until he do publickly own and profess that he will faithfully stand to those conditions and terms that were made in his Name when through the gate of Baptism he was graciously received into the number of Christs Holy Catholick Church that he will not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified but couragiously continue persevere in that high calling wherein he is called magure all opposition to the contrary and manfully fight under Christs Banner against sin the world and the Devil and continue Christs true and faithful Servant and Souldier to his lives end And that this is the Church of Englands sense of confirmation is very plain from the office which is then to be used which requires that all persons who are confirmed shall audibly and publickly in the presence of God and of the Congregation renew that solemn promise and vow that was made in their names at baptism ratifying and confirming the same in their own persons and acknowledging themselves bound to believe and do all those things which their Godfathers and Godmothers then undertook for them She only hereby intends that we should be in reality and truth what we outwardly profess our selves that as we at large bear the name of Christians Because of the number and living amongst the Society of them and in communion with them so likewise we should specifie as much by our actions having our Conversation such as becometh the Gospel of Christ denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts and behaving our selves soberly righteously and godlily in this present evil world which is no more than that duty which the Grace of God that hath appeared unto all men and bringeth salvation hath taught us It is no more than what we have strictly obliged our selves to perform when we took upon us the honourable name of Christians for then we faithfully engage to renounce the Devil and all his works that is to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to keep Gods holy will and Commandements walking in the same all the dayes of our lives whose sacred Laws teach us to behave our selves soberly righteously and godlily in this present evil world So that the Churches design is very good and pious in continuing this wholsome Institution and as clearly opposite from either Superstition or Will-worship as light is from darkness it is only the spiritual good of her sons that she would advance by the administration of this Rite cause them openly to acknowledg themselves Gods faithful Servants that they are resolved by his assistance so to continue chearfully and heartily performing his sacred pleasure stopping up their cares and barring up their hearts against all corrupt and wicked insinuations that may tempt them to the contrary 2ly It is an Act of Confirmation on Gods part who confers a new Grace to strengthen in those persons that are confirmed those holy principles and that good resolution of which they have made a faithful profession and to enable them to continue and persist in it so that God doth confirm our confirmation that is he doth by the assistance of his good Spirit confirm and corroborate our resolutions and purposes in performing our vow made at Baptism The Reverent Bishop of Down enforms us in his Epistle before his Treatise writ upon this very subject that some wise and good men have piously believed which is no small addition to the honour of this Ministration that when baptized persons are confirmed and blessed by the Bishop that then it is that a special guardian Angel is appointed to keep their souls from the assaults of the Spirits of darkness And all that he adds to it of his own sentiments is this that the piety of this supposition is not at all disagreeable to the intention of this Rite for since by this the holy spirit of God the Father of all spirits is given it is not unreasonably thought by them that the other good Spirits of God the Angels who are ministring spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes who are heirs of Salvation should pay their kind offices in subordination to their Prince and Fountain Neither can I discover any thing in this opinion which is Heterodox but that it may be very safely entertained for if these glorious Angels as the Scripture enforms us minister for the good of mankind namely that part of it as are obedient to the divine Laws of the great Soveraign of the Universe then certainly there cannot be a more proper season for them to enter upon this charitable employment than about that age as it is requisite for confirmation to be administred and it is very agreeable both with the goodness wisdom of Almighty God then to place the securest guard over his Servants when they are the most vigorously assaulted by their spiritual enemies which is at the publick owning of themselves to be Christs real members and declare a profest enmity against the Devil and all his works when we openly profess Christianity and acknowledge out Baptismal vow then it is that the rage of the Devil is most furious and violent imagining if ever he can seduce us it will be at the first hand before we are well settled and throughly grounded in our holy resolutions But howsoever as the above mentioned Bishop very well observes there are greater and stranger things than this that God does for the soul of his Servants and for the honour of the Ministries which himself hath appointed and in this very Ministry will have the powerful assistance of the spirit of all spirits the eternal spirit of God is our guide and our coadjutor to assist our own abilities and undertakings in abiding in that high calling whereunto we are called at our Baptism he now by his gracious influence and blessed aid helpeth our infirmities and supplies our natural imperfections making us able to do that which is good and what the Lord requires of us As in Baptism the Holy Ghost was conveyed as a sanctifyer so herein as a comforter and strengthener now that the person is entring upon a great contest and conflict with himself his own unruly lusts the world and principalities and powers and spiritual wickednesses in high places It is true in Baptism we receive the Spirit of God by it we are then regenerated made members of Christ Children of God and shall in the end be made inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven that is if we continue constant in the profession of the Faith of Christ crucified performing our part of the Covenant made in Baptism to do which it requires a greater and more powerful assistance of the Holy Ghost which is given in confirmation By Baptism we are Heirs and are adopted to the inheritance of Sons admitted to the Covenant of Repentance and engaged to live a Godly life yet as the judicious Prelate learnedly observes this is but the Solemnity of the Covenant which must pass into other Acts by other influences of the same Divine Principle untill
