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 Augustin for denying exorcism and insufflation in the use of Baptism all which things Protestants deny also So that Protestants do but foolishly to upbraid us as if we could not shew any among the Antients that denyed Water-baptism seeing they cannot shew any whom they acknowledg not to have been heretical in several things to have used it nor yet who using it did not use also the sign of the Cross and other things with it which they deny There were some nevertheless in the darkest times of Popery who testified against Water-baptism For one Alanus pag. 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. Pithaeus tells 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 Heresie that was in the City of Orleans on Childeâ—-mass-day foy it was true if ye have heard any thing that King Robert caused to be burnt alive nigh 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 stiffly deny the Grace of Holy Baptism and also the Consecration of our 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 Aureliae publice anno incarnationis Domini 1022 regni Roberti Regis 28. indictione 5. quando Stephanus haeresiarcha complices ejus damnati sunt exusti Aureliae Now for their calling them Hereticks and Maniches 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 Maniches than because some called by them Maniches do agree with Protestants in some things that therefore Protestants are Maniches or Hereticks which Protestants can no waies shun For the question is whether in what they did they walked according to the Truth testified of by the Spirit in the Holy Scripture so that the controversie is brought back again to the Scriptures according to which I suppose I have formerly discussed it 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 probation The Thirteenth Proposition Concerning the Communion or participation of the Body and Blood of Christ. 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 they even used in the Church for a time who had received the Substance for the sake of the weak even as abstaining from things strangled and from Blood the washing of one anothers Feet and the anointing of the Sick with Oyl all which are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former yet seeing they are but the shaddows of better things they cease in such as have obtained the Substance § I. THe Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is a mystery hid from all natural men in their first faln 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 much been hid and sealed up from them while they have been contending quarrelling and fighting one with another about the meer shaddow outside and form but strangers to the Substance Life and Vertue § II. 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 humane or elementary as Augustin also affirms of the Body of Christ which is eaten in his Tractat. Psal. 98. Except a man eat my Flesh he hath not in him Life Eternal and he saith the words which I spake 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 that crucifie 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. If it be asked then what that Body what that Flesh and Blood is I answer it is that Heavenly Seed that Divine Spiritual Coelestial Substance Answ. of which we spake before in the fifth and sixth Propositions This is that vehiculum Dei or Spiritual Body of Christ whereby and wherethrough 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 6 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 and it 's 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
the Jews following him for the Loaves to tell them of this Spiritual bread and flesh of his body which was more necessary for them to feed upon It will not therefore follow that their following him for the Loaves had any necessary relation thereunto So also Christ here being at supper with his Disciples takes occasion from the bread and wine which was before them to signifie unto them that as that bread which he brake unto them and that wine which he blessed and gave unto them did contribute to the preserving and nourishing of their bodies so was he also to give his body and shed his blood for the Salvation of their Souls and therefore the very end proposed in this ceremony to those that observe it is to be a memorial of his Death But if it be said that the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.16 calls the bread which he brake the communion of the body of Christ and the cup the communion of his blood I do most willingly subscribe unto it but do deny that this is understood of the outward bread neither can it be evinced but the contrary is manifest from the context for the Apostle in this chapter speaks not one word of that ceremony for having in the beginning of it shewn them how the Jews of old were made partakers of the Spiritual food and water which was Christ and how several of them thro' disobedience and idolatry fell from that good condition he exhorts them by the example of those Jews whom God destroyed of old to flee those evils shewing them that they to wit the Corinthians are likewise partakers of the body and blood of Christ of which communion they would rob themselves if they did evil because they could not drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils and partake of the Lords table and of the Table of devils ver 21. which shews that he understands not here the using of outward bread and wine because those that do drink the cup of devils and eat of the table of devils yea the wickedest of men may partake of the outward bread and outward wine For there the Apostle calls the bread one ver 17. and he saith we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread Now if the bread be one it cannot be the outward or the inward would be excluded whereas it cannot be denyed but that it 's the partaking of the inward bread and not the outward that makes the Saints truly one body and one bread And whereas they say that the one bread here comprehendeth both the outward and inward by vertue of the Sacramental union that indeed is to affirm but not to prove As for that figment of a Sacramental union I find not such a thing in all the Scripture especially in the New Testament nor is there any thing can give a rise for such a thing in this chapter where the Apostle as is above observed is not at all treating of that ceremony but only from the excellency of that priviledg which the Corinthians had as believing Christians to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ dehorts them from Idolatry and partaking of the Sacrifices offered to Idols so as thereby to offend or hurt their weak brethren But that which they most of all cry out in this matter Obj. and are alwaies noising as from 1 Cor. 11. where the Apostle is particularly treating of this matter and therefore from some words