Jerom Dial. Orthod Lucifer and from the exposition Irenaeus gives of the 1 Cor. 3.2 where he interprets the Milk with which he had fed some of the Baptized Corinthians to be the first principles of Christianity Iren. lib. 5. cap. 75. and the holy spirit obtained by prayer and imposition of hands to be the Esca vitae the stronger food or meat of life of which as yet they were uncapable Quoniam infirmum adhuc inexercitabilem sensum erga Deum conversationis habebant 3. It must be presumed that they do not onely competently understand the Fundamentals of Faith the rule of their Manners and the nature of their Baptismal vow with all other things of absolute necessity but that they here make an open profession of them publickly owning their Faith to be Catholick and their renunciation of all Spiritual Enemies sincere their Vows and Resolutions fixt and permanent solemnly renewing that promise that was made in their name at their Baptism Rubrick of Confirmation ratifying and confirming the same in their own persons discharging their Sponsors their Godfathers and Godmothers from their former obligations and acknowledging themselves bound to believe and to do all those things which they undertook for them And all this is supposed to be done in the presence of God and his holy Angels the Bishop being here as our Saviours Representative Ep. ad Saym 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Teall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so Ignatius often stiles him and taking from each of them their several fealties and acknowledgments So that if they shall prove Rebels or Apostates after such solemn Dedications of themselves unto God after so deliberate a choice of their Religion and renewing their Baptismal Covenant the Font in which they were once regenerated will call them perjur'd the very Rayles at which they are to kneel will bring in evidence against them and their own Consciences without the necessity of another Judge will at last condemn them But if to all the presupposed qualifications they shall adde a good assurance and humbly address themselves to the chief Pastors of the Church that by their Prayers and impositions of hands they may be confirm'd in their Faith directed in their Manners and enabled to perform such worthy resolutions they need not question but according to their faith so it shall be unto them And this brings me to the second General of the Text viz. The wonderful Effects or Consequents of this duty 2 Gen. And they received the holy Ghost But before I treat of this I think it not altogether unseasonable to obviate an Objection viz. What need is there of all this adoe Does not the Church of England teach that we receive the holy Ghost at our Baptism that we are then made members of Christ Children of God and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is true we were at that time partakers of the holy Ghost and entituled to all those priviledges but the gifts of the Spirit at that time imparted were suitable to the state and capacity wherein we then stood remission of sins and the promise of the further graces of Gods Spirit an actual incorporation into Christs Church and a title to the Kingdom of Heaven was as much as at that time was necessary especially to Baptized Infants The Samaritans here in the Text had undoubtedly the holy Ghost communicated unto them and yet though they were adult persons it was thought necessary for them to receive from the Apostles Imposition of hands and by that a more abundant measure of the holy Ghost Their former sins whether original or actual were then remitted and an assurance given them if they dy'd in that state that eternal happiness should be their portion but here strength is given them against future temptations and their former title upon perseverance fully ratifyed and confirm'd And this is agreeable to what Melciades an excellent Bishop though of Rome in the beginning of the fourth Century hath taught us Ep. decret ad Ep. Hisp who in his Decretal Epistle to the Bishops of Spain the former part whereof does indeed savour of arrogance and being no way suitable to the modesty of that Age may be supposed spurious but the latter part of it being agreeable to Primitive Doctrine may be owned as genuine and that tells us Spiritus sanctus qui super aquas baptismi salutifero descendit illapsu in fonte plenitudinem tribuit ad innocentiam in confirmatione augmentum praestat ad gratiam quia in hoc mundo tota atate victuris inter invisibiles hostes pericula gradiendum est in baptisinate regeneramur ad vitam post baptismum confirmamur ad pugnam For says he As he that is by his General admitted a Souldier is not onely sign'd with a Military mark or badge but is furnisht with all necessary armour so this benediction is an arming of the Baptized Dedisti militem says he da ei adjumenta militiae To what purpose says that good Bishop does a Father bequeath a great estate to his Son nisi providere studeat Tutorem unless he likewise provides a