incumbent on all believers according to the Word of God to separate them selves from those that are not of the Church and to join to this Congregation in what place socever God hath constituted the same although it were contrary to the decrees of Magistrates and Princes even on pain of corporal punishment or death Wherefore all those who separate them selves from this Church or do not join with it act against the ordinance of God. XXIX Wee believe that it is requisite to search diligently and with a circumspect care to discerne from the Word of God which is the true Church since all Sects that are in the World now adayes do cover them selves with the name of the Church Wee do not speak of the company of Hypocrites who are mixed in the Church amongst the good ones without belonging to the Church thô outwardly they are in it but wee say that the body and Communion of the true Church ought to be distinguished from all Sects who call them selves the Church The marks to know the true Church by are these If in the Church there is a pure preaching of the Gospel If the pure administration of the Sacraments so as it is instituted by Christ him self is made use of If the Ecclesiastical censure is exercised for the punishment of sins In a word if the conversation is according to the pure Word of God rejecting all things contrary thereunto and holding Jesus Christ as the onely head By these tokens one may certainly know the true Church and none ought to separate themselves from the same And as for those that are of the Church they may be known by the marks of the Christians viz. by their Faith and when they have received the onely Saviour Jesus Christ avoiding sin and pursuing righteousness loving the true God and their neighbour not declining neither to the right nor to the left hand and crucifying their flesh with its deeds Nevertheless they may be attended with great weakness but they sight against it through the Spirit all the dayes of their life having continually recours to the blood death susterings and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ in which they have remission of sins through Faith in him As for the false Church she ascribes unto her self and her ordinances more power and Authority then to the Word of God and will not submit unto the yoke of Christ she administers the Sacraments not after such a Manner as Christ hath instituted in his word but she adds and takes away according to her pleasure She relyeth more upon men then upon Christ she persecutes those who live a holy life according to the Word of God and who rebuke her faults coveteousness and Idolatry These two Churches may easily be known and distinguished XXX Wee believe that this true Church must be governed according to the Spirituall policy which our Lord hath taught us in his word viz. That there must be Ministers or Pastors for to preach the Word of God and to administer the Sacraments as also Overseers and Deacons to make up together with the Pastors an Ecclesiastical Councel and by this means to maintain the true Religion and to procure a free course for the true Doctrine likewise that the Transgressors be punished and restrained by Spirituall means that the poor and distressed be also relieved and comforted according to what they stand in need of Through these means all things will proceed well and orderly in the Church when such persons are chosen who are faithfull and according to the rule which St. Paul preseribes in his Epistle to Timothy XXXI Wee believe that the Ministers of the Word of God and the Elders and Deacons ought to be chosen to their respective offices by a lawfull Election with invocation of the Name of the Lord and in good order as the Word of God teacheth Every one therefore must take care of intruding him self by undecent means but ought to stay untill he be call'd by God that so he may have a testimony of his calling and be certain and assured that it is of the Lord And as for the Ministers of the Word where ever they-are they have an equal power and Authority being all Ministers of Jesus Christ the one general Bishop and onely head of the Church Moreoever least the holy ordinance of God be violated or despised wee say that every one ought te have a speciall respect unto the Ministers of the Word and the Elders of the Church for their works sake and to live in peace with them without murmuring strife or dissention as much as possibly can be XXXII In the mean while wee believe although it may be serviceable and good that those who govern the Church do institute among them selves certain ordinances for the maintenance and supporting the body of the Church yet that they ought to take heed of departing from any thing which Christ our onely master hath ordered And therefore wee reject all manner of humane inventions and Laws which any might introduce in the Worship of God thereby to bind and compell the consciences Admitting of nothing but what may serve to the nourishing and preservation of Concord and Unity and to keep all in the obedience of God unto which the Excommunication is required according to the Word of God and the circumstances belonging thereunto XXXIII Wee believe that our gracious God having regard on our meanness and infirmity hath assorded us the Sacraments for to be seales of his promises and pledges of the kindness and grace of God unto us and thereby to nourish and sustain our faith having joyned them with the Word of the Gospel that so he might propound to our outward senses both that which he signifies unto us by his Word and that which he workes inwardly in our hearts assuring us of the salvation which