do for thee before I be taken from thee And why not after if the thing were so proper But Elijah gave no encouragement to this nor is there any instance of any Prayer made to him by the Jews though it was certainly known he was in Heaven Nor yet to any Angel to Gabriel or Raphel or any other though the Angels certainly were as much in Heaven then as they are now Jacob's Prayer Gen. 48. 16. was to the Angel that redeemed him that is to Christ who often appeared as an Angel to the Patriarchs before his Incarnation and is called the Angel of God's Presence Isa 63. 9. All the Instructions for Prayer which we have in Scripture teach us to have recourse to God alone Psal 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of Trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me Let any one shew the like Command to call upon the Saints and we will instantly do it Acts 2. 21. Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved But it is no-where said whosoever shall call upon the Name of St. Peter or St. Paul shall be saved Luke 11. 1 2. When one of his Disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray our Saviour gives this as the Model of all Prayer When ye pray say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Which sure none can speak to a Saint or Angel who acknowledg themselves our Brethren and our Companions in Service Rev. 12. 11. Chap. 19. 20. Rom. 8. 15. They that are the Children of God have received the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father And so Gal. 4. 6. For asmuch as ye are the Children of God God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our Hearts crying Abba Father That Spirit which is the Spirit of Adoption teacheth the Children of God to pray to God alone and that with humble Confidence as to a Father and all the Prayers that he forms in our Hearts are address'd to God as our Father So that that Spirit then that puts Men upon praying to Saints is another Spirit and not the Spirit of Jesus Christ And those that have not the confidence to address their Prayers to God whatever Spirit they are indued with have not the Spirit of Adoption All our Prayers and Thanksgivings are Spiritual Sacrifices but Sacrifices ought to be offered to God alone Psal 50. 14. Offer unto God Thanksgivings aâ—d pay thy Vows unto the most High. Hos 14. 2. Take with you words and turn unto the Lord say unto him Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so wâ—â—l we render thee the Calves of our Lips. Heb. 13. 1â— By him therefore viz. Jesus Christ let us offer the Sacrifice of Praise to God continually that is the Fruit of our Liâ—s giving Thanks in his Name 1 Pet. 2. 5. Christians are an Holy Priesthood to offer up Spiritual Sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ It is a vast knowledg that the Saints to whom we pray must be supposed to have For they must be supposed to know where their Petitioners are what they want and how truly and rightly they pray and this perhaps of Persons in a thousand places or more if they should pray all to the same Saint at the same time As for instance to St. Paul or St. Peter what if all the People in the World should pray to them at the same time as 't is possible and may be done upon Popish Principles then St. Peter and St. Paul must know the Conditions of all the Men in the World at the same time or to instance in St. Nicholas the Sea-man's Saint in the words of an excellent Author He must be supposed to hearken when he is in Heaven suppose to what one Sea-man prays in a Shipwrack at the Straits to what another wishes for when he is becalm'd in the South-Sea to the Cries of another who sees an Hurricane by the Barbadots to the private desires of another who fishes for Pearls in the Guiny-Shore or Herrings by our English-Coast or for Whales hard by Greenland or for Trouts in the small Rivers and he must be able to hear what thousands of Passengers who cry to him being ready to perish in as many places all at once and withal in these numberless Places and Exigencies what they both think and deserve in order to the returning of suitable Reliefs and Helps Is not this a vast Knowledg for a mâ—re Creature to have But we are well assured both by Scripture and the nature of the thing that 't is vastly above them and is what they have not And therefore to ascribe it to them what is it but Idolatry The Saints in Heaven do not hear our Prayers To Hear Prayers is made the peculiar Attribute of God in Scripture Psal 65. 2. Oh thou that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come For Psal 145. 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon him to all that call upon him in Truth But can any one say so of the Saints Their Essence is not infinite to be in all Places of the World near unto all those that cry unto them The Saints departed do not know our particular Necessities Eccles 9. 5 6. For the Dead know not any thing also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perish'd Job 14. 