These are the only direct instances of the administration of this rite in the new testament, and these were by apostolic hands, nor have we the least intimation that it was ever performed by any other. Indeed, the very meaning of the rite seems to confine it to the chief governors of the church. That the design of the rite is to confer the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, appears from St. Paul's asking the Ephesian converts, whether they had received the Holy Ghost, since they believed; and from the visible effects that followed the laying of his hands upon them. The modern term Confirmation, is, I know, generally understood by people to mean no more than their ratifying and confirming the vow and profession they made, or that was made by others in their name, at their baptism. But in truth, this is but one part of the meaning even of that word. In that solemnity, there is not only the ratification of the baptismal vow made by those who are confirmed; but there is, on God's part, a ratification made, by his authorised minister, of the regeneration or adoption into God's family, and of the remission of sins, which they received in baptism. There is also in confirmation, a ratification of the baptisms performed by the inferior clergy, made by the chief minister of God's church; and, if any thing has been done amiss, through ignorance or inadvertency, we humbly trust in the divine mercy and goodness, that it is therein remedied, and the baptism rendered valid, and such as God will accept, and acknowledge. The designation of this holy rite, by the word Confirmation, was not known in the primitive church. They called it by its original name, laying on of hands; and sometimes denoted it by, the sealing, and the anointing; because this sacred ordinance was then administered by the bishop's dipping the end of his finger in the holy chrism, or consecrated ointment, and making the sign of the cross on the forehead of the person on whom he was about to lay his hands. With respect to the chrism, it was called the anointing. That the anointing with consecrated oil, or ointment, is C a h al re ha the thi thi spe SO, Spi sigr of 1 emblematical of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, appears from so many instances and allusions in scripture, that we have no right to suppose any christian ignorant of it: And as the subject has already been under consideration, in the discourse on the apostolical commission, it will be unnecessary to say any thing more about it, in this place. With respect to the sign of the cross made on the forehead of the person upon whom the bishop was about to lay his hands, this rite was called the sealing, referring to the original use of a seal, which was not only to secure letters from the intrusions of curiosity, but to mark a person's goods; by which means, his property could be ascertained to others, and claimed by himself. This making the sign of the cross on the forehead was, therefore, in its design, sealing the party with the seal, or mark of Christ, by which he knew and considered himself, and was declared to others, to be the soldier and servant of Jesus Christ, bound to fight manfully under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil;' and to serve him in holiness and righteousness, in the unity of his church, to the end of his life. There are several passages in the apostolical epistles which seem to have a direct allusion to this practice, and cannot be well explained without reference to it. ، The anointing,' saith St. John, ' which ye have received of him, abideth in you- the same anointing teacheth you of all things;'* that is, the Holy Spirit of God which ye received from Christ, when ye were, at the laying on of hands, anointed with the holy chrism, as an enablem of those blessed gifts and graces which ye then receivedthis Holy Spirit ' abideth in you, and teacheth you of all things.' And St. Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians, speaking of hope, or trust in Christ, says, 'In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, 't &c. alluding, most probably, to the signing of the forehead with the cross, at the laying on of hands, after baptism, for the purpose of conferring the 1 John ii. 27. † Eph. i, 13. See also chap. iv. 30, and 2 Cor. i. 22. gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, and confirming their hope and confidence in Christ, who had procured that blessed Spirit for them, which was then communicated to them, in such measure as God saw best. It is commonly said, by those who reject the rite of confirmation, that the laying on of hands was to procure the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, and that it ceased with the lives of the apostles. But this ought to be proved, as well as said. It is the very point in dispute, and no one has a right to assume it. Besides, I have proved from St. Paul, that laying on of hands is among the fundamental principles of christianity; equally so with bap.. tism, and therefore must be common to all christians. That miraculous gifts were sometimes conferred in confirmation, is readily allowed. That they were always conferred, even when confirmation was administered by the original apostles, does not appear. