the inward effects ought not to prejudice any considerative person against the power and efficacy of this Office Will some say How is it possible that upon so slight an action as laying on of hands and the Bishops Prayers so much strength against all Temptations so much ability to perform all acceptable Duties should be conveyed unto us 'T is true the meanness and simplicity of the Ceremony is apt to scandalize him who understands not the invincible power of God which oftentimes effects great and stupendious Works by light and improbable means here is nothing as in the Church of Rome of pomp and solemnity to attract your eyes and raise your admiration nothing but what the holy Apostles did practise and that in a very plain yet comely dress My Father said the Servant of Naaman if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst thou not have done it how much rather when he saith unto thee Wash and be clean Dispute not then the possibility or manner of its conveyance but since thou hast as much need of the Holy Spirit in thy capacity as the primitive Christians had in theirs fully perswade thy self that he will not be wanting to thy devout desires but as readily assist thee as he did them and will no more scorn to be invited down now than heretofore he hath been by Prayer and Imposition of Hands For if this Objection be of any force we may upon equal grounds be scandaliz'd at the two great Sacraments the visible signes whereof are altogether as mean and in themselves improbable Nihil adeo est says Tertullian quod tam obduret mentes hominum De Baptis quam simplicitas divinorum operum quae in actu videtur magnificentia quae in effectu repromittitur Others may again object that if Miracles did now as heretofore attend this Office they should then have reason to believe that great and valuable are the inward effects of it but since those are ceas'd they see not why this Office should not cease with them But in answer to this we must know that Miracles were not of the essence of this holy Office for if they had they would have been essential to other Offices which they did sometimes attend upon The Holy Ghost we find in a visible manner descended upon our Saviour at his baptism S. Mat. 3.16 and yet the Holy Ghosts visible descent never was lookt upon as essential to that Sacrament When St. Peter preacht the Gospel to Cornelius and his Companions we are told that while Peter yet spake those words Acts 10.44 46. the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word for they heard them speak with tongues and magnifie God and yet the Gift of Languages never was imagin'd to be of the essence of Preaching So that we may with equal reason be scandaliz'd at those two great Offices and pretend that the internal Gifts of Gods Spirit do not follow the performance of those Duties because the external ones are wholly ceas'd Neither ought this to scandalize any That they do not meet with sensible alterations violent motions strong convulsions and tremblings for though sometimes the Spirit upon strong convictions may produce such effects yet here where a due preparation is suppos'd and not a dispossessing of Satan but strength against him is wrought such a violent commotion of the Spirits cannot be expected But the Holy Ghost comes here in a soft voice works gently and mildly upon the rational and intellectual parts of man and by degrees moulds and fashions him into the perfect stature of the Sons of God As we are not sensible of our natural growth how every day new accessions are made to the several parts of our body and yet that we do grow our senses do sufficiently evince so neither can it reasonably be expected that we should understand the mode of the divine operations and the way how such vital strength and nourishment is convey'd to our Souls although after a competent progress in the ways of Vertue we may safely conclude that we are grown in Grace The Spirit of God bearing witness with our spirit that we are the Sons of God IV. Behold then the excellency the usefulness the necessity of this great Office an Office whose antiquity bears date with the holy Scriptures whose lawfulness the great Examples of our Saviour and his Apostles not to say any thing of the constant and uninterrupted usage of it in the Church for many Ages do vindicate an Office whose expedience and necessity of continuance the great ends and purposes for which it was instituted viz. the conveying the manifold Gifts of Gods Spirit do sufficiently evince an Office always accounted so sacred that our late Vsurping Presbyters never durst pretend to the actual exercise of it an Office from which baptized persons may expect such great and admirable advantages as far surpass whatever the Gift of Tongues could express or Miracles declare an Office whose good influences nothing can hinder but the bars and obstructions that our selves do set finally an Office which in no part of it lies open to any solid Objections even from the worst of Adversaries To conclude then this our long and as I am afraid tiresom Discourse let all be perswaded in their several Spheres to promote the honour of this excellent Work Old men and maidens young men and children of what state or quality soever let 'em be ready to entertain this blessed Spirit who is now as it were hovering over your heads and willing to come down into all prepared