life from the same Root Q. What is the second benefit that belong to be Members of the Church A. Forgiveness of Sins Q. What is Sin A. Sin is the transgression of the Law of God Q. What is the punishment due unto sin A. Eternal death the wages of sin is death Q. Is not all mankind lyable to this punishment in regard as the Scripture affirms all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God A. All mankind was once in a state of death and dammnation Q. How then came this benefit of the forgiveness of sins to be made over to them A. The Son of God by his active obedience fulfilling every title of the Law and by his passive obedience suffering the wrath of God due to us for the breach of the Law hath made full satisfaction on our behalf reconciled us to God by vertue of which reconciliation our sins are forgiven Q. To whom doth this favour belong A. To the Members of the Church Q. Shall all those that are Members of the Church partake of this benefit A. All those that by Baptism are received into the Church by that Sacrament receive the remission of those sins which they were guilty of before they were baptized and hence it is that in the Nicene Creed we profess to believe one Baptism for the remissioâ— of sins also after they be thus made Members of Christ they receive remission of their future sins by repentance Q. What is the third benefit that bâ—longs to the Members of this Church A. The Resurrection of the Body Q. Can the body then arise out of thâ— Grave when as it is mouldred in crumbs and dust A. It shall most certainly arise â—gain and he re-united to the Soâ— when together they shall render an account of all their actions performed iâ— this life Q. Shall the very same bodies arise that now we bare about with us A. They shall be the same for substance but not for qualities whereas they are now Earthly Mortal and Corruptible bodies they shall then be Spiritual Immortal and incorruptible Q. How can this possibly be that the same body which is devoured by Worms should again be raised A. This is performed by Gods infinite and unlimited power who shall call to the dead arise ye dead and come away to judgement and the dead shall hear his voice and obey it Q. VVhat necessity is there that the same body should arise A. The same body must arise and no other to magnifie Gods justice that so the same individual body that was a copartner in sin may be punished that which did partake in righteous actions and sufferings may be rewarded Q. Shall all bodies in general arise A. The bodies both of the Godly and wicked of the just and unjust all that ever lived shall arise and live again to eternal Ages Q. When shall this general resurrection be A. At the last and great day of accounts when the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout and with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trumpet of God Q. What is the fourth benefit that belongs to the Members of this Church A. The life everlasting Q. To whom doth this belong A. To all in general for although the life everlasting is frequently used to signifie that reward which in another life is bestowed upon the righteous yet the wicked shall live eternally Q. What shall then be the difference betwixt the godly and the ungodly in this respect A. The godly shall live to all eternity in unspeakable joys and never fading glories and the wicked shall live eternally or they shall remain alive in Soul Body to endure the Torments to be inflicted upon them by the justice of God for all the sins committed by them whilst they were in the body Q. Do you think that it is enough barely to believe all these Articles of your Faith A. As I am bound to believe them so it is my duty to frame my practice answerable to this my belief so that I must not only know what these words signifie but likewise I must perform such actions as are agreeable thereto Q. Is this all that your Baptismal vow and promise requires from you A. No it not only enjoyns me to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith but also I am thereby bound to keep Gods holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the dayes of my life Q. When was these Commandments given A. God speak them to Moses upon Mount Sinai who wrote them upon Tables of Stone made them known to the people of Israel for the regulating of their manners Q. If these Commandments are part of Moses his Law then certainly they were abrogated by the coming of Christ A. This Law was before Moses was although not literally recorded and it shall continue after him to the end of the World and therefore it is called the Moral Law because it is to be a perpetual rule of good manners to mankind Q. To whom did God make it known before Moses A. He did implant it in mans nature by Creation and for this reason St. Paul calls it the Law of Nature but when mans light and knowledge was decayed and impaired by the fall of Adam God again renewed this Law to his Servant Moses and likewise our blessed Lord in his first Sermon that most excellent Sermon he preached on the Mount reinforces this Law and rescues it from those corrupt glosses the Scribes and Pharises had put upon it Q. How many Commandements doth this moral law contain A. Ten. Q. Which be they A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of Bondage 1. Thou shalt have none other gods but me 2. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the waters under the Earth thou shalt not how down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands unto them that love me and keep my Commandments 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain 4. Kemmember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day six dayes shalt thou labour and do all that thou vast to do but the Seventh day is the Sabboth of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant the Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the Seventh day wherefore
