is now sealed by Baptism to this particular person which receives it Therefore Sixthly The sum of all is that hereby we are regenerated and born again It is the Sacrament of the new birth by which we are put into a new state and change all our relations so that whereas before we were only the Children of Adam we are now taken to be the Children of God such of whom he will have a fatherly care and be indulgent and mercifull unto We have now a relation likewise to Christ as our Head and to the holy Ghost as the Giver of life and grace Yea herein he grants remission of sin and we are sanctified and set apart to his uses We being hereby given to him and he accepting of us do become his possession and proper goods and cannot without being guilty of the foulest Robbery sin against God We are made hereby the Temples of the Holy Ghost the place where he and nothing else is to inhabite and being by this consecrated to him â—â—e likewise then enters upon his possession and we are said thereby to receive the holy Ghost so that if we run into sin we defile his house and commit the greatest profaness and impiety and may be said very truly to do despite to the Spirit of God whereby we were sanctified Socrates in Plato well saith that every man is by his birth In Phaedon◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One of Gods freeholds and therefore concludes it is as unlawfull for a man to kill himself as a servant to run away from his Master seeing he is not his own goods nor can dispose of his life according to his pleasure In this second birth God is seized again of us he owns us in a special manner for his Children and we may not without committing a double murder sin against him and may be called twice dead if we do because in Baptism are the beginnings of a new life and the Spirit of life takes hold of us and as far as is agreeable to our age and condition we are renewed by the Holy Ghost For Baptism being a beginning of our performance of our duty God doth likewise in it begin proportionably to make good his promise We may call it therefore with Cyprian Genetalis unda aqua salutaris c. the Laver of Regeneration seeing as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 12.13 By one spirit we are all baptized into one body c. whereby he intimates that the Spirit of God doth accompany this water and therefore we must be in a sort made other Creatures I see no cause to leave this antient language which may have a very good sense and none I suppose will deny but that at least a Relative change is herein made and so much Grace and Favour is conferred Apolog. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we stand upon better terms then meer nature did instate us in Justin Martyr relating the manner how Christians were made that the Heathens might not he offended so much at their Religion speaks of this matter When men are perswaded of the thing that we teach and promise to live accordingly they fast and pray and beg of God remission of sin and then we bring them to the water and so they are born again after the same manner that we were regenerated to this he applyes that place Joh. 3.5 Except a man be born again c. All things seem to grow out of water and it was not unfitly made by one of the antient wise men the first Principle of all so that it may well signifie another birth a new plantation in a better soil which is watered by daily dews and showers of Gods heavenly Grace and in it we may be said to have changed our Patents and all our relations so as after a manner to become new Creatures Li. paedag cap. 7. If Clemens Alex. his reading of that place Mat. 3.17 be right one would think that Christ was by Baptism admitted to his office and had a kind of a new birth in it Thou art my beloved Son this day have I begotten thee i.e. now have I appointed thee to thy office now of the Son of Joseph as thou art esteemed I declare thee the Son of God and make thee my Vicegerent That which was perfectly done at the Resurrection to which those words This day have I begotten thee are applyed Act. 13.33 was begun and done in sign at Baptism when the Holy Ghost likewise descended upon him and anointed him unto his office And so in after times they used to anoint the baptized person with oyl to represent I suppose that God took him to be his Son and did bestow upon him the Holy Spirit But because Clemens must be thought to have expressed rather the sense then the very words that were spoken let us consider only what succeeded our Saviours Baptism and it will tell us thus much that at that time it was that God first owned him openly for his Son and it may well teach us that in Baptism God takes us to be his Children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are received under his shadow are and shall be indued with this Holy Spirit according as it follows in him Christ was our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exemplar or Pattern and being baptized are illuminated and being illuminated we are made sons and being made sons we are compleated and being compleated we are made immortal There is nothing wanting after we are baptized to the injoying the whole of this but that we be faithfull in Gods Covenant and follow the conduct of Gods illuminating and holy Spirit till we be made Possessors of that Immortality unto which in Baptism we have a Title given us The antient Christians speak of high Illuminations wherewithall God pleased then to grace Baptism I make no question but they speak as they felt and that they talk not of a strange change then wrought which never was but if any say that those great Communications of the Holy Ghost were proper to that time when Christ did most notably attest to the Truth of his own Institutions for the conviction of Unbelievers I think so also for young plantations needed larger effusions of the heavenly dews to water and cherish them But yet we may conceive that there may be still some operations of that spirit in mens hearts at Baptism though secret insensible unto us and I profess my self one of those that labour to believe very highly of Christs presence with all his own ordinances though if any cannot savour this I will not contend nor fight in the dark but desire the other things may be entertained which are certain and then there will be sufficient ground to think that it is not indifferent whether we be baptized or no and that it is not a naked Ceremony that neither doth good not harm as some men seem to speak against the constant sense of the people of God And thus much may suffice concerning
