Exaltation namely Resurrection Ascension and Glorification in Heaven ARTICLE V. The third day he rose again from the dead Tho' being a Christian I need no Proof of Christ's rising from the Dead yet to confirm my belief of so eminent an Article God has given me the Testimony of Angels of the Men that guarded the Sepulcher the many Apparitions of Christ after he was risen the Effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles the Miracles done by them in his Name So that I have just ground to believe and profess That the Body of Christ saw no Corruption as did the Bodies of the Patriarchs And because it was impossible he should be holden of the Power of Death I do believe that he did really rise again and that the very same Body and Soul of our Saviour which were separated by Death were by his own Divine Power reunited in his Resurrection And as to the time when he arose I have been taught and do believe That it was the Third day after his Death which hapned to be the First day of the Week Which Day we celebrate in memory of his Resurrection and which has immemorially been called The Lord's Day ARTICLE VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth c. I believe That Christ ascended by the same Power he rose And that this was no other Power than that of his own Divinity by which as an High-Priest of good things to come he once ascended visibly and locally into the Heaven of Heavens as the High-Priest once every Year entred into the Holy of Holies And the End of his Ascension was I believe to prepare a place for Believers and to receive them to it that where he is they might be also After Christ's Ascension into Heaven he took his Place at the Right-Hand of God Not that I think God who is a most absolute Spirit hath either Right or Left Hand but that this is spoken after the manner of Men who place those whom they will most honour upon their Right-hand And from Christ's being thus placed in Heaven I collect That he there took up his Abode in a State of Majesty and Power to shew that he was above all Creatures in Heaven and Earth and that he is exalted to be the King of Saints and Judge of Sinners the Prince of our Salvation and High-Priest of our Profession and that in him there was an Union of the Regal Power and Priestly Office when he sat down at the Right-hand of the Father Almighty So that by the former he is perfectly able to subdue all his Enemies and by the latter he doth ever intercede for and eternally save those that are his ARTICLE VII From thence he shall come to judge c. As I believe that Christ redeemed me by his death and passion and that by his Ascension he is become my Advocate and Intercessor with God so I believe that he shall come the second time from Heaven with great Glory to judge the World For besides the particular Judgment that passeth upon every Man immediately upon his Death when the departed Soul is set at God's Tribunal and examined of all its Thoughts Words and Actions I say besides this particular Judgment I believe their shall be a general Judgment when all shall be judged as well the Quick that shall be alive at that day as the Dead who shall then be raised up And that this last Judgment Christ himself as a Supream Judge shall pass the final Sentence and that the Saints as Assessors shall pass their Sentence of Approbation I believe too That I and all Men shall be judged of all things done in the Body whether Good or Evil And that upon the pronouncing of the Sentence the truly penitent shall pass to an Estate of Eternal Happiness and finally the Impenitent to an Estate of Eternal Misery ARTICLE VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost Having briefly declared what my Faith is in God the Father and God the Son I am next to declare what I believe concerning God the Holy Ghost And first I believe That without Faith in the Holy Ghost I cannot believe in God the Father nor in his Son as my Lord. For no Man can call God Father but by the Holy Ghost nor can any Man say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Whom I believe to be the Third Person in the Divine Being and therefore True God And that as he proceedeth from the Father and the Son which I believe he doth he is a Person distinct from both The Spirit in whom I believe is called Holy because in himself he is without all Pollution and sin and because he is the Author of all Holiness in me and all who truly believe in him So that all my Holiness is but a Ray or Effusion of the Holy Ghost which doth furnish my Heart with spiritual and saving Graces by the Work of Sanctification ARTICLE IX I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints After this plain Account given by me of the Articles which concern the Blessed Trinity I will now give the like Account of those that follow which respect such only as truly believe in and obey and Worship the Trinity in Unity and who are here called the Church Which I plainly take to signifie all those whom Christ hath called out of the World to be his peculiar People Over whom he hath a Sovereign Authority in regard of which they willingly and chearfully pay him Homage and obey his Law and Ordinances For by Church I have been taught to understand the Corporation and General Family of all true Believers which Family truly deserves to be called Holy in respect of its Head which is Christ who is Holy in himself and whose Holiness is imputed to all sincere Believers And who through the Grace given to them do labour study and endeavour to be Holy And the Church in this familiar acception I believe is Universal as well as Holy and that there are in all the Quarters of the World those who by Baptism are admitted into it and so made Members of Christ's Mystical Body who are guided by his Spirit nourished by the Word and Sacrament and who are obedient to the Rule and Government of the Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to their Offices And of this Society of Believers which constitute the Church some are in a state of War continually fighting against their own and Christ's Enemies but yet in daily expectation of Triumph and a Crown And these are called the Church Militant which is on Earth And some are in a state of Peace for having fought the good Fight of Faith and finished their Warfare they are entred into their Master's Joy And these make the Church Triumphant which is crowned in Heaven Now these I hold are not two divers Churches but the same Church under a different State and Condition For I believe the Church to be essentially but one And as Christ's Mystical Body the Church
other Appointed means but by a due receiving the Holy Communion The Young Persons Devotions upon his first Admission to the LORD'S TABLE Expostulation WIlt thou then O God vouchsafe me to partake of that which my Soul has so long thirsted after Shall I this day be admitted a Guest at that Divine Banquet from which my own unworthiness ought for ever to exclude me Wilt thou be so gracious to a miserable sinner as to accept of a renewing of the Covenant I made in Baptism after that by numerous ways I have violated and broken it Then Lord I will not absent my self but draw near hoping to be found in the number of those whom thou dost invite even of those who truly and earnestly repent of their sins who are in Love and Charity with their Neighbours who intend to lead a New Life to follow thy Commandments and to walk from henceforth in thy Holy Ways For upon these and no Terms else do I come to the Holy Sacrament which yet I dare not receive till with all Humility of Soul and Body I have prostrated my self and made Confession of my sins The Confession ALmighty God Father oâ— our Lord Jesus Christ Maker of all things Judge of alâ— Men I acknowledge and bewail my manifold Sins and Wickedness which I from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty provoking most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me I do earnestly repent and am heartily sorry for these my Misdoings the Remembrance of them is grievous to me the burden of them is intolerable Have mercy upon me have mercy upon me most merciful Father for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake forgive me all that is past and grant that I may