duty of Catechizing yet they perform it so slightly and remisly that it is almost as good left undone possibly they will Catechise the six Sundays in Lent that is they will hear the younger sort by rote repeat over those arswers contained in the Catechism and when they are able to rehearse them readily they believe them sufficiently instructed in the Catechistical points although they understand very little of the true sense and meaning of what is contained therein and the truth of this is plain from hence if you do but propound to them one question out of order is it is not placed in the Catechism or vary but a very little in the words of the question from what it is in the Book they are not able to give an account of it I wish these persons would heartily consider that Canonical obedience they promised when entrusted with A PLAIN and BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CHVRCH CATECHISM Q. VVHat is your name A. N. or M. Q. Why begin you your Catechism with this Question A. Because this name was given me when I was made a Christian so that whensoever I call to mind this my name I may remember that I am a Christian and what those duties are that this my Holy Profession binds me to observe and do Q. Who gave you this name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism wherein I was made a member of Christ the child of God and an inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. When was this name given you A. At my Baptism and therefore it is call'd my Christian name because it was given me when I was made a Christian a member of Christ Q. Was you then made a Christian A. Yes this favour was not bestowed upon me at my first birth but at my second when at my Baptism I was washed in the Laver of Regeneration then I was made a Christian admitted into the number of Christs visible members Q. In what condition was you then in before your Baptism A. I was in a weak and infirm capacity the powers and faculties of my soul being in no mean degree impaired and corrupted Q. How came you into this miserable estate A. By the fall of the first man Adam God made a Covenant with Adam and in him with all mankind wherein God on his part promised to confer on mankind divers mercies and Adam on his part promised an exact unsinning unerring obedience but Adam by eating the forbidden Fruit contrary to the express command of his Maker became disobedient and so broke the bond of the Covenant and hereby brought both himself and the whole Race of mankind into this wretched miserable estate Q. By what means was you raised out of this wretched estate A. By the meritorious sufferings of Christ the second Adam who by taking upon him our nature and therein performing exact unerring obedience according to the conditions of the first Covenant and tasting death upon the Cross for every man hath hereby satisfied for the sins of Adam and for the sins of all mankind and by this means delivered me with the rest of mankind out of this desperate condition Q. How come you to have a right to those benefits purchased by Christ A. By Baptism which is the Seal of the second Covenant at the setting on of which Seal these three Priviledges are bestowed to become a member of Christ a child of God and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Are all them that are Baptized members of Christ A. All that are Baptized in the name of Christ and profess the Christian Religion may be term'd members of his visible Body but those only who both by profession and practice are sincere Christians belong to his mystical Body that is are united to him live in him and are informed by his Spirit these are indeed Gods real Children by Adoption and Grace and shall in the end be made inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. What did your Godfathers and Godmothers promise for you A. They did promise and vow three things in my name first that I should renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh secondly that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And thirdly that I should keep Gods holy will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life Q. Why are you bound according to the first part of your Batismal promise to renounce the Devil and all his works A. Because these are enemies to God and hateful in his sight and before I renounce all that God hates it is impossible that I should be so nearly united to him as to be his true child and member Q. What is the Devil A. The Devil is an evil Spirit who once was an Angel of light but for his Pride and Rebellion was thrown from Heaven into the horrid Regions of Darkness Q. What are the works of the Devil A. The works of the Devil are all manner of sin and wickedness even whatsoever contradicts the Will and Commands of God and defiles our own Souls Q. Why are