he doth impart us For they are visible signs and Seals of an inward and invisible thing by which means God worketh in us through the power of the holy Ghost Therefore the signs are not invain or empty to be deceived thereby for Christ Jesus is the truth thereof without whom they would signify nothing at all Moreover wee are content with the number of the Sacraments which Christ our Master hath instituted being but two to wit the Sacrament of Baptism and that of the holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ XXXIV Wee believe and confess that Jesus Christ who is the end of the Law hath made an end by the shedding of his blood of all other sheddings of blood that might be made for the propitiation and satisfaction of sin and that having abrogated the circumcision which was done with blood hath instituted instead thereof the Sacrament of Baptisme by which wee are received in the Church of God and become separated from all other people and strange Religions that so wee may be fully addicted to him and bear his Mark and Ensign And it serves us for a testimony that hee will be our God and
suffered his blessed body to be nayled to the Crosse that hee might fasten upon it the handwriting of our sinnes and hath also taken upon himselfe the cursse due to us that hee might fill us with his blessing and hath humbled himselfe into the deepest pangs of Hell with soule and body on the tree of the Crosse where hee cryed out with a loud voyce My God my God Why hast thou forsaken mee that wee might bee received of God and never forsaken of him and finally confirmed with his death and bloodshedding the new and everlasting Covenant of grace and reconciliation when hee sayd It is finished And that wee might firmly believe that wee belong to this Covenant of grace the Lord Jesus Christ in his last Supper tooke Bread gave thankes brake it and gave it to his Disciples and sayd Take eate this is my Body which is given for you do this in remembrance of mee In like maner also after Supper hee tooke the Cup gave thankes and sayd Drinke yee all of this This Cup is the new Testament in my blood which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sinnes do this so often as yee drincke of it in remembrance of mee That is as often as yee eate of this Bread and drincke of this Cup yee shall thereby as by a certaine pledge and remembrance bee admonished and assured of this my hearty love and faithfulnesse towards you that whereas yee should have suffered eternall death I have given my body into the death of the Crosse and shed my blood for you and as certainely as you see this Bread broken before your eyes and this Cup given to you and yee with your mouth do eate and drincke the same to my remembrance so do I feed and refresh your hungry and thirsty soules with my body and blood to everlasting life Out of this Institution of the Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ wee do see that hee directs our faith and confidence to his perfect sacrifice which was once offered on the Crosse as to the onely ground and foundation of our soules that hee is become to our hungry and thirsty soules the true food to eternall life For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our everlasting death and miseries namely sinne and hath merited for us the quickening spirit that wee by the same which dwelleth in Christ as the head and in us as his members might have true Communion and fellowship and be made partakers of all his blessings to everlasting life and glory Besides that wee by the same spirit may also be united together into brotherly love as members of the same mystecall body as the Scripture saith One Bread is it so are wee one Body because wee are all made partakers of one Bread For as out of many graines being grinded one Bread is made and out of many Berries being prest together one drincke floweth so shall wee all who by a true Faith are ingrafted into Christ bee one body through brotherly love for Christ his sake who hath so exceedingly loved us and manifested the same one towards another not onely in words but also in workes and deeds Heereto assist us the Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit Amen And that wee may obtaine this let us humble our selves before God and in true Faith call upon him for his grace O Most mercifull God and Father wee beseech thee that in this ordinance in which wee celebrate the blessed memory of the most bitter death and passion of thy Son Jesus Christ thou wilt bee pleased to worke in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that wee may give our selves more and more with true confidence to thy Son Jesus Christ that so our broken and burdened hearts may bee fed and comforted through the power of the Holy Spirit with his body and blood yea with him true God and Man the onely Bread of Heaven and that henceforth wee may not live any longer in our sinnes but hee in us and wee in him and bee also really partakers of that new and everlasting Covenant of Grace no wayes doubting but that thou wilt bee our eternall and Gracious God not imputing our sinnes unto us but filling us with all good things for body and soule as thy beloved Children and Heyres Graunt also unto us thy grace that wee may take upon us our crosse cheerefully deny our selves confesse our Saviour and in all tribulations expect our Lord Jesus Christ out of Heaven where hee will make our mortall bodies conformable to his most glorious body and take us to himselfe to bee with him in all eternity Ans OUr Father which art in heaven 1. Hallowed be thy Name 2. Thy Kingdome come 3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven 4. Give us this day our daily bread 5. