ARTICLE XXV.

Of the Sacraments.

SACRAMENTS ordained of Christ, be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession ; but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace and God's good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in him.c

a We have now before us a series of articles, seven in number, which treat of the Christian doctrine of Sacraments. The two first relate to Sacraments in general, the third to Baptism, and the other four to the Lord's Supper. Under this article we are to consider the meaning of the word "Sacrament," and to distinguish the real Sacraments from the pretended ones of the Church of Rome.

A Sacrament is well defined in our Catechism to be "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof."

SACRAMENTS EFFECTUAL SIGNS OF GRACE.

b The Sacraments are indeed tokens, by which Christians are distinguished from infidels; but moreover, they are visible signs of an invisible grace, and do instrumentally convey that grace, of which they are signs, to those who receive them worthily. But they do this, not by their own virtue, but by the operation of the Holy Spirit accompanying them.

Acts ii. 38. "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

There are two Sacramentsd ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism,° and the Supper of the Lord.

Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is

As for the number of the Sacraments, since it belongs to him only to institute them, who is able to confer the accompanying grace, there cannot be more than those which God himself hath instituted. And those which he hath instituted are but two, namely, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord: for to those only doth the definition of a Sacrament belong.

INSTITUTION OF BAPTISM.

• Matt. xxviii. 19. "Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

INSTITUTION OF THE EUCHARIST.

f 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25, 26. “I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." 1 Cor. x. 16. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ?"

The word "Sacrament" is indeed used by the fathers to signify almost every sacred rite, or every holy thing: but if that word be taken in a proper sense, for an outward sign of a covenant between God and man, instituted by God himself for a pledge of our justification, and a means of our sanctification, which is the ratio formalis, the constituent part of a Sacrament, or that without which, properly speaking, it could not possibly

to say, confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction, are not to be counted for sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown, partly of the corrupt following of the apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.

The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should

be one; then those five must presently be excluded from the number of Sacraments.

h"Confirmation and orders we allow to be holy functions derived from the apostles, though they want the essential qualities of a Sacrament. Penance, as practised by Papists, is a corruption of a part of ancient ecclesiastical discipline, and was converted into its present form of a sacrament by the management and contrivance of the clergy in the times of darkness and ignorance. Matrimony has no claim whatever to be considered as a Christian sacrament, since it is but a civil contract, and was not instituted by our Saviour, nor was its original character changed by the Gospel. And, lastly, we entirely reject extreme unction, as having no other foundation than that of a symbolical rite, incidentally mentioned in Scripture, as accompanying the miraculous healing of bodily diseases in the apostolic age."

SACRAMENTS HOW TO BE Used.

By the word Sacraments, in this clause, the church means the "Sacramental Elements," and she manifestly strikes at the known practice of the Papists who elevate the host and carry it about to be seen and adored by the people; though the remaining part of this article speaks of sacraments in the plural number, yet it more particularly relates to the Lord's Supper only.

duly use them. And in such only as worthily' receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation:" but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves damnation, as St. Paul saith."

There is no authority in Scripture, nor any precedent in the primitive church, for the Romish practice of carrying about the eucharist; such pompous processions are inconsistent with the simplicity and spiritual nature of Christian ordinances. The institution of the eucharist was, "Take, eat," and "Drink ye all of it;" whence it is evident that the elements were consecrated, that the persons who were present might immediately eat and drink them.

1 Worthily, i. e. with repentance and faith.

m We derive no benefit from the receiving of the sacrament, nor indeed from the performance of any part of our religious duty, unless it be done with a proper disposition, and a suitable frame of mind, John iv. 24. "God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." This sentence of the article is also directed against the Papists, who maintain that the partaking of the Lord's Supper necessarily promotes our salvation; that the opus operatum, as they call it, is always attended with real benefit.

n The expressions occurring, 1 Cor. xi. 27, 29. "Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord," "eateth and drinketh damnation to himself," have been greatly misapprehended by weak Christians, and have caused many to abstain from approaching the Lord's table; but such persons ought to be informed, that worthiness does not signify merit, but dispositions of mind suitable to the nature of the holy ordinance, such as sincerity, humility, penitence, faith, and love; also, that the word" damnation" is not here to be understood in its harshest sense, but implies condemnation, damage, or injury. Thus he who partakes of this holy sacrament, without suitable dispositions of mind, condemns himself by the inconsistency of his practice with his profession, and derives damage or injury, instead of benefit, from his unsuitable conduct.

ARTICLE XXVI.

Of the Unworthiness of Ministers, which hinders not the Effect of the Sacraments."

ALTHOUGH in the visible church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the ministration of the word and sacraments; yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their ministry, both in hearing the word of God, and in the receiving of the sacraments; neither is the effect of Christ's

a This article is directed against those who maintained that not only heresy and schism, but personal sins also, invalidated the sacred functions of Christian ministers.

UNWORTHY MINISTERS MAY EXIST IN THE CHURCH.

b The ministers of the Gospel do not administer their own, but Christ's sacraments; and the church, in receiving them, hath respect unto Christ himself, and not to them; and therefore it receives them, not so much from the ministers, as from Christ himself, through their hands. The virtue, then, and efficacy of them, since it depends upon Christ alone, cannot be imparted by the best of men, nor are necessarily hindered by the ministrations of the worst. John vi. 70. "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Yet it cannot be disputed but that the life and conversation of a minister give great weight to his instructions, or the reverse. 1 Cor. xi. I. "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

UNWORTHY MINISTERS DO NOT INVALIDATE THE

SACRAMENTS.

▸ Sacraments are to be considered only as the public acts of