upon us his Grace Tit. 8.5 that we may be saved through the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the H. Ghost According to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 6.11 the place before mentioned But you are washed but ye are sanctified but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God Where as those words In the name of the Lord Jesus refers to being justified so those words By the Spirit of God refers to their being washed and sanctified So in that place of Ezekiel cap. 36.25 After he had said That he would sprinkle them with clean water it follows as an explication of it vers 26 27 A new heart will I also give you and a new spirit will I put into you c. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes All which doth sufficiently shew that in this Washing with water the Lord ingages to give the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys orat 1. de resur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fourthly We receive hereby a Promise of Resurrection unto life Though we by going into the water profess that we are willing to take up the Cross and dye for Christs sake yet on Gods parts this action of going into and coming out of the water again did signifie that he would bring such persons to live again That he would not leave their soul in grave nor suffer his holy one to see corruption And this according to Chrysostome a very judicious Interpreter who was so full of the Spirit of Saint Paul that he dreamt sometime that he appeared to him is the meaning of that difficult place 1 Cor. 15.29 Else what shall they do that are baptized for the dead c. i. e. for their dead bodies Why do they profess in Baptism that they believe the Article of the Resurrection of the dead among the rest of the Articles of Christian faith Why are they baptized into the hope and expectation of it of which saith he the Minister gives them a sign or symbole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the things themselves that he doth putting them in and taking them out of the water which is a sign of their descending into the state of the dead and their ascending up from thence Now what good do they receive by Baptism if they shall not rise again but remain alwayes in the grave If any think it harsh to render these words For their dead bodies by these For the resurrection of their dead bodies which in Baptism we profess to believe it is only for want of skill in the short manner of speaking which the Hebrews use And methinks they may otherwise be interpreted to the same sense more plainly after this manner Why are they baptized for their dead bodies i. e. for the benefit and profit of their dead bodies for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes the end which an Agent intends in an action as Gal. 1.4 who gave himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some have it which is of the same force for to take away our sins and there can be no end upon our dead bodies which we can have but that they may live again therefore for this end we are baptized that they may rise from the dead which if they should not we should lose saith the Apostle the great benefit which in Baptism was consigned and to what purpose should we use that Rite It may be replied that I have already mentioned many other purposes which render it sufficiently beneficial But if it be considered how near sin and death are one to the other we shall conclude that so must remission of sin and the resurrection from the dead go together and that if the one be not believed we may easily doubt of the other or at the best we shall make forgiveness lame and very imperfect while this great punishment of sin viz. Death remains unremoved Luther indeed in his version of the Bible gives another interpretation of this place but sutable to my present discourse which is grounded Dilheirus thinks upon that practise I mentioned of Baptizing in the places where the Martyrs were nterred The sense whereof is this as one that understands the language interprets it to me What mean they to be baptized Uber Den Toden over the dead To strengthen saith Luther in his gloss upon the words or confirm the Resurrection they used to baptize Christians Vber den Toden grahern over the graves of the dead the intention whereof was to shew that the same the very self same person should rise again But I doubt we shall not find that custom so antient as St. Pauls days wherein there had been but few Martyrs and therefore I wave it thinking the other more clear and proper If any one like it then from both me may conclude that the waâ—â—rs of Baptism are like the waters of heaven which falling upon the dry earth and the dead roots of plants makes them spring forth and live again It gives us assurance that we shall not alwayes sleep in our dust but shall spring up and flourish in a better soil even the Garden of God never to die or wither any more And Circumcision seems not to have been without this signification neither for they used to cast the fore-skin cut off into a vessel full of dust to signifie it is like that the circumcised person did renounce the Devil and his lusts by whose impulse Adam sinned and so died and was turned again into dust V. Joseph de Voysin de leg Div. cap. 7. and that he did cast away all that evil concupiscence by which death came into the world hoping that that being buried he should attain the Resurrection of the body and live again To which purpose a very antient