of the Apostles and from the general Sense of the Primitive Church 2. God is a Being as of infinite Purity and Holiness so also of infinite Goodness and Mercy and as he cannot possibly be reconciled to Men so long as they continue wicked so when ever they cease to be so and return again to the Obedience of Gods Commands and to the imitation of his Nature we cannot suppose but that he will again admit them to his Pardon and Favour Goodness and Mercy are our most natural Notions of God and the Discoveries which he hath made of himself by Revelation are most exactly agreeable thereto At the passing by of his Glory before Moses he proclaimed himself The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquities Transgressions and Sins Exod. 34. 6. By the Prophets he declares and swears by himself As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33. 1â— And above all by that stupendous Instance of Mercy the sending his only Son out of his Bosom to give himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of Men he has discovered such an earnest desire of our Reconciliation and Salvation as will be the everlasting subject of the Praises of Men and the Admiration of Angels If therefore God when he had made a Covenant of perfect Obedience and had not promised Pardon at all to great and presumptuous Sins did yet give Pardon and declare also to the Jews by his Prophets that he would do so And if when Men were yet Enemies to him he was so willing that not any should perish but all should come to Repentance yea so desirous to have all Men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth that he not only spared not his own Son to deliver him up for us all but tells us even of Joy in Heaven at a Sinners accepting the gracious Terms of the Gospel and represents himself as a tender Father running to meet his returning Prodigal and falling up-his Neck and kissing him If this I say was the Compassion which God shewed to Man in his first sinful and miserable State 't is very reasonable to conclude and hope that his Mercy is not so entirely exhausted at once but that the same Pity may be yet further extended even to those also who after the knowledge of the Truth having been seduced by the Temptations of the World and the Devil to depart from God and to forsake their Duty shall again return unto him with Sincerity and Perseverance 3. The Design of the Gospel is to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And certainly whensoever it comes to have this effect upon a Man it gives him a Title to the blessed Hope and a well-grounded Assurance of Mercy at the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Foundation of the Christian Dispensation upon which the whole Summ of Affairs is now established is Faith and Repentance and whensoever a Man so truly repents as to purifie himself effectually from every evil Work and by the Spirit mortifies the deeds of the Body he shall certainly live Our Saviour himself gives express Directions when a Man's Christian Brother trespasses against him to use all possible means to reclaim him both by private and publick Reproof before he rejects him utterly as a Heathen Man and a Publican He commands us though our Brother sins never so often against us yet if he turns again and repents to forgive him and has promised upon this Condition that we also shall in like manner find forgiveness at the Hands of God And in the Epistles sent by the Apostle St. John to the Bishops of the Seven Churches of Asia he exhorts them earnestly to remember from whence they were fallen and to repent and be zealous and do their first works and promises that if upon this Invitation any Man would hear his Voice and open the Door that is would be moved by these Exhortations to repent and amend he would come in to him and sup with him that is would again receive him to his Mercy and Favour 4. Accordingly the Writings of the Apostles though directed to Christians are yet full of earnest Exhortations to Repentance and their History contains many Instances of those who after great falls were thereby restored to their first state St Peter exhorts Simon Magus who thought the Gift of God could be bought with Money to repent of this his wickedness and gives him encouragement to hope that he should thereupon obtain forgiveness Acts 8. 22. St. John tells us That if any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins 1 John 2. 2. St. James tells us That if any one err from the Truth and one convert him he that converteth the Sinner from the Error of his way shall save a Soul from Death and shall hide a multitude of Sins Jam. 5. 20. St. Jude advises us to have compassion of some making a difference and to save others with fear pulling them out of the fire ver 23. St. Paul exhorts Timothy to instruct in meekness those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth and that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil who are taken Captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2. 25. He advises the Galatians that if any Man be overtaken in a fault they which are spiritual should restore such a one in the Spirit of meekness considering themselves lest they also be tempted Gal. 6. 1. He threatens the Corinthians to excommunicate those who had sinned and had not repented of their uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they had committed 2 Cor. 12. 21. And even the Incestuous Person who had been guilty of such a Sin as was not so much as named among the Heathens themselves he delivers indeed to Satan for the destruction of the Flesh but it was that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. 5. 5. For when the punishment which was inflicted of many had been sufficient to reduce him to Repentance he writes to the Church to forgive him and comfort him lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow 2 Cor. 2. 7. 5. And this excepting as I have said one Sect of Men was the constant Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Church To those who were yet Innocent they thought indeed no Promises too great and no Threatnings too severe whereby they might make them infinitely careful to preserve their Innocence But those who had already sinned they incouraged to repent and upon their Repentance admitted them again to the Peace of the Church and