21. His Sons come to honour and he knoweth it not and they are brought low but he perceiveth it not of them He doth not know the Condition or Necessities of his nearest Relations Isa 63. 16. Thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledgeth us not Yet Abraham was now in Heaven into whose Bosom the Faithful pass Luke 16. 22. And God tells Josiah 2 Kings 22. 20. I will gather thee unto thy Fathers and thine Eyes shall not see all the Evil which I will bring upon this place He was not sensible after his departure of the publick Miseries much less the particular Necessities of his People If the Saints departed know our Necessities how do they know them They are not Omnipresent are they Or do they see all in the Face of God But 't is certain the Angels do not for they know not the Day of Judgment Mat. 13. 32. Besides if they see all things in the Face of God this is to make them Omniscient as God is and so to make them Gods or do they only see some things If they only see some things how shall we be assured that they see either us praying or what we want For who can tell but these may be some of those Things which they do not see Or do they only know all things that occur by the information of Ministring-Angels But how are we sure that the Angels themselves know all our Affairs tho they may know some wherein their own Comfort and Happiness is likewise concern'd as the Conversion of a Sinner which brings Joy in Heaven Luke 15. 7. This one thing
Grace to the outward Circumcision nor yet to the Water of Baptism The use of these Sacraments was not to work that Grace which they had before but to be a solemn Engagement to them to perform their part of the Covenant and to confirm the Promise of God to them And therefore we find also Faith required before Baptism can be administred Acts 8. 36 37. What doth hinder me says the Eunuch to be baptized And Philip said If thou believest with all thine Heart thou mayest Faith is pre-required before Baptism and therefore is not wrought by the Sacrament of Baptism We find indeed that upon the solemn profession of their Faith by their admission of the Sacrament of Baptism there were sometimes greater measures of the Spirit poured out upon some Acts 19. 5 6. But it was in consideration of their Faith which went before Baptism that these Measures of the Spirit were given to them Their Baptism was only a testification of their Faith Ephes 1. 13. After ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise So when Baptism is called the Baptism of Repentance it is not because Repentance was wrought by it but because it was a Sign and Testification of it and farther engaged to it We therefore also find that Justification and Salvation are every-where in the Scripture ascribed to Mens Faith and Repentance and not to the Sacraments as they would be if the Sacraments were the proper and immediate Causes of that Grace by which we are justified and saved Thus Rom. 1. 17. The Just shall live by Faith. And so Gal. 2. 20. I live by the Faith of the Son of God. And this Faith and so all Grace and Holiness is wrought by the Spirit by means of the Word Rom. 10. 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God And John 3. 8. As the Wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit God oftentimes in an imperceptible manner conferring his Grace and not confining it to the Sacraments So that the Sacraments do not give but only seal to us the Promise of Grace and Life 1 Pet. 3. 20 21. In the Ark of Noah a few that is eight Persons were saved by Water The like Figure whereunto even Baptism doth now save us But by Baptism I mean not the putting away the filth of the Flesh or that the outward Act of washing the Body serveth to this Salvation which God doth not lay on any outward Ceremony otherwise than as it is an Act or Exercise of our Faith and Obedience But the Answer of a good Conscience towards God in the Covenant of Baptism when a Person being ask'd doth really and faithfully engage and promise to believe in and give up himself to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and to renounce the World the Flesh and the Devil Baptism is but the celebration of this saving Covenant and it is covenanting sincerely that is the Condition of Salvation and washing is but the Sign As Rom. 2. 25. Circumcision verily profiteth if thou keepest the Law but if thou be a breaker of the Law thy Circumcision is made Vncircumcision So it may be said of Baptism with respect to the Gospel It is not any Sacrament in it self that gives Grace or Justification or acceptance with God but thereby the Benefits promised are sealed to them that perform the Conditions Thus vers 28 29. He is not a Jew whom God will accept and justify who is one outwardly only in the Ceremony Neither is that Circumcision acceptable which is only outward in the Flesh and therefore 't is not the external Sacrament which gives the Grace but he is a Jew justified and accepted of God that is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the Heart in the Spirit and not in the Letter or Ceremony whose Praise is not of Men but of God. The like may be said of the Christian and his Baptism So Gal. 5. