A Century of Sermons, Sermon 4
THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE Baptiſm of our Saviour.
MAT. iii. 15, 16.
Then he ſuffered him. And Jeſus, when he was baptized, went up ſtraightway out of the water.
AT theſe words John Baptiſt hath changed his mind, you may perceive, but not his humility. It was his perſwaſion, that it could not behove him to miniſter the Sacrament to his Saviour. But ſince Chriſt would have his hand to do that duty, he puts himſelf upon the office, and performs it. Whether did he refuſe at firſt, or come on at laſt with greater humility? Nay, the further we go in the actions of the Saints of God, they will manifeſt unto us that they are better and better. For is it not more lowlineſs to obey, when he was taught a reaſon for it, than to tremble, and to ſtart back at the preſence of Chriſt, becauſe he was confounded at his coming to Baptiſm, and was not taught a reaſon? Every vertue is ſo much the better rooted, when it knows the true cauſe of its own rectitude. In this John ſaid very well at verſe 14. (which I have handled lately) I have need to be baptized of thee. Though he were a moſt bright veſſel of honour, yet he did feel a defect in himſelf how far he wanted the grace of God to open his eyes a little clearer; and his deſire was ſecretly fulfilled, the ſpirit of illumination did ſlide into his heart, and made him to underſtand about what work of ignominy our Saviour came into the world, and would begin from hence to do after the cuſtom of a deſpicable ſinner. O glorious God, that at the ſame inſtant did baptize him of whom he was baptized. Quomodo creavit Mariam & creatus eſt à Mariâ, ſic dedit baptiſmum Johanni, & baptizatus eſt à Johanne; As he made the Virgin Mary his mother, and was made man of the ſubſtance of the Virgin, even ſo he baptized John with the Spirit, and was baptized of John in water. Nothing was ever done in the Church, which was eminently noble and eximious, but with an opinion, that a Spirit from heaven was ſent to reveal it. So in old Legends they report, that the Angels of God did whiſper divine Oracles into St. Ambroſe; that Doves were ſent from heaven to infuſe holy wiſdom into Baſil and Gregory; that the ſoul of Paul was ſent to gild over the Writings of Chryſoſtom with Eloquence, nil ſine numine. So the Spirit, before he appeared in a bodily ſhape upon our Saviour, entred by his inviſible power into the heart of this great Prophet, and he that before denied to baptize his Maſter becauſe he was humble, is now ready to baptize him, becauſe he is more humble; for after Chriſt had ſpoken, Then he ſuffered him. And Jeſus when he was baptized, &c.
That which is here deſcribed in the Baptiſm of our Saviour comprehends three things: 1. As the Naturalliſts call it, here is removens prohibens, that which did prohibit the effect is removed away, John reſiſts no more, Then he ſuffered him. 2. Here is the effect it ſelf, Jeſus was baptized. 3. That this beginning was but a preparatory to greater matters which ſhould follow, therefore he went up ſtraightway out of the water.
Firſt, I muſt inſiſt upon this conſideration, that the obſtacle of Johns doubting is taken away, then he ſuffred him. The woman of Samaria, becauſe ſhe knew not our Saviour, gave him no water to drink: John Baptiſt, becauſe he knew him to be God immortal, gave him no water to be baptized. An ignorance very inoffenſive was in them both, and ſo they were eaſily corrected with a word; for they that wander for want of knowledge, and not for want of obedience, are eaſily brought into the way when they are taught the truth. Moſes did ſoon put off his ſhooes when he knew the place whereon he ſtood was holy ground. Mary Magdalen took our Saviour for the Gardener, when he was riſen from the dead, but ſhe fell preſently at his feet and worſhipt him, when ſhe knew it was the Lord. Peter did demur, and heſitate what to do when the ſheet was let down before him with all manner of four footed beaſts; but ſtraightway learnt that nothing was common or polluted which the Lord had cleanſed. John was loth to take the honour upon him to pour water upon our Saviours head; but you ſee he need not be bidden twice when the Lord commanded; he did wiſely conſider what was injoyned him by the divine authority rather than what did become his own unworthineſs, and did as he was bidden without any more repugnancy. Vera eſt humilitas quam non deſerit comes obedientia. So, I think St. Auſtin, there dwells an humble mind, you may be ſure, which is aſſociated with tractable obedience.Eth 7. c. 9. Ariſtotle falling into the praiſe of that ſententious judgment which in ſome men is very exhortative, that weaker capacities ſhould hearken to ſuch mens opinions without any manner of contradiction; for their eye is fixt upon a true ground and principle for whatſoever they deliver; therefore where age, and experience, and prudence meet, foreign, you ought to ſubmit to their bare dictates and ſayings, no leſs than if they were the moſt forcible demonſtrations. This was moſt wholſom counſel for the ignorant; for they will learn more a thouſand times by believing their Teachers, than by framing their wit to a captious inquiſitive courſe, admitting nothing for good unleſs their own line can fathom it. John Baptiſt was a right Scholar to make a good proficient, whoſe reaſon was confounded, and knew not what Chriſt did mean, yet becauſe it was his Maſters will he was obſequious againſt the grain of his own reaſon, Then he ſuffered him.