these stiled the works of the Devil A. Because he was the first Author of Sin Rebellion and Disobedience he in the beginning acted it against God learnt it our first Parents and makes it his whole employment daily to infuse it into the hearts of all mankind Q. What do you mean by the pomps and vanities of this wicked world A. By these I mean all manner of secular honours pleasures and preferments all those perishing delights and transient vanities which this world may present unto us to withdraw our hearts from intending the due performance of that promise we made at our Baptism Q. What are the sinful lusts of the flesh A. The sinful lusts of the flesh are all those abominations and impieties which our rebellious flesh lusteth after and provoketh us to run into Q. The next thing which you say that your Sureties promised for you is to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith what is it to believe or what is Faith viz. that Faith which on your behalf was promised at your Baptism A. Faith is such an hearty perswasion of the truth of Gods promises and of every thing else that he hath spoken as makes us obedient in all things to his commands Q. What is the object of this Faith or what is it that we are bound to believe A. I am to believe that Form of sound words and wholesom Doctrine which Christ and his Apostles delivered to the World and that we have epitomized and briefly summ'd up in that Confession of Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed Q. Why is this Confession of Faith called the Apostles Creed A. It is so called either because the Apostles were the Authors of it it being composed by them or else because it is an abridgment of the Doctrine delivered by the Apostles Q. How must your
belief of this Rule of Faith be qualified A. It must be intire and universal I must neither add to not diminish from this Confession of Faith but I am obliged by my Baptismal vow to believe all and every Article of this Christian Faith Q. The last thing which your Sureties promised for you was to keep Gods Holy will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of your life How or by what means come you to know the will of God A. He hath revealed it in his Holy Word wherein he hath at large manifested how and in what manner he will be worshipped and served Q. For what end and purpose hath God made known his mind unto us A. That we might make it the Rule of our lives and walk according to that Rule all the days of our lives Q. Dost thou think that thou art bound to believe and do as they promised for thee A. Yes verily and by Gods help so I will and I heartily thank our Heavenly Father that he hath called me to this state of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Saviour And I pray unto God to give me his Grace that I may continue in the same unto my lives end Q. How comes it to pass that thou art bound to perform that promise which others made A. Because they only made it in my behalf when by reason of my tender Years I was uncapable of making of it in my own person which promise I am bound actually to perform when I come to years of discretion Q. Are you then able to perform that promise which was made on your behalf A. I am not by my own strength but by the grace of God I am which he hath faithfully promised to give to all those that heartily beg it Q. What think you of this Estate which by your Baptism you are placed in A. I think it is an excellent and blessed Estate as far excelling my natural condition as light doth darkness the one being a state of death and the other a state of life Q. How come you to have a right to this excellent condition A. By vertue of Christs sufferings who hath purchased this condition for me by his Death and Blood-shedding in which by the help and grace of God I do resolve to continue unto my lives end Q. Rehearse the Articles of thy belief A. I believe in God the Father Allmighty maker of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell the third day he arose again from the dead he ascended into Heaven and there be sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life everlasting Amen Q. What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy belief A. First I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me and all the World Secondly in God the Son who hath redéemed me and all mankind Thirdly in God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the Elect people of God Q. In which Article do you learn to believe in God the Father A. This I learn in the first Article I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth Q. How many Gods are there A. There is but one only the true everliving and eternal God Q. How can that be when you profess that you believe in God the Father God the Son God the Holy Ghost How sayest thou then that there is but one God A. In the God-head indeed there are three Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost but these three are but one God and this great truth St. John thus expresseth There be three that bare record in Heaven the Father the VVord that is Jesus Christ the Son of God the VVord incarnate and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Q. What is God A. God is a Spirit Infinite in all his Attributes and Perfections Q. How knowest thou that there is such a being as God A. Several ways by his wonderful work of Creation