publick profession of at their Baptism They were fully instructed in the excellent Moral Precepts of that Divine Religion which they were to practise the remaining part of their lives And then they were thought prepared for the washing of Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost CHAP. III. In what manner persons converted to Christianity were baptized to what Privileges they were admitted and to what Duties they were ingaged by their Baptism 1. WHen the person to be baptized was thus prepared and the time appointed come which was usually at Easter or Whitsontide the Commemorations of our Saviour's Passion and Resurrection and of the great Effusion of the Holy Spirit things principally respected in this Sacrament though it might also upon occasion be celebrated at any other time When the Person I say was thus prepared he was brought by the Priest to a convenient place where there was plenty of Water and being stript of all his cloaths he in the first place with stretched out Arms in a most solemn manner renounced the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all not only the absolutely sinful but also the lawful desires of the flesh so far as to keep them within the most strict bounds and most exact obedience to the Laws of Reason and Religion Then he made Profession of his Faith in One God the Father Almighty c. in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord c. and in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church c. After which he was baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost being immersed in the Water three times once at the Name of each Person in the ever Blessed Trinity Which being done he came up out of the Water and then according to the Custom of some Churches he was anointed with Oil with the addition of some other Ceremonies which as they were in their own nature indifferent so they were used only in some places and that diversly according to the different usage of particular Churches After all which he was clothed with a white Robe and so admitted among the Faithful to the Communion of the Church which last Ceremony the Greeks as a Learned Writer of our own observes keep up to this day putting upon the Child immediately after Baptism a white Garment with this Form Receive this white and immaculate Cloathing and bring it with thee unspotted before the Tribunal of Christ and thou shalt inherit eternal life 2. This was the Form and Manner in which Persons converted to Christianity were Baptized in the Primitive Church And by all these outward and visible Ceremonies were significantly represented certain inward and invisible things which were either the Privileges to the injoyment of which the Person Baptized was intitled or the Duties to the performance of which he was engaged by his Baptism 3. The first Grace or Privilege which God annexed to the right use of this Ordinance of Baptism and to which the Person Baptised was consequently intitled was Remission of all past sins The design of our Savior's coming into the World was by the Merit of his Death and Suffering to purchase Pardon and Remission for all those who should believe in his Name and obey his Gospel Rom. 3. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Blood to declare his Righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Now the Means by which this Pardon is applied and the Seal by which it is secured to all those who Believe and by Repentance begin to Obey the Gospel is Baptism Whosoever therefore was converted to Christianity and was baptized was baptised into the death of Christ i. e. was by Baptism intitled to the benefit of the Pardon purchased by his Death and Passion As his Body was washed with pure Water so his Sins were absolutely done away by the Blood of Christ and his Heart sprinkled from an evil Conscience Heb. 10. 22. Hence Baptism is called the Washing of Regeneration Tit. 3. 5. and they who by the Apostles Preaching or by any other more extraordinary means were convinced of the Truth of the Gospel were exhorted immediately to be baptized and wash away their sins Acts 22. 16. And now why tarriest thou Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the Name of the Lord And Acts 2. 38. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins To which those Places also seem manifestly to allude Rev. 1. 5. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and Rev. 7. 14. These are they which have washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. The plain meaning of all which passages is this That as a new-born Infant is without Spot Innocent and Sinless so every one that is born of Water i. e. regenerated by Baptism is in the account of God as if he had never sinned cloathed with the white and spotless Garment of Innocence which if he never defile by gross and wilful sins he shall walk in white with Christ for he shall be worthy 4. The next Privilege which Baptism principally and most significantly represented was the Admission of the Convert into the Church or Family of God All that received Baptism were thereby actually admitted into the Society of Christians and to the participation of all the benefits which God bestows upon his Church They were admitted to the Communion of the Saints of God and to the Fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord 1 Cor. 1. 9. They were made Fellow-Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God Eph. 2. 19. being come unto Mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just Men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediatour of the New Covenant c. Heb. 12. 22. More particularly they were made first Members of Christ i. e. they were incorporated into that Body whereof Christ is the Head Secondly They were made Children of God i. e. they were enroll'd in the number of those whom God had chosen to be his Peculiar and Elect People and whom he designed to govern with the same tenderness as an affectionate and merciful Father does his most beloved Children which is what the Apostles express by our being called the Sons of God 1 John 3. 1. by our having received the Adoption of Sons Gal. 4. 5. and by our having power given us to become the Sons of God John 1. 12. Lastly They were made Heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven i. e. they who before were Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and
