and a praise to the good And as he hath corwn'd all mankind with honour and dignity giving them dominion over their fellow-creatures so he hath put that Majesty upon rulers whom he hath appointed to govern their fellow-men who else without lawes and order would be little better then beasts that they may be looked upon and observ'd with that reverence as if they were earthly Gods I have said ye are Gods but ye shall dy like men They are God's anointed ones and honour'd of him accountable only to him required therefore to do their homage and kiss the Son least he be angry And as they must like all other men dy so they must also appear before the judgement-seat of God Kings to their subjects dreadful stand O're Kings themselv's is Gods command He hath all the royalties that belong to an Imperial Crown a righteous Scepter righteous lawes loyal subjects glorious priviledges blessed rewards for the obedient and great punishments for the disobedient Not ought Kings of the earth to be impatient at mutinous and rebellious spirits when God himself wants not those who rise up against him and which may set them a copy of princely clemency to write their acts of grace after gives gifts to the rebellious leaving some of them as monuments of his mercy though too others he make trophies of his justice I might note that sure Kingship is the best form and model of government since God himself rules under that title that the Regicide is a kind of Deicide and when subjects dare mate their soverain and contrive a Common-wealth to justle out the Kingdom they do but challenge divine vengeance for that which perhaps their injur'd princes forces cannot chastise and call upon themselves Lucifer's fate who left his first estate by clambering higher whose pride prefer'd him to the principality in Hell where he gnashes his teeth and curses God who questionless hath been that Angel of light that hath cloak'd sedition with the name of Godliness and taught the late teachers to despise dominion and speak evil of dignities and blaspheme the name of Kings And all nature hath by instinct followed divine example gathering it self as much as may be into oneness making every sort of creature almost submit to monarchical rule and preaching as it were the Apostle's lesson Be not many masters But the sad experience of these nations in the time of tyranny and the wonderfull providence of God in the restitution hath sufficiently convinc'd all honest English of this truth that That government is best which is likest God's to wit a Monarchy a Kingdom Now God hath a twofold Kingdom one universal at large all the world over the other particular and special his Church For he is King of the nations and King of the Saints or we may say a threefold Kingdom in respect of the different administration of this later according to the different condition of the church militant here on earth or triumphant in heaven to wit a temporal spiritual and eternal Kingdom or the Kingdom of his power the Kingdom of grace and the Kingdom of glory By his power he governs the whole fabric of the world disposes of all things appoints seasons sets bounds to human power over-rules their purposes stills the raging of the Sea and the madness of the people raises up casts down kills and makes alive strikes the earth with his thunder and darts forth his lightnings the winds obey him blow only where he lists All things are his servants and he doth what he pleaseth both in heaven and in earth By his grace he governs his Church sets up his throne in the hearts of his people appoints officers gathers the elect and rules them by his word and spirit conquers sin and death kills our corruptions subdues our lusts and treads Satan under our feet and breaks the powers of hell that the gates thereof shall not prevail against the church guids the faithfull ones in his wayes tryes their patience exercises their faith teaches them his lawes that they may observe his statutes and ordinances defends the Saints and is a sun and shield to direct and protect them that neither the Devil nor wicked men can doe them any hurt rewards those that doe or suffer any thing for his sake punishes offenders and persues the impenitent and such as obstinately stand out his calls and tenders of grace and go on presumptuously in their evill way with the fury of his indignation afflicting them with bodily plagues temporal calamities and spiritual judgements as blindness of mind hardness of heart c. giving them up to their own shamefull lusts and a reprobate mind into the power of the divel and either passing final sentence upon them in this life or reserving them till the great Assises of the last judgement In the Kingdom of glory as he himself is call'd the King of glory he sits on his Throne incompass'd with millions of Angels and blessed Saints who fall down before him and sing praises to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb. This is to have it's beginning when the other two end not to be compleated till the last day when the Angels gather the elect from the four corners of the earth whom God shall reward with everlasting bliss when he shall send the ungodly to Hell where the worm never dyeth and the fire never goes out Then those who were sufferers shall be conquerers and wear a never-fading crown I have fought a good fight saith St. Paul and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness All the Saints then shall be Kings there shall be the glorious orders of pure Virgins that defiled not themselves of blessed Coâ—â—essors that were not ashamed of their profession of holy Martyrs who lov'd not their soules to death of Prophets the Harbingers of Christ and Apostles the heralds of the Gospell and all the quire of Heaven singing Halleluiahs This is that Kingdom of Christ which he said was not of this world for which he despised the shame with which his servants that have a tast of the heavenly gift and are afforded the earnest of their meditations a sight of the heavenly Canaan and glorified transfiguration as from Pisgah and on mount Tabor are so ravished and deeply affected that they must needs cry come Lord Iesus come quickly Thy Kingdom come COME i.e. appear and show it self may its interest be promoted may it get ground and inlarge it self may it be seen that the Lord is King let the people be never so unquiet may it come into our hearts and rule there and beat down every proud imagination that lifts it self up against God may Christ hasten his coming illustrious presence which the Iews Liturgy is ful of even to this day the coming of Messias Now there is a twofold advent or coming of Christ mentioned in
him without fear That he would overcome the world for us mortify the old man and trample Satan under our feet Finally that he would save us to the uttermost and compleatly in our whole man body soul and spirit from all and all manner of evil whither of this life or of that to come and would so contrive all events and lay the plot of his eternal purposes that all things may work together for our good and procure our everlasting welfare FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOR EVER AND EVER This is the Doxology which either comes in as a Confirmation to back the foregoing petitions or is added as a bare Confession it being usual that in sacred writings that particle for or because is not alwayes brought in as a causal or rational influence but is many times simply narrative In this later sense the several words may be taken to mean the same thing as in Daniel's prophecy and the Revelation many such synonyma's are heap'd together and in the Psalms several in several places used indifferently to shew that too much cannot be said or too many expressions made use of to set forth divine Majesty We end our Prayer then in an adoration of his exeellencyes and a deep acknowledgement of his greatness represented under a three-fold term Kingdom Power and Glory which are farther rais'd and lifted up beyond our conception by the infinity and eternity of them His Kingdom has neither beginning nor end of dayes his power admits no bounds knows no end