adoration to the divine majefty of the bleffed Spirit. 2. To work in us an humble affection and a devout thankfulness to God for fo inestimable a favour conferred upon us, fuch as is the prefence and inhabitation, the counfel, conduct, and affiftance of God's Holy Spirit in us: him we must acknowledge the author of our spiritual life, of all good difpofitions in us, of all good works performed by us, of all happiness obtainable by us; to him we must render all thanks and praise. Therefore, 3. To excite us to defire earnestly and pray for God's Spirit, the fountain of fuch excellent benefits, fuch graces, fuch gifts, fuch privileges, fuch joys, and bleffings unexpreffible: if we heartily invite him, if we fervently pray for him, he will certainly come; fo hath our Saviour promised, that Luke xi.13, our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to them which ask him. 4. We thould endeavour to demean ourfelves well toward the Holy Spirit; yielding to that heavenly gueft, vouchfafing to come unto us, a ready entrance and kind welcome into our hearts; entertaining him with all poffible respect and obfervance; hearkening attentively to his holy fuggeftions, and carefully obeying them; not quenching the divine light or devout heat he kindles in us; not refifting his kindly motions and perfuafions; not grieving or vexing him; that fo with fatisfaction he may continue and abide with us, to our infinite benefit and comfort: it should engage us to eleanse ourselves from all filthinefs of flesh and fpirit, that we may be fit temples for fo holy and pure a Spirit to dwell in, left he loathe and forfake us. 5. It is matter of comfort and encouragement (exceedingly useful and neceffary for us) to confider, that we have fuch a guide and affiftant in our religious practice and spiritual warfare. If our lufts be ftrong, our temptations great, our enemies mighty, we need not be disheartened, having this all-wife and all-mighty friend to advise and help us : his grace is fufficient for us, against all the ftrengths of hell, flesh, and the world. Let our duty be never fo hard, and our natural force never fo weak, we shall be able to do all things by him that ftrengtheneth us; if we

Eph. iv. 4.

Epift. ad
Magnum.

Cap. vi.

menos.

will but faithfully apply ourselves to him for his aid, we cannot fail of good fuccefs.

The Holp Catholic Church.

THE Holy Catholic Church: in the more ancient forms it ran only, Holy Church, (the word Catholic being left out;) and in fome of them it had not the fame position as now, being put in the laft place: and it seems in the moft ancient fymbols the Church was not propounded as an object of faith directly and immediately, but was mentioned obliquely, upon occafion of remiffion of fins ministered by it, of eternal life obtained in it: as we may reafonably deem from that notable place in St. Cyprian; Nam cum dicunt, (when they profefs in the fymbol at baptifm,) credis remiffionem peccatorum et vitam æternam per Ecclefiam: to which kind of expreffion that place in Tertull. de Baptifmo feems to allude, Cum fub tribus et teftatio fidei, et fponfio falutis pignorentur, necessario adjicitur Ecclefiæ mentio. And if we confult the most ancient Vid. lib. de fummaries of faith extant in Irenæus and Tertullian, and Symbolo ad Catechu-compofed by them, questionless according to the general fenfe of their times, we shall not find this article propoundTheodoret. ed; not even in the Nicene Creed itself. It is therefore most unprobable that this article (either in substance, or at least according to this manner of proposal and expreffion) is of a later standing than the reft; being introduced (as is likely) upon occafion of those many herefies and fchifms, which continually sprang up, to secure the truth of Chriftian doctrine, the authority of ecclefiaftical difcipline, the peace and unity of the Church, by obliging men to profess their disclaiming any confent or confpiracy with those erroneous and contentious people, (who had devised new, destructive, or dangerous conceits against the general confent of Chriftians, and drove on factions contrary to the common order and peace of the Church ;) to profefs, I fay, their disclaiming fuch heretical principles and factious proceedings; and their conftant adherence to the doctrines generally embraced by the churches founded and inftructed by the Apostles; as also their per

i. 12. hift.

fiftance in concord and communion with them; their readiness to observe the received customs and practices derived by them from apoftolical inftitution; their fubmiffion to the laws and difciplines established in them by lawful authority. This I conceive to have been the meaning of them who first inserted this article, of believing the Holy Church, into the Creed: I believe; that is, I adhere unto, (for as we did at first observe, belief here is to be understood as the nature of the matter fhould require,) I adhere unto, or am perfuaded that I ought to adhere unto, that body of Christians, which diffused over the world, retains the faith taught, the discipline fettled, the practices appointed by our Lord and his Apostles.

And that men fhould be obliged to do thus, there was ground both in the reafon of the thing and in Scripture. In reason, there being no more proper or effectual argument to affure us that any doctrine is true, or practice warrantable, to convince fectaries deviating from truth or duty, than the consent of all churches, of whom (being fo diftant in place, language, humour, cuftom) it is not imaginable, that they should foon or eafily conspire in forfaking the doctrines inculcated by the Apoftles, or the practices instituted by them: which argument preffed by Tertullian, Irenæus, and other ancient defenders of Chriftian truth and peace, may well, as in matters of this kind, go for a demonftration: and that fentence of Tertullian Tertul. de may well pass for a certain principle and axiom; Quod præfcript, apud multos unum invenitur, non eft erratum, fed tra- 3, &c. ditum.

Iren. 1, 2,

30.