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Vncircumcision nor the outward washing of Baptism neither but Faith which worketh by Love. 'T is this and nothing else that avails to the Christian's Salvation But if the Sacraments themselves did work Saving-Grace the same might be as well affirmed of them It is said indeed Rom. 6. 4. We are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised up from the Dead by the Glory of the Father even so we should also walk in Newness of Life The meaning of which is this that we by our Baptism enter into a Profession Engagement or Undertaking to give over all Sin and to live a new regenerate Life in conformity to the Death and Life of Christ This Profession was represented and signified by their going down into the Water and being as it were buried in it and then rising out of it again It is not Baptism which works this Grace of Mortification but that proceeds from our believing Reception and hearty submitting our selves to the form of Doctrine delivered to us by the Spirit of Grace in the Gospel vers 17. And it is by the Spirit that we are enabled to mortify the Deed of the Body Rom. 8. But Baptism testifies and represents our Profession and Engagement to do it It is said also Gal. 3. 27. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ his Spirit and Nature and are become his Members There being baptized into Christ signifies those that have sincerely consented to that baptismal Covenant of which the outward Baptism was a Badg and Profession It was not by virtue of their Baptism but by 〈◊〉 of their Faith which they professed in their Baptism that they became Members of Christ Vers 26. Ye are all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus According to John 1. 12. To as many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to them that believed in his Name So John 3. 5. Except a Man be born of Water and the Spirit c. It is the Spirit 's Regeneration which is asserted and which is only mentioned vers 8. But this spiritual Regeneration was represented by the Water of Baptism So Tit. 3 5. The washing of Regeneration that is Regeneration signified and sealed in Baptism or which is to the Soul as a laver or washing is to the Body to cleanse it from Sin. So Ephes 5. 25 26. Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctif◠it and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word It is the Regeneration it self which is there intended by the washing of Water which is said to be wrought by the Word because by the means of the Word we are cleansed from the filth of Sin as the filth of the Body is cleansed by the washing of Water But yet this Regeneration is signified and represented in Baptism and there all do make a profession of it ERRATA PAge 52. line 5. read Judiciously P. 67. l. 19. r. is directly P. 81. l. 3. r. what words P. 84. l. 3. r. beneficial P. 104. l. 30. r. God is said P. 118. l. 20. r. yet He. P. 123. l. 9. r. with them P. 140. l. 24. r. in to the understanding P. 145. l. 23. r. from these words P. 147. l. 21. r. rite P. 152. l. 16. r. even after P. 168. l. 32. r. throw on Advertisement of some Books lately printed against Popery 1. A Modest Enquiry Whether St. Peter were ever at Rome and Bishop of that Church 2. The Fallibility of the Roman Church demonstrated from the manifest Error of the Second Nicene and Trent Councils which assert That the Veneration and honorary Worship of Images is a Tradition Primitive and Apostolical 3. A Demonstration that the Church of Rome and her Councils have erred by shewing that the Councils of Constance Basil and Trent have in all their Decrees touching Communion in one kind contradicted the received Doctrine of the Church of Christ 4. A Treatise of Traditions Wherein is proved That we have Evidence sufficient from Tradition 1. That the Scriptures are the Word of God. 2. That the Church of England owns the true Canon of the Books of the Old Testament 3. That the Copies of the Scripture have not been corrupted 4. That the Romanists have no such Evidence for their Traditions 5. That the Testimony of the present Church of Rome can be no sure Evidence of Apostolical Tradition 6. What Traditions may securely be relied upon and what not The Second Part.