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us 6. And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glorie for ever and ever Amen Strengthen us also by this Holy Sacrament in the Articles of our Christian Faith of which wee make Confession saying with heart and mouth I Beleeve in God the Father almightie maker of heaven and earth ij And in Jesus Christ his onely begotten Sonne our Lord. iij. Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the virgine Marie iv Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hel v. The third day he rose again from the dead vj. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almightie vij From thence shall he come to judge the quick and the dead viij I beleeve in the Holy Ghost ix I beleeve an Holy Catholike church the Communion of Saints x. The forgivenes of sinnes xj The resurrection of the body xij And life everlasting Amen That wee may now bee fed with the true heavenly Bread the Lord Jesus Christ so let not our hearts cleave to the outward elements of Bread and Wine but let us lift up the same into Heaven where Christ our Advocate is sitting on the right hand of his heavenly Father whether also wee are directed by the Articles of our Christian faith nothing doubting but wee shall bee fed and refreshed with his Body and Blood by the power of the Spirit so certainly as wee receive this holy Bread and Wine to his remembrance In breaking and distributing of the Bread the Minister shall say The Bread which wee breake is the Communion of the body of Christ. And when hee gives the Cup The Cup of blessing wherewith wee blesse is the Communion of the Blood of Christ. During the Communion there shall eyther bee sung some Psalm or some Chapter read which may serve to the remembring of the Passion of Christ as Esa Chap. 53. Joh. 13. and 14. and 15. and 16. and 18. or the like After the Communion the Minister shall
There is no first nor last for they are all three one in truth in power in goodness and mercy IX All this we know from the Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures as also from the Operations of them and chiefly by those which we feel in ourselves The Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures that teach us to believe this holy Trinity are held forth in many places of the Old Testament which is needless to sum up onely to select them distinctly and judicially In Genes 1 26. God saith Let us make man in our image after our likeness c. and vs. 27. So God created man in his own image male and female created he them And Gen. 3 22. Behold the man is become as one of us From thence it appeares that there is more then one Person in the Godhead when he saith Let US make Man in our Image and he points at the singleness when he saith God created It is very true he doth not say how many persones there are but that which seemes obscure unto us in the Old Testament is very plain in the New for when our Lord was baptised in Jordan the voice of the Father was heard saying This is my beloved Son the Son was seen in the water and the holy Ghost made himself manifest in the shape of a Dove Likewise in the Baptism of Believers this form is instituted by Christ Baptize all Nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost In the Gospel of St Luke the Angel Gabriel speakes to Mary the Mother of our Lord after this manner The holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall over shadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. At another place it is said The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one In all these places we are fully taught that there are three Persons in one sole Divine Beeing and thô this Doctrine farr surpasses the understanding of man we nevertheless now believe the same through the Word waiting untill we shall enjoy the compleat knowledge and the fruits thereof in Heaven Further more we must consider the particular Offices and operations of these three Persons towards us The Father is called our Creator by his Power the Son is our Saviour and Redeemer by his Blood the Holy Ghost is our Sanctifier by his dwelling in our hearts This Doctrine of the holy Trinity hath alwayes been assented and maintained by the true Church eversince the times of the Apostles hitherto against the Jewes Mahumetans and some false Christians and Hereticks as Marcion Manes Praxeas Sabellius Samosatenus Arrius and some others who have justly been condemned by the holy Fathers Therefore in this point we do willingly receive the three Symbols of the Faith viz that of the Apostles of Nicea and of Athanasius and also that which conformable there unto is agreed upon by the Ancients X. We beleeve that Jesus Christ according to his divine Nature is the onely begotten Son of God born from eternity not made nor created for then he should be a Creature but coessential with the Father also coeternall the express image of his Fathers substance and the brightness of his Glory equal with him in all things Who is the Son of God not onely from the time that he hath taken upon him our nature but from all eternity as these Testimonies teach us when compared together Moses saith that God hath created the World and St. John saith that all things are created by that Word which he calles God the Apostle saith that God has made the times by his Son also that God created all things through Jesus Christ then consequently he that is called God the Word the Son and Jesus Christ must needs have been before if so be that all things are created by him And therefore saith the Prophet Micah