here they have the greatest appearance of Truth for their assertion as ver 27. where he calls the Cup the cup of the Lord and saith that they who eat of it and drink unworthily are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord and ver 26. eat and drink their own damnation intimating thence that this hath an immediate or necessary relation to the body flesh and blood of Christ. Though this at first view may catch the unwary Reader Answ. yet being well considered it doth no ways evince the matter in controversie As for the Corinthians being in the use of this ceremony why they were so and how that obliges not Christians now to the same shall be spoken of hereafter it suffices at this time to consider that they were in the use of it Secondly that in the use of it they were guilty of and committed divers abuses Thirdly that the Apostle here is giving them directions how they may do it aright in shewing them the right and proper use and end of it These things being premised let it be observed that the very express and particular use of it according to the Apostle is to shew forth the Lord's death c. But to shew forth the Lord's death and partake of the flesh and blood of Christ are different things He saith not as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye partake of the body and blood of Christ but ye shew forth the Lord's death So I acknowledg that this ceremony by those that practise it hath an immediate relation to the outward body and death of Christ upon the Cross as being properly a memorial of it but it doth not thence follow that it hath any inward or immediate relation to believers communicating or partaking of the Spiritual body and blood of Christ or that Spiritual Supper spoken of Rev. 3.20 for though in a general way as every religious action in some respect hath a common relation to the Spiritual Communion of the Saints with God so we shall not deny but this hath a relation as others Now for his calling the cup the cup of the Lord and saying they are guilty of the body and blood of Christ and eat their own damnation in not discerning the Lord's body c. I answer that this infers no more necessary relation than any other religious act and amounts to no more than this that since the Corinthians were in the use of this ceremony and so performed it as a religious act they ought to do it worthily else they should bring condemnation upon themselves Now this will not more infer the thing so practised by them to be a necessary religious act obligatory upon others than when Rom. 14.6 the Apostle saith He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord it can be thence inferred that the days that some esteemed and observed did lay an obligation upon others to do the same but yet as as he that esteemed a day and placed Conscience in keeping it was to regard it to the Lord and so it was to him in so far as he dedicated it unto the Lord the Lord's day he was to do it worthily and if he did it unworthily he would be guilty of the Lord's day and so keep it to his own damnation so also such as observe this ceremony of bread and wine it is to them the bread of the Lord and the cup of the Lord because they use it as a religious act and forasmuch as their
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 ver 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 judg the Manna which Moses gave their Fathers to be the most excellent Bread as coming from Heaven Christ to rectifie that mistake and better inform them affirmeth first that is not Moses but his Father that giveth the true Bread from Heaven ver 32 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. This 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 ver 33. the blessed fruits and necessary effects of this communion of the Body and Blood of Christ 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 51. who so eateth this Flesh and drinketh this Blood shall live for ever ver 54. and he dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him ver 56. and shall live by Christ ver 57. 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 that it is saâ—d both that it came down from Heaven yea that it is he that came down from Heaven Now all Christians at present generally acknowledg 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 This is also founded upon most sound and solid reason because that 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 He that is joyned to the Lord is One Spirit not by Flesh I mean outward Flesh even such as was that wherein Christ lived and walked when upon Earth and not Flesh when transported 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 understood appears further in that that which feedeth upon it shall never die but the Bodies of all men once die yea it behoved the Body of Christ himself to 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 's 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 Joh. 1. to be the Light of the World and the Life of Men. For that Spiritual Light and Seed as it receives place in mens 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 1. by the Light inlightening every man and the Life c. appears for the Light and Life spoken of John 1. is said to be Christ he is the true Light and the Bread and Flesh c. spoken of in this 6 of John is called Christ I am the Bread of Life saith he Again they that received that Light and Life John 1.12 obtained power to become the Sons of God by believing in his Name so also here John 6.35 He that cometh unto this bread of Life shall not hunger and he that believes in him who is this bread shall never thirst So then as there was the outward visible Body and Temple of Jesus Christ which took its origen from the Virgin Mary so 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. 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 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. 10.3 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 vailed and shaddowed and covered under divers types ceremonies and observations yea and not so but it was vailed 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 And not the Jews only but many of his Disciples judged it an hard saying murmured at it and many from that
