Baptism of Water is a visible Sign or Badge to distinguish_ Christians
_from_ Infidels, _even as Circumcision did the_ Jews.
[Sidenote: _Answ._] I _answer_, This saith nothing at all, unless
it be proved to be a _necessary Precept_, or Part of the _New
Covenant Dispensation_; it not being lawful for us to impose outward
_Ceremonies_ and _Rites_, and say, They will distinguish us from
_Infidels_. [Sidenote: _Circumcision a Seal of the first Covenant._]
_Circumcision_ was positively commanded, and said to be a _Seal of the
first Covenant_; but as we have already proved that there is no such
Command for Baptism, [Sidenote: _Water-baptism falsely called a_ Badge
_of Christianity._] so there is not any Word in all the New Testament,
calling it a _Badge of Christianity_, or _Seal of the New Covenant_:
And therefore to conclude it is so, because _Circumcision_ was so,
(unless some better Proof be alleged for it) is miserably to beg the
Question. [Sidenote: _Which is the _Badge_ of Christianity._] _The
Professing of Faith in Christ, and a holy Life answering thereunto,
is a far better _Badge_ of _Christianity_ than any outward Washing_;
which yet answers not to that of _Circumcision_, since that affixed a
Character in the Flesh, which this doth not: So that a Christian is not
known to be a Christian by his being _baptized_, especially when he was
a Child, unless he tell them so much: [Sidenote: _What the _Fathers_
say of Water-baptism, and of the Sign of the Cross._] And may not the
Professing of _Faith in Christ_ signify that as well? I know there are
divers of those called the _Fathers_, that speak much of Water-baptism,
calling it _Characterem Christianitatis_: But so did they also of
the Sign of the _Cross_, and other such Things, justly rejected by
_Protestants_. [Sidenote: Heathenish _Ceremonies introduced into the
Christian Worship._] For the _Mystery of Iniquity_, which began to
work in the Apostles Days, soon spoiled the Simplicity and Purity of
the Christian Worship; insomuch that not only many _Jewish Rites_ were
retained, but many _Heathenish Customs_ and _Ceremonies_ introduced
into the Christian Worship; as particularly that Word [_Sacrament_.] So
that it is a great Folly, especially for _Protestants_, to plead any
Thing of this from _Tradition_ or _Antiquity_; For we find that neither
_Papists_ nor _Protestants_ use those Rites exactly as the _Ancients_
did; who in such Things, not walking by the most certain Rule of God’s
Spirit, but doting too much upon Externals, were very uncertain. For
most of them all, in the primitive Times, did wholly _plunge_ and _dip_
those they baptized, which neither _Papists_, nor most _Protestants_,
do: Yea, several of the _Fathers_ accused some as _Hereticks_ in their
Days, for holding some Principles common with _Protestants_ concerning
it; as particularly _Augustine_ doth the _Pelagians_, for saying that
_Infants dying unbaptized may be saved_. And the _Manichees_ were
condemned, for denying that _Grace is Universally given by Baptism_;
and _Julian_ the _Pelagian_ by _Augustine_, for denying _Exorcism
and Insufflation in the Use of Baptism_: [Sidenote: _Exorcism or
Adjuration._] All which Things _Protestants_ deny also. So that
_Protestants_ do but foolishly to upbraid us, as if we could not shew
any among the _Ancients_ that denied _Water-baptism_; seeing they
cannot shew any, whom they acknowledge not to have been heretical in
several Things, that used it; [Sidenote: _The Sign of the Cross._] nor
yet, who using it, did not also use the _Sign of the Cross_, and other
Things with it, which they deny. [Sidenote: _Many in _former Ages_
testified against _Water-baptism.] There were some nevertheless in
the darkest Times of _Popery_, who testified against _Water-baptism_.