and his glory as himself is and was and is to come And as the Church hath worded it which was but a pious descant upon this piece of the Lords Prayer Glory be to the Father to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen In the former sense 't is laid at the bottom of the Prayer as a ground foundation of it as if we were pleading to be heard Nor doe we in these our requests seek our selves or study and design our own emolument and advantage but our souls are touched with a love to thy name and we humbly desire thee to accept these petitions in order to thy own glory which will receive some advantage even then when the necessityes of us thy creatures are supplyed If thou be graciously pleas'd to hear us in these our desires Thy Kingdom will be advanc'd thy power made manifest and thy Glory promoted 'T is not for our selves we ask nor can we think our poor concernments an argument sufficient to ground a confidence on but for thy names sake Alas should we aim at Kingdom power or glory what poor short-arm'dâ— short-liv'd thing would it be bound up within the measure of a transitory life of a span length but thine lasts to ages of ages thy Kingdom has the same date as eternity never commenced never shall exspire thy power reaches from everlasting to everlasting and thy glory indures from generation to generation 'T is our earnest request that thou wouldst provide for the honour of thine own name that thou wouldst not be wanting to thy self in the vindication of these thy glorious attributes nor let them suffer by turning thy face away from our prayers And thus these three words may cast back a respect to the several petitions as has been before observ'd to those which concern God in this manner Thine is the Kingdom therefore let thy Kingdom come since it doth of due belong unto thee Again thine is the power therefore let thy will be done for whose will should carry but his whose will no one can resist And lastly which was propos'd first in the petitions that the Prayer might begin and end alike and God's glory might be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it Thine is the glory therefore hâ—llowed be thy name And in subordination to these we proceed to ask in our own behalf wherein yet those attributes seem to be no less concern'd with some such reflection as this Thine is the Kingdom wherefore give us bread it was a Pharaoh's care to provide bread for his subjects how much more will our King and our God supply all our wants and allow us necessaries Thine is the power therefore forgive us our sins for who has power to forgive sins but God Oh! that it would please thee to shew this thy power in pardoning our iniquities and not in avenging them and lastly again Thine is the glory wherefore lead us not into temptation whereby we may bring dishonour to thy name but deliver us from evil that we may glorify thee the author of all our good And all these requests to be granted not for the present only for a day or an age but this provision for his own glory and our wants to be for ever because his Kingdom and his power which are the store whence this provision is to be made and his glory which is to be provided for are for ever as also our wants need a continual supply Now these his attributes having been in ages past and being to last for all ages to come by former experience of those that have been before us and our own beget a confidence for the future that as our fathers trusted in him were not ashamed so succeeding generations shall find 't is not in vain to seek him and that he whose goodness is unexhausted will not be weary of doing good So that the eternity of Gods perfections ingages our posterity to hope in him and concludes this prayer fit to be used as long as the world indures This Doxologie or Conclusion of the prayer is set down only by St. Matthew St. Luke mentions it not and accordingly the Church in her offices leaves it out nor does this difference plead any thing against the formality of the prayer it self or the omission of this part prove that the whole may be omitted and laid aside For as 't has been said before Christ propos'd this Prayer upon two several occasions at two several times one was when he was preaching his Sermon on the mount before a great multitude of auâ—ditors wherein he delivers in a large discourse the sum of Christian institution and the dutyes of a holy life of which Prayer being none of the least himself propounds a pattern for imitation and use The other was more private in the company only of his disciples when after he had been at prayers by himself they desir'd him to teach them to pray as Iohn had done his disciples whereupon he gives them this form for their constant use at least upon solemn occasions when ye pray say c. Now this latter appointment of it leaving out the conclusion shews that it is not an essential part of the Prayer necessarily belonging to it but an addition that may be spared indifferent to be used or not wherefore whether
thou say the Lord's Prayer this way or that so thou say it one way or other either with this addition according to St. Matthew so as to be one of the Christian multitude or without it according to St. Luke so as to be one of the disciples we shall not quarrel only do not thou quarrel at his wisdom who thought fit to vary some expressions in the self same form on purpose to please thee that thou mightst have a liberty of choice there being an express command to use it and thou left to thy freedom to take which thou wilt One thing may yet perhaps be objected why the Church should follow St. Luke in this omission and take the rest from St. Matthew whose words in expressing the fourth and fift petitions differ from St. Lukes To this some perhaps will answer that the Doxologie is of a questionable authority as suppos'd to have crept in out of the scholion or margent into the text wherefore it being without all doubt omitted in St. Luke's Gospel being doubted in St. Matthew's the Vulgar Arabic Translations having it not that the use of it might breed no scruple it was thought fit to be quite left out But allowing it a full authority the Church may surely be allowed the same freedom which any private Christian hath of using which form it shall think fittest for publick service Wherefore seeing both the Evangelists doe agree so far as the petitions which make up the prayer the Church might judge it convenient to lay aside the rest and therein follow St Luke And again because St. Luke's language is more elegant and difficult St. Matthew's on the other side according to the simplicity of the Hebrew style being more plain and facil might consequently be deemed fitter for popular use especially when St. Matthew himself sayes that our Saviour did dictate it to the multitude which variety of style together with the custom of Interpreters who are used to render the same things differently being consider'd may also evince that this prayer though deliver'd by our Saviour upon two several occasions might be the very same in the Syriac language which our Saviour used though it be diversly express'd in the Greek St. Matthew perhaps more closely adhering to the words then St. Luke who according to his genius to keep an accurate propriety of the Greek tongue might take the liberty a little to vary And of this we might produce many instances in several discourses of our blessed Saviour related by them both which though variously reported by both nay by all four yet were plainly meant for the same so that both the forms though not exactly agreeing in all the words are but the same Prayer and he that uses either of the forms sayes the Prayer no less then he that should say it in Latine according to Pagnin's or Steven's or Beza's Translation who yet may differ in the plainest sentences as not using the same pen and possibly sometimes out of the meer study of variety shall be thought to say his Pater Noster in Latin only he that would use it in Latin would no question choose that Latin translation which he thought came nearest the Original which is here the Churches case AMEN This is a word our Saviour who was truth it self therefore call'd in the Revelation the Amen had in his mouth often and seldom began any discourse of weighty moment but he fronted it with this asseveration many times doubled too Amen Amen I say unto you i.e. Truly Truly as St. Luke expounds it or Verily Verily But the chief use of it is at the end of our Prayers especially in public devotion where the Priest's blessings and services are to be attended with the peoples acclamation an ancient custom as appears by the Psalm And let all the people say Amen It has a double significancy in it not only to gather up the whole Prayer which went before and throw it out at a word with a fervent desire that our requests may be heard and granted But also to denote a confidence of obtaining and an assured trust that what we have been praying for will not be denied us It claps a Fiat to the Prayer as the Septuagint render it So be it and seems to demand performance FINIS THE EXPLANATION Of the APOSTLES CREED THE APOSTLES CREED I Believ in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth 2. And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. 