consequences have ensued as makes the Christian Religion odious and hateful to Jews Turks and Heathens The professors of Christianity do chiefly divide in this matter into three opinions The first is of those that say the substance of the bread is transubstantiated into the very substance of that same body flesh and blood of Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary and crucified by the Jews so that after the words of Consecration as they call them it is no more bread but the body of Christ. The second is of such as say the substance of the Bread remains but that also that body is in and with and under the bread so that both the substance of the bread and of the body flesh and blood of Christ is there also The third is of those that denying both these do affirm that the body of Christ is not there corporally or substantially but yet that it is really and sacramentally received by the faithful in the use of bread and wine but how or what way it 's there they know not nor can they tell only we must believe it is there yet so that it is only properly in Heaven It is not my design to enter into a refutation of these several opinions for each of their Authors and Assertors have sufficiently refuted one another and are all of them no less strong both from Scripture and Reason in refuting each their contrary parties opinion than they are weak in establishing their own for I often bave seriously observed in reading their respective writings and so it may be have others that all of them do notably in so far as they refute the contray opinions but that they are mightily pained when they come to confirm and plead for their own Hence I necessarily to conclude that none of them had attained to the Truth and Substance of this mystery Let us see if Calvin after he hath refuted the two former opinions be more successful in what he affirms and asserts for the Truth of his opinion who after he hath much laboured in overturning and refuting the two former opinions plainly confesseth that he knows not what to affirm instead of them for after he has spoken much and at last concluded that the body of Christ is there and that the Saints must needs partake thereof at last he lands in these words sect 32. But if it be asked me how it is I shall not he ashamed to confess that it is a secret too high for me to comprehend in my Spirit or explain in words Here he deals very ingenuously and yet who would have thought that such a man would have been brought to this strait in the confirming of his opinion considering but a little before in the same chap. sect 15. he accuseth the School-men among the Papists and I confess truly in that they neither understand nor explain to others how Christ is in the Eucharist which shortly after he confesseth himself he cannot do If then the School men among the Papists do neither understand nor yet can explain to others their Doctrine in this matter nor Calvin can comprehend it in his Spirit which I judg is as much as not to understand it nor express it in words and then surely he cannot explain it to others then no certainty is to be had from either of them There have been great endeavours used for reconcilement in this matter both betwixt Papists and Lutherans Lutherans and Caluinists yea and Calvinists and Papists but all to no purpose and many forms and manners of expressions drawn up to which all might yield which in the end proved in vain seeing every one understood them and interpreted them their own way and so they did thereby but equivocate and deceive one another The reason of all this contention is because they all wanted a clear understanding of the Mystery and were doting about the shadow and the externals For both the ground and matter of their contest lies in things intrinsick from and unnecessary to the main matter and this hath been often the policy of Satan to busie People ond amuse them with outward signs shadows and forms making them contend about that while in the mean time the Substance is neglected yea and in contending for these shadows he stirs them up to the practice of malice heat revenge and other vices by which he establisheth his Kingdom of Darkness among them and ruins the Life of Christianity for there has been more animosity and heat about this one particular and more blood shed and contention than about any other And surely they are little acquainted with the state of Protestants affairs who know not that their contentions about this have been more hurtful to the Reformation than all the opposition they met with from their common Adversaries Now all those uncertain and absurd opinions and the contentions therefrom arising have proceeded from their all agreeing in two general errors concerning this thing Which being denyed and receeded from as they are by us there would be an easie way made for Reconciliation and we should all meet in the one Spiritual and true understanding of this mystery and as the contentions so would also the absurdities which follow from all the three forementioned opinions cease and fall to the ground The first of these errors is in making the communion or participation of the body flesh and blood of Christ to relate to that outward body vessel or temple that was born of the Virgin Mary and walked and suffered in Judea whereas it should relate to the Spiritual body flesh and blood of Christ even that heavenly and celestial Light and Life which was the food and nourishment of the regenerate in all ages as we have already proved The second error is in tying this participation of the body and blood of Christ to that Ceremony used by him with his Disciples in the breaking of bread c. as if it had only a relation thereto or were only enjoyed in the use of that Ceremony which it neither hath nor is For this is that bread which Christ in his Prayer teaches to call for terming it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the supersubstantial bread as the Greek hath it and which the Soul partakes of without any relation or necessary respect to this ceremony as shall be hereafter proved more at length These two errors being thus laid aside and the contentions arising therefrom buried all are agreed in the main positions viz. first that the body flesh and blood of Christ is necessary for the nourishing of the Soul Secondly that the Souls of believers do really and truly partake and feed upon the body flesh and blood of Christ. But while men are not content with the Spirituality of this Mystery going in their own wills and according to their own inventions to strain and wrest the Scriptures for to tie this Spiritual communion of the flesh and blood of Christ to outward bread and wine and such like
