said that the seed must be receiued into a good heart it may seeme that a man hath a good heart before he receiueth that seed Doubtlesse naturally they are all alike and there is neuer a barrell better hearing as they say but as the face answereth to the face in the glasse so one of the sonnes of Adam is like another in their natiuitie they haue by their parents Why then are they said to haue a good heart Iames 1. It is called a good heart in respect of Gods changing it by the ingrafted word and by these words he putteth difference betweene the fruits of the former and the fruites of this last for that there is no difference in the outward shew of fruits but onely in regard that those fruits proceeded from an vncleane heart and this from a heart which is clensed How must wee approoue our selues that wee bee good ground By good fruits What are the fruits Either pertaining to the couenant of grace or of works What are those that pertaine to the couenant of grace First free accesse to God Secondly Rom. 5. the loue of God shed into our hearts Thirdly a feeling of peace with God Fourthly the spirit of adoption that assureth vs to be the sonnes of God whereof ariseth that we call God father and hope for the inheritance with patience which is a patient waiting for the performance of Gods promises What are those that pertain to the couenant of works Repentance which is a changing of al the powers and faculties of the soule and members of the bodie effected by loue which commeth from faith What things follow First Sacraments secondly censures ROM 4.10.11 10 How was it then imputed when hee was circumcised or vncircumcised not when he was circumcised but when hee was vncircumcised 11 After he receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of the faith which he had when he was circumcised that he should be the father of all them that beleeue not being circumcised that righteousnesse might be imputed to them also What is a Sacrament Exod. 12.6 Luke 1. â—9 It is an action of the whole Church wherein by outward things done according to the ordinance of God inward things being betokened Christ is offered to all and exhibited to the faithfull for the strengthening of faith in the eternall couenant Why call you it an action Because it is not a bare signe alone but a worke Why call you it an action of the whole Church Because it is a publicke action and appertaineth to the whole Church for it is a greater indignitie for the Sacraments to be administred in priuat houses then for the ciuil iudgement which is open and publicke Also the sacrifices vnder the law were not so excellent as these yet was it not lawfull to offer them in priuat houses What haue we to consider in this that there be in the Sacraments certaine outward things Gal. 3.1 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 Rom. 4.11 That they are ordained to the end that by comparing and conferring them with the things which are inward they might helpe First our vnderstanding in which regard they are as it were image or glasses Secondly our remembrance in which respect they are monuments Thirdly and especially the perswasion of our hearts by reason whereof they are seales and pledges What doctrine is here to be gathered First what roote of blindnesse of forgetfulnesse and especially hardnesse of heart to beleeue is in vs that the word and oath of God is not sufficient to plucke vp but that we must haue such aides Secondly the mercie of God that applieth himselfe to our weakenesse Thirdly what miserable men they are that refuse the Sacraments VVhat haue we to consider in these outward things which the Lord hath ordained in the Sacraments The wonderfull wisedome of God that hath chosen base and common things for so high and singular mysteries whereas hee might haue chosen things more rare and of greater price to set out such excellent benefits as are offered vs in the Sacraments where there is great difference betweene the time of the Law and of the Gospell How may we more cleerely and distinctly consider of these things which are ministred in the Sacraments By considering the persons that minister and that which they minister VVho are the persons The Ministers especially 1. Cor. 4.1 representing vnto vs the Lord whose stewards they are VVhat belongeth to the Ministers office The chiefe part of consecration of the elements which is partly in declaring the institution of the Sacraments partly in going before in prayer to God which consisteth first in praising God who hath ordained them for the reliefe of mens weakenes and then in suing to God that he would make them effectuall to that end Is not the nature and substance of the elements changed by this consecration In no case although the qualitie bee altered in separating them from a common to a holy vse Matth. 