more restrain'd to Vocal Prayer than any other word that signifies Prayer in Scripture 'T is true we read Psal 28.2 Hear the voice of my supplication when I cry unto thee but the voice of my supplication do's not necessarily denote Vocal Prayer For 't is a Hebraiâ—â— and may signify no more than my Supplication or Prayer For so Gen. 4.10 't is said The voice of thy Brother's blood cries c. Now the blood had no real voice to cry with but cry'd just as mental Prayer do's In other places the word signifies both mental and vocal Prayer indifferently Psal 86.6 6.9 or Prayer in general Jer. 31.9 But suppose the word were alwaies us'd for Vocal Prayer yet surely the Promise of pouring out the Spirit of supplications intends a much greater good than the gift of extempore utterance in Prayer of which bad Men may have a greater share than the most devout And what is that greater good but the gift of Heavenly affections in Prayer If it be urg'd that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son crying Abba Father Gal. 4.6 and that we have receiv'd the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 and that these Texts prove us to be enabled to Pray Vocally by the Spirit and that therefore we ought not to Pray by Forms I answer 1. That if these words oblige us to cry Vocally to God by our own gifts then we are equally obliged in all our Vocal Prayers to cry to him in these words Abba Father because that is the cry which the Spirit enables us to make and the Text is every whit as express for one as for the other 2. I deny that crying here do's necessarily denote Vocal Prayer For how often do we find the word apply'd to things that have no Voice at all Thus the stones wou'd immediately cry out Luke 19.40 and the Labourers hire is said to cry to God James 5.4 And indeed crying to God has the same latitude with Prayer which includes both Vocal and Mental 3. Suppose that crying Abba Father by the Spirit signifies Vocal Prayer yet all that can be gather'd from it is only this that when we Pray Vocally we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to address our selves to God with assurance as to a merciful Father and this we may as well do in a Form as otherwise For if we never cry Abba Father by the spirit but when we word our own Prayers we can no more be said to do it when we join with a public Extempore Prayer than when we join with a public Form because we word our own Prayers in neither 'T is true the Scripture speaks of a gift of utterance which say they was given for Praying as well as Preaching but I answer that the gift of utterance was miraculous and particular to the Primitive Ages This gift saies Saint Chrysostom Hom. 24. ad Eph. c. 6. is that which Christ promis'd Mark 13.11 by which the Disciples spake without premeditation and what they spake was the inspir'd Word of God and this Gift no sober Dissenter will pretend to The Apostles began to speak with tongues as the spirit gave them utterance Act. 2.4 and the Dissenters may as well pretend to the gift of Tongues as that of Utterance they being both extraordinary But say they tho' all Men have not the Gift of Praying Extempore yet some have and therefore God requires such to Pray by their gift and not by a Form For he requires them not to neglect the gift 1 Tim. 4.14 but to stir up the gift 2 Tim. 1.6 and to Minister the gift 1 Pet. 4.10 and that having gifts c. Rom. 12.6 and if Men are obliged to exercise their gifts in general then they must exercise their gift of Praying Extempore in particular Now to these things I answer First That the gift bestow'd upon Timothy was the gift of Episcopal power which he is exhorted to exercise diligently For at the first plantation of the Gospel the Holy Ghost Pointed out the Men that were to be Bishops as the (f) Clem. 1 Epist ad Corinth Chrysost in Act. 13.2 Fathers testifie For this reason the gift is said to be given him by Prophesy 'T was given also with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery and these two circumstances prove that the gift was not the gift of Prophesying but the gift of Episcopal Authority bestow'd upon him by imposition of hands at God's particular Appointment And now I pray how do's this Text prove that we must use a gift of Vocal Prayer in our own words As for 1 Pet. 4.10 Rom. 12.6 I Answer 1. That there can be nothing in them against Praying by a Form for then they wou'd make as much against using the Lord's Prayer as any other Form 2. That the design of those Texts is to stir Men up to diligence in the exercise of those several Offices viz. The Office of a Bishop a Priest a Deacon and a Rich Man