direction Timothy was to hold fast the form of sound words at his Church at Ephesus that as there is but one Faith so in Believing Congregations there might be but one Confession And this not only evinced from Scripture and Reason as expedient but from the Apostles practice who having received the promise of the Father and power from on high at Jerusalem they agreed on one summary Rule for their own Teaching and the Peoples believing a compendious sum of Evangelical Doctrines exquisitely composed which is delivered to us by Tradition from Antiquity and generally received under the Name of the Apostles Creed In which Confession the intelligent Believer not only makes an acknowledgment of his assent to Promises of Mercy to be rely'd upon but to the reasonableness of Duties of Obedience that are injoyned by the Gospel to be practiced and makes open profession of Communion of Saints which must be maintained by the practice of Holiness and comprehend all the duties of Christianity that are required And this compendious Confession of Faith by repeating this set Form prescribed by the Apostles hath been used by the People as well as the Minister by which they openly declared their unfeigned Assent to what they did believe and their stedfast Resolution of what they would do in every Congregation that would be reputed of the Church of Christ And if it be lawful and expedient to have set Forms for Confession of Faith it cannot be unlawful and unfitting to have set Forms for the exercise of Devotion It cannot be a reproach but a duty to have our Spirits thus stinted when the Spirit of Grace limits himself in the Rules of Holiness and hath the denomination of Holy from this limitation And if new sorts of Words and variety of Expressions must be used in praying as some wildly fancy I wonder St. Paul in all his Epistles in the beginning should use the same Salutation and in the end should use the same Valediction and that Christ in his Agony who wanted neither expression or fervency should pray thrice together the same words At Antioch that the Christians there in their Congregation had their Liturgy At Corinth that the People were all Prophesying At Jerusalem that in their Religious Assemblies they were to hold fast the profession of their Faith without wavering is so evident as doubtless it can need no further illustration And if set Form of Words were unlawful in Gods service certainly the multitude of Angels would never have been represented unto us as agreeing in one Anthem on Earth nor they above in the same doxology in Heaven And if the Examples of Saints and Angels may lead us rightly if Nature God and Christ and his Apostles may direct us safely we must conclude That Vniformity of Words is not only lawful but expedient in the exercise of Godliness 3. I shall prove Vniformity of Words necessary and expedient by Reason 1. And Reason it self will tell us if we have not abjured it that Vniformity in Words is necessary and conducing to the practice of Godliness for take this away and see what giddiness and distractedness must necessarily ensue in every Assembly Without agreement in these things to terminate and bound both our Thoughts and Words how improbable is it that most men should be secured from inconsiderate wandrings and unwarrantable expressions But being confined to words of Faith and Devotion we call home our Thoughts to consider what these import and signifie that are injoyned and prescribed us and reverently we worship God and pray to him and confess to his Name And our wilful Opposers give Testimony to this Truth by their practice that set Ferms must be prescribed to the People When the best gifted Brother is appointed and agreed on to put up Prayers which are set Forms to the whole Congregation and it is not to be denied but every Member that is truly Religious secretly doth concur with such Prayers and limit their Thoughts to what is signified by such Expressions Weak Creatures never considering that they split upon that Rock which they pretend studiously to avoid while they voluntarily enslave themselves and stint their spirits and thoughts to conform to the sudden wild effusions and oft unwarrantable expressions of their idolized Teacher and dare not spoil their Liberty to submit unto and concur with the deliberate Forms and Prescriptions of their sober Governours and Rulers which will undoubtedly guide and lead them to the right exercise of true Religion that tends to peace Poor inconsiderate People they know not what to do for it is not a set Form they hate which they may see they cannot avoid but a spirit of Contradiction they love while they oppose the warrantable directions of their Religious Leaders and willingly suffer themselves to be captivated by wild ungovern'd Enthusiasts and run headlong into an inexcusable sin of a wilful Disobedience But if any can think set Forms to be unlawful and will be tied to none but avoid them then must every pretended Saint bring a distinct Prayer and Psalm to be poured out by himself in their several Congregations And it must necessarily follow when every one is singing a several Psalm in their Congregation it must happen what St. Paul saith was at Corinth when they all spake with several Tongues a Stranger coming in must in reason conclude that there was madness in the midst of them Thus in Reason we must determine to terminate and bound the Thoughts and Considerations of them that would be truly Religious there ought