Tutor or Guardian for him I will not say with some that at this time a Guardian-Angel is allotted to each person here confirmed I heartily wish it were so but I have no convincing reason to conclude it for should we positively assert what ever we think expedient we should soon erect an infallible Person or Society to secure our selves from all material errours However this I may safely assert with that holy Bishop and Martyr afore-cited Paracletus regeneratis in Christo Custos Consolator Tutor est The Holy Spirit is appointed to such persons a Keeper a Comforter and a Guardian Let us then in pursuance of the second General inquire into the great and stupendious effects of this holy Office I. And what they were upon the first ministration of it particularly here in the Text. Some are of opinion that the holy Ghost upon the Apostles Prayers and laying on of hands did visibly descend upon the confirmed Christians as he did on our Saviour after his Baptism and upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost others think it sufficient that upon the Apostles ministration of this Office the gifts of the holy Spirit were convey'd unto them Thus St. Stephen was said to be full of the holy Ghost The gifts that were convey'd were of two sorts ordinary and extraordinary The extraordinary were such as the infancy of the Church did then necessarily require such were working of Miracles speaking strange Languages prophesying of future events and the like which gifts as many of the present Samaritans were endowed with as the Apostles thought good to set apart and consecrate to the holy Ministry These were the gratiae gratis datae which at that time qualified them for the better discharge of their duty very proper to create Faith in the hearts of men and to gain the
Ceremony which abstractedly consider'd was neither good nor evil which might have been done or left undone pro libitu according to the pleasure or discretion of its Authors without any prejudice to the Church or violation of any Christian Law was used by our Saviour upon several occasions and practised by the Apostles in this and many other instances Now is it not much that our Saviour and his Apostles should be so ceremonious that they should offer to practise that at which the Consciences of tender Christians might probably be offended what had they no regard to the scruples that might possibly arise in the new converted Samaritans or could they not foresee what offences more enlightned Christians in after-ages would take at such legal worship such matters of indifferency in Gods service Neither of these can be imputable to our Saviour and no doubt the Apostles had a just regard to the one and by inspiration or rational conjecture did foresee the other but they well understood that not such indifferent things by them practised but the indiscretion of some and the malice of others would create those prejudices they might pity such persons as weak and wicked but this was not reason sufficient to deny the Service or Discipline of the Church its innocent and significant Ceremonies because there are sools or mad men that will either laugh or rayl at them That God did actually restrain the natural liberty of man before the Law was delivered nay before Circumcision was enjoyn'd is plain from many instances particularly from some of those seven precepts delivered by God to the Sons of Noah Gen. 9.4 which in themselves considered are of an indifferent nature and could not be esteemed by the Heathen Proselytes of Antioch to be what the Apostles called them necessary things Acts 15.28 had they not been made necessary to them by a former positive inhibition or at least at that time become necessary in respect of the end they aimed at the restraining our liberty in things indifferent being sometimes absolutely necessary in order to the peace and unity of the Church And as God before the Law did restrain mans liberty from several things indifferent so when the Law was to be abrogated our Saviour does however by a positive injunction tye us up to the observance of some indifferent things Nay he was so far from scrupling the use of lawful and innocent Rites that he adopted two Jewish Ceremonies into the Christian Doctrine the one from Baptizing of Proselytes and the other from the Postroenium of the Paschal Lamb neither of which was enjoyned by the Levitical Law St. Mat. 28.19 St. Mat. 26.26 and yet both of them appointed by him as the lasting and perpetual Sacraments of his Church By his indispensable enjoyning onely these two he did signifie his dislike of that burthensome variety which the Law and the traditions of the Elders requir'd but by appointing these two he did also shew that it is not unlawful under the Gospel to appoint Rites and Ceremonies so they be for order and edification And this our Saviour in many other instances did intimate unto us By a word from his mouth he might have infus'd his holy Spirit into the hearts of his Apostles but his infinite wisdom