His goings forth have been from of old from everlasting and the Apostle That he hath neither beginning of dayes nor end of life Then he is the true everlasting God the omnipotent whom we adore worship and serve XI We believe and confess also that the holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son from everlasting not being made nor created nor born but onely proceeding from both who is in order the third Person of the Trinity coessential and equal in Majesty and glory with the Father and the Son being true and eternal God as the holy Scriptures do teach us XII We believe that the Father by his Word that is by his Son hath created out of nothing the Heaven the Earth and all Creatures when it seemed good unto him giving unto every Creature its beeing shape and form and severall offices to serve his Creator that he doth also up hold and govern them according to his eternal providence and infinite power for the service of mankind that so Man may serve his God. He hath also created the Angels good for to be his Messengers and Ministers unto his elected some of which are fallen from that Excellency in which God created them into everlasting destruction and others have kept steadfast by the Grace of God in their primitive state The Devils and evil spirits are so farr corrupted that they are become enemies unto God and every good thing laying in wait to the utmost off their power like robbers and murtherers for the Church and every member thereof for to spoil and destroy all by their deceit And so they are condemned by their own wickedness unto eternal damnation daily expecting their horrible torments Therefore we reject and abhor the error of the Sadducees who denied the existency of Spirits and Angels as also the error of the Manichees who affirm that the original of the Devils is out of them selves inasmuch that they are evil by their own nature without having been corrupted XIII We believe that the same good God after having created all things hath not dismist them nor given them up to Chance or Fortune but governs and rules them according to his holy will not suffering any thing to fall out in this World without his direction nevertheless God is neither Author nor guilty of any sin that is committed For his Power and goodness is so large and incomprehensible that he operates and acts all his works justly even then when the Devils and the wicked do act injustly And as to his acting of any thing which surpasses the understanding of men we will not be to nice in searching any further then our capacity will admit but we do humbly adore with all due respect and humility the righteous Judgements of God which are hid from us contenting our selves that we are Disciples of Christ onely for to learn those things which
body And although he fastened immortality upon it by his Resurrection yet he hath not changed the reality of his humane nature because our salvation and resurrection also depends from the reality of his body But these two natures are united so close in one person that they have not been separated even by his death Therefore that which at his dying he committed in the hands of his Father was a real Humane Spirit departing from his body nevertheless the divine nature was alwayes united with the humane even when he laid in the Grave And the Godhead did not cease in him no more then when he was a little Child thô it did not appear so manifestly for a while Therefore we confess him to be real God and real Man real God for to overcome Death by his power and real man that by the infirmity of his flesh he might die for us XX Wee believe that God who is perfectly merciful and just hath sent his Son for to take upon him that nature in which the disobedience was committed that so in it he might give satisfaction for and suffer the punishment of sin by his severe sufferings and Death Thus God hath exercised his justice against his Son when he Laid our sins upon him and hath powred forth his Goodness and Mercy on us who were guilty and worthy of condemnation in giving his Son up unto Death through a perfect love and raising him up to our justification that so by him we might obtain immortality and life eternal XXI Wee believe Jesus Christ to be an everlasting High-priest with and after the order of Melchisedec having proposed him self in our name to the Father for to allay his anger with full satisfaction offering him self up unto the Cross and shedding his precious blood to the cleansing of our sins as the Prophets have fore-told For it is written that the punishment is laid upon the Son of God that we might have peace and be healed by his wounds that he was brought to death like a Lamb being reckoned among the malefactors that he was condemned as a malefactor by Pontius Pilate although he found him not guilty Thus he has paied for that which he did not rob and suffered though just for the un just both in body and soul feeling the horrible punishment which our sins deserved inasmuch that his sweat became like unto drops of bloud falling upon the ground He cryed My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Suffering al this for the remission of our sins Therefore we say right wel with Saint Paul That we do not know anything save Christ and him crucified we count all things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ we find all manner of consolation in his wounds and we have no need to seek or invent any other means to be reconciled unto God but this one sacrifice once offered up through which the Believers become perfect for ever This also is the cause why he was called by the Angel of God Jesus that is