carnal ordinances no wonder if by their carnal apprehensions they run into heaps and confusion But because it hath been generally supposed that the communion of the body and blood of Christ had some special relation to the ceremony of breaking bread I first refute that opinion and then proceed to consider the nature and use of that ceremony and whether it be now necessary to continue answering the reasons and objections of such as plead its continuance as a necessary and standing ordinance of Jesus Christ. § V. First it must be understood that I speak of a necessary and peculiar relation otherwise than in a general respect for forasmuch as our communion with Christ is and ought to be our greatest and chiefest work we ought to do all other things with a respect to God and our fellowship with him but a special and necessary respect or relation is such as where the two things are so tied and united together either of their own nature or by the command of God that the one cannot be enjoyed or at lest is not except very extraordinarily without the other Thus Salvation hath a necessary respect to Holyness because without Holyness no man shall see God And the eating of the flesh and blood of Christ hath a necessary respect to our having life because if we eat not his flesh and drink not his blood we cannot have life our feeling of God's presence hath a necessary respect to our being found meeting in his name by Divine Precept because he has promised where two or three are met together in his Name he will be in the midst of them in like manner our receiving benefits and blessings from God has a necessary respect to our Praying because if we ask he hath promised we shall receive Now the communion or participation of the flesh and blood of Christ hath no such necessary relation to the breaking of bread and drinking of Wine For if it had any such necessary relation it would either be from the Nature of the thing or from some Divine Precept But we shall shew it is from neither Therefore c. First it is not from the nature of it because to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ is a Spiritual exercise and all confess that it is by the Soul and Spirit that we become real partakers of it as it is the Soul and not the Body that is nourished by it but to eat Bread and drink Wine is a natural act which in it self adds nothing to the Soul neither has any thing that is Spiritual in it because the most carnal man that is can as fully as perfectly and as wholly eat Bread and drink Wine as the most Spiritual Secondly their relation is not by nature else they would infer one another but all acknowledg that many eat of the bread and drink of the wine even that which they say is consecrate and transubstantiate into the very body of Christ who notwithstanding have not life eternal have not Christ dwelling them nor do live by him as all do who truly partake of the flesh and blood of Christ without the use of this ceremony as all the Patriarchs and Prophets did before this ordinance as they account it was instituted neither was there any thing under the Law that had any direct or necessary relation hereunto though to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ in all ages was indispensibly necessary to Salvation For as for the Paschal Lamb the whole end of it is signified particularly Exod. 13.8 9. to wit that the Jews might thereby be kept in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt Secondly it has no relation by Divine Precept for if it had it would be mentioned in that which our Adversaries account the institution of it or else in the practise of it by the Saints recorded in Scripture but so it is not For as to the institution or rather narration of Christ's practice in this matter we have it recorded by the Evangelist Matthew Mark and Luke In the first two there is only an account of the matter of fact to wit that Christ brake bread and gave it his Disciples to eat saying this is my Body and blessing the cup he gave it them to drink saying this is my blood but nothing of any desire to them to do it In the last after the bread but before the blessing or giving them the wine he bids them do it in remembrance of him what we are to think of this practice of Christ shall be spoken ofhereafter But what necessary relation hath all this to the believers partaking of the flesh and blood of Christ The end of this for which they were to do it if at all is to remember Christ which the Apostle yet more particularly expresses 1 Cor. 11.26 to shew forth the Lord's death But to remember the Lord or declare his death which are the special and particular ends annexed to the use of this ceremony is not at all to partake of the flesh and blood of Christ neither have they any more necessary relation to it than any other two different Spiritual duties For though they that partake of the flesh and blood of Christ cannot but remember him yet the Lord and his death may be remembred as none can deny where his flesh and blood is not truly partaken of So that since the very particular and express end of this ceremony may be witnessed to wit the remembrance of the Lord's Death and yet the flesh and blood of Christ not partaken of it cannot have had any necessary relation to it else the partaking thereof would have been the end of it and could not have been attained without this participation But on the contrary we may well infer hence that since the positive end of this ceremony is not the partaking of the flesh and blood of Christ and that whoever partakes of the flesh and blood of Christ cannot but remember him that therefore such need not this ceremony to put them in remembrance of him But if it be said that Jesus Christ calls the bread here his body and the wine his blood Obj. therefore he seems to have had a special relation to his Disciples partaking of his flesh and blood in the use of this thing I answer his calling the bread his body and the wine his blood Answ. would yet infer no such thing though it is not denyed but that Jesus Christ in all things he did yea and from the use of all natural things took occasion to raise the minds of his Disciples and hearers to Spirituals Hence from the Woman of Samaria her drawing water he took occasion to tell her of that living Water which whoso drinketh of shall never thirst which indeed is all one with his blood here spoken of Yet it will not follow that that Well or Water had any necessary relation to the Living Water or the Living Water to it c. So Christ takes occasion from
sees meet whether they be a prescribed Form as a Liturgy or Prayers conceived extemporally by the natural strength and faculty of the mind they are all but Superstitions Will-worship and abominable Idolatry in the sight of God which are to be denyed rejected and separated from in this day of his Spiritual arising however it might have pleased him who winked at the times of Ignorance with a respect to the simplicity and integrity of some and of his own innocent Seed which lay as it were buried in the hearts of Men under the mass of Superstition to blow upon the dead and dry bones and to raise some breathings and answer them and that until the day should more clearly dawn and break forth The Twelfth Proposition Concerning Baptism As there is one Lord and one Faith so there is one Baptism which is not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience before God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and this Baptisme is a Pure and Spiritual thing to wit the Baptism of the Spirit and fire by which we are buried with him that being washed and purged from our sins we may walk in newness of Life of which the Baptism of John was a figure which was commanded for a time and not to continue for ever as to the Baptism of Infants it is a meer humane Tradition for which neither Precept nor Practice is to be found in all the Scripture The Thirteenth Proposition Concerning the Communion or participation of the body and blood of Christ. 