publick profession of at their Baptism They were fully instructed in the excellent Moral Precepts of that Divine Religion which they were to practise the remaining part of their lives And then they were thought prepared for the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost CHAP. III. In what manner persons converted to Christianity were baptized to what Privileges they were admitted and to what Duties they were ingaged by their Baptism 1. WHen the person to be baptized was thus prepared and the time appointed come which was usually at Easter or Whitsontide the Commemorations of our Saviour's Passion and Resurrection and of the great Effusion of the Holy Spirit things principally respected in this Sacrament though it might also upon occasion be celebrated at any other time When the Person I say was thus prepared he was brought by the Priest to a convenient place where there was plenty of Water and being stript of all his cloaths he in the first place with stretched out Arms in a most solemn manner renounced the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all not only the absolutely sinful but also the lawful desires of the flesh so far as to keep them within the most strict bounds and most exact obedience to the Laws of Reason and Religion Then he made Profession of his Faith in One God the Father Almighty c. in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord c. and in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church c. After which he was baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost being immersed in the Water three times once at the Name of each Person in the ever Blessed Trinity Which being done he came up out of the Water and then according to the Custom of some Churches he was anointed with Oil with the addition of some other Ceremonies which as they were in their own nature indifferent so they were used only in some places and that diversly according to the different usage of particular Churches After all which he was clothed with a white Robe and so admitted among the Faithful to the Communion of the Church which last Ceremony the Greeks as a Learned Writer of our own observes keep up to this day putting upon the Child immediately after Baptism a white Garment with this Form Receive this white and immaculate Cloathing and bring it with thee unspotted before the Tribunal of Christ and thou shalt inherit eternal life 2. This was the Form and Manner in which Persons converted to Christianity were Baptized in the Primitive Church And by all these outward and visible Ceremonies were significantly represented certain inward and invisible things which were either the Privileges to the injoyment of which the Person Baptized was intitled or the Duties to the performance of which he was engaged by his Baptism 3. The first Grace or Privilege which God annexed to the right use of this Ordinance of Baptism and to which the Person Baptised was consequently intitled was Remission of all past sins The design of our Savior's coming into the World was by the Merit of his Death and Suffering to purchase Pardon and Remission for all those who should believe in his Name and obey his Gospel Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Now the Means by which this Pardon is applied and the Seal by which it is secured to all those who Believe and by Repentance begin to Obey the Gospel is Baptism Whosoever therefore was converted to Christianity and was baptized was baptised into the death of Christ i. e. was by Baptism intitled to the benefit of the Pardon purchased by his Death and Passion As his Body was washed with pure Water so his Sins were absolutely done away by the Blood of Christ and his Heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience Heb. 10. 22. Hence Baptism is called the Washing of Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. and they who by the Apostles Preaching or by any other more extraordinary means were convinced of the Truth of the Gospel were exhorted immediately to be baptized and wash away their sins Acts 22. 16. And now why tarriest thou Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the Name of the Lord And Acts 2. 38. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins To which those Places also seem manifestly to allude Rev. 1. 5. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and Rev. 7. 14. These are they which have washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. The plain meaning of all which passages is this That as a new-born Infant is without Spot Innocent and Sinless so every one that is born of Water i. e. regenerated by Baptism is in the account of God as if he had never sinned cloathed with the white and spotless Garment of Innocence which if he never defile by gross and wilful sins he shall walk in white with Christ for he shall be worthy 4. The next Privilege which Baptism principally and most significantly represented was the Admission of the Convert into the Church or Family of God All that received Baptism were thereby actually admitted into the Society of Christians and to the participation of all the benefits which God bestows upon his Church They were admitted to the Communion of the Saints of God and to the Fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 1. 9. They were made Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Eph. 2. 19. being come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant c. Heb. 12. 22. More particularly they were made first Members of Christ i. e. they were incorporated into that Body whereof Christ is the Head Secondly They were made Children of God i. e. they were enroll'd in the number of those whom God had chosen to be his Peculiar and Elect People and whom he designed to govern with the same tenderness as an affectionate and merciful Father does his most beloved Children which is what the Apostles express by our being called the Sons of God 1 John 3. 1. by our having received the Adoption of Sons Gal. 4. 5. and by our having power given us to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. Lastly They were made Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. they who before were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and