the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy work but especially by my own Conscience which this Infinite Being hath placed within me to accuse me of all those Crimes I commit against his Divine Majesty Q. Vpon what grounds do you call God Father A. He is my Father by Creation giving me at the first my Being he is also my Father by Adoption having through the Gate of Baptism received me into the number of his Servants and Members Q. How did God at the first create you A. By his Almighty and Infinite Power by vertue whereof he can do whatsoever pleaseth him both in Heaven and in Earth Q. And did he finish the Heavens and the Earth and all the rest of his Creation by his Power and Word alone A. Yes he spake and it was done he commanded and they were brought forth Q. In what time did God finish his Creation A. In the space of Six days and rested the Seventh day Q. Why did God at the first give you a Being A. To advance his Honour and to perform his sacred Will Q. Of what did God make Man A. He made his Body of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life and so he became a living Soul Q. In which Article do you learn is believe in God the Son who redeemed you and all mankind A. In these And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead Q. What is this Jesus Christ in whom you believe A. He is perfect God and perfect Man equal to the Father as touching his God-head but inferiour to the Father as touching his Man-hood Q. What Relation stands this Person in to God A. He is his only Son begotten of the Father before the world his first born from all Eternity Q. Why did this Eternal God take upon him our nature and so become Man A. That he might Redeem me and all mankind Q. But how can this be that God should be made Man A. He became Man not by turning the God-head into the nature of Man but by taking Mans nature into the God-head that so one person might be both God and Man Q. What need was there that so excellent a Person as the Son of God should thus abase himself A. Because there
so called are properly but one Church in regard they are all subject to one and the same Governour they are all built upon the same Rock all profess the same Faith all receive the same Sacralments all perform the same Devotions which although divers congregations yet may they very aptly be reputed members of the same Church Q. But besides these several Churches we also read of a Church Militant and a Church Triumphant how say you then there is but one Church A. These are but the different state and conditions of the Holy Catholick Church and not two Churches In this world it is the Church Militant and it is so termed because alwayes in a posture of War continually fighting against the World the Flesh and the Devil And in the world to come it shall be Triumphant for then it shall take possession of that heavenly Kingdome which the Lord Christ Jesus hath purchased for it where it's warfare shall be ended and it shall gloriously triumph over all its enemies Q. How long shall this Church continue A. To the end of the world Christ from the beginning had and the end shall have a Church against which all the powers of Hell shall not be able to prevail in regard he hath promised to be with them always even unto the end of the world and then he shall receive the true members of it up into glory to reign with him in his everlasting kingdom to eternal Ages Q. Why do you call this a Holy Church A. For divers reasons as first because it is called by Christ Jesus and therefore seperated from the rest of the world by a Holy calling Secondly in regard all her offices administrations and powers are ordained to produce holiness the Religion she professeth is Holy the laws by which she is governed are holy and good the offices she performs are Divine Thirdly because whosoever is called to profess the Faith in Christ is hereby ingaged to holiness of life Fourthly in regard the end of constituting a Church was for the purchasing an holy and peculiar people to God zealous of good works Q. Why do you call this Church Catholick A. Catholick signifies universal or whole under which term the largeness of the Church is comprehended it being extended to all places and to all persons In former time the Jews only were the Church of God but now the partition-wall is broken down and all Nations and all Persons in all Nations have a capacity to be of the Church of Christ Q. What benefits do those receive who are members of his Holy Cathotholick Church A. There are four mentioned in this confession of Faith the communion of Saints the forgiveness of Sins the resurrection of the Body and the life Everlasting Q. Who do you mean by these Saints A. By the Saints I mean such persons as are called by a holy calling and are obedient to it such as are endowed with a holy Faith and purified there by such as are sanctified by the Spirit of God and by vertue thereof do lead an holy and unblameable life such persons are truly and indeed Saints Q. What is that Communion or wherein doth it consist that these holy Persons enjoy A. The Saints on Earth enjoy Communion either with those who are not of the same nature with them as men or with those that are of the same nature with them Q. What persons are those that are not of the same nature with whom the Saints have Communion and wherein doth that Communion