3. Which was conceived by the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary 4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried 5. He descended into hell The third day he rose again from the dead 6. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty 7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead 8. I believ in the holy Ghost 9. The holy Catholike Church the communion of Saints 10. The forgiveness of sins 11. The resurrection of the body 12. And the life everlasting Amen Of the Apostles CREED THe Apostles as some deliver it before they went into the several quarters of the world to preach the Gospell to all Nations according to Christ's command met and agreed upon the common form of Doctrine which they should teach in each Province wherein the sum of Faith might be set down Others are of an opinion that some grave and pious men did at the beginning of the primitive Church gather the sense if not the very words out of the Apostles writings Now Symbolum bears a double meaning for it signifies first a military badge or watch word by which a souldier may know one of his own side from an enemy So this distinguisheth a true Christian from an Infidel or an Heretick Secondly a shot or club when every one payes his share towards the reckoning Because the Apostles laid their heads together and every one contributed his peice Wherefore it is also divided into twelve Articles according to their number but it is more conveniently distributed into three main parts that it may answer the Trinity of Persons and their three-fold operation thus The first part treats of God the Father the work of Creation whereby he made the world and all things that are contained in it The second of God the Son and the work of redemption whereby he restored mankind fall'n by sin and by his death and resurrection purchased Salvation for us The third of God the Holy Ghost and the work of sanctification whereby he doth apply to the Church that is to the company of believers the benefits purchased by Christ to wit Pardon Grace and Glory The first Article I BELIEV This word belongeth to all the parts of the Creed We pray for others we believ only for our selves Thy Faith hath saved thee saith our Saviour Faith is either taken for the Doctrine which we believ or the grace by which we believ That is in
of honour set him above Angels principalities and powers and hath committed to his trust the Government of the world FROM THENCE To wit out of Heaven whither he ascended and where he now is Christ God Man at the last day in the end of the world riding upon the clouds shall shew himself and HE SHALL COME Attended with innumerable Angels and Saints with the voice of a Trumpet in a glorious manner to the joy of his servants and the terrour of his enemies TO JUDGE For all mankind shall be gathered together from the four quarters of the earth and we must all appear before the Iudgment-seat of Christ to give an account of our works Then shall the books be open'd and every man's conscience shall witness against him and that which hath bin done in secret shall be made known and the thoughts of the heart shall be discovered Then righteous sentence shall proceed from the Iudges mouth according to the Law and the Gospell Then shall be put a difference betwixt the good and bad the righteous and the wicked when God shall reward his servants with a Crown of Glory and destroy his enemies with an everlasting destruction endless torments There is a twofold coming of Christ Christ came first to be judged the second time he will come to judge THE QUICK Those who shall then be found alive who shall be suddenly changed in the twinckling of an eye and without death shall pass from death to life AND THE DEAD For the dead shall rise again as many as from the beginning of the world throughout all ages have lived upon the face of the earth and though they have been mouldered into dust or torn by wild beasts or buried in the waves of the Sea yet they shall take up the very same bodies again to which the soul may again be united God's power bringing this about and his justice so requiring it that every man may in his body reap the fruit of those things which he hath done in the body I BELIEV With the same Faith by which I believ the Father and the Son I believ also in the third Person of the holy and blessed Trinity Being verily perswaded that he is true God and the power of the most High depending upon his assistance and finding by experience that whatsoever good I either doe or have comes all from him IN THE SPIRIT He is therefore called Ghost or Spirit because he partly proceeds from the Father and the Son by way of breathing partly because he breaths into us good thoughts and holy desires wherefore it is added HOLY Seeing that he is not only Holy in himself with such holiness as far exceeds all other blessed Spirits both Angels Saints but also makes us holy by an effectual working of grace in our hearts He it is that applyes the benefits of Christ's death unto us and makes us partakers of the salvation which he hath purchased for us by his blood The holy Prophets and Apostles were the penmen of the Holy Ghost who wrote as they were inspired by him He gathers the Church by the Preaching of the word having furnisht the Apostles with the gifts of tongues provided a ministry and other holy ordinances for the propagation of the Gospell filling up the number of the elect and bringing souls to life THE CHURCH The company of believers whom God hath ordained to life before the foundation of the world was laid whom he hath called out of a state of sin to the profession of Faith in Christ and a holy conversation whom he also doth rule by his Word and Spirit HOLY Gathered and guided by the Holy Ghost distinguished from the rest of the world by holy appointments adorning their profession with holy works CATHOLICK or Vniversal in respect of time place and persons being to last through all ages of the world spread abroad over all quarters of the earth consisting of men of all ranks and conditions God having shut the gate of his Kingdom to none but such as wilfully refuse to enter Now the Holy Ghost bestows upon the Church which he gathers by the word and sanctifies by grace these Blessings which follow THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS Whereby the Saints who are the faithfull ones the chosen and the children of light are united to Christ as their head and amongst themselves as members of the same body the Church drawing virtue life and efficacy from Christ and performing to one another all offices of Charity as being knit together with a spirit of love and bond of peace THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS Which the spirit on our unfeined repentance assures us of by applying the merit of Christ and sprinkling our consciences from dead works with his blood which he powred forth to be a price of souls neither doth he onely seal to our hearts a pardon of former offences