For one _Alanus_, Page 103, 104. 107. speaks of some in his Time
that were burnt for the denying of it: For they said, That _Baptism
had no Efficacy, either in Children or adult Persons; and therefore
Men were not obliged to take Baptism: _Particularly _ten Canonicks_,
so called, _were burnt for that Crime, by the Order of King_ Robert
_of_ France. And _P. Pithœus_ mentions it in his _Fragments_ of
the _History_ of _Guienne_, which is also confirmed by one _Johannes
Floracensis_, a _Monk_, who was famous at that Time, in his Epistle to
_Oliva_, Abbot of the _Ausonian_ Church: “I will, saith he, give you
to understand concerning the Heresy that was in the City of _Orleans_
on _Childermas-day_; [Sidenote: _Ten Canonicks burnt at _Orleans_, and
why._] for it was true, if ye have heard any Thing, that King _Robert_
caused to be burnt alive near fourteen of that City, of the chief of
their _Clergy_, and the more noble of their _Laicks_, who were hateful
to God, and abominable to Heaven and Earth; for they did stifly deny
the Grace of holy Baptism, and also the Consecration of the Lord’s Body
and Blood.” The Time of this Deed is noted in these Words by _Papir.
Masson_, in his _Annals_ of _France_, Lib. 3. in _Hugh_ and _Robert_,
_Actum Aureliæ publicè anno Incarnationis Domini 1022. Regni _Roberti_
Regis 28, Indictione 5. quando _Stephanus_ Hæresiarcha & Complices ejus
damnati sunt et exusti Aureliæ_.
Now for their calling them _Hereticks_ and _Manichees_, we have nothing
but the Testimony of their Accusers, which will no more invalidate
their Testimony for this Truth against the Use of Water-baptism, or
give more Ground to charge us, as being one with _Manichees_, than
because some, called by them _Manichees_, do agree with _Protestants_
in some Things, that therefore _Protestants_ are _Manichees_ or
_Hereticks_, which _Protestants_ can no Ways shun. For the Question is,
Whether, in what they did, they walked according to the Truth testified
of by the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures? So that the Controversy is
brought back again to the Scriptures, according to which, I suppose, I
have already discussed it.
[Sidenote: _The _Baptism_ of _Infants_ an Human Tradition._] As for
the latter Part of the _Thesis_, denying the Use of _Infant-baptism_,
it necessarily follows from what is above said. For if Water-baptism
be ceased, then surely _Baptizing of Infants_ is not warrantable. But
those that take upon them to oppose us in this Matter, will have more
to do as to this latter Part: For after they have done what they can
to prove Water-baptism, it remains for them to prove that _Infants_
ought to be baptized. For he that proves Water-baptism ceased,
proves that Infant-baptism is vain: But he that should prove that
Water-baptism continues, has not thence proved that Infant-baptism is
necessary; that needs something further. And therefore it was a pitiful
Subterfuge of _Nic. Arnoldus_ against this, to say, That _the Denying
of Infant-baptism belonged to the Gangrene of the_ Anabaptists, without
adding any further Proof.
PROPOSITION XIII.
Concerning the COMMUNION, or PARTICIPATION of the BODY and BLOOD of
CHRIST.
[119]_The _Communion_ of the Body and Blood of Christ is _inward_ and
_spiritual_, which is the Participation of his Flesh and Blood, by
which the _inward Man_ is daily nourished in the Hearts of those
in whom Christ dwells. Of which Things the _Breaking of Bread_ by
Christ with his Disciples was a _Figure_, which even they who had
received the Substance used in the Church for a Time, for the Sake
of the Weak; [120]even as _abstaining from Things strangled_, and
_from Blood_, _the Washing one another’s Feet_, and the _Anointing
of the Sick with Oil_: All which are commanded with no less
Authority and Solemnity than the former; yet seeing they are but
_Shadows_ of better Things, they cease in such as have obtained the
_Substance.
[119] 1 Cor. 10. 16, 17. John 6. 32. 33. 35. 1 Cor. 5. 8.
[120] Acts 15. 20. John 13. 14. James 5. 14.