The praiſe which S. Chryſoſtom gives to this holy man is thus in a negative expreſſion, foreign, he yielded quickly, he was not immoderately contentious, for the Holy Spirit makes us mild, and apt to conſent; the adverſe Spirit makes us unquiet and vexatious to our neighbours: As God deſcribes the refractory Iſraelites, who did ever reſiſt their Prophets, Iſa. xlviii. 4. I know that thou art obſtinate, and thy neck is an iron ſinew, and thy brow is braſs. This obſtinacy, you ſee, in the Prophets phraſe, is a ſign of an iron age, and I pray God we be not faln into it; for where almoſt ſhall you find that men had not rather themſelves ſhould overcome than a good cauſe? Always more ſtudious of victory than of truth. When Chriſt askt the Phariſees whether the Baptiſm of John were from heaven, or from men; though they could not deny it was from God, yet they would not ſay ſo, that the quarrel between them and Jeſus might be endleſs; Timentes lapidationem, ſed Magis timentes veritatis confeſſionem, ſays St. Auſtin; they were afraid to be ſtoned of the people for their obſtinacy, but they were more afraid to confeſs the truth. What a fond affected glory is this? Men account it among the flowers of their reputation not to be conquered in an arguement, though it be never ſo abſurd: Like the two Harlots before Solomon, nothing in their pleadings but clamour and reiteration, the one ſaid, Nay, but the living child is mine, and the dead is thine; the other ſaid, Nay, but the dead is thine, and the living is mine. This is it which hath pluckt the Church of Chriſt into ſo many Schiſms and Hereſies, that proud wits, when they are in the wrong, will never ſit down quiet, as if they were convicted; and which is the calamity, that our ſins have juſtly deſerved, the Church muſt ſtay for peace till Sophiſters and contentious have nothing to ſay; that is, when they ſhall be brought before the Tribunal of God, and have not one word to anſwer for the crime of their invincible obſtinacy.
Of pertinacious buſie-bodies that will not be convicted, when their errors be made apparent, there are many ſorts. How ſtiff we are in civil brabbles, never condeſcending to pacification, every corner of the Kingdom is full of examples. Do you know what you mean by that common Proverb of violence? You will not loſe your will though it put you to coſt; Not loſe it, ſaid you? O that you knew what will this is that you ſtand upon, and you would never keep it. It is the fuel of all cruel provocation, the Gum that ſtiffens your anger, the infernal fury that makes deadly fewds, the defiance of love and charity, the croſs-bar of brotherly agreement; nay, it is Satans beſt advantage to make you miſerable like himſelf in everlaſting fire. Is this that will for whoſe ſake you will ſpend your eſtate to maintain it? Is it not enough to loſe your ſoul, but that you will pay coſts for damnation? The heathen Greek Authors were very tart in their Proverb, when they ſpoke of them that contended only for contention ſake, foreign, that they ſtrived for no more than the ſhadow of an Aſs. And Lucian, who is a profeſt flouter, ſays it is upon this occaſion. An Athenian was to ride to Delphos, and hired an Aſs to carry him; In the heat of the day he repoſed himſelf behind the Aſs, and made benefit of the ſhadow to keep his body from the Sun; the Owner, that went along to bring back the beaſt, would not ſuffer it, but demanded to ſit in the ſhadow himſelf, for he let out his Aſs, but not the ſhadow; the Contention, ſays Lucian, went ſo far, that it came into the Court. This is the Story, ſomewhat light, I confeſs, but good enough to warn brabbling perſons, that they ſtrive not about the ſhadow of an Aſs. Away with obſtinacy therefore, which is the endleſs repulſe of godly Union, and let truth prevail; for what ſhould prevail, but that which is ſtronger than all things? The greateſt Learning in the world muſt be a ſlave to Faith, and the greateſt Majeſty in the world muſt be a ſlave to Reaſon. Plato writes to Dion, the Ruler of Syracuſa, Pervicaciam tanquam ſolitudinis parentem fuge; Fly obſtinacy and wilfulneſs, it will beget you a ſolitary melancholy life, for all your friends will forſake you. Creon in Sophocles would follow his own mind, hearken to no admonition, and ſo brought all to ruine. Tireſias ſpeaks to him not to be ſtiff, and ſtubborn, for it was ever the fore-runner of great calamity; and hath theſe two ſimilitudes: Firſt, When a torrent of water breaks into a place, the little Willows that bend, foreign, they are not removed; they that will not give way are rooted out of their place. 2. When the Pilot of a ſhip will not turn his ſail to the winds, nor obſerve how to let a turbulent wave paſs by him, he ſplits his veſſel; therefore the concluſion of the Point ſhall be with Solomon, An haughty ſpirit goes before a fall; and it ſavours much more of a Chriſtian mildneſs to be eaſily drawn off from our own imaginations than to hold a ſtiff opinion in our teeth, in deſpite as it were of all wiſe perſwaſions.