and designed to be educated in the Christian Religion have by the general Practice of the Christian Church been baptized in their Infancy upon Promise made by Sureties that they should be instructed in the Faith and in the Obedience of the Gospel 2. And that Infants are rightly so admitted to this Ordinance besides the almost general consent and practice of the Christian Church I shall use but this One Argument to demonstrate Those who are fit to be admitted into the Kingdom of Christ in Heaven as our Saviour himself pronounces Infants to be Mar. 10. 14 and 15. are certainly qualified to be received as Members of his Church on Earth The Qualifications which fit Men for both are Repentance and Faith Now though Infants have not Repentance yet they have Innocence which is better than Repentance and which makes them that they need it not For if those who have been the most enormous sinners are yet by their Repentance qualified for Baptism how much more are Infants who have never sinned fitted for it by their Innocence And though Infants have not and cannot have actual Faith yet they are Sanctified by being born of Believing Parents they are already in some sense within the Limits of the Church and of the Covenant of Promise and are ready without Prejudice to be instructed in the Truth of the Gospel and in the Obedience thereof 3. Infants therefore are rightly admitted to Baptism and thereby to the Privileges appropriated by Christ to the Members of his Church But because Baptism is a Covenant wherein there is as well a Promise made on the part of the Person baptized of certain Duties to be performed as one on God's part of certain Graces and Privileges to be conferred and because Infants are not capable of making any Promise immediately by themselves it has therefore been the wisdom of the Church to appoint certain Sureties who should promise in the Name of the Child what it self should afterwards be obliged to perform i. e. who should undertake to see it instructed in the Nature and Obligation of those Duties which upon account of its being a Member of the Church of Christ it would at years of Discretion be bound to perform CHAP. VI. Of the Duty of God-Fathers and God-Mothers 1 THAT therefore which the Sureties undertake for a Child at its Baptism is briefly this That it shall be taught all the Articles of the Christian Faith with the reasonableness of their Belief that it shall be instructed in all the Duties of the Christian Life with the necessity of their Practice and that it shall be minded in convenient time to make a publick Declaration of its being hearty in this Belief and to enter into a renewed Engagement to continue constant in this Practice They promise that it shall be taught to Believe in one God the Father Almighty c. and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord c. and in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church c. They promise that it shall be instructed to renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh i. e. that it shall be taught to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And they promise that it shall in fit season be brought to declare solemnly in the presence of God and of the whole Congregation its firmness in the Faith of these Articles of Religion and its Resolution to continue in the Obedience of these Commands 2. This is what the God-Fathers or God-Mothers promise for a Child at its Baptism This they promise solemnly in the presence of God and in the face of the Congregation And is it a small thing to undertake for the Soul of a Person to be admitted into the Church of Christ Is it a light thing to enter into such a Promise solemnly before God and his Church I doubt not but whoever considers the matter seriously will hardly find any Duty of greater Importance or any Promise of more solemn Obligation yet is there no Duty more generally and more shamefully neglected nor any Promise more lightly regarded 3. If a Man be made Guardian to the Son of a deceased Friend and be intrusted with the Care of his Education how justly do we expect that he should be careful to have him instructed in all that necessary Knowledge on which depends the management of his Life and Conversation that he should be zealous to have him further indued with all those useful Accomplishments which may become his Quality and recommend him in the World but above all that he should spare no pains to secure to him his Estate and to improve his Fortunes And do we not look upon that Man as the vilest and most unfaithful of Men who having such a charge committed unto him should wholly neglect all or any of these things Yet how much a greater Trust does he betray who having the Soul of a Child committed to his care by God and the Church neglects wholly to have it taught those necessary Truths in the Knowledge and Practice of which consists its everlasting Happiness who takes no care at all to secure to it that Portion which God hath designed and prepared for it in Heaven and who seeing the Soul of an Innocent Babe perhaps meerly for want of good Advice and Instruction beginning to be