3.11 which lasteth as long as the action is in hand for the Ministers cannot giue any thing but that which is outward How then commeth it to passe that the outward elements which the minister giueth haue the names of the spirituall things they set forth Gen. 2. Gen. 17. Exod. 12. Exod. 12.5 It is ordinary and vsuall in the Scripture to giue the name of the thing signed signified to the signe as it is called the tree of life which was but a signe of life And in the Sacraments of the old Testament circumcision is called the couenant and the Lambe or kid the Passeouer wherof onely they were signes What is the cause that moueth the Lord to grace the outward signes in the Sacraments with the names of the things signified First because of the resemblance and similitude of the elements and the things signified in which respect they are called signes Secondly to shew the vnseparable coniunction of the thing signified with the signe in the worthie receiuer in which regard they are called seales Doe they seale nothing else but the promise of God vnto vs Yes they seale also our promise vnto God that we take him only for our God and Redeemer whom alone by faith wee rest vpon and whom wee will obey What is further the office of the Minister To giue the Sacraments which he hath consecrated to those to whom they belong So much of the persons What is that which is administred First the visible creatures ordained for signes and figures of Christ as vnder the time of the Gospell water bread and wine which God hath made choice of both in respect they are for their naturall properties most fit to represent the spirituall things as also for that they are most generally vsed of all nations and tongues in the world Secondly they liueliest represent the inuisible things that is Christ with all his benefits which God onely giueth Matth. 3.11 as the Minister doth giue the outward things Is there
hearing the word preached doth easilie bewray the great negligence and small obedience of the rest How is it shewed in the loue towards our neighbor In that we must loue him as our selfe which as it is so much the lesse then the former as man is inferior to God so wee being not able to accomplish it are much lesse able to fulfill the other How shall that be tried By examination of our selues in some particular as for example whether wee loue a stranger being our vtter and most deadly enemy as our selues which no man euer did nay a common man or to be playner euen our dearest friend as we doe our selues which cannot be found Looke Deut. 28.53.56 c. Wherefore that rotten righteousnesse of the Papists cannot stand VVhat profit ariseth of the second vse That by it as by a glasse we may the easier see and being shortly contriued we may better remember all our duties both to God and man it being as a Card to see countries easie to be caried about with vs. VVhat may you gather of this 1. Tim. 1.4.5 That sith the end of the Law is Loue all idle questions are to be left as vnprofitable not seruing to the practise of the same VVhy is the loue of God called the first and greatest Commandement Because wee should chiefly regard our duties to God and to bee most carefull to vnderstand his worship Why is the second table said to be like vnto the first For that they goe so hand in hand that no man can performe the one vnlesse hee accomplish the other which Iohn plainely teacheth in his first Epistle and fifteenth Chapter What is to be said of those that seeme to keepe the one and care not for the other If they will seeme to serue God aright and are not charitable they are meere hypocrites and if they deale vprightly with their neighbour and haue no loue of God they are profane politickes and very Atheists IER chap. 31. vers 31 32 33 34. 31 Behold the daies come saith the Lord that I will make a new couenant with the house of Israel with the house of Iudah 32 Not according to the couenant that I made with their fathers when I tooke them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt the which my couenant they brake although I was an husband vnto them saith the Lord. 33 But this shall be the couenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those daies saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in then hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people 34 And they shall teach no more euery man his neighbor and euery man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them vnto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgiue their iniquitie and will remember their sinnes no more WHat followeth to be spoken of The couenant of grace Seeing by the couenant of nor his life euerlasting is propounded what need is there that the couenant of grace should be set before vs Because as hath beene said the couenant of works cannot through the infirmitie of our flesh giue life vnto any And therefore if God should iustifie any by it he should be vniust as one that should giue the kingdome of heauen to wicked men Seeing the nature of a couenant is to reconcile and ioyne those together