consist A. First they have Communion with God the Father they are of his Family they are his Servants his Sons and therefore they may with boldness sue to him for his favours who is as dear and tender over them as a Father is over the fruits of his own Loins Secondly that Saints living in the Church of God have Communion with the Son of God he is our elder Brother our Intercessor and Advocate all our requests are put up to the Father in his Name who by presenting of them before the Throne of Grace makes them available for such things as we beg Thirdly the Saints in the Church of Christ have Communion with the Holy Ghost they become Saints and holy men by partaking of this Divine Spirit of life and by being sanctifyed by him he inhabits in them enlivens and actuates them to the performance of every good and Religious Duty Fourthly The Saints in the Church of Christ have Communion with the blessed Angels these are those Ministring Spirits who are sent abroad to Minister for their sakes who are heirs of Salvation yea the holy Jesus hath assur'd us that they have a particular sense of our condition enforming of us that there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Q. What Persons are those that are of the same nature with the Saints with whom they enjoy fellowship and what Communion is it A. These are of two sorts Q. which is the first sort with whom they Communicate A. With those who partake not of the same holiness with them There was a Judas amongst the holy Apostles and there ever was and will be to the end of the World some Hypocrites in the Church of God the Tares must must grow up with the Wheat least by plucking up the one they destroy the other Q. What Communion have they with these A. They communicate in the same Water being both externally baptized they communicate in the same Creed both making the same open confession of Faith both agree in the acknowledgement of the same Principles of Religion both communicate in the same word both hear the same Doctrine preached they communicate at the same Table both eat the same Bread and drink of the same Cup which Christ hath appointed to be received Q. If then the Saint and the Hypocrite communicate in the same benefits how then doth the Saint differ from a Hypocrite or what priviledges doth the one enjoy more that the other A. Although the Hypocrite doth communicate in the same externals with the Saint yet he doth not communicate with him in the same saving Grace nor in the same Faith working by love nor in the same renovation of mind and spirit Q. Are there no other matters wherein they do not communicate A. They do not communicate with the Hypocrite in the same sins in the same accursed infidelity in the same barrenness under the means of Grace in the same false pretence and empty form of Godliness Q. What are the other sort of persons of the same nature with whom they communicate A. The Saints of God living in the Church have communion one with another Q. Wherein doth this Communion consist A. They all communicate of the same Ordinances all partake of the same promises are all endowed with the Graces of the same mutual love and affection keeping the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace all engrafted into the same Stock and all receive
the Lord blessed the Seventh day and hallowed it 5. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee 6. Thou shalt do no Murther 7. Thou shalt not commit Adultery 8. Thou shalt not Steal 7. Thou shalt not bare false witneses against thy Neighbour 10. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Q. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments A. I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Q. In which of these Commandments do you learn you duty towards God A. In the four first commonly called the first Table Q. In which of them do you learn your duty towards your Neighbour A. In the six last commonly called the second Table Q. What is your duty towards God A. My duty towards God is to believe in him to fear him and to love him with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and all my strength to worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him to honour his holy name and his word and to serve him truly all the dayes of my life Q. In which of the four first Commands do you learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul and with all your strength A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the first of the Commandements Thou shalt have no other Gods but me in which precept I am bound first to believe that there is a God secondly I am to believe that there is but one God thirdly I am to believe in the true everliving God and to have him for my God and when I have thus chosen him to be my God it can be no less than my duty to stand in awe of so glorious a Majesty and to be fearful of displeasing him and also to love him above all things and for himself alone and to love him not faintly or languidly but sincerely and cordially with my whole mind with all my soul and with all my strength Q. Is this all that you learn from this Command A. No every Command besides that duty it positively enjoyns also forbids the contrary vice as likewise that command which forbids a vice also enjoyns the contrary vertue so that by this command I not only learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him