For 't is plain that the word Gift do's oftentimes signifie an Office and tho' it may be said that the relief of the Poor is rather the exercise of an Ability than an Office yet I answer that 't is properly the exercise of an Office because the very having Ability do's as much put a Man into the Office of shewing mercy to the Poor as if God had appointed him to it by a solemn Ordination 3. Supposing that by these gifts were not meant Offices but only abilities yet we are obliged so to exercise them That all things may be done to Edification for so the Apostle declares that those extraordinary Gifts that were pour'd out in the Primitive Times were to be us'd 1 Cor. 14.2 6 19 40. as 't is particularly plain by the instance of the Gift of Tongues vers 23 26 28. Now if we are not to exercise our gifts but as they tend to Edification then we must not exercise the gift of Praying Extempore any farther than it tends to Edification And since Praying by a Form in Public Worship do's as I shall afterwards prove tend more to Edification than Praying Extempore therefore 't is plain that we ought to suspend the use of the gift of conceiv'd Prayer Thus I hope I have made it appear that some Forms of Prayer are commanded in Scripture and that those Texts which are urg'd against the use of forms of Prayer do prove nothing against them and therefore I think I may safely affirm that the Scripture do's warrant Forms of Prayer I proceed now to shew that Antiquity do's the same This I shall do 1. by answering those Authorities which are objected by the Dissenters against the use of Forms in the Primitive Ages 2. By proving that they were us'd in those Ages by a short Historical Account of the matter of Fact 1. Then 't is objected First that Justin Martyr saies Apol. 2. p. 98. That the Minister at the Communion Pray'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
3. Some are offended with our praying against Sudden Death But why shou'd we not by Sudden Death understand our being taken out of this World when we are not fit to die For sometimes a thing is said to be Sudden to us when we are not prepar'd for it And in this sence can any good Christian find fault with the Petition But suppose that by Sudden Death we mean what is commonly understood by it that is a Death of which a Man has not the least warning by Sickness are there not Reasons why even good Men may desire not to die suddenly May they not when they find themselves drawing towards their end by their good Instructions and Admonitions make Impressions upon their Friends Companions and Relations to the bettering of them May not their Counsels be then more effectual with them than ever they were before And is it not reasonable to believe they will be so As for themselves may not the warning they have of approaching Death be improv'd to make them more sit to die than they were in their perfect Health In a word he that thinks himself to have sufficiently perfected holiness in the fear of God and not to stand in need of those acts of Self-Examination Humiliation and Devotion by which Good Men improve the Warning of Death which Mortal Sickness or Extreme Age gives them let him suspend his Act and refuse to join with us when we pray God to deliver us from sudden death· 4. Some are offended that we pray to be deliver'd By the Mystery of Christ's Holy Incarnation c. By his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion c. And by the Coming of the Holy Ghost Some say this is Swearing others Conjuring and I know not what To these I answer that when we say By the Mystery of thy holy Incarnation and by thy Cross and Passion c. Good Lord deliver us we implore Christ who has already shew'd such inestimable goodness towards us by taking our Nature into his Divinity to Die upon the Cross to be Buried to Rise again to ascend into Heaven and there to intercede with the Father for us and by sending the Holy Ghost to qualifie the Apostles for their great Work of carrying the Word of Salvation into the World I say we implore him who hath already done such mighty things for our Salvation and we plead with him by that goodness which he has already given us such great demonstrations of by those Wonders of Mercy that he has wrought for us that he wou'd now go on to deliver us by his powerful Grace from those Evils which we pray against And this is so reasonable so devout and affectionate so humble and thankful a way of praying that I am sorry that any who call themselves Believers shou'd be so ignorant as not to understand it or so profane and unlike what they pretend to be as to deride it To conclude I must confess that