the very same continuance with it the shallowest capacity easily apprehending that when the foundation is rooted up the whole Fabrick must be thrown down But then again this Ministry will appear to be of a larger continuance than the Apostles time in regard that blessing which by this Ministry is conferred is to abide with the Church for ever viz. The benigne influence and assistance of the Holy Ghost When Our Saviour made this gracious promise at the first to his Disciples to give them the comforter he was to abide with them to the end of the world John 14.16 And I will pray the Father and he shall send you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of Truth And we shall find that when this gift was so miraculously bestowed upon the holy Apostles at the day of Penticost insomuch that those who were Eye-witnesses were strangly amazed and marvelled to hear them speaking in divers languages at that very same time St. Peter to take off the strangeness of the wonder and the envy of the power tels them in plain terms that upon condition they would Repent and be baptized they should every one of them receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost not the meanest the most inconsiderable amongst them but should receive that great thing which they observed in them and not only themselves but their Children also For the promise is to you and to your Children and to all that are afar off even to as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2.38 39. Now it is very unreasonable to suppose that the Rite which is partly moral and partly ceremonial the first is prayer the other is laying on of hands that this should be transient only for a short time when as the promise it selfe is to continue for ever It cannot but seem very strange that a solemn Rite annexed to a perpetual promise should be transient and temporary The promise is of a blessing to endure for ever the Ceremony or Rite was annexed to the promise and therefore this also must be for ever And as this Ministry was to continue for ever so was it duly observed and actually practised by the succeeding Ages of the Church as the Reverent Bishop of Down in his Treatise upon this subject hath very learnedly proved And certainly next after the plain words of Scripture the universal tradition of the Church is the best argument for the probation of Rituals And what I have hitherto discoursed of the lawfulness of this Rite is certainly sufficient to satisfie every reasonable person of the necessity of it for that which is Authorized by no meaner a Person than the Eternal Son of God which was practised by the Holy Apostles was observed in the purest ages of Christianity and is a never-ceasing Ministry must of necessity both be lawful to be done and very meet and convenient to be retained in practise But in regard there is nothing more powerfully prevailes with mankind than their interests I shall in the last place in order to the proving the necessity of this wholsom Discipline and to encourage all to the due observation of it endeavour to manifest those great graces and excellent priviledges which are consequent to the worthy reception and due Ministry of it When Confirmation is rightly performed and worthily received it will be highly advantagious to us and will greatly promote the Spiritual good and interest of every Christian and therefore ought not by any means to be neglected And in this respect the Scripture hath spoken so fully plainly as is abundantly sufficient to prove that great blessing that waits upon us It is recorded by St. Luke in the Acts of the Holy Apostles that at the first ministration of this Rite they received the Holy Ghost that is according to the expression of the Holy Jesus to his Disciples when he commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem in expectation of the accomplishment of his glorious promise they are endowed with vertue from on high that is with strength to perform their duty to persevere in their Christian profession notwithstanding all the opposition of Satan and his accursed instruments So that this power from on high which is the proper blessing of Confirmation was expressed not only with speaking of Tongues and doing Miracles but it was effected in spiritual and inward strengths They were not only enabled for the service of the Church to speak in a languages for the benefit of all nations and to do mighty works to convince Gain-sayers but also they were endowed with courage and wisdom and Christian fortitude and boldness openly to confess the faith of Christ crucified and manfully to fight under his Banner against Sin the World and the Devil and to continue Christs faithful Servants and Souldiers to their lives end And if we do but duly consider how apt we are to erre out of the way of Gods Commandments to start aside like a broken Bow and what great opposition we meet with in running the Race that is set before us we shall find abundance of reason to make use of all lawful means to gain a greater measure and assistance of Gods good Spirit That Body of death which St. Paul so earnestly desired to be delivered from that old man of Sin our Rebellious Wills and Affections do fatally resist all good motions and inclinations within us This Law in our members is continually warring against the Law in our minds and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin that is in our members but when this Allmighty Spirit descends upon us he supplies us with such a measure of strength as enables us to mortifie all our earthly Members to keep them under subjection to vanquish all those proud lusts of the flesh which lead us Captive to the committance of evil But besides these inward we have also outward enemies the Devil and his accursed Retinue which bandy together their Forces to overcome us and draw us into their snares and Vassalage these exercise all their malice and cunning to provoke us to renounce our solemn Baptismal engagements and to walk in a down-right opposition to that duty our Maker expects from us When we are once engaged in a holy profession and have faithfully covenanted to forsake every evil practise that is unworthy this our high calling then is the time that our grand adversary fearing that he shall lose a prosellyte will violently oppose us he will make us promises as large as heart can either wish or desire nay he will not stand out for any thing rather than lose a Disciple he will out of design court us at an exceeding high rate telling us as he did our Saviour that all the kingdoms of the world with their glory are at his disposal so that nothing shall be wanting to compleat our desires that this world can afford will we but throw off the yoak of our dear Saviour and list our selves under his accursed banner