And vers 15. Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance Which seems to be done by his putting St. Mark to write this Gospel from his Mouth Thus St. Jude says That he gave all diligence to write unto them of the common Salvation and that it was needful for him to write unto them vers 3. And if it was needful for that Age it was much more needful for After-ages We may be sure our Saviour and his Apostles would have that done which was needful in their own Judgments for Mens Salvation And we are likewise assured by St. John that it is done fully as it was needful it should be done that nothing might be left to the uncertainty of Tradition John 20. 31. These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have Life through his Name He shows that the writing of these Things is needful to be a Foundation of right Faith to Men and that enough was written then in his own and the other Gospels and Writings which it is said he had seen to be a Foundation of that Faith in Men which is needful to their eternal Salvation So that no saving Truth was left to be conveyed by Tradition at all which yet does not argue the uselessness of what Books were after added as was said before 1 John 1. 4. These things write we unto you that you may rejoice and that your Joy may be full So that the Scripture giving us sufficient knowledg as to what concerns our Faith and Comfort in order to Eternal Salvation how can we imagine any deficiency in it but must needs suppose that it contains in it all the material Objects of Faith and Matters of saving Practice Or how can we depend upon Tradition as distinct from the Scripture which was ever so decried for uncertain mischievous and 〈◊〉 Therefore we conclude with our Church That Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation 〈…〉 whatsoâ—ver is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation Artic. 6. It is a sufficient evidence of the vanity and uncertainty of Tradition unwritten that amongst all the Sayings and Works of our blessed Saviour which St. John tells us were so many John 21. 25. That if all the things which he did should be written every one I suppose that even the World it self could not contain the Books that should be written Yet there is not one of all these come certainly to our knowledg but what is written in the Holy Scriptures And we have fair warning also given us of Tradition now in the New Testament 2 Thess 2. 2. Be not soon shaken 〈…〉 or be troubled neither by Spirit nor by Words nor by Letter as from us as that the Day of Christ is at hand Let no Man deceive you by no means By which it appears that even in the Apostles Times there were forged Writings and feigned Traditions which some had the boldness to obtrude for Apostolical Doctrines This is a fair warning to us now much more in these later Ages to give but little heed to any thing however pretended to be never so much Apostolical that is not contained in the Sacred and Apostolical Writings which are owned to be undoubtedly such And indeed how can we believe that the Evangelists and Apostles in all the Writings that they wrote and it does not appear that they wrote any other besides those we have when they write many things that are not so absolutely necessary to be known in order to Salvation yet should omiâ— so many things that are so as the Church of Rome pretends And that when they speak so often of Baptism for Instance that they should never tell us of the Salt and the Spittle the Exâ—cisms and Wax-candles but speak only of being baptized in Water in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost or that they should never when they speak so much of Worship tell us of the worshipping of Saints and Images or of praying for the Dead when they give us so many directions about Prayer c. We must hold fast the Traditions say they which we have been taught by the Apostles 2 Thess 2. 15. But we cannot believe that these and such-like things were ever taught by them when we have nothing at all of any of them in all their Writings And that exhortation could be then meant only of those things which the Thessalonians had heard from them and were very sure of that they were Apostolical Doctrines And which we doubt not were no other but what were after set down in the holy Writings and in them conveyed to us It is impossible for the Church of Rome to shew that they were any other by Tradition only when the traditional conveyance of Points is evidently so uncertain and that which we have been so warned against Yet after all note that all this is nothing against the Tradition of the Universal Church as a means of delivering down to us the Holy Scriptures themselves the number of the Books and the Names of the Authors c. Nor against that which is concurrent with Scripture or corrolorative of it in any Point of Faith or Practice but against that which is urged as a Rule of saving Faith and Practice distinct and different from it and sometimes contrary to it and is pretended to be the Tradition of the Universal Church from the Apostles Age but can never be proved to be so There is no fear of falling into Error therefore either through Ignorance or Infidelity as to such Traditions But we must say as our Saviour Mark 12. 