of all the Prayers in our Liturgy that are of humane composition I shou'd be most unwilling to part with the Litany It seems to be what it was design'd to be A Form of Prayer apt to excite our most intense and fervent desires of God's Grace and Mercy The whole office is fram'd with respect both to matter and contrivance for the raising of the utmost Devotion of good Christians and for the warming of the coldest hearts by the heat of the Congregation And in such a disposition it is most fit to express our Charity by praying for others even all sorts of men as distinctly and particularly as public Prayers will bear CHAP. V. Of Infant-Baptism BEfore I proceed to the Vindication of our Office of Baptism I think it is proper to justify Infant-Baptism which is practis'd by us and dislik'd by some of the Dissenters And that my Discourse concerning Infant-Baptism may be the better understood I shall take the liberty of premising a few things 1. That the Original of the Jewish Church consider'd purely as a Church is to be dated from the Covenant which God made with Abraham but that of the Jewish Common-wealth from the delivery of the Law by Moses For that the Jewish Church and Common-wealth are distinct things is plain because the Apostle makes this distinction Rom. 4.13 Gal. 3.17 And therefore 2. The way to find out the Nature of the Jewish Church is to consider the Nature of the Covenant made with Abraham upon which the Jewish Church was founded Now 't is plain from Rom. 4. 9th to the 17th and 9.6 c. Gal. 3.5 c. that the Covenant made with Abraham was a Spiritual Covenant made with him as the Father of Believers and with his Posterity not as proceeding from him by Natural but by Spiritual Generation as heirs of his Faith Hence saies the Apostle in the name of the Christians We are the Circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and have no confidence in the Flesh Phil. 3.3 and it is one God which shall justify the Circumcision by Faith and the Vncircumcision thro' Faith Rom. 3.30 and if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's Seed and heirs according to the Promise Gal. 3.29 Nay 't will farther appear that this Covenant was made not with Abraham's Natural but his Spiritual Off-spring if we consider 3. That the initiatory Sacrament into it was Circumcision For the Covenant is call'd the Covenant of Circumcision Acts 7.8 and Circumcision on the other hand is call'd the Seal of the Righteousness of faith Rom. 4.11 faith or faithful obedience being the condition of that Covenant which God requir'd of the Children of Abraham and which they promis'd to perform It also signify'd the Circumcision of the heart Deut. 10.16 and 30.6 Rom. 2.28 29. 4. As to the Persons to be admitted into the Covenant we have a very plain account at the institution of it Gen. 17. from whence it appears First that the Children of Heathens were to be circumcis'd See Exod. 12.48 49. which also proves that the Promise was made not to his Natural but to his Spiritual Children Hence in all Ages great numbers of Gentiles were admitted into the Jewish Church by Circumcision Secondly that persons of all Ages were to be Circumcis'd and that God was so far from excluding Children from Circumcision that he order'd that the Circumcision of them shou'd not be deferr'd beyond the 8th day God was pleas'd to be so gracious as to chuse the Children with their Parents and look upon them as holy upon their account This was ground enough for their Admission into the Church and for God to look upon them as Believers tho' they cou'd not make open profession of their faith The Faith and consent of the Father or the God-father and of the Congregation under which he was Circumcis'd was believ'd of Old by the Jews to be imputed to the Child as his own Faith and consent See Seld. De Jure lib. 2. c. 2. De Synedr lib. 1.
Society of Christians you please Which giddy principle if it shou'd prevail wou'd certainly throw us into an absolute Confusion and introduce all the Errours and Mischiefs that can be imagin'd But our Blessed Lord founded but one Universal Church and when he was ready to be Crucify'd for us and pray'd not for the Apostles alone but for them also that shou'd believe in him thro' their Word one of the last Petitions which he then put up amongst diverse others to the same Purpose was That they all may be One as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the World may believe that thou hast sent me 'T is plain this was to be a Visible Vnity that might be taken notice of in the World and so become an Inducement to move Men to embrace the Christian Faith Peace and