shewing us the favour of God reconciled in his Son but doth withall give us power to resist sin for the time to come cleansing us from every defilement of the flesh and spirit subduing our lusts changing our wils and renewing our natures according to righteousness THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY For in the last day when Christ shall come to judgement the trump shall sound and the dead shall arise with the very same bodyes that they had before and every one shall receive according to his works For as much as the wicked shall be thrown into Hell there to be tormented with the Divel with the worm which never dyes and the fire which is never quenched But the good shall enter into LIFE EVERLASTING Where they shall rest from their labours and enjoy God for ever living in abundance of joys and pleasures which neither eye hath seen nor ear hath heard nor can the heart of man conceiv And all these things I believ not onely with an Historical Faith but appropriate unto my self being fully perswaded that God made me by his power preserves me by his goodness and provides for me both in soul and body by his infinite wisdome And that the Son of God whatsoever he hath done or suffered he performed and underwent for my sake that I through him might live And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in me working in me Faith Repentance that I am a true member of the Church that my sins are forgiven me that I shall rise again and see my Redeemer with these eyes who shall out of his free bounty reward me his unworthiest servant with the Glory which shall have no end FINIS THE EXPLANATION OF THE TEN COMMANDEMENTS The Ten Commandements Exodus xx GOD spake all these words saying I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth
who sunk in the midst of the red Sea which divided it self to give thee passage dry-shod 'T was not thy own wit nor thy own strength that has brought about this great deliverance for thee but it must be confess'd even to the astonishment of the heathen roundabout that my wisdom contriv'd and my power hath effected it by the conduct of my faithful servant Moses who by my appointment by the guidance of my holy Angel has led thee OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT Where thou wast by the tyranny of Pharaoh his task-masters cruelly dealt with and slavishly imployed having neither freedom of body nor of soul deny'd all opportunityes of serving thy self or thy God captiv'd amongst Idolaters straightned in a land of straits in so much that thy number increasing they sought to destroy thee by cruel edicts hating thee out of Antipathy as a stranger and of another religion and out of fear because they saw thee grow numerous wherefore after so many years captivity in a strange and Heathen Land I have call'd thee forth to bring thee to a countrey of peace and plenty flowing with milk and hony and above all the Land of promise and which if you will be a holy people will deservedly be stiled the Holy Land OUT OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE Out of that prison from whence your sighs and groanes have oft pierc'd Heaven out of that Bridewell where you were kept to make brick and raise huge piles to be laâ—â—ing monuments of your misery and the tyrants lust without the allowance of any thing for your labour but blowes not so much as stubble affoorded yet your full tale of bricks required at your hands Consider now at distance what a sad life thou hast escaped the day spent in toils and the night in complaints the Nation kept under in poverty and disgrace and none to relieve thee so much as with their pitty but thy God who have brought thee aside into this solitude that I might make my self and my laws known to thee a favour which I have not shown to any nation besides that I may espouse thee unto my self and make thee a Kingdom of Priests and a holy people if thou wilt obey my Statutes hearken to my Law which I am now proclaiming in thy ears I am the Lord that have right to command and power to punish and therefore fear before me I am thy God who have enter'd into Covenant with thee and will reward those that keep Covenant wherefore I exspect thy love I have brought thee forth of Egypt from a sad bondage where thou wast oppress'd with slavery and want shall provide for thee Libertie and plenty and therefore I look for gratitude and let all three thy fear thy love and thy gratitude tye thee fast unto me the Lord and thy God and thy mighty deliverer and oblige thee to an attention and obedience to my Law Now although this historical passage concerning the delivery out of Egypt be peculiar to the children of Israel yet the obligation and the force of the argument will reach all people whatsoever and the Preface is by Analogie of as large and universal an extent as the Law it self For at Christ's death the vail of the Temple was rent in twain and the wall of separation which distinguished the Iews formerly the only people of God from the rest of the nations who had been till then heathen and as it were excommunicate out of the pale of the Church was broken down so that all the nations of the world are now engaged in Covenant with God and have undertaken and made a stipulation in Baptism to be his people and He to be their God And this History is turnâ—d into Allegory and denotes the salvation purchas'd by Christ who hath redeem'd us from a spiritual Egypt and the slavery of sin and hath led us forth out of the regions of darkness and the bondage of servile fears to the inheritance of light and the glorious priviledges of the Gospell Besides if we take the deliverance in a temporal sense who is there that when he recounts the several passages of his life will not acknowledge God's gracious dealings and his wonderful mercies in providing for him in his wants preserving him from imminent dangers and delivering him from his fears and the evil consequencies many times of his follies so that if he have any ingenuity upon so many instances of divine favour and particular kindness he must needs confess that God is the Lord his God These words may be look'd on also more particularly to relate to the first Commandement not only as an indication of him whom we are to own as our God but as a reason too why we should own him Nor will it so have the less influence upon the other Commandements since all religous duties depend upon the knowledge and fear of God and Atheism is that root of bitterness from whence all transgressions spring for The fool hath said in his heart There is no God and then it follows They have corrupted their way they have done abominably The first Commandement THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS Thou shalt not follow the example of blind Pagans and entertain a multitude of gods nor pay that devotion to any of the creatures which is due to the creator alone nor set up in thy heart any thing in opposition to me or give thy self up to the obedience of any lust nor hearken to the suggestions of Satan nor be rul'd by the vanity of this wicked world nor turn Atheist and live without God in the world but shalt acknowledge me the only one God in three Persons and shalt learn to know me the Infinite Almighty Everlasting and Ever blessed God shalt fear before me and have thy thoughts taken up with the meditation of my Nature and my Will my Word and my Works and shalt admire me in my Attributes obey me in my Commands thou shalt set me alwayes before thee that thou mayst walk in my wayes thou shalt perform to me that Homage as is due by right of creation thou shalt observe my providences stand in aw of my Iudgements and have regard to my mercies nor shalt thou ascribe whatever befals thee to chance or fortune to thy own wit or strength but look on all events as the contrivances of my wisdom and the effects of my power Thou shalt bear a love to my name and take thy delight in my Law Thou shalt give up thy heart to me and serv me with truth in the inward parts Thy understanding shall be busily imployed in feeling after me and finding me out according as I have made manifestations of my self in my word and in my works and shall guide thee by the dictates of my holy Spirit Thy will shall be enclin'd to a perfect compliance with my will according to the rules of Holiness and Righteousness and thy affections shall be wholly carried out to me as