book the Zohar applies a place in Job which shews though not the sense of the Scripture yet their sense of Circumcision Job 19.26 In my flesh I shall see God i. e. by Circumcision which was the Covenant of God in their flesh come to immortal life And a tradition they have to this purpose That when a man is signed with this holy mark he is made worthy of the vision of God Fifthly Baptism is not improperly called by Divines a seal of all these things i. e. a Rite whereby the Covenant between God and us is confirmed whereby we assure God of our fidelity and he assures us that as certainly as our bodies are washed with water so certainly will he give us of his Grace if we perform our undertaking continually assist us with the holy Spirit pardon our sins deliver us from the power of the Devil save our souls and at last raise our bodies out of the grave and make them spiritual and immortal and unite both body and soul together iâ—â—â—ernal Glory That conditional Covenant of Grace and Mercy that was sealed before indefinitely by Christs blood
Repentance Mat. 3.6 8. Mar. 1.4 and likewise accompanied with an Exhortation to bring forth fruits meet for Repentance and in refusing of which the Pharisees are said to have rejected the counsel of God against themselves Luk. 7.30 but also by the exhortation of the Apostle to the new Converts Act. 2.38 Repent and be baptized every one of you c. i. e. make profession of your Repentance by Baptism to the remission of your sins the sense of which had pricked them in their hearts And it is further manifest from all the circumstances of Baptism For they put off their old cloaths and stript themselves of their Garments then they were immersed all over and buried in the water which notably signified the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh as the Apostle speaks Col. 2.11 and their entring into a state of death or mortification after the similitude of Christ according to the same Apostles language elsewhere We art baptized into his death Rom. 6.3 4 6. we are buried with him in Baptism knowing that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we might not serve sin All which was rendred still more significant by the Antients who baptized only on the last day of the week at night i.e. on the even of two Lords dayes in the year called therefore by Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because Christ then say in the grave and was about to rise again In conformity to whom they by this Rite did profess themselves to be dead and coming out of the water there to leave all their sins drowned and buried in that grave never to revive again There is one thing more not to be forgotten which makes it more clear that it was intended for a profession of Repentance that is the Renunciation which they made to the Devil the world and the flesh or the open declaration upon the question propounded which they made against all Gods enemies the form of which so many antient Authors do record that it is vain to cite any but the sense of it was this Do you renounce or do you forsake the world and all the vanities follies and wickedness thereof I do forsake them said the person to be baptized Do you forsake the Devil will you have never any thing to do with his works I do forsake him and abhor them all c. unto which the Apostle is thought to have reference 1 Pet. 3.21 when he speaks of the answer of a good conscience as the Baptism which saves us and not the outward washing or putting away of the filth of the flesh This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this question What shall I do to be saved and consequently the hearty answer to all that is proposed as requisite to salvation is that which makes Baptism to be valid and of force unto us The Jews say in their tradition that Adam stood a whole week up to the neck in water begging of God to accept of his Repentance for what he had committed Whatsoever he did I am sure this Washing with water doth most fitly represent both our acknowledgements that we are worthy to die and be swallowed up in the water and our profession that we will forsake all our filthiness if we may but be accepted unto life Thirdly It is a Profession of faith in the Father Son and Holy Ghost For we are baptized into their name and so it signifies either first that we heartily accept of the Father for our God and happiness to love him above all and of the Son for our Lord and Saviour as the way unto the Father and of the Holy Ghost for our Sanctifier Guide and Conductor to the Son or secondly which comes to the same that we embrace that Doctrine for our Rule which is delivered unto us from the Father through the hands of his Son by the Power of the Holy Spirit to fear all his threatnings to relye upon all his Promises and to yield obedience to all his Commands as long as we live That this profession of Faith was made in Baptism is plain not only from Acts 8.37 where Philip saith to the Eunuch If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayst be baptized and he answers I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God but likewise from this that the word Baptism is put for the whole Doctrine which he preached who did baptize as you may see Acts 18.25 knowing only the Baptism of John Acts 19.3 Into what were you baptized and they said into Johns Baptism By which it appears that being baptized into such a name though one should speak nothing expresses a consent to embrace that word which he preaches and declares to be the Will of God Yea Baptism is an open profession and Declaration to all that we are of such a faith for it is not enough that we are perswaded of the Truth of Christs Religion but we ought also publiquely to own it and manifest to the world our belief of it which seems to me to be the meaning of that place Mark 16.16 He that believes and is baptized shall be saved i. e. He that owns the faith of Christ in Truth and makes a profession of his belief by receiving this mark of the Christian Religion he shall be accepted