>J- to ■■•1 < If*.* •..*5M ■"^*;,riiiT'v*^TJfV! o f^ a^ i ' ^ Q_ J^ i .^ .2~ .^ ^ (0 ,»>^ IE — w 'T> Q. ! ^w 'Sj 1^ o ' ti 5 "^ g OJ c *-. O bfl ^- •£5 E^ <: ^ . l^ g rs 125 £ * .^ ! «> M C'J "i^ jsi rt CO ■^ ^ P4 S O ^ 5 % -a ^ c C ' ^ Si Vi du J /03/' f Tm Difcourfes: THE FORMER ON Eaptifm with the Holy Ghoft ; THE LATTER ON Water-Eaptifm : Onelnally composed fof, and preach'd to, the Author's own Conoreeation, for which they were intended as a fref^- votive againft the fpecious Errors of the fakers in their Doarines upon thefe Su^jeds ; and now, after large Ad- ditions and a great Number of marginal Notes, are fent into the World, in hopes they may become, m fome^ ir.eafure, inftrumental in convincing all Judicious and^ Impartial Perfons anong the fakers, who are pleas d to vouchfafe them a ferious and deliberate Perufal, of their . afcrefaid Errors ; and a SatisfaaiQjp to all others, who. defire to fee Water Bapti/m clearly ^demonftrated from 7 citimonics of Hcfy Writ, to be an Jn/lttuUon olCbrtJt of perpetual Obligation. ' - -7 "■ ^ TT By TamesKRudd, Curate of GarfMe,. in the Parifli of Sedbergh, Tork/bire. . KENDAL: Printed and Sold by Thomas Ashhurner. M. DCC. XL. x^( Price One ShilJing and Sixpence.) (3 ) «»V»r «»Vi» «rVi» Ajfly^/atf Matt. xxvEL^^ipi' Go ye, and teach all Natiens, haptizing them in the Name cfthe Father^ and oftheSoUy and of the Holy Ghoft H E S E Words are Part of the Dif- courfc which our BlcfTed Lord made to his Apoftles, juft before his A- fccnfion into Heaven : And they contain, Firft, A Commiljlon given to his faid Apoftlcs, and, in them, to all their lawful Succeflbrs in the Gol'pel Miniftry, of making all the World his Difciples. Go ye, and teach (in the Original, ^i/?/>/^>^ all Nations, — or make all Nations mv Difciples. Secondly, The Form or Rite to be ob- ferved \^\ difcipling ^\\ Nations 5 namely, by baptizing them in the Name of the Father^ and of the Som and of the Holy Ghofl. My Dcfign is to enquire what that Baptifm is which Our Saviour here orders hisApoftles to adminifter in dijciphng all Ndttons. And fuch an Enquiry a? this will, I hope, be thought neither trifling, nor unfcafonable, in this Age and Country, that abounds fo much with a ' B Sea Sed of Chriftians, who under the Pretence of embracing a more pure and fpiritual Religion than the reft of the believing World, have quice laid afide the Ufcof Water Baptifm and the Lord's Sapper ^ ( thofe folemn and facred Rites which Chrift himfelf, for moft Wile and Good Purpofes, inftuuted;) judging them not worth their Obfervance; they having ob- tain d, as th?y fay, the Subftance of which thefe Sacraments are bat Shadows. Particularly, with regard to Water BaptlC^iy they ftyle it, in their moft temperate Language, a mere carnal oi^ Jew ijh Ceremony ^ and a Type or Figure only, of x\\& fpiritttal Wajhing of Chrift : And becaufe all the Types of the Law are aboiifhed by the Appearance of Chrift, the Antitype y therefore is Water Bapttfm abolifh'd, and gives place to the Baptifrn with the Holy Ghofi ; \^\\\da they maintain to be the only Baptifrn now in force under the Go(peI Dif- pcnfation. And this very Text, i am now up- on, which hath been judged by the whole Chri- ftian Church * for feventeen hundred Year*, to be the ftrongeft Argument for a literal Eap' tifm,they have fo wonderfully interpreted, as to make it fupport their figurative or fpiri- tual one. I Ihall * I muft except a few nominal Chriftians in the primitive Times, as vifapling all Nations, is the only Baptilm appointed by him to be ufed for that purpofe to ihc End ot the World. The Que- lli'jn then to be controverted is this; ^7;r, Wiicthcr this Baptifm be that which is called in ScriDiure, BaDtilk'VJUh the Holy Ghoji, as B 2, ■ the the Quakers contend it is, or it be PVatey -And here Ifball prove i^. That the Baptifm in the Text is not that ' which is in Scripture called Bapttfm with the Holy Ghoft h And when this is once fnffici- entJy made good, there will be no Trouble to prove idly. That it is Water Baptifm; iinceno o- ther Baptifm but either the cne or the other, , can poflibly here be meant. ijl. I am to prove that the Baptifm in the Text is not that which in Scripture is call'd Baftifm "with the Holy Ghofi, I his 1 fhall cri- deavour to do by fliewing you the true Scrip- ture Senle of this Baptifm. The firtl Perlon that ever in exprefs Terms fpoke oi x\\z B apt ir?n with the Holy Ghoft\vz$ John the Bapfifij^^ the Forerunner of Chriil, who whenhefaw n/any of the Tharifees and Sadtwees come to his Bdptfm, laid, / indeed baptize J on with Water v.nto Repentance^ but be (namely Chrift) that comet h after me — fhall i^aptizeyou with the Holy Ghoft arid with I'i^e.f This * Joel indeed hnd prf^phcfyM of tKis Canrirm urrJer the VhtSLCeoi' Go J' spearing out his Spirit upon ali Flcjh ; which wiH be conudered in a more proper Place. — t I'Vith Fire — that is, in t!ic Appeararce of Fire ; for fo the I^.oiy Ghoft appeared in ihe txtfaordinary Defcent on the Day ct i^eutecoft, hereafter mentioned. It will nbr be amifs here to obft-ive fli?.t the Qtiakers lay A miphty Strcfs upon this Place of Scriptnre in maintaining Btip'ifm iviih the l20iy Gbofl to he the only Baptiltn ii; force under (7 ) This Account wc have from St. Matt. 5. xi. And the cnrce other HvangcUfts record the fame with no material Variation. Here thenis a Prophecy that Chrifl-, who was then j art about to enter upon his great Of- fice of publilhing the Gofpel, Oiould baptize thofe that would oelieve in him and become his Difciples with the Holy GhojL Let us next enquire when it was that Chrift did actually adminifter this Bapttfm with the Holy Ghofi : for this is a mattsr of confiderable Importance in difcovering the true Scripture Scnle of this Biptitrtr And here, 'tis evident beyond all Contrididion, that Chrill did never adminiifcr This under the Gilpel Dirpeafition. The Bnpti/}, C\y they, here plainly cojitraJifiirKTuijh^s hoiwixc his own Hit^tifmiulth IViter, and Chrift'.s wHh the Holy G'^o^l : and finc^ jons's Dilpc-nu- rioii is Cct afiJe by rhe IVoir.uIgacion of the Gofpel, ciierc- fore l^aier Baptifm, vf iich wjsa Rite of iaiciatin;^ Difciples unto John, is far afide alfo, and p;ives place to the S-iptiftn ivith the Holy Ghofi, which is now cooimcnc'd, and is the only Baptil.Ti u'lder the G;ifpel. Now, in Gunfucauoii of this Reafonint;, 'tis obvious to rernart, that there is no hicU Contyjdifii»{tio!j{^s the C^iakeiS lovetocall iOb:;twixt rhe rwo Baptilnis., as wili oblige usco conclude chut PV.iter 8.i!>tif>n is grown obfolete, or is annuH'd by the Ed.tbiilhiiTent of Chri- Jtianity. All that c:in be juftiy coljefted from :!)•; B.tptifi'is Declaration above cired is this jthat as tor himfeif, hecoiilJ do no more for rhofe mat piofeifed theniielves his Difciples tiian bapttz,e them zvitb iVater for the Remiifton of Shis ; but Chrift, if they wocild bucome his Difcipies, would h.tl>fi-:.e them with the Rily Ghofi ; which does by no manner of Con- ftrtiition imply, ri)at Chrift would not baptize thofe rhat b:-- lieved ia him with VVarer. 'fisonly faid, Re fhtll b.xitiz.^ yoi4 luitb the Holy Ghofi, but nor a Word char he iTiould' not baptize them with Water alio. And tho' Water Baprifm, as a Kite of initiating Difciples to John, IS aboliihed, yet as CIS (8) This Baptifm during his bodily BLcfidcncc on Earth. For St» John ( Ch. 7. 37, 3 8.) having related that JESUS in thelaft 'Day., that great ^ay §f the reaft (of Tabernacles) T^^^^/ftf/' and cried xo thejewsalfembled in theTemplc>y^/- ing^ If any Man thirfty let him conx unto me and drink i he that believeth on me^ as the Scripture faith, out of his Belly fh all flow Ri- vers of living PFater,tcUsus in the following Ycrkf this jESXJSJpake of the Spirit, which they that believed on him fhould receive , for^ fays he, the Holy Ghofi was not yet given, be- caife JESUS was not yet glorified. The Giv- ing of the Holy Ghofty mentioned by the Evan ■ geiilt, is unqueftionably what the Baptift meant by Baptifm with the Holy 'Ghofl 5 and from hence it evidently appears, that hitherto that Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft was not confer- red : And the Reafon here given why it was not '{is a Hite of initiating Difciples to Chrift,.u is ftillin force. ]f tlicQiiskers infill:, that to make haiU Water Baptifm and the S-blritual in force unJer the Gofpel, is to fet up two Baptifms, contrary to that of the Apoftle ( E-ph 4. 5. ) One Lord, One Faith, One Bnptifm. I ani'wer, that the Apoftlein that Place does no: abfolutcly affirm that there is no more than 0;;e Baptifm in force tinder the Gofpel ; bat that as there is but One Lord, the Author of Chriftians Salvation, and One Scheme of F.i:th revealed by that One Lord, Co there is but One Baptifnt made ufe of in making Men Diicipies of that Ofe Lord, and Profcflbrs of that One Scheme of Faith. Now this is all ftricr- ]y true. There is One Lord, and One Faith, znd One Bapti/my and no more than One, adminirter'd in initiating Difciples to that Lord, and feajinp, them ProfeOofs oTthat Faith , and this Baptifm is that of ff'/trer ; as -will be prov'd hereafter. Anil yet another Baptifm, namely, that of the Iloly Ghoji, might be in ufc for other pnrpofes, as vvas really the Cafe* (9) nothHheriocon(cn*d^iSt i^ecatffe j^SUS 'was mi yet glorified: And thea further, as Chrifc's Glorification did not commence 'till his A(cen- fion to the Right Hand of God in Heaven,^ this Baptifm therefore was not 'till that Time to be adminifter'd. What will make the mat- ter ftii] clearer, if pofiible, is the Tcftimony of St. Luke, who, A£ts i. 4 y., tells us, that JESUS being ajjtmbled together with his Apo- /Hes, juft before his Alcenlion, commanded them that they fhould not depart from Jerujalem, but wait for the Tromife of the Father^ which, faith he, ye have heard of me ; for John trtily baptiz- ed with l'Vaier,but ye [hall be baptized with the Holy Ghoft not many T) ays hence. from which PafTage it is undeniably mani- feft, that the Baptifm with the Holy Ghofc was not adminifter'd during Our Saviour's bodily Refidence on Earth i not even to his Apoftlcs thenifelves, much lels to every common Be- liever j but that it was only promis'd by Our Lord on the Day of his Afcenfion, that it Ihould be given not many ^ays after. Now the pr^cifc Time when this Baptifm was firft adminifter'd, we have a full Account of in the 2d Chapter of the A6fs, in the(e Words. And when the 'Day of Tentecoftj, which was the tenth Day after Chrift's Afcen- fion, was fully come y they (that is, the Apoftlcs and Difciples, to the Number of about no ) were * Luh i^,y» zCt—Hei, 10. lu-'-John 17. i, t,-—ASsz .55. ( lo ) to'^^ ail is:::th G7ie accord in one Tlace -, and Juddenlythen came a Sound fro^n He aim, as of a rtffimg mighty Wind, and it fMed all the HguJc 'where they were fitting ; and there ap- peared imto them cloven To7:giies like as of Fne, and it fat upon each of them ; and they were all filled with the Hob GhcfL Now that this Vifiible T>£fcent of the Holy Ghofi, in the Appearance of cloven Tongues, upon the Apofcles, &c. is the Baptifm thcre- w'irh) which Chrift was toadminifter, is evi- dent from hence j namely, This Baptifm was never adminifter'd during Chrift's bodily Re- fidence on Earth ; but on the Day of his A- fcenfion into Heaven he commanded his A- poftles that they fliould *^^ into all Nations and preach his Gofpel, beginning at Jerttfalcm ; but that they flou'd not fct about this great Work of preaching his Gofpel, even at y^^r/^y^/f^itfclf, 'till they had '\ received Tower from on high^ the Tromife of the Father^ or Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft. which fhould be conferr'd on them not many "Days from thence : As therefore this Vifible, Extraordinary ^e- fcentofthe Holy Ghojl u^on the Apoftles, on the Day of Penrecoft happened juft ten Days after Chrift 's Afcenfion, the Day he had pro- mifed itfliouldbe given mt many days hence; and fince nothing befel the Apoftles in the intermediate Space betwixt Chrilt's Afcenfion and * Malt. a8. v. 29.— ;iefient, or Effujton ot the Holy Ghoft on the Apoftles, on this Day of VcuitcQ^t.wzsi^^t Baptifm with the H^ly Ghoft exprefsly mentioned firft by John the i5^i?///?, and which afterwards Chrift himfelf promis'd he would confer upon his Difciples; and that it was now, and never 'till now, ad- miniltcr'd under the Gofpel Difpenlation. — But that this Matter may be put out of all manner ot Doubt, U any Doubt yet remain^ I (liall add the Teltimony of St. Peter. This Apoftle, we are told, ABs lo. was fent by the Spirit of God to convert the Centurion CbR* NELius to the Chriftian Faith; and that, atht 'was preaching to him and his Company, iht Holy Ghoft fell on them all. And this T>efcent of the Holy Ghoft was in the very lame man- ner with that on the Day of Pentecoft before fpokcn ofi for St. Peter him{elf,rchcarfing the Account of this Miraculous T>efcent in the following Chapter, tells us, As I k^an to [peak to CoRNELKS in order to convert him, the Half Ghoft fill on them, i. e. on Cornelius and his Company as on CZy the Apoftles^/ r^5 i&ifciple'wJofim Yi^SUS hved- If Baptifm with the Holy Ghoff be taken to mean the Common Saving Gifts of the Spirit^ it evidently follows, Chritthad not one true Difciple upon Earth, not one that wasy^w^i- jW, and in a State of Salvation^ till the Pen- tccoft after his Ateenfion ; which is a Dodrine io Ihocking and repugnant to plain Accounts of Scripture, that it ought never to be admit- ted for true. it muft be owned, indeed, that thcfe Ordi- nary fan^iifying Gifts of the Spirit may with PropriCTV enough be ftyled Baptifm with the Holy Ghoflt if we ple^fe. Thus our hoiy Church iiath taken the Liberty to call them ;,f and * John 13, 23. — 20, 2. — 21, 20. •f CfScc of Baptism, both for Infants and thofe of riper Years, in the AtJJrefs of the Minilter to the Congregation^ at the Beginning of the Office ; But that our Churcii mr»ans by this ^i^u&m the fanSify'wg Gifts of the Spirit is evident from the Prayers following, where we meet with the fol- lowin{» Phrafes. Wap him and fanSi'tfy h'on with the Hoiy Ghcjii I ft Prayer. — that he coming to thy holy Baptifm may receive Remijfton of bis Sins by fpiritual Reqeneration. zi Pray- er, See— It is the Scnfe of our Church that the fa-nBifying^ Grace of the Spirit is conferred by Water Baptisni on all. worthy Recipients thereof. But that the BaptismSwith the Holy uhoft, according to the Scripune Serfe^ was not an'/ Part of Water Baptism, but an entire Baptism ot itfelf» is dcmorrftrable ftoin ASt* 8. 15, i5, 1 7. Ch. lo. 44, fitc*. Ch, ip. 5, <»,. ( IS ) and To have many of the Fathers and Divines of all Communions j but dill 1 infift, that the Ordinary Gifts of the Spirit are never once fly led ;» Scripture, Baptifm izith the Holy Ghofi, and arc never there dcfigned to fignify that Baptifm which Chrift never adminiflred to any othis Difciples till after his Aicenfion into Heaven. Secondly^ Even according to the Quakers own Bxplanation ot the manner how the Bap- tifm uith the Holy Ghojt was contcrred, this B^piilm could not confift in the fanciifytng Gifts of the Spirit. For when it hath been pleaded againlt them by our own Writers (how jullly 1 will not Iay)riiatthe Baptifm with tlye HolyGhoft could not be conferred by Men 5 they have anlwered, * * That tho' it could * not be wrought orconferred without Chrift * and his Grace, yet it is inftrumentally done < by Men, fitted of God tor that purpoICi * namely, by their outward Teaching: Ac- < cordingly, St PaulV CommiHion was, to ' turn Teopie from Darknejs to Lights and * convert them to God ; and whoever, by * the Preaching of the Gofpel Minifters, and « the Reception of the good Spirit, which < wa« thereby, as a A/^^wj, conveyed to them, * were turned from Tiarhifjs to Light, and * from the To-uuer of Satan unto God^ and had their * Barclay's Apol. Prop. 12. Sec. 8. Besse's Defence of Qaakerilm, Sec 15. Page279' Fopsier's /\n!werto . ihe Norfolk Letter, p. 90. — Claridge's Lu* tvang. atteft^ jd Aigumcnt againft Warer Baptism, 4 T7 ; * their Hearts wafh'd and purified from Ttnful * Defilements, were bdptized with the holy ^ Ghoji.' But according to this Notion of baptizing with the Holy Ghofi, ]ohn the Bap- tfjfl could adminifter this Baptiim as well as any of the Apoftics, For thus faith the An- gel to Zach ARIAS, concerning John. Many of the Cbilrirm of Ifrael Jhntl he turn to the Lord their God, and he po all go before him in the Tower and Spirit of Elias, to turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children, and the ''JJifobedient to the Wtfdom of the Jtift, to make ready a People prepared for the Lord'* 7hus aiio propbefied Zacharias himlclt concern- ing his laid Son. Thou Child fo ait be called the Trophet of the Bigheft ; for thou fh alt ^o before the Face of the Lord, to prepare his TVaySy to give Knowledge of Sahaticn unto hts Teople by the Remiffion of their Stns. Thefe are the Piedid'^^ions concerning John's Miniflry : And accordingly, the firft News we hear of him after he entered upon liis Of- fice, was his calling upon the jews to -[Repent, and exhoiting them to bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance And, no doubt, ot thofe vail Numbers that came to his Baptilm, confeffirg their Sins, many were fincerc Penitents ; and by the Co-operation of the Spirit^ became i?^- gmerate in their Lives, and embraced the Know- ■•" LuKR 1. 1(5. fMAT. 5. 3, 8.— Mark i. 4. Luke 3. 3,S. ( l^ ) K'ncjiledge of Salvation.* From hence thcti I argue, chat finceJoHN t^e Baptift was an Inlirvment in God s Hands, as well as the A- poftles and other Miniftcrs of the Gofpel, of enlightening the Minds of many of the Jews, and converting them from their Evil Ways to ferve God in true Amendment and Holinefs of Life, and yet, notvvithftanding, was not qualifyM or empowered f D i tloat ( 22 ) thdt which was/poken of by the Trophet Joel, And then he repeats the Prophet's Words, Ch. z. V. 28. which arc thefe. Jnd tt Jhall come to pafs in the laft T)ajs, faith God, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all Fie fo--, and your Sons and your daughters Jhall prophefy, and your Toung Men floall fte Vifions, and your Old Men fhall dream T^r earns ; and on my Servants and on my Handmaids in HI 1 pour out in thofe ^ays of my bptrit^ and they fiall prophefy. 1 have before proved that this Effufion of the Holy Gho/i on the Day of Pen- tecolt was the Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft. Now then, as St. Petek ia this Place, by afcribing the Apoftles Tpeaking divers Langua- ges to be the Completion of Joel's aforcfaid Prophecy, n^akcs that Prophecy to contain a Promile of Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft h and as neither in Joel'; Prophecy,* nor in this Completion of it mentioned by the A- poftle, there is any but extraordinary Gifts fpo- kcn * If in this Prophecy of Bnpt'iftn •with the Holy Ghoft the Ordinary^ fanBifying Gifts of the Spirit be intended as well as the Extraordinary, is it not rurprizing that thefe fhould be {oi particularly mention'd, and nnt a Syllable concerning thofe^- It is not once faid, Godpall pouy out his Spirit upon all FUJI}, either to v.ork in thtni Goodvefs and Richteoufnefs^ ( Eph. 5. 9.^/ or to infpire them virh Love, Joy, Peace, Long ■ fu{ferirg^Gentltnefs,Fa:th, Meehnefs . and Temperance. {Gai. j. ^er. 12> 25.) or to purify their Soifh in obeying the "Trathm ( L Peter l. 22. ) or to make them Sons of God. i^Rom. 8 14J or to /ate them by its Regenerating InHucnce C Tjtus 3. 51 ) or the like. Is it not therefore withrut the leatl ^jround, that the Quakers, from this Prophecy, plead that the fanBifying Gifts of the Spirit are conferred in Baptifm toith the Holy Ghofl^ as well a? the Et^tracrdifiary ? (23 ) ken of, (namely in Joei. the Gift of Trophecy, feeing Vifiom^^r camirigT) reams \\w the Ap- pJication of the K^o^Wyfpaak'mg with Tongues) can any thing be more evident than that, as far as appears hitherto from Scripture, Baptifm With the Holy Ghoft confjfts only in the Ex- traordinary Gifts of the Spirit? Jhirdh and iaftiy, let us review the Account of Cornelius his Converfion, related A5:S lo. This Centurion, we are told, was a devout Man and one that feared Qod, with all his Houfe, and ga've much Alms to the Teople, and prayed to (jod always^ and therefore we may be fure he was already endow'd with the fandlifymg Q\{x?> ot the Spirit. Nevcrthelcfshc was not yet baptized with the Holy Ghofi. For as Peter was preaching to him in order ro his Converfion, thm the Hob Ghoft fell on him and all them that heard the Word--, that ij, they w t re no w baptized with the Holy Ghoft. W nac then was the EfFedt of this Baptifm ? Why, we are told, that they of the Circumcifion which betie'ved were afionifhed, as many as came with Peter, that on the Gentiles alfo, VIZ Cornelius and his Company, was poured out the Gift of the Spirit ••, for they heard them fpeak with Tongues. They heard them fpeak with To^'gues, which is one of the Extra- ordinary Oilts of t'._ Spirit j but not fo much as a tiiiit \s given of their being by this Bap- tifm endowed with any of the Ordinary or fanctifymg Graces thereof. I might { 24 ) I might go on to exaiViinc all thofe * Paf- fages in the A^s and the Eptftles "which men- tion the Hofy Gkojl's being giverty or of Be- lievers being ///f<;/ therewith, and (licw how perfectly they either favour, or, at leaft, do not contradid this Account of Baptifm with the Holy Ghofl ; but the(e 1 have already confi- dered, being Co dccifive and full to my purpole, and the only Padages in the whole New Te- l^ament, if 1 remember right, where this jB^/j- tijm and its Ejfetis sre expreflly mentioned to- gether ; and being well allured our Advcrlaries cannot produce one Text in all the Scriptures to invalidate this Account, 1 fhall conclude this Head, and take it tor granted, That Baptifm with the Holy Qhojl does in Scripture always, and only, fignily the Contcrring the Extraordinary Gilts ot the Spirit; fuch as speaking with 1 ongaes, Immediate Irfpiratton^ i'ropkecy. Miracles^ and the like. And * It won'd have been endUfs to have cited and critically cxamin'd all rhofe Placci. — HtTidts, as Iconctive that the Hoiy Ghoft is in Scripime l:ici to ht giveri, or Fclievcrs///^/ therewith, with rej;aid to xhe Crdinaty CuftsoKihe Spirir as well as ihc Exitaor^y ary ; thi letoie even tho' the Ca'e fhoold hap* en that the Otdtvar\ Q\.\xs vi the J^pirit are let down as thcEfi'ecis cf the Boly Ghofl's beirp g.ten^ or Men ^^//f^ theiewith, it will not fr liow, that the Baptifm ivith the Bcly Ghoft cor/fiHs in the Ordinary Spiritual Gilts ; becaufe thofe Phrafes are of an arr bigunusi Inrerpretatiori, fometimes being to be i.nderftood of the Ordinary, .'onri- times oi the£x- tracrdhary Giits. hwt Baptilm nvith the Holy Gl eft, I affirm, always confifls in the Extraordinary Gifts only, it the E£eBs mcrtioned along v^ith that Ba^tilin be the lureft Kule of Jtidging what it is. ( 25 ) And as this is the true Scripture Scnfc oiBap- tifm with the Holy Ghofty it is obvious to re- mark, that this Baptilm was intended only for the infant State of the Gofpel ; and that ic hath, in fad, entirely ceas'd upwards of Thir- teen hundred Years ago. During the Age in which the Apoftles liv'd, it muft be own'd this Extraordinary Spiritual Baptifm was very common, few ordinary Chriftians, I fuppofe, if any, being without fonie one or other of the Gifts thereof. And this may ferve as a true Interpretation of that Place in the A^h z. 38, 39. which the Qua- kers would fain wreft tofupport the Univerfa- lity and Perpetuity of this Baptilm. The Words are, 'Then Peter faiditnto them. Re- pent and be baptized every one of you in the Name ofjefits Chrifly for the Remiffion of Sim ^ and jejhall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghofi i For the "Promife is unto you and to your Chit' dreny and to all that are afar ojf^ even as many as the Lor dour God (hall call.* Where it is very obfervable, Firif, t^Aat the Gift of the Holy Ghoa * * The Senfe oftheApoftle feems to be this ; viz. that * the Promife of Baptifm with thi Holy Gho/i was not limited * to any particolar Narion or People, as many of Gods Pro* * mifcs had before been, but did belong; to all Narions, out * of which God would chnle fuch Perlons as fhoold to him * fecm mnft proper, and pour upon them the fame Gifts * which they then faw poured forth upon the Apoftles and * others. And this was exa£ily verified in thole days. For * feme I'erfons out of every Narion under Heaven where the * Gofpel was planted, had fome one or more of thefe Extra' * ordiriftry Gifts beftow'd upon him.'— Dr.STEBBiNc's Polemi- cal Trady, — Where fee his Reafons for this Interpretation, ( 2 fince the VtoivwCc of their Terpetukf is no more general than of tbefe. In a Word then, all that the PalTage under Conflderarion can be taken to mean is, that the Baptifm with the Holy Ghi>ft, or the Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit fhould in tho(e Times be very com» mon if not univerfal > and this wc not only allow, but contend for. And as in thofe Times this BAptifmwith tht Holy Ghofl was very common, fo the fpeedy and more efeaual Propagation of the Gofpcl neceflarily required it fhould be fo* Except the poor illiterate Apoftles themfelves had been thus baptized, 'tis, morally fpeaking, im- poltible they ihould have made a ten thou- fandih Part of the Converts they did: And except the Other Minifters of the Gofpel^and the Generality of Lai Chtillians alfo, had enjoyed this Baptifm, the Faith of Chiift could not have fpread fo faft, nor have been fo firm- ly eftablifhed as it was. But as before the Apoftles left the World, the Canon of Faith was filled up, and all committed to Writing ; and infinite Numbers of Men in almoft all the inhabited Regions of the Earth had cm- braced Chiiftianity 5 and fome of thefe Men of * For fort!j«f Satisfaction in this Point, Sec the 4 firft CbapteK of D'Oyiky'i Second Diflertation. (28) of Authority and Learning; that could be- friend the true Religion with temporal En- couragements, as well as (upport it by Dint of human Argumentation } then, as there was Icfs Occafion for the Baptifm '•juith the Holy Cho/i, fo Church Hiltory informs us it be- came Icfs common : And in little above two Hundred Ye?rs after, ( Chriltianity having made greater and greater Progrefs in the World, Kings halving become it's Nurfing Fa- fher Sy and ^tems it's Nurfing Mothers,*^ this Baptilm became more and more rare -, and in the End ot the Fourth Century after Chrift, it was fo wholly ccasM, that trom that time to this, perhaps icarce twenty Inftances, cre- dibly recorded, can be produced of any one Extraor dtnary Gift of the Spirit being exer- cisM "f It muft be acknowledged inceed, that the Church of Rome hath formerly boaft- ed of Numberlefs and Mighty Miracles having been wrought by feveral pious SaintSy as they are called, of her Communion. But the Times in which thefe Miracles were pretend- ed to be wrought, being the Ages of themoft unparallei'd Ignorance, Credulity and Super- itition in all Ranks and Orders of Men, and of the moft enormous VVickcdnefs in thofe in Spiritual Places, the Popes and inferior Paftors * Isaiah 4p, V. 2^. t See the Ingenious Author laft tjuoted, his 5th Ch^tet of the faid Diflenarion ; who e:icepis indeed the Giftof Exorcizing, or Cafiing out Devils^ Initances of vhich he proves may be mei v/ich in rhe 5ih Centnry. (29) Paftors of the Church ; and Co many'of thefe Miracles having been clearly detedled, and fhewn to be the groflfeft Forgery, and Impo- fture, no manner of Credit can fately be gi- ven to any of them. Or if Miracles were re- ally wrought by fome of the Votaries of the llomifh Religion, in thofe Ages of Darknefs and Iniquity, we may upon the. moft folid Grounds affirm, they were effedcd by the A- gencyof Satan,* whom God has beenpleaf- ed, at fundry Times, and upon various Oc- cafions, to allow rhe Power of working Signs and lying f Fonder s.-^ And then, as to the Q^iakcrs themfelveSj (who are the only People in this Age and Na- tion, that pretend to that Baptifm with the Holy Ghofi which is (o called m Scripture ** ) what Evidence can they give us that they are any of them fo baptized as they pretend ? Which of them hav<2 ever publifhed to fublime, refined, and perfed a Syftcm both of Faith and Morality as the Gofpcl exhibits, by the foie Power of their Immediate Infpiration ? Which of them can [peak with Tongues, which they never learn'd at School, n r obtained by the U(e o\ human Means ? Which of them have ever prophejied of Events that were actually accomplilhed cxa^ly as predicted j Events which * Exotfus J, ver» 12, 22. — Ch. 8. v. 7. t 11 "Thef. 2. V 9. Seealfo Mat. 34. 24. ** I oughr, perhaps, to except the Methodifis, ' VhitefikldV Sermon on John 7. 58,39, E z. ( 30) which it was impollible for the Sagacity of cither Men or * Devils to forelee, or evca plaufibly to guefs at ? How many dead Men /2//^« asthis amounrs i;o But Chrilli- ans are cautioned in Seriprure, not belo we^k and credulous as to believe a Man to be di- vinely infpir'd upon lo ilcndcr a Foundation. St John, in particular, admonifhcs us not la believe every dpirit^-f that is, every Perfon ho^^ingoi the immediate Jn/piratian of the Spirit, hut to try the Spirits u'hether they are of Qad : And the Reafon he gives for this Admo- nition * I cannot here forbear remarking upon the Abfardiry of the Quakers ; nnt only in calling the Spirit the compleat, ajdetjaate Rule of Faith, but in calling it any Rule at all. — It is not the Spirit, ftri£ily and literally fpeaking, that is the Rule of Faith, but the ReweJation of the Spirit, as made known to n$, "--Shonld the Spirit reveal nothing to ns eithea mediare'y or immediately, where is our Rule of Faith ? t I. John 4. I.— See an excclltnt Sermon of Bifho{> Black- kallV 00 this Text, dwfign'd paiticulaiJy agaiaft the J^uakcrii ( 32 ) nitionis, hecavfe many faife ^rophetSt tnany V/ho falfly pretend to prophcfy or preach by the immediate Didatcs of the Spirit, are gone out into the World. Now as this Advice was thought neceflary by an Apoftlein an Age when, we arealTufd, there were a great many truly infpired Pro- phets? much more neceflary (hould we think it in thele Times, when the Reafons why there (hould be even any truly' infpired Prophets are ceas'd, and when there arcihemofl glaring Arguments imaginable, that there are a gteat many jalfe oneS\ There is therefore abundant Caufe why we fhould bring the Quakers' Pretenfions to im- mediate Infpiration to the Teft, and not truft them upon their bare Words alone. It would cxercifeyour Patience too much, if I fhould at this Time examine thefe Pre- tenfions of our Adveifarics as largely as I might, or as the Importance of the Matter dcferves. However, as Immediate Infpiration is the only Extraordinary Spiritual Gift, f^i thofe "which in Scripture Bapttfm with the Holy Ghoft is (hewn to conlill in, that is now laid claim toby this People, I cannot without ma- nifcftlnjuflice to my bubjed, pals it by with- out examining whether it is not alfoceas'das well as all the other Extraordinary Gitts of the Spirit} or, in other Words, whether the JQuakcrs zx^ immediately ivjpr^doi no ? Now ( 39 ) Now in order to the Tryal of any Man*s Prttenfions to the immediate Infpiration of the Spirit of God, it is evidently neccffary, in the fiift place, that we examine whether the Doc- trines he teaches be confonant with thole al- ready known to have heen taught or revealed by God's infallible Spirit; that is, whether his Doclrines be confiftent with the Holy Scrip* tures 7 For except they be fo, 'tis as certain that they are falfe, as that thofe contained in the vScriptures are true. And therefore what- ever Teacher or Prophet, pretending to immt^ diate Infpiration, contradids the infallible Word of God delivered in Sacred ffrtt, is un- doubtedly a Deceiver and ought to be rejed- cd as fuch '♦' Now this I judge to be the Cafe of the Quakers : For at the fame Time that they make their Boaft of preaching by iht im- mediate ^iBatts or Injpiratton ot the Holy Spirit, they profefs and maintain feveral Doc* trines repugnant to the fure Word of God re- vealed in the Bible, Particularly, they aflert^ that Baptifm with the Holy Ghofi is the only Baptilm to be adminiftredto Chriftiansin all Ages of the Church ; and, in Conlequence of this, they deny IVatet Baptifm to be an Inftitu- tion cf Chriftj both wiiich, I am per/uadcd will fully appear to be contrary to Scripture before i have done : And then wefliall have a Demonftration beyondall poffible Doubt, that the Quakers are no true Prophets, but down- right *SeeUe»f, jj.— I, a, J. Mat. y.—ij;, i^, G/«/. i.— ^, 8,^1 ( 34) i-ight Impoflors. .