but also I am forbidden infidelity not to believe the one true God or those Laws he hath delivered to the world careless presumption not fearing to offend him hatred of him or of whatsoever he commands Q. In which of these four first commands do you learn to worship this true everliving God to give him thanks to put your whole trust in him and to call upon him A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the second Commandment Thou shalt not worship any graven Image wherein as I am expressly forbidden the making any graven Image or the worshipping of them when made so also I am implicitely enjoyned to worship that supream infinite Majesty of Heaven and Earth uprightly and sincerely with all bodily worship and external forms of address to adore him with all humility and reverence in all my wants to call upon him who is a ready help in time of need and when he hath fulfilled my desires to give him hearty thanks for his mercies in all straits and dangers to put my whole trust in him who is a sure rock of defence in a word in all respects to pay him that homage reverence and adoration as his greatness and goodness requires from me Q. Wherefore are you bound to worship no Idol nor any representation of God but onely the true God A. Because he is a jealous God and will not suffer the least contempt that is offered to his honour to pass by unpunished Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to honour his Holy name A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the third command Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain wherein I am bound to honour Gods Holy Name by not abusing of it in my daily communication not using it rashly foolishly or vainly in my common discourse not cursing either my neighbour or any of his possessions in Gods name not swearing by his name falsly or at all unless it be in a just cause before 〈◊〉 lawful Magistrate for the deciding of some controversie As also by this precept I am obliged to honour Gods name by esteeming highly of it and speaking of it with reverence and sobriety and at all times and upon all occasions praising magnifying exalting and honouring the most holy and reverend name of God his Attributes or any thing whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What punishment do you incur if you are failing in your duty in this respect A. God will proceed against me as against a malefactor or guilty person and although possibly in this life I may escape without chastifinent yet in another I cannot but expect to be severely punished Q. In which command do you learn to serve God truly all the dayes of your life A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the last of these four commands Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day wherein I am bound to devote that time to the worship and service of God which the Church by her authority hath set apart for that purpose Q. Are you not then bound to observe the Sabboth day that is the seventh day on which God rested from the works of his creation A. I am bound to observe one day in seven as a Sabboth that is a day of rest but the primitive Christians instead of the Jewish Sabboth which was to be abolished after the Resurrection of Christ made choice of the first day of the week on which he arose from the grave to be observed as the Christian Sabboth and also honoured it with the title of the Lords day Q. What are the duties required for the right observation of this day A. They are two Sanctification and Rest Q. How must this day be Sanctified A. In must be sanctified by setting it apart to the Worship and service of God Q. What is that service of God which on this day must be performed A. It may be reduced to these three heads either that publique service we are obliged to perform in the Church or that charitable service we are to do towards our neighbour or that private service we are to perform at our own houses Q. Wherein consists that publique service of God we are bound to perform on this day A. It consists in meeting together at the house of Prayer the Church and unanimously joyning together
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
of it we have then great need to be confirmed in those holy resolutions and good purposes and also strengthened against those fierce batteries and desperate assaults that will be made upon us We are now actually to renounce the Devil the VVorld and the Flesh to bid a bold and open defiance to all the works of Hell and Satan and therefore we must receive the assistance of the good Spirit of God which is the design and proper work of Confirmation And this doth evidently manifest not only the lawfulness but likewise the necessity of this Divine Rite in imitation of the excellent pattern of our Saviour Christ who is the head of the Church he entred this way upon his Duty and Work not being thereto urg'd by necessity but only to point out to us which is the most proper and compendious way to gain a competency of strength and power to enable us to perform our Christian duty him whom we are strictly charged to follow as dear Children was over shadowed with the Holy Ghost just when he was entring upon the performance of that weighty work about which he came down from Heaven Neither is this useful ministry only warranted unto us by the president of the Holy Jesus the great