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are various, depending, both in kind and degree, on the good pleasure of God. While miraculous gifts were necessary for the propagation and establishment of our holy religion, God graciously gave them: when they had answered his purpose, he withdrew them. And it is just as good an argument against the present necessi ty of Christ's religion in the world, that the miraculous powers which attended its first publication have ceased; as it is against confirmation, that the miraculous gifts, which, in many cases, attended its first ministration, continue no longer. The operations of the Holy Spirit are not confined to miraculous powers. If they were, where miraculous powers are not, there the Holy Spirit cannot be. His gifts and graces are necessary for the sanctification of the heart, and for all the purposes of holy living; and as necessary now, as ever they were, We have, therefore, a right to conclude, that God gives them now, as well as he formerly did; and by the same means too. For God is the same now that he formerly was, and his religion the same it was in the time of the first apostles. We know that many of the first preachers of christianity were endued with various miraculous gifts, and that : those gifts have ceased. Ought preaching to be laid aside, because the miraculous gifts which attended the first preachers have been withdrawn ? If not, why should confirmation be laid aside, because the miraculous gifts which sometimes accompanied its original administration no longer subsist? When the truth of Christ's religion had been established by miracles, and the holy scripture completed by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, God saw best to withdraw both those gifts, and to leave his church to his written word for the rule of its faith and practice. And to that word I appeal for the doctrine of confirmation, or laying on of hands. There we find it, among the first principles of our holy religion. He that hath eyes to see, let him see; and I pray God to give him a heart to understand, and a will to obey. When we set up to judge of the efficacy or propriety of God's institutions, we step out of our line: We are no judges of either; to believe and to obey make the whole of our duty. Water, we know, has no natural power to wash away sin, or to initiate men into the church of Christ: and yet God hath appointed baptism with water to be the channel or instrument of our regeneration, or new birth into his kingdom, by which, through the operation of his Spirit, we become members of Christ's body; to use the apostle's style, ' of his flesh and of his bones. Scepticism may doubt, and philosophy may inquire, whether this be so. Faith will receive it, and piety submit to it, as the appointment of him whose word is power, and who can as easily give efficacy to the water of baptism to wash away sin, as he did to the water of Jordan to wash away Naaman's leprosy. Further, we know that of ourselves we are weak andfrail, and unable to do the will of God. From holy scripture we learn, that our whole ability to think or to do that which is good comes from him. That informs us also, that God works in us by his Spirit. His Spirit is promised to his church through Christ its head; and, through him, the head, the Spirit is shed on all his members. • Eph. v. 30. 1 For, however it may be with the world at large, the Spirit animates christians only as they are members of that body of which Christ is the head. This is perfectly congruous to nature. In the natural body, the head animates and governs its own body, and every member of it; but only the members of its own body; not the members of another. And, as Christ appointed baptism to be the sacrament of initiation into his church, by which we are made members of his body; so his apostles, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in virtue of Christ's commission to govern and regulate his church, as his delegates, did practise laying on of hands upon those who had been baptised, as the means or rite of conveying the graces of the Holy Spirit to them. This had been fully proved; and, that this rite has continued in the church, from the time of the apostles to this day, might easily be proved from a number of primitive and modern authors. I shall only mention three of the old writers, and they shall be from different periods. As to modern times, the matter will not admit of a dispute. About eighty years after St. John the apostle, flourished Tertullian. He wrote upon baptism, and expresses himself to this effect : ' After baptism, is the laying on of hands; by blessing and prayer, inviting the Holy Spirit, who graciously descends from the Father upon the bodies cleansed and blessed by baptism.'* St. Cyprian lived sixty years after Tertullian. Speaking of the Samaritans, who had been converted and baptised by St. Philip, and confirmed by St. Peter and St. John, he says, • The same thing is done among us. They who are baptised are brought to the rulers of the church, that by our prayer, and the laying on of our hands, they may obtain the Holy Ghost, and be perfected with the seal of the Lord.'† The testimony of St. Jerom, who lived in the fourth century, is full to the same point. Treating of confirmation, he says, 'If it be demanded where it is written, that is, what authority of scripture there is for it, ' it is written in the acts of the apostles. But if there * De Baptismo, c. 8. † Epist. 73. ad Fubacianum. |