Self-denyal which is the principle of Christianity Self-preservation has been set up and Interest made our Idol when we have been so far discontented at our present condition that we have over-run all orders to mend our private fortunes have ruin'd the publick when we walk disorderly and are immoderate in the use of our pleasures and are taken up with the love of the world and impure affections and cannot rellish the things of God when we cannot indure one another and require that of others we would not allow them and set our selves at irreconcileable distances when we indulge our selves in carnal joyes and have no compassion for our suffering Brethren when our hopes depended on an arm of flesh and the fear of man deterred us from our duty so that we would not trust God for our delivery in the performance of our duty when every small thing puts us into passion and in our zeal we design a revenge on the person more then a reformation of his vice when we follow the guidance of a deluded conscience and mistake both covetousness and ambition for zeal when we prefer publick mischief before our own disappointments and had rather Church State should be indanger'd then our design should miscarry when we hug temptations and make much of our lusts and lull them on the pillows of ease and security when we wish for things unlawful and take unlawful courses to get them when all our desires are let out for carnal satisfactions and we make it the great business of our lives to provide for our content and yet can never be contented When by our covetousness and evil concupiscences we have thus broken not only this but all Gods Laws and Commandements we may very well desire God's pardon for what is past and his assistance for the time to come in the Churches form Lord have mercy upon us and write all these thy Laws in our hearts we beseech thee FINIS AN EXPLANATION Of the SACRAMENTS The II. SACRAMENTS Baptism GOe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every ereature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned The Lords SUPPER THe Lord Iesus the same night in which he was betraid took bread And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said Take eat this is my body which is broken given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for you for many for the remission of sinnes This doe ye as â—ft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Of the SACRAMENTS THe Sacraments That is to say Holy Rites or Ceremonies or mysteries used in the Church appointed by Christ himself Now Sacrament is a military term and signifyes that oath whereby souldiers were wont to engage to be true and faithfull to their General in the War against the enemyes of their countrey And thus it is with us Christians who have vow'd obedience to Christ the Captain of our Salvation and sworn to fight under his Banner that we may by his strength overcome the world the flesh and the Divel The Sacraments are but two Holy Baptisme and the Holy Supper which come in the place of Circumcision and the Iewish Passeover By Baptism we are admitted into the bosom of the Church and as it were entred into God's family being by nature aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and of the children of wrath become heirs of the promise The Supper affords us a spiritual repast and by it we grow up and are intimately united to Christ and are preserved and fed to life everlasting There are two things to be considered in a Sacrament an outward Sign and an inward Grace signified Sign in Baptisme is Water which washeth the filth of our body the Thing signified is the Blood of Christ whereby our souls are cleansed from the filth of sin The outward Elements in the Supper are Bread and Wine by which the strength of nature is repair'd and maintain'd The Things signified are the Body of Iesus crucified and his Blood shed which being partaken by Faith doe heighten our graces and nourish the souls of believers Baptisme then is the laver of regeneration and the Supper is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. In a word the Sacraments are annexed to the Word of God as the seals of the promise conveyances of grace and evidences of the Spirit by which he doth effectually apply to believers the love of the Father and the merits of the Son assuring their hearts confirming their Faith fastning their Hope and enlarging their Charity Of BAPTISM THe Institution of Baptisme was after this manner When Christ had with his Blood sealed the truth of his Doctrine and purchased to himself a Church i.e. a peculiar people the chosen ones of God whom he fore knew from all eternitie for he was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world was laid and had made good this his purchase by his resurrection in that the bands of death sell off and he was released out of the prison of the grave having paid the debt for which he as our surety suffered it was then convenient that this Church thus purchased should be gathered and the chosen ones be called and converted to the saith by the preaching of the Word and distinguished from the rest of the world by a profession of the Gospel and the use of holy ordinances Wherefore being himself to depart hence to ascend to Heaven he leaves his Disciples with instructions how to propagate the faith and to order the affairs of his spiritual Kingdom to the end of the world and to proclaim throughout all quarters of the world the good tidings of peace and pardon to all such as should by faith and repentance come in and give up their names to Christ It being God's will that all should be say'd and come to the knowledge of the truth Whereupon he sends the Apostles to preach and by Baptisme i.e. by a solemn rite of washing with water receive into the bosom of the Church as many as should profess faith in him giving them this commission before his departue as it is set down by the Evangelist Goe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them c. Baptism having bin formerly us'd by Iohn the forerunner of our Saviour and honour'd by the example of our Saviour himself who at his Baptism was signally own'd from Heaven for the Son of God the Spirit also in the shape of a Dove lighting upon him Our Saviour in these words wherein he appoints the form and use of Baptism partly
commands partly promises The command hath in it a mission Goe a commission teach and Baptize The promise is that whosoever believeth and is Baptis'd shall be saved GOE YE INTO ALL THE WORLD Christ himself being sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel confin'd his own walk within the bounds of Iewry but at his death the vail of the Temple being rent in twain and the partition wall broken down all other Nations of the world were receiv'd into the covenant of grace and made partakers of that salvation which the Iews put from themselves In order to this the Apostles were furnisht with the gift of tongues to the end that they might discourse with all people in their own language of which they gave a notable essay at the Feast of Pentecost and not long after they had meeting and agreed amongst themselves what quarter of the world every one should take upon him as his Province and accordingly travell'd some one or other of them over all the parts of the known world at least there being yet remaining in several places of the East in Asia as amongst the Chineses and the Indians and of the South in Africk as amongst the Abyssines under the command of Prester Iohn that is the Apostolick Prince c. several monuments of the Apostles preaching Nor are there wanting in America it self footsteps of the Gospel as in the Island of the Holy Cross. AND TEACH ALL NATIONS or preach the Gospell to every Creature Now indeed does the Sun of rightteousness being the light that enlightens every one that comes into the world set forth upon his course