^— But luppoiingthcfe Men (liould teach nothing contrary in the Icaft to Set iprure, but every thing perfedly conform- able thereto, yet it will not follow from hence that they are immediatfly mfpired. For if the Knowledge of Scripture Truths can be ob- tained by any other Means than by immediate Infptratwn^ they may h«ive obtained it by thofe Means, and not by this. And that the Knowledge of Scripture Truths may bcob- tdified by other Means, namely, by the Ufc of our Realon and natural Facult-ts, blefs'd with xh^ordinary Grace and Providence of the Spirit* in * The Afliftanccs the Holy Spfrit bleflfes otii- natural Fa- toltics with Jti ftndyin^ the Scriprnres are, the inflaming ou» Dt'fires to knew onr Duty, b'ightning our Apprchenfions, ftrcngrh'ning oDr Memories, encouraging Oiir Diligence, and liipportino tis ur.dci it, &c. not ihe prefenting Scripture 1\vl\isi)hje{fivety to our N*inds ; for this the WorJs of Scrip- ttuL- will do ftifficienily when orce ve have qualified onf" (elves for the Kncv. ledge of them by homan Means. The Qnal To this I reply, that F if if it appear, in the fi It place, that they arc Or ^ thodox and found in Faith, then the only furc and infallible Proof of their Infpiration is ei- ther, firft, their working Miracles, or being attended wirh miraculous Ciicumftanccs 5 or, fccondly, thc'u prophefying of Events which arc adually fulfilled in our own Times * and fuch as could not be foreseen, or even guefs'd at,f either by Men or Devils : Or, laftly, their producing clear and certa'm Tromifes of Scrip- ture for luch their Infpiration. Thefe are the only Charaders and Creden- tials of a true Enthvjiaft. And by one or o- iher of thtfe Aigunients, MosEsand the Pro- phets, f-f the Bviprilr, Chrift, and his A- poftles proved themfelves Ambafladors from Heaven, and their Words the Oracles ot God. And * For except we onrfelves fee the Completion of a Pro* phecy given out in our own Tirrics, vve have no rational Grounds of crediting the Propiict ; becauTe we cannot be fure whether rhe Event predic.eJ will cvi*r be frilfiiltd orno. Jn a wo'd, no Prophet deltrvcs our credit 'till we arc furc \vhat he ioreto d is accccmpiifl.'d, except he bring other Credentials along with him befide the bare Wor4,s of his prefcnt Prophecy. t I add fuejs d at, hez^M^c Events that the pretended Pro- phet had not rhe leaft Forefightof in the World, may be cafiiaily fulfilled. And upon this account the Aln.anack- JM.akeis have o ten been Prophets. Again, fcvcral tvents may be predicted with tolerable Certainty upon moral Grounds : that is, by confidering nicely the prefcnt Porttire of AflFuirs, and then concluding, that, if Things remain in the fame (ituation, ard produce their tifual and natural Confequenccs, ftich and fuch will be their Illbcs ; which, if they happen, to rhe vulgar and unwary may appear with an Air of" trne Prophecy ; hut we muft exclude all fuch ^reAkx. cd Hv'Cnrs as thefc froth being M!!i\\iS oVimmediate Infpimiton, -^t See Smith'/ Prefervativcagainft^«/rZ:er//w. p. 85,85. ( 37 ; And if the Quakers were pleaCed to oblige us fofar as to produce any otic of thefe Marks or Criterions in tok?n of rheir Infpiratioriy wc would believe them. But in thefe Sort of Proofs they are raiferably defcdive. With regard to Miracles and Trophecy^ I cannot Jearn that any of them now a days * lay claim to them J and as to any clear and certain 'Prontifts of Scripture for fuch their Infpira- tion, 1 fhall venture to affirm they cannot produce one; not one, that either in exprefs Terms, or by neceflary and indilputable Con- fequenceS; juftifies their Claim to this Extra- ordinary Gift of the Spirit. For tho' indeed they have cited a great number of Texts for this purpofe ; yet they are, Firft, either fuch as are nothing to the purpoie, but belong to quite another Matter : f Or, fecondly, they contain only a Promife oi Immediate Infpira- //i'?no the Apod les-J- and fome of the firft Preachers ofthe Gofpel, and therefore cannot be extended to Chrillians in after Ages. Or, ladly, they are fuch as are applied by our Ad- verfarics,not only to belong to all Chriftians in all Age^ as well as co themfelves, but alfo to all * Some ofthe ancient Quakers indeed are faid to have had the Gift of I'rophecy and Miracles, and in particalar, and more eminently, George Fox, in his JournaL Bat I am perfuaded the modern Quakers will not infiit upon either their Miracles or Prophecies b^ ing any Proof of their In/pi' ratiorty and that they v*ill excufe me from taking any fur- ther Notice of them. ft See Bennet'j Confutation of Qaakerifmi from Page 19 to 102 inclufi^e. F z ( 38 ) ati Men in the World, young and old ; to Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heathens of all , Denominations. * Now that thislaft Ciafs of Scripture Texts, which arc the only ones neccffary to be con- fidercd, do not contain a Pronii(c of univcrfal immediate In/piratioriy is evident from the fol- lowing Reaions. Ftrji, B-caufe Our BIcflcd Lord himfclf hath made the Outward and IvJimfierial^:c^QW\u2, the Gofpel the fix'd and general Method of in- firuQing Mankind in the Knowledge thereof. Go ye and difciple all Nations^ ( faith he to his ApOftles, Mat. 28 v. 20 ) teaching them to objh've all things whatfoever I have com- manded you. Or as St. Mark, Ch 16. v. 15. Go ye into all the fforld, and preach the Go- /pel to every Creature. Which Command nianiicftly implies, that all Men were not, nay, that not any Men, except thofe that were ap- pointed Preachers ot the Gclpcl, were taught by xho, immediate Infpiration of the Spirit. 6t. Paul afcsrtains this Conclufun drawn from Our Saviours Command in his Epilllc to the Remans^ Chap. 10. Having in the 12th Verfc told the Jews, (who could not bear the Thoughts of the Gtnti'cs being admitted as Sharers with them in the Piivileges of the Chilian Covenant) that there \s novi\ under this Covenant, no^ifferencebet'dieen the Jew and Gentile, but that whofoeverjhall call upon the Name of the Lord (Ijallbejaved^ he asks, by way f 3^ ) way of Apology for'his preaching the Gofpel among the Gentiles, for which the Jcwsvvcre probably oflFcnded ar him,* How jhill they^ the Gentiles, call on kim^ viz. Chrift, in whom they have mt believed? and how fb all they believe in him of whfim they have not heard ? ^ridhowpodi they bear without a Treacher? In which Quclbo!is are evidcnrly contdined the following Afferrions, namely, that the Gentiles could not call upon Chrift, or be his Difciples, except they b iieved in him, that they could not ^believe in him except they heard of him, and that they cou d not hear of him without a Pre.icher. And then (he A- poftle proceeds to ask, And how Jh all they preach except they be fent ? Which Qutftioa as deafly points out who thofe Preachers are, as the preceding flicwed the Necelllty of them. * lis plam, they are not that infallible t5/?/>//, who, ds the Quakers contend, inwardly illu mi nates the Mind of every Manth it Cometh into the IVorld with the Gofpel Faith; for this is but tf;z^ Preacher ; but 'tis ask d, Hnip Jhall They preach ? which impUes a Number oi Preachers ; namely, the Apoiile himfelf and his Brethren mthc Miniflry. This is further confpicuous from the following Part of St, Paul'5 Argum-nr, quoted trora the Prophet Isaiah, Ch. 5 1. v. 7. As it is written, how beautiful at e the Feet of Them that preach the Gufptl of 'Peace^ and bring glad Tidings of * See the Jodicious Locke on this Place. r 40 ) good Things ! which can be applied to none bat thofe Orai and External Teachers, the Apoftles and Fellow-Labourers. This is yet further evidentfrom the three following Vcr- fes taken from the Pfalmift. But they, the Gentiles, ^^i;e not all obeyed the Gofpel, which we, the Ambafladors of thrift, have delivered unto then?. For Efai as faiths Lord^ who hath believed our Report 7 So then Faith comet h by hearwg, with the outward Ear; and hearing by the Word of God outwardly reveal'd. But I fay have they, the Gentiles, not heard? Tes, Fe- rilyy their,* the Minifters ot the Gofpel's, Sound went into the Earth, and their IVords unto the Ends of the World. From thcle, therefore, and numberlefs other Teftimonies of Scripture that might be pro- duced, if they were thought neccffary, nothing is more certain, than that the Ordinary and ejtablifiyd WicihoiX ofinftruding the World in the Knowledge of the Chriftian Religion, is the outward Preaching of its Minifters ; and therefore the Dodtrine of univerfai immediate Infpiration, as profcffed by our Advcnarie^, is not * 8ARCtAY(Prop 5,6. Sec. 4^0 cnderffands this iSth Verfe ofthe preachinfi; of the Li^ht witliin ; the Ablurdity of which will eafily appear to any that will be at the pains to read the whole Pair^ge ab.jve qiinted, aiiJ confider the Scope of the Apoftle's Argumentation. B t what is worfe, this very Writer ( Sec 6. of this Prop.) takts the I5fh Verfe of this Chapter to relate to the Preaching of the Apoftles, tho' he cannot btit allow both VLrfes mall be applied to the fame Preachers. O amuzing ConttadiLti(»n,noi to fay Infatua- tion, in a Man that lets up for Infalliblity and is rhe fhrewd- eft Advocate that ever pleaded the Caule ai QuaUrifm I (41) not©nly without the leaft foundation ini the Scriptures, but evidently contrary thereto. Secendljy ThisDoftrine is contrary to the Accounts we have both of the Heathen and Chriftian World. For is it polTibkthat the Heathens of all Seds and Denominations fhould have been all along fince the coming ot Chrift, as they are ar this Day, (ogrotsly igno- rant, many of them ot the \cij Jirji andftm* damental Principles of allReligion, the Being and Attributes of Godj more of them To wretchedly (hort in, and devoid of, a perfect Syftcm of Morality, that they not only are in the Dark about leveral eflential Principles thereof, brt e^en embrace the blackelt. Vices for laudable Virtues j and all of them luch ut- ter Strangers to the peculiar Articles of the Chriltian Faith \ Is it pofliblc that (o ma- ny Chtiftians in all the Ages of the Church Ihoula have been fo (hannefully defective inthe Knowledge of Chrift J eftis their Lord; and lome ot them em.brac'd fuch heretical and mon- ftrou^ Opinions, as even matched, if nor ex- ceeded the wildefr and abfurdelt Speculations of the Heathens r * 1 fay, is it pofliblc that this fiiould ♦ Tbefe things are utterly coaccountable npon the foot of Vrker/al Immediate It./piration, bfit aie very reconcilable with the Sciiptures being the cftahlinT'd I^'ethod of in- ftriifling the Wo/ld in the Knowledge of Chriftianity. The Heathens who never enjoyed the Illiiminarion of the Holf Sccriptiires, excepting a few v ho had it by obtcnre and im* perfect Tradition, followed the uncertain Glow-woim Light cf their own Reafon, and were thereby bewildered inro Er- «ors great and innumerable ; And thofe Cliiiflians who in every (42) inould have been the Stare of both the Hea- then andChriftian VVor'd, if the infallible Spi- rit of God, or the Light 'mi'loin, teaches, as the Quakers ?ffirn\* all Mankind, e'very Man that cometh into the U orld. all the Articles of a faving Chrifnan Faithand Psa^icc? Ihir^i^y, This Dndi ine ct uniierfalimm^di' ate hilpiration is contrary to cur own Self- Expericrice. For let any Man among us fit down and carefully recoiled after what manner he ariiv'd at that Degree of Knowledge of the Chrifiian Religion he finds himlclf poflels'd of; and I dare appeal to his own Conicience, if it was not entirely by the Ufe of human Means j by the early Initructions of his Parents, Guar- dians, or Malters j by hearing,.reading, orltu- dying the Holy Scriprures, Commentaries thereon, and Trads ot Divinity j by frequent- ing Sermons,and theDilputcs and Converfa- " tion of Learned Men, ^c^ I appeal to him- feif every Age have erred rmm the Trrtb, did fo generally by having ihe Key of KnouUiige taken ficm them by thole vhom Cod had emrtiflcd to preach and explain his Written Word. Thas it hapj^entd vitb the Jews : And the frcq ent txhortariDns given to the Go pel Minifters to he diligent and linctre in icve:fliig the Word of Faith, iifpofe that it ^ould cthervife be thus with v hrilJiacs. Other Reafons concur to acconn: for the dcploiabje Ipncrarce of CVriftians, vhich cannot hold on the Snppofition of tlic Irfp'iration aforefaid. * Bi^Rc^AY** Ap. Prop. 1. — Prop. 5 and 6, Sec. 2:, 22, &c. t Tho* 9 Man mny arrive at the Knowledge oi Chrifliaoi- fy by any of ihefe Means, yet the Scriptures are the Sacied Kepr firory or Storehoafe from whence that Knowledge is all deriv'd ; thofe Inftances excepted wheie ffatural Light is 9, Teacher as wtll as the Scriptures ; ^vhich I think are mnch feTver than is commonly imaginedi ( 43 ) felf, if he hath not found by Experience, that the nipre he was exercis'd in the Ufe of thefe Means, the more extcnfive Knowledge he gain- ed of the Gofpel ; and if he can ever remem- ber the Time when he was taught any one Article folely by the immediate Didlatcs of the Spirit ? Let every Man deal impartially with, and thus examine himfelf, and judge of the Truth or Fafhood of this Argument. But if it appears that none of us can witnefs any fuch immediate Teaching of the Holy Spirit "jvithin us, but are all affured, on the contrary, that we have obtained all our Knowledge of the Gofpel by fome or other, or all of the Means aforementioned i with what Front can our Adverlaries tell us that we have all the Spirit of God within us, teaching us ail the (a-ving Truths of the Chriftian Faith ! * They may as foon perfuade us, that we have the Lightof the Sun ij^v/to us, to exhibit to our V"iewall the Objcftsof the vifible Creation : For we can no more perceive internally fuch an * If the Quakers fay we have all nf us this Inward Spiri' aal Teacher, but wilfully fhnt our Eyes againft it, I anfwer, Firy?, This is (Hll to (nppofe we are fenfible we have fuch in Inward Teacher, wliich is coatrary to our Seif-Expe" ience. Secondly, Is not our diligent Perafal and painfal Stady of he Holy Scriprnres a throrongh Confutation of this afii and tincharitable AlTertion ? For, if we are wilHn;; to earn the Will of God in fuch a comparatively long diffi- alt and laborious Way, how much more willing fhonid ve be to learn it in the compendious and eafy Way offm* nediate Revelation f G ( 44- ) ^n Immediate Infpiration as they talk of, than we can the irradiation of that material Light the Sun. f 'Tis prefum'd therefore, that from our own Self-Experience (than which there cannot be a more irrefragable Argument in Nature) the Doftrine of Univer/al Immediate Infpi" ration is Falfe» Fourthly^ ThisDodrine appears to be fa! fe, even trom the Experience we nave of the Qtia- kers thcmlelves For if we take a View of this tUumind People, as far as they fall under our Oblcrvation, we (liall find, for all their high Boails of an Umverfal Teacher 'ouithin them, that a Quaker, to (peak in the moft fa- vourable Terms, is no moreskiirdin the Re- ^ ligion of the Gofpel, than thofe who difclaim ; that Immediate Revelation they pretend to, and own no other Rule of Faith but the Bible. Nay, 1 am perfuadcd it will not be thought too flrain'd an Hyperbole, if I apply to them, "With regard to their Underftanding in the Dodtrincs and Precepts of Jelus Chrift, what was once faid of the Ninevitcs in another Re- fpect, * If the Mind be as perceptive of the'Imprefllons m^de im- ■lediatcly upon it by the Spirit, as ofthofc conveyed to it by the Mediation of the Senfes, we cocild no moie avoid perceiving the Immediate Illamination of the Spirit, than that of the Sun when our Eyes are open. Forfhe (^lakers i then to fay we have all Aich an Immediate Light or f cach« er within os, when we are experimentally aflur'd we have not, is as foolifh as if they fhonid tcil a Man he has the Light of the Son within him, and may, in the darkeft Night, fee external Ob/ects, if he will, as clearly as at Noon day. ( 45 ^ fpcd, that there are more than fix fcore thou f and of them that cannot difarn betwixt their Right Handand their L^//. Jonah 4. v. i i. At leafr, I appeal to all whole Opportunities and Judg- mentshave enabled them to remark upon the. Religious Proficiencies of this People, what vaft Numbers of the rude and unletter'd Part of them are incapable of s^i'ving a found and fcriptural Anjwer to thofe that ask them a Rea- fonoftheHopethattsinthemy Peter 3. v. 15.^ and require a Proof of the Articles of that Faith they profefs. Let it be obferved more- over, that the Quakers, as well as all other Seds of Chriftians. are generally greater Pro- fidents in the Knowledge of Chriitianity, in Proportion to their greater Acquifitions of human Learning, and feverer Study of the Holy Scriptures. But Things could certainly never happen thus with the Quakers, if they were all imme- diately taught by the lame infallible Spirit, as they pr^^tend, all the Dodrines and Precepts of the Gofpeli and that more fully and cer- tainly than the Written Word can teadi, For on Suppofition of the Truth oiuniverfal^per- fe[t, immediate Infpiration, they Ihouldali be alike knowing, not only in the weightier and ablolutely necelTary Evangelical Truths; but in every Thing that any way concerns the moral Improvement and Perfedion of a Chri- ftian, or tends to adorn his Profellion ; not only in whatsoever things are true, in what- G 2. foevZT f4^) foever Things are honeft^ in whatfoe'ver things are jufit in whatfoever Things are purey but alfo in whatfoever Thmgs are lovely, in what- foever Things are of good Report t in whatfoever 'Things there is any Vertue or any Traife,-^^ ThiL 4. V. 8.— They Ihould all of them be equal to a Peter or a Paul ; and ascomplcat Dodorsin the School of Chrift, tho' educat- ed in a Wildernefs, and unskill'd in the {irft Elements of Science, as if they had been brought up at the Feet of a Gamaliel , and had jmbib'd all the Learning of a Century. Thus it was in fad with the Apoftles. When they had once been baptized with the Holy Ghofi, xhey were all of them initantly, or as c^ccafion required, led into all neceflary and cditying Gofpcl-Truths ; and of poof illiterare f iflier- men, Ruflicks, and Mechanicks, became the fublimeft Phik.fophers and Divines the World ever law. Habere was then the Wifi ? Where was the Scribe ? Where was the T)fputer of this World? The (Hfdom of the Wije wasde- firoyed, and the Underjlanding of the prudent •was brought to nought J \Cor.\. v. 19,10. and the lubtiieft /idverfaries among the Jews or Heathens were not able to gain fay nor refijl the Mouth and (i ifdpm of the Apojiles, Luke 21. V. i>. when, under the Guidance and Inlpira- tion ot the Spirit, they proclaimed the Excel- lency of the Knowledge of Chrift Jefus. Thil. 3 , V. 8. And thus it would ceitaiuiy be with the Quakers, if they were in Truth fo immediately infpired (47 ) infpircd as they j^i'bf^fs themfelves to be. 'But, befides what has been before obferved of the grofs Ignorance of the vulgar ind' illiterate Part of this People, iiit PFritirig^s of their moft eminent Apoiogiflfsand' Champions of theit Caufe, and ihtTreachifigs of their renowned Minifters are a'm'ple Contcitationsbf the Doc- trines uiider Confide ration. As ro>their/^/* tings, they contain to marty Tenets corittary to the Gofpel Revelation, and are (o often con- tradidory to themfefv^es, and' to one another, that it is inipoflibk they fhould have been dictated by the Spirit of Uniforrrfity and Truth. And as to their 'Preachings-y ail thu have ever had the Curio/ity to' hea^ them and were di- vetted of Prejudice, wHI bear ine Witncfs how incredible it is, the Tredchers f]fou}d have been infiuenc'd and diredcd by the ithfned'tate hn- pulfe of the Good Spirit. Matty ot thenrt, e- ipccially ot their Female Orators, areguilcy of luch ludicrous, not to fay frantick, Gcilures and Contortions of Body, fuch Throbbing, WhiniHg, and Canting^ in delivering their Extempory Effujions, and utter fuch wild, in- coherent, uninteiiigible jargon, that 1 could wi(h there were not too much Reafon to fay, they Icem rather poflefs'd of the raving Spirit ot a Tythia^ ot a Stbyl^ than to be actuated by * Virgil ( ^neid, lib. (J. ) iJiiis dfefcxibes the Cumtan Sibyl in a Fit of Enthufialm. ■ Subiio non vultas, non cobr artu$ — — —— — - fed peSius anhelant Et table f era cor da tument, • ■ " ■ Again (48 ) by the calm Suggeftions of that Heavenly Nu- men, who always inlpir'dthe EtJt hiifiaji "wkh Senfe and Truth, left him the free ufc ot his Rcafon and natural Faculties, and never tranf- ported him beyond the Bounds ot Gravity and Decorum either in Adion or Elocution. 7he Spirits of the Trophets^ Sr. Paul affures us, I Or. 14. 42. are fiihjeB to the Prophets : that is, as Mr. Locke juftly paraphrafcch it, < The Gifts of the Holy Ghoft are not like the * PoflelTions of the Heathen Priefts, who arc * net Maftcrsofthe {infernal) Spirit that pof- * fcfles them ; but Chriftians, however filled * with the Holy Ghoft, are Matters of their * own AOions, and fpeakor hold their Peace ' as they fee Occafion, and are not hurried * away by Compulfion. By this Rule the Montanifls^ of old were judged, and dcteded for Impoftors. For Epi- }>HAiiivs{Haref. 4S)givcs this Realon why this Again, At Vhcehi nondum patiens immanis in antrt Bacch.itur VateSy mafynum (i peffore poffit Excujf'jfe Deum : tanto magit tile fatigat Os rabidnm. Again, Horrendat canlt ambaget, antrocj; ren.uglt, * For the Information of the unlearned Reader. I fhall , note that the Montanifis were (o culled from one Montanus^ a Native ofGal.ttia in the Greater Phrygia, who broacb'd his £rrors abont the Middle of the fecond Ccntary. ■ ■ This blafphemons Wretch called himftlf the Paraclete, or Holy Ghoft- (for the fame Reafon, I fuppofe, that fome of the Quakers have called themfelves the Chrift vizfjbecaufe he ieemed to himfelf to polTefs the Holy Ghoft in Perlon, and without Meakire ; which he affirmed the Apoftles had only a very fmall Share of. He had two Female friends, Prlfca and (45>) this Sect of Enthujiajis could be no true Pro- phets or divinely infpir'd, * Becaufe a true * Prophet had always the free Ufe of his Rea- * fon and Faculties, and fpoke from the vSpirit * of God with Confiftency and Coherence of ' Dilcourfc; but it was quite otherwife with * the Montanifls ; they were always quaking ^ both in Body and Mind, ufcd no Confe- * quence of Reafon in Difcourfe, their Words * had no propei' Senfe, but were dark, intri- * cate andobicure/ -— • AncxadDefcription ' this, faysthe learned Stillingfleet,* of a * late prevailing Szdi among us, (meaning * the Quakers ) who have their Name from < thofe Confternations they were wont to fall * into, and whofe Linguage carries as much * Obfcurity with it as any of the Followers * oi\Montanus could wrap up theirs into. ' And I am confident were the Extempory Rhapfodies of iome of their infpired Preach- ers faithfully printed and expofed to publick ' View, and Maximilla, his PropheteflTes.whom he had fedac'd from their Husbands to ramble op and down the Country with him a Preaching. Montavus called the delirious Rants of thefe Women, the Oracles and Revelations of the Holy Spirit. His Followers too had their Enthufiajlick Vreams^or Imvard Feelings and Openings; which they gave greater Credit and readier Obedience to, than to the Written Word of Gnd^ The Herefy embrac'd by thefe Men infefted almoft all Ada. The Arch-Impoftor himfelf, with his two infamous Propheteiles, inftigated by the fame Spirit that was the Author of their Revelations, all three hang'd themfelves. I leave the Read- er to make what Refie£lions he thinks proper apon this Ac* coant,—— Vid. Danfium ad xxvi Cap, Attgufiin, de Hasref. * I&ENicuM, Chap. 5» (50) View,^ this great Prelate would a|>pcar to all impartial Judges to have (poke tbje very Truth. Such is the imrmdiate Infptratton of thcie en- lightened VTiO'^\\c.t's>\ too mauifeftiy the Eifed of a heated and difprder'd Imagination, at leafl:, if not of lomcthing worfe. Fifthly and laftly, The Dodrinc oiimmedi' ate^ tmi'verfal Injpiration is contradicted even by the Quakers own Pradiqe, which, tho' no very good Atgumcnt itiqeed in Difproof of the Doi^rine itfelf, yet inconteftibly (hewS; ei- ther that ijiey believe it to be falfe, or that they ad abft^rdly and inconfiftenily with their own Principles. For to what puipoferlo they pre>ich and teach in .their Meetings publick Catechifms, and other ^ooks of Infttudion 5 and not only travel up and down ;Our own Nation, but compafs Sea atid Land to make ^rojelytesxo Chrift, i. e. to their own Opini- ons ? I;fay,to what putpole all this Jroublc and Pains, b^t to infirud thofe who they be- lieve had no fuch all fufficient Teacher within them as the Holy Spirit? Or, if they do really believe the Doctrine of univer[al,perfeBy im- mediate In/piration, can any thing be more ab- lurd and inconfiftcnt therewith than fuch their Pradice ? What Occafion is there for, or what *As a.5pecimen of t?]) at might be C2fpectc4 from fuch Ex- terapory Eftofions in ?rint, let any one pernle a Sermon of G., Fox's, preached in Irelandy an4 afterwards written by him- felf in his Joginal,,Vol. ad, p« ii? ; which, after all the e» laborate Ca({igation$ of lCilr.P£NN, betrays the Sonrce from "v^'hencie it iprnng fofficieniJyt (51 ) whit Adv^ntsfgie arifing from External or A//» fii/lerial Tc2ich\t\^j if all Men have a perfed ai\d alone adequate Rule of Faith front theRe- vclarion of the Spirit 'Within them ? Confe- quently, what Occafion for any Gofpel Mini- OvTs, when nothing can be taught anew, when all Men, as Moses wifhed of the Jews, Num-^ ifersii, 29. ^rcTrophets and 'Teachers them- felvcs ? Would it not be thought thehigheft Infolence as wellasa foolifhandfruitlefsOfE- cioufners, if I fliould with a a great deal of Earneftnefs and Affiduity undertake to inftrud a Man in any Art or Science, who was more certainly and more fully inftruded therein a- forehand by a Mafter of far fuperior Abilities .^ And is not the Cafe the very fame with Re- gard to Chriftian Knowledge ? Infliortthen, if all Men be infpired by the Divine Spirit within^ wifh the compleat Knowledge ofa fa- vmg Chriftian Faith, all outward Teaching is vain, and Men have nothing more to do than to fit down and attentively liftcn to this Spi- ritual Guide, according to the Scheme oiMug- gleton^ who in this Refped aded confidently with this Dodrine, and confcquently was a truer Qiiakcr thanthofe I am now contending with. It it fhould be faid, that thofe Perfons miy be won to embrace the Gofpel Faith by by the outward Teaching of its Minifters, who would not liften to the Inspiration of the Spirit within them ; is not this to fuppofe the outi' ward Word more po"^crful than the inward, H and ( 52 ) and to prefer the Miniftry oifr ally fallible Man, to the all-fufficknt and infallible Revelations of God himlelf ? Or if it be faid, that the Spi- rit fpeaks by the true Gofpel Minifters, and therefore 'tis the fame thing as if he fpoke im- mediately to the Mind itfcit, is not this ftill to make Oral and Mediate Teaching more ef- fcdual than, or, at Ic^ft, lupplemental to the Inward and Immediate ? neither of which the Quakers fhould admit of, to be fteady to their Opinion of ihe S^\ni^ s, within being the primary and alone adequate Rule ofFaithy and the ailperfe^i Teacher of every Gofpel Truth whatever. And now I hope I have fufficiently prov'd to you, that Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft^ accord- ing to the trtie Scripture Senfe thereof, confifts in the bxtraor dinar y or Miraculous Gifts of the Spirit; that thcfe Gijts were entirely defign- ed tor the primitive State of the Church; and that they have in Fad all long fince ceas'd, having never any ot them, not excepting Im- wediate Revelatton itfelf,* been adminiftcr'd for upwards ot 1500 Years: The Refult of all which is, that this Baptifm with the Holy Ghoft is not that Baptilm which Our Saviour, in the T^xt, commanded the Apoftles and their lawful Succcflbrs in the Miniftry of the Gofpel to adminifter to all Nations in difcipling them to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft. And this * I foppofe that Immediate Revelation of Gofpel Troths ceasM at the Ciofe of the Apoftolick Age ; that iSf upwards of 1600 Years ago. ( Si ) this is the firft Propofition I proposM to prove. I proceed, Secondly^ to fhew that this Bap- tifm is the Baptifmwith Water, But defer- ring this Part ot my Undertaking to the next Opportunity, 1 fhall draw two pradical Infe- rences from what hath been faid and conclude. Fifft^ With regard to Baptifm with the Ho/yGhofi,in^tnQi'2\y Let usliave a care that Ave be not impos'd upon by fpecious Names and the mere Sound of Words, to lay claim to what God never intended for us, to the open Negled of that Dury he has expreflly com- manded us This is the Rock to be avoided, and on which the Quakers have made Ship- wreclv of a Part o( the Pure Evangelical Faith, For out of a falfe Imagination that Baptifm with the Holy Ghofi con 11 lis in the janBifying and /^t;///^ Gifts of the Spirit, they plead tor the Oblecvanceof this Baptifm alone, and re- nounce that of Water entirely, as if this was a mere outfide infignificant Ceremony, and no lartirution of the Goipel j and /^^^ the only valuable and true Chiiltian Bapcifm. Bur you have heard their Error in Part. This fpirituai Baptifm, you have heard, is quire another thing to what the Qiakers make it ; that it was re- drained to the primitive Timcsof the Church ; that it was never appointed to purify Men ii Hearts and reform their Manners; Nay, that Men might be very wicked, and confequently, in a State ot Damnation, at the very Time they were in the a<^uai PolIelTion and Exetcifcofit. h z Let ( 54 ) Let us therefore give up all Pretenfions'tothis long fmce obfolete ( tho' formerly, in fome Re- fpeds, mofl necejfarv ) Baptifm, and (lick to that ot Water-, "which I (hall hereafter prove was as much an inftitution of Chrijlas the Ceremo- nies of the Law were Inftitutions of Mofes, Secondly y As to Immediate Infpiration in particular, that capital Error of our Adverfaricf, you have likewife heard that it vt^as the pecu- liar Privilege of thefirft Publiflicrs of the Go- fpei 5 which was given, not to work in them all Rightcoufnefs,and make them gpod Chri- jftians, but to enable them to promulge the Truths of the Chrjftian Religion more efFeO:u- aliy, both as to Speedy hulinefs^ and Certainty^ This they aO:ually accomplilh'd, & committed all thofc Truths to Writing, that fhey might be theAaplcand permanent Rule of Faith to all fuececding Generations. And therefore, iinceour Rule oi Faith is (o effcduaiiy exhibit- ed in the Holy Scriptures,* as there is riow no Oce fion lor Immediate Rcvclatioth fo neither ought we to expccl it. Let vis all then Iiave the p;icater( Caution, how we either atrcnd to o- tiicrs who fo confidently boaftof being invefted Wich diis Gitr, or ot miiiaking it in ourielves, for the Dictates ot natural Realoa, the Fervours of pailion, the Dreams of Fancy, or the Sug- gedions * I'v the Sriipri]rr'Hbcin{» the compleat Role of Faith I do not nnan that in thtni every particular Point, both of Faith :trd Manners, is i.->:prfrsly (t t down, but that \\ here Panicolars ^.Iil, thcie arc to many general Direftions, that from hence very Man may, by the lijrht i.fcof his Reafon, eafily dedtjce .dl tLo.'t. reticular"; rhat'any way concern him as a Chriftian. (55) gcflions of €vil Spirits. There is no doubt but if ever God/bould again fee Immediate Infpira- t'ton neceffary for his Serv^nts^ he could convey it to them with fuch iirong and glaring Eviden- ces of its Divinity, that they cpuM not pollibly miftake \t fgr any pelullons whatever. On the pth^r hand, I thirK ':k.< .anot he queftion'd, but th^t ic pftfn has been, and may, as often again, be confidently prefum'd to be prefent in the Mindsof iMeu, when, in truth, lomething elfe is there in rive room of it. There is there tore the utmpQ P..eafon why Men fliould examine well the Origin of that ^nthifjiafm they fup- pofe they i eel upon their Minds, before they leither rubr«it to be lied by it themfeives, or hav^ jhe Aflur^nce to pafsit upon :the Publick to^ the Operation ot the Holy Ghoft. What Credentials are requifite to gain Cre- dit to a J^rophet pr Teacher that pretends to Imm^diaU infptrdtipn, has been Ihewnbeiore; and till lu^ha one produces thofe Credentials, Jet us not hear him, but be contented to feek our W^y to Heaven in the good old Road moft plainly arid amply chaik'd out tp us in the Scriptures -. A Road which the firft and pureft Ages of the Church trufted to alone for their Salvation. For after the Apoftles and Evange- lifts had finifhM their miniltry, and were taken hence, their Writings, in Conjunction with the dodrinal and moral Part oi Mofes and the Tro- phets^ were ever eftecmed by the beft and moft Orthodox Believers jn thofe Ages, as the facred Code ( 56 ) Code or Degeft of the Laws of Chrift, and (he Standard whereby to try all Dodrines and Pradices of Men. And let this facred ^epo* fitum of Evangelical Truths, the Scriptures, be . our Guide to Happinefs as well as it was their's. For thefe Books, as our Adverfaries themfclves allow, have been tranfmitted down to us from the Ancient Fathers pure and uncorrupted as to the a^'ain and elTential Parts : and tho' there may be lome PalTages hard to he imderjiood ; yet they relate to fuch Things, the Knowledge whereof doth not at all afFed us; or \i it docs, they are interpreted by other Paflagcs, whofe Senfe is clear and eafy. So that to all who have but the common Realon of human Nature, and come to the Perufal of the Holy Bible, with fmcere Intentions of knowing and pradifing their Duty, and proceed with buc halt as much Induftry in their Search afteryj&fr/r//^/Things, as the Children of this World ufually do alter the perifhing Things of the Ear h, all the ne- cclTary Articles of Faith, and all the Rules of a Holy Life will be fufficientiy plain and com- prehenfible : And, whilfc Others, not endur* tng the found ^DoBr'mes of the Scriptures, according to their own Lufis heap up to them- felves kducing Teachers,'^ with which this li» centious Age ib much abounds, and are Chil- dren toft to and fro and earned about ijaith every fVmd of Enthuiiiinc^] 'Doclrine^f ever learn- ing and never ahle to come to the Knowledge of the * II Tim. 4. 3. — t ^pTf 4- 14. the Truth i"^ 7i&^y2', by the Light and Teach- ing of the Written Word, will go on from Knowledge to Knowledge, 'till they be perfe6i and thoroughly furmjhed to every good Work^ and have embi ac'd a Form of found Words^ -j- their Obedience to which will prove the firm Anchor and Confolation of their Souls in this Life, and their Eternal Glory in the next.— <■ Now to God the Father ^ Sony and Holy * 11 Tim. 3. 7.-tVerf. 17* FINIS. ( 55> ) ?