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 mâ—n 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 they even used in the Church for a time who had received the substance for the cause of the weak even as abstaining from things strangled and from blood the washing one anothers feet and the anointing of the sick with Oyl all which are commanded with no less authority and solemnity than the former yet seeing they are but the shaddows of better things they cease in such as have obtained the Substance The Fourteenth Proposition Concerning the Power of the Civil Magistrate in matter purely religious and pertaining to the Conscience Since God hath assumed to himself the power and Dominion of the Conscience who alone can rightly instruct and govern it therefore it is not lawful for any whatsoever by vertue of any Authority or Principality they bear in the Government of this World to force the Consciences of others and therefore all Killing Banishing Fining Imprisoning and other such things which men are afflicted with for the alone exercise of their Conscience or difference in Worship or Opinion proceedeth from the Spirit of Cain the murtherer and is contrary to the Truth providing always that no Man under the pretence of Conscience prejudice his Neighbour in his Life or Estate or do any thing destructive to or inconsistent with human Society in which case the Law is for the transgressor and Justice is to be administred upon all without respect of Persons The Fifteenth Proposition Concerning Salutations and Recreations c. Seeing the chief end of all Religion is to redeem Man from the Spirit and vain Conversation of this World and to lead into inward communion with God before whom if we fear always we are accounted happy therefore all the vain customs and habits thereof both in word and deed are to be rejected and forsaken by those who come to this fear such as the taking off the Hat to a Man the bowings and cringings of the Body and such other Salutations of that kind with all the foolish and superstitious formalities attending them all which Man has invented in his degenerate state to feed his pride in the vain pomp and glory of this World as also the unprofitable Plays frivolous Recreations Sportings and Gaming 's which are invented to pass away the pretious time and divert the mind from the witness of God in the heart and from the living sense of his fear and from that Evangelical Spirit wherewith Christians ought to be leavened and which leads into sobriety gravity and Godly fear in which as we abide the blessing of the Lord is felt to attend us in these actions which we are necessarily engaged in order to the taking care for the sustenance of the outward man AN APOLOGY For the true CHRISTIAN DIVINITY The first Proposition Seeing the heighth of all happiness is placed in the true knowledg of God this is Life eternal to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent the true and right understanding of this foundation and ground of knowledg is that which is most necessary to be knâ—wn and believed in the first place HE that desireth to acquire any art or science seeketh first those means by which that art or science is obtained If we ought to do so in things Natural and Earthly how much more then in Spiritual In this affair then should our inquiry be the more diligent because he that errs in the entrance is not so easily reduced again into the right way he that misseth his road from the beginning of his Journey and is deceived in his first Marks at his first seting forth the greater his Mistake is the more difficult will be his Entrance into the right way Thus when a Man first proposeth to himself the knowledg of God from a sense of his own unworthiness and from the great weariness of his mind occasioned by the secret checks of his Conscience and the tender yet real glances of Gods Light upon his Heart the earnest desires he has to be redeemed from his present trouble and the fervent breathings he has to be eased of his disordered Passions and Lusts and to find quietness and peace in the certain knowledg of God and in the assurance of his love and good will towards him makes his heart tender and ready to receive any Impression and so not having then a distinct discerning through forwardness embraceth any thing that brings present ease If either through the reverence he bears to certain persons or from the secret inclination to what doth comply with his natural Disposition he fall upon any Principles or Means by which he apprehends he may come to know God and so doth center himself it will be hard to remove him thence again how wrong soever they may be For the first anguish being over he becomes more hardy and the Enemy being near creates a false peace and a certain confidence which is strengthened by the minds unwillingness to enter again into new doubtfulness or the former anxiety of a search This sufficiently verified in the example of the Pharisees and Jewish Doctors who most of all resisted Christ disdaining to be esteemed ignorant
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 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 holyness that all might be made partakers of the feuit of that Sacaifice So hath he likewise poured forth into the hearts of all men a measure of that Divine Light and Seed wherewith he is cloathed 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 may be made partakers of his body and therethrough come to have fellowship with the Father and with the Son § III. If it be asked how Quest. and after what manner man comes to partake of it and to be sed by it I answer in the plain and express words of Christ I am the Bread of Life saith he he that cometh to me shall never hunger Answ. 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 thy self 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 perswaded 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 or being a Luthenan 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 that take it a real Participation of the Body Flesh and Blood of Christ though they neither know 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 that discovers thy Iniquity to thee that shews thee thy barrenness thy nakedness thy emptyness is that body that thou must partake of and feed upon but that till by forsaking iniquity thou turnest to it comest unto it receivest it though thou mayst hunger after it thou canst not be satisfied with it 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. 