ever hereafter serve and please thee in Newness of Life to the Honour and Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Prayer for Pardon FOrgive me O Lord whatsoever I have transgrest against thee from the time of my Baptism even to this very Moment whether against Knowledge or through Ignorance at home or abroad sleeping or waking in Thoughts Words or Deeds Whether occasion'd through the fiery Darts of my Ghostly Enemy or by the unclean Desires of my own Heart Have Mercy upon me and grant me pardon through Jesus Christ Amen Remember not the sins of my Youth nor my Transgressions According to thy Mercy remember me for thy goodness sake O Lord. Lord the sins of these my Younger Days are many the Breaches innumerable wherewiâ—â— I have ignorantly or foolishlâ— for want of Knowledge or Coâ—sideration offended against thee Lay them not I beseech thee tâ— my Charge but of thy owâ— free Mercy and Compassion to 〈◊〉 wretched sinner be thou pleased to be reconciled unto me anâ— seal the same to my Soul by thiâ— blessed Sacrament For thy Name sake O Lord pardon my iniquity for it is great I have many ways greatly sinn'd against thee and have no ground of hope for Mercy but only from thy free abundant Pardon which I know exceedeth my Sins and for which I am the more abundantly qualified by how much my state is more truly Miserable On the account therefore of thy Free Pardon to the greatest sinners so they be truly penitent I beseech thee be reconciled unto me who this day unfeignedly repent and turn to thee For Purifying the Heart ALmighty God unto whom all Hearts be open all Desires known and from whom no Secrets are hid Cleanse the Thoughts of my Heart by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit that I may sincerely love thee and worthily magnifie thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Lord give me Grace this day to receive the blessed Body and Blood of thy Son my most blessed Saviour into a Clean Charitable and Thankful Heart that it may perfectly cleanse me from all Dregs of sin that being made clean it may nourish me in Faith Hope Charity and Obedience with all other Fruits of spiritual life and growth in thee That in all the future Course of my Life I may shew my self such an engrafted Member into the Body of thy Son that I may nevâ—â— be drawn to do any â—hing thâ— may dishonour his Name Granâ— this O Lord I beseech theâ— eveâ— for his Merit and Mercy sake Amen For Self-Examination ALmighty God and most merciful Father give me I beseech thee that Grace that I may duly examine the inmost of my heart and my most secret thoughts that I may know how I stand before thee Lord I confess all my sins and my unworthiness to present my self at thine Altar But thou and thou only canst forgive sin and give true Repentance do both gracious Father and them behold I am clean to come unto thee Lord make me a worthy Receiver of that for which I come even Christ and Forgiveness of sin in Christ and that for his own Mercy-sake and thine Amen For belief of Christ's Presence without disputing the manner O Lord God hear my Prayers And while others dispute grant that I may stedfastly believe behold I quarrel not the Words of thy Son my Saviour's blessed Institution I know his Words are no gross unnatural Conceit but they are Spirit and Life and supernatural He hath promised me if I come worthily that I shall receive his most precious Body and Blood with all the benefits of his Passion without amusing my self then about the manner of receiving Him Lord make me able make me worthy to receive Him For grant me this Favour and I know I can no more die Eternally then his Body and Blood can again die and be shed Lord so wash and cleanse my Soul that I may now and at all times else come prepared by hearty Prayers and Devotion and be made worthy by thâ— Grace of this blessed Sacramenâ— the Pledge and Earnest of Eternâ—â— Life in the Merits of the same Holy Jesus who gave his Body anâ— Blood for me Amen Immediately before the sight of tâ—â— Bread O Lord God how I receive thâ— Body and Blood of my moâ— blessed Saviour the price of mâ— Redemption is the very wondeâ— of my Soul Yet that I do receivâ— them is my firm and constant belief At this time they are graciously tender'd to me and my Faith Lord make me a worthy Receiveâ— and be it unto me according to mâ— Saviour's Word Amen Looking upon the Bread and Winâ— say O Thou that sittest on high with the Father and art here invisibly present with us come and sanctifie these thy Creatures of Bread â—nd Wine and those by whom â—hey are to be received Amen As the Bread is coming to you say LEt thy Body I beseech thee O Lord Jesu Christ which was given for me preserve my Boâ—y and Soul unto Everlasting Life â—nd grant that I may take and eat â—n Remembrance that thou hast died for me and feed on thee in my Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving Amen As the Wine is brought say LEt thy
ought to be able to recite the Words of the Creed to have a competent Knowledge of their meaning and of the influence each Article ought to have upon my Coversation I will therefore first rehearse the Words thereof and then give you such an Account of their Sense and Influence as I have been taught by you I Believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose again from the dead He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life everlasting Amen Having thus rehearsed the worâ— of the Creed my next Task is â— give a short plain Declaration â— what I believe in every Article ARTICLE I. I believe in God the Father Aâ—mighty Maker of Heaven anâ— Earth In this Article I have beeâ— taught to believe that there is God and that he is an Eternaâ— Spirit whose Being is of himself and not from any other and thaâ— from him all things have their Being And I further believe Thaâ— this God is but One because he is the Infinite Independent and Omnipotent Cause which can be but One. I believe also That this God is the Eternal Father of Christ and that for his sake he is also my Heavenly Father and that being Almighty he can do for me whatsoever he will I likewise believe That in Six days this God created all things of Nothing by his Word for his Glory and that he still preserveth all things by the same Word of his Power ARTICLE II. And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. In this Second Article of the Creed I have been taught to believe in Jesus Christ and that he is the only Son of God and of the same Divine Essence with him That he is called Jesus because he is the only Saviour of Mankind and that he is called Christ or Messiah which signifies Anointed because he was anointed to the Three Offices of a Prophet Priest and King which Three under the Law were in an especial manner Anointed And I believe That all these Three met in Christ and that as a Prophet he doth instruct his Church outwardly by his Word and inwardly by his Spirit And I believe That as a Priest he made satisfaction unto God for the Sins of Mankind when he once offered up himself upon the Cross and that by the Sacrifice of himself he reconciled God and Man And further I believe That as a Priest he continually makes Intercession for me and all true Christians at the right Hand of his Father in Heaven and doth bless me in turning me from my Iniquities In like manner I believe That Jesus was not only Christ that is Anointed to be a Prophet and a Priest in the sense now declared but that he was also Anointed to be a King And that as such he doth govern and preserve his Church he erects and sets up his Throne in the Hearts of Believers He gives them Grace to subdue every rebellious Lust and habit of Sin that it reign not in them He conquers Satan and restrains his Power He overcomes Death and having received all Authority in Heaven and Earth he rules over all Men and all Creatures and that of his Kingdom there shall be no end So that to him belongs absolute Dominion over all and Obedience is due to him from all ARTICLE III. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary In this Article I profess to believe That when Christ was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh he was made in all things like to my self excepting Sin For that could affect neither his Humane Soul nor Body because in both he was most Holy as being conceived only by the Operation of the Holy Ghost and born of a spotless Virgin For Christ that he might be our Kinsman and capable to redeem us by paying our Debts in the same Humane Nature in which they were contracted it was necessasary he should be the Seed of the Woman And that he might plainly appear to be that Seed of the Woman which was promised it was likewise necessary he should be born of a Virgin who was of the Lineage and House of David All which I believe from God's Word was accomplished in the Blessed Mother of Christ ARTICLE IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate c. This is an Article that you have often told me I ought well to understand for it respects Christ's Death upon which the whole Hinge of my Salvation turns I find the History of it to be clearly and fully set forth by the Evangelists and as to the knowledge of it St. Paul valued it so highly that he desired to know nothing else but Jesus Christ crucified Now by my believing of the Crucifixion I confess that according to the Prophecies Christ suffered in his Humane Nature both in Soul and Body his Divine Nature being uncapable of suffering And that this hapned at the time when Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governour of Judaea who being addicted to Cruelty and sinful compliance condemned Christ to be crucified And as Moses lifted up the Serpent on the Pole in the Wilderness so was Christ lifted up on the Cross and by a painful ignominious and accursed Death did expiate my sin and redeemed me from all vain Conversation and from the Curse of the Law and gave me an Entrance into Heaven All which unspeakable Benefits are justly to be ascribed to the Blood of Christ because it was of infinite value as being the Blood of that Person who was God as well as Man And as I believe Christ voluntarily laid down his Life and that his Soul was really separated from his Body so I likewise believe that as a dead Man he was buried after the manner of the Jewish Nation namely that he was bound in Grave-clothes with Spices and laid the Grave with an heavy Stone rolled to the mouth of the Sepulcher All which were certain Tokens of his Death as being the usual known Rites of a Jewish Funeral I also believe That Christ being dead his Soul and Body remain'd in a separate condition under the Power of Death and that his Soul was reunited to the Body before it did putrifie in the Grave But as to the various Opinions about his Descent into Hell I think them either too high or too unprofitable for my research And as you have taught me so I believe that Christ's Birth Death and Burial or being under the Dominion of Death were the Three Degrees of his Humiliation answerable to which were the Three Degrees of his
has an Vnion with Him as being the Head of it so I believe there is a Common Vnion among the Members both those that are glorified in Heaven and those that in some degree are sanctified on Earth And this is called the Communion of Saints and is the first Priviledge of the Christian Church And by vertue of this all true Christians communicate in all Offices of Piety and Charity in doing good to one anothers Bodies and Souls And this they do upon the account that they have in common One God one Christ one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism one Hope ARTICLE X. The Forgiveness of Sins As the Communion of Saints genuinely ariseth from the Nature of the Vniversal Church so Pardon of Sins follows from both For none shall have their Sins forgiven but those who live and die in the Communion of the Church For unless I abide in this Ark I shall certainly perish Now Sin as I have been instructed is of two sorts the one Original which is the sin of my Nature the other Actual which is the sin of my Conversation The former I brought with me into the World the latter I commit while I live therein And both these sorts of sin deserve Eternal Death and can only be pardon'd by the Merits of Christ For sin being a Transgression of the Law of God it can only be forgiven by him whose Law it transgresseth For Remission of sins is the second Priviledge of the Church which is preached to all in the Name of Christ and sealed in Baptism wherein I believe my Original Sin is presently pardon'd and that my Actual Sins committed after Baptism shall be pardon'd if I truly repent me of the same Now this my Belief of the Forgiveness of Sins supposes that I believe That God graciously and freely without any Desert on Man's part gave his Son to die for the World and That for the sake of his meritorious Death he remits the Fault absolves from the Guilt and acquits from Punishment all truly penitent and believing Sinners And I do further believe That he imputes to them the Obedience of his own Son and his Righteousness and by means thereof accounts them just in his sight I believe That all who are justified and thus acquitted have Holiness in some degree according to the Condition of this Life Which Holiness tho' it cannot altogether discharge them from sin yet it doth not suffer it to reign over them So that a justified Person is not under its Dominion nor yields himself a Vassal to it but resists its Commands and makes it die daily And for the greater security of the Forgiveness of sins God hath committed to his Ministers an indispensible Power and Charge to preach Faith and Repentance as the Condition of this Forgiveness He hath likewise appointed them to pray and intercede and also to baptize for the Forgiveness of sins and to administer the Lord's Supper in memory of that Blood which was shed for the Remission of Sins And indeed all that God hath left in the Hand and Power of his Ministers especially tends to make Men capable of receiving what they believe namely the Remission of sins ARTICLE XI The Resurrection of the Body It was the Hope of the Fathers under the Old Testament as well as it is of Christians under the New That there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust And if it were otherwise Christians of all Men would be most miserable and all that I have learn'd and you have taught me concerning Christianity would be in vain But I firmly and truly believe That my Mortal Body shall be raised from the Corruption of the Grave by Vertue of the Resurrection of Christ And this my Belief is founded upon the Power and good Pleasure of God who both can and will raise from the dead the very same Body that died ARTICLE XII The Life everlasting The Enjoyment of Everlasting Life is the last Christian Privilege and that which crowns the rest And I have learned to understand by this Life the Enjoyment of all true Happiness in Soul and Body For I believe that the Faculties of the Souls of just Persons shall be perfectly enlightned and sanctified and that their Bodies shall live after the manner of Spirits and be exceedingly glorified And opposite to this Life everlasting I believe there is an everlasting Death which is the Portion of the Wicked And that as Life everlasting consists in the Fruition so I believe everlasting Death consists in the Loss of God's Presence and all other Comforts and is the enduring of the sting of Conscience and Torments of Hell for ever But as my believing all the Articles of the Christian Faith as they are summ'd up in that which is called the Apostles Creed supposes that I am to learn not only the Words but likewise the Sense of the Creed so it also implies that I should live like them that do believe for otherwise my consenting to the Truth of the Articles will stand me in no stead And therefore not medling with remote and learned Inferences I will draw such from each Article as are near and familiar short and edifying As for Example From my believing that God created me I infer I am bound to be obedient and subject to him By my believing that Christ redeemed me I think it my Duty to yield up my self to him as his Purchase and to be wholly disposed by him and employed only in his Service My believing Christ's Conception by the Holy Ghost and his Birth of the Virgin should make me diligent to fit my Heart for the Holy Ghost to overshadow and for Christ to be born in it My belief of Christ's Crucifixion should teach me to crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts and to destroy the Body of sin My belief of his Death and Burial should make me content to die for the sake of Truth being assured that if I suffer for Christ I shall also reign with him It should also keep me from being disheartned by Death seeing that Christ by dying hath taken away the Stinâ— of Death which is Sin and maâ— it an Entrance into Life My bâ—lieving the Resurrection of Chrisâ— should make me actually rise froâ— Sin to a New Life and utterlâ— to forsake my Sins as Christ diâ— the Grave to which after â— was once risen from it he returned no more My believinâ— Christ's Ascension and sitting â— the Right-hand of God shoulâ— teach me to set my Affections oâ— things above and not on thing on the Earth The believing Judgment to come should makâ— me careful so to walk as that may not be condemned in iâ— My believing the Holy Catholick Church and Communion oâ— Saints should render me mightâ— circumspect to preserve Charity which is the Bond of Peace and to avoid all things destructive oâ— Catholick Unity The Remission of sins which I believe should make me highly to esteem all those Ways and Means which