§. I. The _Communion_ of the Body and Blood of Christ is a _Mystery_
hid from all natural Men, in their first fallen and degenerate State,
which they cannot understand, reach to, nor comprehend, as they there
abide; neither, as they there are, can they be Partakers of it, nor
yet are they able to _discern the Lord’s Body_. And forasmuch as
the _Christian World_ (so called) for the most Part hath been still
labouring, working, conceiving and imagining, in their own natural
and unrenewed Understandings, about the Things of God and Religion;
therefore hath this _Mystery_ been much hid and sealed up from them,
while they have been contending, quarrelling and fighting one with
another about the mere Shadow, Outside, and Form, but Strangers to the
Substance, Life and Virtue.
§. II. [Sidenote: _The _Body_ and _Blood_ of Christ is spiritual._]
The _Body_ then of Christ, which Believers partake of, is _spiritual_,
and not _carnal_; and his _Blood_, which they drink of, is _pure_
and _heavenly_, and not _human_ or _elementary_, as _Augustine_ also
affirms of the _Body of Christ_, which is eaten, in his _Tractat._
Psal. xcviii. _Except a Man eat my Flesh, he hath not in him Life
eternal_: And he saith, _The Words which I speak unto you are Spirit
and Life; understand spiritually what I have spoken. Ye shall not eat
of this Body which ye see, and drink this Blood which they shall spill,
who crucify me--I am the living Bread, who have descended from Heaven.
He calls himself the Bread, who descended from Heaven, exhorting that
we might believe in him_, &c.
[Sidenote: Object.] If it be asked then, _What that _Body_, what that
_Flesh_ and _Blood_ is?_
[Sidenote: _Answ._] I _answer_, It is that _Heavenly Seed_, that
_divine, spiritual, celestial Substance_, of which we spake before in
the _fifth_ and _sixth Propositions_. [Sidenote: _What the _heavenly
Seed_ is, whereby formerly, and also now, _Life_ and _Salvation_ was
and is communicated._] This is that _spiritual Body of Christ_, whereby
and through which he communicateth _Life to Men_, and _Salvation to
as many as believe in him_, and _receive him_; and whereby also Man
comes to have Fellowship and Communion with God. This is proved from
the 6th of _John_, from Verse 32. to the End, where Christ speaks
more at large of this Matter, than in any other Place: And indeed
this _Evangelist_ and _beloved Disciple_, who lay in the Bosom of our
Lord, gives us a more full Account of the _spiritual Sayings_ and
_Doctrine_ of Christ than any other; and it is observable, that though
he speaks nothing of the _Ceremony_ used by Christ of _breaking Bread
with his Disciples_, neither in his evangelical Account of Christ’s
_Life and Sufferings_, nor in his Epistles; yet he is more large in
this Account of the _Participation_ of the Body, Flesh and Blood of
Christ, than any of them all. For Christ, in this Chapter, perceiving
that the _Jews_ did follow him for Love of the _Loaves_, desires them
(Verse 27) to _labour not for the Meat which perisheth, but for that
Meat which endureth for ever_: But forasmuch as they, being carnal in
their Apprehensions, and not understanding the spiritual Language and
Doctrine of Christ, did judge the _Manna_, which _Moses_ gave their
Fathers, to be the most excellent Bread, as coming from Heaven; Christ,
to rectify that Mistake, and better inform them, affirmeth, _First_,
That _it is not Moses, but his _Father_, that giveth the true _Bread_
from Heaven_, Ver. 32. and 48. _Secondly_, This Bread _he calls_
himself, Ver. 35. I _am the _Bread_ of Life_: And Ver. 51. I _am the_
living Bread, _which came down from Heaven_. _Thirdly_, He declares
that this Bread is his Flesh, Ver. 51. The Bread _that I will give, is
my Flesh_; and Ver. 55. _For my Flesh is Meat indeed, and my Blood is
Drink indeed._ _Fourthly_, The Necessity of partaking thereof. Ver. 53.
_Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, ye
have no Life in you._ And _Lastly_, The blessed Fruits and necessary
Effects of this Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Ver. 33.
