Of Baptism, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Wherein is ſhewed the report which the ceremony of Baptiſme hath, to the forementioned ends and uſes of that ordinance; alſo ſome Corollaries.
HAving ſpoken of the uſe & ends of Baptiſme, it will not be unmeete in the next place to diſcourſe ſomething of the Ceremony, that we may ſhew the report which the ſigne & ceremony hath to the thing ſignified and repreſented.
Now the ſignification is moſt apt; for the externall forme or Ceremony of Baptiſme lyes properly in three things, Immerſion, or Drowning, or Burying, by putting under the water; ſome ſtay under it, and emerſion, or riſing out of it.
Firſt the element which is uſed, is water, extreamely fit & proper to repreſent our cleanſing, both from the guilt and ſtayne of ſinne. Ariſe and be baptized, and vvaſh avvay thy ſinnes, ſayes Ananias to Paul Acts 22.16. So Chriſt gave himſelf for his Church, that hee might ſanctifie and cleanſe it vvith the vvaſhing of vvater by the vvord, Eph. 5.26. So Tit. 3.5. According to his mercy hee ſaved us by the vvaſhing of regeneration. So as this waſhing of water repreſents our cleanſing, that is our juſtification and ſanctification. The Iewes had many ſprinklings with blood, fit for their groſſe capacities, but which indeed rather ſerve to make ſpots, then to cleanſe them.
Firſt therefore the dipping or drowning in the water, ſignifies the great depth of divine juſtice, with which Chriſt for our ſakes was ſwallowed up; & ſo we are dead and buried with him, reaping in a ceremony the fruit of that which he ſuffered indeed, pertaking of his death for ſinne, and thereby obliging our ſelves to death to ſinne.
Secondly the ſtay under the water, though never ſo little, repreſents unto us, Chriſts deſcending to hell, that is, the loweſt degree of his abaſement, when hee was ſeald up and watcht in the grave, and was as it were cut of from amongſt men; of this abaſement wee reape the fruit by Baptiſme, & are hereby ſecured againſt that abaſement, and everlaſting deſtruction from the preſence of the Lord; to which ſinne would have brought us; & therefore ſinne as it is deſtroyed in us in reſpect of the guilt, and cut of by this abaſement of Chriſt, ſo it ſhould be apprehended by us for our juſtification, and it ſhould be utterly dead & mortified to us, in reſpect of its power and vigour; dead and buried to ſinne.
Thirdly the Emerſion, or riſing out of the water, is a repreſentation to us of that victory, which Chriſt being dead and buried, got over death, and in his riſing, triumphed over it, with whom alſo we riſe triumphing over ſinne & death, and all evill whatſoever, clearly above the guilt of all ſinne, and ſecure againſt the evill of ſin, riſing up to holines & newnes of life. And thus there is a ſweete and excellent proportion, betweene the ceremony and the ſubſtance, the ſigne, & the thing ſignified, and wee are confirmed to be of the union and communion with Chriſt in every thing that is for our good and comfort.
Now having ſhewed the ſeverall ends of Baptiſme, & how the ceremony makes them all good to us, I ſhall gather ſome Corollaries from the mayne notiō of this ordinance, which is our being dead with Chriſt, and riſing againe, according to the forementioned place of Rom. 6.11. Reckon your ſelves to be dead to ſinne, but alive to God through Ieſus Chriſt our Lord. Reckon, that is, build upon this; this is a thing exceeding ſure.
Firſt if wee be dead to ſinne, Coroll. 1.and ſealed up to this death by Baptiſme into the death of Chriſt, then let us be in the world as dead men in that reſpect; let us not underſtand the reaſonings of ſinne, nor hearken to the perſuaſions of ſinne, nor looke upon the baites of ſinne; the Apoſtle made this an argument in a better thing, If you be dead vvith Chriſt from the rudiments of the vvorld, vvhy as though living in the vvorld, are ye ſubject to ordinances, touch not, taſt not, handle not, Col. 2.20. Theſe things had once a good being, but were become old, but ſinne was never of any worth or account. Barzillai 2. Samuel 19. thought it reaſon to refuſe the Kings table, becauſe his appetite and ſences were decayed, hee was eighty yeares old; but our ſences are not decaying, but dead, and ſinne is not old, but dead; it is dead in a miſtery, it is dead in Chriſt, and wee have the Sacrament upon it; therefore if luſts tempt, turne not onelyonly a deaf, but a dead eare to them; perſuaſiōs ſhould not worke on a dead man, objects ſhould not take or affect a dead man.
Secondly if we be riſen and alive with Chriſt, & Baptiſme ſeale that alſo; then act not onelyonly as a living man, but as a riſen man, moove and walke, & reaſon, & conclude, as a man raiſed from the dead, have your ſences and your reaſonings as quick to God, as taking of ſpirituall things, as they are dull and ſhut up to things below; breath in the ayer of another life, haſten after the full and reall poſſeſſion of another life; let God and Chriſt & heavenly things be great unto you, though they be little to the world, and what ever is great to the world, let it be little to you, proportionating your object to your life; love thoſe ordinances, thoſe times that feed your life.
Thirdly the worke of this ordinance or dying and riſing, is advanced much by holy reaſonings, both in the time of communicating & afterwards, for wee are apt to forget our ſelves and our conditions, as he that would have forgot that he was an Emperour, if he had not bene remembred of it by others. Thinke therefore much on theſe things, what you have done in this ordinance, what are the conſequences & reſults of it, which wil be a mighty not onelyonly help, but ingagement to faith & holines, it is a ſeale on both ſides, wee ſeale to God as well as he to us, it is in our owne choyce no more, wee are ingaged by our owne act; wee have ſubſcribed and can recall no more, and certainely this as it ingages much, ſo it helpes much: to act an act of faith in thought is much, but to ſpeake it is more, but to ſigne & ſeale it in an ordinance, by profeſſing ſubjection, by going downe into the water, by ſuffering your ſelves there to be drowned, or buried, by riſing or coming out againe, all as a ceremony or ordinance for ſuch an end, is both a great ingagement and a great help to us in beleeving.