rather made choice to joyn with it that significant ceremony of breathing on them thereby signifying St. John 20.22 that he did at that instant immediately from himself convey the holy Ghost unto them And to come closer to our present purpose Had our Saviour been nice and scrupulous in such matters of indifferency the pronouncing his benediction on the children that were brought unto him had been sufficient St. Mark 10.16 he had never taken them up into his arms and laid his hands upon them using Ceremonis burthensome to himself as well as offensive to others I need not instance in that famous Council celebrated at Jerusalem by the Apostles Acts 15.28 nor need I recount the Apostles Canons collected by Clemens Romanus even those that are accounted genuine wherein their Christian as well as natural liberty was restrain'd and by which they consulted not the cavils and petulant humours of Gainsayers but the peace and safety of the Church Let it suffice that holy Scriptures do abundantly testifie this to be the constant practice of the Apostles when they thought it a good expedient for Peace or Decency Thus we find St. Paul to make an order not onely in the Churches of Galatia but in Corinth too 1 Cor. 16.1 that on the first day of the week collections should be made for the necessitous Saints at Jerusalem Now the Corinthians were generally rich and not unlikely sawcy and conceited as appears from the Epistles of St. Paul and those two genuine ones of the aforesaid Clemens and suppose any of them had objected against this order that Christ had freed them from the Law of ordinances that Months and Years and Days were not now to be observ'd that this substantial duty of charity might as well be performed on any other day as well as the first and therefore their Christian liberty ought not to be invaded what think ye would St. Paul have done in this case would he have receded from his Apostolical power and gratified the malepert humours of a few of those rich but scrupulous Corinthians undoubtedly he would not for an Order being once made upon mature deliberation by lawful authority if rescinded upon no other consideration but because every mans judgment cannot approve of or every ones humour will not comply with it opens a door for all Faction and Schism and quite unhinges the whole frame of Government St. Paul surely would have visited such persons with the rod and not in the spirit of meekness and have delivered them up unto Satan 1 Tim. 1.20 2 Tim. 4.15 as he did Hymeneus and Alexander for withstanding his word That common saying in the mouth of every late Dissenter viz. That God requireth the Heart of man and not his Hat St. Paul clearly proves to be a vulgar errour for he tells us 1 Cor. 11.4 That every man praying or prophecying which belongs to the people as well as the Priest having his head covered dishonoureth his head i. e. by such an irreverent posture during the Office either of Praying or Preaching dishonoureth Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 for Christ is the Head of man When the Apostles had Manacles on their hands Acts 16.25 and Fetters on their legs 't is likely they consulted their own ease in finding out fit postures for offering up their Prayers but when those impediments were removed and the shackles thrown off they bended their knees and lifted up their hands in their constant Devotions this being agreeable to the pattern our Saviour had given them St. Luke 22.41 Acts 21.5 Eph. 3.14 who in the garden kneeled down and prayed Thus St. Paul entring into the Oratory on the sea-shore kneeled down
the inward effects ought not to prejudice any considerative person against the power and efficacy of this Office Will some say How is it possible that upon so slight an action as laying on of hands and the Bishops Prayers so much strength against all Temptations so much ability to perform all acceptable Duties should be conveyed unto us 'T is true the meanness and simplicity of the Ceremony is apt to scandalize him who understands not the invincible power of God which oftentimes effects great and stupendious Works by light and improbable means here is nothing as in the Church of Rome of pomp and solemnity to attract your eyes and raise your admiration nothing but what the holy Apostles did practise and that in a very plain yet comely dress My Father said the Servant of Naaman if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather when he saith unto thee Wash and be clean Dispute not then the possibility or manner of its conveyance but since thou hast as much need of the Holy Spirit in thy capacity as the primitive Christians had in theirs fully perswade thy self that he will not be wanting to thy devout desires but as readily assist thee as he did them and will no more scorn to be invited down now than heretofore he hath been by Prayer and Imposition of Hands For if this Objection be of any force we may upon equal grounds be scandaliz'd at the two great Sacraments the visible signes