nounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the finful lusts of the flesh: to believe all the articles of the christian faith; and to keep God's holy will and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of their life. Where, by the devil we mean all the fallen anThe devil, gels, of which one is chief prince, or head; that great enemy of Chrift, and his church; who having feduced our firft parents, hath ever fince had, through God's permiffion, a great power in the world, and ftill feeketh our destruction, by tempting us to fin, and then accufing us to God for it. And The works of the devil are all wickedneffes and His works, vices, but in particular, all idolatry, witchcraft, fortune-telling, and dependence on the creatures: and especially the crimes of which the devil is principally guilty, and tempts men to; fuch as pride, envy, murder in fact, or in the heart, lying, deceiving, and misleading, especially in matters of religion. And When we renounce the devil and all his works, we reject and withstand that ufurped power and dominion, which he exercises in the world, we refift his perfonal temptations; and engage in no kind to be partakers of his crimes, as we would not share in his punishment. The world, By renouncing the world, chriftians abfolutely renounce a yielding of themselves up to thofe cuftoms and practices of worldly men, which are in themselves finful, and they fo far renounce the honours and riches of the world, as not to be ambitious of the former, nor covetous of the latter; and, in general, do hereby look upon themselves debarred from having more to do, than what is neceffary, with any thing in the world, which may be like to prove an occafion of fin to them, or that may probably tend to turn them from God, and draw off their mind from the other world. They must never run wilfully into temptation. The flesh. As to the finful lufts of the fiefh, they are thus reckoned up; adultery, fornication, uncleannefs, lafciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred and variance, emulation, wrath, ftrife, feditions, herefies, envyings, murders, Drunkenness, drunkenness, revellings, and fuch like: and confequently, to renounce all the finful lufts of the flesh, is to avoid adultery and fornication, rioting and drunkenness, and all that filthiness of the flesh and spirit, which is inconfiftent with chriftian purity, and will render us unclean in God's fight. Finally, chriftians in their baptifm abfolutely renounce all defires whatsoever, which faften upon any forbidden, and therefore unlawful object: fo as never to give any indulgence, or confent to them, much less must they follow, or be led by them to the commiffion of any finful act. the chriftian faith. By the articles of the chriftian faith we are to understand all thofe doctrines of religion, for which we have the authority of Chrift and his apoftles, the funda- To believe mental points whereof are fummed up in that form of found words; which, because it contains the heads of the doctrine preached by the apoftles, and was compiled, for the most part, in or near their times, is called the apostles creed. To which we are not only to affent, but are also strictly obliged by our baptifmal vow In what to learn them, both as to the words and meaning manner. of them. For, the nature of that faith, which we are to give to the articles of our creed, is fuch an affent as must be fincerely from the heart, according to that faying in the viiith chapter of acts, If thou believeft with all thine heart, thou mayeft be baptized; it must be active and work by love; and ftedfast without wavering: not only believing the great benefits and promises of God to mankind, but gratefully accepting of the fame, by a dutiful obedience and refignation to God through Chrift; and labouring together with the Holy Spirit to escape the judgments of God, and fecure unto ourfelves a joyful refurrection: otherwise it will little avail us to believe all the articles of the christian faith. By the promise to keep God's holy will and commandments, weare bound by vow to yield an universal obedience God's commandments. unto, and to keep as long as we live our good refo- To keep lutions; not to break, but to keep the ten commandments of the moral law; under which are included all those particular precepts of the Old and New Teftaments, which are reducible to one or other of thofe heads: for, as E Jefus Jefus himself obferves, on these commandments hang all the law and the prophets. tion of these VOWS. Thus I have shewn you the nature of the vow in The obliga baptifm, and now I must inform you, that except a christian, when arrived at years of understanding, shall believe and do, as promifed by his fureties in baptifm, he will certainly forfeit all the benefits thereof; because the benefits promised by God in baptifm are that part of God's covenant with man, which we have no reason to hope we shall obtain, till we comply with our promises made to him in that facrament; which by God's help we are always able to perform: for God never can be fuppofed to command, or require more of us, than what he enables us to perform: and therefore, both in juftice, and regard of our own interest, we are bound to stand to this covenant, which was made in our name by our godfathers and godmothers; because, they promised no more than what is implied in the very nature of baptifm; and we are thereby united to Christ in his death; which union is formed by baptifin, when