steady course of Piety to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality And again Heb. 3. 14. he tells us that we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our Confidence stedfast unto the end The Hebrews to whom this Epistle was written were certainly sincere Christians they had been enlightned by Baptism and the preaching of the Word they had tasted of the heavenly Gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost they had tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come and yet the Apostle tells them that all this would not make them partakers of Christ i. e. would not intitle them to the Promises which the Gospel makes to Obedience unless they persevered in this state to the end Nay so far would all these glorious Things be from ascertaining them of Happiness that if they fell away the having formerly been partakers of so great Privileges would but increase their Condemnation and make their State more desperate 6. Terrible are the Threatnings which the Scripture makes to those who having known their Duty and begun to obey it shall again return to a course of Wickedness If after they have escaped the Pollutions of the World through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they shall be again intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them than the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy Commandment delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2. 20. I will therefore put you in remembrance though you once knew this how that the Lord having saved the People out of the Land of Egypt afterwards destroyed them that believed not And the Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting Chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great Day Jude 5 6. Lest there be any Fornicator or profane Person as Esau who for one morsel of Meat sold his birth-right for ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the Blessing he was rejected for he found no place of Repentance though he sought it carefully with tears Heb. 12. 16. If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversary Heb. 10. 26. It is impossible for those who were once enlightned and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good Word of God and the Powers of the World to come if they shall fall away to renew them again unto Repentance seeing they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame Heb. 6. 4. The meaning of all which Places is plainly this not indeed that 't is impossible to obtain Forgiveness but that there is no more Baptism no more Baptismal Remission and that therefore if Men after the clear knowledge of their Duty relapse any more into a state of gross Wickedness they cannot be forgiven but upon such a great and active Repentance as 't is exceeding difficult to renew such Persons unto 7. For this Reason our Saviour warns us to watch and to be ready always to have our Loins girded about and our Lights burning and to be like Men that wait for their Lord when he shall return from the Wedding that when he cometh and knocketh they may open unto him immediately Luke 12. 35. And again Take heed to your selves lest at any time your Hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares for as a Snare shall it come on all them that dwell upon the face of the whole Earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man Luke 21. 34. And the Apostles also in their Epistles are perpetually warning us to watch and to be solicitous to take great heed as of a thing of most extreme danger lest at any time we fail of the grace of God and left any root of bitterness springing up trouble us and thereby we be defiled 8. And indeed the ancient Church thought they could never carry this Point too far To the Converts who had newly entered into the Profession of Religion they always urged the necessity of Perseverance with the utmost Rigour And those Texts of Scripture which seem the most severely to threaten Apostates that is such as after their embracing the Truth of the Gospel wilfully relapsed into the Practice of any notorious Wickedness they always interpreted to them in the most strict Sense that by those Terrors of the Lord they might preserve them if possible in their Innocence though those who had already sinned they treated more mildly that they might incourage Repentance and prevent Despair CHAP. IX Of Innocence and an early Piety 1. SEcondly Consider the inestimable Advantage of Innocence and of an early Piety Innocence is a Jewel which no Man understands the value of and no Man knows what he does when he first parts with it When a Man is first beaten from his good Resolutions and seduced by the Temptations of Sin and Folly he is then driven from his best strong-hold his Strength his Courage his Assistance is diminished and when or how far he shall be able to recover them he cannot tell When a Man is first inticed to sin wilfully and against knowledge he makes Shipwrack of a good Conscience and parts with that Peace of Mind which how far he shall ever be able to recover he cannot know When a Man is first vanquish'd by the Enemies of his Salvation the World the Flesh or the Devil and prefers any Pleasure or any Interest to his Duty he then forfeits his Title to the Crown promised to those who shall overcome and how far his Endeavours will afterwards be accepted he cannot tell 2. While a Person who has entered early into the Profession of Religion is yet innocent and uncorrupted with Vice he begins his Christian Warfare with firm and unbroken Resolutions with a free and undistracted Mind and with the certain Assistance of God's Holy Spirit But when once he has forfeited this happy Innocence and is fallen from his first Love his Zeal for Virtue grows less strict and his hatred against Vice less severe his Resolutions become weaker and more inconstant his Passions stronger and his Mind more unsettled and the Grace of God is proportionably withdrawn from him so that it becomes much more difficult to recover his first State than it had been to preserve it Think not therefore when first Temptations offer themselves that you can now yield to them and afterwards