So that on the contrary I am enjoyned to keep my Body in Temperance Soberness and Chastity to preserve Modesty in Thought Behaviour and Apparel In the Eighth Commandment which concerns Man's Estate I am as I have been taught forbidden all defraudation or deceitful Stealth Oppression and violent Robbery Sacriledge or pillaging of God all Bribery and withholding other mens dues with all covetous desires And on the contrary I am bound by vertue of this Command to give to all their Dues to live in some lawful Calling and therein to be diligent to restore that which hath been stolen to give Alms to the Poor and to avoid the Company of all such as would entice me to break this Law The Ninth Commandment concerns Man's Good Name and forbids me to lye to raise or receive or to divulge any false or malicious Reports against my Neighbour It likewise forbids all groundless Suspicions together with suborning and encouraging of false Witnesses And on the other hand it enjoyns me to love and speak the Truth to preserve my own Reputation and when it is seasonable to vindicate my own Innocence and the Innocency of my Neighbour when I know either to be unjustly aspersed In the Last Commandment which especially respects Man's Desires I am forbidden to covet my Neighbours Goods of what nature or sort soever And I am required to regulate my Affections to restrain all sinful Desires to be content with my present Condition to learn and labour truly to get mine own living and to do my Duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased God to call me And now having given this account of the Ten Commandments I leave it to your upright Consideration whether my knowledge of them be fufficient to qualifie me for the Holy Communion The Obedience I owe to these Precepts is the next thing that importantly concerns me And here I openly confess that it is not in my power to obey God's Commandments without his special Grace but that if this be once shed in my heart it will enable me to obey them And when my Obedience is true faithful and sincere though mixed with much weakness imperfection and many sins yet if therein I live not wilfully impenitent I do unfeignedly believe God will accept and Crown it But I have been often taught that this special Grace of God cannot be obtained but by diligent Prayer Which you have told me is the Third General Branch of my Christianity and that it has for its Rule that Divine Form Christ composed and which from him is called The Lord's Prayer And this consists of a Preface six Petitions and a Conclusion Of each of which I will now give such an account as I have learned from you beginning with the Preface namely Our Father which art in Heaven Wherein I am taught to direct my Prayers to God as to a Father whom I ought to approach with holy Reverence and with humble Confidence that he will hear and grant what I pray for And to him only Prayers ought to be made because he only is every where present to receive them and every way able to grant what is prayed for The Six Petitions now follow whereof the Three first concern God's Glory and the Three last concern Man's Wants PETITION I. Hallowed be thy Name In this Petition I am taught to desire and chiefly to endeavour the glorification of God's Holy Name which Name in general signifies God himself and in particular all his Titles as Lord Jehovah c. next all his glorious Attributes or Excellencies together with every thing that has a peculiar relation unto him as his Word his House his Day c. So that in this Petition I pray That God would strike my heart with such an Heavenly awe that I may humbly reverence his great Name and carry such a respect to all things that relate unto him and his Worship as may manifest my honour to his great Majesty that my holy Profession be not blasphemed but glorified by my self and others PETITION II. Thy Kingdom come Divines tell me and I heartily believe That God has a Threefold Kingdom 1. A Kingdom of Power whereby he ruleth over all Creatures even his professed Enemies 2. A Kingdom of Grace whereby he ruleth in the hearts of his Children by his Word and Spirit 3. A Kingdom of Glory which is in Heaven And in a more eminent manner shall begin at the last Judgment when Christ as Man shall deliver up the Kingdom to God his Father When all the Saints shall be taken in to Reign with him And oâ— this Kingdom there shall be no end And in praying that God's Kingdom may come I desire that God would stablish his Throne and Rule for ever in my Heart And by the Power of his Grace subdue all those Rebellious Corruptions that exalt themselves against him That the Gospel may be settled where it is not received that all the Ends of the Earth may see the Salvation of Christ That he would hasten the coming of his Kingdom of Glory and so consummate and accomplish the Kingdom of Grace PETITION III. Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven I have been constantly Catechized to believe That the Will of God is either secret or revealed and that I am to pay Obedience to them both patiently submitting to God's secret Will and chearfully performing as far as I am able his Revealed Will as it is set down in his Word And as the doing of God's Will and not my own is the matter of my Obedience so the manner of my Obedience is the Example of the Holy Angels in Heaven who execute the Commands of God with readiness speed faithfulness and constancy So that in praying Thy Will be done c. I desire God to enable me by his Grace chearfullâ— to suffer God's Will in all hiâ— Afflictions and readily to perform it in all his Commands And that God would give mâ— of that Heavenly Zeal to his Service wherewith the blessed Angels are inspired that I may obey his Will with the likâ— Warmth and Chearfulness and that following them in their Obedience while I am on Earth I may be joyned with them to sing Eternal Praises in Heaven PETITION IV. Give us this Day our daily bread This is the first of the Three Petitions that concerns Man's Wants in which I am taught to profess my dependance upon God for this present life and every thing that supports it For by Bread I have been taught â—o understand all outward Comâ—orts necessary for this life and â—hat I am to pray that by direct â—nd honest means I may enjoy â—o much of this Worlds good as â—s convenient and agreeable for my present Condition and just Occasions And by saying daily I intimate my Contentedness with present necessaries and my purpose to continue daily Prayer for them And by thus Praying I cast my Cares upon God and declare that only from his Fatherly hand I expect