To be wedded to our own will and fancy is very bad in temporal affairs, but an inflexible perverſeneſs is ten times worſe in ſpiritual purpoſes. It was a juſt invective wherewith St. Stephen reviled the Jews, Ʋncircumciſed in hearts and ears, you do always reſiſt the Holy Ghoſt. Firſt, the heart is uncircumciſed, full of ſwelling and pride: Such a diſtempered heart pollutes the ear, and will not hear of wholſom Doctrine: and when the ear is not tractable to receive the truth, then follows the reſiſtance of the Holy Ghoſt. The great oppoſers both of Law and Goſpel in holy Scripture were Sorcerers; men that were bewitched, as St. Paul ſays of the Galathians, that they would not obey the truth; ſuch as could not endure to hear there was any divine wiſdom revealed from above, which was above their own magical Philoſophy; and as ſome of our adverſaries have ſaid blaſphemouſly, that they had rather err in ſome things with their Pſeudo-Catholick Church, than be in the right Cauſe with the Reformed: So thoſe Magicians, when their ſenſes were convicted, that the finger of God was with Moſes and the Apoſtles, yet had they rather err in their own helliſh way than go uprightly in the way of God. Simon the Sorcerer what did he ſee in Peters Apoſtleſhip to oppoſe it? Elymas the Sorcerer, what did he hear from Pauls mouth to contradict it? Only they muſt not ſeem to be overcome leſt their name ſhould be diminiſhed among ſuch as admired them. God did ſmite the Magicians of Pharaoh with blains for reſiſting the truth, and yet you never read that they repented; twice their skill prevailed to imitate Moſes, and to do wonders like unto his, in the third Plague they failed, and were not able to perform it. Moſes turned the waters into bloud, they did the like. Moſes brought abundance of Frogs upon the Land, the Magicians did ſo with their inchantments. At the third time Moſes ſmote the duſt of the ground, and made it become Lice over all the Land of Egypt, at this the Magicians were at a gaze, and could not perform it. St. Auſtin notes upon it, In ſigno tertio defecerunt, fatentes ſibi adverſum eſſe ſpiritum ſanctum. They failed in the third ſign, as who ſhould ſay, the Holy Ghoſt, the third Perſon of the Trinity, did fight againſt them; they reſiſted the Spirit of God, and the ſame Spirit reſiſted them.
Certainly you ſhall confeſs out of holy Scripture, that not only theſe, but all other refractory men are inchanted with a kind of Sorcery, who are contumacious, and will not believe what the Word of God doth evidently perſwade them, 2 Tim. iii. 7. There are ſome, ſays the Apoſtle, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; for as Jannes and Jambres withſtood Moſes, ſo do theſe alſo reſiſt the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobates concerning the Faith. There are ſome who are always learning; why, there is no hurt in that; nay, it is moſt worthy of praiſe. Seek the Lord and your ſoul ſhall live, ſays David, ſeek his face evermore. Aug. Tract. in Evang. Joh. 63.My often named St. Auſtin hath a pure meditation upon it, Quaeramus inveniendum, quaeramus inventum; ut inveniendus quaeratur occultus eſt, ut inventus quaeratur immenſus eſt; That is, ſeek the Lord that he may be found, ſeek him when he is found; be ever learning. His glory is hidden ſecretly, therefore he muſt be ſought that he may be found: And his glory is immenſe and infinite, therefore ſeek him evermore when he is found. But how comes it to paſs that ſuch as are always learning never come to the knowledge of the truth? Becauſe they deceive themſelves, and think that God hath made them wiſer than their Teachers. They will do nothing unleſs their own ignorant ſurmiſes, and private ſpirit, and doating revelations give them ſatisfaction. There are labourers great ſtore in the harveſt, you cannot ſay that you want Teachers, I would we had not cauſe to complain, that we want Learners. Every illiterate man is as peremptory in his own opinion as if he were not a Diſciple, but a Judge of Divinity; and if they be checkt for perverſeneſs, that they will not let the Paſtor of their ſoul perſwade them, they are ready to reply, as Zedekiah the falſe Wizzard did to Michaiah, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from us to you? Take heed of this ſtiff-neckt perverſeneſs, as well in Civil matters, as Spiritual. foreign, ſays the beſt Poet, let us condeſcend one to another, I to you, you to me, and reach out our arms to hold peace and charity faſt between us. As for the obſtinate and contentious, they are far from the ſpirit of John Baptiſt, who knew himſelf to be moſt inſufficient to baptize our Saviour, yet after one words direction he obeyed, and Then he ſuffered him. And this is enough to be ſpoken of the firſt part of the Text, unleſs ſome turbulent ſpirits among you do ſtill reſolve to be obſtinate in their obſtinacy.