Amity and a good Correspondence betwixt the several Members of which they consist is the only Beauty Strength and Security of all Societies and on the contrary the nourishing of Animosities and running into opposite Parties and Factions do's mightily weaken and by degrees almost unavoidably draw on the Ruin and Dissolution of any Community whether Civil or Sacred Concord and Union therefore will be as necessary for the Preservation of the Church as of the State It has been known by too sad an Experience as well in ours as other Ages what a pernicious Influence the Intestine Broils and Quarrels among Christians have had They have been the great stumbling-block to Jews Turks and Heathens and the main hindrance of their Conversion they have made some among our selves to become Doubtful and Sceptical in their Religion they have led others into many dangerous Errors that shake the very Foundations of our Faith and some they have tempted to cast off the Natural sense they had of the Deity and embolden'd them to a profess'd Atheism Therefore as you wou'd avoid the hardening of Men in Atheism and Infidelity and making the Prayer of our dying Saviour as much as in you lies wholly ineffectual you ought to be exceeding cautious that you do not wilfully Divide his Holy Catholic Church You are often warn'd of this and how many Arguments do's St. Paul heap together to persuade you to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace One Body and one Spirit even as you are call'd in one Hope of your Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all Eph. 4.3 4 5 6. And how pathetically do's the same Apostle exhort you again to the same thing by all the mutual Endearments that Christianity affords If there be therefore any Consolation in Christ if any Comfort in Love if any Fellowship of the Spirit if any Bowels and Mercies fulfil ye my Joy that ye be like minded having the same Love being of one Accord of one Mind Phil. 2.1 2. These vehement Exhortations to Peace and Concord do strictly oblige you to hold Communion with that Church which requires nothing but what is lawful of you They that have the same Articles of Faith and hope to meet in the same Heaven thro' the Merits of the same Lord shou'd not be afraid to come into the same Assemblies and join seriously in sending up the same Prayers and participating of the same Sacraments Besides the many strict Precepts and other strong Obligations which you have to this Duty our Saviour dy'd that he might gather together in One the Children of God that were scatter'd abroad John 11.52 And do you not then contradict this end of his Death in setting those at Variance whom he intended to Vnite Nay may you not be said to Crucify the Son of God afresh by mangling and dividing a sound and healthful part of that Body of which he owns himself to be the Head If indeed our Church did require you to profess any false Doctrine or to do any thing contrary to any Divine Command you were bound in such instances to withdraw from her but since her Doctrine Discipline and Worship are good and lawful you are indispensably engaged to join in Communion with her For as I said before and it cannot be inculcated too often Nothing but the Vnlawfulness of joining with us can make a Separation Lawful Let it pity you at least to see the ghastly wounds that are still renew'd by the continuance of our Divisions Be persuaded to have some Compassion on a Bleeding Church that is ready to faint and in imminent Danger of being made a prey to her Enemies by the unnatural Heats and Animosities of those that shou'd Support and Defend her Why shou'd you leave her thus Desolate and Forlorn when her present Exigencies require your most Cordial Assistance If the condition of her Communion were such as God's Laws did not allow you might forsake her that had forsaken him but since this cannot be Objected against her since she exacts no forbidden thing of you you ought to strengthen her Hands by an unanimous Agreement Since the Substantials of Religion are the same let not the Circumstances of external Order and Discipline be any longer an Occasion of Difference amongst us And so shall we bring Glory to God a happy Peace to a Divided Church a considerable Security to the Protestant Religion and probably defeat the subtil Practices of Rome which now stands gaping after All and hopes by our Distractions to repair the Losses she has suffer'd by the Reformation May the Wisdom of Heaven make all wicked Purposes unsuccesful and the Blessed Spirit of Love heal all our Breaches and prosper the charitable Endeavours of those that follow after PEACE Amen THE END