A. Thus much I beg of him in the two first Petitions hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come wherein I desire that Satans Kingdom may be abolished and the kingdom of grace daily increased and therefore I pray unto God to send his grace unto me and to all people that so the Devil may lose ground and there may daily be added unto the Church such as shall be saved that so all may both in word and deed serve and worship the true God and reverently sanctifie and hollow his glorious Name Q. In which petition dost thou beg that we may obey him as we ought to do A. This I ask in the third petition Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven wherein I desire that both my self and all people may know what is that good that acceptable will of God and then make it the rule of our actions that his heavenly will maybe performed by us as it is by the blessed Angels in Heaven that is chearfully without grudging or murmuring readily without delay or procrastination sincerely without guile or hypocrisie constantly without intermission and universally without picking chusing Q. In which Petition do you pray unto God that he will send us all things that be needful both for our Souls and Bodâ—â—s A. This I beg in the fourth petition Give us this day our daily bread wherein I entreat God to take us into his fatherly care and tuition to provide for our subsistence to give us daily or day by day our bread that is all manner of food and sustenance that is requisite for us and withall to fend along with it his heavenly blessing that so it may nourish our bodies and make them fit for their several employments Q. Herein indeed you desire God to give you necessaries for your bodies but wherein do you desire him to give you necessaries for your soules A. The Holy Scripture besides this ordinary bread enformes us of bread that came down from Heaven that is Christ and his benefits represented in the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper and this is that bread wherewith we desire God to feed out Soules which most certainly will nourish them to life eternal Q. In which Petition do you desire God to be mercifull unto us and forgive us our sins A. This I beg of him in the fifth Petition Forgive us our Trespasses wherein I beseech God to pardon unto me and all his servants all those crimes offences and trespasses what ever we are guilty of Q. But wherefore is that clause adjoyned to this Petition as we forgive them that trespass against us A. For very good reason to teach us how we must be qualified before we can be capable of Gods pardon we must be in charity with our brethren otherwise God will not be in charity with us for if we forgive not men their trespasses neither will our heavenly father forgive us our trespasses Q. In which petition do you desire God to save and defend us from all dangers ghostly and bodily and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlacting death A. This I beg of him in the sixth petition And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Q. Doth God then lead his servants into temptation A. There are temptations of trial or probation and God doth lead his servants into these temptations either to exercise their graces or to chastize them for some miscarriage or to prevent them from some gross fall but besides these there are temptations of seduction and ruine which the Devil offers and God by withdrawing his grace suffers us to fall into them and therefore in this Petition I beg of God that he will continually defend us with his grace as with a sheild that so temptations may make no impression upon and that he will deliver us from all those spiritual evils and dangers that our soules are lyable unto howsoever occasioned whether by the treachery of Satan by the enticements of this world or by the provocation of our own lusts as also from the horrid danger that followes our complyance with these the evill of eternal death Q. Wherefore is it that you have so great confidence and trust that God will grant all these things that you have here prayed for A. First because his is the kingdom he is the King of all the earth a loving tender King willing to hear and relieve the wants of his subjects Secondly because his is the power he is a powerful King and thereby able to give plentiful and suitable returns to the requests of his humble suppliants Thirdly because his is the glory he is a glorious King and it is a clear manifestation of his glory and goodness to hear from Heaven a company of miserable wretches that deserve nothing of kindness at his hand and thereupon I say Amen so be it resting fully satisfied that God both hears me and will answer my requests as my necessities require Q. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Chrurch A. Two onely as generally necessary to Salvation that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Q. When did Christ ordain these Sacraments A. The first of them namely Baptism he hallowed in his own person by passing through the Waters of it and also immediately before his ascension he enjoyned his Disciples to Baptize all Nations And the other Sacrament he celebrated with his Disciples presently before his Passion and withal charged his Disciples and in them his whole Church to do it in remembrance of him Q. What is meant by Baptism A. It is derived from a Greek word which signifies to wash dip dive or sprinkle Q. Why is the other Sacrament called the Lords Supper A. Because it was instituted by the Lord of Glory at or after supper Q. How or in what sense are these Sacraments generally necessary to Salvation A. They are the Instruments or the means whereby the merits of Christ are conveyed and made over to us and by which God hath commanded us to receive them and therefore those that wilfully refuse and neglect them when they may be had do neglect the ordinary means of Salvation Q. What do you mean by this word Sacrament A. I mean an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof Q. What is the end or final cause why Christ ordained Sacraments A. He ordained them as a means whereby great blessings and graces are conveyed to us and as a pledge to assure us of his favour and loving kindness Q. What is that grace which by Sacraments is conveyed unto us A. The whole obedience merit death and passion of our Saviour and the benefits that flow from thence Q. Is Christ alone the ordainer of Sacraments A. He onely hath right to institute a Sacrament in regard he is
the sole Author of those graces that by Sacraments are made over to true believers Q. How many parts are there in a Sacrament A. Two the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace Q. Why are the one part in these Sacraments namely water in Baptism and bread and wine in the Lord Supper termed outward and visible signs A. They are termed outward and visible in regard they are apparent to our senses no eye but seeth them and they are called signs because they are resemblances of some higher things signifie or specifie some favours that by them are conferred upon mankind A. Wherefore is the other part of these Sacraments stiled an inward and spiritual Grace A. It is termed inward invisible because it is not to be discerned by the eye of men but it is represented to us by these signs and therefore it is called a grace because the benefits that by these Sacraments are made over unto us proceed from the meer grace and mercy of God through Je-Christ our Lord. Q. What is the outward visible form or sign in Baptism A. Water wherein the person Baptized is dipped or sprinkled with it in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Q. What Analogy or proportion doth this outward Sign Water bear to the thing signified A. Very much Baptism is the washing away of sin and therefore the outward washing in water doth very fitly represent the inward washing of our Souls both from the guilt and spot of sin in the blood of Christ Q. Wherefore is Baptism administred in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the holy Ghost A. This is done for divers weighty reasons First that the congregation may know that what the Minister doth he doth not of or from himself but by commission and good authority even by the authority of the whole Trinity Secondly This is done for the comfort of the Baptized in regard they may be assured that the whole Trinity do ratifie and confirm what is promised in Baptism viz. remission of Sins and acceptance into Favour Thirdly This is done to lay a strict obligation on the party Baptized to acknowledge and believe in these three persons and to deliver up himself to follow the instructions of these and no other in the mysteries of Religion to be obedient to their injunctions and to ascribe all honour and glory to the whole Trinity Q. What is the inward spiritual grace in Baptism A. A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath we are hereby made the children of grace Q. What do you mean by a death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness which you say is the inward grace given you in baptism A. By a death unto sin I mean a getting out of the power and from under the guilt and punishment of sin And by a new birth unto righteousness I mean a denying all our former ungodliness and worldly lusts and a living soberly righteously and godly in this present evil world Q. But how is baptism a means of working this in us and a pledge to assure us thereof A. In regard in Baptism there is that measure of strength given us by Christ as will enable us to get out of that servile dangerous condition notwithstanding before the administration of this Sacrament we were in a state of sin and children of wrath that is had strong inclinations and violent propensions to evil yet hereby we are made children of grace that is are endowed with a sufficiency of power and strength to walk as children of light Q. What is required of persons to be baptised A. Repentance whereby they forsake sin and faith whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament Q. Why is Repentance a necessary qualification to baptism A. In regard we then change our condition we are received from an estate of wrath into an estate of grace and favour and therefore it is requisite we should change our minds after their dispositions inclinations as also this grace is necessary because it disposeth us and makes us capable of the mercies in Baptism Q. What is Repentance A. Repentance is a turning from sin to God and it is such a sincere repentance as this that is required before Baptism Q. The