to be set Forms of Words agreed upon and prescribed in Believing Congregations 2. That is best to be used that will most heighten our Devotion and Intention in our Religious addresses to God for how shall I hope that God should intend me if I do not intend my own Petitions And I am verily perswaded Prayer without Devotion is like a Body without a Soul it is dead and ineffectual Now this I do deliberately affirm and maintain That premeditated and set Forms of Prayer must heighten any mans Devotion and Intention I desire such as obstinately oppose premeditated and composed Forms to consider that in this they contend only for freedom of Words And have Words any power or influence over God Can we imagine that God is taken with variety or shift of Phrases Words or loeutions are for mans necessity not Gods information They are of no necessity to make our hearts known to him who understand what we need before we ask him and our Thoughts afar off And it is the affections of our Hearts not the expression of our Mouths that make us prevail with our God What therefore may best conduce to settle our Consideration to fix our Desires and Intentions on God and good things is most lawful and most expedient to be used And this I dare say upon Reason and from Experience is best done by well-weighed Forms of set Prayers foreknown and assented unto both by Priest and People For
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must have a double look the first look it must cast on the Rule the second it must cast on the Actions be they either necessary or positive or else it cannot be counted Conscience and from thy agreeing or disagreeing with the Rule so thy Conscience accuseth or excuseth accordingly And now I appeal to any sober mans Consideration since there cannot be contrary Rules justifiable whether there can be contrary Consciences Certainly then we may safely conclude in all Constituted Churches since for Belivers actions there is but one Truth but one true Rule there must be for all such Believers but one right Faith there can be but one sound Conscience SECT III. In such Constituted Societies Vnity of Faith must be signified by an open Vniformity GOD who created man for his glory designed him for Society that what comfort he could not get by separation he might compass by Communion And Communion in the state we are in cannot be maintained but by Externals by Bodily offices As the Communion of the Invisible Church must be maintained by Vnity of Faith so the Communion of the Visible Church or any part that is associated or united in obedience to the Faith must be maintained by agreement in the exercise of Religion and Vnity of Profession And this Unity of Profession is properly called Vniformity which is nothing else but a sensible form of an united Society agreeing in one Profession both in words and actions So if any one should ask What is the sign or mark by which we may know a visible Church by or any associated Company to be a part of it I must properly Answer by Vniformity And Vniformity as the word clearly speaks is an Vnity of the outward form of things or an agreement of visible practice and joynt concurrence in the Exercise of Religion both in wards and actions which ought to be in every Congregation of Believers Preaching of the Gospel and receiving the Sacrament of the People as well as of the Minister being indispensable signs of every one that would be accounted of the Church of Christ And first we will undertake to prove that Vnity of Faith must be signified by Vniformity of words and this is not only lawful but necessary and useful 1. Lawful as declared by the practice of all Nations that had a sense of Religion For if Heathen yet reasonably they agreed in the same Festivals and Solemnities in the same Sacrifices and Gestures in the same forms of Thanksgivings and Devotion which because written of by many and confessed by all it will be needless to cite Authors or any further to insist upon the proof of it no question but they Universally agreed in constituting and maintaining Vniformity amidst their Assemblies in all Religious observances If they were a People to whom God had more clearly manifested himself and the true Religion wherewith he would be well pleased these marks they gave of their associating and uniting into a Church by their Vniversal joynt concurrence in Religious Exercises in all Ages in their solemn Congregations And it is facile to prove that among the Jews they judged the fittest Medium to preserve Vnity was Ecclesiastical Vniformity from their coming out of Egypt till their dissolution in Canaan And in some measure the Jews maintain this to this day in their several Congregations They had their set Forms for Aaroniçal Benediction for hymns and praises and prayers of the People who agreed in one express assent to the Covenant and the Law delivered by Moses in the same Sabbaoths and Festivals in the same Sacraments and Ties of Obedience They agreed in the same Prayers composed by Jewish Teachers for their Disciples St. John the Baptist taught his Disciples to pray And Christ's Disciples in the last dispensation would be taught of him to pray as John before had taught his Disciples And our blessed Saviour not only taught his Disciples a Form but a Prayer which they were to say When you pray say Luke 11.2 Our Father c. To follow him can be no mistake Certainly deliberate Composures of Set Forms from Christs Example receive not only Toleration