of God to life For that was required by our Saviour of his Disciples that they should not be ashamed of him before men nor be afraid to let the world know that they were his disciples by using all those things whereby they were distinguished from the rest of men 4. It is a profession of holiness and obedience and an engagement we thereby lay upon our selves to maintain all purity in body and soul which is the immediate consequent of the two former and seems to be alluded unto by the Apostle when he saith 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but you are washed but you are sanctified c. i. e. you have betaken your selves by receiving of Baptism to a holy and pure Conversation And it is more plainly expressed by him Gal. 3.27 As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ In token of which and that they intended all Purity like those in the Reavelation who are said to follow the Lamb in white they were presently cloathed with white Garments when they came out of the water From whence that day was called White Sunday which was one of the principle times when the Antients did admit persons to Baptism and they all professed hereby that they hated the grament spotted with the flesh and would never return again to the dirty pleasures of the world wherein they had wallowed An antient Christian Poet doth excellently express it Fulgentes animas vestis quoque candita signat Lactantius Firm. El groge de niveo gaudia pastor habet A bright garment was cast over shining and glistering souls and the Great
as if the hand of God should do it So it is said John 3.23 That Jesus came into Judea and baptized and verse 26. The Jews say to John He to whom thou bearest witness behold the same baptizeth and again cap. 4.1 It is said That Jesus made and baptized more Disciples then John yet verse 2. We are told That Jesus himself baptized not but his Disciples That which Officers and Servants do by Commission and Authority of their Master is accounted to be his Action And so First God receiveth us hereby into his family to be numbred among his people of whom he will have a special care â—o Chrysost speaks to the newly baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is the seal as it were of God upon us his Mark and Caracter whereby he owns us for his sheep and knows us from all other so as to have a more particular inspection over us then the rest of the world that make not this profession to indow us with certain peculiar favours even before we are able to perform any part of our Duty unto him It is the door whereby we enter into the Church the Gate that lets us into Christs fold and the first step to fellowship with God and with his people Whence it was the Font you know used to be placed at the door or entrance of the Church V. August l. 2. de Catec rud cap. 1. to signifie that by this we come into the Congregation of Christs Disciples but yet that by Baptism we are brought but to the beginning of Religion and must make a further progress to perfection till we come to the holy place and into a nearer communion with God The Minister likewise used to take the Infants into his arms to signifie I suppose Gods receiving and embracing of them with a loving affection Yea he used to kiss them either to signifie that love of God to them or that they were now of that community and body whom the Apostle bid to salute one another with a holy Kiss And all this is supposed in the word Proselytes or Comers unto God which clearly argues some relative Action of his which is receiving and entertaining them graciously as those he will have in his favour But more particularly Secondly Hereby God receives us into a state of pardon and forgiveness He assures us that Adams sin shall not undo us and that every sin of our own shall not exclude us out of Heaven but that we shall have the benefit of Repentance and an allowance to retract our follies yea and Grace so to do if we will make use of it He admits us into that Covenant of Grace which accepts of Repentance in stead of Innocence and Amendment in stead of an unerring Obedience This is one of the special favours of the Gospel which by Baptism is consigned unto us that former Iniquities shall not be remembred and that every breach of our Covenant if there be a real chanâ—â— wrought in us shall not void it and make it null and ineffectuall unto us So in Mark 1.4 John is said to preach the Baptism of Repentance for Remission of sin And Ananias saith Acts 22.16 Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins And the Greek Church after Baptism sings those words three times Georg. Fhelavius Ib. Blessed is he whose iniquity is forgiven As those who came to the Baptism of John did thereby receive a distinguishing mark and character that they should not be-destroyed in the ruine of the Nation in so much that he saith to the Pharisees that desired Baptism Mat. 3.7 Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come So they that are baptized into Christ do thereby receive a pledge that no sin which they stand guilty of shall bring the anger of God upon their heads if they will keep his Covenant but all shall be crossed out which they are charged with and be like words writ in the water that are obliterated and vanished nowhere any more to be found Thirdly We receive hereby the Promise of the Spirit the Effusion of which Joh. 3.5 is likened to the pouring out of water and so is in Baptism most aptly signified and represented I will pour saith the Prophet waters on him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground i. e. upon the Gentiles who were as a wilderness Isa 44 3 4 5. I will pour my Spirit on thy seed and my blessing upon thy Off-spring and they shall spring up as among the grass c. In which place that there may be a Prediction of Baptism it is very probable for thus much some of the Jews do acknowledge that the Prophet speaks of Gentiles that should be Proselytes and called by the name of Israel and we Christians know that we are Abrahams seed and that