24. Do ye not therefore err because ye know not the Scriptures And as the ignorance of Scripture is the Source and Fountain of Error so on the contrary then to follow the guidance of the Scripture is the way to be preserved from Error CHAP. II. That the Holy Scripture is dark and obscure Bellarm. de Verbo Dei. lib. 3. cap. 5. UPon this ground it is that they withhold the Scripture from the common People pretending that they are not capable Judges of the Sense of it and if they should read it more prejudice than benefit would arise to them from it But this is contrary to that which is written Psal 19. 7 8. The Testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the Simple The Commandment of the Lord is pure or clear enlightning the eyes Can Darkness enlighten Mens Eyes or can it make wise the Simple if it be not Intelligible by them Psal 119. 105. Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path And vers 130. The entrance of thy Words giveth Light It giveth understanding unto the Simple When a Man hath but begun to
read or make inquiry into the Word it affords him a great deal of Light and Understanding Unless the Light be obscure then the Scripture is not obscure If Men don't turn their backs to this Lamp they may perceive the Light thereof See how the Psalmist profited in Wisdom by meditating therein ver 98 99 100. Deut. 30. 11 14. This Commandment which I command thee this day is not hidden from thee neither is it far off c. but the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayest do it Where the plainness of the Command is asserted and that in order to the performance of it For a Rule that is not understood can never be observed And this perspicuity and Intelligibleness of the Commands given by Moses the Apostle applies to the Gospel Rom. 10. 6 7 8. 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. But if our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them The Gospel is plain enough of it self then and easy to be understood by any but obdurate and unbelieving Sinners For therein we all with open fact behold as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord Chap. 3. 18. 2 Tim. 3. 15. The Holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto Salvation But how can that be if they be so dark that they cannot be understood Can we be wise without understanding Or are they so difficult to be known which Timothy knew from a Child 2 Pet. 1. 19. The Apostle calls the Prophecies of the old Testament a sure Word of Prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a Light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day-spring arise in your hearts And if there be such clearness in them what clearness think you is there in the Doctrine of the Apostles There 〈◊〉 a greater degree of Light and Plainness and Intelligibleness promised under the Gospel than what was under the Law Heb. 8. 11. And if the Old testament be so plain and intelligible the New much more Yet note that it is granted that there are many dark Things and hard to be understood in the Scripture and which are so to the Learned as well as to the Unlearned which may arise from several causes But whatever things are necessary are plain saith St. Chrysostome All things which concern Faith and a good Life are plainly contained in Scripture saith St. Austin The Doctrine concerning God his Being Attributes and Providence of Christ's being the Son of God his becoming Man his dying and rising again The Precepts Promises and Threatnings c. For how are they necessary to be believed if they be not plainly revealed Or are the Unlearned excused from believing them because they cannot understand them Did not Christ himself preach and order his Apostles to preach to the Unlearned as well as to the Learned And did he and they preach intelligibly to them or no If they did not to what purpose did they preach at all or how was the World converted by them Were there none converted but the learned Priests and wise Men plainly the contrary rather Matth. 11. 25. 1 Cor. 1. 26. If they did preach intelligibly then it seems their Doctrine was plain enough And is it not the same Doctrine that is written in the Scriptures which they preach How came the same Doctrine then so dark when it was writ which was so plain when it was preach'd Doth the putting it down in writing make it hard to be understood And was it not writ to distinct Persons and Places and for the use of all as shall appear in the next Chapter Therefore I conclude it was written intelligibly to all in all things necessary or else the Holy Ghost would be wanting to his own Design and his writing for the use of all could not answer the end for which it is written CHAP. III. That it is not for the Common People to read the Scripture and if they should more prejudice than benefit would arise to them from the reading of it Council of Trent Sess 4. decret de Can. scrip Index lib. prohib regula 4. COntrary to that which is written Deut. 6. 