but sufficient Approbation And that the Apostles and their Successors in Primitive times used this Prayer in all their holy Administrations especially at the Sacraments we have more than probable Authority And that the Church had set Forms after the first Century is beyond all dispute And that Reformed Churches have their set Forms now generally is openly manifest except some Phanatical Schismaticks that out of a Spirit of Contradiction and precise singularity by the neglect of these things wilfully Unchurch themselves and would blot out all appearance of a Visible Church upon the Earth Mr. Calvin from the conviction of this Truth Epist 87. approves it That set Forms of Ecclesiastical Rights might be determined that it might not be lawful for Ministers in their Administrations or the People in their Attendances to vary from them And this he was forced to acknowledge from Example Practice and Reason God who cannot erre prescribes set Forms to the Jews and Christ to his Disciples And it would be a misapprehension yea a sin to think that They would injoyn or command what might be an hinderance to Godliness or a disadvantage to the Exercise thereof And the concurrent Judgment and practice of all Churches must convince any sober person of the lawfulness and expediency of set Forms both in Prayers and Worship which will be furthered by his own Reason if he please to consider Scripture directions 2. I shall prove set Forms lawful and expedient from Scripture St. Paul 1 Cor. 1.11 pathetically beseecheth the Church at Corinth by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that they would all speak the very same thing Verba sunt symbola mentis è consensu verborum colligimus consensum animorum Words are but expressions of our Intentions and from agreement in Words we conclude of agreement of Mind And sure enough it was not required there by the Apostle that the Speeches of the Corinthians in their Religious Assemblies should be of the same sense and meaning only but of the same expression not only contradiction of words is prohibited but diversity if they would grant his suit whle he beseecheth them to speak the same thing And well might this be injoyned in Religious Exercises for Vbi novae phrases ibi nova dogmata A quibus Vna fides ab iis requiritur Vna Confessio Where new phrases are used there will be new opinions And in whom there is expected but One Faith from them there is required but One Confession saith Mr. Calvin And when idolizing of the Gifts and Parts of the Ministers caused Contentions among the Corinthians the Apostle might adjudge it necessary that ostentation of Eloquence and excellency of Speech should be forborn among them even in exercises of Devotion and therefore earnestly beseecheth them to speak the same thing So by St. Pauls
of Tongues All these in an instant wrought that one and self same Spirit dividing to every man severally as he pleased And several Rules he gave them that trusting to the supply of the Almighty in all their exigence upon this Heavenly design they should provide neither Gold nor Silver nor Scrip nor Coat nor Shooes nor Staves No care what to speak dabitur in illâ borâ whatever they needed the Heavenly Father that called them to the work would supply them in all those things But these Rules were extraordinary and so were the Assistances needful only for those Persons in those daies of Persecution when they were hated of all men for his Names sake and were to trust only to a support and a supply from the All-sufficiency of the Almighty But blessed be God we are not now incompassed with these streights God hath provided better things for us That although the malice of some men would bring us to walk according to these Rules and support our selves with the expectation of such Assistances and those mistakes have caused no little disturbance in the Church of Christ yet now the Gospel hath found a free passage and reception we have an happier juncture of Affairs We need not expect Miracles for our support when we have Means in peace afforded us to carry on the design of God God is and we may well be contented with more reasonable Services And it is unreasonable to think having none of the same necessity upon us and to conclude that in these daies the same Gifts and Assistances should be continued among us is a dangerous and an unsufferable presumption These extraordinary Rules and Assistances were given to those particular Persons during those particular Times but they are now unpracticable and not according to the mind of Christ And there were some Rules given to certain Churches and some particular places but these are not our Canons or Forms to be modelled by The Rules then of the Gospel we are to look after are not particular but universal not temporary but eternal binding for ever to the whole Church of Christ Now the Laws of the Gospel given by Christ or his Apostles are of two sorts some respect internally the regulating Intentions Thoughts and Desires for private Persons singular peace And some respect externally ordering the Conversation of the Visible Church of Christ To the Rules of this latter sort we must have regard unto in this present discourse And these Rules are of two sorts either natural necessary eternal and indispensable and would have been binding if Christ had not revived them As that we praise God fall down and worship him that we keep our Tongues from evil and our Lips that they speak no guile that we keep