this Promise hath a respect to the times of the Gospel Rasi out of R. Nathan thus glosses upon the fifth verse There are four sorts of Converts here spoken of one shall say I am the Lords (*) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are they that are Proselytes of Justice or the most perfect Converts And another shall call himself by the name of Jacob (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are the little Ones of the ungodly And another shall subscribe with his hand to the Lord (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are the Penitents or the men that repent and surname himself by the name of Israel (*) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are the strangers i. e. those that observed the Precepts of the sons of Noah and particularly renounced Idolatry and therefore this part of the verse is by another rendred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that fear God Where observe V. Raimund pug fidei par 2. cap. 14. that he calls one sort of these Converts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the little ones who were not thought it seems to be unmeet to be made members of a Church and were not judged by their fathers admission to be received but were distinctly admitted by themselves by the decree as they tell us of the house of Judgement And observe likewise that all these Proselytes being said to spring as it were out of the water * So Chrysost calls the new baptized persons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Orat. prima secunda de Resurrect these words may well be a Prophesie of Christian Baptism to which a promise of the Spirit is annexed which is very well signified by water for as that cleanses and purifies from filth so the Spirit of God called upon this account the Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier of Gods people purging and cleansing their hearts from all impurities This being therefore the great work of the Spirit so well represented by water we must conclude that when the Minister washeth us in Gods name God thereby promiseth that he will be assistant to us by the holy Ghost that he will send
threatningâ— of Christ which in baptism he promised to believe as well as any other Word of God shall all fall upon his head and he shall be cast into a lake indeed but it is a lake burning with fire and brimstone Rev. â—â— 8 Better had it been for such an one if he had been drowned in the font or entred into the gates of death when he entred into the gates of the Church it had been better for him if he had been branded with a hot iron in his fore-head or scalding oil had been poured upon his face when it was washed with water in the name of Christ The flames of hell shall eternally burn and consume without any consumption that filthy soul whose dirt the waters of Baptism and the fires of the holy Ghost could not fetcht out and scour away And if any complain of their weakness Vse 3. THirdly Here is matter of comfort to us We are in a Covenant of Grace there is a Redemption for us if we have a mind to be delivered we have assurance of the assistance of the Holy Ghost and if we be sincerely watchfull and diligent he will not because of our failings take away his Holy Spirit from us Through the Spirit of Christ we shall be able to do valiantly nothing shall be too hard to overcome but we shall tread all our enemies under our feet Let us march out therefore as the Souldiers of Christ carrying his Cross in our Banners let us profess and declare that we are crucified to the world that we are buried with Christ in Baptism R 〈◊〉 6 and reckon our selves to be dead indeed unto sin But alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that you should obey it in the lusts thereof neither yield ye your members as Instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield your selves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of Righteousness unto God For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the Law but under Grace It is a shame now to be overcome when you serve under such a Captain and have Heaven on your side and have received the promise of the holy Ghost Is there no power in the Spirit of God or is not God as good as his word Will not he give us what he hath promised to make us to vanquish all his enemies O do not speak such evil things of God by doing any evil Do not disgrace your profession nor bring a dishonour upon your Lord by letting every temptation use you at its pleasure Do not suffer every lust to foil and worst you as if you were Turks and Infidels and had none of the mark or badge of God upon you and as if your Baptism was of no more avail to you then the washing of your hands But first resolve that all these lusts of the flesh must be overcome and then conclude that they may Perswade your selves that God is with you and that he hath appointed no ineffectual Rites no bare shadows no beggerly Ceremonies and cold Formalities in the Religion of Christ but that if you use your Diligence and pray continually you shall find the holy Ghost to accompany you and that you are born again not of water only but of the Spirit and shall finally inherit eternal life 4. That you may receive greater supplies of the spirit promised and be more ingaged to your duty labour fully to understand your vow and Covenant and then come and openly own it professing you will be faithfull to it that so you may be admitted to nearer familiarity with God Let me prevail with all young persons who are yet in the gate of the Church and have proceeded no further then to be baptized in their Infancy and perhaps to be catechized in the principles of Religion to spend a few thoughts upon this which I propound For though outward Baptism which is the visible sign and seal of the Covenant 1 Pet. 3.21 is not to be renewed yet the Answer of a good conscience wherein the inward Baptism doth consist may and ought to be re-iterated by a personal resumption and ratification of that vow which was made for us in our infant