«^i^»7 Difcourfe II. Matt, xxviii. i$. Go ye, and teach ( in the Original, diJcipHeS all Nations^ buptiz'mg them m the Name dfihe Father y and of the SoUy and of the Hhly tJhoji* A V I N G, in a former Difcourfe, proved to 5^ou, that the Baptiftti Out Saviour here orders his Apoi^lesatti their lawful Succetlbrs toadmlnifter in difcipling all Nations y is not that which is in Scripture ftylcd Baptiffn with the Holy Choft, 1 proceed how to the Second Head ; which is, to prove that It Is the Baptifm with iVater. The Tirft Argument that occurs to fuppori: this Projpcfition, arifes from w hat, 'tis hUmbiy con- ceived, was fully dcmonftrated before , name- ly, that the Baptifm in the Text is not the Bap- tifm with the Holy Gboft. For as ail the Con- troverfy turns upon this Queftion, u^hcther the Baptifm, in the Text, be the Baptifm -ce^V^ the Holy Ghoft, or with fT^tef ; if it be proved not to be the fbirmer, it niuft,by thcmoft un- avoidable Con fcquence, be the latter. I And (60 ) And upon this Argument alone might be fsfely trulled the Merits of the Caufe I an? now defending. Cut becaufc I intend to difcufs the Matter in Difputeas largely and clearly as the Text will allow, ard thoroughly evince from thence, that ^ater Bflptifm is a Gofpel Inftituti- on of perpetual Obliganon ; I fliall attempt, Serondhy Tofhew that the Baptifm Our Sa- viour, in the l€xr, commanded his Apoftles to •^dminifter in difcifUng ail Nations^ was none other than the Bapttfmwith IVater^ixom the Confideration ot the Srate cf this Baptilm at the Time that Command was ifllied out. In ordouIci continue in his Church, after his Alcenfion into Heaven, unto the End of the World ? But before thele Enquiries be entered into, it ■will be expedient to obferve, that Water Bap- tilm was a Religious Ordinance of very great Ami' (^I ) Antiquity in the times of Our Saviour Some, upon no unplaufible Grounds, trace the Inftitu- tion of it feveral Centuries higher than the E- ftablifhment of the Molaical Conftiiution,and remark an Inftancc of its Pradice in the Patri- arch Jacob. Geiu ss*v. i. Nay, the Waters of the Flood, which luOaincd ihe Ark, the Em- blem of the Chriftian Chuich, fcem to be e- fteemed by St Peter, as a Baptiim figurative of that Water Baptilm, which, as will be fully fhewn hcreaiter, is one of the Principles upon which the Chriftian Church is founded I. E- pift, 3. V 20,21. Butif it appears a Matter of Doubt whether or no this Rite is of fo ancient a Date, St. Paul however allures us, it is, at leaff, as old asMosEs: For he tells us, I Qr 10, V. 2. that the whole N.tionof the Jews was baptized to Mofes in the Cloud and in the Sea.^ Andtho'the Deicendcnts ot thole Jews who were thus difcipled unto Moses, wtfrenotthem- felves zMo perfonally baptized with Water, be- caufe they reputed that Baptifm of ihcir Fore- fathers derived a Sandity, or State of Purity, upon all their Pofteriiy ; yet they would not admit aProfelyte to their Law trom among the Heathens, without Water Baptifm, aS is evi- dent from the moft approved Jewifh Writers.-[- * * The Apoflle calls it Baptifm which Jsthe initiatory Ceremony into both thejewilh and Chriltian Church ; and the Cloud and rhe Sea being nothing but Water, are well luitt ed to that typical Keprelentation. Locke in Locum, t See Wall'/ lotroduc. to his Hirt. of lot, iJaptilm. • 1 Z ( ^) *XM>W}oreov^j;, Itbinlj:, highly probable, ^bat tlji^ J?\vs had a current Opinion, that; they thcrxx- li^ss alfpfhould be perfonally baptized with Ws^tei; by Chrift. ; as well trorp the Queftiott t^y put to John, Why baptizejt thou theriy if tJmt be not the Chrifi ? John i v. 25, as J^om the 5^eadinels many ot them fliew'd, both. \fk, bieing baptized by jqhn, u-hi'fi thev mujrd mXhci^' I^earts iz;hetljc.r he ijiere the Chrifi or Tiffy Luke 3. v^ 15, 1$; and by Christ him- il^lf^ wiiea be adually became iiiaia^j tit among t^ena. J.ohn 5. y. 22.— -4. v, i. — — Howevex; thvs bCj 'tis cci^a^n, pffaitr Baptifm was a Rite ^hereby t;h,e Jevys were all nationally entered. Bifciples uni;o Mqses^ in their I'aflage out of ^^y^^^y aod v^bK.h tt?cy oblig'd all thoic Hca^ tjie^iis ^o fubmit to> vyho were willing to be-, cor^K ^i^9r^lyt<^s. to the IjA^ y not reckoning t)iqtp MosLS, pilciplcs, 'tUi they "^tx.c hapti^ii^. edi %^. w,eJ j; a^ Qirciimcis'd, anH h^d ofFci ed a Sa- Ctificq.. An4; ^s in Oui; Savii>ur's, lime the $ Heave n,. JjORN i, v 33, to pra^ilc the l"ameRitci^>r^ccivipg.rhe Jtws in 10 his Dif- penfatipn, and. had anally exercis d it to a very} I;^;ge degree 5 when thcr' tore Our Saviour tirft cnte_i;ccl upoi> his,Piviue Legation o\ publilhing Xtic glad 'Tidings of ^ahatim^W ^itt Baptii^m- waa in common Oie and well known la the Land of Jud/eai the Place of his Refidence and Scene f ^3) Scene cf hisMiniflry. And as the Kingdom he came to ered on Earth, was to confiil of an outward and vifible Society of Faithful Men, 'tis very congruous to think that fome cxter. nal Rite or Ceremony fl:i.ould be inftitured to make Men Members ot this vifib e Soci- ety ; as hath been the uniycrlAi Cuftom of all Societies^ both Re ii^ious and Civii. And then, further, as fi^'ajbing with Water was a Rite in praftiee for this Purpo(f, not only with the 'Jews and JpHN, but with the very Heathens roo,* ot wi'omthe Chnrchot C hrift wasprm- cipally to b com.pos'd 5 as it was a Rire as little opcrofc, painiul, dangerous and expcnfive, as a,ny that could be di. vis'd 5 as it wr.s equally ad^ ^pted tg^ bath Se^es^ and ^ moft fignificaiii Symbol of the inward San<^ification ot the Heart, to indilpcnOoiy necefl'ary lor qualifying a Man toi: Ueccmmg a true Member (,>i .he mo- rd or Jpiriti^al^ Part of the Cliritlian QEcono- ^ ApodGente«(etiafntpt^ranaiS uftupitimantiqnitw fuit, nc qui i'itiur.i vj?llent, prius tnto Coip/^re ablneienttjr , haad diibc en ipfo rt/^antes popo/ittim Innoceniiae. — Nam ejus jvapolui ab lis Myftago^i exigebant, ot Lambamws docet & LAiyi.p;i^iDius. — Pool, Syiivpf. a^ Mat. 28- 29^ — Where fee (he fever^l ancient AiuhoiirJes he q'orts in profif of this Cuftom. I fha!l add, that the Heathens were, moreover* j^enecally, ajccufliomtid to, \5(afh their HuDdsa/)d whole Bodies tQO ii> Water, both to purify them^'el,vcs for the more foJemn Worfhip of their God?, and alfo for the Luftration and tx- piaiion of their Sins. AnJ therefore Water Baptilm was a K;ite which cHe y«.ijchens. couljd h^v^ ijp Ob;V^ion againft, K t would very readjly, ^bmiij to,, -r Vid. SpiNcs^R de Leg, Heb. Lib 5. — Stillingflej^tV Irenicnm, Part L Chap 5.— CAsAVBON'ir CommcDCoa 1u«ocHR.MiiV£v, by being i?ornof Waict^ which is one Part of the new Birth^ Our Saviour urqueflion.bly means being ^/?^- tized uithfVater 5 for according to the Ob- fcrvation before made, the Jews called allthoie Prolelytes unio the Law, upon their being To baptized, new born, or regenerate j and here the Pjirari? \b hm of fFater, which Our Saviour makes, in Part, i jcpbhative of the Phrale, horn again y and horn Again is a Phrafe of the lame Imp -It with new horn. But the Error of the J.vis was, that they denominated a Ptofclyte's new Birth, itovc\ the external or Ceremonial Parr, the mere Wafiiing away the Fi th of the Fkfh only : VV'hercfls one orij^inal Difignof Water Baptifn-j^ ev-n Under the Law. was in- tended to fignify as it aclually required of the Comers thereto, a Change of Maimers ; an Entring upon a new Life ; a Purification ©f the Heart} a putting off concerning the fotmr Corner fat ion tit Oid Man, whirh is lOfrtipt, according to the deceit fid Lulis ; and it hwig renewed in the Spirit of the Mind, and a piitttfig on the New Man, which after God is treat td m Right ecufnefis end true Holinefs, E/h. 4' 'V i2, i^, 24. for as under the Lavir an Obfervance of all the other Kites and Cc- lerhohies was of no Aecbiinr, But even an Ab- omination to God, exee|;t it wa$ attended with inWKtd Holihefs, or Foricy of Mihd } fo the Baptifm (67} Baptifm of the Jews m the Cloud and in the Seg^ efpecially as it was a federal Rite, muft needs fuppofe a putting away, or being wa(h'd fronii their former Iniquities ; a renouncing ail E- gyptian Idolatries and Corruptions, and ferving God for the future, in Sincerity and true Ar mendnient ot Lite. Thus much is alfo to bc undcrftoodof the Baptifm of John. In order to fit Men for being worthy Subjects of it, 'twas required they (hould lo repent of their former Sins as to i?rmg forth Fruits 'worthy of Repen- tAfice Upon which account 'tis called the Baptifm oj Repentance, Acisii v 24. And, becaule to ail thofe who came to this Baptifm with true Repentance, Pardon for all paft Sins was thertby conveyed to them, it is therefore called the Baptifm of Repentance for the Re* wiffionof fim^ Luke 3. v. 3. Water Baptifm, therelore, under Moses and John, was no dumb infignificant Ceremony, who fe folelJfe and Worth con filled in the outward Perfor- mance or material KQi ; but its principal Ex- cellency flow*d from that vertuous Difpofirion of Mind, that abandoning all Unrighreoufnefs, and putting on True Holinefs, rcquir'd of the Perion to be baptized, and which the Waging uitb Water was dcfigned to reprefent and per» fed ; and without which it had, for the prefenr, no valuable or faving Effett at all. And this is the Thing Our Saviour infills on in the Dc<. fcription of that new Birth he required of all thole who would enter into the Kingdom of God. K for (6t ) For after he had told Nkodemus, except a Man be born of Water ^ht adds, and of the Spirit, or he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And bccaufe this Pharifce could not but know that to be born of Water which was the out- ward Part of the new Birth, fignify'd to be baptized uith Water ^ he Ipcaks no more of ir, but proceeds to explain that inward or fpir i- tual Part of the n>w Birth, to which Nicodemm and his Brethren the Jews feemed to be fo great Strangers. ♦ The Quakers have conftrued the Paffage now under Conficferation, to make it fupport the Baptifm with the Holy Ghofl only ; falily fuppofmg to be baptized with the Holy Ghoji^ and to be born of the Spirit^ import the fame Thing. But their Way of doing this, is fo ar- bitrary and groundlefs, that if the lame Rule rhould be conftantly followed, upon as little Reafon, in interpreting Scripture, the moftex- prefs Commands of God would be quite eva- vacuarcd and thrown afide. For they main- tain that the Words Water and Spirit muft be taken, by an Hendiadis, to mean the Spirit only, which has the purifying EfHcacy of Water : And therefore to be bom of Water and of the spirit, is only to be born of the Spi- rit, which operates in working the moral Birth in the Soul ofMan, as Water does in wafliing away the filth of the Flejh, or in purifying the mit^ * For An exaft Accoont of the New Birth, fee Watbp- I and'/ Difcoarfe on Titui 5. v. 4> J. ( ^9 ) cutwardVizn* This Explanation they endea- vour to juftify, by obferving, that the Baptifm with the Holy Ghaji and with Fire, before treated on, mull be taken to mean the Baptifm with the Holy G hofi on\y i and that the lerm Fire is here lub)oiiied, purely to fliew, that this Baptifm operates like Fire, in purging the drol^ fy Nature ot Man, and burning up every Thing in him that is vile and finful.^ Now * The incomparable Hookkr, reafonin^ againft fome ia his own Time, who, to ferve an Hypotbefis underftood the PhmCcs born of JVater and of the Spirit in that Senfe, and de- fended it in that manner which the Quakers afterwards fol- lowed, thus argues. '* I hold it for a moft infallible Rule in Expofitions of facred Scriprure, that where a literal Confiruc- tion will ftand, the farthell from the Letter is commonly the •worft. There is nothing more dangerous than this lirentious and deluding Art, which changeth the Meaning of Words, as Alchymie doth» or would do, the SubAance of Metals „ma- keih any thing of what it lifteth, and bringeth, ia the end, all Truth to nothing. Or howfoever fuch voluntary Exert cife of Wit might be born with otherwife ; yet in Pl:ices which do ufuaJly lerve, as this doth conceinrng Regeneration hy Water and the Holy Ghoflf to b3 alledged for Grounds aud Principles, Icfs is permitted. To hide the general Senfe of Antiquity agreeing in the literal Interpretation, they cunning- ly affirm, that certain have taken tho(e Words as meant of material Water, when they know that* of aU the Ancients, not one is to be named, that ever did otherwife either cjc* pound or alledge the Place than as implying external Bap- tilm. — Shall that^ which hath always received tnis and no other Con(lru£lion, be now diiguifed with a loy of Novelty ! Muft we needs, at only the Shew of a critical Corceit, with- out any more Deliberation, utterly condenvn them of fcrtoc which will not admit that F«V*, in the Words ot John, is quenched with the Name of the Holy. Gboji f or with the ti^me o( Spirit, Water dryed up in the Wo.ds of Chrift ? When the Letter of the Law hath two Things exprefsly fpecjfied, yyater and Spirit ; Water as a Doty required on out (70) Now in Confutation of this Rcafoniog of Otir Adverfaries, I Firfi obfcrvc, that the Sen fc they put upon the Term Fire added to the Words Baptifm with the Holy Gheft, is as arbitrary and ground- lefs, as the benfethey pur upon the lerm/^- ter in Our Saviour's Definition of the Nfis; Birth. For 1 fhewed in my former Dilcourfe, that the Baptifm wvJo the Holy Ghoft did not at zWcon^wH n\x\\z fai2C~i if ying, but entirely in the miracidous Gifts of the Spirit j which Men might be endowed with and adually excrcife, "whilfl they lived in great Wickedncfs. And therefore, if the Term hire, in the Paflagc under Examination, is in any '^lU exegeticalox cy.^\2i' iiative of the Baptifm iji'iih the Hob Ghojf, it it muft fignify Fmcey Rapidity, IllumtnatiMy and Heat i which are natural Qualities of ele- mentary fire, and very aptly rcpicfent, ill, that divine Entigy dilpla) 'd in the Miracles wrought by I'art*, ttie "tifirH aS a Gift vhich God t)eftoweth, there is l)ahger in pieli ming fo to interprtt it, as if the Claote Vv'hich concemtth ourfel vcs v. ere mere than need-^d. We tnay by Itich rar-.- Expvlitlnns atiain perhaps, in the end, t'>be thought witiy, btit with ill Adv^irc. —Finally, if at the time V/hcn that Bapri'fn Tpoken of by Jomn, came to be really and truly performed by C>irist himftif, ve find the Apoftles that had been, as ve are before baptized, new baptized vfitb the Holy Glofl ; and in this their I ter Baptifm, as well a Kiifthle Vefientof F/re. a'-^/icret miracuhui Ivfufion of the Hoty Spirit : If in us he accorhphfh likewife the Heavenly Work of our Nstu Birth, rot v.ith the Spirit alone, but with Wnttt thcretmto adjo:nc i, fitjce the farchfuilcft txpoonders of his Words are his own Deeds, let that ^hich his Hand hath manifeftly wrotipht, declare whac his Speech did doubrftrflj utter. *' ■■ Eoflef. Folityt Page 257. (n ) by the Apoftlcs ; zdly, that prodigioas O/^- rity wherewith the Golpel was propagated by them thro' all the liabitable Earth ,• 3dly, that illuftrious Manifeflation ot Evangelical Truths with which their Undcrftandiags were illumi- nated, and which, thro' their Preaching, was a Light to light (vk b'th Jews and Gentiles ; and laftly, that fl iminj; and irrcfiiUble Zeal, where- with they were animated to pabliJh Vao. glad Ttdings of SiilvatiOH in detiancc of all the Menaces, Perfecutions and Tortures of tlieir moil m: reikis Enemies. Bur the' this may be, and probably is, one Reafon why the Word Fire is added to Bap- tifm 'with the H4y Ghojfy yet it is not the on^y i\oi primary Rcafon. For as the Baplifm'wtth the Holy Ghofi was coi-.ferredin the vifibie Ap- pearance of cloven Tongues like a8^ of Fire, ABszs fothc Term /'Vrf is without Doubt primarily ai Jed to B^pUfm with the Holy Ghoflt to fignify the external Elcmi'nt under which the extraordinary fpirituat Bapttfm Wc^s confer'd. And novi^, it Baptijm wi:h the fliU Ghoti and with Fire^ mult be underftood as a Mode of Speech parallel to born oflVater andofthe Spi- rit, it cfTeifiu illy eOabliihes the Inftitution of Water Bapttfm, For as the Words Baptifm with the Holy Gho/l have the Term Fire fub* jo ncd, in order tofliew both x\\q outward Ele- ment under which the EKtraordinary Gifts of the Spirit were conferred, and alfo the Manner ot their Operation j (o IFatsr is ^oncx'd to Spirit both (71) both to fignify the Outward Elament under which the fpirifual 5/rr^ was finally cffedcd j and alfoco fhadowfotth the Sandification ot the Inner Man, wrought by the lecrec Influ- ence of the good Spirit. Secondly^ It may be concluded that the^f/^- kers* Interpretation of the Vhu^t born of fVater^ is falfe, bccaule it fuppofes, to fay the leaft, a very grofs Abfurdity ; namely, that Our Savi- our intended not to be underftood by, but to deceive, the Perfon to whom he was difcourf- ing, in the moft momentous Dodrine of Re- generation. Ntcodemm had been ufed to con- sider Regeneration or the New Birth, as a being born ot, or baptized with. Water only : Our Saviour inftrud:s him that Regeneration confifts in a being born both of Water and of the Spirit. if now Our Blcfled Lord dtfigned the Phrafe born of Water (hould be taken in the §)uakers* Senfe, a Senfe 'till then unheard of in the World, Ntcodemm muft inevitably have mif- taken ic, except an Explanation had been given along with it, which we do nor find there was. But if hedefign'd to be underftood by Nico* demus, in his Defcription of Regenerationy which cannot with any Colour ot Probability be doubted, v,'e muft neceflarily infer, that he did not innovate in the Ule of the Words born of Water, but intended they fhould be taken in the Signification eftablifh'd and cur- rent among his Countrymen thejews, i.e. a being baptized with Water. There- ( 7i) Therefore to conclude this Head, OurBIeflTed Lord, by x^Win^Nicodemus, that except a Man he born of Water and of the Spirit y he can- Tiot enter into the Kingdom of God y evidently declares, that he had even then inftituted Wa- ter Baptifm, as an Ordinance which he had de- remained (hould be fubmitted to by all Perfons in every Age of the World, ere they could be- come his Difciples, or Members of that fpiri- tual Kingdom he came into the World to efta- blifti— The Expreffion is univerfal, except a Man (in the Original, except any Terfon) be born of, that is, baptized with, Water, he cannot enter tnto the Kingdom of God, 1 goon now to enquire into the Prafticeof Our Saviour or his Apoftles, previous to the Command in the Text. Before this Conference with NicodentuSt Our Saviour had made a confiderabie Number of Difciples, but it is not left upon Record in Scripture, whether he baptized them or no. Neverthelefs, his declaring to NicodemuSy in the manner we have (hewn, the Neceillty of fVd' ter Baptifm to all thofe who would become his Difciples, affords vus a ftrong Prefumption that headualiy had fo baptized them. But however this be, *tis certain that very fhortly after this Conference camejefm and his dif- ciples into the Land of Judaa^ and that then he tarried with them and baptized -y John 3 . v 22. That the Baptifm here faid to have been ad« miraftied by Our Saviour, was with /^T^/^r, the (Jua: A 74 ) Quakers thcmfelvcs allow : And tha<- hcad- minirter'd it in making Difciplts to Himfilfy and not to John, which is the only Thing to be conrcftcd, is manifeft, Fir/is From the known Ufe of this Rite, both among the Jews and with John, from whom Chrift took it, which was for entering Difciplcs into their rcfpedive Difpcnfations; confcquently, by Analogy, no Realon appear* ing to the contrary, 'twas ulcd by Chrilt too for the Purpofcot initiating Difciples xo Him' felf^ or into that Religion which he had then begun topromulgctothc World,in Contradi- ftindion both to the Law and John. SiCondhy It is of this very Baptizing the E- vangelift fpeaks in the ift Verft: ol the follow* ing Chapter, where we are told, i\\Aiwhentht Lord knew how the T hart fees had heard that '\Y.''\i% made and baptized more IDifcipIes than ioK'ii J he left Judaea: where the Phrafc he made and baptizedy is cither pleonajlicai, fig- nifying he baptized only ; and then it corr^- fponds with what the Evangelift had faid in the preceeding Chapter, Verfc 12. i viz. J^fus came into the Land of Jiidaa — andthe'^e bap- tized ; or clfc the Word baptized \s explanative of the Manner how Jesus made Dilciplcs j con* formabic to which Mode of Speech are thetc Words ot my Text, difciple all Nations, bap^ t f zing them i i. e as our Adversaries themfelve$ do grant, make them Dilciples by baptizing them. And that Christ'^ thus baptizing with Water l7S) Water was to make Dilciplcs to hzmfelf, and not to John, cannot be doubted, if we conil- dcr that as ]ohn was only the Harbinger, to pre- pare the Way of the Lordi therefore when the Lord was come in Perfou, and reveal'd to the World, and had b^gun to fet up his own Dif- penfation, the ^^/-/^^//^.orMinillration ofJoHji ceasd of Courle, wherever Jksus and his Doc^ trines were known and embraced. According^ Jy before this ther: is a plain intended Diftindi- cn betwixt the B(iptijl'$ Difciples and Chrift's*^ which there Would have been no Reafon for, it Christ had baptized Difciples to John, and not to hmfelf. And, alter Chrift'sAfcenfion, befides that the Diftindion aforcfaid was ftill keptup, thofe who had been baptized by John were re-baptized^with Water and made Diici-' pics unto Chrift. ABs 19. u $. Thirdly y What will put this Matter out of all Controverfy is the Evidence of John himfelf. For a ^eftion or Difpute having art fen betwixt fome of hts Difciples and the JewSj about Puri- fication^ or Water Baptifm ; (and, as appears from what follows about that Water Baptifm acminiftred by Oc^i\^)they camt unto John and faid unto him. Rabbi, he that was with thee be- yond J or dan , i. e. Chrili, behold the fame bap- tizeth, and all Men come unto him. John 3. 2 iff L ( 76 ; Authority which Jelus had to hapfize, and wanted to have their Mafler's judgment about it, and whether they fhould Ibbmit to his Bap- tifm or no. John anfiuered and fatd, a Man can reciiey or rake upon \\\vn(c\i,nothmg^cX' cept it be given him from Heaven, v. 27. here- by plainly aflTcrtingihe yf«//?^r/// Jefus had to baptize : And in order to fliew his Difciplcs the Nvcclliry of their bv coming the Difciplcs of Chrift a!fo, and ot lubmitting to his Baptilm, as tht-y had fcen others do bryond Jordan^ and not rcftinguhimatciy in his own Difpenfation, ^s if He him felt wcrt the Chhist, he fays, Te yonrfehes bear m'> IVitn(fs that If aid I am mot the Chrift, but am fent before him^ 'viz to prepare Men tor believing in Him when he fhould appear, and lifting themfelvcs his Dif- ciplcs by Water Baptifm. This Doi^rine he illuftrates by the Similitude following j Ht that bath the Bride ^ i. e. the Church to be ga- thered out ot all Nations, is the Bridegroom^ Jelus Chrift the Heaii of the Church ; but the Friend, or ^Pnrammpkus of the Bridegroom^ which is a'l ^he Honour 1 dare pretend to, *whiih fiandeth and heareth him, as I do now by jour Rf-port rejoice fh greatly hecaufe of {Chn^'s ) the Bridegroom's Voice: this my Joy therefore is fidfiiUd.' Which is as if he faid, I am fo tar trom npining at the News you bring me that Jefus bapttzeth an i ail Men come zintohim^ and enter themfelveshisDilciples by BaptUm^ as if my Reputation or Miniftry was fher£- (77 ) thereby injuTed, that in this very thing is my Joy fulfilled ; bccvdic I find my Mimftrarioa has taken EiFed • For as Chrill is the lup erne Head, the everlafting King and Governor of the Church, and I no more than his Forerun- ner to prepare the World for his Reception j therefore as the World has begun in iach great Numbers to embrace His Baptilm, m.y Office, having generally obtained it's fcnd, is of courfe upon the Decline : He mu/i now increafe ^nd 1 decreafe. Thefe laQ Words of the Baptifit, by the moft palpable Perverfi on any Textisca' pable of are employed by the Qii.k.«rs to de- itroy that Baprifm wnich thy 1 )ii Uy cUablifh. They argue thus- Christ rnnii tncreafe^ fi\s John, therefore his Baptum wuh the Hoh Ghoji mui\ increafe or come i..ro uie 5 te/ mu/l decreafe 5 therefore John J Baptilm with Water mult decrease or go out of ulc : Where- as, not to take any Notice of what hath been formerly difcours'd on Baptifm with the Holy Ghojly John is here evidently fptaking of CnKi^Ts encreajtng particularly w^th Refped: to tiis baptizing with Water : For it was upon the very Occafion ot his own Dilcipes quefti- oning the Authority Jesus had to baptize with Water, that John affirms, Ch'^'st mn(i in- creafe and hirnjelf decreafe. And tiio' It is true that Water Bapttjm^ a? tar a*, it was a Rite of Initiation into JohnV Dilpenution was to decreafe i yet as Our Blefl'cd Lord had adopt- ed it for a, Rite of Initiation into that Covenant L z of (7«) df Crace o{ vjhich he was the Mediator^ it was to increafe 2ind bfcome more and more in ufe, &s the Increafe of Believers gave occcifion for it. We have here then the Suffrage of as great a ^Prophet as any that were ei'er before him i^orrt cflfonien^ Luke 7. v. 28, that Chrift (hoald baptize allthofe who would become his Dif- ciples with Water % which, 'tis hoped is an Argutiient in Defence of this Holy Inftitution, Vvhich all the low Sophifms and groundleis Cavils of out Adveriaries will never be able to (hake. It IS hardly worth while toobfcrve, that the / . Quakers objcd againfi whar h rh been faid in Proof of Chrift'spraOifing IVattr Baptifm, that the Evailgelift tells us, John 4. v. 2 Jejits himfelf bapt'i&>i;d not, but his Difciples^ —as if his Dilcipics b.priztd not by \\\b Com- mand ! For, Ftrjiy It is abfurd to imagine the Apoftles rt:0Uld, of their own Hcad5,pradlire VV^ater Bap- film in initiating Dncip es to Chri(f, and that in his Prelence, wiihout being authorized by him io to do. ^econdl)-, The Evangelift, when he faid, in the preceding Chaprer, v. 22, that Jefus bap- tized iri the Ldtii of Jt^dauy and knew at the fame time that JEs-^s himfelf, with his own. Handsj baptized noty ci^rtainly meant, that he baptized ho s>. tvcr by the Miniftry of his Apo- ilk's, or that the} baptizedby fiisCommifllon. For upon what other interpretation can the Evan- ( 79 ) Evangelift be made tofpeak with any manner of Propriety, crclear'd ot Seif-Contradidion ? He affirmed in on- Place, Jeftis did baptize^ m another, thaty^^ did not j and in both Places he is rpeak.il ig of the lame B'jptizmg. But the Evangelirt com d not err in this Matter; theie- fore when 'tis laid, Jefu^ did not baptize^ 'tis meant, he did not b ptize, himlclf, or wich his ownHaids} and when he did baptize^ that this was done by the Miniftiation of the Apo- liles, upon hib Prefc iption or Command : And it" it be al.owed that the Apoftles bcptiz(d by Vcrtueof their Lord's Command, is it not tiie very fame to all Ir tents, as it Chrift had baptized, himieif, witii his own Hands ? For who IS there fo ignorant as not to know, that a Prince or Mailer i-s with the ftridift Propri- ety, faid to do chat which his Subjects or Ser- vants do by his Orders ? * This then was the Stdte of Water Baptifm at the Time the Commaid in the Text was given out : It was in common Ufe both witii the Jews and Jhhn, and the very -Heathens too, in admitting Profelytes into their rcfpcc- tive * Dicnntar homines in Aicia Scriptnra id f.icere qund alii ex ipiorum pracfcriptC) faciur r. — Sic I'haraonis filia edmavit Nofen , ABa 7. ftand him at this Time as ordering them to aiiminilter the perfedly ^ new ^n<^ figurative Baptjfm of the Holv Ghoft, accorr'ing to the Quakers, 'tis abfolutely ncccflary he ftiould have told themfo in plain Terms, and without a Figure, XQ p'-evcnttlicir milt^king him. To haptizet in the literal Stnie, is to waJJj with I'f^ater^ and in the Text 'tis only laid, Go and baptize, without mentioning the Matter with which they were io baptize : It is therefore ut- terly unreafonable, and againlt all the Rules of true Criticiim, to undcrftand Our Saviour as commanding his h^rt^iWs to baptize wirh any thing, bat liberal, material, elementarif IVater.^ A Third Argument that theBaptifm in the Text is the Baptifm with IVateryZnd not with the Holy Choi% fhall be drawn fiom the Con- fiJeution of the End tor which it was here ap. * In calling the BaptiTm wjrh the Holy Ghoft perFe£lIy ww, I am not to be ondeiftonj, as if it were mt-ant, that the Gifts of the Holy GJofi. in which that Baptifm conlifted, were ne- ver before giv^n, bat thut t'leir being given was never be- fore cali'd Baptifm luith the Ho^y Ghofl, which is enough for my Pnrpofe. I 'Tjsa recei/'xl and Inre Rule in interpreting Scriprtire» or any other Book, not to depart from the literal Meanirig of the 'Text, except fome urgent Necejpty force us thereto. Bat no Ne- cdlGry whatever forces ns to ^o from the literal Meaning of the Word baptizing in the Text, which is, Wafhing with Water. Therefore the Baptifm in the Text is Water Baptifm and none other. Barclay ( Apol. Prop. 12. Sec. 8.) makes ufe of the afore^ faid Rale in explaining this Text ; bat either by the mod egregious Blunder, or moft barefac'd Wickednefs any Man can be guilty of, he makes the fie;urative Baptifm, of the ^ofy Ghfi to be. the titeral Baptifm here fpoken of. r 83 ) appointed, and iht fubfeqtmt TraSlice of the Apoftks. For if it appears that it was appointed for the Purpofe of dffciplin^ the World to the Father, Son. and Holy Ghoft, and that theA-^ poftles, in rheir fuhfequent ^raBtCe^ conftant- ly made Ufc of Water Baptifm for that Pur- pole, we have then an infallible Proof chat the . . jiaptifm in -the Text is that of Water, :}. . .Now th.it the End for which thisBaptifm was J* .Appointed, was rhc ^ifctpling all Nations to : tnc Holy Trinity^ is very evident from the Words of the Text. Go and difciple all Na- ttom, baptizing them in the Name of the F4* ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft. For, Firfly The Word baptizing ilgnific* by baptizing^ as the Quakers readily allow i and then the Cafe is clear, that this Baptifm was ordained for making T^ifciples, Secondlofy The V^vi^i^:. baptizing in the Name of Father, Son, and Hob Ghoji iignifies mak- im Tyifciples to Father, iSon, and Holy Ghoft, This 1 (liall attempt to demonftrate by ob? fcrving, Firfl, That to baptize into or unto any Perfon, and to baptize in or into his Name^ are Scriptuft? ExpFethons of the fame Import. Thus, to be baptized into qi unto Moses, means xo be bapUg:£d m or into the Name of Moses, I.Ctfr. 10, i;z. And baptized into or unta Jesus CkrUT; Jtom.^. v it Gal, 3. vzy. is cxprelTed in ptlic^ Places by, ftaftis^ed in or M into r H) info the Name of Jesus Christ, /^^j 2.1; 35. — Ch 10. 1/48.— Ch 19. V. 5. Secondly y That to be baptized into or unto Si Perfon, in or into his Kame^ fignifies the being made DifcipK s to that Perfon by Bap" iifm'^ So to be baptized unto MofeSy is to be initiated into the Mofaical Conftitution,or made Moses' Difciples. For the Words ^<7;>- . tizedunto Mofei^ will bear no other Interpre- tation but this, or what is equivalent to it; •{• and conlequently, to be baptized into Jefus Chrtftj or into his Name^ cannot, without a manifeft Violence to Scripture, be taken to inean any thing elie than being fealed ^ro' fejfors of Faith in Christ, or inaugurated his Dijciples by Baptifm. A Paflage in St. Paul's Firft Epiftle to the Corinthians t Ch. i. v. 13, will afcertain be- yond difpute, this Senfe which all Interpreters un?-imoufly put upon the Words baptized in the Name Chrift, The Apoftle having been informed, that feme of the Corinthians had failcn into Par- ties and Animoilties upon account ofthedif- ferenr * * Eit propei»Iy (igirifies Into : So the "French tranflate it ^ here: The fha^e baptiflheeaai eis tobe baptiz«4into aaf * one's Name, or ittto avy one, i* foleniDly, by that Ceremony, * to enter himfeif a Diiciple cf him into v/hoi« Name he ^ is baptized, wich Hrofeffion to receive bis Dofirine' and * Rales, smd ^bmit to his Autfioxity^ Avery good Argo* * ment here why ' they jfhoold be called by no Man'i * Name but Cwgi^T's.'- « LocKc'i Note on the Place. ■» -ffeealfo Dr. Clark'i Sermon ( Vol. 4. ) on I. Ccr* i. «, x|. t Vid* Pool SyDopf. in Locnm* («5) fcrcnt Miniftcrs by whom they had been rc- fpedivcly baptized^ as if they had been the Difcipks of him by whom, rather than to whom, they had been baptized \ The Apoftle, I fay, having heard this, endeavours to redify their Errors, and heal their Contentions, by pointing out to them the one, <:ommon, fole Lord and Mafter of them all, that is, Jesus Christ, whole Dilciples only they ought all to have reckoned themfelvcs, as having b^en ail baptized in ^/^Name only, and not in the Names of thofi who were no m<>re than mini' firing Servants to Chrift, in difcipiing all Na- tions to Him, the Head and Saviour of the Church. Thefe are the Apoftle's Words ; Now this 1 fay, that every one of you jitith^ I am ofTaul, and I of Apoilos, and I of Cephas, and lofChrtft, Is Chriji divided ? IVas 'Taiil crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in the Name of 'Paul? To illuftrate which Reafon- ir.g, and fct the Argument I am upon in the cleared Light, I (hall obfcrve again, that it was the Fault of thefe Corinthians^ that they falliy and uncharitablydittinguifhed themfelves by the Names of thofe by whom they had been baptized iato the Chriftian Faith; fome ftyling themlelves of Taul, that is the Followers or ^ifciples oiTauiy ( for the Oiiginal will bear no other Signification ) and lome of Apoilos^ and fome of Cephas^ and lome liuck to the true Denomination ot Believers, and laid, we are ofChriJi. Upon the pernicious and un- M 2 chailua chriftian Diftinftion of thofc who feckcwicd thcmfelVes rhe Se^artes Oi thofe Miniliers by whom they had been b.