over-run with the Seeds of those Vices which in time must drown it in destruction and perdition does yet show no Care or Concern for it What greater Uncharitableness can a Man possibly be guilty of towards the Soul of his Brother or what greater Mockery of God 'T is True the Education of a Child is not wholly committed to the Care of those who are its Sureties in Baptism but first and principally to the Parents themselves But undoubtedly they are bound to be Assistants and if the Parents either thro' Wickedness neglect to instruct it or by Death are taken away from it the Sureties must look upon this Care as chiefly devolved upon Them and of which they must give a strict Account 4. In what Station soever God appoints any Man over the Soul of his Brother either to warn the wicked or to instruct the ignorant if he neglects his Duty and his Brother perish through his default the Blood of him that perisheth will be required at his hands Ezek 3â— 8. When I say unto the Wicked O Wicked Man thou shalt surely die if thou dost not speak to warn the Wicked from his ways that wicked Man shall die in his Iniquity but his Blood will I require at thine hand How much more when the Soul of an innocent Child is committed particularly to the care of any Person if thro' his neglect it be corrupted and perish shall its Blood be required at his hand With what Confusion and Amazement shall we at the day of Judgment hear those who have been committed to our Charge accuse us for having
Duty are very apt to impose upon themselves with a partial Obedience and while they satisfie their own Minds with some loose and general Considerations that their Lives are Religious in the main that they have a general esteem for Virtue and Religion and that they hate Profaneness and professed Irreligion they make a shift to live in the habitual Practice of some great Sin or in the constant neglect of some important Duty 2. My design is not in this short Essay to make a large and particular Deduction of all the several Branches of our Christian Duty This has already been fully and excellently done by some of our own Writers I shall only lay down the chief Particulars of our Duty under some brief Heads which may be easily remembred and carried constantly in Mind as perpetual Memorials of what upon all occasions we must remember our selves to be absolutely and indispensably obliged to And they shall be these Three 3. First That we ought to be always devout towards God with the profoundest Veneration of Mind possible and to seek all opportunities of expressing that Devotion By this Rule is commanded Faith in God Trust and Dependance upon him Submission and Resignedness to his Will Fear and Love of him Zeal for his Honour Prayer and Thankfulness to him and a conscientious Attendance upon his Worship and Ordinances And by it is forbidden Blasphemy and Profaneness Superstition and Idolatry Witchcraft and Consulting with such as are reputed to have Skill in any evil Art Perjury and vain Swearing Unbelief and Distrust of God want of Zeal for his Honour Unthankfulness and Neglect of Prayer Carelessness in Religion and Neglecting to attend upon the Publick Worship 4. Secondly That we ought constantly to indeavour in the whole Course of our Lives to promote the Good and the Happiness of all Men. By this Rule is commanded Honour and Reverence Fidelity and Obedience towards those who are our Superiors Goodness and Kindness Affability and Courteousness Justice and Honesty Gentleness and Candour Meekness and Peaceableness Forgiveness of Injuries and a Desire of doing all possible Kindnesses to those who are our Equals Pity and Succour Mercifulness and Compassion Alms and Beneficence Instruction and Assistance and all manner of Help and Encouragement to those who are our Inferiors And by it is forbidden Disobedience and Rebellion Traiterousness and Speaking Evil of Dignities Murder and Stealing Extortion and Fraud Perfidiousness and Lying Oppression and Over reaching Calumny and Evil-speaking Hatred and Revenge Sourness and Unkindness Anger and Passion Peevishness and Ill-nature Sullenness and Moroseness Discord and Unpeaceableness Cruelty and Uncharitableness Pride and Haughtiness and Unconcernedness at the Wants and Miseries of Others 5. Thirdly That we ought to be Temperate and Abstemious in the Use of all Temporal Enjoyments as Soldiers of Christ and Candidates for Heaven as those who look for their Portion not in the Pleasures of this World but in the Happiness of the other By this Rule is commanded Temperance and Sobriety Chastity and Purity Contentment and Contempt of the World Patience and Watchfulness Mortification and Self-Denial Heavenly-mindedness and Humility And by it is forbidden Gluttony and Drunkenness Adultery and Fornication Uncleanness and Lasciviousness Voluptuousness and Sensuality Covetousness and Ambition Idleness and Softness Impatience and Discontent 6. This is the Summ of the Duties which every one who will in earnest dedicate himself to the Service of God and seriously enter upon a Religious Course of Life must resolve to perform Whoever will bear his Cross and come after Christ must first consider whether for the sake of God and Religion he can be able to bear the Scorn and Contempt of Impious and Prophane Men and suffer all things rather than be compelled to do any thing to the dishonour of his God he must consider whether for the sake of Justice and Charity he can be able to Sacrifice his dearest Interests to conquer his most natural Passions and to despise the Glory and Splendour of the World and he must ask himself whether for the sake of Temperance and Purity he can be able to mortifie his most darling Lusts and as a resolute follower of a Crucified Saviour contemn all the Pleasures of Flesh and Sense For unless he can peremptorily resolve with himself to do all this his Profession of Religion will certainly be in vain and he cannot be the Disciple of Christ. Which of you saith our blessed Saviour intending to build a Tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it Lest haply after he has laid the Foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it begin to mock him saying This Man began to build and was not able to finish Or what King going to make War against another King sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand So likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath that is who does not resolve with himself to perform his Duty whatever it may cost him he cannot be my Disciple Luke 14. 