years And no man is to be reputed a compleat member of the Church untill he do own his Ingagements and openly profess that he will stand to the conditions of the Covenant and be a Disciple of Christ If Baptism did at first admit us into the injoyment of many priviledges surely we shall receive more of the blessings of it when we do seriously reflect upon it and ingage our hearts by our own free consent to God because then we begin more solemnly to perform the conditions that God requireth of us When I first entred upon a charge of souls I could think of no course so antiently attested unto so reasonable in it self and so likely to be effectual for mens good so free likewise from the just exceptions of any party as to propose this to my people that all those who had not yet been communicated should freely and heartily in the presence of those who were assembled at any time to partake of the Lords Supper profess to be sincere and constant in their baptismal Covenant and declare themselves enemies to the Devil the world and the flesh And I will take occasion here to profess that I am heartily glad that Mr. Hanmer hath proposed this and Mr. Baxter so earnestly pressed it upon the whole Nation after whose pious and learned endeavours let me contribute my little Mite to the urging those into whose hands this small Treatise shall come that they would not refuse it This Christian Duty hath long passed under the name of Confirmation which is a word full and significant of the thing that I. would express and consists of two parts First That a person do undertake in his own name every part of the vow made by others for him in Baptism and so personally consent unto Christ to be wholly his according to that agreement And so it is an Act of Confirmation on our part because we do hereby further ratifie and establish that contract which is between God and us and by confessing of it to be valid and good bind our selves faster still to him whose we were before The second part of it is A receiving of Gods Blessing and Grace by the Ministers hands and holy prayers to strengthen us to perform our Engagement and make good our word and faith which we have plighted unto God which many have taken to be the meaning of that place (*) Beside sundry of the Antients Calvin Beza Piscator Hâ—nnius Iâ—yricus Tossanus G ynaeus do so expound it See also Hyperius and Buâ—ling In loc who wish for the restoring of it in those Churches from which it had been banished Heb. 6.4 Where after Baptism follows laying on of hands which
in a little Tractate be upon that occasion wrote on this Subject to justifie the antient and good practise of this sacramental Rite as Bucer calls it thus speaks Cap. 1. Confirmation is an antient Ecclesiastical custom of the Church used after Baptism consisting in Examination and Imposition of hands with effectual prayer for the Ilumination of Gods most holy Spirit to confirm and perfect that which the Grace of the same Spirit hath already begun in Baptism The benefits of this Confirmation are divers whereof the first is That men expecting Examination and tryal from their spiritual Fathers they might more willingly acquaint and carefully season themselves with the grounds of Christian Religion before malice and corrupt examples depraved their minds c. Secondly It serves that when they come to years of Discretion they should publiquely make confession of that faith themselves which others had promised for them in Baptism to the discharge of their sureties and the good examples of others Thirdly That by such confession they might make profession of difference from all Jews Turks and Infidels out of the Church Hereticks Schismaticks and prophane persons in the Church Fourthly That then especially when they first come to the use of Reason beginning to fall into sundry kinds of sin and being least able to resist for want of experience by Imposition of hands and prayer they might receive strength and defence against the temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil Fifthly That the Prelates and chief Guides of Gods family to whom the cure of souls belongeth finding upon due Examination some part of their own heavy burden discharged might from thence reap Comfort in beholding those fair Foundations already laid and glorifie God Whose praise they found in the mouths of Infants This kind of Confirmation were there no Authority to countenance it is in my Judgement so usefull in the Church of God that upon good reason it might be entertained among Christians But for further confirmation of it we are incompassed with a cloud of witnesses and that so plentifully out of all Antiquity as it might seem a kind of Ambition or lost labour to quote their names Wherefore I will only alledge the soundest of those who since the Reformation of Religion and clearer Light of the Gospel in their several Writings have approved and highly commended this antient custom And bringing in Bucer Melancton Zuinglius Chemnitius and others to speak to this Truth he cites Mr. Calvin among the rest in these words John Calvin in his fourth Book of Institutâ—on in theVpshot of the chapter of Confirmation Cap 19. Para. 13. not only commendeth the antient use of it but the abuse being removed heartily wisheth it restored And because his Authority is not without desert of great weight I will set down his words as I find them Would to God saith he we retained that custom which I have already declared to have been in use among the Antients before that abortive Vizard of a Sacrament was put upon it And a little after If this part of Discipline were now a dayes in force the slackness of many Parents would be much quickened who pass over the Institution or Instruction of their Children as a business nothing pertaining to them which then without some publique disgrace they could not omit Besides There would be less Ignorance and more concord in Articles of Faith among Christian people neither would they so easily be carried away with new and strange Opinions FINIS