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LECT.

Myst. 1.

1 PET. v. 8-14.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, &c.

1. I LONG ago desired, true-born and dearly beloved children XIX. of the Church, to discourse to you concerning these spiritual and heavenly Mysteries; but knowing well, that seeing is far more persuasive than hearing, I waited till this season; that finding you more open to the influence of my words from this your experience, I might take and lead you to the brighter and more fragrant meadow of this present paradise; especially as ye have been made fit to receive the more sacred Mysteries, having been counted worthy of divine and life-giving Baptism. It remaining therefore to dress for you a board of more perfect instruction, let us now teach you exactly about these things, that ye may know the deep meaning to you-ward of what was done on that evening of your Baptism".

On Easter Eve, which was the most Antiqu. xi. 6. §. 7. common time of Baptism. vid. Bingh.

Renunciation of Satan in Baptism.

259

2. First, ye entered into the outer hall of the Baptistery, (2.) and there facing towards the West ye heard the command to stretch forth your hand, and as in the presence of Satan ye renounced him. Now ye must know that this figure is found in ancient history. For when Pharaoh, that most cruel and ruthless tyrant, oppressed the free and high-born people of the Hebrews, God sent Moses to bring them out of the evil thraldom of the Egyptians. Then the door-posts were anointed with the blood of the lamb, that the destroyer might flee from the houses which had the sign of the blood; and the Hebrew people was marvellously delivered. The enemy, however, after their rescue, pursued them, and saw the sea wondrously parted for them; nevertheless he went on, following in their footsteps, and was all at once overwhelmed and engulphed in the Red Sea.

3. Now turn from the ancient to the recent, from the figure to the reality. There we have Moses sent from God to Egypt; here, Christ sent by His Father into the world: there, that Moses might lead forth an oppressed people out of Egypt; here, that Christ might rescue mankind who are whelmed under sins: there, the blood of a lamb was the spell against the destroyer; here, the blood of the unblemished Lamb Jesus Christ is made the charm to scare evil spirits: there, the tyrant pursued even to the sea that ancient people; and in like manner this daring and shameless spirit, the author of evil, followed thee, even to the very streams of salvation. The tyrant of old was drowned in the sea; and this present one disappears in the salutary water.

4. However, thou art bidden with arm outstretched to say to him as though actually present," I renounce thee, Satan." I wish to say, wherefore ye stand facing to the West; for it is necessary. Since the West is the region of sensible darkness, and he being darkness, has his dominion also in darkness, ye therefore, looking with a symbolical meaning towards the West, renounce that dark and gloomy potentate. What then did each of you standing up say? "I renounce thee, Satan," thou wicked and most cruel tyrant! meaning, "I fear thy might no longer; for Christ hath overthrown it, having partaken with me of flesh and blood, that through these He might by death destroy death, that I might not for ever be Heb. 2,

14.

Myst. 1.

(3.)

260

Renunciation of sin and the world in Baptism.

LECT. subject to bondage. I renounce thee, thou crafty and most XIX; subtle serpent. I renounce thee, plotter as thou art, who under the guise of friendship didst work all disobedience, and bring about the apostasy of our first parents. I renounce thee, Satan, the artificer and abettor of all wickedness." 5. Then in the second sentence thou art told to say, "and all thy works." Now the works of Satan are all sin, which it is necessary to renounce also ;-just as if a man has escaped a tyrant, he would have doubtless escaped his instruments also. All sin therefore, according to its kinds, is included in the works of the devil. Only know this; that all that thou sayest, especially at that most thrilling hour, is written in God's books; when therefore thou doest any thing contrary to these, thou shalt be judged as a transgressor. Thou renouncest therefore the works of Satan; I mean, all deeds and thoughts which are against thy better judgment.

Gal. 2,

18.

παρὰ λόγου.

διατρο

37.

6. Then thou sayest, " And all his pomp." Now the pomp of (4.) the devil is the madness of shows, and horse-races, and pavia. hunting, and all such vanity: from which that holy man Ps. 119, praying to be delivered, says unto God, Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. Be not interested in the madness of the shows, where thou wilt behold the wanton gestures of players, carried on with mockeries and all unseemliness, and the frantic dancing of effeminate men;-nor in the madness of them who in hunts expose themselves to wild beasts, that they may pamper their miserable appetite; who, that they may indulge their belly with meats, become themselves truly meat for the belly of ravenous beasts; and to speak justly, they for the sake of their proper god, their belly, cast away their life headlong in single combats. Shun also horse-races, that frantic spectacle, which subverts souls. For all these are the pomp of the devil.

7. Moreover, things also hung up at idol festivals, either meat or bread, or other such things which are polluted by the invocation of the unclean spirits, are reckoned in the pomp of the devil. For as the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the Adorable Trinity was simple bread and wine, while after the invocation the λιτός. Bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the Wine the Blood of yinira. Christ, so in like manner, such meats belonging to the pomp

ἐπικλή

σεως.

Renunciation of idolatry-Recital of the Creed.

261

of Satan, though in their own nature plain and simple, become profane by the invocation of the evil spirit.

8. And after this thou sayest," and all thy service." Now (5.) the service of the devil is prayer in idol temples; things done to the honour of lifeless idols; the lighting of lamps, or burning of incense by fountains or rivers, (for some cheated by dreams or by evil spirits, have passed to these places, thinking to find a cure even for their bodily ailments,) and the like. Go not therefore after them. The watching of birds, divination, omens, or amulets, or charms written on leaves, sorceries, or other evil arts, and all such things, are services to the devil; therefore shun them. For if after renouncing Satan and ranging thyself with Christ, thou fall under their influence, thou shalt find the tyrant more bitter in his temptations; perchance, because he treated thee of old as his own, and has let thee off from severe slavery, and has been greatly exasperated against thee; so thou wilt be bereaved of Christ, and be tempted by him. Hast thou not heard the old history which tells us of Lot and his daughters? Was not he himself saved with his daughters, because he gained the mountain, while his wife became a pillar of salt, set up as a beacon for ever, as the memorial of her depraved will and her regi turning back. Take heed therefore to thyself, and turn not is. again to what is behind, going back after having put thine Phil. 3, hand to the plough, to the salt savour of this life's doings; but escape to the mountain, to Jesus Christ, that stone hewn v. Dan. without hands, which has filled the world.

σεως.

13.

2, 35.

45.

9. When therefore thou renouncest Satan, utterly breaking (6.) all covenant with him, that ancient league with hell, there is opened to thee the paradise of God, which He planted towards the East, whence for his transgression our first father was exiled; and symbolical of this was thy turning from the West to the East, the place of light. Then thou wert told to say, I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance. Of which things we spoke at length in the former Lectures, as God's grace allowed us.

10. Therefore, guarded by these considerations, be sober. For our adversary the devil, as was just now read, as a 1 Pet. 5, roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.&

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LECT. In former times death was mighty and devoured: but at the XIX. holy Laver of regeneration, God has wiped away every tear Is. 25,8. from off all faces. For thou shalt no more mourn, now that and Rev. thou hast put off the old man; but thou shalt keep holyday, Tayo. clothed in the garment of salvation, even Jesus Christ.

7, 17.

ρίσεις.

11. And these things were done in the outer chamber. But if God will, when in the succeeding expositions of the Mysteries we have entered into the Holy of Holies, we shall then know the symbolical meaning of what is there accomplished. Now to God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be glory, and power, and majesty, for ever and ever. Amen.

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