28 c. CHAP. VI. What is to be done at Confirmation Of solemnly renewing the Baptismal Vow 1. WHen a Person is thus arrived to a firm Belief of the great Truths of Religion When he Understands distinctly the Extent and Obligation of his Duty and is come to a settled Resolution of conducting the whole course of his Life according to that Knowledge then is it that he becomes truly meet for the Kingdom of God and is rightly prepared to make a solemn Profession of his being a Disciple of Christ. Which the Church has wisely ordained should be done publickly at Confirmation where by Ratifying with our own Mouth the Vow made in our Name by our Sureties we solemnly take upon our selves to perform all the Duties which the Condition of our Baptismal Covenant obliges us to observe and by Imposition of Hands according to the constant practice of the Church since the times of the Apostle we have sealed and Confirmed to us all the Privileges which the condition of the same Baptismal Covenant intitles us to receive 2. First therefore at receiving Confirmation Consider that you now Solemnly undertake for your self to perform all the Duties which the Condition of your Baptismal Covenant obliges you to observe Consider that you now confirm ratifie all that your Sureties promised and vowed for you at your Baptism Consider that you now ingage in your own Person To renounce the Devil and all his Works the Pomps and Vanities of this Wicked World and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh that you now ingage to stand firm in the Belief of the Christian Doctrine and never to be ashamed to confess the Faith of Christ crucified or afraid to own your self his Disciple and that you now ingage to obey from henceforward all the Commandments of God that is
Strangers from the Covenants of Promise having no hope and without God in the World did by Baptism enter into that Covenant wherein God assured the promise of Eternal Life to all those who should believe and repent And this is what the Apostle intends by our having our Citizen-ship in Heaven Phil. 3. 20. and by our being Heirs of God and joint Heirs with Christ that we may be glorified together with him Rom. 8. 17. 5. Another Privilege which was represented and conferred by Baptism was the Influence and Assistance of Gods Holy Spirit All Persons that were baptized as their Bodies were washed and purified with Water so their Minds were sanctified by the Spirit of God But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God 1 Cor. 6. 11. At their Baptism they received the Holy Ghost as a Gift constantly annexed to that Ordinance and unless they quenched and grieved it by their sins committed afterwards it always continued with them from thenceforward assisting and enabling them to perform their Duty strengthning and comforting them under Temptations and Afflictions and bearing witness with their Spirit that they were the Children of God At the first Preaching of the Gospel this influence of the Holy Spirit frequently discovered it self in those extraordinary Gifts of Speaking with Tongues Working Miracles c. as appears in the History of the Acts of the Apostles But these by degrees ceasing it afterward continued to evidence it self in the strange and almost miraculous change which it made in the Minds of Men from the most corrupt and vicious to the most virtuous and heavenly Disposition almost in an instant upon their being baptized And when this effect also grew less frequent as the Zeal and Purity of the Christians declined it yet continued always by its secret Power to renew and transform Mens Minds to instruct Men in their Duty and to inable them to perform it Hence Baptism is called the Renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3. 5. and a being born of Water and of the Spirit John 3. 5. and by the Antients frequently Illumination And Persons baptized are said to have been enlightned to have tasted of the heavenly Gift and to have been made Partakers of the Holy Ghost Heb. 6. 4. 6. The last Privilege which Persons Baptized were intitled to by virtue of that Ordinance was an Assurance of a Resurrection to Eternal Life They received as hath been said the Holy Spirit of God and that Spirit so long as it dwelt with them was a Seal and Earnest of their future Resurrection For if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Rom. 8. 11. And this was most significantly represented by their descending into the Water and rising out of it again For as Christ descended into the Earth and was raised again from the dead by the Glory of the Father So Persons baptized were buried with him by Baptism into Death and rose again after the similitude of his Resurrection They were planted together in the likeness of his Death and they were by this Sign assured that they should be also in the likeness of his Resurrection Thus the Apostle St. Paul Colos. 2. 