purest golde The gifte that is bestowed is most syncere the stone white that is deliuered And ought not then the hande to be a cleane hande or rather the heart a pure heart that receiueth such pearles GOD couenanteth to bee our God shoulde we not accept the offer reioyce in his couenant Achaz in hypocrisie pretended he woulde beleeue God without a signe Esai 7.12 Certainely so must we doe in deede many times Balaam Nom. 23.19 that saw lesse thē his asse saw so much the Gods worde is ynough Shall he speake and not doe Yet when he offereth signes withal to helpe forth our infirmities in faith according to his worde eyther naturall as the rainebow or artificiall as the brasen serpent or miraculous or Sacramental or whateuer if we then refuse them in steade of shunning the fault of tempting him we runne vpon the contempt of his heauenly wisedome Goe preach baptize all nations Mat. 28.19 This is a generall commaundement and must be obserued 1. Cor. 10.24 As often as ye eate this bread and drinke this cuppe ye shewe the Lordes death vntill his comming againe As often therefore often and vsually vntill his comming againe therefore perperually must this Sacrament be continued in a godly remembrance of the Lordes death Gen. 29.17 Deut. 34.7 The olde ceremonies were weake sighted like Leah and therefore could not last euer Moses eyes were not dimme vntill his dying day so the force of Christian Sacraments remaine in their full vse vntill the ende of the worlde Their sacraments some were speciall for place and person In Paradise the tree of life was for the place Gen. 2.9 Iudg. 6.37 Esa 28.8 the wette dryed fleece the going backe of the dial were personally to Gedeon and Ezechias And their chiefest Sacraments either extraordinary as Manna and the rocke ceased in the wildernesse or ordinary as circumcision and the Passeouer these also haue had their ende in the fulnesse of time when their wombe as Cirill speaketh was deliuered of Christ as a woman of her childe into the worlde For Christ is come and their ceremonies were of Christ to come and when he came they as shadowes yeelded place at the presence of the body The difference of their Sacraments and ours consisteth in cleerenes of knowledge and continuance of tynte They caryed the former parte of the staffe we the hinder ende Christ is borne betwixt vs both but we that come after haue the fuller viewe and see directly before our face they respectiuely and looking backe to that which they caryed and came after and therefore more obscurely then we And nowe because Christ is borne no more liueth no more dieth no more because all these thinges are plainely to the eye painted poynted to with the finger in our Sacraments ours are not henceforth to be changed any more but are constant and perpetuall and continually in all duety to be vsed and enioyed till his comming again to iudge the quicke and the dead in the last day Of Baptisme The nature of Baptisme BAptisme is the Sacrament of regeneration in water wherby our sinnes are clensed we clad with Christ endued with his spirit our names entred among the number of Christian professours in the name of the blessed Trinitie The institution Touching the institution whether it growe out of the earth or descende from aboue be of men or of God being of all confessed to be a Sacrament and a Sacrament being already proued to be alwayes a diuine institutiō it is needlesse to repeate or say further therein Yet moreouer and aboue that our Sauiours owne example and general commandement Go preach Mat. 3 15. baptize c. are euident warrants autentike and special for proofe herein that it is of God The forme of the administration The fourme of the action declareth what we receiue of God and there withall enformeth vs what we owe and ought to render him againe Through singular mercie in the name of the Father by like merit and mame of the Sonne by the vertue of the Holy Spirite name power thereof we are made partakers of all the priuiledges that may be incident to such as shall be saued in the house Church of God In whose lap we are as it were newe borne newe washed new apparelled made new creatures in Iesus Christ Such is the forme so great the force of this sacrament Wherein yf any man vpon a farther desire to be instructed in the mysteries of his profession The marueilous operation of Baptisme muse in minde breake foorth and say as Mary did to the Angel Luke 1.34 How may this be that a materiall element shoulde thus worke in spirituall things that water touching the body should clense the soule that water in the fountaine where it is cleanest hauing no such operatiō should thus change and be changed in the Church and fonte whither it is brought from his spring are these effectes naturall Exod. 11.25 Of olde the waters of Marah were made sweete water in Cana Iohn 2.8 turned into wine Exod. 7.17 the riuers of Nilus into bloode and though euery of these mutations were