and makes his compass from one end of Heaven to the other darting forth the rayes of his heavenly Doctrine to all Nations and diffusing light and heat by the Apostles no otherwise then the Sun in the Firmament makes his passage through the twelve signs of the Zodiack By this means Churches were planted up down Cities and countryes converted to the Faith and the sound of the Gospel went throughout the world What an excellent story would the rest of the Acts of the Apostles have made if they had bin committed to writing or preserved as St. Paul's and Peter's were whereas we have scarce any thing of them but fable and the variety of changes since and ferity of the nations at present makes it almost impossible to find out the truth of their travels acts and strange successes BAPTIZING This hath a double meaning either Teach and Baptize or Teach by Baptizing The former is thus After you have instructed people in the faith and made known to them the Gospel of Christ and acquainted them with the will of God touching their salvation receive them into the Church and washing them with water assure them of the pardon of their sins engage them into a profession of the Christian Faith and of a holy life The later speaketh thus Teach by Baptizing that is to say preach the Gospel to all and whomsoever you shall find willing to renounce their former error to give up themselves to the obedience of the Gospel make them my Disciples which indeed is the importance of the Greek word by dipping or sprinkling them with water by which ceremony as by a peculiar badge my Church which is the company of believers shall be distinguish'd from the rest of the world From both we learn that the administration of the Sacraments doth properly belong to those whose duty it is to preach the Gospel to wit the Ministers of God's Word and that they are to Baptize who are to Teach the Sacraments being but the seals and appendages of the doctrine THEM Men and women and children persons of all conditions sex age whole countryes whole cities whole families according as your preaching shall find success And this no question was the practise of the Apostles at first as hath been of the Church ever since to admit all even little ones as Christ did suffer little children to come to him and the Infants of believers to Baptism for so Circumcision in place of which Baptism came was performed upon children of eight dayes old And why should the sign of the Covenant be denied little babes who are in Covenant with the God of their Fathers who hath promis'd to be our God the God of ours What an unkindness is it that a parent should shut the gate of life against his child and deprive it of the priviledge of a new birth seeing that believers children are born heirs of the promise and have as good title to the spiritual blessing of their Fathers as they have to their temporal estate if the word of God be good evidence What hard-hearted person can look upon it's child no otherwise then a heathen brat then the young one of some brute damm I will not say lamb or kid or calf which God appointed to be offered to him and accepted in the Iewish service And will any one then be backward in bringing his child to the Temple and presenting him to the Lord or fear God's displeasure for so doing O rigid course to pass a sentence of excommunication upon children till they come to years of discretion And why so because they have no faith Suppose they have not The very Baptising a child makes him a Disciple if thou understandest Greek And art afraid of making thy child a Disciple too soon Besides who dares to be so peremptory and void of charity as to deny little ones faith since faith though it do ordinarily come by hearing yet it is a grace infus'd by God into the soul capable of such infusion nay holy writings have left it upon record that some children were sanctified in the womb and that Iohn the Baptist â—eapt in his mother's belly at the entrance of the Virgin Mother layes it down for a general observe that God hath out of the mouths of babes sucklingâ— ordained strength or prepared for himself a strong and solid praise IN THE NAME i.e. by virtue force of a divine command and appointment and by that authority which is deliver'd to the Son by the Father and which through the Spirit I doe also impart to you my Ministers Or into the Name for so the words sound in the Greek i.e. into the profession of Christian Faith and of Gospel-obedience Now the highest point of Christian Doctrine is to believe in God distinguished into three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost OF THE FATHER Who made us and begets us a new by his word and ordinances OF THE SON Who redeemed us and washes away our stains with his Blood AND OF THE HOLY GHOST Who sanctifies us for we are born again of water and the spirit Each Person hath its peculiar operation is severally represented in the holy rite of Baptism For whereas by washing of water is meant the doing away of sin the Father pardons sins the Son purchased the pardon the Spirit by
outward actions resembling the inward virtue and efficacy of that thing of which it is a sign This sacred Rite is called the Holy Supper either by the way of Metaphor to denote the communion and fellowship which the Saints have with one another for which reason we also usually term it with the Apostle Paul the Communion The whole family meeting together at that time when all the business of the day is over to refresh themselves and take their repast Nor is it otherwise with the houshold of Faith who though imployed in several dwellings and dutyes of life yet as members of one and the same body whereof Christ is the Head are united to one another by the same spirit fed with the same spiritual food So that the Mystical body of the Church is made up of many Saints just as the bread it self of many corns and the wine of drops whence 't is frequently by the Greek Fathers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. the gathering together of the Saints whither as some Interpreters would have it that place hath allusion where the car case is that is the crucified Body of Christ thither shall the eagles the quick-sighted high-flown believers be gathered together Or out of a more particular respect to the Passeover into the place and stead whereof this Sacrament came as the other succeeded circumcision for the Iews were wont by God's appointment yearly to celebrate a Feast whereon at evening in each houshold they slew a Lamb dressed it and eat it together in remembrance of the deliverance from the Egyptian slavery and from the Angel who striking all the first born of Egypt pass'd over the houses of the Israelites who for that purpose had according to that command dash'd the Blood of the Lamb upon the lintel of the door Now Christ being the substance was to put an end to all ceremonies came to make one perfect sacrifice once for all who in that he dyed dyed but once being the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world and his death we are to remember in these pledges of his love whereby he hath delivered us from a spiritual slavery and wrought salvation for us And indeed in that very nick of time when our Saviour had finisht the Paschal Supper with his Disciples he appointed this as to abide for ever in the room of the other The Lord's Supper it is styled because appointed by the Lord Jesus and represents him to be fed on by Faith The words of the Scripture wherein the Institution is set down expresse both time when and manner how it was performed the manner again delilivers partly what he did partly what he said in consecrating the bread first and then the cup. The Institution of this Sacrament is described by the authour time and manner The Authour the Lord Iesus The Time the night wherein he was betrayed the Manner consists of two parts shewing partly what he did partly what he said and that severally of these two several signs by which he would represent his Body and Blood For this Holy Supper was to consist of spiritual meat and drink as men use both to eat and drink in their other ordinary meals