12. Ye are buried with him in Baptism wherein also you are risen with him through the Faith of the Operation of God who hath raised him from the dead To which St. Peter seems likewise to allude 1 Pet. 3. 21. The like figure whereunto viz. to the saving of the Ark by the Water of the Flood even Baptism doth also now save us by the Resurrection of Christ. 7. These are the Spiritual Graces or Privileges which were represented by the Outward and Visible Signs in Baptism and conferr'd by their means And These are what God on his part engageth and assures to us in that Great and Holy Covenant There are other things which the Persons Baptized obliged themselves to on their part in that Covenant and These are the Duties which by their Baptism they vow and take upon themselves to perform represented also by the same Outward and Visible Signs The first of these Duties which the Persons baptized promised and obliged themselves to perform was a Constant Confession of the Faith of Christ and Profession of his Religion They were admitted by Baptism into the Church and Family of Christ and they were bound at all times to own themselves his Disciples They were solemnly baptized into his Death and they were oblig'd not to be asham'd of the Cross of Christ and to confess the Faith of him crucified They owned publickly at their Baptism their Belief in God the Father Almighty and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord and they were bound at all times to make Profession of this Faith They had with the heart believed unto Righteousness and they thought that with the Mouth Confession was necessary to be made unto Salvation They were assured that if they confessed Christ before Men he would also confess them before his Father which is in Heaven and before the Angels of God but if they were ashamed of him and denyed him before Men he would also be ashamed of them when he came in the Glory of his Father with the Holy Angels And so mighty an effect had this consideration upon the primitive Christians that in the times of Persecution when they were tempted to deny their Saviour and renounce the Faith which they had once Embraced they chose rather to endure the most exquisite Torments that the wit of Man could invent than either to renounce or dissemble their Christianity and those who out of Fear denyed or were ashamed to confess their Faith they looked upon to have forfeited and renounced their Baptism as having crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame 8. The Second Thing to which Persons baptized solemnly obliged themselves by their Baptism was a Death unto Sin and a New-birth unto Righteousness i. e. they engaged utterly and for ever to forsake all manner of Sin and Wickedness all Idolatrous and Superstitious Worship of false Gods all Injustice Wrong Fraud and Uncharitableness towards Men all the Pride and Vanity the Pomp and Luxury of this present World all the Lusts of the Flesh Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Gluttony Drunkenness Revellings and such like And for the future they promised to make it the business of their lives to fulfil all Righteousness according to the strictest Rules of the Christian Doctrine and Discipline to Worship the only true God with all Devotion Reverence and Humility to be exactly just in their Dealings with Men and generously charitable upon all occasions in fine to be Temperate and Sober Chast and Pure as the Worshippers of
God and the Temples of the Holy Ghost This was indeed a Dying unto Sin and Living unto Righteousness This was properly a being Regenerated or Born again This was truly a being Washed Sanctified and Justified in the Name of Christ and by the Spirit of God And indeed this was the principal thing which was signified in Baptism and the principal end for which the whole Ordinance was designed This was what the Person to be baptized was to profess with his own Mouth when he renounced the Devil and all his Works and this was what was principally represented by that main part of the Ceremony the descending into the Water and rising out of it again For so the Apostle St. Paul most fully explains it Rom. 6. 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his Death Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life Knowing this that our old Man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin that is the design of our descending into the Water to be baptized and rising again out of it was to mind us that as we then received remission of our past sins by Vertue of Christ's having died for sin so we our selves were in like manner to die and be buried to sin and rise again to walk for the future with Christ in newness and holiness of Life This therefore was the principal thing respected in Baptism and without this answer of a good Conscience towards God the washing or putting away of the filth of the Flesh could nothing avail in the sight of God Baptism is not the Washing and Cleansing of the Body but the Purifying of the Mind from every evil Work to serve the living God without which Baptism is so far from being available to the remission of sin that on the contrary it makes it far the more grievous and inexcusable But of this more in the next Chapter 9. The third and last thing to which Men were solemnly engaged at their Baptism was Self-denyal and Contempt of the World Our Saviour had told his Disciples That whosoever would come after him must deny himself and take up his Cross and follow him that whosoever was not willing to forsake all that he had Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he could not be his Disciple And therefore when any Man came to be baptized he was accordingly obliged to renounce the World and all its Glory the Pomps and Vanities the Splendor and Pleasures of it He professed himself a Candidate for the Glory that should