marueilous in the sight of the wisest eye yet in this case there is more done Meere and bitter water in comparison is made exceeding sweete sweeter then the fruite of the ripest purest grape yea yet more then this is done Cold and vsual water is really changed truely and indeede turned after the maner of Sacramēts from a common moisture into the dewe of gods spirit and into the bloode of the Lambe Reuel 7.14 wherein the soules of the Saintes are washed For although it leaue not off to be water but remaineth as before a visible signe yet by the accesse of Gods worde and the omnipotent power of his spirite the Angell as it were descending vpon the poole in the Gospel Iohn 5.4 the change is greater then mans wordes can expresse By similitudes framed and vttered to our capacities fayth conceiueth conuenient instruction sufficient comfort Where the sunne warmeth not water is a sterile and bare moysture neyther can it engender any thing without the heate and helpe of the spirite that moued vpon the waters at their first creation Gen. 1.2 For as it was then so is it still as it was and is so in the generation of things so much more is it so in the regeneration of man Water of it selfe cannot make a man much lesse a Christian man The proportion of the signe with the graces signified The spirite of God is sometymes sayde to enflame and purifie like fire and in this case to regenerate in water to clense and washe like water And as verily as cleare water clenseth and cooleth the body so and as truely the like graces by the bloode of Christ and his spirite are wrought vpon the soule by entrance into this bathe Wherin we may obserue a further
conuenient preparatiō thereunto Chrisost in 1. Cor. hom 24. For if it were a princes sacred body or but purple garment onely the matter whereof is wormes thread colour no better then the dead fishe blood yet were it not rashly to be abused with vnwashed or vncleane handes How much the more reuerent then ought the receiuing of these holy mysteries of Christs body and blood to be of all them that know what it is to stand in awe that they offend not Wherfore let a man examine himselfe saith the Apostle 1. Cor. 11.28 so let him eat of this bread drinke of this cup. Euen so therfore if not so not at all Better to abstaine then to come together for the worse As the print in waxe is more fitly receiued and fully expressed when the waxe is wrought and warmed first so like wise the effect of this Sacrament is more liuely felt and seene when wee repayre thereunto with prepared mindes wel instructed and throughly examined In which examination two poyntes chiefely are obserued wherof the one cōcerneth faith the other loue Fayth to be setled in our heartes towardes God Loue to be she wed to our neighbor The latter procedeth out of the former and both from the spirit of God Faith receiueth increase by hearing and prayer Rom. 10.17 Luk. 17.5 Mark 9.24 O Lord increase our faith Loue and faith iointly are stirred vp and strengthened by repentance in the worthy repayring to receiuing at the Lordes table Wherupon ariseth these three as agents in this examination assured faith brotherly loue earnest repentance Faith directeth in knowledge Loue is occupied in thākfulnes to God and good doing toward men Repentance euer in eyther amendeth what is omitted or done amisse and craueth pardon with humble minde and ful purpose not to offend in the like againe All which dueties as I take may be rightly considered according to the times wherin eyther we are to receiue or presently receiue or haue receiued the Sacrament The first is called a Preparation vnto the Supper the second a meditation therein the third a christian conuersation that must ensue thereupon In preparing our selues is required Preparatiō that we knowe of whom what and in what order wee must receiue It seemeth to be recorded as a commēdation Of whom we receiue 1. Sam. 1.23 that Anna nursed her owne sonne in which respect among infinite others the loue of God exceedeth all loue Wherein as he spareth no cost so hee vndertaketh any care Plutar de institu lib. which nice and vnnatural mothers refuse to do putting forth their infantes to bee nursed abroade without neede or cause Our God doeth not so neyther needeth he so to doe Isai 49.15 his breasts are neither sore nor drye at any time Of his owne good will he begat vs againe in baptisme so will he stil feede and bring vs vp to a full age perfect grouth in Christ Sufficient or abundant prouision for the house himselfe in his wisedome hath prouided the holy spirite being steward of all and as it were distributer and caruer at the board What we receiue And to come to the seconde poynt what we receiue The meate of this table is the very death of Christ the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world The story and institution whereof is recorded by three Euangelistes Matt. 26.26 Mark 14.22 Luk. 22.19 and againe