hearts And you that intend this day to be partakers of this great Mystery that desire this holy Comforter to descend from Heaven and take possession of your hearts you that earnestly long for the refreshing and strengthening Graces of Gods Spirit you who are now to engage with Principalities and Powers with the deceitful World and your own Lusts and come hither to be enabled to fight that good fight and to come off Conquerours Let me request you deeply to imprint upon your thoughts not onely the excellency of this Duty with the gracious effects thereof but especially that solemn profession that you are here to make the Covenant with God and his Church that you are about to renew the strict Obligations that lie upon you from thence of being pious and devout just and charitable meek and temperate For if you come prepar'd with such generous Christian resolutions as these you need not question but the Graces of Gods Spirit will by the mediation of this his principal Steward be conveyed unto you for which you have the same warrant as the judicious Hooker observes which the Patriarchs Hook Eccles Pol. lib. 5. Prophets Priests Apostles Fathers and men of God in all Ages have had for such their particular Invocations and Benedictions Address your selves then to the holy Altar with decency receive the Blessing with Faith and Humility turn not the Grace you are this day to receive into wantonness but treasure it up in an honest heart and let the fruits thereof be discernable in your lives then will you secure to your selves that seven-fold Gift of the Spirit which the Bishop with the Congregation will presently pray for The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Ghostly strength the the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and the Spirit of his boly Fear And for us of the Clergy as we have reason to glory in the number of our Catechumens and to magnifie the God of Heaven for this joyful fruit of our labours So let us be perswaded to continue this good Work that is so happily begun and by catechizing and wholsome instructions prepare the younger sort successively for the like Blessings This will engage his Lordship to continue his intended kindness in coming as it were to our doors though to his great charge to administer this Office and we shall all reap this comfort by it that the Children that are yet unborn will stand up and call us blessed And that this holy Office may have its desired effect that when the Bishop lays his hands upon them they may be filled with the Holy Ghost Let us All here assembled at the pronouncing of each Benediction unanimously say AMEN FINIS
Ceremony which abstractedly consider'd was neither good nor evil which might have been done or left undone pro libitu according to the pleasure or discretion of its Authors without any prejudice to the Church or violation of any Christian Law was used by our Saviour upon several occasions and practised by the Apostles in this and many other instances Now is it not much that our Saviour and his Apostles should be so ceremonious that they should offer to practise that at which the Consciences of tender Christians might probably be offended what had they no regard to the scruples that might possibly arise in the new converted Samaritans or could they not foresee what offences more enlightned Christians in after-ages would take at such legal worship such matters of indifferency in Gods service Neither of these can be imputable to our Saviour and no doubt the Apostles had a just regard to the one and by inspiration or rational conjecture did foresee the other but they well understood that not such indifferent things by them practised but the indiscretion of some and the malice of others would create those prejudices they might pity such persons as weak and wicked but this was not reason sufficient to deny the Service or Discipline of the Church its innocent and significant Ceremonies because there are sools or mad men that will either laugh or rayl at them That God did actually restrain the natural liberty of man before the Law was delivered nay before Circumcision was enjoyn'd is plain from many instances particularly from some of those seven precepts delivered by God to the Sons of Noah Gen. 9.4 which in themselves considered are of an indifferent nature and could not be esteemed by the Heathen Proselytes of Antioch to be what the Apostles called them necessary things Acts 15.28 had they not been made necessary to them by a former positive inhibition or at least at that time become necessary in respect of the end they aimed at the restraining our liberty in things indifferent being sometimes absolutely necessary in order to the peace and unity of the Church And as God before the Law did restrain mans liberty from several things indifferent so when the Law was to be abrogated our Saviour does however by a positive injunction tye us up to the observance of some indifferent things Nay he was so far from scrupling the use of lawful and innocent Rites that he adopted two Jewish Ceremonies into the Christian Doctrine the one from Baptizing of Proselytes and the other from the Postroenium of the Paschal Lamb neither of which was enjoyned by the Levitical Law St. Mat. 28.19 St. Mat. 26.26 and yet both of them appointed by him as the lasting and perpetual Sacraments of his Church By his indispensable enjoyning