a Gracious Father unto us for ever Therefore hee has given a Charge to Baptize all that are his in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost onely with pure water giving us thereby to understand that as the water cleanses the filth of the body when it is powred upon us which may be seen upon the body of him who receives the Baptisme being sprinkeled thereby so the blood of Christ performeth the same within in the souls by the holy Ghost sprinkling and cleansing them from their sins and regenerating us from Children of wrath unto Children of God. However this is not done by the outward water but by the Sprinkling of the precious blood of the Son of God who is our red Sea through which wee must pass for to escape the Tyranny of Pharao which is the Devil and to enter in to the Spiritual Land of Canaan Likewise the Ministers give us on their part the Sacrament and that which is visible but our Lord gives that which is signifyed by the Sacrament viz. the invisible gifts and graces washing cleansing and purifying our Souls from all filthiness and iniquities and renewing our hearts and silling them with all comfort giving us a true assurance of his Fatherly Kindness enduing us with the new man and putting away the ould man with all his deeds Therefore wee believe that whosoever intends to enter into life eternal he must be Baptised but once with the onely Baptism without ever repeating the same for wee cannot be born twice And this Baptism is not onely usefull whilst the water is upon us and that wee receive the same but also through all our life time therefore wee reject the error of the Anabaptists who are not content with the one onely Baptism which once they have received but condemn also the Baptism of the Infants of Believers which wee believe ought to be baptized and sealed with the mark of the Covenant as the Infants in Israel were circumcised on the same promise which is made to our Children And indeed Christ has shed his bloud no less for the washing of the Children of the faithfull as he hath done for adulted persons And therefore they ought to receive the sign and the Sacrament of that which Christ has done for them as under the Law the Lord commanded to participate unto them the Sacrament of the sufferings and dying of Christ shortly after their birth offering for them a Lambe which was a Sacrament of Jesus Christ Besides what the Circumcision did unto the Jewes the same is done by the Baptisme unto our Children which is the cause why St. Paul call's the Baptisme the Circumcision of Christ XXXV Wee believe and confess that our Saviour Jesus Christ has instituted and ordained the Sacrament of the holy Supper to nourish and sustain those which hee hath already regenerated and incorporated into his Family which is his Church those now who are regenerated have two sorts of lives in them the one corporal and temporal which hath accompanied them from their very birth and is common to all men the other is spiritual and heavenly which is given them in the second birth proceeding from the Word of the Gospel in the fellowship of the body of Christ and this life is not universal but belongs onely to the Elect of God. Thus God hath afforded us to the nourishing of the corporal and earthly life earthly and ordinary bread which is serviceable thereunto and common to every one as life is But to the sustaining of the spiritual and heavenly life which the Believers enjoy he hath sent the living Bread which comes down from Heaven to wit Christ Jesus who feeds and nourishes the spiritual life of the Believers when he is eaten that is assumed and received by faith in the Spirit And for to represent unto us this Spiritual and Celestial Bread Christ hath ordained an earthly and visible Bread which is a Sacrament of his Body and the Wine for a Sacrament of his Blood to testify unto us that as really as wee receive and have in our hands the Sacraments and do eat and drink the same with our mouth by which our life is afterwards sustained so likewise by faith which is the hand and mouth of our Souls the true Body and Blood of Christ our onely Saviour is received in our soules for our spiritual life And it is certain and without all doubt that Jesus Christ has not commanded us the use of his Sacraments invain Therefore he worketh in us whatever he represents unto us by these holy Signs although his method surpasseth our understanding and is incomprehensible to us even as the operations of the holy Ghost are hidden and incomprehensible In the mean while wee do not err in saying that which wee have eaten and drunk is the natural Body and true Blood of Christ but the manner of our partaking of the same is not the mouth but the Spirit through Faith. Wherefore then Christ Jesus sits alwayes at the righthand of God his Father in the Heavens and nevertheless he makes us partakers of him by Faith. This Feast is a Spiritual table at which Christ distributes him self unto us with all his goods