our Bodies from all filthiness that whatever we would that others should do to us the same c. But some Laws are positive and voluntary receiving their being and constitution from Christ whose goodness wisdom and Authority we are not to suspect but that he will direct those things to his Church that are best and most convenient and such Directions by his Subjects are carefully to be observed As that they should pray in these words receive the Sacraments with those signs and manner of Communication required All these positive Laws of Christ are universal indispensable and though the positive Laws of Men are particular and mutable upon inconvenience yet these positive Laws of Christ are constituted and come from such unquestionable Wisdom as they must be accounted universally and eternally binding to his Church to all Generations The Laws then of Christ be they either those natural Laws that he revived or the positive Laws that he constituted that he hath ordinarily universally eternally left his Church to be ruled by to the end of the World are the Laws we would have our Canons for Uniformity to be tryed by And because our Blessed Saviour knew very well that an Anarchy was unnatural and not to be endured he wisely directs these Laws to two sorts of People that will be in his Church to the end of the World First To Rulers Leaders and Superiours Secondly To Inferiours Subjects and the Generality of the People under Authority 1. For Rulers They be of two sorts some Civil which we call Magistrates Others Ecclesiastical which we call Ministers What concerns Magistrates we treated of formerly For Ministers we have several Orders and distinctions allowed by the Gospel The Laws for them are obvious in the discharge of their several Offices Inferiour Ministers most concern us in the Exercise of Religion These if any we should in this discourse respect And certainly that Obedience which these Ministers shew in their usages as directed in their Rites Ceremonies Habits Gestures observing daies c. are lawful and easily justifiable And these things are made so clear by the pens of sober Learned and Judicious men to any that will not be wilfully blind all the Objections so fully answered as it would be tedious and impertinent for me to insist in a further Vindication It were more reasonable and Christianlike if men would look more diligently to the discharge of their own duties and be less ready to censure and condemn other mens Just observances If any thing were questionable in them viderint ipsi they must answer it to their proper Judge who made thee one Be not curiously inquisitive what others do or should do Tolle quod tuum est do thy own business and seriously consider what thou art bound to do thy self that thou maist inherit eternal life And this I am sure thou art obliged to do to give thy Decent attendance and joyntly to concur in the Publick exercise of Holiness and the worship of God as it is ordered in the Book of Common-Prayer And now our discourse begins to be brought into a narrow compass This is all that remains for us to prove in this Section That the Canons and Forms prescribed to the Common sort of our Believers in our Book of common-Common-Prayer are agreeable to the universal eternal and indispensable Rules of the Gospel Canons for Uniformity in our Religious meetings and Assemblies which we are not to forsake respect either Words or Actions let us take a quick survey of either and see if both be not allowed and prescribed by the Gospel After a Company is Religiously met and assembled together all admit and approve of a Pastour or Teacher an Exhorter a Leader to holy Services unless they have lost their Reason and Religion also After their Assembling the Minister by Scripture Exhortations prepares the People for their joynt concurrence in the solemn Worship of God After Preparation the whole Congregation is ordered and directed to joyn in an open Confession of Gods Excellency and All-sufficiency of their own Sins of Christs Merits in whose Name they ask forgiveness and of their desire of a full Obedience that they may live a godly righteous and sober life After this upon good grounds
is denounced Absolution of sins upon the intimation of their unanimous desires to leave and forsake them Then all the People joyn in the Lords Prayer Confession of Praise and Thanks to the glory of the Trinity into whose Name they were all Baptized Then they proceed to Hymns and Psalms to mutual Exhortations and stirring up each in other holy Affections Then follows vocal Confession of Faith a Litany they all joyn in deprecating all evil praying for all good for themselves and all men Then they proceed to give intimation of their mutual desires and resolutions of a full obedience and respect to all Gods Commandements And as in Service so in Sacraments the People give a clear acknowledgment of their adhering to the true and undefiled Religion to which they have ingaged themselves Of their consideration and estimation of God of their meet and suitable Affections And if the People be silent for a while while the Priest is offering up a sacrifice of Prayer and Praise in Christs Name on the behalf of the Congregation yet that every man may testifie his intention and consideration and particular assent when universally as directed and ordered they speak Amen which is then best done when most heartily exprest that our Amen in our meetings might be like thunder and our Hallelujahs like the