M. Is there no other medium, as it is called, than the Word by which God may communicate himself to us?
S. To the preaching of the Word he has added the Sacra- mentis.
M. What is a Sacrament?
[. An outward attestation of the divine benevolence to-]
[wards us, which, by a visible sign, figures spiritual grace, to]
seal the promises of God on our hearts, and thereby better confirm their truth to us.
M. Is there such virtue in a visible sign that it can establish our consciences in a full assurance of salvation?
S. This virtue it has not of itself, but by the will of God, because it was instituted for this end.
M. Seeing it is the proper office of the Holy Spirit to seal the promises of God on our minds, how do you attribute this to the sacraments?
S. There is a wide difference between him and them. To move and affect the heart, to enlighten the mind, to render the conscience sure and tranquil, truly belongs to the Spirit alone; so that it ought to be regarded as wholly his work, and be ascribed to him alone, that no other may have the praise; but this does not at all prevent God from employing the sacraments as secondary instruments, and applying them to what use he deems proper, without derogating in any respect from the agency of the Spirit.
M. You think, then, that the power and efficacy of a sacrament is not contained in the outward element, but flows entirely from the Spirit of God?
S. I think so; viz, that the Lord hath been pleased to exert his energy by his instruments, this being the purpose to which he destined them: this he does without detracting in any respect from the virtue of his Spirit.
M. Can you give me a reason why he so acts?
S. In this way he consults our weakness. If we were wholly spiritual, we might, like the angels, spiritually behold both him and his grace; but as we are surrounded with this body of clay, we need figures or mirrors to exhibit a view of spiritual and heavenly things in a kind of earthly manner; for we could not otherwise attain to them. At the same. time, it is our interest to have all our senses exercised in the promises of God, that they may be the better confirmed to us.
M. If it is true that the sacraments were instituted by God to be helps to our necessity, is it not arrogance for any one to hold that he can dispense with them as unne cessary?
S. It certainly is; and hence, if any one of his own accord abstains from the use of them, as if he had no need of them, he contemns Christ, spurns his grace, and quenches the Spirit.
M. But what confidence can there be in the sacraments as a means of establishing the conscience, and what certain security ean be conceived from things which the good and bad use indiscriminately?
S. Although the wicked, so to speak, annihilate the gifts of God offered in the sacraments in so far as regards them-,selves, they do not thereby deprive the sacraments of their nature and virtue.
M. How, then, and when does the effect follow the use of the sacraments?
S. When we receive them 1n faith, seeking Christ alone and his grace in them.
M. Why do you say that Christ 1s to be sought in them? S. I mean that we are not to cleave to the visible signs so as to seek salvation from them, or imagine that the power of conferring grace is either fixed or included in them, but rather that the sign is to be used as a help, by which, when ^ seeking salvation and complete felicity, we are pointed directly to Christ.
M. Seeing that faith is requisite for the use of them, how do you say that they are given us to confirm our faith, to make us more certain of the promises of God?
S. It is by no means sufficient that faith is once begun in us. It must be nourished continually, and increase more and more every day. To nourish, strengthen, and advance it, the Lord instituted the sacraments. This indeed Paul intimates, when he says that they have the effect of sealing the promises of God. (Rom. iv. 11.)
M. But is it not an indication of unbelief not to have entire faith in the promises of God until they are confirmed to us from another source?
S. It certainly argues à weakness of faith under which the children of God labour. They do not, however, cease to be believers, though the faith with which they are endued is still small and imperfect; for as long as we continue in this world
remains of distrust cleave to our flesh, and these there is no other way of shaking off than by making continual progress even unto the end. It is therefore always necessary to be going forward. M. How many are the sacraments of the Christian Church? S. There are only two, whose use is common among all believers. M. What are they? ^ S. Baptism and the Holy Supper.