into all the several sorts of sins whereof yoâ— may justly suspect your self tâ— be guilty carefully looking into such which by reason of theiâ— abstruser nature are not so sooâ— taken notice of either by youâ— self or others and researchinâ— into the sorts and kinds of sinâ— you will find them all reducibâ— to those of Thoughts Speecâ— and Action XVIII The first sort of these sin those of Thoughts you mâ— learn from Gods own Observâ—tion Gen. 6.5 when he saw thâ— every Imagination of maâ— heart was only evil continâ—ally To which our Saviour had respect St. Mat. 15.19 when he said that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts And though the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there spoken of may reach further than Reasonings and bare Thoughts even to some subsequent Actions because they are said to come out of the heart and Mark 7.20 to come out of the man yet this excludes not ordinary evil thoughts thereby to be signified For these are doubtless the seeds and beginnings of all those wicked Contrivances Designs and Machinations which men act and are guilty of in the world XIX Thoughts indeed are of so vanishing and transient a naâ—ure so easily escaping your obâ—ervation and so apt to leave â—ou ignorant how therein you have offended that you have great cause to be signally diligent in their search Besides men are apt to imagine thoughts are not so evil as indeed theâ— are because Custom hath taughâ— them to say Thoughts are freeâ— Whence they vulgarly concludâ— they may think as they please without offence And had yoâ— only to do with Creatureâ— short-sighted like your self therâ— might be some ground for sâ— saying But being to deal witâ— God whose Law reaches youâ— Thoughts and forbids them tâ— be wicked you want no Reasons moving you to search hoâ— far therein you have offended and to repent thereof e're yoâ— come to the Holy Table Evil thoughts are the more immediate defilers of the heart they pollute the very spring 〈◊〉 all your Words and Actions and till the thoughts of you heart be cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit it will be no more fit to receive Christ in the Sacrament than the Manger was to lodge him at his birth XX. The second sort of sins you are to seach into are those of your Words which being spoken in earnest are Testifications of what is in your heart and nothing else but your thoughts made audible And though the inconsiderate make little account of their words deceiving themselves by fancying they are but wind yet seeing there is a day coming when all such as are idle that is wicked shall be accounted for by God in bestowing Rewards and Punishments upon men you have all imaginable reason to examine how you have sinn'd in your Tongue XXI Among the several wayâ— whereby your Words become sinful I shall reckon up a few leaving the rest to your own observation XXII And first your Words are wicked when they are filthy All filthiness is so abominable to God as that he will not admit it in your very Tongue having by his Apostle commanded you to let no corrupt communion proceed out of your mouth Ephes 4.29 That you avoid all unclean discourse as you would putrid and rotten Meats which turn to contagion and instead thereof to use such Language as is wholsome profitable and instructive both for your self and them who hear you Otherwise your Speech will be so noisome that it will drive from you the Holy Spirit of God and leave you without the Soul and Mark of a Christian XXIII Next Words become sinful when they are scoffing and reproachful tending to the vilifying and disparagement of others To which the most Holy Jesus had respect when under the abusive and scurrilous words of Fool and Racha he forbad Division Scoffing with all such Language as might impair the Credit which wise men generally prize next to Life and often above it And when Christ forbad Reproach as well as Killing and requâ—red of all professing his Religion to be no less tender of the good Names than Persons of their Brethren he display'd tâ— excellency of his Doctrine shewing how far it surpass'd boâ— the Law of Moses and the Hithen Theology For though Mâ—ses in the Law to the Jews stricâ—ly commanded they should 〈◊〉 no Murder and that he who dâ— so was to be try'd for his life bâ— the Court of twenty three oâ— lesser Sanhedrim to whom belong'd the Cognizance of capâ—tal and greater matters yeâ— by what Christ superadds tâ— that precept in Mat. 5.22 iâ— may seem Moses had made nâ— provision against vilifying anâ— deriding Language And as to the Heathen Theology thougâ— in many instances it forbaâ— Murder yet it did not so to Calumny For when Minerva one of their Deities counselled Achilles not to draw the Sword against Agamemnon she gave him leave to rail against and revile him Hom. Iliad 1. But Christ will have your Tongue as free from contemptuous Language as your Hands from Violence and that you carry your self as harmlessly towards the Reputation as the life of your fellow Christian XXIV Words are thirdly egregiously wicked when they are false for Truth gives them all their substance and solidity making the Tongue answer the end for which it was given man namely to speak the truth in his heart and not to have one thing upon the Lip and another in the Mind which deceitful carriage though never so usual was ever thought so abominable that Agur earnestly pray'd God to remove it far from him Prov. 30.8 And the Apostle declared against it when he said Lye not one to another Making it a principal part of that Heathen course renounced by the Colossians to suggest or say any false thing to the injury of others Col. 3.9 or to use craftiness or any of the evil Arts of deceiving And the Divine Revel 22.15 excludes all who love and make a Lye all hypocritical treacherous persons from being any more than Equivocal Members of Christ's Church which instead of having any part of the benefits of Christians shall have their part in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21.8 XXV Words are fourthly eminently wicked when they run out into Oaths and Execrations which were utterly prohibited by Christ when he confin'd all Discourse among his Proselytes to Yea yea and Nay nay to serious and earnest affirmations and denials asserting that what else is used in ordinary conversation proceeds from an evil principle or that evil One the Devil who hath variety of Snares wherewith to catch Souls and intrap them in Idolatry Errour and Unbelief Such as is swearing by Heaven Earth c. as Christ instanceth St. Mat. 4.34 where all needless promissory Oaths are wholly forbidden When you therefore hear vain men replenishing their Discourse with Oaths 't will be no breach of Charity for you to conclude that this ill Custom proceeds either from a vain glorious humour delighting in big and swelling
Language out of an idle conceit that it is an argument of a great Spirit or that it comes of a want of Reverence to the holy Name of God or that men using such Oaths think others are like themselves namely so faithless as not to be believed without them And as to Execrations and Cursings of your self or others consider I beseech you what David hath said not barely by way of wish but also of prophecy in Psal 109.18 19 c. I shall mention no other ways whereby you may sin in your Speech 1. because all the fault thereof may be reduced to these four and 2. because men are more eminently liable to offend by speaking filthily reproachfully falsely or prophanely XXVI And having thus brought your Thoughts and Words to the Test you are in like manner to deal with your Actions in order to find out their obliquity and pollution And because every Christian is no less accountable for the good he has omitted when it was in his power than for the evil he hath committed when he might have prevented it You are therefore in the search of your Actions to begin with the things you have left undone which you ought to have done and then to proceed to consider the things that you have done which you ought not to have done The former are usually call'd sins of Omission the latter sins of Commission And here give me leave to tell you that besides a search into the sorts you are also to seek into the degrees of your sins For though sins consider'd naked in themselves and as bare transgressions of a Rule may seem to be all equal yet looked upon in the circumstances wherewith they are clothed some will manifestly appear greater than other And though no sin whatsoever can be said to be little every one being a transgression of that Law which God has appointed to be the Instrument of his own Glory and mans Salvation