whereof are altogether as mean and in themselves improbable Nihil adeo est says Tertullian quod tam obduret mentes hominum De Baptis quam simplicitas divinorum operum quae in actu videtur magnificentia quae in effectu repromittitur Others may again object that if Miracles did now as heretofore attend this Office they should then have reason to believe that great and valuable are the inward effects of it but since those are ceas'd they see not why this Office should not cease with them But in answer to this we must know that Miracles were not of the essence of this holy Office for if they had they would have been essential to other Offices which they did sometimes attend upon The Holy Ghost we find in a visible manner descended upon our Saviour at his baptism S. Mat. 3.16 and yet the Holy Ghosts visible descent never was lookt upon as essential to that Sacrament When St. Peter preacht the Gospel to Cornelius and his Companions we are told that while Peter yet spake those words Acts 10.44 46. the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word for they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God and yet the Gift of Languages never was imagin'd to be of the essence of Preaching So that we may with equal reason be scandaliz'd at those two great Offices and pretend that the internal Gifts of Gods Spirit do not follow the performance of those Duties because the external ones are wholly ceas'd Neither ought this to scandalize any That they do not meet with sensible alterations violent motions strong convulsions and tremblings for though sometimes the Spirit upon strong convictions may produce such effects yet here where a due preparation is suppos'd and not a dispossessing of Satan but strength against him is wrought such a violent commotion of the Spirits cannot be expected But the Holy Ghost comes here in a soft voice works gently and mildly upon the rational and intellectual parts of man and by degrees moulds and fashions him into the perfect stature of the Sons of God As we are not sensible of our natural growth how every day new accessions are made to the several parts of our body and yet that we do grow our senses do sufficiently evince so neither can it reasonably be expected that we should understand the mode of the divine operations and the way how such vital strength and nourishment is convey'd to our Souls although after a competent progress in the ways of Vertue we may safely conclude that we are grown in Grace The Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the Sons of God IV. Behold then the excellency the usefulness the necessity of this great Office an Office whose antiquity bears date with the holy Scriptures whose lawfulness the great Examples of our Saviour and his Apostles not to say any thing of the constant and uninterrupted usage of it in the Church for many Ages do vindicate an Office whose expedience and necessity of continuance the great ends and purposes for which it was instituted viz. the conveying the manifold Gifts of Gods Spirit do sufficiently evince an Office always accounted so sacred that our late Vsurping Presbyters never durst pretend to the actual exercise of it an Office from which baptized persons may expect such great and admirable advantages as far surpass whatever the Gift of Tongues could express or Miracles declare an Office whose good influences nothing can hinder but the bars and obstructions that our selves do set finally an Office which in no part of it lies open to any solid Objections even from the worst of Adversaries To conclude then this our long and as I am afraid tiresom Discourse let all be perswaded in their several Spheres to promote the honour of this excellent Work Old men and maidens young men and children of what state or quality soever let 'em be ready to entertain this blessed Spirit who is now as it were hovering over your heads and willing to come down into all prepared hearts And you that intend this day to be partakers of this great Mystery that desire this holy Comforter to descend from Heaven and take possession of your hearts you that earnestly long for the refreshing and strengthening Graces of Gods Spirit you who are now to engage with Principalities and Powers with the deceitful World and your own Lusts and come hither to be enabled to fight that good fight and to come off Conquerours Let me request you deeply to imprint upon your thoughts not onely the excellency of this Duty with the gracious effects thereof but especially that solemn profession that you are here to make the Covenant with God and his Church that you are about to renew the strict Obligations that lie upon you from thence of being pious and devout just and charitable meek and temperate For if you come prepar'd with such generous Christian resolutions as these you need not question but the Graces of Gods Spirit will by the mediation of this his principal Steward be conveyed unto you for which you have the same warrant as the judicious Hooker observes