which are at variance as we see in the example of Abraham and Abimelech Laban and Iacob why is this called the couenant that can make no reconciliation betweene God and vs Although it be not able to reconcile vs yet it doth make way to reconciliation by another couenant neither is it meet strictly to bind Gods couenant with men to the lawes or couenants of one man with another for amongst men the weaker seeketh reconciliation at the hand of the mightier Luk. 14.31.32 but God neither able to bee hurt or benefited by vs seeketh vnto vs for peace What is the couenant of grace Act. 16.30.31 That God will giue vs life euerlasting through Christ if we beleeue in him How are they conuinced by the giuing of this couenant which seeke righteousnesse in the law or old couenant Heb. 8.7 Because thereby they make God vnwise that would enter into a new and second couenant if the former had beene sufficient Of how many sorts is this It is either the old or new Testament VVhat is the old Testament It is the couenant of God vnder shadowes to giue life euerlasting by faith in Christ that was to come What is the new Testament It is the couenant of God without shadowes to giue life euerlasting by faith in Christ that is come Are these Testaments diuers They be in substance the same but in maner they differ What are the parts of this couenant of God Two the one is the couenant that God maketh with vs the other is the couenant that we make with God What is the summe of that couenant God maketh with vs That he will be our God What gather you from this couenant of God The surname of God as it is in diuers places and namely Exod. 3.15 What is properly ment when it is said the God of your fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Iacob The singular glory and priuiledge of Gods people Heb. 11.16 in that God is content to take his surname of them Why is this surname added For that it is a fearefull thing to thinke of the proper name of God alone vnlesse this bee added to it whereby he declareth his loue and kindnes to vs. IOH. 1.14 And the Word was made flesh c. WHereupon dependeth the performance of this couenant of grace On the second person in Trinitie Christ Iesus the onely sonne of God What are we to consider in him First his Person secondly his office What haue we to consider in his person First his Godhead that maketh the person Secondly his manhood which hath subsistence in the person of the Godhead What say you of his Godhead That he is the onely naturall sonne of the most high and eternall God his father his word character and image God coessentiall and coequall with the father and the holy Ghost Doe you then hold that he is and is called the son of God in regard of his Godhead Yes verily and not according to his manhood according to the Apostle who saith that hee is without father according to his manhood Heb. 7. and without mother according to his Godhead It seemeth he is called the sonne of God in respect of his humane nature in the generation whereof it is said that the holy Ghost did that which fathers doe in the naturall generation especially seeing he is therefore said the sonne of the highest No but onely in regard of the eternall generation otherwise there should bee two sonnes one of
any preparation required to the receiuing of the Sacraments Yes verily Exod. 3.5 1. Cor. 11.28 for seeing men ought to come with preparation to the hearing of the word they ought by so much more come to the Sacraments as God by them offereth greater grace then by the word alone What is the preparation that is required in one that commeth vnto the Sacraments The children of the faithfull excepted and that alone in the Sacrament of Baptisme whereof they ought to be partakers there is required to a worthie participation of the Sacraments knowledge and feeling VVherein ought this knowledge and feeling to consist In the Law and in the Gospell Seeing no man is able to know the Law and the Gospell perfectly much lesse the simple and common people Tell me how farre is this knowledge and feeling necessarie It is necessarie first in the Law that hee bee able thereby to vnderstand the common corruption of all men both in the bitter root of originall sinne and in the poysoned fruits thereof together with the curse of euerlasting death due thereunto and that he be able to applie both these that is the sin and wages thereof to himselfe How far is the knowledge and feeling of the Gospell required First that hee vnderstand the couenant of grace which God in Christ hath made with the sonnes of men and then that by faith he be able to applie the the same to himselfe What ariseth from this knowledge and feeling to a further preparation thereunto Mat. 3.13 Acts 8.36 Luk. 22.15 A great and earnest desire to bee made partaker of them VVhat duties are required in the action of receiuing them First a graue and reuerent behauiour Secondly an attentiue heed for comparing the outward