be revealed hereafter and that therefore he would never be ambitious for that Honour which Men so earnestly contend for here He declared that he expected his Portion in those spiritual Joys which eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of Man to conceive them and therefore he would never set his heart and affections upon any gross and sensual Pleasure He professed that from thenceforward his Treasure should be in Heaven where neither Moth nor Rust doth corrupt and where Thieves do not break through and steal and that therefore he would never be covetous of any Riches or Possessions on Earth In a word he engaged to make it the main business of his Life to prepare and fit himself to be partaker of those things which God had for them that love him laid up in the next World and that therefore he would never be extreamly solicitous after any thing in this This was what the Primitive Christians understood by their Renouncing the World They thought themselves obliged not only to forsake all gross and palpably sinful Lusts but also to be very sparing in their Enjoyments of what was Lawful They looked upon this World and the next as Enemies to each other and that they were to fight as Soldiers under the Banner of Christ against the Pleasures and Temptations of this VVorld for the Glories of the other And for an Emblem of this it was that in some Churches they anointed the baptized Person with Oil He was compared to a Combatant to a Runner just preparing to start in the Christian Race and they minded him that if those who strive for the Mastery only to obtain a corruptible Crown are temperate in all things much more ought he to confirm and strengthen himself to prepare and harden himself to be ready and expedite to be temperate and abstemious and to get perfectly above all those earthly desires which would hinder and clog him in that great race which he was to run for the Crown of Immortality 'T is true the forsaking all worldly Possessions for the Name of Christ was a condition more particularly required in those Primitive times of Persecution But how far it still obliges us as it most certainly does in some Sense shall be considered in its proper place CHAP IV. What was required of Persons after Baptism 1. WHEN the whole Ceremony was finished the Person baptized was cloathed as has been already observed with a white Garment and then he was admitted to the Communion of the Faithful And that which was afterward required of him was this One Great and Necessary thing To keep his Baptism Pure and Undefiled the remaining part of his Life 2 To the keeping a Man's Baptism pure and undefiled through the remaining part of his Life that which was thought absolutely necessary in the Primitive Church was this First That he from that time forward preserved himself from falling not only into the Habit but even so much as into the single Act of any of these gross and palpable Wickednesses Idolatry Perjury Blasphemy Murder Sedition Theft manifest Injustice Cheating Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Drunkenness Revelling and such like of which St. Paul expresly and peremptorily declares and repeats it with great earnestness over and over again that they who do such things shall have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God One that was born of God might be surprized into an unheeded sin but into the gross Act of any of these manifest and notorious Impieties they thought he was never to be seduced and if he were that he ceased to be the Servant of God For whosoever abideth in him sinneth not and whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his Seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God From the Acts therefore of any of these great and plain Wickednesses which stare Men in the Face and at the first view terrifie Mens Consciences they thought it indispensably necessary that a Man abstained wholly and that these things were not so much as to be once named among Christians
return to your Duty For if your Resolutions when firmest are not able to resist much less will they do it when they have once been broken if you cannot withstand the temptations of Vice while it is yet at a distance much less will you be able to do it when it has interested your Passions and insinuated it self into your Affections if you cannot maintain your Ground while the Spirit of God is ready constantly to assist you much less will you do it when he has withdrawn himself from you But resolve bravely now while it is called to Day while you have Time and may do it with the greatest Advantages to make your Religion easie and your Happiness secure set out with a mighty Resolution in the Christian Race and press forward toward the Mark of the Prize of the high Calling Despise all the Temptations of the World and the Flesh and resist the Devil and he will flee from you 3. Again while one who has early entered into the Profession of Religion maintains his Integrity and stands firm against all the Temptations of Sin and Satan he carries with him not only a quiet Conscience and an undisturbed Mind but such a full Assurance and Joy in the Holy Ghost as inables him to perform his Duty not only willingly but cheerfully and to despise all the Temptations of this present World as Vanity and Nothing But when once he has made Shipwrack of a good Conscience and is overcome by the Temptations of the World and the Devil to sin in any gross and notorious Instances then Fears and Doubts Anxieties and Scruples must be his Portion and though by Repentance he may recover a well grounded Hope and through the Mercy of God a certain expectation of Pardon yet not easily the assurance and joy of Innocence Think not therefore when you are tempted by Sin that