onely these two he did signifie his dislike of that burthensome variety which the Law and the traditions of the Elders requir'd but by appointing these two he did also shew that it is not unlawful under the Gospel to appoint Rites and Ceremonies so they be for order and edification And this our Saviour in many other instances did intimate unto us By a word from his mouth he might have infus'd his holy Spirit into the hearts of his Apostles but his infinite wisdom rather made choice to joyn with it that significant ceremony of breathing on them thereby signifying St. John 20.22 that he did at that instant immediately from himself convey the holy Ghost unto them And to come closer to our present purpose Had our Saviour been nice and scrupulous in such matters of indifferency the pronouncing his benediction on the children that were brought unto him had been sufficient St. Mark 10.16 he had never taken them up into his arms and laid his hands upon them using Ceremonis burthensome to himself as well as offensive to others I need not instance in that famous Council celebrated at Jerusalem by the Apostles Acts 15.28 nor need I recount the Apostles Canons collected by Clemens Romanus even those that are accounted genuine wherein their Christian as well as natural liberty was restrain'd and by which they consulted not the cavils and petulant humours of Gainsayers but the peace and safety of the Church Let it suffice that holy Scriptures do abundantly testifie this to be the constant practice of the Apostles when they thought it a good expedient for Peace or Decency Thus we find St. Paul to make an order not onely in the Churches of Galatia but in Corinth too 1 Cor. 16.1 that on the first day of the week collections should be made for the necessitous Saints at Jerusalem Now the Corinthians were generally rich and not unlikely sawcy and conceited as appears from the Epistles of St. Paul and those two genuine ones of the aforesaid Clemens and suppose any of them had objected against this order that Christ had freed them from the Law of ordinances that Months and Years and Days were not now to be observ'd that this substantial duty of charity might as well be performed on any other day as well as the first and therefore their Christian liberty ought not to be invaded what think ye would St. Paul have done in this case would he have receded from his Apostolical power and gratified the malepert humours of a few of those rich but scrupulous Corinthians undoubtedly he would not for an Order being once made upon mature deliberation by lawful authority if rescinded upon no other consideration but because every mans judgment cannot approve of or every ones humour will not comply with it opens a door for all Faction and Schism and quite unhinges the whole frame of Government St. Paul surely would have visited such persons with the rod and not in the spirit of meekness and have delivered them up unto Satan 1 Tim. 1.20 2 Tim. 4.15 as he did Hymeneus and Alexander for withstanding his word That common saying in the mouth of every late Dissenter viz. That God requireth the Heart of man and not his Hat St. Paul clearly proves to be a vulgar errour for he tells us 1 Cor. 11.4 That every man praying or prophecying which belongs to the people as well as the Priest having his head covered dishonoureth his head i. e. by such an irreverent posture during the Office either of Praying or Preaching dishonoureth Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 for Christ is the Head of man When the Apostles had Manacles on their hands Acts 16.25 and Fetters on their legs 't is likely they consulted their own ease in finding out fit postures for offering up their Prayers but when those impediments were removed and the shackles thrown off they bended their knees and lifted up their hands in their constant Devotions this being agreeable to the pattern our Saviour had given them St. Luke 22.41 Acts 21.5 Eph. 3.14 who in the garden kneeled down and prayed Thus St. Paul entring into the Oratory on the sea-shore kneeled down
and prayed And for this cause how I my knees unto the God and Father c. And he requires the Christians to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting 1 Tim. 2.8 So ceremonious were Christ and his Apostles that they would not sit when they could kneel they would not irreverently lean upon their elbows when they could lift up holy hands Sitting or leaning if that can be proved to have been the posture was well enough becoming the Apostles at the first institution of the Lords Supper Christ being then in the flesh in his state of humiliation and not requiring from them then those outward tokens of Divine Worship or Adoration But now being glorified as God and challenging obeysance from Men and Angels Holy Church for good reason hath changed that posture of Leaning for this of Kneeling For although we have known Christ after the flesh and leaning in his bosom might be the effect of his great condescention yet seeing we know him so no more seeing he hath declared himself to be Alpha and Omega the first and the last Rev. 1.8 11. God blessed for ever 't is fit we should change that familiar way of communicating with him and lest we should be accounted Socinians who use a Table-gesture as not owning the Divinity of our Saviour with all humility upon our knees revere and adore not the