And we shall find these such prevailing temptations as flesh and blood cannot easily resist But when we are endowed with vertue from on high it will enable us both to discover his delusions and to resist his greatest force and fury That infinite power which at the first threw the Prince of darkness from his primitive estate of happiness and perfection is able to guard us from all his assaults that we may pass on cheerfully in the performance of what the Lord requires of us And indeed this is the principal blessing of Confirmation our spiritual strength hereby is augmented that new life which we receive at Baptism is now so heightned and improved that we are able to live the lives of good Christians and in a very good measure to perform what our Sureties promised for us So that Confirmation is the consummation and perfection the corroboration and strength of Baptism and baptismal grace for in baptism we undertake to do our duty but in confirmation we receive a new supply of strength for the doing of it in baptism others promise for us in confirmation we undertake for our selves we ease our Godfathers and Godmothers of their burden and taken it upon our own shoulders In Babtisme we give up our names to Christ but in confirmation we put our seal to the profession and God puts his Seal to the promise we enter then upon the actual performance of our Baptismal vow which includes the whole of our Christian duty and then it is that God poures down his holy Spirit upon us to direct and guide us in those weighty things that relate to our eternal peace so that in confirmation we receive an encrease of the Spirit of grace whereby we are strengthned unto battel prepared to recieve the desperate assaults and fierce encounters of our mercyless adversaries to which I shall only add what St. Cyrill argues from the descension of the holy Ghost upon Christ after his baptism whose words I shall set down as I find them quoted by the Bishop of Down When he was baptized in the River Jordan he ascended out of the Waters and the holy Ghost substantially descended upon him like resting upon like And so you also in like manner after ye have ascended from the waters of baptism the unction is given which bears the image or similitude of him by whom Christ was anointed that as Christ after Baptism and the coming of the holy Spirit upon him went forth to battel in the wilderness and overcame the adversary so ye also after holy Baptism and the mystical unction or confirmation being vested with the armour of the holy Spirit are enabled to stand against the opposite powers so that certainly were this excellent favour duely considered that attends confirmation it would be strictly observed by all those who in any competent measure intend their own eternal good and happiness But besides all this many benefits will accrue to us by performing our parts in confirmation that is by publickly in our own persons undertaking those solemn engagements that was by others made on our behalf at Baptism It is the opinion of a very learned person That there could never be a well constituted Church without this practise nor can we tell that men are not Heathens and Pagans and have not revoked their word unless they will openly acknowledge that they understand what they then did and will not stir from it VVill any man be ashamed saith the same Author to make such a profession and to tread in the way of Christs Church because it hath been of late disused or turned into another thing VVhy shouldest thou blush to own holiness to say before Christ's Church thou art resolved to lead a Christian life and renounce the Devil and all the ways of wickedness why shouldest thou be ashamed of thy Religion as if it were fit to be professed only in a private corner where none should hear thee VVhy should it be accounted a strange thing to protest love to God it is an honour and glory unto us that we may be Christians and so should we esteem it we should be right glad of an opportunity wherein we may do our selves so much honour as to tell the world that we are and resolve to be the real disciples and faithful followers of the eternal King of Glory We shall also find divers great benefits to ensue upon the renewing of our vow in the presence of the Congregation 1. This will be a means to make us more strictly and conscientiously observe the rules and duties of Christianity when we consider that we have acquainted the world with our good resolutions that they know what a solemn profession we have made to lead a virtuous and a Christian life in all godliness and honesty then we cannot for shame but practice what we have so openly professed our own credit will make us afraid to commit a sin against which we have so solemnly and publickly professed and we shall easily believe that every one will upbraid us with the breach of promise when they see us to act contrary to what we once told the congregation we shall hereby force the world to believe us false and perfidious not our words Master neither can we imagine that any person that understands his own interest will take our word or trust to our promise in any matter that relates to these temporal affairs when as we dare break those solemn promises upon every slight occasion every inconsiderable temptation that is offered that we make in the presence of God and a whole congregation so that our credit will ingage us when we have once made a publick engagement to stand by it not to shrink from it but to be diligent in the observation of every part of it Secondly This renewing our Baptismal vow in the presence of the congregation will be a soveraign antidote against the allurements of Satan neither can we have a better preservative against his force and fury than to tell him what we told the congregation that now we are resolved having passed our word for it that we will renounce him and all that appertains unto him and be Gods faithful servants to our lives end When we are able confidently to tell this bold tempter that we have no room to entertain him having engaged our selves in the face of the world to wage a continual war against him and also vowed Loyalty Fidelity to our eternal Maker we need not doubt but that this will drive him away from us and also for the time to come discourage him from making such frequent attempts upon us Neither will this only be a means to preserve us from the daring onsets of the Prince of Darkness but also it will very much secure us from the insinuation of his agents the prophane sons of Belial Wicked men certainly cannot have the conâ—â—â—ence to ask us to sin when we have so publiquely professed against it evill company will shun and avoid us