Milk for Babes, Questions · Question 29 – Question 30
29. Q. What are Sacraments?
A. They are ſignes and ſeals of the righteouſneſſe of faith.
Here thou layeſt down the nature of Sacraments. The nature of the ſacraments.By the righteouſneſſe of faith, thou muſt underſtand, that righteouſneſſe which thou haſt by the Covenant of the Goſpel; that is, the meritorious obedience of Chriſt for thee, as thy ſurety, reſted upon by faith. And the Sacraments, Rom. 4.11.are ſignes, and ſeals of this righteouſneſſe of faith. They are ſignes: becauſe they ſignifie ſomething unto thee. Thou knoweſt that a picture, or ſimilitude upon a poſte at an Inn, or Alehouſe houſe dore, is called a ſigne; becauſe it ſignifies, that thou maiſt have meat, drink, and lodging there for thy mony: ſo is the Sacrament called a ſigne; becauſe it ſignifies ſomething unto thee. When thou ſeeſt the bread, and wine ſet apart on the Lords table for this ſpeciall ſervice, it ſignifies that God the father hath ſet apart and ſealed Jeſus Chriſt for thy ſalvation. Joh. 6.The bread ſignifies the body of Chriſt. The wine ſignifies the bloud of Chriſt. The breaking of the bread ſignifies the ſuffering of Chriſt upon the croſſe. The powring out of the wine ſignifies the ſhedding of Chriſts bloud upon the croſſe. The Miniſter preſenting theſe unto thee, ſignifies God the Father, whoſe Ambaſſadour he is, offering unto thee his ſonne for thy ſalvation: and thy receiving of it into thy hand, and mouth, ſignifies thy faith by which thou makeſt Chriſt and his merit thy own. Thus by theſe ſignes thou diſcerneſt the Lords body and bloud, 1 Cor. 11.without which thou cateſt judgement to thy ſelf, which is damnable, & without repentance will in the iſſue prove thy damnation. So in the other Sacrament of Baptiſme, water ſignifies the bloud, merit, and ſpirit of Chriſt: laying on of the water as well as dipping and plunging, ſignifies thy death and buriall with Chriſt: Rom. 6.waſhing and cleanſing ſignifies forgiveneſſe of ſinnes: and wiping off the water, as well as riſing out of it, ſignifies our riſing with Chriſt to a new, holy, and cleanſed eſtate.
Sacraments are alſo ſeals: As Abraham was ſaid to have received the ſigne of Circumſion, Rom. 4.11.as the ſeal of the righteouſneſſe of faith: ſo doeſt thou receive our Sacraments. Now, thou knoweſt the uſe of ſeals among men. When men make a bargain and ſet their hands and ſeals unto it, then the bargain is concluded. When men make a promiſe, and ſet their hands, and ſeals unto it, then their promiſe is confirmed: we have juſt cauſe to beleeve it. When men convey houſes, and lands either to other, and ſet their hands, and ſeals, to an inſtrument drawn to that end, then thoſe houſes and land, upon delivery, are conveyed; and therefore it is called a conveyance. For ſuch like reaſons, the Sacraments are called ſeals: becauſe they do conclude, confirm, and convey. In the Sacrament there is a Covenant or bargain betwixt God, Heb. 8.6.and thee. Chriſt is called the Mediatour of a better Covenant. Heb. 8.10.By this Covenant God promiſeth, that he will be to us a God, even our God, and we ſhall be to him a people, Jer. 31.33.even his people. By vertue of this, he gives the forgiveneſſe of ſinnes, Jer. 32.40. Heb. 8.10, 11, 12.illumination, ſanctification, experimentall knowledge and perſeverance in the wayes of grace. This bleſſing, and bleſſed covenant is concluded in the Sacraments. In Baptiſme thou publikely entereſt into this covenant: Rom. 4.17.and that God who calleth things that are not as if they were, is pleaſed to call thee a beleever: not ſo much by vertue of thy parents faith, as by vertue of his covenant to Abraham and his ſeed according to the fleſh, Act. 2.36.and according to the ſpirit, which makes parents, and their children one, and in one covenant. In the Lords Supper thou publikely reneweſt thy covenant. Conſcience tels thee, that, though thou art ſorry for thy ſins, by which thou haſt broken thy Covenant of Baptiſme, and purpoſeſt to do ſo no more; and therefore canſt look back to thy Baptiſme with comfort: yet thou faileſt again and again. And therefore thy God of mercy hath pleaſed to give thee leave to come and renew thy covenant again, and again, in the Supper of the Lord: and if thou purpoſeſt to deal faithfully with God, as thou reneweſt thy covenant with God, ſo God renews his Covenant with thee. Therefore it is called a ſeal to conclude this Covenant betwixt God, and thee.