commented vpon by the holy ghost at large in the former Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians where the Apostle beginneth the matter with a faithful saying 1. Cor. 11.23 That which I haue receiued of the Lorde I haue deliuered you For otherwise if he came with offers of his own deuising himselfe raught the Galathians what his entertainement ought to be Gal. 1.8 Let him be accused though he were an Angell of God from heauen The Lord Iesus that night that he was betrayed tooke bread and when he had giuen thanks he brake and sayde Take eate this is my bodie which is broken for you this doe in remembrance of me In like maner the cup c. For as often as ye shall eate this bread and drinke this cup ye shewe the Lordes death till he come againe Wherein wee see euidently what Christ did also in duetie what we must do In the visible signes which he tooke of bread that he brake wine that he powred foorth and in deliuering thē both to be taken eaten and drunke he manifestly declared two things the one that he woulde immediately make an oblation for the redemption of mankinde vpon the altar of the crosse the other that for euer he woulde be the euerlasting foode of their soules his body to be the bread of life his precious blood to be their comfortable drinke the Physicke of immortalitie Ignat. epist ad Eph. and preseruatiue against all euill The sacrifice oblation he intēded is plaine by these words Which is broken Mat. 26.28 which is shed for many for remission of sinnes Euen is brokē and shed because the houre wherin he should be betrayed and suffer drewe nigh and was at hande That he would be their foode is proued cleerely in that hee commaūded to take eate this is my body Nowe by the way out of these two notes may be noted two forcible reasons against the sacrifice pretended in the masse They are lately delighted with motiues and demandes may I aske them this question Doe they thinke a sinfull priest can do more at his masse then the sōne of God did at his supper I hope they will not prefer a meere man before Christ God and man the Sauiour of the worlde And if so then may they see their priest can make no sacrifice for Christ himselfe when he sate at boorde with his disciples made none but declared what he meante to make For and if he had so done the Thursday at night what needed he thē to haue suffered the Fryday at noone againe he willeth vs to take and eate and feede on him He offreth himselfe to be receiued of vs not to be offered by vs to his Father That was his owne proper and personall duety But to leaue to speake hereof our dewtie is with thankfulnes to feede on the food he offreth vs euen to eate and drinke him to partake his blessed body and precious blood Wherein notwithstanding to mistake and mingle the signes and the things signified cōfusedly without differēce were as Aug. sayth De doct Chr. a miserable thraldome to the very soule of a Christian man Christes wordes be plaine He tooke bread after thankes giuen he breake gaue bread for what he toke he brake and what he brake he gaue and therefore he gaue bread For the Apostle saith he brake bread and that he calleth his body and so concerning the cuppe for after a sort to speake of one is to speake of both Marie tooke Christ to
similitude that as in washing pooles when men goe into thē they doe off their aparell and then enter the bath and bathe their bodies so in this the olde man is put off Adams fig leaues throwen aside then with niter fullers sope nay rather with the bloode of the sonne of God all our former filthe is scoured away This dissimilitude is in this similitude our former rags are neuer resumed as sinners resume their garmentes when they haue washed Those plaguy clothes that tooke stayne and infection from sinfull Adam we burie or we burne The regenerate man hath done away his former generation dyeth to sin the gylte and dominion whereof lyeth as a dead body in the graue and hath no more power ouer the creature which is endued with the newe man freed from Satan accepted into seruice and fauour in the familie of GOD weareth the cloth of righteousnes and is apparelled as the womā in the Reuelation with the sonne of God Reue. 12.1 Wherein notwithstanding it is expedient still and euer to remember from what rocke we were he wen on what stocke we grewe what we haue lost and what wee haue founde howe fowle we were howe cleane we are that tasting howe sweete the Lord is we may as it were feele the difference betweene soote and sugar see and view the oddes betweene our crimosin blood red sinnes and the snowe white innocencie we haue obteyned in him To compare the state wherin we were by creation then in nature corrupted and nowe by grace and regeneration were to compare an innocent lyfe a deserued death life euerlasting together that is Paradise hell heauenly blisse betwixt themselues For our case at the first was no worse afterward no better and in