10.21 But as thou sufferest that small Seed of Righteousness to arise in thee and to be formed into a birth that new substantial birth that 's brought forth in the Soul naturally feeds upon and is nourished by this spiritual body yea at this outward birthlives not but as it sucks in breath by the outward elementary air so this new birth lives not in the Soul but as it draws in and breaths 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 without 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 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 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 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 in so far as all the Saints are partakers of this one body and one blood they come also to have a joynt Communion Hence the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.17 in this respect saith that they being many are one bread and one body and to the wise among the Corinthians he saith 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. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into 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. § IV. But what confusion the professors of Christianity have run into concerning this matter is more than obvious who as in most other things they have done for want of a true Spiritual understanding have sought to tie this Supper of the Lord to that ceremony used by Christ before his Death of breaking Bread and drinking Wine with his Disciples And though they for most part agree in this general yet how do they contend and debate one against another How strangely are they pinched pained and straitned to make this Spiritual mystery agree to that Ceremony And what monstruous and wild opinions and conceivings have they invented to inclose or affix the Body of Christ to their Bread and Wine From which opinion not only the greatest and fiercest and most hurtful contests both among the Professors of Christianity in general and among Protestants in particular have arisen but also such absurdities irrational and blasphemous
with the using as much as other things But further if the use of water and bread and wine were that wherein the very seals of the New Covenant stood and did pertain to the chief Sacraments of the Gospel and Evangelical Ordinances so called then would not the Gospel differ from the Law or be preferable to it Whereas the Apostle shews the difference Heb. 9.10 in that such kind of observations of the Jews were as a sign of the Gospel for that this stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings And now if the Gospel worship and service stand in the same where is the difference Obj. If it be said These under the Gospel have a spiritual signification Answ. So had those under the Law God was the Author of those as well as Christ is pretended to be Author of these But doth not this contending for the use of water bread and wine as necessary parts of the Gospel-worship destroy the nature of it as if the Gospel were a dispensation of shadows and not of the Substance whereas the Apostle in that of the Collossians above-mentioned argues against the use of these things as needful to those that are dead and arisen with Christ because they are but shadows and since through the whole Epistle to the Hebrews he argues with the Jews to wean them from their worship for this reason because it was typical and figurative Is it agreeable to right Reason to bring them to another of the same nature What ground from Scripture or Reason can our adversaries bring us to evince that one shadow or figure should point to another shadow or figure and not to the Substance And yet they make the figure of Circumcision to point to Water-baptism and the Paschal Lamb so bread and wine But was it ever known that one figure was the antitypes of the other especially seeing Protestants make not these their antitypes to have any more vertue or efficacy than the type had For since as they say and that truly that their Sacraments confer not Grace but that is conferred according to the Faith of the receiver it will not be denied but the faithful among the Jews received also Grace in the use of their figurative Worship And though Papists boast that their Sacraments confer Grace ex opere operato yet experience abundantly proveth the contrary § X. But supposing the use of Water baptism and Bread and Wine to have been in the primitive Church as was also that of abstaining from things strangled and from Blood the use of legal Purification Acts 21.23 24 25. and anointing of the Sick with Oyl for the reasons and grounds beforementioned Yet it remains for our adversaries to shew us how they come by power or authority to administer them It cannot be from the letter of the Scripture else they behoved also to do those other things which the letter declares also they did and which in the letter have as much foundation Then their Power must be derived from the Apostles either mediately or immediately but we have shewn before in the tenth Proposition that they have no mediate Power because of the interruption made by the Apostasie And for an immediate power or command by the Spirit of God to administer these things none of our adversaries pretend to it We know that in this as in other things they make a noise of the constant consent of the Church and of Christians in all ages but as tradition is not a sufficient ground for Faith so in this matter especially it ought to have but small weight for that in this point of Ceremonies and superstitious Observations the Apostasie began very early as may appear in the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Colossians and we have no ground to imitate them in those things whose entrance the Apostle so much withstood so heavily regreted and so sharply reproved But if we look to Antiquity we find that in such kind of observances and traditions they were very uncertain and changeable so that neither Protestants nor Papists do observe this Ceremony as they did both in that they gave it to young Boyes and to little Children and for ought can be learned the use of this and Infant-baptism are of alike age though the one be laid aside both by Papists and Protestants and the other to wit Baptism of Infants be stuck to and we have so much the less reason to lay weight upon Antiquity for that if we consider their profession of Religion especially as to worship and the ceremonial part of it we shall not find any Church now whether Popish or Protestant who differ not widely from them in many things as Dalleus in his Treatise concerning the use of the Fathers well observeth and demonstrateth And why they should obtrude this upon us because of the Ancients practice which they themselves follow not or why we may not reject this as well as they do other things no less zealously practised by the Ancients no sufficient reason can be assigned I shall not nevertheless doubt but many whose understandings have been clouded with these Ceremonies have