Saviour because he should save his people from their sins XXII Wee believe That for the attaining to the true knowledge of this Mystery the Holy Ghost kindles in our hearts a sincere Belief which embraces Jesus Christ with all his merits and owns him seeking nothing besides him For it must needs follow that either every thing which is required to our salvation is not in Christ Jesus or if all things are in him then he who enjoys Christ by Faith must have his salvation intirely Now to say that Christ is not sufficient but that there wants something besides him would be to gross a Blasphemy for hence it would follow that Christ was but half a Saviour Therefore wee have just cause to say with St. Paul that wee are justified onely by Faith or by Faith without works Yet to speak more properly wee do not mean the Faith to be that by which wee are justified for it is but an Instrument by which wee embrace Christ our righteousness But Jesus Christ imputing us all his merits and so many holy works as he has done for us and in our room is our Righteousnes and Faith is an Instrument by which wee are made partakers of all his goods which being become ours are more then sufficient to the absolving us of our sins XXIII Wee believe that our happiness consists in the Remission of our sins for Jesus Christ sake and that our righteousness before God is contained therein as David and St. Paul do teach us declaring this to be the happiness of man that God imputes him the righteousness without works and the same Apostle saith that wee are justified freely or through Grace by the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus And therefore wee do alwayes lay hold of this foundation giving all glory unto God and humbling and acknowledging our selfs to be such as realy wee are without boasting of any thing out of our selves or our own merits but onely relying on the obedience of Christ the crucified which is ours if wee believe in him being sufficient to hide all our Iniquities and to give us boldness to free the conscience from terror astonishment and fear to approach unto God without doing like our first Father Adam who trembling covered him self with fig-leaves And truly if wee were to appear before God relying upon our selves or any other creature though never so little alas wee would be devoured And therefore every one ought to say with David Lord do not enter into judgment with thy servant for no living creature will be justified before thee XXIV Wee believe that this true Faith being wrought in man by the hearing of the Word of God and the operation of the Holy Ghost doth regenerate and change him into a new man by which he comes to live a new life and is made free from the bondage of sin This justifying Faith therefore is so far from making man grow cold in an honest and holy life that without it they will never do any thing out of love unto God but onely out of love unto themselves and for fear of being damned It is therefore impossible that this holy Faith should be unfruitfull in man for wee do not speak of a vain Belief but of such an one which in the Scriptures is called a Faith that worketh by Love and stirreth man to the excercise of those works which God hath commanded in his Word Which works if they proceed from the good root of Faith are good and acceptable unto God because they are sanctified by his Grace in the mean while they are of no account towards our Justification For it is by Faith in Christ that wee are justified even before wee do any good works otherwise they could not be good no more then the fruit of a Tree can be good before the Tree it self is good Thus wee do good works but not for any merit for what could wee merit Nay wee are beholding
unto God for those good works which we do do and not he unto us since it is he that worketh in us both to will and to do according to his own good pleasure Let us therefore take notice of this saying which is left upon record When ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you say wee are unprofitable servants wee have done that which was our duty to do Yet wee do not deny that God rewards the good works but it is through his grace that he crownes his Gifts Moreover though wee act good works yet wee do not build our salvation thereon for wee can do nothing which is not defiled by our flesh and worthy of punishment and though it were otherwise yet the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject it So wee should always be doubtfull and floating to and fro without any certainty and our poor consciences be vexed continually if they did not rely on the merits of the sufferings and dying of our Saviour XXV Wee believe that the Ceremonies and Figures of the Law are ceased at the coming of Christ and that all shadows are finished wherefore the use and practise of them ought to be abrogated among the Christians yet the truth and substance of the same remaines with us in Christ Jesus in whom they are fulfilled in the mean while wee make use of the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets to confirm us in the Gospel and to order our life and conversation in all honesty to the Glory of God according to his will. XXVI Wee believe that wee have no acces unto God but by the onely Mediator and Advocate Christ Jesus the righteous who for this cause is become man uniting together the divine and humane nature that so wee might have acces unto the divine Majesty for otherwise our acces would be barred up But this Mediator whom the Father hath given us to interceed between him and us must not deter us through his goodness and cause us to seek for another