7 8 9. These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou liest down and when thou risest up And thou shalt bind them for a Sign upon thine hand and they shall be as Frontlets between thine eyes and thou shalt write them upon the Posts of thine House and on thy Gates This is spoken to Persons of all Sorts Qualities and Conditions in Israel And how should they do all this without a particular and diligent perusal of the Law Josephus tells us that the Jewish Children were so well verst in it that they could repeat the Law without Book Thus Josh 1. 8. God commanded Joshua This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night then shalt thou make thy way prosperous See a General of an Army obliged by an express Command to read and meditate in the Holy Scriptures and not to depend upon the Priest's Instruction alone So Deut. 17. 18 19. the King was to write him a Copy of the 〈◊〉 and to meditate therein all the days of his Life Isa 34. 16. Seek ye out the Book of the Lord and read The Prophet speaks to all People upon Earth as may be seen in the beginning of the Chapter We have many such Directions and Commands from our Saviour and his Apostles in the New Testament John 5. 39. Search the Scripture our Saviour speaks not only to Doctors or Teachers but also to the People And he exhorts not only to read but to search them diligently So the Apostle Ephes 6. 17. Take unto you the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. By which we are enabled to repel the Temptations and to resist the Assaults of the Devil and to drive him from us as our Saviour himself did Col. 3. 16. And let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all Wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs If the Doctrine or Word of Christ be contained in the Holy Scriptures then here is an Obligation to a diligent and serious study of them Luke 11. 28. Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it And why not then blessed are they that read and observe it Why should Men be hindred from reading these Sermons of our Saviour and his Apostles which then there was a blessing upon Man for hearing Are they more dangerous now they are writ than they were when they were
taken for the same and are all but several Expressions of Justification And the imputing of Righteousness without Works sure is not the infusion of Righteousness which is expressed by Works And the covering or not imputing of Sin is not the abolishing of it Rom. 8. 33. Who then shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifieth who is he that condemneth Where Justification is opposed to Accusation and Condemnation And from hence it is plain that it is a judicial Act of God towards us discharging and acquitting Believers for Christ's sake from what they are accused of and condemned by the Law. And it is an Expression taken from Judicial Proceedings at a Court where the Judg does not infuse new Qualities into one at the Bar but acquits and discharges him from the Guilt of which he was accused and the Punishment due to it As the word is also used Prov. 17. 15. He that justifieth the Wicked and condemneth the Just even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Where his Fault is that he acquits the Wicked who ought to be condemned But if he could turn his Heart and make him Just sure that would be no abomination And indeed this sense of the word Justify and Remit is the usual sense of all the World and to understand it otherwise of induing a Man with good Qualities is against the common usage of all Mankind And certainly it ought to be interpreted and taken in such its usual sense then in those places that directly treat of Justification and where all the Circumstances do concur to such a signification Though there should be some particular place elsewhere where it may be singularly interpreted in another manner where the Circumstances of the place do require it Now the result of all is That Faith or a believing reception of and submission to Christ and his Laws is prerequired in us as the condition upon which Justification and Remission of Sin is promised in the Covenant of Grace upon the account of Christ's Sacrifice So that this is presupposed to Justification in order of Nature But the whole of Remission and Justification is the free Act of God's Grace acquitting the true Believer of this Sin and Punishment due to it upon the account of the meritorious Satisfaction made by Christ Jesus and accepting of him as righteous and dealing with him accordingly though he has a great deal of Sin and has not a perfect Righteousness of his own to deserve it His Acquitment and Acceptation is not a natural Consequent of his having Grace inherent in him as if that were properly his Justification but it is by virtue of the Promise made in the Covenant of Grace with respect to and upon the account of the Satisfaction made by Christ Jesus So that the free Grace of God and the Sacrifice of Christ have an hand both in the procuring of Grace for us and the acceptation of it also when that is done CHAP. XXI That for the obtaining of the Remission of all Mortal Sins a particular Confession of them to a Priest which they call Auricular Confession with all the Circumstances which do