signes and actions in the Sacraments with the inward and spirituall things which they betoken VVhat is to bee done after the partaking of the Sacraments Out of the feeling of the gratious worke of God by them to reioyce with thankesgiuing or to enter into iudgement with our selues and to humble our selues for our want of feeling the fruit the Sacraments doe present vnto vs. And as we ought to bee humbled if wee feele not the worke of God in vs in or after the Sacraments as that which argueth want of preparation before or attention in them so yet ought we not therefore to bee altogether dismaied for as the sicke man feeleth not the nourishment of his meate because of his maladie and yet notwithstanding is nourished so is it in such faithfull ones as doe not so sensiblie feele the working of God by them through the weakenesse of faith which is in them And although we cannot feele it immediately yet after by the fruits wee shall be able to discerne of our profiting How many Sacraments are there There are two onely 1. Cor. 12.13 1. Cor. 10.1.2.3 1. Tim. 6.8 Galat. 3.27 1. Cor. 10.16 for first the two seales assure vs of all Gods graces as of our regeneration entrance and engrafting into Christ so of our growth and continuance in him and therefore we need no more Secondly when the number of Sacraments were most necessary as vnder the Law they had but two wherefore we need require no more Thirdly hauing meate drinke and cloth we ought therewith to be content now by the Sacrament of our entrance our spiritual clothing is sealed vnto vs and by that of our growth is sealed our feeding therefore those fiue other of Matrimonie of Orders Pennance Confirmation and of extreame vnction whereof the two latter coined by the Papists to bee made Sacraments are superfluous the other of them are agreeable to the Word but without the nature and number of Sacraments So much of the number of the Sacraments VVhat is the first of those two Baptisme VVhat is Baptisme It is the first Sacrament of the Gospell Tit. 3. whereby our regeneration or new birth or our entrance and ingrafting into Christ and the body of Christ which is his Church is sealed vnto vs. Why call you it the first Sacrament Mat. 28. Exod. 12.48 Because hee saith that after they haue taught men to beleeue they should be baptized thereby to bee enrolled amongst those of the houshold of God or entred into the number of the Citizens and Burgesses of the heauenly Ierusalem What abuse doth this take away That which sometimes the ancient Church was infected withall namely that they baptized men at their deaths and let them receiue the Lords Supper twice or thrice in a yeere whereas this is the first Sacrament of the Couenant How often is this to be done Ephes 4.5 Once only for they are heere charged to administer Baptisme not Baptismes And although in the Hebrues there be made mention of Baptismes Heb. 6.2 yet that is not to teach that one ought to bee often baptized but to declare the outward baptisme of the water and the inward of the spirit which we receiue at one time Act. 2.41 Secondly it is said the Church continued in prayer and breaking of bread not in baptizing Thirdly it is a pledge of our new birth now a man being borne but once hath no need of this Sacrament but once Mat. 28.19 VVhy is it said that we are baptized into the name of the father the sonne and the holy Ghost Mat. 28.19 Act. 11.26 Because by Baptisme wee being consecrated to God are ioyned to him to beare his name as a wife beareth the name of her husband How is our coniunction with God wrought In children by the secret working of Gods spirit in riper yeeres by faith for being naturally after the fall cut off from God wee are as it were ingrafted into him againe as new plants and incorporate as Malchus eare once dismembred Luk. 22.50.51 was againe by the power of our Sauiour Christ set into his head VVhat is Baptisme to this ingrafting A Seale and a pledge of it wherein is grace exhibited and not the ingrafting or incorporation it selfe considering that we are baptized in the right onely of being members of Christ before though ordinarilie we are actually ingrafted by the Sacrament not by force simplie of the worke done but as it is Gods ordinance and a seale of his couenant VVhat ariseth of our vnion with God Another vniting of vs to the Church as a yong hence ingrafted on an arme of a tree is both one with the arme and tree it selfe What fruit ariseth of this vnion A new birth wherof we being once partakers can neuer be depriued What is the outward matter in Baptisme Water VVhat proportion is there of the visible element with the inuisible grace First the whole action of Baptisme Galat. 3.3 sealeth vp vnto vs our regeneration and putting on of Christ which is our receiuing into the house of God What after The couering of the childs head with water Rom. 6. is a seale that the childs sinnes are couered Secondly as the water doth wash and