John refuſeth no more, and the impediment of this famous baptizing is removed away, ſo the inſtrumental cauſe being aptly prepared, now follows the effect, Jeſus was baptized. The reaſons for which Baptiſm I will firſt paſs on, and then ſome meditations of Uſe upon it. I draw the reaſons why Chriſt ſubmitted his own Perſon to be baptized into five heads. Firſt, that an Inſtitution ſo poor and deſpicable in it ſelf might not be contemned; for what can be ſaid more to give it warrant, and authority, than to ſay, Thus my Saviour was waſht in Jordan? What ſo divine an inſtigation to preſs us all to come unto the floud of living waters, to thirſt for that immortal ſpring of grace than this, that the Son of God himſelf did not decline to be partaker of the Baptiſm of Repentance? To what end did he apply that remedy to himſelf, whereof moſt manifeſtly he did not ſtand in need, but that ſinners ſhould wiſhingly affect it for their ſouls health, whoſe infirmities before the eyes of God and men do want a remedy? Chriſtus recipiendo Johannis baptiſmum inſtituit ſuum. John did neither point to any Prediction to enable him to baptize, which was ſpoken of by the Prophets, no miracle from heaven did ſhine upon his labours, that all men might ſay this is the finger of God; the Scribes and Phariſees, although they durſt not gainſay becauſe of the people, yet they did not encourage and applaud his Miniſtry; this Ceremony therefore had faln away like water, which is ſpilt and cannot be gathered, but that the mirrour of heaven and earth, that draws all men after him, came to Jordan to be baptized of him. God dwelleth in light incomprehenſible, and he is too great to be imitated by man: Man himſelf is a creature of much corruption, and is a moſt tickliſh uncertain example to be immitated by man, the wiſdom from above therefore did provide for us in the ſafeſt wiſe. Ʋt videret homo quem ſequeretur Deus factus eſt homo, ſays Leo; To ſet up a ſpectacle fit for our eyes to look upon, God himſelf was made man. And as our own Hiſtories report of Ceſar, being ſomewhat reproachfully repelled by the ancient Brittains, inſomuch that his Cohorts kept themſelves in their Ships, and durſt not land; at laſt Ceſar caſt forth the chief Enſign, their Eagle, upon the ſhore, waded forth himſelf into the waters, and bad the beſt daring ſpirits to follow him: So to make my Parallel complete, the beginning of the next Chapter manifeſts that we have a Ghoſtly enemy to encounter; our Enſign is not an Eagle, but a Dove, that came down upon the waters, our Commander is the mighty God, who firſt caſts himſelf into the waters of Jordan, that we may follow him, and at the ſame Sacrament defie the Devil our enemy, and all his works. A comfortable General that would wear his own Colours. foreign, ſays St. Paul, The author and the finiſher of our faith, Heb. xii. 2. which Text may comfortably be reduced to the two bleſſed Sacraments; for in his Laſt Supper he was the Author of our Faith, moſt probably it being ſuppoſed that firſt he eat bread after he had bleſſed it, and then gave it to the Diſciples. In Baptiſm he is foreign, the perfecter and finiſher of faith; for John did begin that wholſome Ordinance, and Chriſt did finiſh it, and ſtampt a Seal of Authority upon the Inſtitution, becauſe himſelf was baptized.
Secondly, Chriſt was not only baptized, to ſeal the Sacrament with his Priviledge, and Licence, but in that act he did ſanctifie the waters to the bleſſing of his Church. If Naaman had not been filled with the diſeaſe of Leproſie Eliſha had not ſent him to Jordan to waſh and be clean: If there had not been ſome impurity upon the beſt of the Apoſtles, our Saviour had omitted his Ceremony to rinſe their feet in water, and to wipe them with a Towel. Becauſe every Infant is polluted with bloud from the nativity, Occiſo magis quam nato ſimilis, ſays Seneca, more like to one that is killed, than to one that is born, therefore it is rub'd with water to take away all defilement: So unleſs much filthineſs did inhere in every child of Adam, Ezek. xvi. 4.the Sacrament of waters had not been ordained, as if we were refined with Fullers Sope. There are but two Baptiſms ſpoke of in the New Teſtament, the one of Water, the other of Fire, and both are put together for the uſe of our impurities, that all defilement may be driven out. Molliora per aquam, duriora metalla igne expurgantur. If there be ſpots in Linnen, or in any thing that is ſoft and ſupple, we take them out in water; if it be droſs in ſtubborn Metals we decoct it, and ſcum it off in a furnace of fire, So our nature is moſt ſoft and ſupple to contract every kind of iniquity as eaſily as a cloath is ſtain'd: And our heart is hard like iron, ſtubborn and refractory to forſake iniquity; therefore God applies Water and Fire to purge us to the bottom, Water in the outward Laver, Fire in the inward Spirit; ſo by Chriſts humility, who vouchſafed to dip himſelf in ſuch water as we do, he merited of his Father, that we ſhould be baptized with the Holy Ghoſt, and with fire.