and he causes us to enjoy both him self and the merits of his sufferings and Death nourishing strengthening and comforting our poor distressed Souls by the eating of his flesh and refreshing and cherishing the same by the drinking of his Blood. Further thô the Sacraments are joined with the things signified yet they are not received with these two things by every one for the wicked receives the Sacrament to his condemnation but he doth not receive the truth of the Sacrament so Judas and Simon the sorcerer both did receive the Sacrament but not Christ who was signified by it for onely the Believers are made Partakers of him Lastly wee receive the holy Sacrament in the Congregation of the people of God with humility and reverence solemnizing the holy remembrance of the death of Christ our Saviour with thanksgivings making there Confession of our Faith and the Christian Religion None therefore ought to apply him selfe thereunto without a foregoing trial least eating of the bread and drinking of the cup he eats and drinks him self a condemnation To be short through the using of this holy Sacrament wee are stirred up to fervent Love to God and our neighbour Therefore wee reject all mixings and damnable inventions which men have added unto the Sacraments accounting them but profanations of the same and say that wee ought to be content with the ordinance delivered unto us by Christ and his Apostles and that wee ought to speak in the same Termes as they did XXXVI Wee believe that our Gracious God because of the corruption of Mankind hath ordained Kings Princes and Magistrates intending that the World should be governed by Laws and Policy that so the dissolution of mankind might bee refrained and all things proceed orderly among men To that purpose
suffered his blessed body to be nayled to the Crosse that hee might fasten upon it the handwriting of our sinnes and hath also taken upon himselfe the cursse due to us that hee might fill us with his blessing and hath humbled himselfe into the deepest pangs of Hell with soule and body on the tree of the Crosse where hee cryed out with a loud voyce My God my God Why hast thou forsaken mee that wee might bee received of God and never forsaken of him and finally confirmed with his death and bloodshedding the new and everlasting Covenant of grace and reconciliation when hee sayd It is finished And that wee might firmly believe that wee belong to this Covenant of grace the Lord Jesus Christ in his last Supper tooke Bread gave thankes brake it and gave it to his Disciples and sayd Take eate this is my Body which is given for you do this in remembrance of mee In like maner also after Supper hee tooke the Cup gave thankes and sayd Drinke yee all of this This Cup is the new Testament in my blood which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sinnes do this so often as yee drincke of it in remembrance of mee That is as often as yee eate of this Bread and drincke of this Cup yee shall thereby as by a certaine pledge and remembrance bee admonished and assured of this my hearty love and faithfulnesse towards you that whereas yee should have suffered eternall death I have given my body into the death of the Crosse and shed my blood for you and as certainely as you see this Bread broken before your eyes and this Cup given to you and yee with your mouth do eate and drincke the same to my remembrance so do I feed and refresh your hungry and thirsty soules with my body and blood to everlasting life Out of this Institution of the Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ wee do see that hee directs our faith and confidence to his perfect sacrifice which was once offered on the Crosse as to the onely ground and foundation of our soules that hee is become to our hungry and thirsty soules the true food to eternall life For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our everlasting death and miseries namely sinne and hath merited for us the quickening spirit that wee by the same which dwelleth in Christ as the head and in us as his members might have true Communion and fellowship and be made partakers of all his blessings to everlasting life and glory Besides that wee by the same spirit may also be united together into brotherly love as members of the same mystecall body as the Scripture saith One Bread is it so are wee one Body because wee are all made partakers of one Bread For as out of many graines being grinded one Bread is made and out of many Berries being prest together one drincke floweth so shall wee all who by a true Faith are ingrafted into Christ bee one body through brotherly love for Christ his sake who hath so exceedingly loved us and manifested the same one towards another not onely in words but also in workes and deeds Heereto assist us the Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit Amen And that wee may obtaine this let us humble our selves before God and in true Faith call upon him for his grace O Most