Again, Joh. 3.16.in the Sacrament is confirmed thy faith in the promiſe when thou art of years to judge what thou haſt done, and doeſt. God makes a gracious promiſe in the Covenant of the Goſpel, that if thou beleeve in Chriſt thou ſhalt be ſaved. Oh how hard is it for thee to grapple with thy unbeleeving heart! When thou lookeſt to Gods love, and Chriſts merits, thou art cheered; but when thou lookeſt to thy own unworthineſſe, thy faith flags, and faints. Therefore thy good God doth ſend his Ambaſſadour, 2 Cor. 5.20with bread, and wine, to confirm thy faith, and aſſure thee, that as ſure as thou haſt this bread, and this wine given unto thee: ſo ſurely God will make good thy ſalvation to thee, if thou beleeveſt in his Chriſt.
Laſtly, the Sacrament, as a ſeal, doth convey Jeſus Chriſt, and all his benefits to thee, ſo, as thou maiſt ſay, I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. Look as houſes, and lands may be conveyed unto thee by a ſealed writing; and though thou never ſee either houſe or land; yet, in a court of Record, thou maiſt have it made thine if it be within the Kings dominions: So Chriſt by his promiſe, and ſeal is made thine: and though thou ſee him not according to the fleſh, yet thou haſt communion with the body and bloud of Chriſt, 1 Cor. 10.16.by the court of Record in the Scriptures, in the kingdome of the great King of heaven and earth. The manner of this conveyance is ſacramentall, that is, as a ſigne and ſeal. For it doth not convey Chriſt as I can convey money to thy purſe, or hand; or as cloaths to thy back by naturall inſtruments: but as Sacraments can convey him: that is, they can ſignifie the conveyance of Chriſt, and ſeal it unto thee by the covenant and ordinance of God.
Vſe. Therefore let me charge thee (my good childe) to prize this truth as a ſeal upon thy heart, and a ſignet upon thy right hand. Wert thou not moſt miſerable if thou wert not in covenant with God? If he did not take thee into ſpeciall protection as thy God? If thou didſt not engage thy ſelf to be one of his people who have illumination, forgiveneſſe, ſanctification, and perſeverance? All this God doth aſſure thee of in the ſeal of the Sacrament. Would'ſt thou not account thy ſelf in a ſad condition if God had made thee a promiſe of ſalvation by Chriſt, and, when thou art beaten off by the ſin of thy heart, thou hadſt no confirmation of it from the God of truth? yet, this is confirmed by the ſeal of the Sacrament. Would it not adde to thy ſaddeſt thoughts, If thou hadſt many promiſes of comfort by Chriſt, and yet hadſt no performances? Behold, the ſeale of the Sacrament doth convey Chriſt unto thy ſoul by faith. Is it not regiſtred in the Records of heaven, that this bread is my body, Luk. 22. 1 Cor. 11.this wine is my bloud as Chriſt hath witneſſed? Hadſt thou but a cut finger, thou couldſt not have the vertue of the ſalve, to cure it, except thou hadſt the plaiſter of the ſalve it ſelf: nor canſt thou have the merits of Chriſt, except thou haſt Chriſt himſelf, though not in a carnall way. Uſe the Sacrament as a ſigne to ſignifie; but let it be a ſigne, and not the proper thing ſignified. Uſe it as a ſeal; yet let it be but a ſeal to aſſure a poſſeſſion of what thou haſt, though thou ſeeſt it not. Get poſſeſſion of Chriſt, and it is enough. In the mean time, turn thou this doctrine into practice, and plead with God from the Sacrament. Good father, let theſe ſignes ſignifie powerfully thy love to my ſoul. Let theſe ſeals be a ſweet concluſion of the covenant of Grace betwixt thee and me: be a confirmation to my doubting faith: and be a conveyance of Chriſt to me, that he may live in my ſoul by faith, and confound ſinne more and more, and quicken me to all Grace to thy Glory.
Now caſt thy eye backward, and tell me; ſeeing thou muſt have faith, or elſe thou canſt not be ſaved by Chriſt,