Christ betterthen euer before Rom. ◠For as by one man came sinne and by sinne death which presupposeth a former innocencie and life so by the man Christ much more excellent is the righteousnesse that is imputed to faith imported by this Sacrament and shal be enioyed without end As the first Adam eating of the forbidden tree he susteining the person of al mankinde by his disobedience did set on edge his posterities teeth so the second Adam trode the wine presse alone and yet wee his posteritie also drinck neuer the lesse of his wine And here let no man say Prou. 9.2 I haue mixed mine owne wine I haue compassed these thinges my selfe Strength if it leane to presumption is weaker then water and the broken reede and yet the strongest thinges of man are but meere weaknesse the puritie of nature pollution libertie of will thraldome and the merite of workes a stayned cloute And then if the clothe be so course howe course is the list or if the wooll be course can the clothe be fine Adam begate Seth Gen. 5.3 and all his children in his owne likenesse For as the man that is not cannot beget himselfe that he may haue a being so man being naught can neuer of him selfe beget any thing els or him selfe to bee good againe Why thē do we presume A puffe of pride bloweth out the candle that was lightened of another at the first and cannot kindle it selfe the seconde time The debter in the Gospel was not able to make payment for the ten thousand talentes Matt. 18.24 and the more in debte in processe of time the more vnlike to come out of debt albeit he sayd as the aduersaries of the trueth saye if his Lorde would haue patience he would pay and satisfie all The three parables in Saint Luke tende all to this purpose Luke 15. to shewe mans inhabilitie in euery respect and the Lordes exceeding mercie altogether The lost groat lacketh sense the strayed sheep witte the prodigall sonne wisedome The woman lighteth the candle sweepeth the house seeketh diligently The shepheard goeth out into the wildernesse and bringeth home on his shoulders And as for the wastfull sonne God in his prouidence disposed so that by afliction and famin he should be taught and constrained to returne backe making a most true confession that hee had sinned against heauen and his father and was no more worthie to bee called his sonne Had sinned and therefore nowe onely was to stande vpon grace pardon had sinned against heauen and therefore in earth vnfit and vnable to make satisfaction had sinned against so louing a father therefore vnworthy the name of a sonne Notwithstanding while he stoode yet a great waye off his father sawe him and had compassion ranne preuented him with mercie fell on his necke and kissed him killed the fatte calfe put shoes on his feeete and a ring on his finger hyred musicians and called for the best robe clad him therewith that was vtterly destitute of al attire except such as Job speaketh of Iob. 9.31 Mine owne clothes defile me Many excellent and rich ornaments are layde together in one heape in the Prophet Ezechiel embroydred works Ezech. 16. bracelets silke siluer golde c. and all these God bestowed on them the lay dead in their blood whome he raised to life circūcised with his owne hand dryed their corruption with salte washed their vncleannes with water swadled and clad them with newe precious apparell euen with Iosephs party coloured coate or rather with the Queenes garment of needle worke which yet was not of her owne making The olde purifyings did prefigure out and as it were made the first draught thereof but the water of Baptisme most liuely expresseth his mercy compassion whose onely eye no mans els tooke pitie on vs then when we lay not wounded but dead long dead in our sinnes In this water the litle fish humble Christian resumeth life againe the lay gasping dead on the shoare before In this water the Scorpion loseth his venim Cypr. 4. lib. epist 7. and can not sting In this water Sinne Satan the flesh and the worlde lye floting drowned as in the deluge in Genesis 1. Cor. 10.1 1. pet 3.21 and red Sea in Exodus where Noah the preacher of righteousnesse and a few with him were saued in the Arke which after a sorte was a figure of Baptisme The Israelites went through on dry foot Pharao and all his hoste drowned in the red sea But for all this this is true in the letter of these stories and certaine in the trueth of a farther meaning the though Noah escaped drowning yet he was ouercome afterward with wine though the Egyptians were ouerwhelmed al yet there remained other enemies in the desert neither did Israel straightwayes enter the promised land wtout further labour fightes first had with sundry and diuers nations Hierom. ad Ocean Aug. retract lib. 1. cap. 7. Ephe. 5.25 Rom. 7. In this Sacrament though generally iniquity be pardoned and sinne drowned and wee saned yet for all this al infirmitie is not quite abolished wee are washed al Ioh. 13.10 but