either increase or diminish the Sin as far as can be called to mind at least an intention of making such a Confession is absolutely necessary Concil Trident. Sess 14. cap. 4 5. Can. 6 7. Catech. Rom. Par. 2. de Poeniten N. 38. THis they say is absolutely necessary to be either in Act or Desire So that Contrition which is the same with Repentance that is a sorrow for Sin past and a purpose of forsaking it for the time to come though perfected also with Charity is not enough to obtain Remission without this But yet imperfect Contrition or Attrition which arises meerly from the fear of Hell with Confession to a Priest and his Absolution will do it without perfect Contrition or true Repentance for the Sin. But this is a meer humane Invention tending to raise the Grandeur of the Priests to acquaint them with all Mens Secrets and to cherish their Covetousness and Ambition by the Gain that they make hereby of their Absolutions and Indulgences and tending likewise to cherish carnal Security in those that confess to them considering that Pardon of Sin may be had at so easy a rate with Confession and to trouble the Consciences of those that have no mind to it as if without it their Sin were unpardonable though they have true Contrition or Repentance for their Sin. And it is manifestly against all those Texts that require Contrition or Repentance in order to Pardon and not Attrition only and that make such Contrition a sufficient Qualification for Pardon without this Auricular Confession As Against Isa 1. 16 17. Wash ye make ye clean put away the evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes cease to do evil learn to do well And then vers 18. Though your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though they be like Crimson they shall be as Wool. And Chap. 55. 7. Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God and he will abundantly pardon So Ezek. 18. 30. Repent and turn your selves from all your Transgressions so Iniquity shall not be your ruin Vers 31. Cast away all your Transgressions and make you a new Heart and a new Spirit for why will ye die Vers 32. Turn your selves and live ye From all which observe That Repentance and turning from Sin in Heart and Life is absolutely required in order to the Pardon of it and that a promise of Forgiveness is made to this without requiring Confession to a Priest to be joined with it For Psal 51. 17. The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise This indeed is acceptable to God accompanied or followed with a real forsaking of Sin and nothing less than this David thus confessing his Sin to God obtained pardon Psal 32. 5. If less will serve or more be required there must be a new Institution for it in the New Testament But now see Act. 3. 19. Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out But Luke 13. 3. Except ye repent ye shall all perish And our Saviour therefore appointed Luk. 24. 47. That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preach'd in his Name among all Nations So that it is true Repentance which is the condition of Pardon in the New Covenant but Confession of Sin to a Priest is no where required For as for Mat. 3. 6. where it is said that many were baptized of John in Jordan confessing their Sins And Acts 19. 18. That many that believed came and confessed and shewed their Deeds It was their own voluntary Act arising from the heart of Zeal and was done publickly before all Not secretly whispered in the Ears
the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every Place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure Offering that is inward and spiritual Worship and Sacrifices whereof the Ceremonial here express'd were but Types and Figures And thus People are every where to serve God with true and oure Worship For it is the Service now that sanctifies the Place and not the Place that sanctifies the Service as it was among the Jews 1 Tim. 2. 8. I will therefore that Men pray every where lifting up holy Hands without wrath and doubting of God's audience and acceptance For God is every where present and in whatsoever Place we are we are equally near unto him 1 Cor. 10. 26. The Earth is the Lord's and the Fulness thereof The whole Earth where God is called upon is Holy Land. St. Paul prayed on the Sea-shore at Tyre Acts 21. 5. And Mat. 18. 20. Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them Every Assembly of Christians met together in Christ's Name and according to his Will is the Church and House and living Temple of God where he is present which is not built with Stone or Brick but is made up of living Saints the Habitation of the Spirit as the Church in the House of Nymphi Col. 4. 5. of Aquila and Priscilla 1 Cor. 16. 19. The Temple of Jerusalem was but a Type and Figure of Christ's Body and Humane Nature which was the True Temple in which the God-head dwelt and therefore he calls his Body the Temple John 2. 