notwithstanding by the Mercy of God had some secret sense of the mystery which they could not clearly understand because it was sealed from them by their sticking to such outward things and that through that secret sence diving in their comprehensions they ran themselves into these carnal apprehensions as imagining the substance of the bread was changed or that if the substance was not changed yet the body was there c. And indeed I am inclinable very favourably to judg of Calvin in this particular in that he deals so ingenuously to confess he neither comprehends it nor can express it in words but yet by a feeling experience can say the Lord is Spiritually present Now as I doubt not but Calvin sometimes had a sense of his presence without the use of this ceremony so as the understanding given him of God made him justly reject the false notions of Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation tho he knew not what to establish instead of them if he had fully waited in that Light that makes all things manifest and had not laboured in his own comprehension to settle upon that external ceremony by affixing the Spiritual presence as chiefly or principally though not only as he well knew by experience there or especially to relate to it he might have further reached unto the knowledg of this mystery than many that went before him § XI Lastly if any now at this day from a true tenderness of Spirit and with real Conscience towards God did practise this ceremony in the same way method and manner as did the primitive Christians recorded in Scripture which yet none that I know now do I should not doubt to affirm but they might be indulged in it and the Lord might regard them and for a season appear to them in the use of these things as many of us have known him to do to
iii 27 277 iv  156  19 148 v 12 20 339  24 383 vi 6 220  14 78 Ephesians i 13 179  14 279 ii  63  4 5 6 169  5 148  8 200  15 134 iii 9 10 iv  214  5 18 277  7 11 16 201  11 165 294  23 239  23 24 149  24 169 iv 30 279 v 8 104  11 350  13 83 93   116  25 26 27 165 vi 12 383  18 268 Philippians i 6 177  8 376  21 66 ii 13 155 iii 10 134  14 178  15 346 Colossians i 13 104  23 83 108  24 135  27 28 148  28 74 ii 6 16 20 327  8 350  12 277  15 253  19 194 iii 1 325  2 370  16 276 iv 2 243  12 166 I Thessalonians i 5 215 ii 12 158 iii 13 166 v 5 104  6 243  12 13 217  17 265  19 20 219  21 346  23 166  27 376 II Thessalonians i 5 8 158 ii 11 12 175 I Timothy i 19 177 ii 1 3 4 6 75  3 71  8 9 10 366  11 220 iii 2 203  2 3 4 5 6 229  15 193 v 16 220  17 217 vi 5 6 c. 229  7 8 9 10 224  8 230  20 209 II Timothy iii 2 229  15 16 17 49  17 166 iv 5 243  7 180 Titus i c  203  7 8 9 229  10 11 230  15 93 ii 11 118 200  14 134 164 iii 5 154  7 144  10 331 Hebrews i 3 356 ii 9 76 iii 14 177 iv 12 13 110 v 4 204 229 vi 16 377 vii 26 140 viii 10 26 ix 9 168  10 328 x 24 259 xi  17  6 138  7 14 15 xii 14 151  16 17 87  22 23 169 xiii 7 8 18  17 217 James i 21 107  25 249  27 78 ii 24 151 iii 9 10 170 iv 1 383 v 6 128  12 371  14 303 326 I Peter i 5 177  14 350  17 367  23 114 ii 5 205  21 90  22 140  22 24 134 iii 3 4 366  18 134  20 99  21 277 iv 7 243 249  10 11 202 229 v 5 217 II Peter i 4 135 162  10 45 179  12 13 49  16 356 ii 1 2 3 230  3 211  1 3 14 15 229  20 78 iii 9 71 77  15 99 I John i 1 206  7 133  8 170 ii 1 2 77  2 to 6 167  15 78  27 27 iii 1 13 78  2 to 10 167  4 172  5 8 164  7 20 149  9 163 iv 4 5 78  9 75  10 134  13 35 46 v 3 169  6 35 46  14 269  19 78 Jude i 16 229  20 268 Revelation ii 9 194  20 338 iii 12 174 179  16 292  20 11 315 xiv 1 to 5 169 xix 10 363 xxii 9 363  14 151  18 56 A TABLE Of the Chief Things A ABraham's Faith 15. Adam See man sin redemption what happiness he lost by the Fall 63. what death he died 59 66. He retained in his nature no will or light capable of it self to manifest Spiritual things 59. whether there be any reliques of the heavenly image left in them 62 91. Alexander Skein's Queries proposed to the Preachers 271 272. Anabaptists of Great Britain 31 251. Anabaptists of Munster how their mischievous actings nothing touch the Quakers 28 29 30 31 32. Anicetus 30. Anointing the Anointing teacheth all things it is and abideth for ever a common priviledge and sure Rule to all Saints 27 28. Antichrist is exalted when the seed of God is expressed 20 92. his work 213 214 228. Antinomians their Opinion concerning Justification 137. Apostasie 174 211. Apostle who he is their number was not limitted and whether any may be now adaies so called 216 217. Appearances See Faith Arians they first brought in the Doctrin of Persecution upon the account of Religion 342. Arius by what he fell into error 210.211 Arminians See Remonstrants Assemblings are needful and what sort 33 237 c. See Worship they are not to be forsaken 245. Astrologer 35. Aurelia there ten Canonicks were burnt and why 301. B Baptism is one its definition 277 279 280 281 283 284. It is the Baptism of Christ and of the Spirit not of Water 277 279 to 287. the Baptism of Water which was John's Baptism was a figure of this Baptism and is not to be continued 277 280 285 286 to 302. Baptism with Water doth not cleanse the heart 280 288. nor is it a badge of Christianity as was Circumcision to the Jews 202 291 301. that Paul was not sent to Baptize is explain'd 290 291 292. concerning what Baptism Christ speaks Mat. 28.20 it is explained 293 204. how the Apostles Baptized with Water is explained 296 297 298 299. to Baptize signifies to Plunge and how Sprinkling was brought in 299 300. those of old that used Water-baptism were plunged and they that were only sprinkled were not admitted to an Ecclesiastick Function and why 399. against the use of Water-baptism many heretofore have testified 301. Infant-baptism is a meer humane tradition 277 302 Bible the last Translations alwaies find fault with the first 47. Birth the Spiritual birth 37. holy birth 248 see Justification Bishop of Rome concerning his primacy 30. how he abuseth his authority and by what he deposeth Princes and absolveth the people from the Oath of Fidelity 341 344. Blood to abstain from blood and things strangled 303 326 329. it hath been shed 310. Blood of Christ see Communion Body to bow the body see Head Books Canonical and Apocryphal see Canon Scripture Bonaventure 236. Bow to bow the knee see uncover the Head Bread the breaking of bread among the Jews was no singular thing 317 321. it is now other waies performed than it was by Christ 322. whether unleavened or leavened bread is to be used also it is hotly disputed about the manner of taking it and to whom it is to be given 321 322. see Communion C Calvinists see Protestants they deny consubstantiation 30. they maintain absolute reprobation 26. they think Grace is a certain irresistible power and what sort of a Saviour they would have 115 116. of the flesh and blood of Christ 307 309.310 they use leavened bread in the Supper 321. Canon whether the Scripture be a filled up Canon 55. whether it can be proved by Scripture that any Book is Canonical 55 56. Castellio banished 345. Ceremonies see Superstition Christ see Communion Justification Redemption Word He sheweth himself daily revealing the knowledge of the Father 6. without his