which the Patriarchs Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 5. Prophets Priests Apostles Fathers and men of God in all Ages have had for such their particular Invocations and Benedictions Address your selves then to the holy Altar with decency receive the Blessing with Faith and Humility turn not the Grace you are this day to receive into wantonness but treasure it up in an honest heart and let the fruits thereof be discernable in your lives then will you secure to your selves that seven-fold Gift of the Spirit which the Bishop with the Congregation will presently pray for The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly strength the the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and the Spirit of his boly Fear And for us of the Clergy as we have reason to glory in the number of our Catechumens and to magnifie the God of Heaven for this joyful fruit of our labours So let us be perswaded to continue this good Work that is so happily begun and by catechizing and wholsome instructions prepare the younger sort successively for the like Blessings This will engage his Lordship to continue his intended kindness in coming as it were to our doors though to his great charge to administer this Office and we shall all reap this comfort by it that the Children that are yet unborn will stand up and call us blessed And that this holy Office may have its desired effect that when the Bishop lays his hands upon them they may be filled with the Holy Ghost Let us All here assembled at the pronouncing of each Benediction unanimously say AMEN FINIS
by their hands we are abundantly strengthened against all spiritual Enemies in Confirmation from their hands we receive the holy Eucharist the benefits of our Saviours Death and the I ledge of his eternal Love from their hands if we fall under the censures of the Church we receive Absolution and from the laying on of their hands together with the holy Chrism a custom far different from what is now us'd in the Church of Rome the Primitive Christians were freed from their several bodily Distempers or at least from their hands they then received the symbol of Christs Body and Bloud as the last and eternal Viaticum of their Souls I should be infinite in recounting unto you all the Blessings which God by these his Servants was and is pleased to communicate unto men and that under this holy and significant Rite of Imposition of Hands Here then in this solemn Office of Confirmation great and unspeakable Blessings being to be convey'd and those by his superiour Servants the principal Stewards of his Houshold what fitter and more significant Rite could possibly be devis'd whereby to secure a Blessing to the one and Honour to the other than that which the Light of Nature hath affixt to Paternal Benedictions than what the holy Patriarchs before the Law did practise than what under the Law in several the like cases was enjoyn'd than what our Saviour did frequently use and to conclude than what humane Reason could not possibly invent any thing more plain and significant But will some say Was this all that the Apostles used and did the Blessings of God follow the Imposition of Hands onely No surely there was something else belong'd to this great Office and that of a higher and more valuable nature in it self than what is here mentioned We are told vers 15. that the Apostles when they were come to Samaria prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost Prayer is an essential part of the Divine Worship but Imposition of Hands is onely a decent and significant Ceremony proper and adapted to the present occasion Their servent and devout Prayers were the holy charms that invited the Spirit of God to descend from Heaven but Imposition of Hands must be acknowledged onely as a decent Rite made use of mainly to signifie that this Spirit would ordinarily come to none but by the mediation and ministry of those whom he had appointed 'T is very evident that Prayer was the main Duty and Imposition of Hands the principal Ceremony and this is All that we find here recorded concerning the nature of this holy Office Where then shall we find the holy Chrisin consecrated by the Bishop which the Church of Rome calls the Matter where stands recorded that jingling Sentence Signo te signo crucis confirmo te Chrismate solutis in nomine Patris c. which they say is the Form of their pretended Sacrament If you will find them you must search Pope Eugenius's Decretals to the Armenians with the approbation of the Council of Florence or if that will not satisfie you may consult the Council of Trent and the Roman Catechism which give a large and more plenary account of it but let me advize you not to search the Scriptures for it for there you shall not find the least tittle concerning it And yet 't is somewhat strange the Scriptures should be silent in a business of such importance to record nothing but Prayer and Imposition of Hands and to pass by the Matter and Form the two essential parts