^p'ized, and to lead them to thcJr True and oniy Mafter ; the A- poftle a^ks, Is Ckr'tjl divided} Is Chfift s Au- thority or Lordfhip diftribured among his Winiftcrs, fo that each has a Title to make Difciplcs to Himfclf ? No, that cannot be. — - And the Reafon why this couid not be, he foggeftsin the next Qucflion, IVasTauly of any other MiniHcr, erucifvd for you? mean- ing, that as it was Chrift alone that was crucified for them, having redeemed them to himlelf at the Price of his Blood, lo he alone had the Prerogative ot making them Difeiplesio him- fclf: And in the next Qotflion, er were y^i^ baptized in the Nami of 'Pafil ? he puts thcnF* in mind of ihe adlu^i Eng.ietment they bad! alt entered into b\ Baptiftn^oi being the Dil- crples of Chrift alone. For as he manifcftly infinuate^, that they had r\oi bet x\ baptized int0 ihe Name cifTanh nor of any other Minifter, but into the Name ot fome Perlbn cHe \ there- fore his Dilciples they all were, into whofe Namcthty had ali adnallyand lolely been bap- tized} and that was none ciher than Chrift himleil-, as the Scope of the Apoftlc's Qucfti- on and Argumentation eridentiy deciares : And from he ncc then it is inconteftably prov- ed, that to baptise in the Name (j/aPerfon, ftgnifics in Scripture, /•e ( ^7) baptist h tie Nam? of Father^ Son^ and HoW Ghoft, accofdirtg to ibc commatvd in rhe Tc «t, is to make VifcipUs to Father Son, and Hdi Qbojl, Let us now enquire into the Tra-^^ce of the Apoflles i\\ di'ctpfmjr ail Nfi*io?is to the Blefftd Tnnityy fli'iffquent to this Cmmani But. fir/i, a bi^*uky muO be reiolv^d at which our At'verui'ies ftninb'c, ani Uon whence fhcv luil* an Cbjc^inn acii (^ the ApoltoliCdl l^raaicc of hapt't^mg-ju'nh fVuter-, as if it wi& n vt toundcd upon tic Comniand in the Text. For they obf rvc^rhatchisCotn- inand was to baptize inche Name ot the Tri- nity 5 but we fifid the Apoftlcs b prizing vvith Water in no otber Nj^nne thm that of Jests cnly } confccjaerKiy, chat when the ApolM. s b>«pfized in ehe Name of Jbius only, they did not pratlile th>c Baptifm which Our Lord orderrd rhera to adniinitU-r in tlic Name of the Trinity ^ fat c'*is they fuppofe to be the Bapttim with the Holy Gho/i. * Now, to clear thisD'fiiculty and remote rhe Q^iakers' Objet^ion, I oburve. rhn wnen it is laid that tli« Apoilks bt^^ti^jedux the Name of * This Objefton of rhe Qj.il!trs% if it fhonld happen to f>e of any moment, proves a greut deal too m ch for them ; It holding niDch more forcibly aj^arnft the Apo-tles prac tiling the Bapfifni with the Holy Ghofi \n Ohedicn a to the Command in the Ttxr than the Eipt'ifn lUith Water: For w^ not only nevor fifld the '^polllts practifing the Bnptifm with tt"e Half Ghoft in the Name of tht Trinity^ btit nev^r for much .s^fi the f^tm» of th<^' Holy Gh»ji only. ■ ■■ Thus no. tabic »r«' rht- Qj^akers in rui'nng dieirowc ^fiiiciples> whihl they uQsiiilfaU/ ainek oat's-l (88 ) of Jesus, it is to beunderf^ood, that they bap- tized in the Form prefcribed by Our Saviour in the Text, viz. in the Name of the Trintty* — TheRcalon of this is, Firfty Bccaufe, as the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft are conjund Authors of that Scheme of Salvation, which the Apoftles were to preach to the World, and into which they were to receive Profelytes by Baptifm 3 therefore, tho' this Baptism was ordered to be adminidred in the Name of the whole Trinity, and this Or- der was no Doubt religioufly obferv'd, yet in relating the Pradice of the Apoftles in thi« Ca(e, the infpir'd Penmen might, by a very proper Compendium, mention only the Name of Chnft into which they baptiz"d ; bccaufe it would be neceffarily underftood, that they baptized likcwife, at the fame Time, in the Name of the Father and the Holy Ghoft. * This abbreviate manner of Exprcilion is al- lowed in other Authors ; and in the Scrip- tures themfelves nothing is more common. -- Thus, the Word Faith isotten ulcd tofignify the whole Complex of Chriftianity, by which we are laved, Rom. ^ v 28 Eph. 1 ^'. 8. Whereas, in its Original Meaning, it fignifies no more than an y^ffent of the Mind to the Goipcl Truths j which, wichout fmcerc Obedi- ence * Non excladit Patrem & Spiritntn Sarctnm, qoia illos Jo- dsi agnoverant , fed Chriftom duntaxat nominat, quippe quern nondom apnovemnt. — I'ool Synopf. a J ABa i- v. jS. Again, ad ABa i*. v. 48. tx Nomine* hri'H tacirc intelligi- Car, &, qai Qn«it, tattr, & Spiritut^ qao unctaa eftt ( 89 ) ence to both the moral and pofltivc Frcccpts of the Gofpel, will not fave Men. James 2. v. 24, To come nearer to my Purpofe,— Salva. tion is often promis'd to thofe that believe in JerusChri(V,^^ji6.i;. 31. John (?.v.40, 47. ut to believe in the Father and the Holy Ohoft is as neceflojry to Salvation as to believe in the Lord Jesus : Confcquently, when Sal- vation is promifed to thofe that believe in the Lord Jesus, it muft neceflarily be underftood that they fhould believe in the Father and Holy Ghoftalfo. Analogous to this Mode of fpeaking is the Phrafe in Debate. To baptize in the Name ot Jesus is to make Difciples to Jesus j but it is asneceflary to Salvation, that Men become Difciples to the Father and Spirit, as to Jesus or the Sonj therefore, when the Apoftlcs arc in Scripture faid to have baptized miho. Name of the Son, it muft needs hereby be meant, that they baptized in the Name of the Father and Hoiy Ghoft alfoj or in that Form pre- scribed in the Text. And this is the Senfe the venerable Fathers of the Firft and Second Centuries next fuc- ceeding the Apoftles ( and who therefore are the beft moral Evidence what the Apoftoli- cal Pradicc of baptizing was ) put upon the Words baptize in the Name of Jefus, They thought it effcntially neceffary in adminiftring fVater Baptifnty that it \f^idLQ\x^inthtName (Df the whole Trinity i and therefore judged tha( , r^o ) that Baptifm nuU^ which was^jvcn only in the Name, either a^one or of two Peifon^ of the S Krcd Trinity. In Defence of this Opinion they pleaded the Prefcriptiou of Our Saviour in the Text, and the fubfequent Praftice of the Apoft!e$ 5 and ordered thofe Miniltcrs to be depoied, and even cxcommunicared, who prcfumed to baptize in any ether Form than in the Name of the JriuneGQD* And when it was urged npon them by certain Hereticks, |hat the Apoftlesare in Several Places of Scrip- ture laid to have biptized in the Name of the Loro Jcfm only ; they replied, that tho' the Name oijefus is in ad rnofe Places only men- tioned, yet the whole Trinity is meant.* A moft Learned and Judici )us Author,* than whom perhaps no Man thac ever liv'd was more tnorou^hly acquainted with the fath^f^i telii m, that among all the primitive VVriters, ( meaning the Orthodox ) he had pcver met with any but Two that plainly and ydiredly approv'd of any other Form oi^^x^i Baptifm, than that which was appointed in the icxt. Ihefe ^Nzi^UrJlnns^ an 4fiian Alonk, and the famous St Ambrofis who, tho* they botli agreed that Baptifm ought ra- ttier to be adminifter'd according to Chrilt's Jnititution, in the cxprefs Nami pf Fdthefy ^on and Holy Qhoft \ yet thought that Bap' iifm valid enough, which was given in the Nam of the Smt only -, bccaufc they conclud- ed • ♦ BiNGHAM'i Anti^. Vol. 4 Book XI. Ch. 3- (91 ) ed that whatever was done exprefsly in the Name ot one Perfon of the undivided Threes was done implicitly in the Name of All, — Whether this Opinion can be juftify'd, lam not concerned to fiiew 5 but ic fecms ic was contrary to the general Voice of ancient Writers, and the Pradicc of the found Ca*- tholick Church. Secondly^ As the Baptifmin the Text, ap- pointed by Our Saviour for difcipling all Na- tions^ was commanded to be adminifrred by his Apofdcs in the name of the Holy Trinity ; if therefore we arc told in Scripture, that thty ^eiifcipled the Nations ^ by baptizing them in the Nameofjefus only; it niuft be concluded, either that they difobeycd Our Sa- viour's Command, which is utterly incredible ; or that when they are faid to have baptized in the Name of y^^, they adualiy baptized in the Namcof the Trinity^ according to their Lord's Command. I come now to examine the 'Pra0ice of the Apoftles in Regard to Baptifm j or with what Form of Baptifm they difcipled the Na- tions. And here it will be proved beyond all pollible Doubt, that the univerfal Practice of the Apoftles in difcicling the Nations, was by baptizing them in the Name of Jefus Chrift, i. e. in the Name of the Trinity, as was jufc now (hewn. The Firfi PalTage of Scripture in Proof of this Point, occurs A£i$ 2. v 38; where wcfind, N that, (92 ) tihat, when by a Sermon of Sr. Peter*/, preach- ed in Demonftration that Jesus, whom the Jews had crucified, was both Lord andChriff, a great Number oi,th<.le ]cws were pricked in th'-'ir Hearts, and [aid unto Teeter, and to the reft of the /ipoftles ; Men and Brethren, what j]oad we do ? Teter anfwered and /aid. Re- pent and be baptized every one of you in the Name oi Qht^, for the Remifjlon of Sim. — And we arc told, v. 41, that they that gladly re- ed ed his Wordy i. e tl>ey that finccrely be- lieved Peter'j Teflimony concerning Chrifl-, were baptized ^ baptized into the Name of Chrtft. as Peter had commanded ihey fhould, and thereby nude his Dilciples. A Second Inlhnce of the ApoflolicalTraEiice we meet with A6is 8 In the ^ch Verfe, 'tis laid, * Thiltp. the Deacon, went down to the City of Samarta^ and pre ached Chrifl, and, v. 1 2. rhit when they believed 'Thilip preaching the Things concerning the Kingdom of God^ and the Name of Jefi^s Lhrijf, they were baptized both Men and Women -y and that in t hi' name of the Lordjefus, as tne 1 6;h Vcrie declares, A 716/r But this St. Paul himfelt will refolve in the Account he gives of his Convcrfion, ABs zz^ V. 16, where he reprefents Ananias fpeaking to him thus : And now why tarriei'l thou ? Anfe and be baptized and wajh away thy Sms, calling on the blame of the Lo>d Now that the Baptilm Ananias here ordered Pa;»l to fubmit to, was that which the Apodles are faid to have admmifter'd in the Name otihe Lord Jefus, is evident, Firfly Becaufe to this Baptifm the Wafhing away y ox Rcmillion, of Sins is annexed. Be baptized and 11 ajh away thy fins And ih«u Rcmillion ot Sins was annex'd to the Baptifm in the Name of the Lord Jefus, i. plamtrom me Paflage bctorecittd, Atis i i; 38. 'P(ter faid unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of J ejus Chnfl for th?. nmiffion of fins » N z Secondly Secondly, This Baptilm was to be admini- flcr'd in making Paul a Difcipleof Chrift, for V^hich the Baptifm in the Name of Chrift was appointed. Be baptized, faith Ananias, cat- inp on the Name oftjje Lord. For, to call on the Ixame of the Lordy is, in the Gofpel Language, to be a ^ifciple of the Lord, i. c. of Jcfus Chrift. Thus, when 'tis faid, whofoever jhal/ call on the name of the Lord pmll be faved^ ji£is 2. V 21. Rom lo. v 13 'tis meant, ^hofocvcr fliall be a ^ifciple oi t\\t Lordfliall be favcd. And, JSfs 9 v 14, to bind all that Call on thy ( Chrift's ) Name^ fignifics, to put in Chains all thst profefs themfelves Chrift's Dif- ciples. And again, at the 21ft Vcrle, to deflroy them that call on this, i. c. Chrift's, Name at Jerufalem, can bear no other Senfc than, to deftroy all that are Chrift's ^ifcipies at "Jerw falemi Confequenrlv, when Ananias ordered Paul to be baptized^ calling ( or, and to call) on the Name of the Lord, he bad him enter himfelf a Dijciple ot the Lord, by being bap- tized in his Name, To thefe three Inftancc^ of the univcrfal A- poftoiicil Pradice recorded by the Author of rhe JEts. 1 ftiall add the Evidence of St. Paul himfelf.- VVritint' to the Galatians, Ch, 3. v i6y he fays, y^4 many of you as hane been baptized into tlnjly i c into hi!> Name, have put on Ckrifi, What iht putting on ofChrt/t means, is explained in the next Vcrfe. T here tsneit her Je-Ji' nor Gentile^ there is neither Bond nor Free^ there ( 95) there es neither Male nor Female ; for ye are all one in Chnfi Jefus: that is, all both J-ws and Gentiles Bond and Free, Male and Female, having put on Ckri/i by being i?aptizeam his Name, are become one united Body in Chri^^ Jejuis all Difl.nftions of Religion, Scate of Lite, and Sex, being loft in the fiigl^j Deno- mination oi Chri/lianSy or DtfcipUs ofChrilh The Apoftle goes on : And if ye a^e C^^ri;?s, ( if by being baptized in the Name of ChriO, ye put him on^ ?>i become entirely his DUciples) then are -^e Abrahams Seed, and Heirs accord- ing to the 'Promife Now, as by being biptizid into, or, in the NameofChrifi, lAicn put him on, became the Seed of Abraham, and tieirs accordmg to the 'Promife, which are Privileges common to all Believers, it muft needs follow, that ic was the univerfal ^raBice of the Apo- ftles to baptize Believers in the nameofChrtft^ —Again The fame Apoftle in his Epiftle tothe Ro^ fnanfy Ch. 6 y i, faith, Know you not that fa many of Hi as were baptized in^o^ i. e. in the Kame of Je/us Chrift, were baptized into his T)eath ? Now that to be baptized intojejus Chrtji was the Duty of all Believers in general, as well as of thofe particular R§mam to whom the Apodleisfpeaking, and conlequently that to baptize in this Form wastheuniverlal Prac- tice of the Apoftles, is evident from the Obliga- tions here faid to be laid upon Believers by thi ir being fo baptized, and the Privileges thereby conferred upon them* i^^^> ( 96 ) Firfty By this Baptilm, Believers not only entered rhcmklves the DilciplesotChrift, and promii'd to obey the Gof pel Religion, /«^^«f- ral i but made moreover a folemn Prolcirion ot" their Belief in that fundamental Article, f^tf meritorious ^eath of Chrift, in particular : foe lo the Phi ale, baptized into Chrijfs heathy mod properly fignities. Secondly, As by being h^ptis^d into Jefus Chrifti Believers made Profefllon of their F-ith in the nieritoriousT)eath of Chrift ; lo, in order to apply the Merits of his Death ef- fcdually to their Salvation, they promis'd, and confequently ftood engaged to dye unto Siff, and fo live tmto Righteotifnefs. as Chrift by his Cructfixion and Refurre^ion had done; and of thvle th^y made a lively Reprclentation, in having their whole Bodies plungdin the Wa- ter of Baptilm, as in a Grave, and in rifing out ol the VVater agam, as it were to enter upon a Ti€W Life olHolin-fs And this cYpL,ins the 4th Verlc, which runs thus ; 7 herefore we are buried with him by Bapnfm iwo Deathy that It e as Chrift was r''athy ^jve (hall be alfo in the Likenefs of his Refur- region. Kno^amgihts, that our o'd Man^ (rhat CO lupr, notul Principle ticnved from Adam) is crucified 'oiith Chnft^ that the Body of Sm might be deftroved, that hmce forth we Jhould not ferve Jin. For he that ts dead^ as Chrift is literally, and all fiaccre Believers inccrprctively, /■/ freed from fin. Now if we he dead with Chrift, as we profcls purfelvesto be by being buried with him in the Warer ot Baptilm, w^ believe we (hall alfo live with hint: i.e. live $ Life conformable to his after his Refurredior^ when he waspfricdly freed from the ijonda^C and Curfe of Sin, and emancipjted into the Service ot God, which fuppoles by our haptiim we obtain a Principle of Grace to enable u$ to b:?gin and nniOi the new and fprritual Life. The Apofiie adds a^ain, knowing that Chrift being raifed from thedeadydiethno more 'Death hath no more Dominion over him j for in thnf' he diedy he died unto Sin once^ but in that he Hie h he Uveth unto God Ltkewife reckon ye yourf elves to be dead indeed unto Sin^ but. aiivi unto God through Jefus Chrift our Lord. * Now; ♦ A third Inftance St. Paul aff-rJj n» of the nniverfal A- poftolical Pra,5iicc oF of baptizing the Nations in the Ntme of Jefus, we find, Co/, a. ii, iz. wtiere he tells the Caloffians, —111, That they tre put aivay , v/hich ifttct ot puttinq away Sim, is afcribed to Baftifni in the Name of Cbrtfi. tv>ice in Scriptore. ABs a. v. gS. — il> v. 16. — — adiy. He lays they v tie buried luitb Chrift and rt/en with him in ^aptifm which exactly correfponds viih what he had iaid oiBapifm in the Name ofChrifi, Rom,6» Jt 4. /all treated on. (99 ) Thirdly^ That the Baptifm which is in Scrips tare faid to have been adminiftred in the name ofChrifty was that which in the Text is ordered to be adminiflrcd m the namQ of the Trinity ^ — and therefore, Fourthly y That the Apoftlesdid univerfally difciple the Nations by baptizing them in the Name ot the Trinity ^ when they areonly laid to have baptized in the Name ot Jefui. The G^ueftion that now remains to be rc» folved ii, what the ^Matter otthat Baptifm is, which the Apoftles adminiftred in difcipling all Nations; i.e. whether the Matter oi Bap^ tifmin the Name of Jefus, or the Holy Tri- nity, be Figurative or Literal^ Moral or E- lementary^ the Gitts of the Holy Ghoft» or IVater ? In Anfwer to which, if it can be proved that the Apoftks in difcipling the Nations to Je[us Chrift, or the Trinitjt did not baptize with the HoJy Ghojty it unavoidably foilows, tiiey baptized with Water. And this I (hall attempt to do, by ihewing, that the Apoflles never ad- minifter'd the Baptifm with the Holy Ghoftt but to thofe who had firfl been difcipled tojelus Chrift by a previous Baptifm given in His Name,^-^T\\^ firft Scripture Proof on this Head is that already cited for another purpofe, ^6isi V. 37, 38 ; where v/c find, that when the Jews to whom Peter had preached Jesus Christ, were pricked m their Hearts, and /aid unto Teter and to the reft of theJpoft/es, O Men Men and Brethren, ivhat fhall we do? Ti- ter fat d nnto them. Repent and be b ptized e- very one of }ou for the Remijjtm of fins, and yt ftjall receive the Holy Ghoft * In this PUcf , the ]ews arc firll comnsndcd to be baptized in the Name of Jdiis. Chrift, and after that, 'tis promis'd, they flfould receive the Holy Ghcft; i e. ps our Adverlaries will allow, theyfhouldbe baptized with the Holy Ghoft : which evidently proves here are two diftind, different Baptiims mentioned ; whereof it the former was admini(k-r'd in making 'DifapLs to Jcfus^ as haih been proved beiore ; the latrcr was not adminiilred for that Purpofe, but for fome other . And it this latter Bap- tifm be that iz'ith the Holy Gl'oft, it neceflariiy follows the loimerwas 'with IVater. A Second Proof that the Bapiiim with the Holy Ghoft was not adminiftcr'd but to thofe "who had til ft been b ptized into J^^fus Chrift, and fo made his Dilcipk's, we find, Acis 8th; The Samaritan^i Verle 12, when they belitved *Phtlip pr- aching the Thwfrs concerniyig the Kwgaom of Qod^ and the Name of Jeftts Uirifiy 'nert * The Quakers wntiKI ^^ladlv in this pjfTage niuleiftand V-apifw in the Nare cf Jefus Chrifl xo be the B.tpti/n] uith she Boly GUfi, bccaiife Receiving the Holy Ghofi is mectioned immetHately after ir : 1 he Wo ds of St. I'eter will theic- fore will run thus ; Repent and be baptized eiery one of yea 'liith the Boly Ghofl. and yepoallbe baptized ivit'h the Holy Ghofi ; which is making a true Apoftleof Our BlelTed Lord as barbarous a Speaker, as feme of the Quaker Apoftles have been. • Btit ror a fi:Ii -Confutation ol this Opinion> fee the two fcl lowing Proofs. ( lor ) were baptized both Men and TVomen -, that is, baptized in the name ofjefusi ncv.rthe- le(s, not yet baptized with the Holy GPjofiy as appears from tne following Vcrlcs V r^. Now iz'hen the Apoflles which were at Je^ rufalem heard that Samar a had received the IVordof God, th\ Jent tin to them 'Fettr and Johnt V. 1 5 Who when they were come down prayed for them that they m'ght receive the Holy Ghojt \ V 16, For as yet he was fallen upon none of thm; o?ily they were baptized ( by pHfLiP) in the Name of the Lord Jefus : Then laid they their Hands on them, and they received^ i. c. were biptized with, the Holy Ghoft. This Paffigc is lo pUin, tint it needs no Comment. Here the Samaritans are fiid to have bt^iu baptized by Philip /;; the Name of the Lord Jefus a eoniiderable Time before Peter and John, difpafchcd by the Apollles from yemfalem to Samaria for that Purpofe, baptized thm with the Holy Gbojl \ Confe- qucntly, b) hvw^ baptized in the name of the Lord, they were baptized "^'nh fVater, and not Witiithe Holy Ghofl. The Third and tall Proof I (hall produce upoa the Point in Hand occurs ABs 19 1/- i, &c, where it is related that Paul came to EphefuSp and finding certain T>ifciple^ he faid mzto thenty have ye received the HoljGhojlfince ye believ- ed? And the) Jaid unto him ^ we have not fo much as heard whether there he any Holy Ghofi : And he Jatd unto them^ unto what thert vi'ere O z je ( I02 > ^t baptized? And thej /aid unto Joh n*5 Bap* tijm. Before I proceed 'tis expedient to remove an Objedion which may Iccm, from this Place, to lye againft what hath before been advanced, ramelyj that Men by bLing baptized in the Name of Chri/iy were made his T^tfcipUs^ \i7hereas the Title of Difciplcs is here attribut- ed to thofe who were not y ex baptized in the Name oJChrift^ as appears from the 5th Verle. *•- But this Objedion will vaniOi, and a fur- ther Proof of the aforcfaid Dodlrinc arife, if we confidcr the Place juftiy : For thcfc Men are called Difciples, nor btcaufc they were fo in fa£t, but becaufe St Paul, either through fomc Mif-informarion of others, or feme Mif" apprehcnfion of his own, took them to be i^uch. This appears from his a.'^king them, Have ye received the Holv Chnft fince\ ye be- lieved? For'ti*; hence plain he thought they had been Dilciplcs of Chrift, and wanted to know whether ihey had received, what wasia thofe Day3thc common Pnvilfge ofallChrilVs true Dilciples, the Extraordinary Gitts ot the Spirit. And that thcle Men were not Dilci- pks in fad, is manifcll from thtir anlwering the ApolUe, i;i;e have not fo much as hearduhe- tker ihere be any Ho y Ghofl j that is any Giv- ing of the Extraorauiary Gifts of the Spirit : which ctrrainly none that were Chrift's Difci* pies could have faid. This Aniwcrot the E^ phefians undKcd'j'd the ApoiUc in Im Opinion of tlicm ; for he immediately ^sks,unfo what then were ye baptized f implying, that it chcsr had been baptized in the Name of Cbriji^^v\\ fo made his Difciples, thcv could not but have heard of the Giving of the Holy Ghoff^ as it was generally, I fuppoie, promilcd to Believers be- fore thtir Baptifm, ABs 2. t;. 38 i andufuaily immed»j?tely atter conferred upon them. A-ld iroreover, thatthefe Ephefians conf::is their having been baptized only unto ]oii'^*$ Bap^ tifni^ and as they were juft after this Contel- fion baptized in the name of the LordJeJuSy 'tis out of all qucllion that that they were not yet Chrift's Dilciplcs.— Therefore to go on, --- When St. Paul undciQood thele Ephefians had only been baptized unto John, he laid uiuo them, John verily baptized 'With the Bap^ ttfrn of Repent ance^ faying unto the 'People^ that theyfhould believe on ht-n that fhoutd come after hm^ I. e. on Jefus Chri/l : By which the Apo- ftlc gives them tounderltand, that it was not enough lor them them to be John's DilcipUs, and rcit inhis Difpenfation alone; but tiiey ought to believe in Chrift as the Saviour of the World, and become his Difciples too, ac- cording to the Command of John himlclf. ff^hen they heard this, 'tis faid, they were bap* tized in the name of the Lord Jefus, A nd then, when 'Paul had laid his Hands on them^ the Holy Ghofl came on themy i. e. they were b.2p' ttzed with the Holy Ghoft, and i\\Q.yfpake with Tongues andprop^HJied* Now that the baptitm in f f04 ) in the Name* of the Lord Jefus, and thzt with the Holy Qhofl are here diliinguifi ci as iwo difF.rcnt BaptiiVns, is manifeft, hirft, Bcciufe the Apollle fuppnfed in his firft AddreA tothefe Ephejtans, that they were even rhen baptized in the Mameofjefttsvjhzvi he quciicd whether they had bccii baptized with the Holy Ghofl ; Secondly, bccaufe the Baptifm with the Holy Ghod was plainly adminilkcd p. ftenor to Baptifm in the Nameotjfcsus. 'lis laid they 'Here b/^ptized in the name of the Lord jfefus, and It- hen 'T aid had laid his Hands on them the Holy Ghofl came on them. Thus, 'tis prcium'd, I have fully demonftrat- ed, that the Baptifm iz'iih the Holy Ghoji was not adminiAred by the Apofllcs but to thofc who had been prcvioufly baptized in the Name ofjtfiis Chrijl, i e. iii the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, according to the Pre- Icription in the Text : conlequcntly, as ic is ut- terly unrcalonable to fuppole the xApoltics, di- rcded in all ntc ffary Gclpel Pradlice by the uiurrin^ Spirit of God, fliould make uteof any B?!ptifm in difcrphng the Nations to the bleffed Trtnity^bwi that which was commanded thtm, it unavoidably follows, that the Baptilm in the Text IS, in regard to the Matter of it. nor fgura- tive, but literal, not moral, but elementaryt not the Holy Ghofis bur fVater * The * The moft formidable Obje£tion the Quihtrt nrge againft the Apoftlcs pra^ifiiig fViter Baptifm in obedience to the Commacd ia the Text, is diawa ftom I. Gft, i. v. 17, inhere St. ( 105) The Fourth and lalV Argument that the Bap- ti(m in the Text islVattr Baptifm,w)^ybQAc^ duccd irom ihc very harm of Words in which Our Saviour ordered it to be adminiitrcd, vtz. baptizing them in the Name of the Fat her ^ md of the Son, and of the Hoh Ghofl : for to baptize in the Name of a, Pciion, is cxprellly dc St. Paui affirms of hi nifiK, C/;riy? fentme net to h/tptir.f, hut to preach the Gvjpel. For from hencf rhey conclude, rhat -S St. I "AUL had as iaige a Cemmirfion as any of rhe other A» ponies, in all ! he- I'arts of the ..minifterial Dtity, and yet iffiims, that he nvainotfent t$ hafttize : (o ntirher ■vxas any'other of the Apo'iies fent to baptise nvlth Water \ and confiq ently rhe baptitw Otir Savioi r, in the Text, or* der(?d his Apoitlc^ to adminifter, /« fl'i/ir//*//^'^ allMitionsto the Holy Trinity, is not the Baptifm with iVater, b- t wth the Holy Ghojl, In Aufwer to which, 1 obferve, what hath been fully p ovcd, Firft, Thar the Baptifm St. Paui here affirms le was not fent to admimjier, is that which is called in Sciiptur-, Baptifm itt the Name of Jefus \ and that this, as hath been Ao tully prov'd, is the viry BaptiTm in the 1 cxt, which was order- ed to be given in the Name of the Trnity ; therefore fince the Qiiakers maiiuain that the Baptilm vvith rhe Holy Ghoji is rliat which is fpoken of iti the i exr, it follows, that nei- ther St. Paul nor ;iny of his Fellow Apoftles were lent to hap.iz,e with the Holy Ghoji : And therefore this Ob;%ction n->ilitates as much againft the Qjiakers as a^ainll CTs. — Bar, Secondly., As it hath been pio/ed that the Baptifm in the Text Js that of l^ater. and that all the other Apoltles had a Commiflion to adm.nifter it, it follows, thit 5r. P/\t;L being allowed to have as iart;e a Commiffi'^n in this refpect as the other Apoftles, he was empowered to adminifter Water Bapiiim too. Therefore, when»he affirms he was not fent to haptize with Water, but to preach the Gofpel, he does nor mean ahfolutely^ that he was not (ect ^t all, hut comparatively that he was not fent v/n\\ fo JlriB a Command to baptize with Water with his own Hands, as to preach the Gofpel with his own Mn^jh. Woe be ta me, faid he, if J preach not the Go/pel, I, Cor, ^ v.i6, Jbtif ( T06 ; drclaredin Scripture to baptize with Water, So when the Apoftle, 1. Cot lo. v. 2, tells us, that tht Jews wire all narionally baptized tn the Nr.rne of Mofcs^ 'tis a(^dcd,/»/^f Cloud and 771 the Sea, both of which confiftcd oi Water. Bur anlnltancc nearer to my Purpofe, as relat- ing to the very Bptifm in the Text, occurs j^cfs 10, which contains the Hiftory ot the Coj.vtrfion of Cornelius and his Gentile KirJmen and Friends that were with hirti to theChrftian Fciih - AsPfter was preaching to ihcic Gcrtikj;, the Holy G/?ptited in nhe eun Na'^ e ; ^hicb Reafon for the Af'ortles Ihanktiilnefs, wf^ Per.'on, ( in which Form the Baprifm ia the Texr was to be given ) fignifies in Scripture, to baptize in' it h IVat^r. Nay further, as itharh been clearly proved that the Baprifm laid to be given in the Name of the Lord Jefus, is none other ihan that which is commanded in the Text to be adminifter'd in the Aante of, the Holy Trinity-, thcrtiorc to baptize in the Name of the Trinity is certainly to baptize with Heater, And now, from a Proof fo plain, cxpreft, and conclufivc that the Baptifin in the Text, in the Name of the TnnitT.is Water Baotifm, 4 ' 4, * one >would think 'tis hudly pollible there could be any Evafion, or any Room for an Ob- jedion. The Qj.akcrs, however, have found out a Method ot explaining this Baptifm quite awa> from the Text, and forcing it countenance the Baptilm with the Holy Ghoft : * ^ut fuch a Method it is, as they only dare venture to rely on, who arc driven to the utmoft Defpe- ration in fupporting a finking Caufe. They obfcrve, that the Nameoi the Lord is often taken in Scripture fcr fomething elfe than a bare Sound o^ Words, or a literal Expreflion, even for his Virtue and Tower -, and confe- ^ucntly, that to be baptized m or into the Name of the Lord^ or the Holy Trinity ^ is to ,be baptized into the Virtue and ^^0;^^ of the HoJy * Barclay's Apol. Prop. 12, Sec. 8. and, after bim, aU rhe Qaakers thai have handled this Text, Holy Trinityt that is with the Holy Ghofi, In Contutation of which Rca(oning of our Adverlaries nottoftand to point out its par- ticular Errors and Atrlurditics, * 1 (hail oblervc in brief, that it Bjptifm in the Name of the Lord be the lame withBaptifm in the Name of the Trinity, as hath been before proved at Jarge, and as the Quakers thcmfclvcs by their Glofs upon the Text do fairly allow \ then, as in ail other Places of Scriprure where Baptifnii in the Name ot the Lord is mentioned, it is demondrated that that Baptifni is meant of the Bap- *F7r/?, I {Tiall note, that the Qliakers have not product a fingle Tejct to f rove that the Z74w« of the Lord fignifies hi» moral Power or JinHifftne^ Grace in which they taifly luppofe the Baptlfm with the Holy G/&0/Z confill*. Fori may- venture to affirm, that all thofe Places of Scipture, qtiotea by theffl, whire the N^we ofthe Lord Irgnifies his Power or Virtue, are to be taken to mean his natural Power 01 Might, exerted in his ordinary providential Government of the World, which has nothing to do with the Btpt'tfm ivith the Holy Ghofi^ either according to the Quakers' Notion or the Sciiptuieit. Secondly, Allowing that the tfxme of the Lord lometimet fignifies in Scripture, not only hi.s natural Power, but al(* his wor^i Oi>eration in fanftifying the iouls of Men ; it (till remains for the Quakers to prove that it muft be undeirtood fo in the 1 ext 1 For they have not hithtrrio lo much M attempted to prove that it muft. Thirdly Allowing alio that the Name of the Lord M.e» of the Trinity ) fignifies in the Text his fanSiifyen'r Power or Grace, yet this can be conddeied only as the End or Gift ob.ained by Baptifm, and not as the Matter of Baptifm, — ■ •lis exprefled, baptizing ikto the Name,Qpc. and not With the Name i CO fcquenily, the Name{i.e.as the Quakers fuppoie, the fanSifying Power jof the Lord, is only the GJfc conferred by Baptifm •• And why may not this Gifr be con- ferred by Water Baptifm to ail who conie truly prepared for it by Faith aod Repentance ? P Z Baptifm with Water, it infallibly tolldXvs thaf the Baptifm in the Text is that of Water too. for what can be an infallible Rule of under- ftanding the Scnfe of Scripture if this be not ? On the contrary, biir AdVerfaries fix the Meai- ning of Scripture at random, tofervea Turn, without regard to the Scripture Ufe of Words and ?hrales : So that upon the Phrale i5^j?- iifm in the narfieofjefus^ they have no lefs than three different Opinions. Sometimes they take it to relate to the Water Baptifm of the Law, which was pradis'd by the Apoftles for a Time in Condcfccnflon to the Wcaknefs of the Jews, as Circumcifion now and then wasj fometimes 'tis undcrflood of John's Water Baptifm and faid to be u fed by the Apoliies in making Difeiples to John j and laltly, 'tis taken to mtan the Bapifm with the Holy Choft. Into luch Ablurdities, Pcrplcjciiies, and Contradidions, do N4cn tun in explaining Holj PFrity when they difdain to be ty'd down to proceed by the Ru cs of true Cnticilm, and wiil nor be at the Paimao ftudy tne Senle of i Tc5ct by humane or rational Means, but take up with that Signification which the pre- tended Infpiration of the Spirit fiiggcf\s ; i. c, in Reality v\hat their own b:itidand prejudicate Phanius raflily pronounce to be tiue! Thus, 'tij> humbly prefumed, 1 have fuffici* ently made good what was firff propclcd, namely, that \\\z Baptifm 0\m B.efled Saviour in t^Ttxt commanded his ApolUes and ail their their lawful Succcflbrs in the Gofprel Mtniftfy thro' all Ages to adminifler in difcipling all Nations t!) the Fat her y Son, and Holy Ghofi, is none other than the Bapttfm "Ji'tth lUater, from hence I (hall rai(e an Obicrvition or two witli Regard both to the ^takers- and ourfelvcs, and fo conclude. Firfi, Willi Regard to the Quakers, fine- it appears that ff^afer Baptifm was iuftirutcd by Chrirt himlelf tor a perp tual Rite of difcip- ling the World to the Holy Trinity i or, in v>- ther Words for making ihemClintUans, and lealing ov«.r to them the Blcilingsand Privile^ gcs ot the Gofpej, we may iakly conclude, that the fakers are not true Chriltians, and have not a 1 itle co thole Blcflings and Privile- ges, i. e. have not a Right to the Meiits of Chrift's Mediation, nor conCequcntly ot' Sol- vation thro' him But to prcvt^nr being mil- underftcod, when I lay the ^ak rs have not a Right to ihclc Things, I mean they have not a Covenant Right to them or a Rigut by Vir- tue of any Gofpel Promife, — For as the Go- fpel is a Covenant betwixt God and Man, wherein Salva iv)n is off*. red by God, through the Mediation of his Son, to all thole who believe in him, and enter into an Obligation by Water Baptifmxo live in fincere Obedience to all his Holy Laws, and no oth;rwile ; con- iequently all thole who, however orhcrwi(e lound in Faith and obedient to the Lavvs of Chriit^ have not entered into Covenant with God ( IT2 ) God by Water Baptifm, according to the Pre- kription o\ the Goipel, cannot be faidtohave a Covenant Right to the Salvation offered therein ; no more than a Man who without a Rcgulai Enlifling takes up Arras and fights for his Sovereign Majefty King GEORGE, has a Right to a Brittfh Soldier's Pay, which is only promilld tJthofe who are regularly cn« lifted into his Majcrty's Service. What then, it may be asked, will become of i\xz fakers y if ior Want of fVater Baptifm, they have not a Covenant Right to Salvation 5 do you fay, they mull be damn'd ? No j God totbid that 1 Ihouid fo ralhly invade the Prerogative of Heaven, and pronounce Damnation againft thole, whom, tor any Thing the wifeft Man on Earth can tell, the Great Judge of Heaven hath decreed to i'ivc» For though I think it a moft evident Scripture Principle, that none can be laved upon the Foot ot the Chriftian Covenatit but thole who sue \Z'^ iuWy haptijsi-' ed with filacer in ike narm of the holy Tri' nty-y > ct 'tis no where laid in Sacred Writ, that they who are not fi baptized fhall be dauincd. Thereis a wide Diflfcrcnce betwixt not having a Covenant Right to Salvation, and bving in a State oi Damnation : For the o- vcrflv)wing Rindncfsof the infinitely good and benevolent God may no doubt extend Salva- tion to thofc to whom it has not by Con- trad: been promifed: juft as a kind and graci- ous Sovereign may be pleated to grant that Man ( in) Man the ufual Soldier's Reward, who fought ilncercly in his Caufe tho' uncaU'd and uncn» lifted to it. To fpeak my Mind more pLiinly, I am firmly perfuaded, ftiould a ^laker in all other Rcfpcfts fincerely contorm to t'le Golpel Religion, his Want of IVattr Baptifm^ whicd happened not throup'h any wiliul Neglect or Obllinacy of his own, but invincible Igno- rince, will not hinder him from being a wor- thy Objed of the Divine Mfrcy thro' Chrift, and a Partaker ot the eternal Reward of Ri^h. teoufnefs. But this is only the Verdid: of private Sentiment founded upon the fuppofed true Notion of the Divine Attributes of Mer- cy and Goodnefs, and not the txprtfs Voice of Revelation; And at the beft 'tis bui a pJaufible Opinion, which may pofTibly in feme Rcfpeds be wrong, and has more of chari^ table Hope in ir, than real Certainty. Where- as, all thofe who fill up the Terms of Chri- ftian Faith and Obedience after a regular In- auguration into the Evangelical Covenant by Mater Bnpiifm^ we may affirm upon the itrongeft Grounds of Aflunnce, fhall undoubt* cdly be faved. For God himfelf, by the Mouth of an infallible Oracle, even his only begot- ten Son, hath declared, that he that believtth and is baptizedfhall be faved M ark 1 6. v. i d. And an Holy Apoftle, by the Inlpiration of the Spirit of Truth, hath told us. that Chri/i loved the Church and gave himfelffor it that he might fan^ify and ckanfe tt, and conie^ quently ( ^H ) <|uently fave it, hy the If ajhin^.ot B;'ptirm of Regeneration. Eph. ^.v, iSy z6. And in an- other Place, He faved by ihe Wa^mg ofRegt' neratwn, and Renfjiing of the Holy Spirit* li I I's 3. V s- This then is the Difference betwixt a Maa vho, atter Water Baptifm-, re igioufly fulfils the Mcalures ot Gofpel Faith and Practice, and one that wanting Water Baptiim, is yet in all orht r Refpeds a good Chr.ftian : The For- mer has as it were the Bioad Seal of Heaven, the 1' Icmn Promifi' anu Ratification of God himlelf, for his Salvation; and therefore he may be as. lure of it as he is lure God is fait h^ ful that prom i fed, Heh. 10 ^;. 