yet there are circumstances which raise even little sins into high provocations XXVII And you need no other Star to guide you in taking the degrees of your sins against God than the consideration of the circumstances by which you are to measure the injuries done to your self And I need not tell you how the harm a man doth you is the more hainous if he do it knowingly and willingly than if he did it ignorantly and against his mind Next when he doth it purposely and with deliberation than when he doth it suddenly and at unawares when he doth it in the heat of Passion and blindness of Zeal and according to his present sentiments than when he doth it contrary to the checks and resistances of his Conscience and the cool dictates of his Reason You likewise judge the injury more grievous and provoking the oftner it is repeated and you can with less trouble forgive a few than many faults You also find your self more sensible of the wrong done by him you often pardon'd and long spar'd whom by many benefits you have oblig'd and who has vow'd and promised to do so no more And in the last place it makes the wrong intolerable that it is become customary and that he that doth it can by no reproof threatning exhortation advice or punishment be diverted but that notwithstanding all means used to the contrary he goes on and takes pleasure to trespass against you XXVIII But these and the like circumstances you find the injury aggravated that is done against your self and by application you may also conclude how your sins against God become aggravated Whom you may find you have too often offended knowingly deliberately against the checks and motions of your own Conscience after vows and promises of amendment after the private admonitions of Friends the publick exhortations of the Ministry the menaces and promises of the Word XXIX And when you have thus proceeded in the search both of the kinds and degrees of your sins you are to know that the end of all this unpleasing travel is to bring you to Repentance To which you can want no motives when you apprehend that by your sins you have incurr'd his displeasure who is a consuming fire and as an impartial Judge will render to every man according to his deeds And were your heart never so hardned it will melt at the apprehensions of those misdoings by which you may perhaps have incensed Gods Mercy as well aâ— Justice and set his bowels nâ— less than his hand against you Sins in Scripture you know are call'd debts which you arâ— altogether unable by any otheâ— way to discharge but by Repentance A Duty though aâ— all times yet now in an especiaâ— manner required of you wheâ— you come to the Sacramenâ— And Repentance being the surâ— and abridgement of all the Duties to be discharged by you aâ— your coming thither I shaâ— briefly mind you what it is 〈◊〉 wherein it consists XXX And not to trouble you witâ— the Opinions of Schools Fatherâ— Doctors and Divines you may find out the nature of Repentance toward God by considering what the Repentance is which is required by one man from another Where from him that has injured you you expect no less than that he should confess how he hath offended you Next that he be sorry for having done so And thirdly that he make reparation and resolve to do so no more So that that which in Religion is properly called Repentance consists in Confession Sorrow Reparation and Resolution XXXI And first as to Confession of sins it is upon the account of common Ingenuity to be expected from every one who knows himself to be guilty Now that Confession which is valuable with the Almighty ariseth from an abhorrence of the iniquities you confess thaâ— thereby you have displeased God and worthily deserved his Vengeance And it runs througâ— all the sorts of sins whereof yoâ— know your self to be conscious Aggravating them with aâ— their heightning circumstances and comprizing your unknowâ— sins in David's penitent form Who can tell how oft he offendeth Cleanse me O Lord from my seâ—cret sins But if in Confessioâ— of sins you should be never 〈◊〉 particular yet if it be done witâ— any milder purpose towarâ— them than their utter destrâ—ction it will look rather like 〈◊〉 Inventory than a Confession a counting up the goods yeâ— have a mind to preserve rathâ—â— than an acknowledgment 〈◊〉 the sins you resolve to abandoâ— God forbid you should be evâ—â— so infatuated and befooled bâ— your own fancy as to imaginâ— the pure Eyes of God should be taken with the sight of your filthiness and obliquity or that you should think he is delighted in the Narrative of those iniquities whose committing he hath so strictly forbidden and doth so greatly abhor When you open your Ulcers unto God with any other intent than to have them healed their view will excite his indignation and not his pity When therefore you do not really intend to forsake the sins you confess you do â—n
After the Sacrament was celebrated there was one common Table for Rich and Poor whereat they did eat promiscuously and what was left was given to those in want And this I take was the Agape or Feast of Love mentioned by St. Jude and described by Tertullian Apol. c. 38. LX. And in proportion to this Custom when you come to the Sacrament you are to bestow something on the Poor that you appear not before the Lord empty and serve him of that which cost you nothing And though you are as to the quantity of your Alms left at liberty yet you had best to be merciful according to your Power If you have much give plenteously if you have little do your diligence gladly to give of that little for so you gather your self a good Reward in the day of Necessity In the Sacrament by a joynt communicating in the same divine Mysteries you attest to the World your being united to Christ your Head and to every true Christian as a fellow-member of the same Body And as Faith unites you to Christ so Charity also to his Members and by virtue of these two Graces the Sacrament seals the Communion of the Members with the Head and of the Members one with another But when you come to the Sacrament with Malice in your Soul you can have no true Communion with either but are guilty of the vilest Hypocrisie by making profession of that Christian or Brotherly Charity whereof your Heart is void and empty In this case I refer you once more to the counsel of our Saviour St. Matth. 5.23 24. where two things appear for your Instruction viz. 1. That though the Gift be already at the Altar it must be left there rather unoffer'd than be offer'd by one who is not at perfect Peace with his Neighbour 2. That he is not to neglect or quite put off the Offering of his Gift Tobit 4.8 but presently to remove the occasion of his not offering it aright LXI And when you find your Heart duly furnished with Faith toward God and the proper effect thereof Charity toward man you must once more go down into your Soul to see if it have that holy and heavenly temper called Devotion which is a Grace so sutable to the receiving of the Sacrament that it seems to make up the whole Office And if Devotion be not so warm and vigorous in your Soul as it ought and you would have it to be you must enquire into the Impediments thereof in order to their speedy removal Now amongst the fatal hindrances of Devotion the Cares of the World are with too great Justice chiefly to be reckon'd for they naturally fasten your Thoughts to the Earth and set your Affections on things below and are as so many depressing weights upon the Soul which unluckily keep her from those Transports of Devotion by which the would soar to Heaven And therefore upon your coming to the Sacrament you had need to allow your self some time wherein to withdraw from worldly Business and to cast off earthly Thoughts and by holy Meditation to lift up your Heart unto the Lord and to give your self unto Prayer which is indeed the principal instance of that Devotion now spoken of And your Prayer must at this time be chiefly for Pardon of by-past Sins for strength against them for the future and that God would grant you all those Graces which he now requires at your hands when you come to the Sacrament Be sure then to be diligent in this Duty for should your other Endeavours be never so vigorous and constant