we are made members of Chrift's myftical body, the church, whereof he is the head, and wherein we profefs to believe what he hath revealed, and perform what he hath commanded; and engage to govern our lives by that gofpel, which he hath revealed and commanded to be published to all the world: and this union is farther maintained by preferving communion with the church, in prayers, and in the facrament, and by living in a regular fubjection to, and strict union with, our fpiritual governors. Moreover there are great privileges that are deOf what be- rived from this union, from our being living memnefit. bers of Chrift's mystical body: viz. The gracious promises of pardon and forgivenefs of fin upon our true repentance, the affiftance of God's bleffed Spirit, and the influences of his grace to enable us to work out our falvation: The benefit of Chrift's interceffion in heaven, where he is an advocate for us with the Father: A fhare in all thofe promises of care and protection made to the church; and, to encourage our perfeverance, an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, a crown of glory that fadeth not away, For, though all man kind are in the hands of God's unlimited goodnefs, yet his covenanted mercies are the peculiar lot and portion of chriftians, the members of Chrift's holy church, who honour God by a due discharge of those things promised in baptifm; of which promises you have already been taught what that firft vow obliges us to renounce, namely, the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the finful lufts of the flesh. And therefore, Let us proceed to enquire what that faith is, without which it is impoffible to please God, and to which we give our affent when we profess to believe all the articles of the chriftian faith, that form of found words commonly called the apoftles creed; of all which articles we shall treat, after that I have laid down fome inftructions concerning divine revelation, and given fome convincing reafons for it's certainty, and confequently, why we are obliged to rely on the authority of holy fcripture. VI. Concerning a divine revelation, the proofs are three : firft they may relate to the perfon infpired; fecond revelation. ly, to those that receive the matter revealed from Of divine the perfons infpired; thirdly, to thofe that live remote from the age of the infpired perfons; as is the cafe of all christians fince the times of Chrift, and the apoftles his fucceffors. For if the Almighty vouchfafeth to make a revelation, or manifeft and discover any truth or thing to a man, of which he was before ignorant; it is very reasonable to think that he will fatisfy the perfon concerning the reality of it; for, it cannot fignify any thing, or have any effect upon the man, unless he be fatisfied it is fuch. And, the affurance of a divine revelation, as to the perfon himself, is most probably wrought by the great evidence it carries How fpiritu of it's divine original; for no man can doubt, but that God, who made our understandings, and knows the frame of them, can accompany his revelations with fo clear and overpowering a light, as to discover to us the divinity of them, and that they are the manifestation of his will to mankind. Wherefore, ally known to man. In God's manifefting himself to the prophets, there was fuch a powerful reprefentation on the part of the messenger of God's will, and that clearness of perception on the part of the perfon infpired, or to whom he was fent, as did abundantly make good thofe phrafes of vifion and voice, by which it is described in fcripture. Yet fometimes there was added fome fign or fupernatural proof; for, when Gideon had fome doubt of what the angel faid, when he knew not who he was, and betrayed fome fear, when required to go on a difficult enterprize, he was confirmed by the fire out of the rock, that confumed the flesh, and by the fleece, and by the foldier's dream, and the interpretation thereof: and Mofes was convinced not only of his own miffion from God, but of the acceptance and authority he should have with the people, when the rod in his hand was turned into a ferpent; and his hand by putting it into his bofom, was made leprous, and again by taking it out was cured in a moment. hidden. By which examples you may perceive, why a To whom good man has that certainty, which the deluded perfon wants; because a good man, when he is infpired, and reflects upon it, and diligently confiders the affurance, which he finds in his mind, can give a rational account of it to himself, which the deluded perfon cannot have; whofe pofitiveness often rifeth from pride and felf-conceit, which have no fmall influence; but more especially from a difordered imagination or fancy, which interrupts the operations of the mind; whereas a real inspiration will bear the teft of the prophet's reafon, and the peoples examination. The confidence, therefore, of enthufiafts in their imaginary infpirations, arifing from a defect of their reafon and judgment, is in itself no more an argument against this, than becaufe fenfe is fometimes deceived and impofed upon, that therefore it is never certain; or because there are errors and difputes among mankind, that therefore there is no truth. Confidence in imaginary inspirations may be great, but the perception, and fo the affurance cannot be equal to the truth. Befides, It's outward syidences. The truth of fuch a revelation may be judged of, from the reasons why we ought to believe the per fons |