23. The lat- ter multd^^pend entirely upon God's urcove- ninied Favour> tor Salvation : And whether God will be pleaieu to lave him (at leaft as a true Belitv^r) is a Doubt which will never be ckared up nil the Day of Judgment. And, confcquciitly, it becomes the ^//<2y^^rx, in or- der to have an aflurtd Hope ot Giory and Im- morta ity up )n the Foot of the Chrifiian Co- venant, as to nnounce their many funda- mental Errors, loto be baptizediSJth IVater according to Our Saviour's miticuiion, S.":ondhy Since it lusbeen Ihewn ih^tlVater Eaptijm isaGoipel Ordinance, the fakers can no ionger, without being guilty of the molt audacK ui Pri-e and Irreverence tpwards God, Ipeak to comcmpiibly of it as they have hitherto done, for fhouid they piefume to call ( 115) call it, in their wonted Style, a mere Jrwijb or carnal Ceremony, a beggarly Element, ai^ obfolete Type or ufelefs Form, not confiflcnt with \\it fpiritual Religion of the ;7^^ Co* yenant j what is this but prophanely impugn- ing the Divine Wifdom, and faucily dilat- ing the Law to the Moji High ? But who i^rt thoUy O Man, that replkft againft God ? May not the I'upreme Creator and Governor of the Uniyerfe enad what Laws for his Creatures his moft confummate Wifdom (ces fit for them? And if he has thought propei; to fuperadd to the Law of Nature and Evan? gelical Righteoulnefs the ^ofitivt Ordinance of JVater Baptijm, to be fubmitted to by al} thofe who expcA Salvation by the Golpel- Religion, who dare be fo impjoufly bold a$ fay, What doft thou ? If it appears that Christ, the great Vicegerent of his Father, has prefcribed this external Rite to be ob- ferved by all thofe who defire to become his true Dilciples, this is Reafon fufficient for our nioft dutiful] Submiffion to it : It would be the m.oft unparallel'd Arrogance and Pre- Cumption to lee up a Tribunal in our owti Judgment^, to decide whether it is fie to be obeyed or no. For in taking an Efiimatc of the Propriety, Worth, or Excellency of the Divine Commands, we fhould not 16 much confider what is commanded, as who it is that commands. And fhould there even appear to us tio Manner of Ufefulnef^ in a Po/I- ( T16 ) rive Tnflitution ( which is however very far frombiing the Cafe ci IVater Baptijm the the mod humble Obedience is nevcrthelcfs the bounden Duty of dependent Creatures, out of Reverence to the Authority of their Great Creator an-d Governor ; otherwife, the great fund imcntal Principle of all Religi- on, that God is to be obeyed m all his Com- fnands^ would be plainly violated. * Men ought not only to fubmit their Minds, and conform their Adions, to the univerfal Law cf Realon and 1 ruth \ but likewilc, or rather as an Inftancc thereof, to pay a Perfo- nal Homage to that Great and Glorious Bc- . ing whofe attribute Truth is--- more particu- larly to cnrertain of him the jufteft and moft honourable Conceptions that they can pofli- biy frame, and acknowledge him wife and righteous in all his Ways. In order hereto, the pofitive Part ot Religion feems highly ex- pedient, that his Authority may be rever'd and lubmitted ro, not only where his Com- mands (i. e. the End of them) are difcernible* but when they are not ; not only when they (peak their own Worth, but when they ar^ filent. In a word, that the divine Perfedi- ons niay be confellld and ador'd, even when Clouds and Darknefs are about him, as when they appear in a clear Light, and breakout into an open Blaze ot Wildom and Truth,* Bur, * B^T^uA Law of Trarti.— Where fee more zsttcM* IfOCly faid on the lame SubjeS. — "If Religion confift« lu oocyi/^g God, or the a^iog in V^ertne of a divine Com. ( 117 ) But, as was hin-ted above, IFiifer Baptifm is not a mere 'FoJi:ive Inititution, or External Rire, which haino valuable Ends or Benefits annex'd to the worthy Obllrvina* ot it by ivs wile Inftituror : Fur, b. lUcs ihar it is a Term ot our obtaining a Covenant Right to the Salvation let torth in the Gofpel as obleiv*d before 5 'tis moreover, the appointed Inftru- ment ot pardoning Sin, and ot conveying the iandifying Gilts ot tiic Holy Ghoft: And as it is a foiemnand publick Acknowledgement ot our faith in Chrill, tis not only a perpe- tual Memorandum to ourleJves ot tultilling the Vow ot Chridian Obedience, but emi- nently exemplary to others alio : It has a na- tural Tendency to afF.tt Men's Minds with the Senle of that Inward Sandification of the Heart i'o ntccflary to CjnOitute a taithful Dif» cip'e otChriit} and our Odedience toit is as truly an Ad of Religion or Virtue, and as ac- ceptable to God, as Obedience to thofe Pre- cepts which are called Moral, * for in ti uth, the mand, then I conceive it is plain that thofe Things way "btcome Inftances of Duty and Matter of Religion fcf whi.h no Realon can beaflign'd but the C 'mm ind.— Cony -ik are's Defence of ReveaI'd Rtli^ion, P. i6S ; the ^d and a i art of the 4th Chjpt-.r of which inctrnparable Ferformance I humbly recommend to the Quakers' attt-nuve 1 o- liderafion. * For Proof of the Advantages arifing from the woithy Oofervance of I'ofitive InHitutions in gcni lal, ;.nd of Water Baptifm in particular, (ee the Kan id \iithor !a(i quoted — HooKEp'i tcclcl Pol. Book sStc. 5S, &c —The m ft karn- dCd and accurate Dilcouile on the Nature Oblhation and Effi- cacy of the C hri ft! a» Sacraments, and the Sur^pl. nie t to ir— BuRN£T on the 25th and 27th Ar.— WAKt's x^acecbtim, See, the internal Obedience to the pofltive Ihftitii- tions and wor/?/ Precepts is foj ma Jy the i'imc. As to the external Afts or corporeal Parrs of Obedience in both, they are different indeed,- the one being no ftirtiier obligatory than as pofitively commanded, the other obligatory even from the Law of Nature. Bat then, thcfe external Ads in both Calcs hive, ftridt- ly fpeaking, no manner of P.eligion in thems for they may be as truly performed by the ran- ked Hypocrite as by the beft of Chtidians. — Toilluftratc this Reafoning by Example, > tVater Edptlfm is a Poficive Duty; Giving Alms to the Poor a Moral one, Thcv hjve both ^nExttrnal Part and both an Internal. The External Part in the former is the fVaf!o» i'n^lhe Boay '-jL-ith Watery in the latter, the ^iilble or corporeal Aft of giving Money, l^c6d, Cloatl:s, &:c, to the Poor, 1 he Internal Partiri both \%\\\Q finite Love of God \ And txdept this hrdvard Part go along witii the Out* U'drd in both, they are both alike virtuous 5 that is, neither of them have any Vertue or moral Excellence in ihcni at all ; For as 'tii faid of Simon Ma^us, immediately alter his Baptifm, that /'^ 'was fliU in the Gall of Btt- ternefs and in the Bond of Iniquity, ylBs 8. ^. 235 lb St. Paul tells us, that though he fhould beftow all his Goods to feed the Poor*, and give his Body to be burned, and have no Charity, it would prolic him nothing In a .Word, that which conflitutcs ih^ formal Na- ture (110) itirc of a Mordl (by which 1 meanaRcligivis) Ad, is ihc fincere Love of God deeply implant* ed in the Hearty and this may be as well, and in iome Caies much more eminently, txercif- ed, in obeying a poju ive Qoi'w^nnd, as a ma* ral one j and thcretoic HVafer Baptifm rub-« mitted to in unfeigned and hearty Lov of Go J, is as truly virtuous or religious Obedience, ijnd as acceptable to God, as Giving Alms to the *Foor\ or doing anyother Moral Adion.* To corroborate this Argument, 'tis wortfi obfeiving that God hath been often pLafcd iig- nally to manifeft his Love and Favour towards thofe who dutifully obferved hXspoji'iveCom^ mands,andhis high Difplealure and Vengeance againft thofe who have prelumt-d to break them — Abel, upon the very Acconnt of his offering to God through Faith the Sacrifice (^ Pofltivc inftitution that was divinely comman- ded {v.m) obtained Witnefsthat he wasrigh" teous, God teftifyingofhis Gifts. Heb. i { x' 4. Noah, by preparing an Ark^ accordint; to poli- tive Appointment, faved his Houfe condam- ntd the Worlds and ^became Heir of the Right e- oufnefs which is by Faith* And Abraham^ be- cau(e when called to go out of his Country, and from his Kindred and Father's Houfe^ into a 'place iz'hich he jhould after receive for ai Habitation^ he obeyed^ and went outf not know- ing * See this Point largely and convincingly demonftrateJ in the Difcourle on the Nature, Ohll^ation. and Ejpeacy of tht Chripan Sacraments, aaj the Supplement to it. fizo ) hg uhffher he "jstnty which without the Po* fuive Command ot Hcav<;n, would have been cxiravat:ant Folly; and bcQ^iMi^: hethat had re" ctiitd the Trormfes^ intentionally offered up !• faac h.s only bego.ttn Son f which, without the cxpreis Ordcjs of God, would have been jult- Jy reputed the moft hottid Wickcdncfs ; for thele Thinks 1 by, the P.triarch obtained a. Biejjing fur himfdf and all tke Nations of the Earth i andhaih been dckrvedly honoured virh the Glorious Charade r of Righteous A- brahatn^ and the Father of tke Faithful. A^s 7, V. 3.-- Fieb- II V 8. -- Gtn, 12. 1;. 2, 3. — • Ch. 22 V 17,18. On the other Hand, Out A/r// 'Parent for the Breach of a Poficive Com- mand, even for eating the Forbidden truit^ loll his 'Paradife, and laid himfelf and his Po- fterity under a C iirle wnichwe ail ot us ex- pcrii nee the fad Effcds of every Day.* Becaufc'Ctf/V/ brought not his Offering in the Manner or wuh the QuaiificatioT:^ required, which is tantamount to his not having brought ir at aU, therefore God had not Re- fpcd {inioCam and his OfFvring. Gen 4 ^' 5* And when Satd Iparcd Ag^g King, ot the A^ malekies, and refer vcd the beft: i*art of the Sheep and tne Oxen tor Sacrifice ; whieh, if God had nor othirwifecxpieflly commanded, would have b*.en an Ad ot Prucence, Huma- nity, and Rdgionj fur this, i lay, was the King. * See ArchbiO-op KingV Sermon on the F4//, at tbe LnA of his Origin tf EvU, by Law, dom of Jfrdel rent from the Pofleflion of Saul. 1. Sam i$* Many more fnftanccsof both Sorts might be colicftcd out of Hoiy Writ; burthtle may iuflicc fo (hew the Ad- vantage of obeying the Tofitive Injlitntwnt and Comnaands ot God, and the Dengcr of wilhilly tranlgrcfllng them. Secondly, Wkh regard to ourfelves, I ob« ferve, fmce wc have been all ot us admirred inro the Chriftian Covenant; by being baptis^^ edwith. //'/2ff J', according to Our Lord's InlU- tution i we fhonld remember, that, in order to enjoy the Piivilegts and Bltilinf^sof thisCo- venaiit, which are the Things God on his Part hath promifed us, we are not to reft in the bare Outward Performance of Water Baptirm^ but muft proceed to fulfil the Stipulations w^ on our Parts are engaged to tu fii ; and thefiS are Faith and Repentance , meaning by Fatth an explicit Affent to, or Belief ot all the eflen- tial Articles revealed in the Gofpel, whieh are fummariiy contained in the Apoftles' Creed | and by Rtpentance, an heaity renouncing our pad Sins, and a fincere Pradifing Univerfal Obedience to God's Holy Laws lor the Tim€ to come. Thcle are the Things which will alone make our Baprifm valid and effedual to Salvation r But without thefe, it will be of jio manner of faving Benefit to us but rather ferve to heighten our Damnation. St. 'Peter {\ Epiftle 3. v 21.) acquaints U5, that the Bap* Ufmth4it now, undcitlie Coi^d, faveSytsnot ( 122 ) only the putting away the Filth of the Fkfhy hvt the /ir/Jizer of a good Corjcitnce towards God.*", that is> the hue putting away the Fitth of the llcjh, uhichis the outwatd E fifed of VVitcr Bapiifm, wili not lave Men, of itielf 5 bur the Anfwcr of a good Confcience a Con- Icifrce qualified by Faith and Repentance, the Inward Part, or Things fignified, muft go along with it, to make Water Baptidn Saving. Water B^ptifm is therefore only^w^ Mean of Salvation : But this is no mo.ean Objcdion a- gainft cbferving this Gofpcl Ordinance, than it is apainQ the Pradice ot cither Mercy^ J^'fl^^^^t or ^Piety, which will none of thcni lave Men ot thcrnfelves : They will not iave, except ia Conjunttion with all the other ChriAian Vir- tues and a Belief ot the whole Syftemot ne, c<.fl'ary Evangelical Truths. For he that of* J ends wilfully in one pointy is guilty of a Breach of the whole Law. Jamf.sz. v 10. To conc:udt, what ^i. Paul Ipake concerning Circumcijion, wc may with equal Truth atfirm ot IFtiter Baptifm ; It verily proftethy if we keep the Law of Chrift ; but if we be BreokcYS of x\\\%Lawh if, either through any lorJid, worldly Views, or xho. ctmningCraf tmejs ofthofe who lye in wait to deceive^ (who the * The ^ahets from hence raife an Objcaion againft Wattr Baptilm ; which I am perfoaded the Jadicioas Rea- der, from my Glofs on the Place, and the preceding DiC courfe, ^iil be folly enabled to anfwer.— For fprihci SatjiSr facuooi fee Sibwwq'^ Pojeniical Tr»ct«« ( 123 ) the better tr» impofe upon the unwary, kavs a form ofGodlinefSy 'UL'alk in Sheep's CJoathing^, and, in Imitation of their Mafter Satan, who is lomc times t ran' formed into an Angel of JJ^hty aflFcd to be transformed into /ipofiies of Chrtff and Mmijiers of Right eotifnefs'\) If, i lay, we lulfer ourfelves, by any Means, to befcduccd from the incorrupt fFordofFa'ttJd% or by the enticing Example of wicked Men, and the Predominancy of our own evil Lulls we deny Chrift in Pradice, and walk iyifcm^ ferately, unrighteoufyt and ungodly in this pre" fent JVorldy ofir Baptifm is become no Bap* tifm. — We are ftill Strangers to the O.-ve- rant of Grace^ — We are no longer the t;ue Difciples of Jefus Chrift. • For he is not a Chriftian, who is one only outwardly^] neither is that Bar tifm, which is only cu^9 ward in the Plejh s but he is a Chrillian,^ who is one inwardly^ as well as outwardly ;i And the true Saving Baptifm, is principally the moral Sandification of the Heart, a beint^ wafhd from the Pollutions of Sin, which is figured by, and, if wc be not a wantinir to ourfelves, will be likcw^ife thoroughly cfFedcd by, that Principle of Grace going along vvirii the outward IVafhing with Water. Now to God the Father t Souy andlhly Ghojf, &c. ■^ II. Cor. II. V, 15, 14, 15. FINIS. C nji R I T Y THE ONLY Certain In FALLIBLE Note O F A TRUE CHURCH. Wherein, The Scripture Notion, of CHARITY is Stated j and, by the Pr a c t i ce thereof the CHURCH of ENGL ant:) proved to be theBESTandPuRESTinthe World, Together withthePowERandEFFipACYof the Christian Duty of ALMS- GIVING. -2.^ ROBERT^GRIFFITH, Redor of IVoolafton, in Gloucejier-Jhire, L O NT> O N: VnntQdioi R.Gqflmgm.Fleet-JIreet, C. Rtvington, in St. Tauh Church Yard, and J. T aimer, Book- feller in Glouceften and aie to be fold by T. Warner in Tater-Nofler-Row, 1721. T O The Honoured, Edward Colflon, Efq;, Sometime Merchant and Citizen G F BR I S T L Honoured SIR, HEN I had refolved upon die Publication of the fol- lowing Treatife, I could not pitch upon a more proper Perfon to infcribe it to, tlian your felf, the Subjed -Matter thereof, having been the chiefeft Delight and Employ- tnent of Your Life. For I may be A bold ii DEDICATION. bold to challenge the Chriftian World to produce fuch another Inftance of any Private Perfon, who hath laid out his Charities fo Prudently, fo Benefici- ally, and Co much to the Purpofes of Life and Religion, as You have done. The End therefore, of this De- dication is, to propofeYou to the World, as the moft perfed: Pattern of Charity, that thefe latter Ages of the Church have produc'dj and, to convince our Ad- verfaries, that the Genuine Sons of the Church of England ^re no lefs exempla- ry for their Piety and Good Works, than for their Orthodox Belief and Principles. This Sir, is the Reafon, which prevail'd with me to afTume (iich a Liberty, which (I wasfure) your great Humility would not give You leave to Grant. Without all Peradventure, they who like nothing but their own Com- pofitions, will condemn my Arrogan- cy in prefuming to fix (o great a Name to (o mean a Performance, without Your DEDICATION, iii Your Knowledge or Con{ent:' but my Apology is, the more inconfiderable I look upon my felf to be, the greater Objed: of Charity; and in fo much greater Need I ftand of- a Patron, who is as eminent for his great Compaflion and Humanity, as for his Piety and Li- berality. AddrefTes of this Nature, I confefs, are commonly moft welcome to vain-elorious and ftatizins; Men, whoCc imaginary Merits rife and fall with the Applaufe and ^Breath of the People ; and all the Good they procure is, the rendring Vain Men yet ftill more Vain in other Mens Opinion, as well as their own. But as he that would defcribe your Vertues, can never be guilty of Flat- tery in the Opinion of all good Chrifti- ans, (o, I hope Chriftianity is not come to that pais amongft us, that we muft be afraid to put Men in Mind of their Du- ties, by commending the Virtues which they cannot imitate. A Charitable Man is indeed a great Eye-fore to Hypocrites, A 1 and W DEDICATION. and the Worldly Minded: For they who make Gain their Godl'mefs will not have the Ingenuity, much lefs the Grace to admire that CWi/)' which they cannot prad;ice themfelves. And it is no Wonder, that the Enemies of our Church are (o void of true Charity towards God or toward their Brethren, who place all Religion in mere Speculation, and fpend all their time in hearing or advancing fomenew ftrange Opinion, which fcrve to bufie their Brains, but fii^nifies nothinc tOr wards the purifying their Hearts, or re* forming their Lives. How many ftrange Doctrines, have of lace been propagated, how greedily im- bib'dby illiterate Mechanicks, and how obftinately defended by Men,who{eZeal for Religion, difcovers it felf in nothing fnore than in oppofing all others ; as if the common Caufe of Chriftianity de- pended upon a diftind K nowledge of ilich Points, as arenot difcoverableby Human Reafon, but by plain Scripture and DEDICATION, t and Revelation. If this licentious Humour Prevails, it is eafy to foretell the Confequertce : For Men of this flu6tuating Temper^ ^tuho are tofsd to and fro, and carried aboiit with every Wind of Dodrine^ who change Sides and Se6ls, Opinions and Parties^ as their Intereft leads them; who are ever Learning, and never able to come to the Knowledge ot the Truth. The{e Men, I lay, not only deftroy the Peace of the Church, but come at laft, to be of no Religion at all. So that in Truth, they are never le(s Religious than when they make fuch a Noifc and Stir about Religion 5 for true Re- ligion, faith the Apoftle, is firll purf, then Peaceable, Gmtle, eafy to he entreat- ed, full of Mercy and Good Warh. They tlierefore who cannot ficrifice their Pri-* vate Opinions to the Publick Peace; Thev who cannot govern their Pens, as well as their Tono;ues, and learn to Write as well as to fpeak well, of their Covernours/fuch Mens Reli^onis Vain : Vox vi DEDICATION. Pure R^Iigiofiy Qiith St. yamesy andunde^ jil'd before God, is this, to "vlfit the Father- lefs and Wtdo'w in their AffiBmy and to keep himfelf tmfpotted from the World, How well Sir, You have tranfcrib'd this Dodrine into Pra6lice, your fer- vent and Reverent Devotion, Your conftant Attendance on the Publick Service of the Church, Your frequent Celebration of the Blefled Sacrament, Your Unwearied and Succefsful En- deavours, to promote Virtue and dif- courage Vice ^ Your Zeal and AifFed- ion for the Eftablifh'd Church, and for thofe who attend at her Altars ^ and above all, Your unparallell'd Bounty, Your great, well-plac'd, well-chofen Cha- rities, fufficiently demoniirate. I had not indeed, ventur'd to incur Your Difpleafurc, in publilhing the following imperfedl Account of your Pubhck Charities, but with a Defign to excite Gendemen of like Fortune to be Liberal and Charitable after your Example J and to fhew them withal, that DEDICATION vii that there is no true happinefs without God, nor any plcafui;e without the (atis- fadion of a good Confcience. If the Gentlemen of our Country would but purfueyour Steps„ neither the Com- plaints, nor Cries, Number, nor Ne- cefTities of the Poor, would be fo great as they are. But the Misfortune is. Men of the greateft Efliates, find them httle enough to Support their Pride and Vanity, Luft and Luxury; and in- ftead of having any thing to (pare for the Poor, rather daily increase their number, by witholding their juft Dues and Hire from them : It would be hap- py for their Families, for their Coun- try, and for themfelves, if your good Example could influence thefe fort of Gentlemen to quit this vain, this roving, this uncertain and diftraded way of Living, and turn their Thoughts to the proper Bufinefs which God (ent them into the World to do. We meet with a few of the{e Gentle- men here and there, who after an ufclefi indolent viii DEDICATION indolent Life, of Softnefsjntemperance, and Debauchery, can be content, up- on their Death- bed, to leave to the Poor, what they can enjoy no longer, by way of Compofition,or Attonemenc for their Sins, which is not only being Charitable againft their Wills, but be- ing (o likewife at an other's Expence. For at his Death the Property of every Mans Eftates devolves to God-, and then it is he that gives the Charity, and not the deceas'dj for he gave none of it whilfl: he could keep it 5 not till God took it from him. It is true the Re- ceivers of (uch a Charity are the better for it, what ever the Mind of the givers be. And thouo;h (iich Charities are not to be difcountenanced, yet we cannot (ay (o much good of them, as of thofe Charities which are beftowed in a Mans Life time, when he can (atisfie himfelf that they are neither ftiffled nor mifapplied. Youthen Sir,begjan to lay the Foundation of your Charities, when Men at fuch Years, are moft apt to In- dulge DEDICATION ix Indulge their kift, and thirft for great- neft and popularity. You then con- verted thegreatefl part of Your Eftate to Charitable Uies, when you cou'd Ihew io much contempt of the World, as to deny yourfelf that Pomp and Gran- deur, Attendance and Retinue, which (o ' confiderable a part of unthinking Man- kind fo much value themfelves upon5 and this fhews, that God can call you to nothing too difficult, or irkfome, which you cannot chearfully comply with, and undergoe, for theService of Religion, and the Good of your Fellow-Creatures. It is to your Example in a great de- gree, that we owe the great increafe of Charity-Schools, ereded all over the Kingdom, finceyour'sj whichlthe ra- ther mention, becaufe this is really the bed, the 2;reateft and the moft Bene- ficial of all Charities 5 tjpcaufe it is for the preferving of the Souls as well as the Bodies of Men, and doin^ ^ood in e- very Generation to the End of theWorld. And if he who convertetha Sinner from the X DEDICATION the Enorofhis ^way^fiall fa^ve a Soul from Death, and co'ver a multitude of Sins, how great muffcbe your Reward, whom God hath rais'd to be the In- ftrument of {aving (o many thouiand Souls not only from future Damnation, but from prefent want and Mifery, and Ruin. I have a copious Subjed: before me, if my Pen wasequaltomy Inclinati- on,or was not afraid to trefpafs uponyour Patience: But I know that Panegyricks, andEncomiums cannot be welcome to a • Gentleman ofyourftrid Vertue and (elf Denial j and therefore I only befeech God to prolong your Days, and multi- fly them as the Sandy for the good you have done to my Brethren, and to the -Houfe of our God, and to the nume- rous poor whom you Feed and Cloath, Which Sir, is the Earneft, and hearty Prayer, of Sir, ^ London Tour moft Obedient May 25 Humble Servant 1 72 1. Rob. Griffith. aS^o;;^^ Account o/Edward Cols TON; Efq-, his Tublick Charities J in the City of" Bristol, and to the Clergy. i/y ^K.ColJlon founded ^n Hofpital, on ^ y^St. y^?//?/Vsback, wherein are a loo Bo) s, tor whofe Maintenance he has given a I coo/, per Ann. and Ten Pound to each Boy (when fit to be plac'd out) to bind him an Apprentice, he allows Ten Pound per Ann. to a Minifter to teach them the Church Ca- teckifm. 2. He alfo founded an Alms-houfe on St. Michaels Hill, in the faid City, wherein arc 1 2 old Men, and 1 2 Women. To each is al- low'd 3 s. per Week ; but the Eldcft of the Men who I fuppofe is in the Nature of a Governor (and therefore cal I'd the eldeft Bro- ther) has6 j./'^r Week. Befides which, eveiy one has a Dozen Horfe load of Coals every Year forfiring. They havepubjick Prayers eve- ry Day except TVedn efday's and Fridays, when they have Prayers in their Pariih Church, and for this he has given Ten Pound a Year. 3 . In the Merchants Alms-houfe in Kings- Jlreetj he maintains 6 old decay 'd Seamen at 2S. ^^rWcek. 4. In 4. In Queen E//zakth'sHoiph^\ near the College-Green Brijloly he mahitains 6 BoySi at Ten Pound a Year each Boy, and Ten ound he 2,1 ves to place him out Apprentice. 5. In Temple-ftreet Br'iftolj he built a Free- School for the Education of 40 Bo\s, whom he Cloaths once a Year, and allows Ten Pound a Year to the Malkr. 6. To the Charity Schools of St. M^ry- Redclift, and other Pariflies, within the Ci- ty, he has bcftow'd large Sums of Money for the Maintenance and Education of poor Chil- dren. 7. Tomoft of the Churches in Briftol, he has given feveral Hundreds of Pounds to- wards the Repairing and Beautifying of the fame. 8. For Publick Prayers every Monday and Tuefday^ at all Saint s^hz has given Six Pound ^er Annum. 9. For a Sermon once a Month to the Prifoners in Newgate, Brtftol, he has given 6 Pound a Year. 10. He alio founded aLedure in the faid City, of 14 Sermons to be Preached every Wednefday and t rid ay in Lerit, at theParifh Churches of St. IVerherg and St. Feter, upon the feveral Subjedis following viz,, I . AJhwednefday, a Sermon upon the Lent. Faft. z, Friday y ^3) 2. Friday, a Sermon againft Atheifm au^ Infidelity, 2d Week in Lent. 3. Wedenfday, a Sermon upon ^o^Catho' lick-Church. 4- Friday, a Sermon upon the Excellency of the Church of England, * 3d. Week in Lent. 5. PFednefdaj 3 ^Scvmon upon the Powers of the Church. 6. Friday, a Sermon upon the Neceflity of Water-baptifm^ 4th Sunday in Lent. 7. Wednefday, a Sermon upon Confir- mation, 8. Friday y a Sermon upon Confeflion and Abfolution. 5 th Week in Lent. 9. Wednefday, againft the Errors of the the Roman Church. I o. Friday, againft Enthufiafm, or Nega- tive Superjiition. 6th Week in Lent. I I Wednefday, upon the Neceflity of Re- fiitiition. 1 2. Friday, a Sermon upon theNeceility of Frequenting T^ivine Sernjice. 7 th Week in Lent. ^^J«yere i dilperfcd, except the Apoftles who fliU con, tinucd at Jerufalem, bccaure their Cora-^ miffion was to begin there; and labour thel Convcrfion of the Jews, firft. Accordingly we find, that they who were fc^tterd ab-road, travelled as far as ^W, Cyprtis, and Antioch, but preach d the Gofl p^ftononc, ^.^^^.otheJe■^so„fy. Actsz, I9. about thistime, St. James iufcsMartry- dom, and St. Peter is apprehended and put '" Surt this covild not be the time meant lj,y Smem MetaphraftesM-^<^ tells "^ a Tale of St Peters travelling as far as Brttmn and Dlantin-the Golpel there) whofe Authority C^Rmar. clhoi'ck Writer, follow, tho Baronnts gives him this Charaftcr. S^cut fV Is multis (faith he) ibt,^,^. 'hr^sa fip^/i US errare Metaphraftcm certum eft, tta n h,shd!ucmatnmeffeconftafAue.)Ks.nrnj, other Stories deliver-a in his Writings Met^ JS was certainly miftaken ; lo in thej ft if plain, that he was bewitch d or befidc "Now,theTi.velsofthereftoftheApc ftlcs bcin- fo diligently and part.ailar y n SMS%VritersofallSptts,G..|^r The PREFACE, vii LatfTiy how is it poflible (laitli Dr. Good- win) that this fo important a Work of St. Peter, fliould be mentioned no where, ci- ther in our Particular Chronicles or the ge- neral Hiftory of our Church, nor amongft any of our Ancient Writers, lave only by the Hands of Metaphraftes? An Author not very Ancient, (for he lived about the Year 900) and fo far diftant from Britain, as Conjian- tinople : As he had not fuch ipecial Opportunity to take Notice of thofe Antiquities .of our Churchj which fb many other abler Men, and diligent Enquirers into thefe Things, dwell- ing amongft us, could never find out. Bellarmin on the contrary defcribes, the Travels of St. ^eter thus. Igitur ex Judea &:c. (?". e) The 5 th Year after the Paflion of our Saviour, !P^^^r travelfd from Jtideamxo Syria, and fettled himfelf at Antioch (tho' by the By, there is not a Word laid i^i the A6is of the Apoftles, that Teter Preach'd at Antioch', for that City feem'd to be the pe- culiar Province of 'P^?// and -S^rw^^^j) there j lays Bellarmin, he continued Bifhop almoft fevcn Years. Neverthelefs, faith he, we are not to believe, that in all this Space, he ne- ver departed thence 5 for it is plain, that about that time,herang'd over all the Countries ad- joining,i;/,s, Ponttts,AJia, GallatiaCappadocia, Bythinia. But the 7th Year after that he became the {pretended) Bifliop of Antioch, (which viii The T RE FJCK (which was the 1 3 th Year after our Lord's Paf- fion) he returned to Jenijakm, and being there apprehended of Herod, he was caft in- to Prifon, in the Days of Sweet Bread, i. e. about Rafter, A^s. 12. But Toon after, con- tinues he, that is, the fame Year of the Reign of Claudius, he came to Rome, and there fixed his See, and held the fame 25 Years. Yet he remained not all this time in Rome, but after he had Preach'd le\en Years there, he return'd to Jernfalem, being expell'd out of Rome by Claudius, together with all the yews, who were then in Rome. And then a Uttle after, when therefore faith he, they who were at Antioch, iieard how that ^t. Peter was come to Jerufale?n, they fent un- to him ^aul and Barnabas, and then was call'd together the Council of Jerufalem, }h\t Cla7idms hems, dead, Peter rcturti'd to Rome, and there ended his Life. Thus Bel- larmfh, Tom. i. de Rom. Ton. lib. 2. c. 6. Here we find Metaphraftesznd his Followers againft Bdlarmin, and Bellarmin againft them all : And how well all thefe fine Stories ac- cord with the Hiftory of the Ads, it will be worth while briefly to enquire ; for here wc find nothing of St. Teters Preaching, either at Antioch or at Rome, tho' St. Luke is very particular in recording the mofl Noted Places which he vifited. For, Ftrjl rhtPREFJCE. ix Firjl, When the Churches had Reft from the foremention'd Perfecution, throughout all Ji/Jea, GalUlee, and Saw^iria, ( ail which were the particular Provinces, of St. Teter) he pafTcth throughout all the Quarters of the Jeius. '^Yom ycrtifalem he is fent by the reft of the Apoftlcs there, to ftrcngthen and confirm the Difciples, whom Thilip Convert- ed and Baptiz'd in Samaria. From thence, pafting feveral Towns, and working Miracles every where, he came and dwelt Ibmetime at Joppa. From this Place, by immediate Revelation, he goes to Cafarea, to the Con- verfionof Cornelius ^Wis Kinfmemwd^ Friends , who, by this. Means became the iirft Fruits of the Gentiles. Here then was a full and compleat Dif^ charge of our Saviour's Promife, made to him in the firft Part of that Text, viz. Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock, &c. Thus our Lord Built his Church upon St. ^eter, of whom we have no farther Account in the ABsj than that fometime after thcfe things, and his Miraculous Efcape out of Prifon, he return'd back to CafareUy and there Abode : which fignifies fbmething more than his bare flying thither for Refuge, from the Rage of Herod^ for a fhort fpace of Time j becaufe the Evangelift fays exprefly, that St. F^eter here Abode. What became of him after thefe Things, St. Ltike docs not fiy; and as X The TREFACE (as far as we can find) they who are moft con* cerned to know, arc not yet agreed upon. Let us therefore proceed to enquire briefly, whether St.PWhad not abetter Title to the See of RcmCy than St. Feter, keeping ftill to the Authority of the Scriptures, as the fafeft to be relied upon, in this, and all other Re- ligious Controverfy, becaufeof the great dif^ agreement of Party-Writers. When the Go/pelwoLS firft Publifli'd, Rome was the Seat of the Empire,and Millrefs of the Heathen World. Who then more proper to beherApoftle, than St. P^^/, who is empha- tically Stil'd, the A ipoiWc of the Ge?it He s, and was a Free-born RomaUj^LS hehimfelf teflifies, u4^s 2 2. 