regular and uniform yet without Prayer for Gods blessing and assistance you appear to trust to your own arm and to rely upon your own strength not considering that all your sufficiency is from God that he gives you the Will and Power to do well and therefore unto him direct your Prayer with Humility Sincerity and Zeal to assist you with his Spirit that you may come so prepared to the Holy Table as that you may partake of the Benefits there reacht out to every worthy Receiver LXII Thus you see with what Graces your Soul must be furnished when you come to the Communion And if you find them to be but weak and feeble and in a low degree it must be your care to quicken and stir them up begging the assistance of Gods Spirit to that end And you may much quicken your Faith by due meditation on the many gracious Promises God has been pleased to make to the truly Penitent You may likewise instance your Love to God by considering his manifold Mercies those especially whose remembrance you celebrate in the Sacrament sum'd up in the death of his Son for your sake even when you in the Loyns of your Forefathers were his Enemy And this last consideration is both proper and powerful to move you to that Charity we have above treated of For coming to the Lords Supper you are in a more especial manner to follow the Example of Christ first in a perfect forgiveness of all that have done you wrong and next in manifesting your kindness to them in all Offices of Christian Love and Friendship And when you thus labour to stir up and increase these Graces in your Soul they become her Wedding-garment wherein she is fit to appear at this great Feast But if this be wanting she cannot expect to be otherwise entertain'd than an Intruder And what this is you have it illustrated in the Parable of him who coming to the Marriage without a Wedding Garment was cast out into a place of extream misery And though this Judgment may not fall suddenly nor straight upon your communicating yet you know not how soon that he that will come may come and who may abide the day of his coming For who can dwell with everlasting burning Ep. 33.14 Who can endure an unquenchable Fire LXIII But if after all your care in the Duties already mentioned you still doubt of your Condition and suspect the insufficiency of your Preparation for so holy a Performance if you find that notwithstanding your Resolution and Labour to the contrary you are ready to fall back into those Sins which you have confessed and lamented and abjur'd then you must confess Sorrow and resolve afresh resist and fight against both your Sins and their Occasions And if they still return you must still strive they get not the Victory which be sure they cannot while you labour in good earnest to have them subdued and mortified But if you still find the Law of your Members continually to war and often to prevail against the Law of your Mind and the Affections to prove too strong for your Reason and that this causeth you to be jealous you are not worthy to communicate Then be pleased to consider LXIV First That the end of your coming to the Lords Table is not to make protestation of your Righteousness and Perfection but to seek for both
kept so long for this speaks it your want of Will and not of Power and that it was not your Weakness but something else that moved you to leave the Road wherein you had walked so long a time with ease and safety XC Use makes hard things easie the chief if not onely difficulty in Holiness is want of practice and a being accustom'd to the contrary The ways of Gods Commandments neither waste the Spirits nor gall the Feet of those who use constantly to walk in them Let the like serious and holy Thoughts possess your Soul for the future that you have the day of receiving and continue to co-operate with that Grace God gives you at the Sacrament and I see not why your whole Life may not be all of the same piece and your Conversation continue as vertuous and well-govern'd after as it was at the time you came to the Holy Communion from which I will no longer stay you than with this hearty Wish That when you come thither to renew your Covenant in Vows and Purposes of better Obedience God may vouchsafe to assist you with his Grace and to strengthen you with his Power that you may pay the Vows you then make unto him and that by Virtue of the heavenly Nourishment you there receive you may grow up in Grace and Holiness till at last you come to be a perfect man in Christ Amen THE Communicants Assistant BEING A COLLECTION OF DEVOTIONS To that purpose A Prayer before communicating WHY should I O God who by innumerable wayes have offended thee why should I dare to come to thy Table which none ought to approach but obedient Children and faithful Servants But seeing thy fatherly Goodness this day doth invite me to receive the blessed Pledges of my Peace and Reconciliation with thee and seeing thy well-beloved Son whose Death I now with all Thankfulness commemorate doth call unto him those and only those who travail and are heavy laden to whom the remembrance of their Sins is grievous and the burthen of them is intolerable Finding my self in this number I know thou wilt not reject me Raise O raise up my Heart and Spirit unto thee Strengthen my Faith and help my Infirmities Grant me power to perform and to persevere in all those good things thou now requirest at my hands and grant that the whole course of my Life may be answerable to the present purposes of my Heart and bring me at last to the enjoyment of those Blessings which at this thy holy Table thou art pleased to propound unto me Amen O My God raise up my Thoughts unto thee increase my Faith Hope and Charity warm my Heart with the divine Fire of thy Love purifie my Conscience with the Spirit of Sanctification Grant this day I may with full affiance in thee receive the Pledges of thy Goodness and the Seals of that Covenant which thou hast graciously contracted with me by the Mediation of thy Son my Saviour O My God save and deliver me from all my Offences and at the end of my Life receive me into thy heavenly Kingdom to the accomplishment of all those things which are represented at thy holy Table Let my future Conversation be as one of thy Sheep living in thy Church an Example of Peaceableness Charity Humility Patience and Justice Give me a firm reliance upon thy Promises a holy zeal for thy Worship and a sincere obedience to all thy Commands Fill my Heart with spiritual Joy keep me from the immoderate Cares of the World and among all disquiets here give me that Peace which the World can neither give nor take away from me For forgiveness of Sins FOrgive me my Sins O Lord forgive me the Sins of my Youth and the Sins of mine Age the Sins of my Soul and the Sins of my Body my secret and my whispering Sins my presumptuous and my crying Sins the Sins that I have done to please my self and the Sins that I have done to please others Forgive me my wanton and idle Sins forgive me my serious and deliberate Sins forgive me those Sins I know and those Sins which I know not the Sins which I have striven so long to hide from others that at last they are even hid from mine own Memory Forgive them O Lord forgive them all and of thy great Goodness let me be absolved from all mine Offences Amen PRAYERS FOR The several things required of those who come to the Lords Supper 1. To repent them truly of their former Sins A Prayer for true Repentance TO thee O God all Hearts are open all desires known and from thee no Secrets are hid so that if I would I cannot conceal my Sins from thee And now that I confess my Sins unto thee it is not to inform thy infinite Knowledge but to obey thy gracious Pleasure and to make me capable of that forgiveness promised to all who confess their Sins With a sorrowfull Heart therefore I confess my Sins unto thee I accuse my self here before thee of innumerable wicked thoughts and desires which I have conceived form'd and foster'd in my Heart of infinite corrupt and evil Words that I have utter'd with my Tongue of many naughty and ungodly Deeds which I have wrought with my Hands by all which I have provoked most justly thy Wrath and Indignation against me but it is thy Nature and Property always to