exemplar to all succeeding ages but also we find it diligently observed and duly practised in the first and purest ages of Christianity The blessed Apostles in imitation of their great Lord and Master and by vertue of that Authority they received from him confirm their converts after that by Baptism they are admited into the number of Christs Flock After the Disciples were endowed with power from on high by being miraculously inspired with the gifts of the Holy Ghost they communicate of the same Spirit to their Proselytes to help their imperfections and for this we have the plain express words of Scripture the relation whereof is recorded Acts 8.14 15 16 17. when the Disciples that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them Peter and John who when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost for as yet he was fallen upon none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost Now if we do but duly observe these words they give us a clear and full account of the whole order of this Divine Ritual 1. Here are the Persons that are capable of this ministry those that are baptized and it is to such only that the great blessing of the Holy Spirit doth belong it is only those that through the Gate of Baptism are received into the number of Christs flock upon whom he will power down the gifts and graces of his holy Spirit by the ministration of his Embassadors 2. Here is the time when this Apostolick Rite is administred after Baptism When by this holy Sacrament they had engaged themselves in the practise of the true Christian Religion then was the season that the holy Apostles by the laying on of hands communicated unto them a larger measure of the holy Spirit to strengthen them in the performance of those Solemn engagements they then made 3. Here was the manner how Confirmation was by these devout Persons administred it was by Prayer and laying on of hands 4. Here are the only Ministers of this Rite two of the select Apostles Peter and John Philip the Evangelist who converted and baptized them gave not the Holy Ghost for he had not power so to do for this gift was proper only to the Apostles to none of the inferiour Pastors or Teachers And this very order doth the Church of England punctually observe in the administration of this Primitive Discipline she confirms none but those that are baptized and the time when she administers it is after baptisme and here indeed she something varies from the primitive practise who confirmed their converts presently after Baptism but she not until a considerable time afterwards until the baptized are grown to years of discretion to understand their Baptismal vow but there is very good reason for it in regard those Heathens which in the beginning were converted to the Christian Faith were at age when baptized to understand that promise they then made and so were in a fit capacity to be confirmed at that very instant She likewise administers this Rite by prayer and the laying on of hands as also the Administers hereof are the Bishops who succeed in the place and ordinary office of the Apostles So that the same thing that is now done in imposition of hands is no other than what was done by the first publishers of the Gospel such as were inspired and miraculously assisted by an infallible Spirit all deriving from the very same Authority Our Church doth no more than what was practised in the first and purest ages of Christianity even by those whose president is a very good Authority in this case And now I am not able to conjecture what can be said against the lawfulness of confirmation unless it should be objected that it was only ordained for a time viz. for the Apostles time and after it was to expire But if I can prove that this ministry was not temporary and relative only to the Apostles time but was to descend to the Church and to continue with it for ever and hereby to become a perpetual and never-ceasing Ministry I cannot then conceive what there is farther to be objected against the justness and lawfulness of this Rite And first in order to this performance let it be observed that confirmation is established and passed by St. Paul if he may be supposed to be the Author or the Epistle to the Hebrewes into a Christian doctrine in that very Epistle we shall find the Apostle to make imposition of hands namely that which is the Ceremony in Confirmation by which it was usually known a fundamental point Heb. 6.1 2. I shall set downe the very words as tending very much to my present purpose Therefore leaving the principles of the Doctrine of Christ let us go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of Faith towards God of the Doctrine of Baptism and of laying on of hands and of the Resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment Here are six fundamental points of St. Pauls Catechism which he laid as the foundation or beginning of the institution of Christianity and amongst these imposition of hands is reckoned as a part of the foundation and it appears very plaine to me that the Apostle intends the very same imposition of hands as was used in confirming the baptized in regard it is placed immediately after baptism as being a discipline which was to follow upon it in order to the building up of a Christian now this being a ground work of Christianity it must of necessity follow that it must have