end therein is to shew forth the Lord's death and remember his body that was crucified for them and his blood that was shed for them If notwithstanding they believe it is their duty to do it and make it a matter of Conscience to forbear if they do it without that due preparation and examination which every religious act ought to be performed in then instead of truly remembring the Lord's death and his body and his blood they render themselves guilty of it as being in one Spirit with those that crucified him and shed his blood though pretending with thanksgiving and joy to remember it Thus the Scribes and Pharisees of old though in memory of the Prophets they garnished their Sepulchres yet are said by Christ to be guilty of their blood And that no more can be hence inferred appears from another saying of the same Apostle Rom. 14.23 He that doubteth is damned if he eat c. where he speaking of those that judged it unlawful to eat flesh c. saith if they eat doubting they eat their own damnation Now it is manifest for all this that either the doing or forbearing of this was to another that placed no Conscience in it of no moment So I say he that eateth that which in his Conscience he is perswaded is not lawful for him to eat doth eat his own damnation so he also that placeth Conscience in eating bread and wine as a religious act if he do it unprepared and without that due respect wherein such acts should be gone about he eateth and drinketh his own damnation not discerning the Lord's body i. e. not minding what he doth to wit with a special respect to the Lord and by way of special commemoration of the death of Christ. § VI. I having now sufficiently shewn what the true communion of the body and blood of Christ is how it is partaken of and how it has no necessary relation to that ceremony of bread and wine used by Christ with his Disciples it is fit now to consider the nature and constitution of that ceremony for as to the proper use of it we have had occasion to speak of before whether it be a standing ordinance in the Church of Christ obligatory upon all or indeed whether it be any necessary part of the Worship of the New Covenant-dispensation or hath any better or more binding foundation than several other ceremonies appointed and practised about the same time which the most of our opposers acknowledg to be ceased and now no ways binding upon Christians We find this ceremony only mentioned in Scripture in four places to wit Matthew Mark and Luke and by Paul to the Corinthians If any would infer any thing from the frequency of the mentioning of it that will add nothing for it being a matter of fact is therefore mentioned by the Evangelists and there are other things less memorable as often yea oftner mentioned Matthew and Mark give only an account of the matter of fact without any precept to do so afterwards simply declaring that Jesus at that time did desire them to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. To which Luke adds these words This do in remembrance of me If we consider this action of Christ with his Apostles there will appear nothing singular in it for a foundation to such a strange Superstructure as many in their airy imaginations have sought to build upon it for both Matthew and Mark press it as an act done by him as he was eating Matthew saith and as they were eating and Mark and as they did eat Jesus took bread c. Now this act was no singular thing neither any solemn institution of a Gospel ordinance because it was a constant custom among the Jews as Paulus Riccius observes at length in his Coelestial Agricultur that when they did eat the Passover the master of the family did take bread and bless it and breaking it gave of it to the rest and likewise taking wine did the same so that there can nothing further appear in this than that Jesus Christ who fulfilled all Righteousness and also observed the Jewish Feasts and Customs used this also among his Disciples only that as in most other things he laboured to draw their minds to a further thing so in the use of this he takes occasion to put them in mind of his death and sufferings which were shortly to be which he did the oftner inculcate unto them for that they were averse from believing it And as for that expression of Luke Do this in remembrance of me it will amount to no more than being the last time that Christ did eat with his Disciples he desired them that in their eating and drinking they might have regard to him and by the remembring of that opportunity be the more stirred up to follow him diligently through sufferings and death c. But what man of reason laying aside the prejudice of Education and the influence of Tradition will say that this account of the matter of fact given by Matthew and Mark or this expression of Luke to do that in remembrance of him will amount to these consequences which the generality of Christians have sought to draw from it as calling it Augustissimum Eucharistiae Sacramentum venerabile altaris Sacramentum The principal Seal of the Covenant of Grace by which all the benefits of Christ's death are sealed to Believers and such like things But to give a further evidence how these consequences have not any bottom from the practice of that ceremony nor from the words following Do this c. Let us consider another of the like nature as it is at length expressed by John c. 13. ver 3 4.8.13 14 15. Jesus riseth up from Supper and laid aside his Garment and took a Towel and girded himself After that he poureth Water into a Bason and began to wash the Disciples Feet and to wipe them with the Towel wherewith he was girded Peter saith unto him Thou shalt never wash my Feet Jesus answered him If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me So after he had washed their Feet He said Know ye what I have done to you If I then your Lord and Master have washed your Feet ye also ought to wash one anothers Feet For I have given you an Example that ye should do as I have done to you As to which let it be observed that John relates this passage to have been done at the same time with the other of breaking Bread Both being done the night of the passover after Supper If we regard the Narration of this and the circumstances attending it it was done with far more solemnity and prescribed far more punctually and particularly than the former It is said only as he was eating he took bread so that this would seem to be but an occasional business But here he rose up he laid by his Garments he girded himself he poured out the Water he washed