other qualification is faith wherein lyeth the necessity of this grace to dispose us for Baptism A. It lies in this because the promises of God have not their effect upon us unless they are accepted by us and it is Faith only that can apply them and therefore it is necessary that those who partake of this Sacrament should by Faith believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament Q. Why then are Infants Baptized when by reason of their tender years they cannot perform these conditions that is they cannot Repent and Believe A. Because they promise the performance of both these by their sureties which promise when they come at age themselves are bound to perform Q. But what power hath the Church of God to administer this Sacrament to Infants meerly upon the engagement of others for the performance of these conditions A. Herein the Church follows the example of our Saviour Christ who commanded young children to be brought unto him when by reason of their tender years they were uncapable of coming themselves and although they could not in that capacity by any act of their own dispose themseves for his favors yet he took them up in his arms as Ministers do Infants laid his hands upon them as the Minister doth water and blessed them as his Ministers pray over them and for them and our Saviour affirms that of such is the kingdome of Heaven that is those who do not receive it as little children that is with innocence without any let or hinderance cannot enter into it and in conformity to this great exemplar the Church admits Infants in regard they are part of the kingdom of Heaven that is to them it belongs into the Covenant of the Gospel by setting on the seal of it Baptism when they are not in a capacity themselves actually to repent and believe Q. But suppose infants do not perform this promise made on their behalf when they come at age A. Then they forfeit that grace given in Baptism For Baptism is a Covenant wherein God makes over to mankind divers favours and man on his part promises an entire forsaking of sin a stedfast believing of Gods word and a hearty obedience to his commands now man by breaking his part of the Covenant forfeits his right to those favours by it held forth Q. Why was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ordained A. For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ and of the benefits we receive thereby Q. Why do you call the death of Christ a Sacrifice A. In regard he freely offered up himself upon
we receive the Spirit of Obsignation and Confirmation we are but Babes in Christ in the meanest sense Infants that can do nothing that cannot speak that cannot resist any voilence exposed to every rudeness and perishing by every temptation But therefore as God at the first appointed us a Ministry of a new birth in Baptism so also hath he given to the Church the consequent Ministery of a new strength in Confirmation The spirit moved a little upon the waters in Baptism by vertue of which motion it is made the Laver of Regeneration so that by vertue of this Sacrament we receive the first Principles of life are adopted into Christ's family made his living members who before were dead in sins and trespasses But in Confirmation he makes us able to move our selves he so bountifully assists us and so powerfully supplies our manifold infirmities that we are able to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling In the first he is the Spirit of life but in this he is the Spirit of strength and motion Baptisma est nativitas unguentum vero est actionis instra motus as a learned Author observes At the adminstration of Baptism we are born again we are received into the Congregation of Christ's Flock and are entitled to the glorious inheritance which he by his bloodsheding purchased for mankind but in Confirmation we are enabled to move and act as becometh those who are redeemed with so high a price As in our natural birth we are first Infants unable to help our selves and are assisted by Nurses or others who take the charge of us to feed us and to lead us and to assist us in every respect but after some years our strength encreases and we are able to move and help our selves Even so it is in our spiritual birth first we are Babes in Christ unable to move one step in the paths of holiness and therefore the Church in her wisdom provides Sureties who receive the charge of us to feed us with such food as is convenient for us to nourish us to assist and advise us in the weighty affairs of our souls but when we are at age to help our selves then we take their care and trust upon our own shoulders stand upon our own legs publickly promising to live the lives of Christians strictly performing our solemn engagements which in time past was covenanted on our behalf and to preserve us from slipping and falling the Spirit of God is given to assist our pious undertakings and to strengthen us in the encountring of those raging enemies which we must expect to be assaulted with and when good Christian people had this notion of Confirmation rightly understood the true nature of it they were then very zealous for it and flocked in great multitudes to receive this divine ministry from the hands of the Bishop And time was in England as Bishop Taylor relates even