you may now yield to its Solicitations and afterwards by Repentance recover your first peace and quiet of Conscience For when once the support of a good Conscience is lost Obedience will be much more difficult and Peace will not return but after much Labour and many Fears after great Sorrow and long Doubts But resolve now to resist the very first Motions of Sin and be convinced there is no Pleasure but in a good Conscience nor any Joy but in the Obedience of God's Commands 4. Lastly While one who has entered betimes into the Profession of Religion continues resolutely to preserve his Innocence and conquers all the Temptations of Sin he has a certain Title to that exceeding weight of Glory that Crown of Righteousness which God has laid up for those who shall keep the Faith and patiently continue in well-doing But when once he turns from the holy Commandment delivered unto him and is overcome by the inticements and allurements of Sin he forfeits his Title to that Crown of Glory and to what degree his after-endeavours will restore him he cannot tell That Repentance will procure him Mercy and Pardon is certain but to recover the Reward and the Crown of Innocence it must be very early and very effectual All that a late Penitent can hope for is to obtain forgiveness and be admitted to Heaven The bright Crowns will be reserved for those who have fought the good Fight and overcome the World Think not therefore when you are assaulted by Temptation that you may now enjoy the Pleasures of Sin and afterward by Repentance attain to the Reward of Virtue also For though God hath indeed promised that those who are hired into the Vineyard at the eleventh hour that is those who are late instructed in the Religion of Christ or in the knowledge of their Duty shall have the same Reward with those who have born the burden and heat of the Day yet he has no where promised that those who stand idle in the Vineyard till the 11th Hour that is who notwithstanding they believe the Gospel and know their Duty yet defer their Repentance to the last shall receive likewise the same Reward But resolve now as a faithful Soldier of Christ to resist resolutely the Temptations of the Devil to despise the Glory and Vanity of the World to get above the Pleasures and Deceits of Sense and then your Labour will be sure not to be in vain in the Lord. 5. 'T is to those who thus overcome that those great and glorious Promises in the New Testament are made Rev. 21. 7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and Rev. 3 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne and the like He that overcometh that is He that having embraced the Gospel of Christ and being firmly persuaded of the Truth of his Religion continues stedfast in this Faith and in the Obedience thereof in spight of all the Temptations of Sin and Satan to the contrary In the Primitive Times the great Temptation with which Christians were assaulted was Persecution by which they were tempted to deny their Saviour and to renounce that Faith which they had once embraced by returning again to the Idolatrous worship of the Heathen Gods This was their peculiar Conflict and Trial and he that in that great Trial resisted unto Blood chusing rather to endure the most exquisite Torments and to die the most cruel Death than to deny Christ was said in a peculiar and more emphatical Sense to have overcome And to those Persons we must understand these great Promises to be primarily and more immediately made But that they proportionably belong to all other Christians also who in the midst of any other Temptations shall keep the Works of Christ and victoriously persevere in their Integrity to the end is evident For the Promise is not made to him that overcometh for that reason because 't is this or that particular Temptation that he overcomes but because he maintains his Integritry inviolable to the last notwithstanding the force of any Temptation to the contrary And perhaps if we consider the Matter closely 't is not easie to determine which is more difficult and shews a greater constancy of Mind to die for the sake of Christ or to live in the constant contempt of all the Pleasures and Enjoyments of Life to part actually with all our temporal Goods for the Name of Christ or to keep them with such indifferency as if we enjoyed them not Those Persons therefore who entring early into the Profession of Religion when their temptations to Sin were most numerous and most powerful continued stedfast in the Love of God and of Virtue unmoved amidst the perpetual Allurements of Pleasure the dazling Vanities of worldly Glory and the manifold Deceitfulness of Riches were by the Ancients looked upon with no less Esteem than those who suffered for the Name of Christ and were thought to have a Title to as great a Reward 6. Let those who have still
shall have of things at the conclusion of our Lives when Death and Judgment approach and let us view things now in the same Light as we know certainly we shall be forced to do then We know we shall then lament the loss of every opportunity of doing good which we have omitted and shall grutch every minute of Folly and Vanity which might have been employ'd to the increase of the Portion of our future Happiness We know we shall then look upon all the past pleasures of Life as emptiness and nothing and be convinced that there is no Pleasure but in true Virtue and no Fruit in any thing but in having done much Good And if we do indeed know this what can be more miserably and more inexcusably foolish than not to make the same Judgment of things now as we know assuredly we shall do afterwards The reason why Men die full of Fears and Uncertainties full of dark Suspitions and confused Doubts is because they are