19. Destroy this Temple and in three days will I raise it up And therefore after the Incarnation of Christ in which the Figure and Type of the Temple of Jerusalem was accomplish'd God would no more have a Figurative Temple And now Christ is ascended into Heaven there is no Temple upon Earth but the Saints themselves who are the Temples of the Holy Ghost and who offer up spiritual Sacrifices by the assistance of the Spirit which are acceptable to God not as performed in this and the other place as if they derived acceptance from the Holiness of any Place but by the Offering of the Body of Christ once for all through the Eternal Spirit with which he sits at the right Hand of God in the Heavens to make Intercession for us and to procure the acceptance of our Persons and Services Much less then is there any Holiness in Places derived from any Saints from whom the Popish Churches yet derive their Holiness It was the peculiar Presence of God which was thought among the Jews to render the Place Holy for where God is peculiarly present there it is Holy Ground But now it is from the Saints and the Worship that is performed to them in such a Place and their Relicks that are placed there that the Popish Holiness of most of their Places is derived And it is a great Act of Devotion with them to go in Pilgrimages to visit and worship at such Places as to our Lady of Loretto Montferrat to St. Thomas at Canterbury St. Winifred's Well and such-like Places And they think their Services performed in such Places are very acceptable for the Place sake Now if there be no appropriate Holiness in Places with respect to the Presence of God peculiarly in them which renders the Worship acceptable Who can believe that the Shrines of Saints can derive any acceptance to the Service Yet we do not deny but in common decency that some peculiar Respect should be shewn to such Places where we solemnly worship God. But it is the Worship that is there performed to God and not the Presence of God that is supposed to be peculiarly there more than in any other Place that doth sanctify the Christian Places of Worship whatever Sanctification they have But it is not the Place that doth sanctify the Worship as it was among the Jews where the Altar sanctified the Gift Matth. 23. 19. Of the Sacraments This should have followed Chap. XXI That the Sacraments do confer Grace ex opere operato by the Work done Council of Trent Sess 7. Can. 8. THE Sacraments are Seals of the Covenant and Promise of God on his part made with Men which they confirm to us upon our susception or receiving of them and the performance of the Condition which on our part is required and which we enter into a solemn Engagement to do and do make a visible profession of in them And it being a Covenant of free Grace which God makes with Man and by which he really intends to procure our Salvation it must needs be supposed by virtue of this Covenant that God is before-hand with Men with such measures of his Grace without which in this corrupt and fallen State we could do nothing by which now we may be enabled to do what on our part is required And upon our solemn engagement of our selves to God in this Holy Covenant on our part it is not to be doubted but the Spirit of Grace shall be given to us to enable us to perform all the Duties and Conditions of the Covenant necessary to Salvation But the Grace which is given is the effect of the Spirit and is given by virtue of the Covenant and Promise The Sacraments do no otherwise exhibit it to us than as they confirm the Covenant on God's part by which it is given and assure this Gift to us upon our performance of our part The Holy Ghost doth call the Sacraments Signs and Seals of the Grace of God as Gen. 17. 11. Ye shall circumcise the Flesh of the Fore-skin and it shall be a Token or Sign of the Covenant between me and you And Rom. 4. 11. He that is Abraham received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith. But it cannot be any where found that the Sacraments are called Vessels containing the Grace of God. And it was a Seal of the Promises made to the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being uncircumcised So that Abraham ' s Faith went before the Sacrament of Circumcision and was not wrought by it And Vers 9 10. This Faith was reckoned to Abraham for Righteousness not in Circumcision but in Vncircumcision That so vers 11. believing before Circumcision he might be the Father of all them that believe though they be not Circumcised but who also walk in the steps of that Faith of our Father Abraham which he had being yet Vncircumcised And as Abraham believed and was justified before Circumcision and therefore his Faith and Justification was not wrought by the Sacrament of Circumcision so Cornelius and his Company received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized As iâ— plain from the words of St. Peter Acts 10. 47. Can any Man forbid Water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we Which teacheth us that God doth neither tie his