_This _Bread_ giveth Life to the World._ Ver. 50. _He that eateth
thereof, dieth not._ Ver. 58. _He that eateth of this _Bread_, shall
live for ever._ Ver. 54. _Whoso eateth this Flesh, and drinketh this
Blood, shall live for ever._ Ver. 56. _And he dwelleth in Christ, and
Christ in him._ Ver. 57. _And shall live by Christ._ [Sidenote: _The
Origin, Nature and Effects of the Body, Flesh and Blood of Christ._]
From this large Description of the Origin, Nature, and Effects of
this _Body_, _Flesh_ and _Blood of_ Christ, it is apparent that it is
spiritual, and to be understood of a spiritual Body, and not of that
Body, or Temple of Jesus Christ, which was born of the Virgin _Mary_,
and in which he walked, lived, and suffered in the Land of _Judea_;
because it is said, that it _came down from Heaven_, yea, that it
is he that _came down from Heaven_. Now all Christians at present
generally acknowledge, that the outward Body of Christ came not down
from Heaven; neither was it that Part of Christ which came down from
Heaven. And to put the Matter out of Doubt, when the carnal _Jews_
would have been so understanding it, he tells them plainly, Ver. 63.
_It is the Spirit that quickeneth, but the Flesh profiteth Nothing._
[Sidenote: _Solid Reasons that it is his spiritual Body Christ speaks
of._] This is also founded upon most sound and solid Reason; because
it is the Soul, not the Body, that is to be nourished by this Flesh
and Blood. Now outward Flesh cannot nourish nor feed the Soul; there
is no Proportion nor Analogy betwixt them; neither is the Communion
of the Saints with God by a Conjunction and mutual Participation of
Flesh, but of the Spirit: [121]_He that is joined to the Lord is one
Spirit, _not_ one Flesh_. For the Flesh (I mean outward Flesh, even
such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon Earth;
and not Flesh, when transformed by a _Metaphor_, to be understood
spiritually) can only partake of Flesh, as Spirit of Spirit: As the
Body cannot feed upon Spirit, neither can the Spirit feed upon Flesh.
And that the Flesh here spoken of is spiritually to be understood,
appears further, inasmuch as that which feedeth upon it shall never
die: But the Bodies of all Men once die; yea, it was necessary that
the Body of Christ himself should die. That this Body, and spiritual
Flesh and Blood of Christ, is to be understood of that _divine_ and
_heavenly Seed_, before spoken of by us, appears both by the Nature
and Fruits of it. _First_, it is said, _It is that which cometh down
from Heaven, and giveth Life unto the World_: Now this answers to that
_Light_ and _Seed_, which is testified of, _John_ i. to be the _Light
of the World, and the Life of Men_. [Sidenote: _This spiritual Light
and Seed is as Bread to the hungry Soul._] For that _spiritual Light_
and _Seed_, as it receives Place in Men’s Hearts, and Room to spring
up there, is as Bread to the hungry and fainting Soul, that is (as it
were) buried and dead in the Lusts of the World; which receives Life
again, and revives, as it tasteth and partaketh of this heavenly Bread:
And they that partake of it are said to come to Christ; neither can
any have it, but by coming to him, and believing in the Appearance of
his _Light_ in their Hearts; by receiving which, and believing in it,
the Participation of this Body and Bread is known. And that Christ
understands the same Thing here by his Body, Flesh and Blood, which
is understood, _John_ i. by the _Light enlightening every Man_, and
the _Life_, &c. appears; for the _Light_ and _Life_, spoken of _John_
i. is said to be _Christ_; _He is the true Light_: And the _Bread_
and _Flesh_, &c. spoken of in _John_ vi. is called _Christ_; I _am
the_ Bread _of Life_, saith he. Again, _They that received that Light
and Life_, John i. 12. _obtained Power to become the Sons of God, by
believing in his Name_: So also here, _John_ vi. 35. _He that cometh
unto this _Bread_ of Life shall not hunger; and he that believes in
him, who is this _Bread_, shall never thirst_. [Sidenote: _Christ’s
outward and spiritual Body distinguished._] So then, as there was the
outward visible Body and Temple of Jesus Christ, which took its Origin
from the Virgin _Mary_; there is also the spiritual Body of Christ, by
and through which He that was the _Word in the Beginning with God_,
and was and is GOD, did reveal himself to the Sons of Men in all Ages,
and whereby Men in all Ages come to be made Partakers of _eternal
Life_, and to have Communion and Fellowship with God and Christ.