conscious to themselves that they have lived carelesly and indifferently without having taken any Pains either for the Service of God or for the Good of Men and without having used any zealous Endeavours to overcome the present World or to obtain the future But if Men would consider things in time if they would pass true Judgments of things and act accordingly with Resolution and Constancy they might then know certainly their own State and might live with Comfort and die with Assurance CHAP. XII Of our Obligation to be particularly careful to avoid those Sins to which we are most in danger to be tempted 1. FIfthly Be particularly careful to resist and avoid those Sins to which either your Constitution Company or Employment make you most in danger to be tempted This is the great Trial of every Man's Sincerity and of his Growth in Virtue He that for the Love of God and the Hopes of Heaven can mortifie and deny his most darling Lusts can quell and keep under his most natural Passions can resist and constantly overcome those Temptations by which he is most in danger to be seduced into Sin such a one has an infallible Assurance of his own Sincerity and is very near to the Perfection of Virtue But if there be any one Instance wherein a Man habitually falls short of his Duty or indulges a Lust a Passion a sinful Desire 't is certain whatever other Virtues he may be indued with that he either acts upon wrong Principles and is not sincere or that his Resolutions are hitherto too weak and ineffectual to intitle him to the Comfort of Religion here or to the Assurance of Happiness hereafter 2. There is no Man whom either the Constitution of his Body or the Temper of his Mind the Nature of his Employment or the Humour of his Company does not make obnoxious to some particular sort of Temptations more than to any other And in this thing it is that those who have something of Sincerity and will not with others run into all excess of Riot do yet make shift to deceive and impose upon themselves They think they are indued with many good and virtuous Qualities they hate Profaneness and professed enormous Impiety they know themselves innocent of many great Sins which they see others continually commit But something to which they are particularly tempted they indulge themselves in and the fatal Mischief is that those Sins which they see others commit and to which themselves are not violently tempted seem most absurd and unreasonable and easie to be avoided but that to which they are themselves addicted they think to be either so small as not to be of any very evil Consequence or so difficult to be resisted as to be allowed for among the unavoidable Infirmities of Nature Thus to many who have little or no Dealings in the World the Sins of Fraud Injustice Deceit Over reaching and the like seem very heinous base and unreasonable while at the same time they allow themselves in habitual Intemperances and Impurities as either harmless Vices or almost insuperable Weaknesses On the other hand there is no less a Number of those who applaud themselves in their own Minds that they are not as other Men Intemperate Debauched Drunkards Revellers and the like while at the same time they look upon Fraud and Deceit Tricking and Over-reaching as the necessary Art and Mystery of Business 3. But this is a very great and a very fatal Cheat. No Man can have any true and solid Peace in himself no Man can have any just Confidence in his Addresses to God no Man can have any Title to the Promises and Comforts of Religion here much less to the Glory and Reward of it hereafter before his Obedience be if not Perfect yet at least Universal God will not share with any Impiety nor ever accept of any Man's Obedience so long as 't is mixed with the accursed thing If there be any Sin that we can hardly part with if there be any Lust that is like a right Hand or a right Eye this is the thing that God hath proposed to us to Conquer this is the good Fight which we must fight through Faith this is the Victory to which Heaven is proposed For this we must gather together all the Forces of Reason and Religion for this we must strengthen our selves by Prayer and Consideration In this Warfare we must resolve strongly persevere obstinately and though we be conquered yet resolve to overcome always remembring that this is the Stake for Life or Death Happiness or Misery Heaven or Hell 4. Here therefore let every Man consider with himself and let him well observe his own Temptations and his own Strength Let him consider not how many Sins he can easily avoid but by what Temptations he may most easily be seduced and let him make it his Business to guard himself there Let those who are young and not yet entred into the hurry and business of the World not value themselves upon their being innocent from the Sins of Fraud and Injustice of Covetousness and Extortion or the like for that perhaps they may be without any Pains and without overcoming any powerful Temptation but let them try themselves whether they be firm against the Temptations of Vanity and Lightness of Heat and Passion of Intemperance and Impurity and let them judge of themselves by their behaviour in these Instances wherein they are most obnoxious Let them consider that their peculiar Task is to overcome the wicked one 1 John 2. 13. to subdue the Flesh to the Spirit to conquer and get above those Pleasures which sensualize the Soul and inslave the Mind to the Body and thereby bring it under the Power of Death and Destruction And in fine to strive continually to cleanse themselves from all Impurity not only of Body but even of Mind and Spirit perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God Let them consider that they are by Baptism dedicated to the