have mercy and to forgive the Sins of them that are penitent Grant me therefore Holy Father the Grace of true repentance create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Grant I may truly lament my Sins whose burden is intollerable and whose remembrance is so grievous unto me And for the future inable me to cease from evil and learn to do well to cast away the Works of Darkness and to put on the Armour of Light and to bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the Praise and Glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ my blessed Redeemer 2. Stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life A Prayer for Perseverance in good Purposes GRant O God that I may bring the good Purposes with which this day I come to thy Holy Table Grant I may bring them to good effect I know I am light and unconstant turn'd with every blast diverted by every allurement and ready to yield to every Temptation But do thou O God who art the same Yesterday to Day and for ever do thou graciously impart some of thy unchangeableness to establish my Understanding in Truth and to keep it from the Snares of all seducing Spirits that I may not be led away with the Errours of those who are cunning to deceive Fix my irresolute and wavering Will and cause it faithfully to adhere unto that which is good Let neither the Flatteries of the World nor of my own Heart so far work upon my Affections as to draw me from that intire Obedience which I resolve from this day forward to
that would make him a Client to the Saints and a constant Votary to the Blessed Virgin and his Guardian Spirit He that is well grounded in the Doctrine of the Second Commandment will never be induced to believe that the Image is to be adored with the same Worship that is due to what is worshipped He will be wary of admitting any bodily representations of the Holy Trinity and look jealously upon all the Doctrine of Image worship which he sees to be vindicated with a few remote and suspicious Distinctions devised by the Fathers of that Doctrine on purpose to maintain its Credit He that is throughly instructed in the Doctrine of the Third Commandment and hath thence been taught to tremble at and reverence the Holy Name of the Almighty will never be induced to believe that frequent Cursing and Swearing if customary is Venial or a Sin which is pardonable in its own Nature and for which the Favour of God cannot be forfeited That equivocating in Oaths is â—awful That our most Solemn Oaths may be dispensed with That the dreadful Name of God may be used in the unwarrantable exorcization of the Creatures That Understanding and Devotion are not necessarily required to our Invocations upon God He that has been throughly informed of the mind of its eternal Author in the Fourth Commandment will never give up himself to a Religion that prefers a Mans Day before Gods or a Saints Day before the Lords Which would alter the Institution of God himself as was designed by Pope Silvester who decreed that Thursday should be kept for the Lords Day He that hath well learned the Fifth Commandment must do great Violence to his Understanding before he can chuse to be of a Religion that loves to drink the Blood of princes That absolves Subjects from their Allegiance to their Lawful Sovereign That gives Power to a Vicar to depose Princes at Pleasure That Arms Subjects with Power to murther their King The like may be said of all the Precepts of the Royal Law of God which is the most perfect Rule of our Obedience and which we are Taught to violate so soon as we have given up our selves to Popery and to the Service of the Roman Moloch And though these are Mysteries which the Romish Seducers carefully conceal and sometime zealously inveigh against while they are compassing easie Proselytes with whom they deal in the most specious Pretences yet they have no sooner deluded them to give up their Names to Popery and thereupon to shake Hands with all liberty of judging for themselves than by degrees they let them know what is to be done And if they startle at doing what is commanded them this is presently censured for a Relick of their Old Heresie and that there was something wanting in their Conversion which cannot be supplied but by acting throughly all the most horrible Injunctions of their New Faith And by the same means of being well Catechised in the Lords Prayer a Man will be able to apprehend and reject the many Errors Popery would impose upon him in that high concern For thereby he will clearly perceive that Prayer ought be made to God only and that none to can share with him in that or any other part of Divine and Religious Worship And that for this reason he ought not to embrace a Religion which enjoyns him to pray unto Saints and Angels and that too not only to have them intercede to God for him but also to help him in his Necessities and to deliver him both in Bodily and Ghostly Dangers And that this may not be thought the fault of Rosaries Hours and Books of private Devotions for which the Church of Rome is accountable as having confirmed them by her Authority it is also the Tenor of her publick Service as is plainly to be seen in the Collects Hymns and Litanies of that Breviary which was restored by the Council of Trent and authorised by several Popes and which is at this day in uncontroulable use through all the Papal Dominions And we might also observe the like concerning the Doctrine of the Sacraments in which whosoever is once fully instructed according to the Catechism of this Church will quickly discern the Abuses thereinto introduced by Popery To mention no more than what belongs to the Author of a Sacrament which our Catechism asserts and which is an undeniablle Truth to be only Christ And therefore all those things are to be excluded the number of Sacraments that are not of his immediate and clear appointment And that Orders Penance Confirmation Marriage Extream Unction all Romish Sacraments are not of Christ's Institution is easily discernable to Men but slenderly versed in the Holy Bible and therefore not to be received for the Sacraments of Christ but Inventions of those who teach for Doctrines the Commandments of Men. Now by these imperfect intimations we may safely infer That those who have had their Foundation in Religion surely laid according to the publickly allowed Catechism of this Church must have other Ends to serve than those of Religion and drive other projects than Gods Honour and their own Salvation who forsake her Communion for that of Rome But to return What ever hath unhappily contributed to our Revolting to the one hand or the other from the Established Religion of this Church there is none that will deny but that the lack of a plain and solid Catechising has had therein a very large share And therefore we may conlude That the careful practice of that will be a chief means to restore Union and Peace the Omission whereof hath occasioned the contrary And indeed Catechising seems the only proper way not only to strengthen those that do stand but to raise up those that are faln if we consider how ineffectual all other ways have proved which have been managed to this end Which now come to be surveyed CHAP. VIII The Methods used for our reclaiming surveyed proving ineffectual c. AND here we need not be told how Indulgence and Clemency Acts of Amnesty and Grace have been so far unable so much as to work us up to a good Humour that like fresh Pastures to unruly Beasts they have only served to strengthen us for a sturdier resistance Nor need we be told of making Converts with the Churches Patrimony for though by this means some may be invited to bear the Ark of God yet they do it but like the Philistins Kine who were still lowing after the Calves they had left behind them It needs not be demonstrated that our frowardness and opiniastrè are not to be cured by such Methods But that which I would chiefly take notice of is that Disputation and Preaching which out of an agreeableness that they are generally thought to bear to our distempers and the powerfulness of their management have obtained a Name to be the only proper remedies But the continuance of the Malady is a convincing Argument that these are not so proper for