of a Sacrament seems to be an unpardonable omission in those holy Pen-men But you will find the mistake was not theirs this Sacriledge or holy Cheat must be imputed to the Church of Rome who ingenuously acknowledges that Loco illius manus impositionis datur in Ecclesiâ confirmatio i. e. if we may be so bold as to render it into its true English Prayer and Imposition of Hands is justled out and the holy Cross with sanctified Balsam and a kind of Charm at the end of it is got into the Chair and commenc'd a Sacrament Had the Romanists retain'd Prayer and Imposition of Hands not advancing it to the honour of a Sacrament but honouring it as a Sacramental completion which is as much as it will amount to and added the Cross and Oyl onely as decent and significant Ceremonies to attend upon it they had kept themselves within the bounds of modesty for the truth is Chrism was of very ancient use even in this holy Office together with the honourable badge of our Saviour's Cross as Tertullian who lived in the latter end of the second Century testifies in his Tractate De résurrectione carnis Caro abluitur ut anima emaculetur Caro ungitur ut anima consecretur Caro signatur ut anima muniatur Caro manus impositione adumbratur ut anima spiritis illuminetur Caro corpore sanguine Christi vescitur ut anima de Deo saginetur Where you see betwixt the two Sacraments he gives us an account of Confirmation and the three Ceremonies that did then attend upon it viz. The signe of the Cross Vnction and Imposition of Hands And St. Cyprian about the middle of the third Century mentions the signe of the Cross in this holy Office in his Epistle to Jubaianus Vt per nostram orationem ac manus impositionem spiritum sanctum consequantur signaculo Dominico consummentur So that it must be confest that these Ceremonies were of ancient use in the Church and had they been retain'd onely as such the more sober sort of Christians 't is likely would not have been offenâ—â—â— But for the Church of Rome to lay aside the Apostolical institution and to advance these extrinsick Ceremonies to the same honour with the holy Eucharist is a far greater crime than she committed in the Council of Constance where she onely denies the Cup to the Laity as resolving to keep them sober but retains the use of both kinds to her proper Representatives their Priests standing on tiptoe rather than leave the least drop behind them Here then you may plainly see the ignorance of some and the impudence of others who are Adversaries to our Church The ignorance I will not say the malice of our late Dissenters who alledg'd that this Office of Confirmation as it is us'd in our Church is a superstitious practice and no better than a Transcript of the Popes Decretals whereas if they are compar'd together they are as opposite as light and darkness their old Master Cartwright who first broacht this Scandal openly retracting it upon better information Here you may likewise behold the forehead of those who pretend to pay a great reverence to Antiquity who yet curtail one of the Sacraments with a Non obstante and to make amends for it adde five more as of equal dignity 'T would be matter of wonder that these things should gain so great a repute even amongst the
Gospel a ready entertainment Some that would vilifie this holy Office as it is now administred pretend that none but such extraordinary gifts were at this time conferr'd and that for the constituting of a Church and enabling them to propagate the Faith But how weak and frivolous this assertion is appears from the number of these confirmed Samaritans who in all probability were all that believed and were baptized and those v. 6. were the people with one accord from the least to the greatest v. 10. both men and women v. 12. Now is it likely that a whole City which according to its name was not onely for stateliness of Palaces but multitude of inhabitants august and venerable should be destined and set apart by the Apostles to the holy Ministry What kind of Church were they likely to found at Samaria where like a Dover-court all should be speakers and no hearers especially where so many women were permitted to tattle what a uniform body was this likely to be which should be made up of Eyes and Tongues and Hands and no other Members to secure it from being monstrous whereas St. Paul tells us The body is not one member but many and the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal The holy oyntment that was poured on Aarons head ran down his beard even to the skirts of his cloathing and these great effusions of the Spirit were extended though not in the same yet in a sufficient measure to the meanest of Christs members In Acts 2.41 we read of three thousand souls converted in one day and in Chap. 4.31 we find that the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the holy Ghost Here was an extraordinary confirmation and yet no extraordinary gists as we read of bestowed all that is recorded of the effects of this holy Spirits