mercifull God and Father wee beseech thee that in this ordinance in which wee celebrate the blessed memory of the most bitter death and passion of thy Son Jesus Christ thou wilt bee pleased to worke in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that wee may give our selves more and more with true confidence to thy Son Jesus Christ that so our broken and burdened hearts may bee fed and comforted through the power of the Holy Spirit with his body and blood yea with him true God and Man the onely Bread of Heaven and that henceforth wee may not live any longer in our sinnes but hee in us and wee in him and bee also really partakers of that new and everlasting Covenant of Grace no wayes doubting but that thou wilt bee our eternall and Gracious God not imputing our sinnes unto us but filling us with all good things for body and soule as thy beloved Children and Heyres Graunt also unto us thy grace that wee may take upon us our crosse cheerefully deny our selves confesse our Saviour and in all tribulations expect our Lord Jesus Christ out of Heaven where hee will make our mortall bodies conformable to his most glorious body and take us to himselfe to bee with him in all eternity Ans OUr Father which art in heaven 1. Hallowed be thy Name 2. Thy Kingdome come 3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven 4. Give us this day our daily bread 5. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us 6. And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glorie for ever and ever Amen Strengthen us also by this Holy Sacrament in the Articles of our Christian Faith of which wee make Confession saying with heart and mouth I Beleeve in God the Father almightie maker of heaven and earth ij And in Jesus Christ his onely begotten Sonne our Lord. iij. Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the virgine Marie iv Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hel v. The third day he rose again from the dead vj. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almightie vij From thence shall he come to judge the quick and the dead viij I beleeve in the Holy Ghost ix I beleeve an Holy Catholike church the Communion of Saints x. The forgivenes of sinnes xj The resurrection of the body xij And life everlasting Amen That wee may now bee fed with the true heavenly Bread the Lord Jesus Christ so let not our hearts cleave to the outward elements of Bread and Wine but let us lift up the same into Heaven where Christ our Advocate is sitting on the right hand of his heavenly Father whether also wee are directed by the Articles of our Christian faith nothing doubting but wee shall bee fed and refreshed with his Body and Blood by the power of the Spirit so certainly as wee receive this holy Bread and Wine to his remembrance In breaking and distributing of the Bread the Minister shall say The Bread which wee breake is the Communion of the body of Christ. And when hee gives the Cup The Cup of blessing wherewith wee blesse is the Communion of the Blood of Christ. During the Communion there shall eyther bee sung some Psalm or some Chapter read which may serve to the remembring of the Passion of Christ as Esa Chap. 53. Joh. 13. and 14. and 15. and 16. and 18. or the like After the Communion the Minister shall
do receive by Faith in his blood forgivenesse of sinnes and that you are a member of Christ and his Church through the power of the Holy Ghost Answer Yea. Fourthly Whether you acknowledge all the Articles of the Christian Religion as they are taught in these Christian Churches out of the word of God and do purpose constantly to persist in the same Doctrine to the end of your life and also reject all heresies and errors which are repugnant to this Doctrine and promise to persevere in the fellowship and Communion of this Church not onely in the hearing of the Word but using of the Supper of the Lord Answer Yea. Fifthly Whether you have purposed from your heart to lead alwayes a Christian life to forsake the world and all the evill lusts thereof according as it becommeth a member of Christ and his Church and submit your selves to all our Christian admonition Answer Yea. The good and great God out of his bounty give his grace and blessing to this your purpose through Jesus Christ. AMEN FORME For the administration of the Supper of the Lord. BEloved in the Lord Jesus Christ Hearken to the words of the Institution of the Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ so as they are delivered by the Apostle Paul 1 Cor. 11. vers 23. I receyved of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus the same night in which heewas betrayed tooke Bread and when hee had given thankes hee brake it and said Take eate this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me after the same manner also hee tooke the Cup when hee had supped saying This Cup is the Newe Testament in my blood this do yee as often as ye drinke it in remembrance of mee For as often as ye eate this