Q. Who muſt work faith in thy heart?
A. The Holy Ghoſt.
Q. Why muſt he work it?
A. Becauſe it is an infinite comfort againſt the infinite horrour of my ſin.
Q. Where muſt it be wrought.
A. In my heart.
Q. Why ſaiſt thou ſo?
A. To put a difference betwixt the faith in the head, and the faith in the heart.
Q. How muſt it be wrought in thee?
A. By the outward preaching of the Goſpel.
Q. How many wayes is faith encreaſed?
A. Two wayes.
Q. Which is the firſt?
A. By the preaching of the Goſpel.
Q. Why is faith encreaſed thus?
A. Becauſe the oftner we hear the word of promiſe the more we will beleeve it.
Q. What is the ſecond?
A. By receiving the Sacraments.
Q. Why is faith confirmed by them?
A. Becauſe they are ſeals to aſſure Gods promiſes.
Q. What are Sacraments?
A. Signes, and ſeals of the righteouſneſſe of faith.
Q. What is the righteouſnes of faith?
A. The meriting obedience of Chriſt reſted on by faith.
Q. Why are the Sacraments called ſignes?
A. Becauſe they ſignifie ſomething unto us.
Q. What doth the water in Baptiſme ſignifie?
A. The bloud, merit, and ſpirit of Chriſt.
Q. What doth laying on of the water ſignifie?
A. My death, and buriall with Chriſt.
Q. What doth the running, or wiping off of the water ſignifie?
A. My riſing with Chriſt to a new life.
Q. What doth waſhing or cleanſing ſignifie?
A. Forgiveneſſe of my ſins.
Q. What doth the bread ſignifie?
A. The body of Chriſt?
Q. What doth the wine ſignifie?
A. The bloud of Chriſt.
Q. What doth the breaking of the bread ſignifie?
A. The ſuffering of Chriſt upon the croſſe.
Q. What doth the powring out of the wine ſignifie?
A. The ſhedding of Chriſts bloud upon the croſſe.
Q. What doth the Miniſters preſenting them to thee ſignifie?
A. God the Fathers offering his ſonne to me.
Q. What doth thy receiving them ſignifie?
A. The faith of the Goſpel.
Q. Why are they called ſeals?
A. Becauſe they do conclude, confirm, and convey.
Q. What is concluded?
A. A Covenant betwixt God, and me.
Q. What is that Covenant?
A. That God will be my God, and I will be one of his people.
Q. What is confirmed in the Sacrament?
A. Faith in the promiſe.
Q. What is that promiſe?
A. That if I beleeve in Chriſt, I ſhall be ſaved.
Q. What is conveyed in the Sacrament?
A. Chriſt with all his benefits.
Q. How can the Sacrament convey CHRIST unto thee?
A. Sacramentally.
Q. How is that?
A. As a ſign, and ſeal.
Thus have I (by Gods bleſſing) brought thee from thy creation to thy fall; from thy fall, to thy curſe; from thy curſe, to thy deliverance by Chriſt; from thy deliverance to the ſettlement of it upon thee by faith: and from thence to the means working, encreaſing, and confirming. Now proceed, and tell me
30. Q. How many Sacraments there are?
A. Two onelyonly: Baptiſme, and the Supper of the Lord?
Here thou telleſt me the number, The number of the Sacraments and what they are in particular. 1 Cor. 10.2, 2, 3, 4.and names of the Sacraments. The number; there are but two. For thou findeſt but two ordained by Chriſt: and where Paul ſpeaks of purpoſe of them, he names onelyonly two under thoſe that went before them: yea, two are aboundantly ſufficient for their end; one to ſigne, and ſeal, our engrafting into Chriſt, that is Baptiſme; and another to ſigne and ſeal our growing in Chriſt, that is the Supper of the Lord: yea laſtly, the true nature and uſe of a Sacrament agrees onelyonly to theſe two; for onelyonly theſe two are ſignes and ſeales of a thing ſignified and ſealed, having a word of commandement, and a word of promiſe to all beleevers. Act. 10. Matth. 28. Rom. 6.Their names are Baptiſme and the Supper of the Lord. Baptiſme is a waſhing with water, conſecrated by the word, and prayer, by a Miniſter, in the name of the Father, Sonne, and holy Ghoſt, to ſignifie, and ſeal our grafting into Chriſt. The Lords Supper is bread, Matth. 26.26. Luk. 22.19, 20. 1 Cor. 11.and wine, conſecrated, and broken by a Miniſter, given, received, eaten, and drunk, by the Church, to ſignifie and ſeal our growing in Chriſt. Thus maiſt thou conceive theſe two.
Vſe. Therefore (my childe) ſee the wonderfull love of God to thee, who would not onelyonly have the fellowſhip of Chriſt beſtowed upon thee, but will ſignifie and ſeal it unto thee alſo. Doeſt thou doubt of thy union with Chriſt? Thou haſt it by covenant in Gods promiſe; thou haſt it by application in the exerciſe of thy faith about ſaving Chriſt; and thou haſt it ſacramentally, by ſigne, and ſeal in Baptiſme. Doeſt thou doubt that God wil not provide for thee a feaſt of fat things, Eſa. 27. Luk. 15.and fined wines, even that fatteſt Calf, to nouriſh, and feed thee to eternall life; becauſe thou haſt been a wicked prodigal, ſinning againſt the covenant of Baptiſme? Do but thou condemn, and alter thy courſe, and renew thy covenant, and then thou haſt Gods promiſe for it in the covenant; the ſettlement of it upon thee by faith; and thy aſſurance of it in the Lords Supper. To make it more plain, tell me