descent is this that they spake the word of God with boldness that they were endowed with a true Christian courage and magnanimity to profess the Gospel nowithstanding the greatest discouragements they met with 'T is not unlikely but that in answer to their Prayers v. 30. God stretched forth his hand to heal and signs and wonders were done by the Name of his holy child Jesus but that any such new gifts were then bestowed we have no ground from Scripture to affirm and that so many thousands should be miraculously impowr'd to preach the Gospel in our modern sense we have no reason to believe Besides those extraordinary Gifts bestowed upon particular persons for special ends and purposes there were the ordinary and internal Gifts of the Holy Spirit the Gratiae gratos facientes that were common unto them all and did render them acceptable unto God Such were the inlightning of their minds the inflaming of their affections the endowing them with meekness and patience with courage and comfort the inward assistances of this Spirit by which their Faith was strengthned their Hope confirm'd their Charity enlarg'd and all their good desires became vertuous habits and all their holy resolutions arm'd with strength for their performance The former sort of Gifts were of a temporary nature to continue no longer than the infancy of the Church then requir'd they were signa tempori opportuna adapted to its present necessities but the second sort of Gifts are proper to all Ages and therefore to continue till the dissolution of the World according to that of St. Chrys in his 13th Hom. on St. Mat. thus englished by a Reverend and Learned Prelate of our Church Bish Sparrow's Ration p. 311 In the beginning of spiritual and marvellous Dispensations outward signes appeared to confirm the new-preached Faith but now that the Faith is sufficiently confirm'd although such Miracles be not wrought yet we receive those inward Graces and Vertues which were signified and demonstrated by those signes Now those Signes were the Gifts by which Simon Magus was at first detected at Samaria and at last baffled at Rome by these the Wise men and the Scribes were silenc'd the Athenian Philosophers confounded and the honest-hearted both Jews and Heathens converted This was the demonstration of Spirit and of Power which the Apostles and their immediate Successours did exercise and yet they did not make the comers thereunto perfect They were Gifts highly admirable and stupendious in themselves and as desirable for their effects and yet as desirable as they were I can shew you out of St. Paul a more excellent way and that is the second thing propos'd viz. II. That the consequents of it now upon its present administration by Episcopal are altogether as valuable as those were that heretofore proceeded from Apostolical hands The speaking strange Languages was a gift highly advantageous to the Church in general but did not sanctifie the heart or create any inward Grace in him that had it Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not charity I am become as sounding Brass or as a tinkling Cymbal The working of Miracles was proper to produce Reverence in the Beholders and to command their assent to what should be delivered but though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have no charity 1 Con. 13.1 2. says St. Paul I am nothing Charity is the Bond of Perfectness the height and eminency of all Christian Vertues 't is that which actuates and invigorates all other Graces without which Faith would be dead and Hope would be presumptuous This intirely unites us unto God and makes us love our Neighbour as our selves This fixes our resolutions and arms us against all manner of Temptations This keeps us low and Infantlike under the most prosperous successes and buoys up our souls from under the hardest pressures This makes us humble and condescending to our Inferiours courteous and affable to our Equals lowly and submissive notwithstanding the greatest disappointments we meet with to our Superiours Finally to conclude this is the Holy Ghost in the Text I mean the complement and perfection of all his Graces that the persons now to be confirmed are to be filled with The promise of the Holy Ghost Acts 2.39 as St. Peter told the Jews was unto them and to their children and to all that are afar off afar off not onely in distance of place but in distance of time and relation and this promise though not of miraculous Gifts yet of what infinitely outweighs them the internal sanctifying Graces of his Spirit the fruits whereof are Love Joy Gal. 5.22 Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance that very Promise will on this day be perform'd and these Graces will now be communicated if they themselves do not put a bar and hinder the efficacy of this holy Office And that you may be confirm'd in the belief of this great truth let me request you to consider well the third thing propos'd viz. III. That the seeming disproportion betwixt the outward means and