Non mundari voluit, ſed mundare Jordanem, ſays St. Ambroſe, he came not to be cleanſed, but to cleanſe the River Jordan, and all other waters for the myſtical waſhing away of ſin. Unus merſit, ſed lavit omnes, unus deſcendit ut aſcenderemus omnes; One Jeſus dived into the River, that we might all riſe up from the death of ſin; one man deſcended into the Pool in great humility, that we might all aſcend up into glory. Therefore if any man ask, why he, that was whole in every part, would ſtep into Betheſda, as if he were diſeaſed, why the immaculate Son of God would waſh with ſinners? Let him take this anſwer, That he was brought to Baptiſm, even as the Spirit came down upon him anon after from heaven in the ſhape of a Dove. It was not for want of the Spirit before, or that any thing could be added to that plentiful grace which did inhabit in him, but to call for the Holy Ghoſt, that it might reſt upon his Church. So it was not for want of cleanneſs, that he ſuffered ſuch a Ceremony at Jordan to be done unto him as belongs to them that are impure, but to make the Sacrament vertuous and powerful for them that ſhould take it after him. Pro nobis Chriſtus lavit; imò nos in corpore ſuo lavit; all our defilements, if we repent and believe, are waſh'd away upon his body. There were certain legal cleanſings with water in the Statutes of Moſes, Figures of things to come, and ordained to ſatisfie for pollutions that hapned through chance and ignorance; but Chriſt ſubmitted himſelf to the Ordinance of the New Teſtament, and avoided them. For 1. They were Figures, what ſhould he do with ſuch things that was the very truth? 2. They appertained to the polluted: What reference could they have to him that is immaculate? 3. They were appointed for treſpaſſes of ignorance: What application could they have to him who knows all things in heaven, and earth, and under the earth? And leſt he ſhould be miſtaken for one in the rank of ſinful men, as if he came to be baptized for the ſame end that we do, John pronounceth him holy after the ſtricteſt manner in another Goſpel, not foreign, ſays St. Chryſoſtom, behold him that is without ſin, but foreign, behold him that taketh away the ſin of the whole world, his ſoul muſt needs conſiſt of nothing but untainted righteouſneſs.
He did communicate in his Laſt Supper with his Diſciples, and this was his difference from them; he took the Bread when he had bleſſed it, Ad ſpirituale ſolatium, non ad augmentum gratiae; not to augment grace and charity, as we do, but for the delight of his Spirit. So it delighted him to ſanctifie the waters of our new Birth to the waſhing away of our ſins, Ʋnde iſta vertus aquae? St. Auſtin ſpeaks like one aſtoniſht, Whence comes it that the poor Element toucheth the skin, and mundifieth the heart? But even from him, whoſe hem of his garment an impotent woman took in her hand, and Chriſt perceived that vertue was gone out of him; and as you muſt not conceive any Phyſical inherent vertue was in his cloaths to ſtop an iſſue of bloud, as there is in ſome ſtones and herbs, which in their ſubſtance are medicinal; ſo you muſt not miſtake as if Chriſt had ſanctified all Rivers, that a ſtrange hidden vertue is infuſed into ſuch water as is bleſſed to baptize, whereby ex opere operato, by the meer aſperſion the ſoul ſhould become unpolluted; but by this act of our Saviours it was ordained and inſtituted to be the matter of that Sacrament which ſhould ſanctifie the Children of God. Neither doth the Doctrine of this reaſon ſtretch ſo far, as if God could not have cauſed Jordan, and all other Fountains to take away pollution though Chriſt had never been waſhed in his own Perſon; for that immortal Laver is the medicine of our ſouls, becauſe the vertue of the Holy Ghoſt is upon it. Spiritus novit locum ſuum, as many of the Fathers; when the world was firſt made the Spirit moved upon the waters, and he keeps the ſame place in our New Birth, when we are made again, children I mean by adoption, and grace, and ſo far of the ſecond reaſon.