according to our fancy For there is none in heaven nor in earth among the Creatures who loveth us more then Jesus Christ who thô he was in the form of God yet made him self of no reputation and took upon him the form of a man and a servant for our sakes and is made like unto his Brethren in all things Now if wee were to seek for another Mediator that might be favourable unto us whom could wee find that would love us more then he who laid down his life for us even whilst wee were his Enemies And if wee look for one that is mighty and majestious who is more conspicuous then he that sits at the right hand of his Father having all power in heaven and earth Who shall bee sooner heard then the welbeloved Son of God Therefore it is onely by a mistrusting that this practice was introduced of dishonouring the Saints instead of honouring them doing that which they never have done nor required but constantly and according to their duty rejected as appeares from their writings And it ought not to be objected here that wee are not worthy for it is not intended that wee should offer up our prayers on the account of our worthiness but onely because of the Excellency and worthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ whose righteousness is become ours by Faith. The Apostle therefore to take away from us this foolish fear or rather mistrust tells us that Jesus Christ is made like unto his Bretheren in all things that he might be a Mercifull and faithfull High Priest to purify the sins of the people For in that he him self hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted And to give us more encouragement to go to him he tells us Seeing then that wee have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession For wee have not an High-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like wee are yet without sin Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of grace that wee may obtaine Mercy and find grace to help in time of need The same Apostle saith that wee have liberty to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus Let us draw near saith he in full assurance of saith c. Item Christ hath an unchangeable Priesthood wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them What do wee then want more since Christ him self sayes I am the way and the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Why should wee look for another Advocate seeing it hath pleased God to give us his Son for an Advocate Let us not leave him for to take another or rather to seek for another without ever sinding him for when God did give him unto us he knew very well that wee were Sinners Therefore according to Christs commandment wee call upon our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our onely Mediator as wee are taught in the Lords prayer being assured that what ever wee pray for to the Father in his name it shall be given us XXVII Wee believe and profess one onely Catholick or universal Church which is a holy Congregation of true Christian believers who expect their salvation altogether in Christ Jesus being washed by his blood and Sanctifyed and sealed by the holy Ghost This Church hath been from the beginning of the World and will continue to the end of it as doth appear by Christ his being an everlasting King who cannot be without subjects And this holy Church is kept and preserved by God against the rage of the whole World although somtimes she may become very small and almost vanished in the eyes of men as when the Lord during the dangerous Reign of Achab had kept seven thousand men who had not bowed their knees before Baal Moreover this Holy Church is not situated in or bound or limited to a certain place or to certain persons but she is spread and seattered through the whole World being neve theless joined together and united with heart will and the same Spirit by the power of Faith. XXVIII Wee believe seeing this holy Congregation is an Assembly of those that are saved and that without it there is no salvation that none of what condition or quality soever ought to keep him self separate or to rely upon his own person but that it is the duty of all men to join and comply with it preserving the unity of the Church submitting them selves to the Instruction and Censure thereof bowing their neeks under the yoke of Christ Jesus and serving to the edification of the Brethren according to the gift which God hath assorded them as mutual members of the same body and to the better compassing of these ends it is a duty
he hath given the Magistrates the sword in their hands for a punishment of the wicked and a protection of the godly And their office is not onely to take heed unto and to watch over politick assaires but also to maintain the holy Ecclesiastical service for the hindring and exstirpating of all Idolatry and false worship for the throwing down of the Kingdom of Antichrist and the exalting that of Jesus Christ and to cause the Gospel to be preached everywhere that so God may be honoured and served of every one as he has commanded in his Word Moreover every one of what quality condition or State he is is bound to submitt him self to the Magistrates to pay taxes to give them all honour and due respect and to obey them in all things that are not contrary to the Word of God praying for them in their prayers that the Lord may guide them in all their wayes and that wee may live quietly and peaceably in all God liness and honesty And therefore wee reject the Anabaptists and other seditious people and in generall al those that do reject Magistrates and the higher powers and would subsert Justice introducing