25. Rome was at this time, full of Wife-m.en and Philofophers, as well as the Cities of JthenSy Ephefus-, Corinth^ Antu ochj where St. ^Pml Preach'd j and who, of all theApoftles, was fo well qualified, to^w- counter them, as St. T^mil? Who more like- ly to convince the Romans , than a Roman ? St. Patd\J2.s, a Man of great Parts and Abi • lities, as well as Rcfolution, and Courage, having been been bred up at the Feet of Ga- 7fialiely a 'DoBor of the La'-JD, or a Learned Rabbin j and was moreover skill'd in all the Wifdom of the Grecians^ who then were accounted the greatell Philofophers 5 as ap- pears from his citing fome of their Authors,as Epi^ ThtVREFACE. xi BpimenideSy Menandes, &c. in the A&Sy and his Epiftlcs to the Corinthians^ and TutL"^. Another Rcafon, why our Saviour thought St. Paul titter to be an Apoftlc of the Gen- ples, than St.'Teter, was, becaufe he had formerly Pcrfecuted the firft Chriftian Con- verts of the Jews. Whence we find the Apoftles thcmfelves allaying ^t firft to ailbci- ciatc with him, fearing he had changed his Religion, only as a Cloak to cover his for- ^ mcr Defigns of betraying, and then deftroy ing them. On the other Hand, the unbelieving Jews, were the more exalpcrated againft him, for having deferred them 5 and therefore look'd upon him as a Perfon, who was not fit to be trufted by either fide. Now this feems t6 be the plain Rcafon, why our Saviour told him immediately upon his Converfion, that his Country-men would not receive hisTeJiimo- ny concerning him, and therefore that he would fend him far away from them, to the Gentiles, Acis 22. iZ. accordingly St. P^/// challenges to hir^ifelf, the peculiar Title of, the Apoftle of the Gentiles, and Rome, as his particular Province or Diocefe, Rom, 1 1 . 1 3 . Now, \i2idSt.Teter (as the famous 5^//^r- min doth fuppofe) preached at Rome Szvcn Years together before St.T^atd, why would St. Patd, be fo defirous to Preach theGofjpel, there alfo5 a^tcr his exprefs Declaration, in ' • his xii The PREFACE. his Epiftle to the Romans , that it was not his Cuftom, to Preach the Gofpel, where Chrift had been ah'cady named, leaft he jJooidd feem to build upon another Man's Foundation? Roni. 15.20. In the very beginning of his Epiftle, he tells the Romans, that he had for many Years, carneftly dcfir'd to come to them, that he might impart unto them fome fpiritual Gift, and this too, that thereby they might be efta- bhfh'd, A^s III. now what iiad ^eter been doing there all this while? Was he infufficicnt for this Work, or fo negligent in the Execu- tion of his Office, as that in 7 Years time, he could not confirm them in the Faith? Or "who can believe St. Vaul, when he faith, that the few Chridians at Rome, needed his com- ing to them, to the end, that they might be tftablijiod, if St. Veter had been either then at Rome, or at any time before. Again in the clofe of his Epiftle, St. Vatd falutes ail the Chriftians at Rome of his ac- quamtance, by Name, but takes no notice of St. Peter :'And St. L?/^'f tells us,that^^//i/^,and Frifcilla came to Corinth^ when Claudius had cxpell'd the Je^di's from Rome j but makes no mention of St. Peters coming then lo'Judea, as Bellarmin doth. Now had St. ?eter been at Rome, either at this time, or when St. Vaul, writ his Epiftle to the Romans, how unlikely is it, he fiiould not have been once men- tion'd The PREFACE, xiii tion'd, either by St. Luke., or St. Pauly as well as other Chriftians ofleirerNote. It is ftrangc if he was then at Rome, they fhould both for- get him. Was a fupreme Apoftlc Co inconfide- rable a Perfon, as not to deferve to be once remembred to his own immediate Flock ? Or, if he was then at Antioch, when St. P^/^/took upon him to write to them in his abfence, one would think, he fliould have had fomuch reipcd for his Superior Apoftle,as once to men- tion his Name, or put them in mind of their Obedience and Duty to him. Moreover, when after this, %t. Patd ar- riv'd at Rome the fiift time, there is mention made of the Brethren who accompanied him from Appij-fonim., but not a Word of St. Teter. When he call'd together the uncon- verted Jews J they told him, that Chrijiiani- ty, was a Religion every where fpoken againft. wiiat then^had St. Teter., the particular Apo- ftle of the Circumcifionjbeen a doing at Rome all this while? Or, with what fincerity could CSx^Jews tell St. Vmilj that theChriftian Re- ligion was a Scd every where fpoken agai?tjly if St. Peter had Prcach'd the Golpel at Royne^ at any time before ? And why do they defirc St. Paul\ Opinion of it, and for this Pur- pofe appoint him a Day, to come to his Lodgings? Now the Evangelift tells us, tli^t the Refult of this Meeting was, — Some of the Jews believed and fome believed not. Acts, xiv The "PREFACE. Acts 28. And why is this recorded, but to fliew, that no other Apollle had Preached to the ]c\vs, much Icis to the Gentiles at Rome, before St. Tatd; or that their Chrifti- anity was owing chiefly to his Labours; fince it is lb cxpreily noted in the lame Chapter, that uponlome of the Jews rejeding to re- ceive the Golpcl at his Mouth, the Apoftle declares, that his Commilllon was to Preach to the Gentiles next, and that they would hear ir. j46is 28.28. Upon the whole then, it plainly appears, that when St. 'Fatil came the firll time to Rome, he found but few Chriftians therCy and all thofey of the Jewidi ConvcTts. Was this then all the Suc- cefs of St; Peter's 7 Years Preaching there ? Was this the Apoftle, who was to be lb fuc- cefsful in catching Men, when he had laid afide his Nets and Trade of Pifliing.> Or cou'd he know his Fellow Difciples Hearts (which he muft have done if he told our Saviour that he lov'd him more than thcy^ and after all, beibremii's in his Office, as to fit ftillat Rome 7 Years and do nothing? He that can believe this, C7{n fivalb'^ a Camel. But ad- mitting (after all) that St, 7eter had been at any time Bifliop of Rome, as well as St. Paiilh yet he could only have been Bifliop «)f the jewilli Converts there, according to an Agicement between them, that the one diould Preach to the Jews and the other to the The 9REFJCE. xv the Gentles. Befides, Metaphrajies and his Followers contend, that Si. Peter Preach'd the Gofpel in Britain as well as Rome-, and BelUrmin fays, he was 7 Years Bifliop oi An' tioch. If then the Supremacy be from St. Yetcr^ the Bifliops of Britain and Anttoch^ have as much right to it, as Succeflbrs of St, Peter, zs the Bifliop of Rome. For St. Peter himfclf fays, God isnorefpeder of Perfons, and how unlikely is it, that St. T'eter fliould prefer Romey which put him to a cruel Death, to other Cities and Nations of the World, where he received better Quarters ? For to fay the Truth, Rome was at this time, the Scarlet Whore, which wallow'd in the Blood of Chri- flicins, and was the moft perfecuting City in the World,and fo continued for the tirftThrcc Hundred Years after Chrift ; whence all other Cities and Powers of the Empire receiv'd command and Authority to perfecute the Chriftians, wherever they met them. And can any one in his Wits believe that to be the Mother- Church, who was for de- ftroying all the Chrijtians every w'hcre, and had no fettled Being in the World, before the time oiConftantine the Great,for during the ten great Perfecutions, the Chriftians fuffer- ed more from Rome, than from any other City or Nation of the World, except the Jews ; and this I the rather remark, to ex- plode that Opinion, which has caus'dfomuch hatred xvi ThePREFJCR hatred and blood flicd amongft Chriftians, I mean the Notion of Rome's being the Mo- ther Church J and I dare be confident that the Roman Cathohcks who \vill duly confidcr thele things, will not refent my Endeavours to reconcile them to a better Opinion of Prote- ftants, than they can have, whiil^ they maintain the Supremacy, and the darling Notion of Rome's being the Mother- Church. For if by Rome'sbdng the Mother- Church, they mean no more, than the Care which flie takes to nourifh and breed up thoie in her Faith, who are born within her Pale and Cdmmunion, every National Church is in this Senfe a Mo- ther Church as well as the Church of Rome. Now the proper Idea that any one can frame to himfelf of a Mother j is, that next to God, fhe is the immediate Caufe of ones Being, and as fuch, has an undoubted Right both by the Law of God and Nature, to his Obedience in ominbus licittSy and it is in this Senfe (if I am not millaken) the Church of Rome claims the Title of Mother-Churchy pretending that all we Chriftians of thefe tVeftern Parts of the World, receiv'd our Re- ligion immediately from Rome. Now both fides agree, that Chrtfliawty was Planted in this Ifland, by Apoftolical Menj whether by St. Peter or ^t. ^Patdy or Jofeph of Arama- thea and his Company, it matters not ; but they who always follow the Authority of Scrip- Preface xvli Scripture, conclude for St. y^«/; becaufeHe lays twice in his Epiftle to the Romans, that he intended to tal^e a Journey into Spdriy when it is probable he paflcd over into Bri- tain, tho' BeUarmm and others will not al- low that he ever pcrform'd that his intended Voyage. But be that how it will, yet allow- ing Chriftianity to have been planted here much aboutthis Tlnle, or as early as at Rome; Where jstheDiflFerence? SuppofetheApoftles took Rome in their Way hither, what Pre- heminence or Authority does this give ^ome over us ? But, fay they, Britain w^s Convetted but in Part, 'till the time of Ath Jiin the Monk, who brought over the whole Ifland to the Faith, and he was fcnt from Rome. We anfwer, neither was Rome con» verted, but in Part, till the time of ConftaU" i^/w^ the Great, who wasa^r/>^?2^ and there- fore Rome is as much oblig'd for herChri- ftianity to Britain, zsBritainis to RomeyZnd where then is the gi-ound of boafting on ei* ther fide ? If this be fo, it muft then certain- ly needs be, repugnant to Gods Will, that- one Nation fliould attempt to deftroy ano- ther, upon the Account of Religion, mucH more out of Zeal to Mdt her -Church. For admitting,wehad received ourReligion diredly from Rome, how docs this prove her to be the Mother-Church? For the true notion of A Mother-Church is, that fhe het Iclf rccciv'd C th$ xviii TREFACR the Faith immediately from the Author and Finiftier thereof, Chrift jcfus. Thisfurely could not be the Church of Rome^ who receiv'd the Faith from Jerufalem, as all other Chriftians did, and therefore Jerufalem muft needs be the Mothcr-C-hurch : For where the firft Chri- ftians were made,there the firft Foundation of a Church was laid, and this too by St. peter ; but not at Rome, for the Apoftles Commilfion was in propagating the Goipcl, to begin at Jerufalem^ to Preach to the Jews firft, and then to the Gentiles, and when, upon the two firft Sermons Preached by St. ^eter, at Jerufalem, 8000 of the Jews, were con- verted, was not this a fufficient Number to make up a Church ? If then all other Churches were to derive their Being and Beginning from Jerufalem, as our Lord teftifies, was not Je- rufalem thcYcfoic the Mother-Church? And is not the Church of Rome hcrfelf her Off-spring as well as we ? To what purpofe then,is this No- tion of Mother. Church lo induftrioufly incul- cated, but to enflame the Spirits of blind and fupcrftitiousVotaries,againft all that differ from •them? For, thouL;h they who ignorantly hold this Opinion, do not adually embrue their Hands in Proteftant Blood, for want of Pow- er or Opportunity, to put their Defigns in Execution ; yet how many Murders (I fear) do they daily commit in their Hearts, and think at PREFJCE. six at the fame time,that they do God good Service, to dothisZ^/^, which your own Friend, St. Jerom, allows to be lb neceflary an Inftitution? Or will you main- tain, that ail the Chriflian Churches in the World are corrupt, or Popifli, befides your own inconfiderahk fc4ves ? 1 call you incon-- fidcrablc xxvi TREFJCR fiderable (not by way of Contempt) but bc- caufc, I may fafely affirm that ye are nor, in Number, fo many, as one to a thoufand ChriftianSjthat are againft you; andathoufand to one then but you are in the iirong ; if not the prefcnt Church Univerfal is, and all Chriftian Churches fince Chrift,have bcen,all along in an Error, for you cannot produce any oneChurch, in any Part of tlie World, that was not Epif- copal'. Not one conftituted Church upon the Face of the Earth, that was not govern'd by Bifliops, before the Vaudoh in T^iedmont, the Hugonots in France, the Calvinijis of Geneva, and the Presbyterians tranfplanted thence into Holland, Scotland, and 'England, within thefe 200 Years. Now, though Epi{^ copacy is no Part of Popifli Corruption, as you Objed, fo much as 'Presbyterianifm is, (as will appear by and by) yet, for your Satis- faction, wcwiil leave out all the Popifli Coun- tries, and take in only thofc Churches, who difown the Popes Supremacy, and fee what Comparifort there is in Number, between you and them. The vaft Empire of RuJJla alone, is of greater Extent, than Italy, Spam, and that Part of Germany, which is PopilTi, Trance, Poland, Hungary., or all Popifh Countries put together : Bcfidcs which, wc have on our fide, the whole Gr^^^- Church 5 the Armenians, Georgians, Mmgrelians, Ja- cobites, the Chriftians of St. Thomas and St. PREFJCR xxvii St. John in the EaftlndieSy and other Eaftern Churches 'ys\ Africa, we have the Qphties'm Egypt jtho. greatEmpire of the Aby fines mEthi- ofta. Now all thefe are jE^//?, or of their own contriving, which is exactly like the Presby- terian Model. Kowfadly then have we been all this while abufcd and impos'd upon, and. made to call^ ^jn do you allcdge the Authority and Example ^of->CW-i/V>/ and Beza\ forrhcfe two LeaWd xMcn w^rc both againft you ; and they have, d^clar'd, and their Followers, the ProfeiTors of Geneva, within our own Memory, that the Englifh ^Presby- terians, caft an unjuft Reproach upon them, ■ * "Wide an iijgeniousTreatife entitled dDifcourfe Pjetfing who 0/re qualtfieJto uidminifier Bapifm,^c. wheii PREFJCR xxix when they give out in their Writings to their Followers, that they condemned Epifcopa- cy. 1 could here iniert the Profcflbrs of Geneva's Letter, to the Univerfity of Ox- ford, wherein they juftifie thenifelves from this Calumny, and congratulate the Church of England's happinefs in having Epifcopa- cy, which their own unhappy Circumftan- ces» could not admit of: In that and other Letters to the Bifliop of London they pray heartily to God to preferve Epifcopacy amongft us ; they bewail their own Misfor- tunes, that they had no Bifhops, nor could have any for want of a Magiftrate to proted them 5 and conclude, wifhing the Continu- ance of this Blefling to the Church of Eng- land, for ever. Now, why do you reproach the Memory of Calvin and Beza, to impofe upon the Ignorance of your credulous Follow- ers, when Beza exprefly fays, Si qui fiint autem {cjtiod fane mthi non facile per fit afir is) qui bmnem Epfcoponim ordmem rejicianty abfit, lit qiiifqiiam fatis fan£ mentis furon- bus illorum aJJ'entiaturj i.e.Now if there are any (which you fliali hardly perfuade mc to believe) who totally rejed the whole Order of Bifhops, God forbid, that any Man in his Wits fliould 2i&\\t toxhtix: Madnefs. Think not, therefore, Brethren, your Separation from your Bifliops, to be nothing,becaufe you have been taught, with your Nurfes Milk, to have the utmoft Abhorrence XXX "PREFACE. abhorrence to the very Name of a Bifhop> though you cannot tell whyj but rather con- fid er ferioufly, and lament the Misfortune of your Education, which fhouldmake youfuch Strangers, to all the reft of the Chriftian World, but to your lelves in a fmall corner of it, and to all the former Ages of Chrifti* anity.* To conclude this long Preface : If our Diffenting Brethren, do heartily wifti for a happy Union with the Church of England \ if you iincerely defire to approve your felves, truly Peaceable and Charitable Chriftians, firft learn to forbear railing and enflaming the Spirits of your feveral Auditories a^ainft your Brethren. Employ your Time, Money and Talents to better Purpofes, than in lam- pooning, or hiring paultry Scriblers of fear- ed Conlciences to rake up all the Filth and Dirt to throw at us, that they can ; and let the Clergy, and all other Church - men be- ware of imitating fucb fhameful Pra- ftices, and both, of making one another the Piverfion of Fools and Atheifts. Let us be content with the Liberty which our Gover- nours have allowed us ; let us confider what Mifery we fhould pull down on our Heads, if our Animofitiesfhould prove the unhappy * Vid. Dif. ubi fupra. Caufe "PREFACE, xxxi Caufe of Ruin to our prefent Eftablifliment, and the Dcftrudion that muft follow us all i as woful Experience hath taught our DifTent- ing Brethren, in the difmal Overthrow of this Church, in the late Civil Wars. Re- member, Brethren, that every one of you then, cried aloud for a Reformation, as I fear too many of you do ftill ) and when by^ 14. 15. Now this Charity being the Bond of FerfeSfnefs, as the Apoftle teftifies. He there- fore commands us above all things to put on Charity Col. iii. 14. The Motive to which Duty he lays down at Verfe n. where he tells us, that fince God had made no Diftin- dion now, beween'^y^zc^, or Greek, Circtm- cifion, or Uncircumcijion, Barbarian^ Scy^ E 3 thian^ ( H) th'tariy Bond or Free-, but had received all equaJy to the Privileges of the Gofpel i there- tore, lays he, put on as the Elcd of God, cr x'crfons thus chofen to be the Members of his Myftical Body, the Church, Holy and Beloved J Bou;els of Me^cy, Kindnefs^ hum- bl nefs of Mind, Maeknefs, lon^- Suffering j Forbeartdg ■ ne another^ if any Man have a Quarrel againft any other, even as Chrifi forgave yen, fo do ye. The fame Apoftlc i. Thcf. 3. 6. com- mends the Thejfalonians for this their Cha- rity, and declares, that he rejoyccdovcr them, bccaufc of the good Tidings he had rccciv'd by Timothy yOi their Faith and Charity 5 and what he means by this Charity, he explains in the following Words, viz,, Becaufe they ^had had fo good an Opinion of his Zeal and Sincerity, and Love towards them, as to have fo kind a Remembrance of him, when ab- fent from them, and becaufe they had de- fir'd greatly to fee him; and that this^ their Relpcdful and Charitable Behaviour towards him, tho' no more than their Duty, \ had yet been Matter and Ground of great Comfort to \i\m^\\\\\\%AjjU6iionsandT>ijlref- fes.So iThef. i . 3 . he declares,?^.'// he thought himfelf bound in T^uty, to thank God ahjaays for them, becaufe of the Increafe of their Faith, that the Charity of every one of them had fo abounded toujards each other. Where obfcrve, that we are tsy underftand, not only the Love they had for one another, but chiefly th e the prevailing Love of God, which had fo Infpir'd and provok'd them to the Practice of the former : For which Caufe, as it follows in the next Verfe, H? gloried or boafted of them in other Churches, for their 'Patience and Faith under perfectttions andTribidations, which they had endured for the Gcfpel fake^ or the Love of Chriji, which had fo con- f rained them. Again, St. Paul, calls Cha- rity, the End of the Commandment i that is, cither the End or Purport of our Saviours New Commandment to his Followers, of lov- ing one another. ^Qx. the End andDefign of the Chriftian Inftitution -, becaufe, that under the Gofpel State, neither Circumcifion nor Un- circumcifion, or the being of this or that Per- fuafion, will avail us any thing without Cha- rity, out of a "pure Heart, and a good Con- fctence and Faith unfeigned. Hence the Apo- ^i\z fb often inculcates this Duty upon Timo- thy ^pr effing him to conti7iue in Charity, i Tim. 2.15. to be an Example of it to others i Tim., 4.12. 'Exhorting him to follow Right eoifnefs andCharity ,^z. 2 Tim. 2. 22. from his own Example t and yet we know, the Apoftle v/as fo far from being able to give Alms, that he had' been oblig'd to labour with his own Hands, for a Subfiftancej fo incapable of relieving others^ that no Man had more Ne- cefTities to be relieved then himfelf. In his Epiftle to Titus, the Apoftle com- mands the Aged to be fiber, grave, tempe- rate, found in the Faith ^ in Charity, and Tatience, (i6) ^Patience : Where it is Evident, that the bein» found in Charity, is, to have an AfFcdlionate good Will towards iAi A en ; to have a real and hearty Concern for their Welfare and Happi- nels,both Temporal and Eternal j to have a rea- dinels to forgive all Injuries; nnd to perform all thofe Offices of ftrict Juftice, Kindnefs, and Mercy, which we our felves would ex- pect ordefire (hould be (hewed to us. In the Third of J^^^/^'sEpiftle General G^/^ his Hos- pitality is indeed commcnded,and particularly fpeciiicd,as an Act oi Exemplary Charity. But Hofpitaiity and Charity are two different thini^s. Gains was a Rich Man in Corinth, z Convert of St. Paul's whom he calls his Hoft, and of the whole Church, Rom. 16.23. So Holpitabie a Man, that he not only received St. Paul,but a'i otherMinifters,andChriftian Stran- gers that came to his Houle. This is the ground, of St. Johns Commendation of him in his Third Epiftle general, Verfe 5 . Beloved, fays he, 'thou doji faithfully , or like afmare Convert, or a ^ood Chriihan, what Ibever thou doft to tlicBrcthren, who come to Corinth ; who have boinPFitnefs of thy Charity before the Church, \i\\on\if thou bring for 'ward on their Jour- ney, after a Godly Sort, /'. e. whom, if thoil wilt enable to perform their Journey by thy wonted lAhQXdiWty, t hcu fi alt do iz'elh I fay the Apoftle doth here call the Hofpitaiity ofGaius by the Name of Love, and not Alms-giving, bccaufe Gains himfclf, as well as St. Paul, knew that his Hofpitaiity was but a Duty , and a j aft Dcbt.duc to God for the light of his Gofpel, and ( 17) and to his Servants, for the Comfort which he had recievcd by their Miniftry. And bc- caufc he was not to look upon them as Va- grants, who came to beg Alms from Door to Door, but fuch as, by the good Providence of God, had been fent to Impart to him of their Ipiritual good Tilings 5 therefore hi^Kof. pitality, civil Reception, and kind Entertain- ment of them, is ftii'd his Chanty, which comprehends all that love, Efteem, andRe- fpedl, which he had (hewed them for their Of- fice fake : For, that the Perfons, whom Gai^ us had thus hofpitably Entertain'd were Mi- fiifters or Ipiritual Perfons, appears, partly from his calling them, emphatically the Bre- thren Verfe 5 . Whereas he calls Gaius him-r felf and the reft of the Laics by the Name of Children, ver, 4. and partly, njer. 6, 7, 8, where St. John commends him for his Cha- rity to the Minifters of Chrift, becaufe it was for his Name s lake that they went forth, /'. e, that they were fent from Jerufalemto Preach the Gofpel among the Gentiles, taking no- thing of them. And to encourage him to continue this his Charity, he tells hmwer. 8. we ought therefore to receive fuch, that the Laity, who do not go about to propogate the ^ Gofpel, might be fellow Helpersto the Truth, by encouraging and helping thoie thatPreachit. , In 2 Peter I 7. We are commanded to add. To godlinefs brotherly kindnefs, to brotherly kindnejs Charity. Where again the Word Charity, occurs, which no where Signifies Alms-giving : The Apoftle's Meaning is, that we (i8; we fhould not only lo\'c thofe of the fame Religion, the fame Society, or Nation, for this is no niore than brotherly Kindnefs ; butwemuftihewour Charity to all Men, of what Religion,Opinion or Nation focver they be j for unlefs we have this unbounded Charity, with what Sincerity can we make Praycrs,Sup- piications and give Thanks for all Men, as we arc Commanded ? Or, why are we fo Com- manded, but bccaufc God is the Father of us all 5 and becaufe we are all of the fam.e Paflions, Misfortunes and Neceflities. The Apoftle ^jude cautioning the Chrifli- ftians of his Time, againft the Lewd and per- niciousDodrines of the Nicola it ans, tells them, that thefe Men were Spots in their Feoffs of Charity. Now the end of thefe Feafts, was, partly to preferve them in the Unity of the Faith : And partly in the Bond of Peace and Love. For which Reafon they were called Agap^y Love-Feafts. And therefore by St.Jude jftyrdFcads of Charity, in the fame Senfe, that the holy Kifs, is call'd by St.Tetery the Kifs of Charity (for to thefe Allcmblics or Love Feafls is this Ceremony to be referred) becaufe in the Primitive Church, this Apofto- licallnjundion was made aTeft to prove the Sincerity of their Love to one another. For as the Betraying of our Lord, with the Signal of a Kifs, was an aggravation of Judas % hor- rid Treafon; fo the Chriflians greeting one: another with this Ceremony, was not only a virtual Deteftation of that vile Treachery, but alfo (19) alfo an Indication of the Sincerity of theii: Love to one anotlier, profefs'd by this Sym- bol of a Ki(s. It is not improbable, but the Primitive Cliriftians thought thefe Meetings a proper time to make Colleftionsfor the Re- lief of their Poor, efpcciaily if the fc Agape s, or loveFeafts, were at any time held upon the Lords Day when the Sacrament of the Lords Supper was always Celebrated. And this might be the Reafon, why St. Paul both re- proves the hard-hearted Cormfbmm, for fliut- ing the Poor out of their love Feafts, becaufe they were not able to Contribute in Propor- tion to the Rich, towards the Support of them, as alfo why he enjoyn'd,thatColle6lions fhould be made for thePoor upon the Lords- day, as he had Ordain'd in the Churches of Galatia, I Cor. i6. T. Laflly, In i^^i;. Chap. 2.ver. 19. the Spi- rit commends the Charity of Thyatira, one of the Seven Churches of the Proconfular AJia ; but by the very next Word, ^ay^vla, which follows, it is apparent, that Charity here alfo, fignifies the prevailing love of God which kept that Church fteady in theProfei^ fion of the true Faith, under fo many Temp- tations ; onlv (he is char2;'d with one blem- ifh, which Eclipsd all her former Courage, and Conftancy, iJi.s. her Communicating oc- cafionally with Idolaters in their Idol-worfhip, here exprcfs'd by the Dodtrine of Jezabdy who drew the Ifraelites to Idolatry. That Charity here is not put for Alms giving, I fay. ( 20 ) ^y, appears from the following Word, Six- 7{$vioLy which ihould have been rendcr'd. Re- lieving or Adminiftring to the NecelTides of the Poor, this being the genuine Senfe of the Word in other parallel Places ; as in A^s 1 1 . ver. 29. where (^at'/^v/a, is the Relief, which the Church of i4«?/^^^, fenttothepoor Chri- ftians at Jemfalem in the great Dearth which happen'd in the Reign of Claudius Cafar, And when Barnabas and Saiil^ (by whom this Relief was fent) had Depofited it into the Hands of the Elders 5 this is faid to be a '^?iiipn<;avni; rnv h-^via, or the relief which he and Barnabas had brought to the poor Chriftians at Jerufalem, from their Brethren at Antioch, calls it not the Charity, but the Alms which he had brought to his Nation, A^s 24. 17. laftly of a liberal Woman, Q.i\\c6.Tabitha, oiT^orcas, it is faid, not that file was full of Charity, but of Alms-deeds which fie did. Ads 9.36. Now, theReafon (as I conceive) why our Lord and his Apoftles, would not give Alms the Title oiChartty, was chiefly to fhew, that the Poor were as much interefted in the Duty oi Charity, as the rich: Which they could . not poflibly be, if Alms and Charity be Words of the fame iigniiication. But Secondly, ( 22 ; Secondly, Another Reafon was, tofignifie, that Alms cannot properly dcfcrve the De- nomination of Charity , unlefs it proceeds from CiiriftianPrinciplcSjOr from the Love of God our Saviour,and of our necell'itous Neigh- bours for his Ihke. The Cries and Calamities of the miferable arfd afflicted oftentimes move Companion in, and extort an AUiis, (fo call'd, qmfi ab i'Ae(G^) even from Athe^ ijis and Reprobates. But Ahus proceeding only from meer Sympathy 5 or from Oftcnta- tion, vain Glory, or any other Carnal Motive, cannot poilibly fall under the Notion of C/6^- rity, becaufe Charity is a Complication of all Chriftian Vermes, which they who either deny Chrift, or keep not his Commandments, cannot therefore poflibly have. Let us Note further, that Charity is bytheApoft!e,declar'd to be the chicfcft of the three Theological Gtz- ces, whereof whofocver is deftitutc, cannot be faved ; if therefore Ahiis-giving be the fame with Charity the pcor muft be exclu- ded out of the Common Salvation, becaufe they cannot give Alms 5 which is certainly the Cafe of thofe milcrable Poor who arc forc'd to go about to ask it. But if by Charity we me'an (as the Scripture docs) Zealand Devo- tion, a fincere Love of God and of one ano thcr, Humility and Mecknels, Patience and Forbearance, and every thing that is Lovely, Honcft and Praifc-worthy ; then the Poor are as^ much concern d in thcfe Fruits and Properties ' r 23; of Charity, as the rich, for though they cannot give an Ahiis, yet they can ferve God, and love one another, they can give a Cup of cold Water, they can forbear to curfe, and learn to pray for the Forgivenefs of thofe who fhut their Bowels ofCompaffionfrom them. They can ccafe to Slander and to Backbite; to Swear and to Curfe, to Lye and to Steal, and in a Word, they can be as harmless and peaceable, as Content and Patient, and in every refpe£l as blamelefs as any other Chri- ftians can or ought to be, and confequent- ly, they may be, in the fight of God, who trieth their Hearts, as Charitable as other Chri- ftians; yea, more Charitable than they who give away all their goods to feed them ; for this, St. P<3!///fuppolethMenmay do, and yet want Chanty^ i Cor. 13.4. Charity tlien in the ftrideft Scn(c,and Scripture Notion there- of, fignifics the perfe^ion of Chriftian Love : ADevoutjZcalouSjReligiousTcmper of Mind : A forbearing tender andCompaflionate Love, or a love that inclines us toforbcar one another: To hope, and to believe the bed of^ and to do good and to wifli well to all Men,, but more efpecially to bear with the Errors and Infir- mities, of our weak and miftaken Brethren. Hence, Charity is call'd the BondofVzxitdi- nefs, the Bond of Peace ^nd of all Virtues. A Bond, becauicit unites all true Chriftians to one another in Affcdion, though not in Opi- nion. A Bond, bccauie it is the only Means, which our Saviour hath prefcrib'd to prcfervc- the IH ] the Peace of his Ghurch ; and the only Reme- dy for the Cure _of its Divifions. For Charity incUning all Chriftians to hope well, and to believe the beft of one another, muft, for their own mutual Intereft and Safety, engage them in an Enquiry after the Right way, in the midft of fo m^ny Diverfities of Opinions 5 or, as the Apoftle fpeaks, to try all Things, and hold f aft that which is good. And Humility being one Property of Charity, and confifting in a mean Opinion of our own Underftanding and Merits, will make wsfwift to Hear zndi wil- ling to Learn, and to examine the Weight of otherMens Arguments, and the Grounds of their Opinions. No Man therefore can have true Charity, and at the fame time pretend to infallibility or Perfedion, to greater Sandity or Illumination, than other Chrifti- ans; bccaufe, they who lay claim to fuch Privileges, to be confiftent with themfelves, muft condemn all other Chriftians whodiff- fer from them, and therefore the Apoftle oppofeth Charity to thcfe Pretenfions; for Knowledge (fayth \\c)pufeth up, but Charity edifieth, i Cor. viii. i. Whence it clearly follows, that that Church, which has moft Charity, is the bcft and purcft Church: Which leads me to compare the Charity of the Church of England, with the Cii-iri- ty of thoie Chriftians amongft us, wiio dif- fent from her ; which is to be the Subjed of the next Chapter. CHAP C 33) CHAP. ir. fhe Charity of the Church of England compard with the Chanty of the Roman Catholicks, and other Dif- fencers, tier Charity to Erroneous ^erfons, Terfecution upon the Account of ^ligion^ contrary to the DoBrine and ^raBice of the Church of Eng- land. HAT all Diffenters from the Church of England, who are Baptized into the Faith of the Holy-Trinity, and hold the Fun- damentals of Chriftianity, leading a Life fuitable to their Belief, and conforming themfelves to the Laws of their Superi- ours, orfubmittingto the Penalties there- of, in thofe Cafes wherein their Confci- ences cannot comply, fhall undoubtedly be faved, (provided their Errors be not obftinate and malicious) is the Charity and Doctrine of our Church. Hence we maintain the Illegality and Sinfulnefs of Perfecution, or that no Man, or Body of Men whatfoever, fhould be deprived of F their ( 34 ) their Liberties and Lives upon the Ac- count of their Errors ; unlefs their Opini- ons be deftruftive of the PubHck Peace and Tranquillity. Our Reafon is, be- caufe it is impoflible to know whether Men be Erroneous in the Convictions of their own Mind, or not : For there are Errors, which Men will not be accoun- table for, (fuch as do not affed Magiftracy or Governments) or elfe the greateft Part of the Chriftian World are in a deplora- ble Cafe. Now thefe are fuch Opinions, as Men imbibe with their Mother's Milk, or are bred up to from their Cradles, which therefore they cannot prevent, for want of proper means of InftruCtion. To doom therefore all fuch to eternal Dam- nation, who are fo unhappy as to be born and bred up in Ignorance, and could not poflibly believe otherwife than they do : Or to maintain, that all fuch Chriftians, as are not Members of this, or that par- ticular Church or Communion, fhall cer- tainly be damned, is not only exceedingly uncharitable to our Brethren, but highly injurious to the Saviour of the World. For this, in Effed, is the fame thing as to maintain, that God has been, and is ftill wanting in Mercy and Goodnefs to the greateft part of Mankind, in that he has permitted, and ftill continues to fuffer, fo many t 35 ) many Millions of Chridians, in every- Age, to perifh everlaftingly, to whom he hath not, and doth not yet think fit to afford the necefTary Means of Salvation. Befides, were it Lawful to extirpate, or deftroy erroneous Perfons, whether Here' ticks or Schifmaticks ; yet, unlefs, (as I faid before) they are certainly known to be fuch, in the ConviQ:ion of their own Minds, we cannot juftifie any Severity towards them, fuppofing theni Peaceable, Obedient, and Innocent in all other Re- fpeiHis. If it be objcQ:ed,that HeretUks or Schifmaticks may be as Well known now5as they were in SuPauPs time, becaufe he de- fcribes a Heretick to be one, who is fub- verted from the true Faith ; and there- fore commands Titus^ after the firft and fecond Admonition, to reject him, or caft him out of the Church. I anfwer, a Heretick, known only by the Fruits of his Dodtrines, may be proceeded Judicially againft, and Excommunicated for his Contempt of the Laws ; yea, and be Punifh'd alfo with Death, if he continue to didurb the Peace of the State, con- t trary to a known Law in force againfl him. But then, I fay, a Heretick mull: be felf Condemned,^ and known to be {6f by thofe who are to pafs Sentence upori himj according to St. PauPs Notion of i F 2 Hereticki ( ^6 ) Heretick. Now he, who knows the Laws ind Do£^rines of his Superiors, or the Church, muft be felf-condemned, if he break through thefe Laws,and broach new Do£lrines, contrary to thofe already effa- blifh'd, and then his Condemnation muft be juft, becaufe his Deftruftion is from himfelf. For God hath laid no neceflity upon any Man to publifli his private Opinions, to the difturbance of the pub- lick Peace. On the contrary, God com- mands him if he hath Faith, /. e, if he be of this, or that Opinion, contrary to all others, to have it, or to keep it to himfelf, before God, and not to offend others with it, Rom, 14. 