The Bread is the sign of his Body the Cup of his Blood First as to the Bread what did he He took it he bless'd it he broke it he gave it What said he Take eat this is my Body Again for the Cup what did he he took it he bless'd it he gave it What said he Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood c. Now let us goe over each part again and explain it more fully THE LORD JESUS Who by the merit of his Passion and at the price of his Blood purchased for us Salvation and for himself glory and a Name above every Name that he might become Head of the Church and to him might be given all power from the Father He alone has authority to appoint Sacraments and order the affairs of his Church by his word and spirit whereby he hath impowerd his Ministers to act in his Name to dispense his ordinances even to the end of the world IN THE NIGHT. For it was a Supper which he intended and 't was at supper or rather after supper when he had with his Disciples about him eaten the Passeover the type of himself who was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world when he said at the Table One of you shall betray me and discovered his betrayer by giving him a sop which some think was no other then a piece of consecrated bread Nay the self-same night IN WHICH HE WAS BETRAID by Iudas with a kiss bringing a multitude along with him arm'd with swords and staves the rage of the rulers and the curses of the priests to lay wicked hands on him after he had sweat drops of blood in his agony and powred out his Soul in Prayer being sad even to death in a garden where he made the praeludium to his Passion BREAD by which the heart of man is strengthned which is therefore called the staff of life is made use of to represent the Body of Christ who was the bread which came down from Heaven by which souls are fed to life everlasting HE TOOK IT That he might by his example shew the Ministers of his word what they are to doe when they invite their people to the holy Table himself doth in a solemn manner begin the ceremonies taking the bread i.e. lifting it up and holding it in his hand which amongst the Iews was then the fashion observ'd by the master of the house AND GIVING THANKS We doe not read anywhere that Christ ever sate down to meat without Thanksgiving which especially before the Holy Supper is necessary it being for that reason call'd the Eucharist And surely the death of Christ which is here set forth was the greatest blessing that ever befell mankind Or Blessing it The meaning may be that by consecrating it he did set it aside from common use and praying for a special blessing upon it that it may become an effectual means of grace he stamp'd upon it a kind of reverence which was not due to it before HE BROKE IT Whence this mystery is also call'd the breaking of bread he divided it into several pieces that there might be the better distribution of it amongst the company at table AND GAVE IT i.e. reaching out his hand he set to every one his part and bestowed it amongst them TO THE DISCIPLES Who did then represent the whole Church of Christ and society of the faithful both men and women who should give up themselves to the discipline of Christ and take upon them the profession of the Gospel not so much as Iudas excepted though Christ well knew what was in his heart Wherefore by Christ's own example Ministers might learn that none should be excluded and kept from the table where Christ
that good shepheard of souls that lay down my life for my sheep Thus broken and given thus delivered for you and to you I seal pardon of sins to your hearts I improve grace supply strength feed your souls to life everlasting Broken or Given as if it were all one for this heavenly Bread was given that it might be broken 't was broken that it might be given Christ could not have suffered for us had he not had a body given him for that purpose nor could that body have done us good or furnisht us with spiritual nourishment had it not bin broken Had not Christ dyed we could not be sure of living As it is with the bread it self which is the Symbol of his Body The corn must be first cut down and threshed and winnowed and grownd and sifted kneaded and baked with a hot oven before it can become bread THIS DOE YE These words either have reference to the actions of the Disciples who took the bread which Christ gave them and eat it and so they belong to all Christians in general to the whole company of believers according as the Church doth in more words deliver it Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee feed on him in thy heart with Faith and thanksgiving And so of the Cup afterward 't is said This doe ye as oft as ye drink it i.e. when ever ye drink it drink it in remembrance of me Or to Christ's own actions who broke it and gave it and thus they imply a special charge to the Officers of the Church the Ministers of the Gospel and Preachers of the Word such as also were these Disciples as if he should have said you are Apostles with whom I leave the care of planting Churches and preaching the Gospel whom I trust for the management of the affairs of my Kingdom and duly administring the Sacraments wherefore I charge and require of you that in celebrating this mystery you follow my example and doe no otherwise then you have seen me do before you that it may remain pure to all succeeding ages according to this first institution And hither St. Paul in this case makes his appeal where he discourses of the Holy Supper That which I received that deliver I unto you how the Lord Iesus c. This or Thus This which I have done or thus as I have done now in your company doe ye and all from hence forward that derive authority from you in your several assemblyes take bread and bless it and break it and give it about to those who rightly prepared come to the holy Table and use these words of consecration which I have done to you The Greek is make this hence it is an ordinary phrase amongst the Popish Priests when they perform Mass to say that they doe make the Body of the Lord thinking possibly that the Doctrine of Transsubstantiation is much advantaged by the word of making which in the Greek is indifferently applyed to all manner of actions and the other which signifies to do would have bin very improper and not fit to be us'd in this place THIS DOE YE The word will also in the Latine and Hebrew carry a sense of sacrificing and then 't would intimate that our Saviour's death was our peace-offering whereby God's wrath conceived against sin was atoned and his Iustice satisfied we being cleansed by the sprinkling of his Blood The Papists therefore call the Mass a Sacrifice without Blood and the holy Table strictly and properly without any Metaphor an Altar 'T is true we doe here represent and commemorate the death of Christ and when we come to partake of these Mysteries we may use the Psalmist's words What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord I will Sacrifice unto thee the Sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the Name of the Lord I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people But he having offer'd once a perfect Sacrifice for the taking away of sin and cry'd upon the Cross It is finished and in that he dyed dyes no more 't were absurd to think there needed a repetition of that act which in it self was all-sufficient Christ's Blood being of an infinite value as it immediately follows in the same Psalm Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints A word peculiar to Christ as in the fourth Psalm He hath set apart the holy one for himself and in the 16. Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption meaning Christ. Besides to what purpose is it to ground an unreasonable doctrine upon the nicety of a word which in ordinary plain meaning signifies but this doe so hereafter as ye now doe or do ye in your companies what ye have seen me now do in mine IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. For a memorial of me and a monument of my love who have not spar'd my life for your sakes and with a sense of gratitude to keep up the memory of my bitter death which I as your surety upon your account underwent and the benefit whereof you will receive by believing on me by eating my flesh and drinking my Blood and becoming one with me Or for my remembrance appointed by me to be one of my sacred ordinances to be kept up in the practise of the Church till my second coming in the clouds as ye will see me goe away Wherefore in the mean while to leave behind me a remembrance and to bear up your hearts in Faith that what I have suffered hath bin out of love to you and that those who in following ages shall not see me in the flesh yet may have some further assurance then my bare word I have provided this to be a standing ordinance in the Church whereby I may be remembred to the end of the world LIKEWISE ALSO HE TOOK THE CUP Now follows the other part of this Sacrament to wit the consecration of the Cup for it would not be a compleat meal were there not spiritual drink as well as meat the Blood of Christ being as necessary to quench the thirst as his flesh to satisfie the hunger of a believing soul that hungers and thirsts after righteousness But first the Bread and then the Cup. Why because there must be a body broken before there could be blood spilt First bread to strengthen and then wine to refresh the heart Again the Cup last as of great importance for the flesh could have profited nothing without the blood and God is said to have redeem'd his Church with his Blood nor does he onely redeem us with the shedding of his blood but wash us by the sprinkling of it upon our consciences from dead works and preserve his Church spotless till the great day Nay the author to the Hebrews observes
in the New He that believes shall be saved That Covenant of Grace I say is not without good reason styl'd the New Covenant according as God himself promis'd by the Prophet even in the time of the Law that he would make a new Covenant I will be their God sayes he and they shall be my people And seeing that Christ's death hath put an end to the sacrifices formerly us'd for the ratifying of that Covenant though in substance God's Covenant both with the Iews and with the Christians be all one yet in respect of a different administration and a new and clearer dispensation This may well be call'd the New Testament That the Old WHICH IS SHED Truly yet mystically and spiritually in this Sacrament as sure as the wine by which it is represented is now powred out into the cup for your use For it cannot be conceived that when he spake these words he did really bleed it being before his Passion but he having taken our flesh and our blood on no other purpose then to break the one and shed the other for us he speaks of that as already done which was in God's everlasting counsel decreed to be done in which sense he is call'd the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Which is shed then is no more then which is to be shed which shortly will be shed and which partly had already bin shed for Christ spilt not all his Blood at once but at several times as at his Circumcision when he paid the first fruits of it to the Lord in his agony when he swet clots of blood at his scourging when he was cut with whips at his crowning when the thorns pierc'd his sacred head and the scoffs more his heart and lastly at his Passion when the nails fastned his hands and feet to the Cross the launce gored his blessed side so that there gushed out water and blood in such streams that his most holy Soul together with his Blood left him FOR YOU In your stead and to your benefit For I having taken upon me the office of a Mediator betwixt God and men am to undergoe that punishment which was due to to man for sin wherefore because by the decree and Law of God there is no atonement without shedding of blood I also am ready to powr forth mine that you being sprinkled with it may be acquitted from the sentence of the Law and justified in the sight of God Seeing that it will be but just that what I your surety have done and suffer'd in your behalf should satisfie the Iustice of God and discharge you from guilt and the penalty of the Law all one as if you your selves had done and suffer'd it One Evangelist hath it For many or rather Concerning many and then it may be understood of things to wit Sins which Christ's Blood did atone Wrath which it appeased the Law which it satisfied Guilt which it frees from Filth which it washes off and the Ceremonies which it put an end to And to all these purposes was Christ's Blood shed But if it be taken for persons it may have the same meaning as that For you The Greek word frequently importing the whole multitude so the Apostle to the Romans layes the comparison betwixt the old Adam the new that as by one man's disobedience all men became sinners so much more by Christ's obedience should many be made righteous Now the advantage of this comparision would come to nothing were not Christ's death of as universal influence for the justification of mankind as Adam's sin was for the condemnation though indeed the benefit thereof doe redound to none but those who doe with true Faith lay hold upon it i.e. to the elect alone and true believers who yet in respect of the rest that perish in their sins through unbelief cannot be call'd the many For many are call'd but few are chosen And no question but it was Christ's intent to tast death as 't is said for every man none excepted but who would wilfully run into damnation by despising so great salvation And that the many may thus mean the All is clear by other places where a word of the largest extent is us'd to wit the world which cannot in propriety of speech be applyed to signify the Church onely God so loved the world that he gave his Son and Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and is a propitiation not for our sins alone viz. that are believers but for the sins of the whole world also FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS Whereas the Law doth pronounce sentence of death upon those that transgress it for the soul that sinneth shall dye And all men are concluded under sin for there is none righteous no not one and in thy sight shall no flesh be justified It was impossible for one that was meer man either to perform the Law or avoid the punishment had not Christ who was God as well as Man interposed For no man was ever either by gifts of nature or by the supplyes of grace advanc'd to that pitch of perfection that he could perform an exact obedience to all God's commands We have sinned all saith the Apostle and if we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and there is no truth in us Nay supposing one's life never so spotless yet cannot we make amends for that natural uncleanness of original sin which we are born with and which as soon as we live forfeits us to death according to the threatning In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Wherefore what was wanting in us Christ made up with the merits of his obedience who having fulfill'd the Law and being in himself altogether free from guilt became sin for us and was reckon'd amongst transgressours that we might be justified by his blood and sanctified by his spirit Our sins then are by his death done away so that if we lay hold on him by Faith that we may receive the benefit of his death we that are guilty must be acquitted because our surety that was guiltless was condemned we shall live because he dyed we shall escape the wrath which he underwent and our sins must be forforgiven because his innocency was censur'd so that now God stands oblig'd by his faithfulness and justice too to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all iniquity He is but faithful when he keeps his word and performs his part of that Covenant which he made with us in his Son and he is but just when our surety has paid the debt to discharge us Now this Sacrament being a seal of the Covenant doth assure us of that forgiveness and seals to our heart by the sprinkling of blood and the operation of the spirit a pardon of our sins and does withall oblige us to Faith and repentance which are the conditions without