a communion of goods and confounding the decency which God hath instituted among men XXXVII Lastly wee believe according to the Word of God that when the time ordained of the Lord thô unknown to all Creatures shall be accomplished and the number of the elect compleated our Lord Jesus Christ will come down from heaven corporally and visibly as he is ascended with great Glory and Majesty for to declare him self a Judge both of the living and the dead appointing this ould world to bee burnt with fire and slames for its purification and then shall all men personally appear before this great Judge both Men Women and Children that ever have been from the beginning of the World unto the end being summoned by the voice of the Archangel and the sound of the divine Trumpet For all the dead shall be raised out of the grave and the Soules shall be joined and united with their own bodies in which formerly they have lived And as for those who then shall live they shall not dye as the others but be changed in a moment and from corruptible become incorruptible Then the Books of the Conscience will be opened and the dead shall be judged according to their deeds done in this World whether they be good or evil Nay men shall give an account of every idle word which they have spoken which hath bene accounted by the World but sport and pastime and then the hidden things and the Hypocrisy of men will be made manifest and discovered before every one And therefore the very remembrance of this Judgment is terrible and dreadfull to the evildoers and the wicked but very desirable and comfortable to the godly and Elect seing then their full deliverance shall bee accomplished and they shall there receive the fruits of their labour and troubles which they have undergone their innocency will appear to all and they shall see the terrible vengeance which God will execute against the wicked who have most cruelly persecuted oppressed and vexed them in this world They will be convicted by the testimony of their own consciences and shall be immortall but in such a manner that it shall be for to be tormented in the everlasting fire which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels On the contrary the Faithfull and Elected shall be crowned with glory and honour The Son of God will confess their names before God his Father and his chosen Angels all teares shall be wiped away from their eyes Their cause which now is condemned by many Judges and Magistrates as heretical and ungodly will beeknown to be the cause of the Son of God. And for a gracious reward the Lord will cause them to enjoy such a glory as the heart of men never should be able to imagine Therefore wee expect that great day with a great longing that so wee may fully enjoy the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. FORME For the administration of the Sacrament of Baptisme to Infants THE Doctrine of Baptisme consisteth of these three points First That wee with our Children are conceived and borne in sinne and are therefore children of wrath insomuch that wee cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heaven except wee bee borne againe This is signified unto us by sprinkling the childe with water whereby the uncleannesse of our soules is set forth unto us and wee are admonished to loath our selves and to be humbled before God and to seeke our cleansing and salvation out of our selves Secondly Baptisme doth signifie and seale unto us the washing away of our sinnes through Jesus Christ therefore are wee baptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost God the Father doth witnesse and seale unto us that hee hath entred into an everlasting Covenant of grace with us that hee hath adopted us to bee his children and heyrs and will provide for us all manner of good and keepe from us all evill or turne it into good When wee are baptized in the name of the Son the Lord Jesus Christ doth seale unto us that he washeth us in his blood from all our sinnes incorporating us into the fellowship of his death and resurrection that wee are freed from our sinnes and accounted just before God. In like manner when wee are baptized in the name of the Holy Ghost the holy Spirit of God doth assure us by this Sacrament that hee will dwell with us and sanctifie us to bee members of Christ applying unto us what wee have in Christ namely the washing away of our sinnes the daily reneuwing of our soules till wee bee presented at last among the rest of the Elect without spot to partake of everlasting life Thirdly Whereas in all Covenants there are contained two parts therefore are wee by God through Baptisme admonished of and obliged unto new obedience namely that wee cleave to this One God Father Son and Holy Ghost that wee trust in him and love him with all our heart with all our soules and all our minde that wee forsake the world crucifie our ould nature and walke in a new and holy life And if through weakenesse somtimes wee fall into sinne wee must not despaire of Gods mercy nor continue in sinne considering that Baptisme is a signe and seale of our everlasting Covenant with God. And although our children understand not these things yet may they not therefore bee excluded from Baptisme for as they are without their knowledge partakers of the condemnation through Adam so are they againe received to mercy in Christ as God speakes to Abraham the Father of all the Faithful and consequently to us and our children Genes 17. saying I will establish my Covenant betweene mee and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting Covenant to bee thy God to thy seed after thee This also