Thirdly, It appears from hence what the Prophet Iſaiah foretold, Chap. liii. 6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all; becauſe he hath received our ſins upon him, and offered himſelf as bail for us to his Father, to diſcharge us from malediction, therefore he was baptized in the form of a ſinner, and was reckoned among thoſe that had need to be waſh'd for their ſins. In all things it behov'd him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful, and a faithful High Prieſt, Heb. ii. 17. Nazianzen makes all things conſiſt in theſe three Points; man may be ſaid to be born thrice:Orat. 40. 1. A miſerable Infant from his mothers womb. 2. He is regenerate, and born again by water and the holy Spirit. 3. He is brought to life again at the laſt day, when the Grave ſhall give up the dead; in every one of theſe Chriſt was made like unto man by his Nativity, by his Baptiſm, by his Reſurrection. But to be made like unto us in Baptiſm was more againſt his dignity than both the reſt in ſome compariſons. His Mother brought him forth indeed in the form of a poor helpleſs Infant; yet you will grant that to be an Infant is the order of nature, and not a miſery. He did overcome death at his Reſurrection, nothing was ever done more triumphantly, he did overcome ſuch enemies which to that time had been unvanquiſhable; but he came to Baptiſm in the perſon of many ſinners, that as he had honoured our nature in his Birth, ſo he might purifie it in Baptiſm; to be made ſin for us, and by imputation to bear our iniquities, is part of thoſe unknown torments of our Saviour which cannot be uttered: Chriſto innocentiſſimo maxima fuit crux tradi iniquitati, ſays one, it was not ſuch a ſorrow to Chriſt to be delivered up to Caiaphas, to Pilate, to the Souldiers, to the Croſs, as to be bound over to carry the maſs of all our ſins upon his ſhoulders, Who his own ſelf bare our ſins in his body upon the Croſs, 1 Pet. ii. 17. Moriar prae amore amoris tui Domine; O let me die for love of that great love of thine O Lord, as one cries out upon it. There are three things miſerable and afflictive in the nature of man, and, that our Elder Brother Chriſt Jeſus might be like unto his Brethren in all things, he did in ſome manner undergo them all. The firſt are taedia naturae, the tedious and irkſom difficulties of nature, as hunger, thirſt, wearineſs, ſharp puniſhments, and fetters, there was never any Martyr better acquainted with theſe than our bleſſed Lord. The ſecond are languores naturae, the diſeaſes and defects of nature; but theſe belong not to mankind in general, but are perſonal miſhaps, for this and other reaſons our Saviour was clear of them, yet he did bear all thoſe ſickneſſes and maladies for us in compaſſion; as St. Paul ſays, Bear ye one anothers burdens, Gal. 6. that is, by mutual pitty and affection; ſo Chriſt did take our diſeaſes upon him by compunction, and commiſeration for his brethren. The third are deformitates naturae, all manner of ſins which are the ugly blots and deformities of nature; and thoſe he did bear for us, not by being made a ſinner,Chryſol. Serm. 150. but by repreſentation, when he ſtood before John in Jordan like one that was defiled. He came to undergo infirmities, and to confer ſtrength: to take injuries, to beſtow dignities; to ſtand for a ſick perſon, and to bring health; to repreſent a ſinner, but to act a Saviour. That is the ſum of the third reaſon.
Fourthly, St. Auſtin imagined that Chriſt had another intention in his Baptiſm indirectly, and by the by, Ʋt Daemoni ſe occultaret; Lib. 3. de Mirab. Scrip. c. 5.for the device of a ſtratagem to mock the Devil, that he might not be known of him, but to draw Satan into the combat of a tentation, which fell out in the beginning of the next Chapter. The Figures out of the Old Teſtament were not unknown to this cunning Serpent, that it muſt be only an Heifer without blemiſh, and a Lamb without ſpot which was offered up unto the Lord to be a Sacrifice of attonement: Therefore he muſt be holy and undefiled who ſhould be ſent from God to bruiſe the Serpents head, and to ſave the people from their ſins. Then this projecting Satan makes no queſtion to rank him for a defiled perſon, that came to be baptized; therefore he doth infer fooliſhly, that upon advantage of faſting forty days, he might tempt him to ſin againſt the Lord. Becauſe the Devil and his Angels make it their life and pleaſure to delude us ſilly men; God makes it his glory in our juſt revenge to mock and delude our enemy; as the Prieſts of Baal abuſed the poor people with hypocritical falſe pretences, therefore Elias turned thoſe ſcoffs upon themſelves, and flouted the Prieſts of Baal. It is ſtrange, that when as the Devil glories in the ſubtilty of a Serpent, yet God ſhould make his underſtanding ſo blind, that he never perfectly underſtood how Chriſt was the eternal Son of God, that came to deſtroy his grizzly kingdom, untill he had ſuffered upon the Croſs, and died for the ſins of the world. Firſt, Satans eyes were dazled, that he could not learn whether Chriſt was born of a pure Virgin, becauſe, by Gods providence, ſhe was married to Joſeph. Beſides, like a meer man he was obedient to his Parents, and for thirty years neither preacht nor wrought any miracle. In the firſt iſſue he ſees him baptized, in the repreſentation, at leaſt, of a ſinful man; he ſees him in a great peril upon the waters nigh to drowning; obſerves he kept no auſtere life, but eat and drank with ſinners; finally, views him betrayed by a Diſciple that was his own familiar friend, then beaten and bruiſed by every cruel Officer. All theſe badges of infirmity put together did drive thoſe Fiends of darkneſs to ſurmiſe this was not He that ſhould conquer death and the nethermoſt Pit. At laſt, the moſt refined of the ancient Authors do ingenuouſly collect, that when Satan perceived him anſwering nothing before Pilate, but willing to be offered up, then he began to interpret this was the Lamb dumb before the ſhearer, ſo opened he not his mouth; and finally, at the Paſſion of the Croſs he might ſee plainly, that God had darkned him not to find the truth, and that his Dominion, through his own malice, was taken away for ever by the death of Jeſus. Therefore I return, where I began the reaſon, this wicked one was intrapt to think our bleſſed Lord was a ſinner becauſe he was baptized. Says Origen upon the Paſſion, Chriſt was viſibly crucified in Mount Calvary, Origen. in Joſ. homil. 8.but inviſibly the Devil and the powers of Hell was nailed to the Croſs; ſo I may ſay, Chriſt was viſibly baptized, but Satan and his Hoſt were inviſibly drowned in thoſe waters, becauſe they were ſanctified in this waſhing to ſave us from our ſins. And that is the ſum of the fourth reaſon.