noise of many waters For Actions they are not many injoyned to the People As their meeting at convenient time and place Their kneeling and prostration upon acknowledgment of Gods Excellencies and begging Mercy Their standing at any Exultation or rejoycing at a sense of Mercy promised or exhibited Receiving the Sacrament with significant intimations of becoming Considerations and Affections These Canons and Forms prescribed for the Peoples Vniformity which are in our Liturgies are allowed and justified by the practice of the Primitive times by dictates of Human Reason or else by express Rules of the Gospel SECT III. These Canons and Forms in our Liturgies are the best that are visibly now extant to us upon sober Consideration AND how shall we be able to maintain these the Best which some will not grant to be good at all The Herd of Seciaries are all of them nibbling at our Liturgy Their work is to defame and if they can to destroy yet of all things they most virulently aim at the Publick Service of the Church We remember with grief enough what late storm brought these Locusts but yet we may complain no contrary wind hath driven them quite away there are yet too many in our Coasts We hear them still maliciously and unreasonably Object 1. That our Liturgy is taken out of the Romisn Missal the greater part of it is Popish Trumpery the Papists use it c. Malice whose end is alwaies to wound and do mischief never boggles to compass it by the most unlawful means What she can never hope to bring about by publishing truths she is ready to attempt by raising slanders and false suggestions For certainly none that are not wilfully ignorant but must acknowledge that most of our Prayers Confessions and Responses used in our Divine Service are taken either out of the Holy Scriptures or out of the Liturgies of the Primitive and purest Ages before ever the Court of Rome had exalted it self or proudly had usurped the Supremacy and Headship above the Church of Christ But suppose it be granted what we cannot deny That many things are used in our Liturgy by us which are to be found in the Romish Missal or Breviary the question is whether the things be good and lawful of themselves or not Doubtless we are not to forbear things that are good and lawful because bad men make use of them then we must not use either meat or drink or cloth or Sun we must necessarily go quite out of the World I shall thankfully partake of the meat that is wholsome although wicked and unclean men sometimes eat of it I shall willingly embrace any holy Truth though confessed by the Father of Lies I see light and darkness may be in the same Subject health and sickness in the same Body good and evil are in the same Persons I shall pluck a wholsome Herb and make use of it though I find it in a dirty Ditch I 'le throw away a poysonous Weed though in a Garden And if I can discern I shall decline what is bad though I see it in the most Vertuous and follow what is good though in the most Licentious If Evil men give good gifts to their Children If Jews or Papists offer to God a sacrifice of Praise and use such words or actions as may best promote tke right exercise of true Religion I shall think it my duty in all things that are good and lawful to follow them Object 2. In our Liturgy are they say vain Repetitions dead Sacrifices empty Forms void of that life and affection which is necessary for Gods service And now who does not see the weakness and malice of our Opposers in this Accusation charging the fault upon the Forms which is properly laid upon them that inconsiderately make use of them For the vanity is in the Persons that are careless not in the Repetitions if rightly attended For if thou beest well disposed Repetitions will awaken thy Consideration and not becalm or bedead but quicken and heighten Devotion Deadness of Affection is a fault but certainly the Forms or Repetitions are not guilty of it the fault is in thy heedlesness 'T is not just to impute that fault to the Offering that is in thy self that art to tender it Thou who wilfully opposest thy self restrain thy wild wandring Thoughts summon thy Intention banish thy Dulness quicken thy Devotion never doubt it all will succeed well in using these Forms I dare ingage both thou and thy sacrifice will be accepted Object 3. They are offended at the length of the Prayers For using all the Forms as they are prescribed in our Liturgy takes up say they too much Time that the Gifted man hath not his full liberty of exercising himself in preaching with which the godly People are most delighted common-Common-Prayer would be omitted or shortned that Sermon may not be hindred This they take for granted that Preaching is to be preferred before Praying Answ The Allegation is false and ridiculous in every particular For the Forms prescribed are not too long nor so long as they necessarily hinder Preaching both may very conveniently be done But what if the Gifted man were hindred from offering his strange Fire his wild effusion in Praying or Preaching Certainly if this were in the compass of the length of our Common-prayers to be prevented it would prove not their fault but their commendation What unhappy Consequences have happened from Ministers oftentation of Eloquence Parts and Gifts it s notoriously evident among us While the People having their idolized Teachers Persons in Admiration they have divided into Factions and Parties and have disturbed the peace and Vnity of the