since the first beginnings of Reformation when Confirmation had been less carefully ministred for about six years when the people had the first opportunities of it restored they ran to it in so great numbers that Churches and Church-yards would not hold them insomuch that the Bishop of Chester was forced to impose hands on the people in the fields and was so oppressed with the multitudes that he had almost been trod to death by the people and had died with the throng if he had not been rescued by the civil Power And it might have been hoped that the disuse of it of late for so considerable a number of years might have made it more highly prized now that it is again restored but alas our own experience finds it far otherwise it continues still too much neglected not only for want of a right understanding of this holy Rite but also by entertaining a belief that it is unlawful many are deterred from desiring this ministry in regard that they are enformed that not one tittle of this is to be found in Gods word and hereupon supposing it hath no Divine Warrant they presently condemn it as an Innovation a piece of Will-worship and so consequently sinful VVherefore I shall in the next place prove the lawfulness of this Discipline it is a plant of our Heavenly Fathers planting and so no Innovation or VVill-worship it is a Primitive and Apostolick Rite and hath been continued in the Church in all Ages as a wholsom Discipline and so no upstart invention or new device to raise the Power or advance the Grandeur of proud Prelates and when I have cleared these two then the lawfulness of this Rite will appear as clear as the Sun at the Noon day This Divine Rite of Confirmation proceeds from above it is warranted unto us by no meaner a person than the Eternal Son of God who in his own person hath instituted and hallowed this Rite by submiting unto it no sooner came he out of the waters where he had been baptized by John but immediately he is confirmed by the Spirit which in the shape of a Dove descended upon him He is now to enter upon the stage of the world and to conflict with divers enemies he is forthwith to be led into the VVilderness to be assaulted by the Prince of darkness who now exercises all his cunning and malice to make a prey of this tender Lamb of God But before he undertakes these hard tasks the Spirit of the living God rests upon him not that he had any need of the descent of the Holy Ghost or of his powerful assistance in regard that infinite power that appertained to his Godhead was able to repel the greatest rage of the Devil and all his accursed instruments but all this was done for our sakes to instruct us in this solemnity of our Religion he submitted to this Rite that we might follow his example and work out our Salvation by the same graces in the like solemnities which St. Augustine hath very well expressed affirming Christi in Baptismo Columbam unctionem nostram presigurasse the Dove in Christ's Baptism did represent and prefigure out unction from above that is the descent of the Holy Ghost upon us in the Rite of Confirmation And therefore to this and other external ministrations we must believe our selves obliged to submit and make use of them in the working out our own Salvation being encouraged thereto by the president of this great Captain of our Salvation Christ was Baptized and so must we but after Baptism he had a new ministration for the reception of the Holy Ghost and because this was done upon our account therefore we must follow so good an example And this being done immediately before his combate with that proud infernal Spirit it plainly describes unto us both the time when it ought to be received as also that great advantage that attends the ministration of it After we are baptized when we are capable of understanding the solemn engagement of our Baptism and enter upon the personal performance
And we shall find these such prevailing temptations as flesh and blood cannot easily resist But when we are endowed with vertue from on high it will enable us both to discover his delusions and to resist his greatest force and fury That infinite power which at the first threw the Prince of darkness from his primitive estate of happiness and perfection is able to guard us from all his assaults that we may pass on cheerfully in the performance of what the Lord requires of us And indeed this is the principal blessing of Confirmation our spiritual strength hereby is augmented that new life which we receive at Baptism is now so heightned and improved that we are able to live the lives of good Christians and in a very good measure to perform what our Sureties promised for us So that Confirmation is the consummation and perfection the corroboration and strength of Baptism and baptismal grace for in baptism we undertake to do our duty but in confirmation we receive a new supply of strength for the doing of it in baptism others promise for us in confirmation we undertake for our selves we ease our Godfathers and Godmothers of their burden and taken it upon our own shoulders In Babtisme we give up our names to Christ but in confirmation we put our seal to the profession and God puts his Seal to the promise we enter then upon the actual performance of our Baptismal vow which includes