to these are of the same make with their Church-membership external and consisting only in an outward and publick Communion with the Church in the Word and Ordinances 2. There are Members by real and inherent holiness such as are not only born of Water but of the Spirit also when by the inward operations of the Holy Ghost their Souls are renew'd after the Image of God and made partakers of a Divine Nature And the Priviledges that belong to these are not only the forementioned ones but together with them others that are sutable to their more spiritual relation inward and such as consist in the especial and particular care and protection of God the pardon and remission of their sins by the Blood of Christ and the gracious influences and comforts of the Holy Ghost All comprehended in that Prayer of the Apostle for his Corinthians The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen Now 't is of the first sort of Members and that sort of Priviledges that belong to them that the Proposition is to be understood 2. What kind of Offenders those are that have forfeited their right to and ought by the Censures of the Church to be excluded from those Priviledges This the Apostle hath plainly told us and our own Church in its Exhortation to the Sacrament fairly intimates I have wrote unto you says St. Paul not to keep company if any man that is call'd a Brother be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner no not to eat Not only as much as can be to have no familiar conversation with him in civil matters tho' some must be had whilst we are in this World but also and more especially to avoid communion with him in religious exercises and how that is to be done the Apostle tells us viz. not by forsaking the Church our selves but by doing our utmost endeavours to have him cast out of it So it follows Therefore put away from among your selves that wicked person And In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ
is not only for the more solemn Worship of God and the publick profession of Religion but also for the more effectual edification and salvation of mens souls By Baptism we were admitted into the Church incorporated into that Divine Society and entitled to all the Priviledges of the Gospel to the end that in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God we might come to a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ But how this is to be attain'd without being admitted to all the Acts and Offices of Communion with the Church to the Communion of Prayers and Sacraments and the Word and all other Priviledges and Duties is not easily to be understood hence we may observe that edification in Scripture is usually applied to the Church and tho' the edification of the Church consists in the edification of the particular Members of it yet because that is not to be had but in the Unity and Communion of the Church 't is usually stiled the edifying of the Church and the edifying the body of Christ hence Faith is said to come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Hence we are said to be born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever The same is exprest in those words of our Saviour's Prayer for his Disciples Sanctifie them through thy truth thy Word is truth God's Church is his Family which he especially takes care of and provides for he that is of it is under the Schechina the wing of the Divine Majesty and his special grace and providence It cannot but be of mighty advantage towards our growth and improvement in all Christian graces and virtues to have therein dispens't to us the lively Oracles of God and provision made for a constant succession of dispensers of the Bread of Life to fit it to all needs and all capacities Not to be left to the deceits and whispers of a private spirit to personal conjectures or secret insinuations but to have the publick Doctrine of the Church to be our Guide and Leader to have our Devotions mingled with the concurrent Prayers of all God's people and so by their joynt forces after an humble but powerful manner to besiege and beleaguer Heaven to have before our eyes all the great Examples in God's Church to have our Faith strengthen'd our Repentance heighten'd our Love inflam'd our Hopes and our Comforts rais'd by the Holy Communion Will not the flame of others kindle our zeal and affections and will it not put us into a transport of devotion to see therein Christ crucified before our eyes pouring out his Blood for us bowing his Head as it were to kiss and stretching out his Arms as it were to embrace all that are penitent and return to him These are some of the great Blessings and Advantages that cannot be had but in Church-Communion To which if we shall add that our improvement in holiness and virtue is more to be ascrib'd to the internal operations of God's spirit than any virtue or efficacy there can be in those external administrations that God is pleas'd to promise his spirit to believers only as they are Members of his Church and no otherwise than by the use and ministry of his Word and Sacraments we shall farther see the necessity of mens holding actual Communion with the Church in order to their sanctification and salvation We are not now discoursing what God can or will do in some extraordinary cases when Communion with a true visible Church cannot be had as in a general Apostacy of the Church or Persecution for Religion or unjust Excommunication but what is God's ordinary method and means of bringing men to salvation and that he himself tells us is by adding them to the Church and the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved To this purpose we may observe not only in general that whatever Christ did and suffered for Mankind 't was for them as incorporated into a Church Christ loved his Church and gave himselffor it Christ redeem'd his Church with his ownblood Christ is the saviour of the body that is the Church But also in particular that the Apostle confines the influences and operations of the spirit to the unity of the Church there is one body and one spirit Upon this account viz. the efficacy of the means afforded in Christ's Church and the necessity of keeping in communion with it in order to salvation was it that the Primitive Christians lookt upon it as so dreadful a thing to be shut or cast out of it as laughing a matter as some now adays make it as much as they slight the priviledge and benefit to be of Christ's Church and count it their glory and saintship voluntarily to cut off themselves from it I am sure the Primitive Christians had a far different opinion of it with them to be cast out of the Church and to be deliver'd up to Satan signified the same thing and the one accounted full as dreadful a doom as the other hence was it that this sentence was rarely past against an offender but with grief and sorrow in him that was forc'd to do it and that those against whom it was past us'd the most ardent importunities and were willing to undergo the severest penances in order to be restored into the bosom of it you might have beheld them kissing the chains of imprison'd Martyrs washing the feet of Lazars wallowing at the Temple-doors on their knees begging the Prayers of Saints you might have seen them stript and naked their hair neglected their bodies wither'd their eyes dejected and sometimes crying out in the words of David as the great Theodosius in the state of penance My soul cleaveth to the dust quicken thou me O Lord according to thy Word Thus much seems to be enough to be said on the Second Proposition but that our passage to the Third may be the clearer I shall add a little by way of Answer to an Objection or two that lies in our way And the first is Obj. Do not all the Members of Christ's Church that come to the blessed Sacrament having not the power of Godliness as well as the Form come unworthily and to their own great sin and danger no less than being guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ and eating and drinking their own damnation And can they have a right to that they are so unworthy of In doing which they sin so hainously and for doing which they shall be punished so severely Answ I Answer these two things 1. All even the best men in a strict legal sense are unworthy and that even of common mercies from God much more of this prime Duty and Priviledge of Christianity Every man in his best estate is altogethervanity We are all an unclean thing and