Consecrated Elements but the glorified Person of the Blessed Jesus But that we may speak particularly to the instance that is here before us the Apostles were not scrupulous to use this ceremony in the Text although joyned with Prayer a substantial part of Divine Worship nay although it was amongst the Samaritans who from a Doctrine that our Saviour had taught them might be as much prejudiced against such practices as our lately nice and scrupulous Dissenters They might have objected after this manner Did not your Master in whose name ye teach tell a woman of our City that God is a Spirit St. John 4.24 25. and he that will worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth and do you his pretended Disciples come into our City and act contrary to your Masters Doctrine either renounce your pretended Discipleship or lay aside these childish and Superstitious Ceremonies which are so inconsistent with the worshipping of God in Spirit and in Truth 'T is true the Samaritans might have objected this but we find they were wiser than to do so they well understood that our Saviour in that saying of his alluded to the Religion to which they had hitherto been addicted 2 Kings 17.24 26 29. a Religion of a mixt nature consisting of Jewish Sacrifices offered up not onely to the God of Israel but to Heathen Idols and therefore she hour would come when those Jewish Sacrifices would be laid aside and God would be worshipped with the spirits of men and not with the bodies of Bulls and of Goats and those Heathen Idols which are vanity or a lye must be dasht to pieces and God who is the eternal truth must be worshipped by them This they knew to be our Saviours meaning and that such innocent ceremonies were no way inconsistens with that Spiritual worship he required So that you see though these were babes in Christ and as tenderly to be dealt with as new-born Infants yet this ceremony joyned with Prayer as the Apostles would not wave it so the Samaritans were wiser than to be scandalized at it This then being a plain and undeniable truth that innocent and significant Ceremonies may lawfully be used in the Church of Christ Proceed we to the second thing II. To inquire into the nature of this particular Ceremony what it is significative of c. I need not tell you that the hand is the member or instrument by which we bestow our largesses or convey our gifts and kindnesses to others nor that even Nature carries the Fathers hand towards the Childs head although at that instant he knows not how or why he does it when he outwardly prays for or inwardly wishes him a blessing The Eastern Heathens were not strangers to this custom Naaman the Syrian being offended at the Prophet for directing him to so unlikely a cure as washing seven times in the River Jordan 2 Kings 5.9 huffingly replyed I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God and strike or lay his hands over the place and recover the leper And that this Ceremony long before the giving of the Law was usually joyned with paternal benedictions is plain from the Father of the Patriarchs Gen. 48.14 who by prayer and imposition of hands blessed the Sons of Joseph Under the Law the consecration of things or persons to the service of God Num. 8.10.12 was by Divine appointment to be performed by laying on of hands So when Moses made Joshua partner with him in his Government and conveyed to him the right of succession Num. 27.18 by Gods commandment he laid his hands upon him by which he did not onely impart the honour but the more necessary qualifications of Majesty for by this he became full of the spirit of wisdom Moses having laid his hands upon him Deut. 34.9 And as Blessings spiritual and temporal were convey'd by imposition of hands under the Law so our Saviour and his Apostles under the Gospel thought good to retain that Ceremony when they recovered the Sick when they absolv'd the Penitents when they blessed Infants when they Confirm'd the Baptized and when they ordain'd Priests and Deacons To instance in each of these would require more time than is here allotted it s own evidence makes it sufficient that I hint unto you that in all these several Offices together with the substantial duty of Prayer they made use of this very antient Ceremony and that probably for these two Reasons 1. To lignifie that at that time there were true and real not airy or imaginary Blessings convey'd to the partakers for what can be more real than the Spirit of Wisdom and godly Fear what can be more real than Courage and Magnaniimty sufficient to conquer the World and baffle the strongest Enemies of mankind as I shall have occasion presently to shew and what could better signifie the real exhibition of these than laying their Hands on them 2. To signifie that the Bishops and Pastors of the Church were the ordinary Means and Instruments the Hands which God makes use of to convey his Gifts and communicate his Blessings unto men Such publick and solemn Offices as these wherein extraordinary Blessings were invocated as they were not rudely and nakedly to be administred without the decent attendance of some significant Ceremonies so neither were they to be perform'd nor the Blessings to be expected without the ministration of consecrated persons 'T is their Office to attend us from our Birth to our Grave by their hands we are regenerated in the laver of Baptism