And for Scripture, as it foretels that pernicious herefies should be introduced; that many false prophets should 2 Pet. ii. 1. arife, and feduce many; that grievous wolves fhould come Acts xx. 29, in, not fparing the flock; and men should arise, speaking Matt. xxiv. perverfe things to draw difciples after them; as they warn us to take heed of fuch men, to reject and refuse heretics, to mark those which make divifions and fcandals befide the Rom. xvi. doctrine which Chriftians had learnt, and to decline from Col. ii. 8.

De præfcr. cap. 28. Conftat id effe ab Apoftolis traditum, quod apud Ecclefias Apoftolorum fuerit facrofan&tum. uh+

11. vii. 15. Tit. iii. 10,

17.

2 Theff. i. 6,

3, 5.

1 Tim. vi. them; to stand off (apioτáva) from fuch men as do έrepodiSaoxaksiv, teach things different from apoftolical doctrine, and do not confent to wholesome words, (the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,) and the doctrine according to godliness; as it teacheth us that herefies and factions are works of the flesh, [proceeding from pride and ambition; felf-intereft and covetousness; peevish and perverfe humour; blindness and vanity; rashness and inftability; dotage, diftemper, and corruption of mind; deceit, cozenage, craft, and hypocrify; want of good confcience and reverence to God;] fo it also describes the univerfality of them who stick to the truth, and obferve the law of Chrift; are disposed to chaEph. iv. 4. rity and peace with all those who call upon our Lord with Eph. i. 22. a pure mind; (that is, with all fincere Chriftians ;) to be one body, knit together and compacted of parts affording 1 Cor. xii. mutual aid and supply to its nourishment; and joined to, Eph. iv. 3, deriving fenfe and motion from, one Head; and informed by one Spirit; as one house, built upon the foundation of pro1 Cor. xii. phets and apofiles, Chrift himself being the chief cornerEph. ii. 21. fione, in whom all the building is filly framed and con1 Pet. ii. 4, nected; as one nation or people, fubject to the fame law Heb. xii. and government, (used to the fame language, cuftom, Rev. iii. 12. and converfation;) one city, one family; one flock under xxi. 2, 10. one fhepherd; laftly, one church or congregation: for, as

2Tim.ii.22.

iv. 16.

Rom. xii. 5.

12.

4.

13.

5. ii. 19.

23.

fometimes every particular affembly of Chriftians, and fometimes a larger collection of particular focieties, combined together in one order, or under one government, are termed churches, (exxλnoia,) fo the whole aggregation of all churches, of all Chriftian people in the world, is frequently called the Church; even as the whole body of those who lived in profeffion and obedience to the Jewish law (which was a type and image of the Chriftian Church) was called, (Cahal,) ixxxnola, the congregation; from whence I conceive this name was taken; and as among them that word did fignify fometimes any parfunt, etiam ticular affembly, fometimes the whole body of fuch perlaici, ibi ecclefia eft. fons, who had right and obligation to affemble for the service of God; fo correfpondently was the word used in the New Teftament; fometimes for any fociety leffer or

Ubi tres

Tertul. Exh.

Caft.

greater; fometimes for the whole body of God's new people; all the true fubjects and fervants of Chrift; that is, for the catholic or univerfal fociety of the faithful: yet even in this latter fenfe there is fome diftinction; for fometimes it is taken in a sense, (partly extenfive, partly reftrained,) fo as to fignify all thofe good men, and only fuch, which in all places and all times did or fhall faithfully worship and ferve God; fometimes in a sense (in one refpect more wide, in another more ftrict) for all those who at present, in any age, through all parts of the world, do openly profefs the fincere faith and obedience of Chrift; maintaining an external practice agreeable to that profeffion: according to both which senses we may interpret the Holy Catholic Church here, they being, as to the duty required of us, conjoined and coordinate: for whatever is faid of the Church in Scripture, (all the characters and commendations attributed to it ;) as it doth principally agree to it in the firft of thefe fenfes, fo it doth in fome kind and measure agree to the latter: and therefore (without distinguishing) we may say that this is the Holy Catholic Church, which we believe; the Zion pr. cxxxii. which the Lord hath chofen, which he hath defired for his 13. habitation, where he hath refolved to place his reft and refidence for ever: The mountain feated above all mountains, Ifa. ii. 2. unto which all nations should flow: The house of God, Mic. iv. 1. built upon a rock, against which the gates of hell fhall not 18. prevail; the pillar and firmament of truth, which it by its profeffion and practice in a manner supporteth and maintaineth: The new Jerufalem and city of God; the mother Rev. iii. 12. of us all; the beloved fpoufe of the Lamb; the elect gene-Rev. xix. 7. ration, royal priesthood, holy nation, peculiar people: The Matt. xxii. Church which Chrift hath purchafed with his own blood; Eph. v. 25, which he delivered himself for, that he might fanctify it, and &c. cleanfe it with the washing of water by the Word; that he A&s xx. 28. might prefent it to himself a glorious Church, not having Eph. v. 25, Spot or wrinkle, nor any fuch thing; but that it might be holy and unblemished.

Holy we see it is exprefsly faid to be in Chrift's defign: holy, as confifting of perfons feparated from the world,

Matt. xvi.

Gal. iv. 26.

2. XXV. 10.

1 Pet. ii. 9.

&c.