22. Now this was the Cafe of thofe few Jnabaptifis^ and others, who fuffer'd in Queen EUza- betPs Reign. For they fuffer'd not for Confcience fake, but for Preaching Trea- fon and Sedition, and propagating fuch Opinions as tended to the Subverfion of her Government: They fuffer'd not for their private Opinions, but for their open avowing and abetting of Dofbrines deftruftive of Civil Government : Or they fuffer'd not as Schifmattcks^ (though they were certainly fuch at the fame time) but they fuffer'd, in fliort, as Malcfa£lors, and Rebels: And the truth is, that Princels muft have been wanting in Charity to herfelf, (37 ) herfelf, and to far the greater Num- ber of her Subjefts, if fhe had tamely given up her Crown, or fufFer'd herfelf to be dethron'd, by fuch Confcientious Confpirators. For fuppofe they aded (as they pretended) in this Affair, upon a Principle of Confcience; or as Emilfaries ot any Foreign Prince or Bifliop, thought themfelvesobhgMin Duty to him, whofe Agents they were, to dethrone and Mur- der their Sovereign ; washer Parliament and Miniftry oblig'd to be of the fame Opinion ? Yea, fuppofe jfhe had aftually been an Ufurper, who were the moft proper Judges of That, Private Perfons, or the Legiflature ? And will Men there- fore call that Perfecution, which is the )u(t Reward of Treafon ? It is amazing to hear Men cry out Perfecution againft that Queen, when all the World knows, no Chriftian Prince that ever wore a Crown, had more implacable and fubtle hnemaes to deal with, both at home and ibroad, than Oie had. As for that par- ticular Cafe of her Sifter Marj, Queen of ^cots, who knows not with what relud- mce Ihe was at laft prevaiPd upon toorder ler Execution. For how was it poffi- 5le tor a frail, weak Woman, to relift the mportunities of the pretended Guardians « her Crown and Life? This indeed, in F 3 my ( 38 ) my Opinion, was the greateft BUm.fh of her Reian, and what I Will not p etend to Tuftifie, though there want not thole who ftrenuouny'^argoe in E«enuat.on of That «£/> &enJu ; but to infer from Par- icula^ to Generals, is neither Log.ck T n-lrP- and thofe Gentlemen,who)ufti- firth\"perfeudngofH««.Ko^bieaPere^ cution witha very in Graceto Q^ ElM u „,c Cn fiir as to give them timely wS to provide for'their own Safety^ before fny of them was hurt, except fuch L were apprehended in aaual Rebellion ^LTnft her But inftead of quitting her ^ .n. or flvine to their Foreign Kds or Sana'uafy, thofe Gentlemen ihSti' m°^^ Meritorious to ftay, and rSve the Crown of Martyrdom, in tto Religious Attempts to extirpate the Northern^Hererie : Which was certainly rwork of Super-errogation, and whatGod d-rnotr quire at their Hands if we may tnefs arisht from our Lord's own Ad- ffce to hfs Apoftles. For when they were v^ce to ni5 /^t- ^^j Preach SToS o'all'Nnls (a'n Undertaking of ereat^r Importance than the carrying nn^rhe Intereft and Grandeur of the B (hop o Z'O if, inftead of being kin ly f 'd and receiv'd. they were Perfecuted Fn any one City, he commanded them I ii> flee into another^ Matt, lo. 2?. Accord- ! ingly all the Apoftles did, jas 17. 10, I Faul and StUs flee by Night from ThefTa- lonica to Berea, and fi om Damafcus, from ' Jeru/alemydrc. yea, St. Peter himfelf, who, when Claudius Commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome, fled, according to Bellarmw's Conceit, to y«^^^. The ' Apoftles then never run into Danger when they could avoid it; but took all that prudent care to preferve their Lives I that was confiftent with their Duty, and' the Law of felf-defence. And if Men will be fo defperate and fool-hardy, as to ex- pofe themfelves to danger when they need not, or rather than they fhould ' not gratifie their Ambition or Revenge , what Charity is it to humour them in their Extravagancies; or if we do, what Charity can we expedt from .thofe who have fo little Charity for themfelves ? To fuffer therefore as Bufy-Bodies m dther ■Mem matters, is to fuffer, faith their own lupreme Apoftle, not as Saints or Mar- tyrs, but as Murderers, or Makfadors, i Peter 4. 15. ' The Truth is, Conference was not at all concern dm the Cafe: For the Bifhop of Rome, and his Agents, found the Sheep of England to bear fuch good Fleeces, that we have no Reafon to wonder at .their reft. ^ 4 lefs ( 4® ) iefs endeavours to bring us back to his Obedience, from which they fay we had Schifmatically withdrawn our felves. But I anfwer, that in fhaking off the Roma?t Yoke at the Reformation, our Bifhops did no more than withdraw themfelves from an Ufurpation ; or refume an An- cient, independent Power, which their Predeceffors, the Brittjh Btfhops, enjoy'c} all along 'till the time of Jt^ftf» the Monk. In fhort. tuppofing the Statute of Eltr zdeth had been an Illegal, or a Perfecut- ihg Statute : Yet it was no Jci of Con- formity to any Doftrine of our Church. It was not the Iffue of any deliberate Decree of either of our Univerfities : nor (that I know) of the Church of EmUnd, Reprefented in both Houfts ef Convocation. It was purely an Att ot the Civil Power, made for its fupport and fecurity, againft the unwearied At- tempts of its Enemies: And therefore if they muft needs call this Perfecutton, it was a Perfecution rais'd by the State, and not by the Church. But, on the other Hand, when the end of a Law is once obtained, the Ri- gour of it, in all Juftice and Prudence, ought to be fufpended. And whilft thofe Gentlemen, (againft whom this Statute remains ^ 4-» ; remains ftill in force; defire only the fame Liberty of Confcience that the other Dijfenters do, /. e, to difcharge the Duties of their Function amongft the Roman Catholick Laity, according to the Laws of their Church, without diftur- bance from the Civil Power, I cannot fee what danger it can be to the State to allow them this Freedom, whilft they behave themfelves peaceably and quietly under the Government. And I am perfuaded, that fuch a gracious In- dulgence, and mild Deportment towards them, would fooner reconcile them to our Church and Government, than any other harili or feverer methods can do. For the generality of the Eriglifb Roman Catholicks^ are Gentlemen of Honour and Gratitude ; of ancient Families, and fair Eftates ; Some of them Perfons of Qua- lity of the firft Rank, very Hofpitable, Ob- liging, and Courteous to all Men ; And nothing can operate fo effeftually upon fuch generous Natures, as a kind, indul- gent, civil, and refpedlful Behaviour to- war(^s them. Now if I fhould fay, that the double Tax-Statute is a Severity, in the Opinion of many, or moft of the King's Proteftant Subjects, as well as the Roman Catholicksy J. fhould not impeach the Wifdom of the prefent Parliament, or (42) or of any other. Or that it is any Crime in a private Subjeft to offer Reafons for the Repeal of a Statute that may here- after prove prejudicial to the Govern- ment, no true Friend of the Government will fay. It is certain, that many Statutes have been Repeal'd upon the Motions, and Remonftrances of private Perfons;and what advantage it is to continue, or what harm it can be to the Govern- ment to Repeal this Statute, I believe no Man can well tell. For the Benefit of it to the Government is little or none ; to the Subje£ls, it has prov'd a great hard- fliip in thofe Hundreds, where Roman Ca- tholicks have Sold their Eftates, or turn'd Proteftants. It is pretended, that the de- fign of this Statute was, to weaken the Roman Catholtcks, and render them inca- pable of aflifting our Enemies with Mo- ney, Arms, &c, but fince the Roman Ca- tholicks have no Seats in Parliament ; fince they are fo inconfiderable for Number and for Strength; how is it pbfTible they fhould hurt the Government by any indulgence granted to them? Nay, how unlikely is it that they fliould" attempt to do it, if they were as much indulged as other Diffenters are? Be fides, all good Cafuifts deny that we may do Evil, that Good may come of it. To opprefs even an (4-3) an Enemy is an Evil. To tie an Enen\ies Hands is indeed Nature's Law, and the Voice of Reafon. But Religion forbids us to beggar Men to enrich our felves, or run th'em in Debt to Pay our own. And though it ftould be allowed that this Statute is no Species of Perfecution, I fear it is remembred as a Grievance. It is objefled, that the Roman Catholicks deferve fuch a Refentment of the Go- vernment, for their Uneafinefs, and At- tempts to fubvert it. I anfwer, fuppofe the Roman CatboUch Cafe our own, would we not be as reftlefs and uneafie under the like PreiTures ? Would we not be as glad of embracing any fair Opportunity to bring about a Revolution, fo much for our Safety and Intercft ? If it be faid, he is no Friend to the Government, who apprehends no danger from Popery: I anfwer, they are no Friends to the Go- vernment, or the King's Repofe, who teaze him with apprehenfions of Danger where there is none. Is it the way to make the Crown fit ealy on his Head, to fet him againft his Subje£ls, and to make him believe he has fewer Friends, or that his Enemies are more Numerous than they are? And were it really fo, this would be a good Reafon for the Repeal of the forementioned Statute, in hopes to '' ' .' make ( 44 ) make thpfe, who are our Enemies at prefent, our Friends for the future : For we may live to fee that happy time, when the Land-Tax fhall he wholly taken off, (that grievous Yoke, which hath gall'd our ftubborn Necks for fo many tedious Years) but our favour to the Ro- mm Catholicks will then come too late, unlefs we mean to continue the Tax upon them, when all Proteftants are dif- charged. Now, fuppofing the moft uncharitable things of them that we can po/Tibly imagine ; fuppofing, I fay, that for our kindnefs, moderation, or chanty to- wards them, they fhould ftill continue to hate us without Caufe; yet even thisBeha- viour of theirs towards us will not juftifie any feverity of ours towards them : For we are to remember, that we are re- form'd from them ; but this Reformation is not complcat, if we do not love our Enemies, and do good to them that hate us: And (whether the Roman Catholicks will or no) they are the Subjeds of £^^- landy and make the fame ufeof our Laws and Courts of Judicature, with refpett to meum and tuum, that other Proteft- ant Subjeas do; Nay, and whilft they maintain the Fundamentals of Religion, they are our Brethren too ; and therefore whilft (45) Whilft they live among us, we ought to treat them as fuch, after the Example of Jofeph^'whoowti'd and reliev'd his unkind Brethren, though they had been fo unnatural to him, as to make an At- tempt upon his Life. And if ever we hope to be delivered out of the Hands of our Enemies, to ferve God without Fear ofPer- fecutions in this World, we muft follow his Patience and Charity, whereof Jofeph was a Type, In fhort, may we not reafonably pre- fume, that a favourable Treatment of the Englifh Roman Catholicks will be one great means of ftrengthening the Qua- druple, Alliance : For then we fhall make our Foreign Allies our Friends, out of a Principle of Gratitude,who may be fuch at prefent only outoflntereft. And let thofe who pretend to have fo much at Heart the fufferings of Proteftants abroad, con- fider, whether the way to relieve them, be to opprefs the RomAn CathoUcks ac Home : Or whether it be not more natu- ral to believe, that the mild and gentle ufages wherewith thefe are treated here in England, will not be returned to Proteft- ants in Roman Catholick Countries. For let the prefent Friendfhip which RommCatho- lick Princes profefs for us Proteftants, be as fincere as we wifli, or hope it may be ; yet r ( 4^) yet Perfons of the fame Communion^ have naturally more than an ordinary Ten- dernefs and CompafTion for one another, efpecially when aggrieved or opprefTed. And we may depend upon it, that the Foreign RomAn Catholicks do not forget their Brethren in EngUnd^ but will make their cafe their own, whenever it fhall be in th^ir Power to relieve them, with- out injuring themfelves ; and therefore Prudence and felf-Intereft, as well as Re- ligion, muft oblige us to fhew the fame Charity and Kindnefs towards our Catho- lick Fellow Subjefts, that we our felves would exped or defire of them, were we within the Reach of their Power. If thefe Reafons will r ot fatisfie the Clamours, O; Cavils of thofe Hot-Headed perfecuting Zealots, who look upon all thofe as Fopfjhly affefted, who fhew any manner of Charity to the Roman Catho- licks: I enter this Caveat againft them all, protefting the Innocency of my In- tentions, which is to ferve the Govern- ment, and if Charity, the Subje£l under confidreation, has unwarily led me to Miixims of State, too myfterous and dan- gerous for Perfons of my impolitick Capa- cities and Profeffion to dive into ; I Inimb'y fubmit what I have faid to the Wifdom of mv Governours, befeeching ^^ ^ God ( 47 ) God to dired all their Councils for his Glory, the Publick Tranquillity, and the Honour of the Reformation. On the other fide, it is obje£ted, that a great many Republicans fuffer'd upon the Reftoration, befides thofe prodigious Rebels who tried and Murdered the Father's. The Truth ofwhich Cafe is this; King Charles the lid. required fome of the Chiefs of the Nonconformifis to Re- nounce their folemn League and Cove- nant, by which they bound themfelves to deftroy Root and Branch, />. to Murder him and all his Family, and utterly abo- lifh Monarchy and Epifcopacy : Which they refufing to do, he caus'd them to be apprehended, whereof fome impeni- tently died in Prifon, rather than fubmit to the King's Mercy. And will they call this Perfecution ; what for a King to tie fuch of his Rebellious SubjeQis Hands as had bound themfelves with an Oath to cut his Ihroat? This the Off- fpring of thofe Men, ceafe not to make loud Complaints of, and call a moll terrible Perfecution, after that their Fore- Fathers had murder'd the Father in cold Blood, banifli'd his Heir, and the reft of his Children, to feek their Bread in Fo- reign Kingdoms, and made fuch a Havock amongft thw Loyal Nobility and Gentry of (4.8) of thisKingdom,that fome of their pofteri- ty feel the fatal efFefts thereof to this day ; tho' by the good Providence of God, and his Blefling upon their Loyalty, they exceed in Wealth and Honour, thofe Children of the Rebel-Race, who fenfibly dwindle to decay and oblivion every day more and more. This Remark is cer- tainly true in the general, though fome Families yet remain in Poffellion of that Wealth and Riches which their Fore- Fathers Rebellion and Plunder have left behind. But to return ; fo far was the Con- finement of thofe few unhappy Mifcreants look'd upon as a Perfecution by other People, that the whole World flood amaz'd at the Clemency of the Govern- ment at the Reftoration, wherein fo very few fuffer'd fuch mild Punifhments, out of fuch a vaft Number of Rebels, who deferv'd feverer ; and a general indemni- nity pafs'd upon the reft, who had not afterwards the Grace either to ac- knowledge the King's Mercy, or their own Sins ; but, on the contrary,continued to juftifie, both by Word and Writing, their Iniquities, like a Whore's Forehead^ as the Prophet fpeaks, who refufeth to be /i/Jjamed. This Ingratitude makes the old faying true, It is he that doth the Injury tve c:innGt forgive \ and it is obferv'd of BrutuSf C49) Brutusy who had Murder'd C^far, that always after he inveigh'd againft him as a Tyrant, ita enim fa^lo ejus expediehat, faith theHiftorian,/>. it was necelTary that he fhould call C^far a Tyrant, otherwife he himfelf muft have been a Notorious Traytor. And this is certainly the Cafe of all thofe who juftifie the King's Mur- der, which they muft either maintain, or be forc'd to acknowledge their Fore- Fatliers to have been the worft of Rebels. In fhort,whatever t\iQ Nonconformijis (u^- fer'd, whether juftly or not, the Church of England is not chargeable with: For fhe that was the greateft Sufferer, was the firft that forgive, and Preach'd up Charity, and Mildnefs, and Forbearance, to an injur'd Prince, and People ; which had that good effc6l upon both^ that they wifh'd their greateft Enemies no more harm than to Repent, and the Grace to live in Peace and Subjection for the future to the Government, which they had fo lately overturned. Let us next enquire into the Behavi- our and Charity of i\\QDijf enters. If thefe Men were as fcrutinous in fearching, or as diligent in examining into their own Lives and Opinions, as they are into thofe of other Men; if they had that Charity for themfelves, which G * they ( 50 ) they have not for the Churchy fo as to own themfelves convinc'd, when they are convinc'd, they would ingenuoufly ac- knowledge (what indeed cannot be de- nied) that no Chriftians upon Earth (un- der their Circumftances; are fo Charita- bly dealt with as they are. For though, by their avow'd Principles, they are the profefs'd Enemies of the prefent Eftablifh- ment, yet they Peaceably enjoy the very fame Liberties and Immunities, that the beft and the moft difinterefted Friends to the Government do. But it feems, this is not fufficient, they want the Go- verning part, that is to fay, in plain En- glijh, they want to be entrufted with the Proteftionof a Government, which they think themfelves bound m Confcience to deftroy. And fince they have not been yet able to prevail with our Governours to yield to them in this Point, they ceafe not, by Writing and Preachfng, to call the Church of Ef?gUyid, Fopifh, and Anti- chrijlian ; but ftill rail on againft her Minifters and Altars, in a moft unchari- table, prophane, unchriftian manner, beyond the Example of former Ages: Which is a Liberty (I will be bold to fay) which no Chriftian Government in the World would allow them, btfides our own: and, I may add, a Liberty, which, to (51 > to fay no worfe of it, is an excefs of Cha- rity. For fuch a Liberty muft needs be dangerous to the Dijfenters themfelves: Becaufe whenever the Church isdeftroyed, they muft perifh in its Ruins. Such a Liberty, or rather Licentioufnefs, muft be intirely inconfiftent with Charity, upon a double Score, i. Becaufe it is deftrudlive of Natural Religion, or the Law of felf- defence. 2. Becaufe it is deftruftive of Peace and Unity, which are the chief Properties of Charity : For no Man can have true Charity for others, who is not Charitable to bimfelf. Befides, Charity doth oblige us to be thankful to God for ourprefent well-being, or happy Eftablifh- ment, which (^how can we be) if we abufe that Power God hath given us for our own Defence ? Or upon what grounds can we expert the Continuance of his Pro- te6lion, who defpife the means of our own Safety ? To deprive our Enemies therefore of the Liberty of deftroying us, I am fure, is no fpecies of Perfecution, but the Law of Right-Reafon, and highly confiftenc with Charity both to our felves, and our Enemies too ; and therefore, it very ill becomes the Character of true Church- men to skreen them from Juftice, who daily broach and publifh new DoArines, contrary to thofe already received, and eftablifh*d. For befides that this is an G 2 Argu- ( ?2 ) Argument of a great decay of Piety to- wards God, and Charity towards Erro- neous PeiTons, it favours Rank either o! Cowardice orfelf Intereft, of Lukewarm- ntfs, or Indilferency to all Religion what- ioever. It is certainly equitable enough, and moft z%'ttMt to Chriftian Charity, and Moderation, that the feveral Ss6laries be permitted to enjoy aPeaceabie and an undif- turhM Liberty of fervtng God,according to their different PerfuafionsorOpinionSjWhilft they behave themfelves peaceably and moJefllv, and forbear their unchriftian Raillery and Ciamcursagainft the Church : And with fucli a Toleration they ought in Prudence as well as Charity to reft contented, leaf! the abufe of it, to the Pre- judice ofan indulgent Government, fhould at hi\ meet with a Refentment, which fo much Ingratitude may reafonably ex- pe6l. Time was, when the Church of Er/gUnd would have gladly compounded with them, for the Tenth of that Indul- gence which they now do, and always did enjo}' : Cut to rub old Sores, is to draw on frefh Quarrels; and therefore, for Chariy's fake, 1 will forbear to make any invidious Comparifons, which may rather fcrve to let us at greater variance, than reconcile us to each other: And only ( 53 ) only take notice of that, which was the chief Caufe or Foundation of the Suffer- ings and Calamities of this Church, in the great RcbelHon, /. e. the folemn League and Covenant^ by which they who took it, bound tiieir Souls to deftroy Root and Branchy i. e. the King, his Fa- mily, and the Church eftablifli'd, or all Milignants, (^as they call'd them) who- ever they were, that had Courage and Loyalty enough to oppofe their Pro- ceedings. Now, was not fuch an impi- ous Combination of Blood-thirty Men, a fufficient Provocation for the mildefl: Government in the World, to avenge it fclf of fuch hardned Rebels ? VVhea wicked Hamm had confpired with his Lea?^uers to deftroy all the innocent Jews within his Mafter's Dominions, were they at all pitied, when they fell into the viifchiefs which they had prepar'd for others? Or was Ahxiuerus*% Conduct blamed for this piece of juftice, even ■upon his own natural SuhjeQ-s, though it was in Vindication of Strangers? Suppofe then the Church "and King at the Pvcflorarion had entered into fuch another folemn League and Covenant, to deftioy thtir Enernies Root 3nd Branch, who triug'it thtiii the Ex- ample? Or who could h3ve blamed tliem G 3 fur ( 54) for their Severity ? And yet let the feyeral Dtjjenters (notwithftanding their manifold Provocations) produce if they can, any fuch Leagues or Covenants enter'd into by the Church of England to their De- ftruftion ; and in the mean time, let them call to mind (if they can bear it) ^ho arm'd the Leaguers in France againft their King, and never henceforth cry out Po- fery upon the Church of England: For be it known unto them, that their folemn League and Covenant was almoft Word for Word the fame, which the Roman Pontifical obliges every Bifhop to fwearto, at his Confecration ; that is, that he fhall Root out all Hereticki, and all that Favour them,totheutmoft of their Power. And that they have not altered their Opinions fince, appears but too plain,not only from their prefent Behaviour towards the Church of EnzUnd, but from the flagrant. Example of the Kirk of Scotland^ who will not allow the fame Liberty of Con- fcience there^ that their Brethren enjoy in England. And when at the Treaty of Union, the £^^£7///Z; CommifiTioners labour- ed for an Indulgence to the Epifcopal Party in that Kingdom, their Propofitions v/ere rejefted with Indignation and Scorn, and not without apparent Danger oftheii Lives. For them then to grant any In- dulgence to other People, (to ufe thei ^ owi (55^ own Language) is to eftablifli Iniquity by a Lm ; but to deny this Toleration to themfelves, is rank Perfecution: So that thefe Proteus* s can blow hot and cold with the fame Breath ; and if you touch their little Fingers, they are prefently at a point,and will be their own Carvers ifthey can ; but if themfelves do never fo much hurt, let others look to it, and get Satis- faction where they can : And whether this Behaviour be agreeable to that Meeknefs, Peace, and Moderation, fo much cried up, and pretended to by them, or to Chriftian Charity,or even to the Law of doing as we would be done unto, let God and the World judge between us. The Mother has not more Charity for the Church of England than her Chil- dren : That is, the Church of Rome and the Dijfenters agree in this, that no Quar- ters ought to be allow'd to thofe whom they fuppofe to be Hereticks, For the former has inferred it in one of her Ca- nons, Non funt Homicidx, qui adverfus Ex- communicatos, X.elo Matris Ecclefias ar- mantur, i.e. they are no Murderers, who kill Men out of Zeal to Mother Church. BulL Casna decret, part 2. And the Roman Breviary maintains, that all the King- doms of the Earth are at the Pope'*s Dif- pofal ; and confequently all Men muft be dtftroy'd as Rebels, who do not think G 4 fit ( 50 fit to fubmit to his Authority. The Coun- cil o^Lateran damn'd all Hereticks in form, and accordingly every Maundy-Thurfday they are Religioufly curfed, and deliver'd over to the Devil. The Sfanijh Inquifi- tion was fet up by the Authority ot the Roman Church, and defign'd for no other end, but for the entire Extirpation o^ Here^ ticks. In fhort, the cruel MalTacre of the Proteftants in Paris and Ireland, and all the ChrilVian Blood that has been flied for Religion throughout Europe, for fome hundred Years paH:, has been owing to that cruel DoQ:rine,ofthe Lawfulnefs of extirpa- ting Hereticks,'Vtz.Z^lo Matris Eccleft^, And IthinkB£'//4w/» himfelf owns this to be the Dodlrine of the Church of Rome, in thefe Remarkable Words {ubi defunt vires) as much as to fay, if you have not Strength enough to kill Hereticks, you may let them alone ; which is a wonderful In- flance of his great CompafTion and Cha- rity towards us. The general Council of Conftance .folemnly Murdered John Hufs and Jm^w of Prague, two learned and pious Protcftants, for Htrefy, notwith- itanding Publick Security had been given for theirLives,before they would venture to confront theirEnemies; and this thatwicked Council did, upon this very Principle,/^/!/ no Faith was to be kept with Hereticks, And though C ^7 ) though the Gun-powder Treafon^ is fr.id to have been only the Confpiracy of a few defperate Jefuits, without any Au- thority or Confent from Rome^ yet it appears but too plain, that it was there firft hatch'd, and had the Po^e*s Benediction; elfe why was Garnet ^ the chiefefl: of the Confpirators, afterwards Canoniz'd and made a Martyr for it? I will forbear to produce any more In- ftances of this kind, or to defcribe the various, moll acute, and unheard of Barbarities committed upon the Bodies of fo many Thoufands of poor innocent Protefiants in IreUnd^2ind other Countries^in cold Blood, in purfuance of this abominable Do8:rine ; becaufe my defign is not to exaf- perate Prote[lmts againft Roma?? Ca-hohcks-, but to fhew them both, how contirirv fuch cruelProceedingsare totheSpiritoftheGof- peKand tothat Charity, which ttquiresall Chriftians to forbear one another ^nLove. And I could heartily wiOi, for the credit of Chriftianity in general, and fo great a Body of Chriftians as the Church of Rome, in particular, all this was nothing more than mper Calumny, Fiction, or Romance. It is not enough to fay, this is only the Opinion of a tew private Do(^ors, unlefs the Church of Rome had thought fit, by fome foiemn Ad of Council or Con- ( 58 ) Confiftorial Decree, to have openly abjur'd or declar'd her abhorrence of fuch fcanda- lous and pernicious Do£lrines : And until this is done, the charge of Perfecution muft ftill renriain good againft her, though fhe does not, or cannot, every day put this her bloody Canon in Execution. It is certain,rhat the Roman Catholicks^ in th'^ir natural Temper, areas free-hearted, courteous and obliging, as any Peo- ple in the World. But O the dreadful Effeds of this abominable Dodrine which Towers the beft-natur'd Difpofi- tions in the World ! It fills Men, the moft averfe to Anger and Revenge, full of Rage, Wrath, and Enmity; and inftead ofleavingthem as it finds them, naturally peaceable,loving, and charitable, it renders them furious cruel, and implacable to all that differ from them: Whereof we had a notorious Inftance in the late Queen Mary^ who (as all Hiflorians agree) was by Nature as Mild and Merciful a Princefs as ever fwayed the Scepter,and yet what a Deluge of Protejlant Blood was fpilt with- in the Compafs of her fhort, yet too long Reign, to the Immortal Reproach of her (otherwife unfpotted) Memory. Wherefore to conclude: Since the Church of England openly Renounces and Detefts all fuch Unchri- ftian and Uncharitable Doftrines and Pradices ; ( ^9) Pra£lices : Since fbc hath never enter'd at any time into any folemn League or Covenant, or call'd for the Secular Arm to Avenge her, even of her greateft Ad- verfaries; Since fhe Condemns all manner of Perfecution and Oppreflion, upon the Account of Confcience and Re- ligon,as Antichriftian and unlawful : Since fhe hath never impioufly perverted the Word of God, to countenance or ftir up Rebellion ; nor Fafted nor Prayed for Succefs in it: In a Word, fince her Enemies ftill continue to juftifie all thefe things which they have done : But the Church oi England : on the contrary, com- mands all her Members, (as they tender their Salvation) by all means to abound in Love, and to fliew all Meeknefs unto ail Men: What remains then, but that all who diffent from her, and wifli well to their Souls, forthwith embrace her Com- munion, as that Church, which hath moft Charity, and conlequently is the beft, and pureft Church. The The great Corner and Efficacy of Alms-giving. THAT Almsgiving is a part of the Law of Nature, the mutual Sympa- thy of Men towards each other plainly proves ; and that the very Heather/s them- felves look'd therefore upon it as a moral Duty, appears from the Example o^ Cor- nelius. Every Man is naturally kind and helpful to another: And it is from Na- ture, corrupt or degenerate, that Men are fierce and cruel. The wifefb of the Heathen Philofophers taught, Quod tibi feri non vis dteri^ ne feceris^ he. or in our Saviour's own W or (\s^ IVhatfiever je would that Men fjjould do unto you^ even fo do unto thewy which he fays, was the Sum and Subftance of the Mo[aicaL Law. Now the firft Precept which we meet with relat- ing to Alrhsy in the Law of Mojes^ is in Exodus ch. 2^.v. II. &c. where the In-. creafe of the Seventh Year of a Man's whole Eftate is given to the Poor. This Precept is fet forth at large in thefe fol- lov/ing Words of Deut. ch. 1 5. v. 7. &c. If there he among you a Poor Man of any of thy Brethren^ within any of thy G^ics, in thy hand which the Lord thy God givt-th thee^ thou Jbalt not harden thine Heart, nor fjut thine Hand from thy poor Brother: Bat thou (halt {62) Jhah open thine Hand wide unto hlm^ and [bait jurely lend him fufficient for his need^ in thsLt which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy Wicked Hearty faying^ The feventh Tear, the Tear of Releafe^ is at Hand, and thine Eye be Evil aaainji thy poor Brother ^ and thou giveji him nought^ and he cry unto the Lord againji thee^ and it be Sin unto thee, 8cc. Thefe general Commands feem to im- ply, that the People of the Jews had in a manner all things common amongft them ; and that none of them look'd up- on any thing fo much uis own, as that he was not obliged to part with, for his Neighbour's ufe, if he could fpare it from himfelf. For, befides the feventh Year of Releafe, f which was to the Poorer fort a kind of a Jubilee Year,becaufe a Year of Plenty and Rejoycing) they were moreover to be relieved at all other times, /. e. when their Neceflities rjequirM it. And hence it came to pafs, that for many Years after their Settlement in Canaan^ the Jeivs had no Poor (ftriQIy fpeaking; amongd them at all. I mean, they had no Beggars, whilfl: they obferv'd the foregoing Precepts. But their falling off from the true Worfliip of God, and theit' Cruelty to one anot[ier,by degrees brought Poverty upon them all, as God had threat- ned. ( ^3 ) ned. For the Realbn fubjoin'd to thefe general Precepts was, viz, Becaufe for this thing the Lord thy God fhall Blefs thee in all thy Works^ and in all thou puttejl thine Hand unto. And that he nnight continue his Bleflings to them, God told them, The Poor (hould never ceafe out of the Land^ and therefore it was their Intereft, as well as Duty, to remember and obferve his Charge concerning them. Now that Almsgiving is a Chriftian Duty, I need not ftand to prove ; for our Saviour has made it as necefTary a Con- dition of our Salvation, as any other Duty whatfoever ; yea, lays greater ftrefs upon it, than upon our Faith, as appears in the Inftance of the young Rich Man, who would not fell his great PofTeilions, to beftow theni upon the Poor. Wherefore our Lord lays it down as an Evangelical Precept of perpetual and indifpenfable Obligation, Luke 2. 41. Give Jims of fuch things as ye have. So ch, 12. v. ^^. Sell that ye have', and give Alms: For this he fays, Is the way to lecure the true Riches, and to Treajure up for our felves, Treafures in the Heavens. And therefore to render this Duty the more acceptable to God, in his Sermon on the Mount, he gives us Dire6lions concern- ing the right Performance thereof. From all ( ^0 ) all which, Sr. James concludes, that he who can, but being moved by a proper Objecb, will not give Alms, hath not the Love of God dwell i'/jg in him. Having thus briefly prov'd Alms- giving to be a Moral, and a Chriftian Duty; that what we beftow, by way of Alms, may properly fall under that Name, we muft confider thefe five Points. 