[Sidenote: _The Patriarchs did eat of the Body of Christ_.] Of which
Body of Christ, and Flesh and Blood, if both _Adam_, and _Seth_, and
_Enoch_, and _Noah_, and _Abraham_, and _Moses_, and _David_, and all
the Prophets and holy Men of God, had not eaten, they had not had Life
in them; nor could their inward Man have been nourished. Now as the
outward Body and Temple was called Christ, so was also his spiritual
Body, no less properly, and that long before that outward Body was in
Being. Hence the Apostle saith, 1 _Cor._ x. 3, 4. That the _Fathers did
all eat the same spiritual Meat, and did all drink the same spiritual
Drink_: [_For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ._] This cannot be understood otherwise than of
this spiritual Body of Christ; which spiritual Body of Christ, though
it was the saving Food of the Righteous both before the _Law_ and
under the _Law_; yet under the _Law_ it was veiled and shadowed, and
covered under divers Types, Ceremonies and Observations; yea, and not
only so, but it was veiled and hid, in some Respect, under the outward
Temple and Body of Christ, or during the Continuance of it; so that the
_Jews_ could not understand Christ’s Preaching about it while on Earth:
[122]And not the _Jews_ only, but many of his Disciples, judging it
an _hard Saying, murmured at it_; _and many from that Time went back
from him, and walked no more with him_. I doubt not but that there are
many also at this Day, professing to be the Disciples of Christ, that
do as little understand this Matter as those did, and are as apt to be
offended, and stumble at it, while they are gazing and following after
the outward Body; and look not to that by which the Saints are daily
fed and nourished. [Sidenote: _The divine Light of Christ doth make the
Saints Partakers of his Body._] For as Jesus Christ, in Obedience to
the Will of the Father, did by the _eternal Spirit offer up that _Body_
for a Propitiation _for the_ Remission of Sins_, and finished his
Testimony upon Earth thereby, in a most perfect Example of Patience,
Resignation and Holiness, that all might be made Partakers of the Fruit
of that Sacrifice; so hath he likewise poured forth _into the Hearts
of all Men_ a Measure of that _divine Light_ and _Seed_ wherewith he
is clothed; that thereby, reaching unto the Consciences of all, he may
raise them up out of _Death_ and _Darkness_ by his _Life_ and _Light_,
and thereby they may be made Partakers of his Body, and therethrough
come to have Fellowship with the Father and with the Son.
[121] 1 Cor. 6. 17.
[122] John 6. 60. 66.
§. III. [Sidenote: Quest.] If it be asked, _How and after what Manner
Man comes to partake of it, and to be fed by it?_
[Sidenote: _Answ._] I _answer_ in the plain and express Words of
Christ, I _am the _Bread_ of Life_, saith he; [123]_he that cometh to
me shall never hunger; he that believeth in me shall never thirst_. And
again, _For my Flesh is Meat indeed, and my Blood is Drink indeed_.