Bread and drinke this Cup yee do shew the Lords death till hee come wherefore whosoever shall eate this Bread and drinke this Cup of the Lord unworthily shall bee guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that Bread and drinke of that Cup for hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe not discerning the Lords body That wee may now to our comfort celebrate the Supper of the Lord it is above all things necessary that wee first trye our selves aright and secondly that wee direct it to that end for which Christ hath instituted and ordained the same namely to his remembrance First Every one consider by himselfe his sins and the curses of God due unto him for the same to the end that hee may abhorre and humble himselfe before God considering that the wrath of God is such against sinnes that rather then they should goe unpunished hee hath punished the same in his beloved Sonne Jesus Christ with the shamefull and bitter death of the Crosse Secondly Every one trye his owne heart whether hee doe beleeve this faithfull promise of God that all his sins are forgiven him onely for the Passion and death of Christ and that the perfect righteousnesse of Christ bee imputed and freely given to him as his owne yea so perfectly as if hee himselfe in his owne person hath satisfyed for all his sinnes and consummated all righteousnesse Thirdly Every one examine his owne Conscience whether hee purposeth with himselfe to shew true thankfulnesse to God heereafter in his whole life and to walke uprightly before the face of God as also whether hee have layd aside unfeignedly all enmity hatred envy and doe resolve to walke in true love and peace with his neighbour All those that are thus minded God will certainly receive to mercy and account them worthy Communicants at the Table of his Sonne Jesus Christ On the contrary those who have not this witnesse in their hearts they eat and drinke to themselves judgement Wherefore wee according to the commandement of Christ and the Apostle Paul admonish all those who are defiled with these following crimes to keepe themselves from the Table of the Lord and do declare unto them that they have no part in the Kingdome of Christ to wit All Idolaters all who invocate saints deceased and Angels and other creatures all who worship Images all enchanters diviners charmers and those who give credit to such enchantements All despisers of God and his Worde and his holy Sacraments all blasphemers all those who are given to make strife sedition and mutiny in Church and Commonwealth all perjured persons all disobedient to Parents or Magistrates all murtherers contentious persons who live in hatred and envy against their neighbour all adulterers whoremongers drunkards thieves usurers gamesters covetous and all who live a scandalous life All these so long as they continue in such sins are to abstain from this meat which Christ hath ordained only for the faithfull least their judgement and condemnation bee made the heavier and encreased But Beloved in the Lord this is not to cast downe or to deject the contrite hearts of the faithfull as if none might come to the Table of the Lord but such as are freed from all sinne For wee come not to this Supper to testify that wee in our selves are perfect and just but on the contrary considering that wee must seeke our life out of our selves in Christ wee acknowledge heerewith that wee lye in death therefore notwithstanding wee feele many infirmities and weakenesses in us namely that wee have not such a perfect faith that wee do not give our selves to serve God with that zeale as wee are bound but must fight daily against the weakenesse of our faith and the lusts of our flesh yet seeing by the grace of God wee are sorry for these weakenesses therefore wee rest assured that no sinne or infirmity which against our will yet remaineth in us can hinder us from being received of God in mercy and from being partakers of this heavenly meat and drincke Let us now also consider to what end Christ hath instituted his Supper namely that wee do it in remembrance of him Now after this manner are wee to remember him by it First That wee are confidently persuaded in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ according to the promise made to our Forefathers in the old Testament was sent of the Father in the world and hath taken upon him our flesh and blood and borne for us the wrath of God under which wee should have perished everlastingly from the beginning of his Incarnation to the end of his life upon earth and hath fulfilled for us all obedience to the Law of God and all righteousnesse chiefly when the burden of our sinnes and the wrath of God prest out of him that bloody sweat in the Garden where hee was bound that wee might bee freed from our sinnes and afterwards sustained innumerable injuries that wee might never be confounded was innocently condemned to death that wee might bee absolved before the judgment seat of God yea