For brevity ſake I will joyn our laſt reaſon, and ſome meditations of Uſe together. Our Saviour came to be baptized, Ʋt per novum ritum homines ad novitatem introducerentur; that by his example, to undergo a new Rite and Ordinance, men might be drawn from old cuſtoms to newneſs of life. The new Ordinance had ratification, and authority from the act of Chriſt, as I have ſhewed before; he was both circumcized, and baptized; but, ſays Bernard, Bern. Serm. 4. de Epiph.Illud mihi tenendum tradidit quod ultimò ſuſcepit; He hath delivered to me to have and to hold for the perpetual Sacrament of the Church that which was laſt in being; for the form of a new Covenant was eſtabliſhed to evacuate the old. But what's a new form if the old corruptions be retained? What an eye-ſore is a new piece in an old garment? As good be an unbelieving Jew after the ancient tincture of the Law, as be a novel transformed Chriſtian after the old leven of the Devil. As St. Paul put the Romans in mind of their firſt rudiments, ſo muſt I remember you, Rom. vi. 4. Therefore we are buried with Chriſt by Baptiſm unto death: that like as Chriſt was raiſed up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even ſo alſo we ſhould walk in newneſs of life. Here are three things in order that have a pious connexion between them, firſt a burial as it were in the water, then a death, and after that a riſing again. Firſt, I ſay, the plunging, or dipping in the water reſembles a burial; for although, to favour the weakneſs of Infants, we caſt no more than a dew of water upon their face; yet when young men converted from heathen Idolatry, required the Baptiſm of the Church, their whole body waded into the River, even as they that came to John ſtood up to the neck in Jordan; yea, and in hotter countries Infants were dipt into the bottom of the Font; this the Fathers called a reſemblance that the old Adam was buried in the waters; St. Paul makes it a myſtery that we are buried with Chriſt,Damaſ lib. 4. de ſid. c. 10. therefore I find that ſome were wont eſpecially to baptize on the Satterday, wherein Chriſt lay in the Grave; and a threefold immerſion of the Child into the water was an uſual Ceremony, becauſe Chriſt lay buried three days in the Sepulchre.
After the repreſentation of burial in the outward Element, the good uſe of that Sacrament tells us we ſhould die unto ſin. I ſay, firſt buried, and then die; for the end of being buried with Chriſt is, that we ſhould die daily unto ſin. This order is no hard thing to conceive; for ſuppoſe a man by miſchance ſunk into the bottom of the water, before he loſeth his life and dies, it is true to ſay that he is buried in the ſtream which is gone over his head; therefore upon this burial-reſembling baptiſm it behoves you to die unto the world, and to mortifie your members upon earth. The death of ſin is thus to be conceived, not an utter privation of all evil, but a beating down of concupiſcence; it is a death to your Adverſary the Devil when he cannot reign in your mortal body. Weeds which are cut down perhaps will grow no more, but their ſavour ſtill ſtinks upon your dunghil: So you may ſheare down the viciouſneſs of your life, like an unprofitable weed, lay it dead, and let it grow no more; but it will ever leave a noiſom ſmell in our nature. While we live in this world fleſh is but a dunghil of corruption: it made St. Paul have a great deſire to be diſſolved, that he might be a ſweet ſavour in Chriſt.