1. Who may be properly faid to give Alms. 2. Who are the mofl: proper Objefts of our Alms. J. The mofl: proper Seafon of beftow- ing our Alms. 4. The Qijantity or Meafure. And, 5. Laftly, The Quality of our Alms. 1. Then tA€»,«oro>'n, an Alms, is fo call'd, from that Compaflion which we feel within us for the Poor we beftow our Alms upon. And therefore unlefs what we give, proceeds from this inward Senfe of their Wants or Sufferings, we cannot call it an Alms properly ; but rather a Gift or BDunty, or fuch like Name, whereunto we are excited, not by any Natural Sympathy, or the Love of God, but by Importunities, or vain Glory, or any orhtr carnal Motive. So that we muft ever remember,thar in order to entitle our ( ^7) our felves to the Promifes of God to the Merciful and Charitable, our Alms muft proceed from a Principle of Obedience to God's Will^ as well as na- tural Affeclion to our Brother. 2. We mufl be fare, that what we give is our own, or what We can fpare from our felves and Families; for though my Brother be in want, yet I am not bound to put my felf in equal Want to relieve him, much lefs to famifli my felf, to fatisfie his Hunger. Befides, the Food and Raiment, which I want as much as he, I cannot bellow upon him, without Tranfgreding tlie Law of Nature, and being Guilty of the Sin of Ingratitude towards God, who hath thought fit to do fo much for me, which he hath not done for my Neighbour; and whofe Mercies are as much magnified in my Happi- nefs and Deliverances, as in his. ^. No unjaft Perfons, or Extortioners, or Thieves, can be properly faid to give Alms, though they fliould give au'ay all their ill-gotten Treafures. For this in Eflfed is, fas tlie fayinii; is; to rob Fettr to pay PauI ; to be cruel and unjud to one Man, to be merciful to another. It is to give w'lit is not our own, and to M be ( ^8 ) be Bountiful at another Man's expence. Befides, that cannot be faidto be given out of Compaflion to one Man, which is violently taken away from another. For a truly Charitable Perfon is equally Compaflionate, and makes the fame Con- fcience of dealing juftly, and living honeft- ly, as of relieving the Poor. Nay, he knows that juftice and upright dealing is one certain way of being liberal ; whereas to cheat and over- reach others, is not only the way toincreafe the Num- ber of the Poor, but to render thofe in- capable of relieving them, who might othsrwife be as able, and as well difpo- fed to beftow their Alms upon them as our felves. But they who are ftedfaftly refolv'd to Steal no more^ nor to praftife any evil Arts to deceive their Neighbours for the time to come ; to teftifie the Sincerity of their Repentance, and to be capable of Pardon, mull: firft make Satisfaction to their in- jur'd Neighbours; and then feek to cut off their iniquities by {hewing Mercy to the Poor, according to that Refolution of Xjccheus^ Behold, Lord, half of my Goods, I will for the future give to the Poor; and if I have done wrong unto any M.w, I wtllreftore him fourfold. Therefore they who con- fent rvith Thieves, or partake with Adulte- 'Adulterersy ('as the Ffabmfi fpeaks) think wickedly that God is jucha.one as themfelves^ if they fuppofe to compound with him at lb cheap a Rate,as the beftowing now and then a few Pence on the Poor. No fuch matter Man, afTure thy felf; whoever thou art, thou muft firfi: learn to be a juft, an honeft, and a Religious Man, before thou canft be kind, Hberal, or cha- ritable. 2. Let us confider who are the moft proper Objeds of an Alms. Thtjews had a faying, Thou /halt Love thy Neighbour^ and hate thine Enemy, and thence concluded, that they were not oblig'd to fhew any Friendfhip, Mercy, or Charity, to any People but their (?ir;?: Which was both the Occafion of the Lawyer's Queftion, Who is my Neighbour^ and of our Saviour's anfwer in the Parable of a certain Man who fell among Thieves^ drc. whereby our Saviour defign'd to let us know, that every Perfon in Diftrefsfofwhat Country or Religion foever he be; is to be look'd upon as our Neighbour, and to partake of our Charity. But yet, as God is the Fountain of Love and Mercy, fo he is likewife a God of Beauty and Order ; and therefore though he requires us to look upon every Man in Trouble and Adver- 'H 2 fity, ( 7o) fity, as a fit obje8: of our Compaflion and Affiftance; yet he teacheth us to diftinguifli between Relations and Stran- gers, and between our Friends and our Enemies. For fince all Men in Diftrefs cannot poflibly partake of our Charity, any otherwife than by our Prayers and kind Wi flies, therefore our neareft Rela- tions muft have the firft place in our Affections, whether they be our Spiritual or Carnal Relations. And for this order in our Love, we have feveral Precepts, as well as Examples, in Holy Writ. Do good to ally faith the Apoftle, l?ut efpecially to thoi'e of the Houjhold of Faith. And ac- cording to this Rule, our Saviour ho- noured his Spiritual Relations before his own natural Kindred. For when one told him. Behold thy Mother^ and thy Bre- thren ^ Jland without de firing to fpeak with theey he fir etched forth his Hand towards his Dijciples,dndjaid, Behold my Mother and my Brethren, i.e. thefe I prefer to my other Carnal Relations : For whofoever JJjail do the will of my Father, which is in Heaven, the fame ts my Brother, and Stjier^ and Mother. The fame Order is to be obferved toward our natural Relations,?.^', our own Families andncareftKindred muft be preferred to our remoter Relations : And thefe again be- fore (71 ) fore our Neighbours : Our Neighbours before Strangers ; and Strangers before Foreigners. To this purpofe St. Paul faith, in his Epiftleto Ttmothy^ i Tim,'^.2>. He that provtdeth not for his own^ efpecidly thofe of his orvn Houfe^ is rvorfe than an InfdeL An Example of this Order we have in Jofeph, who preferred Benjamin^ his Bro- ther both by Father and Mother, before the reft of his unkind Brethren, by his Father only. In the Feaft that he made for them all, his Brother Benjamtn''s Mefs was five times as large as any of theirs; and at parting, 'he gave to every one of his other Brethren only one change of Raiment, and fome Money ; but unto his Brother Berjamin he gave ^oo pieces of Silver, and five Suits of Apparel. Next to our Relations, the moft proper Obje8:s of our Almsjare poor Widows,and Fatherlefs Children. As for the Widow, the impoflTibility of Receiving any Com- fort or Relief from him who was once the Friend of her Bofom, makes her Cafe the more pitiable, as her Affliftion is one continued burthen of Life, and her Lofs not to be thought of, without renewing of her Grief, and increafing of her Sorrow. For which Reafon, God, to comfort fuch difconfolate Creatures, that they might not fmk under fuch a load of AlBidions. de- H ^ clare^ { 72 ) dares himfelf a Husband to the Widow ; intimating, that nothing was fufficient to fupport her under her Calamities without himfelf: /. e, without her Hopes, and Truft, and Affiance in him, who finds out various means of relieving thofe who depend upon him, which we cannot forefee or think of. For this Realon, poor Widows were always firit takea Notice of and reliev'd as the moft com- fortlefs and dejefted Creatures, who were not able to help themfelves ; as appears from St. Va,uPs Charge to Timothy, and God's particular Providence in the Relief of the poor Widow of Sarepta, efpecially if they were Widows wdeed, /\ e. fuch as ferved God by Prayer, and other good Works. But of all Charities, the moft prudent, and beft in its Effedls, is an Alms beftowed for the Education and Support of poor Fatherlefs Children ; be- ' caufe it is an immediate Relief to the ' greateft Objedls of Companion in the ' World. It is for feeding, and cloath- * ing, and inftruQ:ing poor innocent dif- * trelTed Children, who are not capable of ' helping themfelves ; and who, by God's * Providence, are left to the wide World, * without a Friend or Relation to help ^. then. The advantages of beftowing our ' Aiiiiaibrthe Education of poor Children, ■ ■ ' ■ ' ■ ' or { 73) or fetting up Charity-Schools, are Num- berlefs, and of the greateft Confequence to the Publick, as well as to poor Orphans themfelves: For by this means, we con- tribute towards the faving of their Souls, as well as their Bodies; and do what lies in us, to root out of our Youth, all the Seeds of Vice and Wickednefs, and implant in them the early Habits of Virtue and Goodnefs. Hereby we teach them to Pray, acquaint them with the Scriptures, and furnifh their Memories with fuch Portions of them, as may be a ftock for the future Devo- tion of their Lives, and enable them to keep up fome Communion with God, even in the midft of Work and Bufi- nefs. 'Tis a fad Reproach to our Religion, faith the excellent Bifliop of Armagh^ that in the midft of a Nation where it is profefs'd and eftablifli'd, fuch Multi- tudes of poor People fiiould be found void either of natural, or reveal'd Re- ligion,and even of the very firft Principles of the Oracles of God ; fcarce having tafted of the Milk of the Word, which isneceflary for^the Nourifhment of Babes in Chrift. The ignorance of many among the lower Rank of People, is in- credible to any, but fuch a^ have fought H 4 for C 74 ) tor opportunities to try them : Nay, many know no mere of Chrid, than the Name; and have as little knowledge of cur Salvation by him, as if they had been born wild Irjd/ans^ or AmericAns. And which is yet more lamentable, when once Men are grown up in this Igno- rance, they are loft and undone, part all Remedy; for fad Experience fliews, that when they are paft their Childhood and Youth, wuhout any Impredions of Ver- tue and Hohnefs, it is an infuperable dif- ficulty ever after to work in them any truly fincere, or Jailing fenfe of Religion. So remarkably true is that Saying of the Wife Men, Train up a Child in the rvay he fijould cro^ and nhen he is otd^ he wi/I not depart from it: The full import of which is, that if we do not train him up in the Right way, while he is a Child, he. will hardly ever be brought into it afterwards. How deplorably is this verified, through the whole Rank of common Beggars, who growing up, dcftirute ot all knowledge of the Laws of God, and beiow the No- tice of human Laws, are generally the moft corrupt and piofiigate part of Man- kind ; without any itniG or feeling of Religion ; and never uie the Name of any Perion in the Holy Tririit) ,but toprophane it, C 75 ) it,in their loud and importunate Clamours for an Alms. So that what we beftow towards the Maintenance of Charity- Schools, is for feeding the Lambs of Chrift with Spiritual Nourifhment ; it is for refcuing them out of the jaws of Hell; it is for Building immortal Souls for Heaven, and everlafting Happincfs ; Souls as dear and precious in the fight of God, as thofe of our own Children, and equally the Price of his Blood. Another great Confequence of our Charity-Schools, faith the fame incompa- rable Prelate, is the Healing thofe Rents and Divifions, which are made in the Church, and a moft effeftual means of promoting Peace and Unity among Chriftians. As too many, who fct up for Learning, and Refinement, do run into Infidelity ; fo, on the other H^nd, Igno- rance is the Mother of Enthufiafim ; and this begets a Race of Hen-ftes and Schif- maticks, which are in a great degree prevented by inilru8:ing Children, not in the Words only, but in the fenfe and meaning of the Chuvch-Catechi(m : Making them acquainted with its Doftrines, Principles, and Liturgy; and creating in them a Reverence for ail Things and Per- fons dedicated to the more immediate Service of God. This for ever after pre- vents ( 16 ) vents in them that IndifFerency to their own Religion, and Lukewarmnefs, (o ex- prcfsly condemned in the Church o( Lao- dicea^ and which is fo fatally prevailing in our own. This will keep them from being tofs^d too and fro^ and carried about mth every Wind of Doctrine ^ and from any afFeftation of that fhamefui Halting between two Opinions, fo much in Vogue and Fafliion; fo that they will walk up- rightly, without a coaflant turn of the Head, and a fide-look, even towards fepa- rate and contrary Communions. This will lay a Foundation for that Peace and Unity, that Brotherly Love and Chriftian Charity, in the next Generation, which is fo notwioufly wanting in this ; for thefe poor Children, by thefe Means, will have this advantage over thofe of greater For- tune and Quality, that they will grow up without any Seafoning of Party Pre- judice and PrepofTeflion. In the next place, it is worth while to take a fliort furvey of the fecular Advantages which fo well plac'd and prudent a Charity will procure to the Publick. For it will contribute to the common good and benefit of Mankind. For 'tis not only for the Inftrudion of Children in divine Knowledge, for the Salvation of their Souls j but likewife to learn ( 77 ) learn them fuch things as fball firft qua- lifie them for it ; and then to bind them out to Trades and Callings. This ren^ ders them ufeful to themfelves, and to the Common- Wealth : This refcues them from contrading fuch inveterate Habits of Idlenefs at firft, which they can never after wear off; and puts them upon get- ting their living by an honeft Induftry: This will confiderably lefTen that great Multitude of vagrant and wandring Beg- gars, which upbraids us to God and the World, and daily multiply, to the Dif^ grace as well as Curfe of the Nation ; and unlefs the farther growth of them be prevented by Charity Schools, and wholefome Laws for that purpofe, may be the means of bringing down Judg- ments upon us. But by feafoning fo many Children with an early Senfe of Religion, and taking them off from a whole Life of Idlenefs and Want, how many Immora- lities do we hinder, which they would be otherwife guilty of? What a Flood of Iniquity do we flem? How many Cheats and Thefts, Whoredoms, and Robberies, and Murders, will be efFeftiially preven- ted, which, experience fhews, it is not in the Power of Humane Laws to yeilrain? All which, though committed by { 78 ) by the Loweft Rank of People, yet come into a general Account with God ; and are added to that Mafs of Sin, which ripens a Nation for divine Ven- geance. How many will by this means be relieved, not only from Ignorance, and Cold, and Nakednefs, but from publick Shame, and Prifon, and untimely Deaths ! And is any thing more common, than for fuch as are brought to an unhappy end, in their la ft dying Words at the Place of their Execution, to lay all their Wickednefs and Mifery upon the want of fome Care and InftruQion in their Childhood? What need I fay more^? Whatever is given on this Occafion, is for reforming the World, as far as lies in each Charitable Man's Power, nnd laying up a Score both of Temporal and Spiritual Bleflings to Pofterity. It is tor making * many, who would otherwife never * come to any Senfe, either of natural or * reveaPd Religion, good Chriftians, and * good Members of the Common Wealth; 'good Parents, and good Children; ' good Mafters and MiftrefTes, and ' good Servants: And, in fliort, * good in every Condition or Relation of . * Life. It is not only for redeeming Mul- < titudes from prefent Sin, and Danger, ' and Mifery, who would be otherwife * trained up, and exercisM from their Infancy, [19 1 * Infancy, in all kind of Villany ; but * enabling them to convey the fame Blef- * fings to thofe who come after them ; * and they again will tranfmit them far- ' ther downwards, which is doing good * through many Generations : And thus * a Man may be the Inftrument of un- * fpeakable good to all Perfons, who fhail ' be born long after he is Dead : He has * difperfed abroad^ he hath given to the Foor^ * and in this fenfe his Kighteoujwefs remaineth ' for ever. Thus far that excellent Prelate. Next to poor Children and Or- phans, poor decay'd Tradefmen, and induftrious Day 'Labourers, are great Ob- jefts of our Pity and Bounty. To lend them Money, and give them Credir, to Trade with, or fet them to Work, is a prudent and well chofen Charity, not only as it is a means to prevent the Ruin of fo many Families, but as it helps declining Houfe- keepers to retrieve their broken Fortunes, and breed up their Children, that they may not hereafter become burthenfome to the Publick, or be forc'd to beg their Bread from Dvoor to Door. And here I cannot but obferve, that the precipitate haft of Creditors has not contributed more to their Debtors undo- ing, than their own; for oftentimes, they put it out of the Power of their honeft Cuftomerj; (So) Cuftomers, by this means, to make them Satisfa£lion. Befides, to confine poor In- folvent Debtors, and thereby depriving them of the Liberty of Trading, and getting Money, is one of the moft un- chriftian and extravagant things in the "World. It is to punifh a Man for non- Performance of ImpoflibiUties, or to ex- aft from him, vi^hat we hinder him from geting; which is to exceed the Cruelty o^ Egypt im T^sk-Majlers. There are many honeft, induftrious Tradefmen, of large Families, who do not thrive fo well in the World, as they who pinch, and skrew up their Cuftomers to get Rich ; who fall into Decay, not through their own Fault, their Idlenefs, or Excefs, but fometimes for want of Trade, or through the Frowns of Fortune, or unavoidable Accidents. Now, to give fuch Honeft Men Time to work them- felves out of Debt, to lend them Money, and give them Credit, to beftow our Bounty, and to make Colledions for their Relief, to keep up their Spirits and Credit, before they quite fink, and are reduc'd to the ioweft Ebb of Fortune, is a frugal as well as a noble Piece . of Charity, as it prevents the Ruin of fo many unhappy Families, and their becom- ing chargeable to the Publick. Whereas to hale a declining Debtor by the Throat, to { 8i ) to feize upon his EfFeds, to drag him into Prifon, and at the fame time to turn his miferable Family out of Doors, to beg their Bread from Houfe to Houfe, is an unaccountable Barbarity, and yet every Day's Pra8:ice ; by which means, and the Exorbitant Fees of Lawyers, Catch-poles, and Goalers, a poor Deb- tor is moft frequently rendered for ever incapable of relieving his Family, retriev- ing his Lofs, or cancelling his Obligations to his Creditors: And as if this relentlefs Temper was not inhuman enough, there are others fo unchriftian and uncharita- ble, who rejoice at the Misfortunes of their Fellow Tradefmen, and do all they can,underhand, to procure their Deftrufti- on, that they may ingrofs all the Trade to themfelves, and, live done in the Earthy as the Prophet fays, and who indeed are fitter for the Society of Beafts, than of Men. But let all that bear the Faces of Men, or the Names of Chriftians, beware of fuch a favage and barbarous Pradice, which feldom efcapes the Judg- ment of God, even in this World ; it be- ing agreeable to the Methods of his Pro- vidence, to punifh Men's Cruelty to one another,with the worft of Temporal Cala- mities, as well as eternal Ruin. In (82 ) In the next place, that our Alms may have its due Effeft, and operate to the beft Advantage, we mufl: obferve the moft proper Seafon to beftow our Alms upon ; which is the third point to be confidered. The Apoftle dire£ls us to do good, fvhilfi we have Opportunity ; and therefore we mufl: difpofe of our Alms, not when we can beft fpare it, but when the Poor have mofl: need of it. We mufl: endeavour to prevent the Necefli- ties of the Poor, and their Importunities for an Alms; it being the Temper of many generous Poor, to choofe rather to Starve, than be put to the Shame ' and Difgrace of asking an Alms. Befides, thefooner we relieve an hungry Stomach, the lefs will ferve to fatisfie it; and the more opportunely we fl:ep in to the fup- port of decay 'd and fmking Families, the lels will be the charge, which will accrue hereafter to our felves and the Publick. Whereas to defer giving our Alms till the Poor are ready to perifli, is the fame thing as adminifl:ring Phyfick to a Man in the Agonies of Death, or to give Men Food to fill tlieir Bellies, when they have jofl: their Appetites. If we give what is fufficient to fatisfie a Man's prefent Ne- ceffity, (^though it be but a Cup of cold Water) our Saviour allures us, it fliall not { 83) not lofe its Reward. Now, what a wretched thing is it, for a Man to live always like a Muckworm, crawling on the Earth, and ever entombing himfelf in it, that cannot find in his Heart to part with any thing for the prefent, for fear of Beggaring ot Starving himfelf. They, I mean, who propofe to leave fome- thing to the Poor when they die, /. e, when they can enjoy their Riches no longer. But is that a time to deal our Bread to the Hungry, or to cloath the Naked, when we can neither ktd nor help our felves ? Is that a time to relieve the OpprelTed, when they are conuhg to our Funerals, and rejoycing at the Death of their Oppreffors? How can Men give with Simplicity or Mercy, how can they beftov/ their Alms with Chearfulnefs, when they are going to their Graves, and reflcfting on that juft Tribunal, be- fore which they are fhortly to appear? In fhort, 1 was Sick, and ye vifited me^ I was in Prijon, and ye came unto me^ faith our Saviour: Upon which Words, the Pious Bifhop of Armagh thus defcants * ' Thefe two Words (faith he) are remark- ' able, and worthy the divine Wifdom, ' which are not to be taken only in the ' Figurative,but even in the Literal Senfe, * and are dcfign'd to fignifie the a61:ual I ' going ( 84 ) * going to fee the Poor : Not to ftay till * they come to us, but to go to them ; ^ to view their Condition and Poverty ' with our own Eyes ; to find them out, * and acquaint our felves with their Mi- * feries ; and giving them our Alms with ^ our own Blands. For as the very pre- * fence of thofe who relieve them, is a ' comfort to the diftreffed and affliftcd; * as we are hereby enabled to fuit our * felves to their feveral wants, and to dif- ' tribute our Bounty the more feafona- * biy and prudently ; fo it is no fmall ' improvement to our felves. Such as Hve an eafy, luxurious, pleafurable Life, and know not the want of a Meal's Meat, have no Notion of the Miferies of the Poor; and are therefore of all People the moft backward to relieve them. But one vifit to any of thofe many Cottages,and poor CQ\\s,wherQHu^ger,2.ndThirJl,zndNakedmfs, have taken up their Refidence, would make them a little more companionate and ten- der Hearted. If they were Eye-witnefles of the ftreights and difficulties which many poor Houfe-keepers ftruggle with, who have no Work or Employment, and are afliamed to beg: If they did but hear their Child rens Cries for Bread, when they have none to give them ; this would bring them to a more merciful Temper and Difpofition: ' It would make them fenfible * of ( 85 ) of the Bounty of God to themfelves ; it would teach them to value his Bleflings; it would create in them a true Humi- lity and Lowlinefs of Mind, as feeing what they themfelves would be, how miferable Objefts of Charity and Com- paflion, if they were in the fame Con* dition. And now (faith he) let any Man tell me, what Effed or Influence can fuch things as thefe have upon a dying Man ? Or how they will ope- rate to all the Wife ends and purpofes of them, upon them, when he is Dead ? To which let me add, that the vifiting the Poor in-Perfon, and relieving them with our own Hands, is the only fure way to fatisfie our felves, that they really want what we give ; and that what we give, is not mifapplied, or lelTened, or loft : For the Poor oftentimes comes fhort of our Bounty, in whole or in parr, becaufe en- trufted in a fecond Hand : There being many Judas^s of that fort, who love to be Fingering the Poors Money, and un- der pretence of Compaflion for them, go a begging about for Alms, but to make Bags for themfelves. Befides all this, there are many things which poor Koufe- keepers want, befides Bread, Drink, and Cloathing ; but how can we adapt our Bounty to their Neceflities, without en- I 2 quiring ( 8^ ) cjulring Into them, and vifitlng them our (elves ? And for this Reafod, it were to be wiOi'd, that the Overfeers of the Poor fliould be oblig'd to give them their Weekly Albu'ance in ready Money, and not force them to take it out in this or that Commodity, which hes moft upon Hand, an:I that fometimes at fo exorbitant a Rate,that in feme places, the Poor are by thefe means robb'd of half the fmall Pit- tance order'd for them ; which is a fore and fad Oppreffion, and quire defeats the end of thofe Charitable Statutes, which have been made for their Relief, V'ltis no fmall difcredit to Chriftianity, that there are any poorChriftiansamongft: tjs. But yet is it a greater difcredit, that Chriftians fliould need Ads of Parlia- ment to relieve each other: Chriftians, i fay, who ought to (hew fo much Con- tempt of the World, as to mind nothing 'more, whilft they hve in it, but to do good to all Men, efpecially to thofe of the Houjhold o^ Vmh. But "O! the mi- ferable Covetoufnefs of Worldly minded Men, whom neither the fear of God's DifpleafurCjnor Rrgard to hLiri^s Laws^cin prevail upon ro pity their poor Brethren, partakers of the fame Fleih and Blood; infomuch, that the Overfeers of the Poor themfelves, who are fo ftridly bound to take, (87 ) take care of them, and fupply their Ne- ceffities, are their greateft Oppreffors, and by whole means,Appearances,and Remon- ftrances, the Poor in many Places fuffer a great deal more than they would do, if A61s of Parliament had never been made for their Relief. For by thefe Sta- tutes, the Poor are forbid to Beg; and yet, if, according to the Tenor ol thefe Statutes, they Sue to the Magiitrate for Relief, the Overfeers will appear againft them; and they are the more embold- ned to do fo, becaufe of the fordid Tsm- per of too many Juftices, who are Deaf to the Cries and Complaints of the Poor; and care not what Mifery they endure, fo they may but fave their Money, and live in Ea(e and Luxury themfelves. Which naturally brings me to confider, Fourthly^ The Meafure or Qiiantity of our Alms. Now we are commanded to ht Liberal according to our Poivpr -^ and if we h^vQ much, to give Ple?neo!ifly^ and to be Rich in good Works; to be rtad'^ to difirihuie and willing to comyyiunicA'e. There is fcarce any Man fo Poor, who cannot now and thengiv? an Alms, One Poor Man oftentimes reli vjs anorher ; but the Rich of this World are req-.iir'd to abo;ind, and to be as bounti;ul to the Poor, as God hath been iibtral to them ; I ^ And (88) And yet moft of them beftow an Alms fo fparingly, that it is rather a Contri- vance to get rid of the Poor at their Doors, than any real Benefit to them. Pliny tells us of a Tree, whofe Leaves are as broad as any Target, but its Fruit is no bigger than a Bean : A fit Emblem of a Rich Man, vi'ho pretends to be Religi- ous, and cannot find in his Heart to give Liberally. Under the Law of Mofes^ to- wards the Building of the Tabernacle, the pocyer fort of Jem were requir''d to give B^tdqers Skins\ and Goxts-Hair only^ and that^ was accepted. But the Rich gave Purple, and Gold, and Jeivsls, and fo were not only Rich in Eftate, but Rich in good Words too, Exod, 55. 5, 6. And io God doth expecl, that as we abound in Wealth, fo we fhould abound in good Works : As we have the Precedence of our Neighbours in Eftates, Honour, or Credit, fo we fbould have the Prece- dence of them in the beil Senfe, in our Alms and good Works ; for he that foweth Plentcoufly, fhall reap alfo Plente- oufiy : And our Saviour faith, to whom much is given, of him much [hall be requir''d, as well in the Meafure, as the Quality of our Works ; which is the laft Point to be confider'd. 5. We (89) 5- "We are required to give, not gradg- ingly^ or of Necejfity^ but with a chearful Heart, as well as a Liberal Hand ; and the Truth, is, thefe two commonly go together : We muft be ready to diftribute, and willing to communicate. But this, is a hard Sajiwg, rvho can bear it. But if Men were as willing, as they are able to give Liberally, neither the Numher nor Neceflities of the Poor would be fo great as they are ; and yet that little that comes from us, comes with fo much Relu8:ancy, and Difcontent, that a poor Man of a liberal Nature would almoft choofe to Starve, than be at the Expence of fo many Importunities for an Alms. Many have been of Opinion, that the World is near towards an End ; and many Reafons they had to confirm them in that Opinion. But nothing need perfuade us to this Belief more, than that almoft every Man, at this time, doth all he can for himfelf, and feeks to undo every Man befides. So that God muft needs come fhortly to deftroy this World, or if this holds on much longer, we fliall certainly deftroy it our felves. For if we negled to help and affift one another, what will become of -the greateft part of us? And what will become of thofe fa- vage, relentlefs Creatures, at the lafiDay, 14- who ( 9o) . who care not what Mifery, or Beggary, '' others endure, fo they may wax Rich, and bear Rule, and domineer over Men like themfelves. But the Day is coming, when every Rich Man (hall give an Ac- count of his Stewardfhip ; and then the Queftion will be, not how great have you liv'd, or how rich have you died, or what MannorsorEftateshave you left behind you. But,how many hungry Bellies have you fa- tisfy'd,hov/ many nakedChriftians have you Cloath'd ? How many poor Prifoners have you Vifitcd and Reliev'd ? And in aWord, how much good have you done in the time ofyour mortal Life; and to how many forts of People have you done it ? Then an irreverfible Sentence will pafs upon every Man, according to his Works. Which leads me, in the laft place, To fhew the great Power and Efficacy o^ Jlmsgivrrig ; for, according to the Dextrine of the Scriotures, of our Church, and of our Homilies, God will, at the lafi: Day, remember our Works, which pro- ceed from Love : He will abundantly pardon the merciful Man, purely for his Charity and Mercy to his fellow Crea- tures. That God fhould be any ways O^lio'd by our Alms, fo as to be bound in iirift Juftice to reward us for them at the i^rt Day, though we die without |lepentaace, is a DoSrine which we Pror tejlants C 91 ) teftants difown and deteft. But then we maintain, upon good Grounds, that an Alms beftowed in Charity, is of all other Duties the moft prevailing with God, for thele following Reafons. I. Becaufe it is the beft Teftimony of our Gratitude to God, for that plentiful Provifion which he hath dealt out to us, that we can outwardly profefs. ^ 2. Becaufe it is the Fruit of our Faith, in,and dependance upon the Promifes of God, that he will make them good to us at the Refurredion of the juft. ^ c\T"^^ our readinefs to part with ^ our Subftance, for the Relief of others IS a certam Indication, that cur Hearts are not divided between God and M,m^ mon-, that though Riches do increafe/rr. do not jet our Hems u^on them: That we do look upon them only as Bleffings, when we ha ve the Heart to do good wrrh them • iiut vvhen thev mi'nider to E- cfs or Vanity, Pride or Oppreflion, thiy then become S..res and Tem^tmons, and drown Men m Perdition mci Defiruaion. Now ( 92 ) Now to recommend this great Duty the more effectually to our Pra£lice ; though we Protefiants deny, that Almsgiving (exclufive of Repentance and Holinefs; can procure to us the Pardon of Sin, and the favour of God ; yet we fay, that no Other Duty whatfocver hath fo .many gracious Promifes annex'd to it as this ; and though our Saviour be the only true and proper Sacrifce for Sin, yet an Alms beftow'd upon our Fellow ViJ. Dr. Smal- Chriftians, for his fake, hath dndge his Ser- in it 3L fubordinate Efficacy mon of cb. towards the procuring the Remiflion of oui* Sins: And this we are Taught to infer from our Lord's own Words. Give Alms of fuch things us ye h/tve^ and behold all things are clean unto you. The occafion of which Words was, our Saviour's fitting down to Meatjwithout firft wafhing hisHands,con- trary to the Cultom of the Pbanfeesj who thereupon accufe him ofi£ling contrary to the Tradition of the Elders, But he, to juftify himfelf, as well as inftrud his Folio vvers, tells them. That the way to cleanfe the Soul, was to give Alms to the Poor, putting them in mind of the Expofition of their own Rabbins,upon that Saying of Solomo:'Jy By Mercy and Truth Iniquity is pttraed, Prov, 1 6. 6. And upon Job. and Ecclef, ( ^^ ) Ecdef, Alms mil deliver from Deaths and purge away all Sin : That they Jujfer not to come into darknefs ; that Water will quench a Flaming Fire, and Alms maketh an Atone^ went for Sins, Tob. 12. 8. There are many other Temporal Blef- fings promis'd to the Merciful Alms- giver, befides the Pardon of Sin, which indeed is the greateft of all Bleffings : fo faith Solomon, The liberal Soul [hall be made Fat, and he that Watereth, jhall be Wa- tered alfo him/elf. Riches and Pienteoujnefs Jhall be in his Houfe, Blejfed is the Man that provideth for the Sick and Needy, faith the Pftlmijl, the Lord jhall deliuer him in the time of Trouble. I jjjall Multiply my Days as the Sand, faith Job, becauje I have delivered the Poor, and him t'rat hath no heifer. So that he whogiv,es Almsot'fuch things as he has, or according as God hath blefs'd him, is entitled by his Promifes to the Pardon of Sin, to Longevity, to Riches and Plenty, and deliverance from Trouble. In a Word, God will Blefe him in the Houfe, and in the Field, in his Perfon, and in his Pojlerity, in his Goods, and in his Name, in hts Body, and in his Soul.. If vi^e be ready to hear the Cries of t.he Poor, God u'ill be ready to hear our Prayers, and ( 94) and pour down his Benefits upon us ; he will fpeak comfortably to our Souls in Afflictions, and either make our Bed in our Sicknefs, or deliver us at the Hour of Death, and in the Day of Judgment. Glory he to GO D. 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