the whole of our Christian duty and then it is that God poures down his holy Spirit upon us to direct and guide us in those weighty things that relate to our eternal peace so that in confirmation we receive an encrease of the Spirit of grace whereby we are strengthned unto battel prepared to recieve the desperate assaults and fierce encounters of our mercyless adversaries to which I shall only add what St. Cyrill argues from the descension of the holy Ghost upon Christ after his baptism whose words I shall set down as I find them quoted by the Bishop of Down When he was baptized in the River Jordan he ascended out of the Waters and the holy Ghost substantially descended upon him like resting upon like And so you also in like manner after ye have ascended from the waters of baptism the unction is given which bears the image or similitude of him by whom Christ was anointed that as Christ after Baptism and the coming of the holy Spirit upon him went forth to battel in the wilderness and overcame the adversary so ye also after holy Baptism and the mystical unction or confirmation being vested with the armour of the holy Spirit are enabled to stand against the opposite powers so that certainly were this excellent favour duely considered that attends confirmation it would be strictly observed by all those who in any competent measure intend their own eternal good and happiness But besides all this many benefits will accrue to us by performing our parts in confirmation that is by publickly in our own persons undertaking those solemn engagements that was by others made on our behalf at Baptism It is the opinion of a very learned person That there could never be a well constituted Church without this practise nor can we tell that men are not Heathens and Pagans and have not revoked their word unless they will openly acknowledge that they understand what they then did and will not stir from it VVill any man be ashamed saith the same Author to make such a profession and to tread in the way of Christs Church because it hath been of late disused or turned into another thing VVhy shouldest thou blush to own holiness to say before Christ's Church thou art resolved to lead a Christian life and renounce the Devil and all the ways of wickedness why shouldest thou be ashamed of thy Religion as if it were fit to be professed only in a private corner where none should hear thee VVhy should it be accounted a strange thing to protest love to God it is an honour and glory unto us that we may be Christians and so should we esteem it we should be right glad of an opportunity wherein we may do our selves so much honour as to tell the world that we are and resolve to be the real disciples and faithful followers of the eternal King of Glory We shall also find divers great benefits to ensue upon the renewing of our vow in the presence of the Congregation 1. This will be a means to make us more strictly and conscientiously observe the rules and duties of Christianity when we consider that we have acquainted the world with our good resolutions that they know what a solemn profession we have made to lead a virtuous and a Christian life in all godliness and honesty then we cannot for shame but practice what we have so openly professed our own credit will make us afraid to commit a sin against which we have so solemnly and publickly professed and we shall easily believe that every one will upbraid us with the breach of promise when they see us to act contrary to what we once told the congregation we shall hereby force the world to believe us false and perfidious not our words Master neither can we imagine that any person that understands his own interest will take our word or trust to our promise in any matter that relates to these temporal affairs when as we dare break those solemn promises upon every slight occasion every inconsiderable temptation that is offered that we make in the presence of God and a whole congregation so that our credit will ingage us when we have once made a publick engagement to stand by it not to shrink from it but to be diligent in the observation of every part of it Secondly This renewing our Baptismal vow in the presence of the congregation will be a soveraign antidote against the allurements of Satan neither can we have a better preservative against his force and fury than to tell him what we told the congregation that now we are resolved having passed our word for it that we will renounce him and all that appertains unto him and be Gods faithful servants to our lives end When we are able confidently to tell this bold tempter that we have no room to entertain him having engaged our selves in the face of the world to wage a continual war against him and also vowed Loyalty Fidelity to our eternal Maker we need not doubt but that this will drive him away from us and also for the time to come discourage him from making such frequent attempts upon us Neither will this only be a means to preserve us from the daring onsets of the Prince of Darkness but also it will very much secure us from the insinuation of his agents the prophane sons of Belial Wicked men certainly cannot have the conâ—â—â—ence to ask us to sin when we have so publiquely professed against it evill company will shun and avoid us