As we are buried, and die with Chriſt in Baptiſm, ſo we muſt riſe with him through the faith of the operation of God, Col. ii. 12. For when Chriſt is given to us to be our life, to what end ſhould we die, as it were, with him in the Laver of new birth, unleſs it be to riſe up in a new life? This meditation cannot chooſe but ſtick by you if you will always carry the remembrance of thoſe words before your eyes, Abrenuntio Satanae, I renounce the Devil and all his works. They are a part of your Indenture that you made with God, and how will you anſwer the violating of your Covenant?Lib. de Init. c. 2. St. Ambroſe declames thus upon it, Tenetur vox tua non in tumulo mortuorum, ſed in libro viventium. Praeſentibus Angelis locutus es, non eſt fallere, non eſt mentiri. This word is recorded not among the dead, but in the book of the living. The Angels were preſent in the Church, when the Sureties in your name gave their faith to God, therefore hold you to your word; you muſt not falter, you muſt not lie unto the Lord. Walk in newneſs of life; that Phraſe hath ſomewhat in it, that is not ſaid barely in a new life. In novis vivendi formis; let there be no kind of likeneſs and conformity to thy ſelf as once thou wert, a neglecter of Prayer, a Traducer, a Fornicator, a Drunkard, an Oppreſſor. Here is a Temple built up new unto the Holy Ghoſt, which once was a den of uncleanneſs; that which is to come of my life is altogether conſecrated to the glory of my Saviour, look not therefore before me now, but get thee behind me Satan.
You have now heard all the five Reaſons upon the ſecond part of the Text, why Chriſt was baptized. I ſaid in the third place it was but a preparatory to greater matters which ſhould follow, therefore he went up ſtraightway out of the water. The Text ſays, ſtraightway, as who ſhould ſay, he ſtaid not long upon that Circumſtance, no more will we. foreign, he did aſcend out of Jordan, and very preſently, both theſe are the crums of the Text, and they muſt not be loſt. Literally it imports that Chriſt ſtood not upon the ſhore, having a few drops of water caſt upon him, but he went with his whole body into the River, to intimate that if God ſhould not help, the deep waters of our ſins would take us up to the neck, and the ſtream had gone over our ſoul. So Philip and the Eunuch went down into the waters, Acts viii. 38. That great Courtier of Queen Candace ſtript himſelf of all his cloaths before his ſervants, that he might waſh from head to foot. What was it to him to be naked in the ſight of divers men? He was ſo aſhamed of his ſins, that he forgot all other ſhamefac'dneſs. Thus he preſs'd cloſe to the example of our Saviour, who went down into the ſtream of Jordan; and it being not the time of harveſt, when that River uſed to fill his banks, he went up, and aſcended from the Pool. St. Auſtin allegorizeth, Confeſtim aſcendit, ut oſtendat quàm gravi onere in baptiſmo liberamur: He went up nimbly to the banks, to ſhew that by Baptiſm we are lightned of the great burden of our ſins, and fit to aſcend unto our Father.
Others faſten this obſervation upon it, that Chriſt went ſtraightway out of the water: For his Baptiſm was done with more ſpeed and expedition than the common peoples; the reaſon is this: Among the multitude every one was baptized confeſſing their ſins, that took up ſome time to detain them before they parted. Chriſt ſtaid for no more than the ſprinkling of the River, who had no ſins to confeſs, and ſtraightway went out of the water. St. Luke affords a pious conjecture, Luk. iii. 21. being baptized, he prayed. Therefore to teach us with what reverence theſe great myſteries are to be entertained, he made haſt incontinently to the ſhore to fall upon his knees, and pray unto his Father. Adoremus coram creatore, ſays the Pſalmiſt, O come let us worſhip, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our maker.
If we are to worſhip him, even as low as with the moſt humble proſtration of our face upon the earth, becauſe he created us, and gave us the life of nature; then what knee can be ſo refractory as not to worſhip and fall down, when we celebrate his infinite goodneſs in either of the Sacraments that he hath redeemed us from eternal death, called us to the participation of grace, and given us aſſurance in thoſe bleſſed Seals of his Covenant that we ſhall enjoy the life of glory? Remember what I ſaid in the beginning, beware of obſtinacy. Laſtly, He went up out of the waters to ſhew us every good deed is a ſtep into another: Do but enter into the practice of one good action, and increaſe will ſoon follow;, when you have begun happily, God will teach you to proceed, and to put your Talent into the way of increaſe. The Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, ſays David; that is, he loveth the perfect Sacraments of the New Teſtament better than the types and ſhadows of the Old. Now Baptiſm is called eſpecially one of the gates of Sion, for that it is but the firſt door to let us into the Church. The Church it ſelf is an upper Chamber (as Chriſt is ſaid to eat his Paſſeover with his Diſciples in ſuperiori caenaculo) the higheſt in the world next to heaven it ſelf; there are many ſtairs, and degrees of vertues upon which we muſt climb till we come to the top of the hill. In Baptiſm we go down as it were into the River, and ſit in the loweſt room of humility; but as ſpeedily as we can we muſt advance our ſoul, and go up from grace to grace, from vertue to vertue, and you ſhall hear that voice of joy from Chriſt himſelf, Friends ſit up higher. AMEN.