So whosoever thou art that askest this Question, or readest these
Lines, whether thou accountest thyself a Believer, or really feelest,
by a certain and sad Experience, that thou art yet in the Unbelief,
and findest that the outward Body and Flesh of Christ is so far from
thee, that thou canst not reach it, nor feed upon it; yea, though thou
hast often swallowed down and taken in that which the _Papists_ have
persuaded thee to be the real Flesh and Blood of Christ, and hast
believed it to be so, though all thy Senses told thee the Contrary;
[Sidenote: _The _Lutherans_ and _Calvinists_ Opinions of the Flesh and
Blood of Christ in the _Supper_ so called._] or (being a _Lutheran_)
hast taken that Bread, in and with and under which the _Lutherans_
have assured thee that the Flesh and Blood of Christ is; or (being a
_Calvinist_) hast partaken of that which the _Calvinists_ say (though
a Figure only of the Body) gives them who take it a real Participation
of the Body, Flesh, and Blood of Christ, though they never knew how
nor what Way; I say, if for all this thou findest thy Soul yet barren,
yea, hungry, and ready to starve, for want of something thou longest
for; _know_ that that _Light_ which discovers thy Iniquity to thee,
which shews thee thy Barrenness, thy Nakedness, thy Emptiness, is
that _Body_ which thou must partake of, and feed upon: But that till
by forsaking Iniquity thou turnest to it, comest unto it, receivest
it, though thou mayest hunger after it, thou canst not be satisfied
with it; [124]for it hath no _Communion with Darkness, nor canst thou
drink of the Cup of the Lord, and the Cup of Devils: And be Partaker of
the Lord’s Table, and the Table of Devils_, 1 Cor. x. 21. [Sidenote:
_How the inward Man is nourished._] But as thou sufferest that small
_Seed of Righteousness_ to arise in thee, and to be formed into a
Birth, that new substantial Birth, which is brought forth in the Soul,
supernaturally feeds upon and is nourished by this spiritual Body;
yea, as this outward Birth lives not but as it draws in Breath by the
outward elementary Air, so this new Birth lives not in the Soul, but as
it draws in and breathes by that spiritual Air or Vehicle. And as the
outward Birth cannot subsist without some outward Body to feed upon,
some outward Flesh, and some outward Drink, so neither can this inward
Birth, unless it be fed by this inward Flesh and Blood of Christ, which
answers to it after the same Manner, by Way of Analogy. And this is
most agreeable to the Doctrine of Christ concerning this Matter. For
as without outward Food the natural Body hath not Life, so also saith
Christ, [125]_Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his
Blood, ye have no Life in you_. And as the outward Body, eating outward
Food, lives thereby, so Christ saith, [126]That _he that eateth him
shall live by him_. So it is this inward Participation of this _inward
Man_, of this _inward_ and _spiritual Body_, by which Man is united to
God, and has Fellowship and Communion with him. [127]_He that eateth
my Flesh, and drinketh my Blood_, saith Christ, _dwelleth in me, and I
in him_. This cannot be understood of outward eating of outward Bread;
and as by this the Soul must have Fellowship with God, so also, so far
as all the Saints are Partakers of this _one Body_ and _one Blood_,
they come also to have a _joint Communion_. Hence the Apostle, 1 _Cor._
x. 17. in this Respect saith, That they [128]_being many, are one_
Bread, _and one_ Body; and to the Wise among the _Corinthians_ he saith,
[Sidenote: _The true spiritual Supper of the Lord._] _The _Bread_ which
we break is the Communion of the Body of Christ_. This is the _true_
and _spiritual Supper_ of the Lord, which Men come to partake of, by
hearing the Voice of Christ, and opening the Door of their Hearts,
and so letting him in in the Manner abovesaid, according to the plain
Words of the Scripture, _Rev._ iii. 20. _Behold I stand at the Door
and knock; if any Man hear my Voice, and open the Door, I will come in
to him, and will sup with him, and he with me_. So that the _Supper of
the Lord_, and the _supping_ with the Lord, and partaking of his Flesh
and Blood, is no Ways limited to the Ceremony of _breaking Bread_ and
_drinking Wine_ at particular Times, but is truly and really enjoyed,
as often as the Soul retires into the Light of the Lord, and feels and
partakes of that heavenly Life by which the inward Man is nourished;
which may be and is often witnessed by the Faithful at all Times,
though more particularly when they are assembled together to wait upon
the Lord.
[123] John 6. 35. _and_ 55.
[124] 1 Cor. 6. 14.
[125] John 6. 53.
[126] John 6. 57.
[127] John 6. 56.
[128] 1 Cor. 10. Verse 16.