less declared, that man could not now obtain salvation by the covenant of works, and that he who was deprived of the thing signified, was unworthy to use and enjoy the sign; and that it was in vain, and to no purpose, for him to please himself with the thoughts of it. But it by no means shewed, that there was another covenant, by which righteousness could either be sought for, or obtained. Adam was to know, and he did know this elsewhere. 3. Every thing, upon the supposition of the promise of the covenant of grace, that, by convincing man of his own impotency, leads him to that covenant, is not to be esteemed a sacrament of it. For then every demonstration of God's wrath from heaven against sinners, and every sign which is proper to give us an intimation of the curse of the covenant of works, in a word, every chastisement, as all these are appointed to bring the elect to Christ, should be called sacraments of the covenant of grace.

• IV. According to my judgment, the learned have much more probably ranged them in this manner: That God first of all dealt with fallen Adam about sacraments; that is, when the aprons of fig-leaves, which man sewed together, were not at all sufficient to cover the shame of his nakedness, he himself clothed Adam and his wife with coats of skins, Gen. iii. 21. And it is very probable, these were the skins of those beasts which were slain for sacrifices. But it is a vain controversy, which some make about the matter of those garments since the Hebrew word NGOR is never used in scripture to signify any thing, but the outward skin of animals. And as this is the most simple and plain, so it is the most ancient kind of clothing. See Job xxxi. 20. Prov. xxvii. 26. Hence the ancient heroes among the Greeks were clothed with the skins of a wild boar, or a tyger, or a lion, or the skin of the Lybian bear, or

the skin worn by the Bacchæ, or female priests of Bac-
chus, which was that of a fox. And who now is igno-
rant, that the progenitors of the Romans were clothed
with skins, and were of a rude disposition of mind?
See Vossius, de idololatria, lib. iii. cap. 70. It is a cu-
rious observation of Mr. Cloppenburgh, Schola Sacrifi-
ciorum, p. 12. Here we may see the original of that
law in Lev. vii. 8. by which the skin of any man's burnt-
offering is appropriated to the priest, who offers it.
And who will deny, that God's clothing our first pa-
rents was a symbolical act? Do not Christ's own words
very clearly allude to this? Rev. iii. 18. I counsel thee
to buy of me white raiment, that thou mayst be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. Com-
pare Joh. Henrici Ursini Analecta, b. vi. cap. 15.

V. The mystical similitude of these things is this.
1. That clothing which man contrived for himself,
could not cover him, so as to appear before the eyes of
God. In like manner, nothing, that a sinner can work
or toil by his own industry, or wisdom falsely so called,
can produce any thing, that can procure him a just and
well-grounded confidence, by which he may appear be-
fore the tribunal of God. Their webs, which are spi-
ders webs, shall not become garments, neither shall they
cover themselves with their works, Is. lix. 5, 6. 2. Proper
garments for men were the gift of God's mercy; and so
that righteousness, by which our sins are covered, is of
God, Phil. iii. 9. contrived by God, perfected by Christ,
who is God, and applied to us by the Spirit of God
through faith. 3. The bodies of our first parents were
covered with the spoils of mortality, and the skins of
slain animals. The garment of grace, whereby the bo-

dy
of sin is covered, is owing to the very death of Christ,
without which that righteousness, which makes us ac-
ceptable to God, could not have been performed.

4.

That simple clothing of the first man was, in its appointed time, to be changed for one more convenient and fine. And this garment, which we have from God, while we are under the cross and partakers of the death of Christ, and which in external appearance is mean and despicable, shall afterwards be changed. For since we shall be partakers of Christ's resurrection, no longer in hope, but in reality; so the garment, which now appears to be mean and contemptible, shall be then most neat and beautiful, and worthy to be accounted the nuptial robe. See Peter Martyr and Musculus.

VI. The other sacrament of that first period were the sacrifices, which were slain at God's command, after the very first promulgation of the covenant of grace; as appears, 1. Because Abel offered by faith, Heb. xi. 4. that is, he knew, that himself and his sacrifice were acceptable to God, and in his offering he looked by faith to the future offering of the Messiah. But such a faith plainly presupposes the divine institution of sacrifices, and a revelation about their signification. 2. Because God gave that testimony to the sacrifices of the ancient patriarchs, whereby he declared they were acceptable to him, ibid. But, in the matters of religion, nothing pleases him, but what himself has commanded. will-worship is condemned, Col. ii. 23. 3. Because there was a distinction between clean and unclean animals before the deluge, which was not from nature, but from the mere good pleasure of God, and has a particular respect to sacrifices. And it is probable, that this was the case of every kind of sacrifices, even of those that were of a propitiatory nature, by which the promises of the covenant of grace were more clearly and distinctly ratified, than by all the others. For while Moses shews, that the patriarchs offered such sacrifices as he himself offered, and that they were adapted to

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signify the same things, it is not for us to restrict what is said in general, to certain particular kinds, in exclusion of others. Certainly, Job offered burnt-offerings for the sins of his children and friends, Job i. 6. and Job xlii. 8. which doubtless were propitiatory.'

VII. But these sacrifices were seals of God's covenant. For though there is a difference between sacrifices and sacraments formally considered; because sacraments are given by God to men, but sacrifices are offered by men to God: nevertheless there is no reason, why the consideration of a sacrament and sacrifice may not, in different respects, concur in one and the same thing. For even sacrifices are given by God to men, that is, are instituted by divine authority; that, by these ceremonies, the coming of the Son of God in the flesh, and his bloody death, and the remission of sins thereby, might be signified and sealed. And believers, in the use of them, declared for that worship and veneration that is due to God. Augustine, de civit Dei, lib. 10. c. 5. says, "The visible sacrifice is a sacrament, that is, a sacred sign of an invisible sacrifice." To make this more evident, let us distinctly consider, I. The priest offering. II. The animal offered. III. The ceremony of offering. IV. The empyrism, or burning it by fire from heaven. V. The expiation, which is the consequent of the sacrifice. VI. The sacred feast annexed

to sacrifices.

VIII. The priests were, in a manner, typical sureties, in so far as they approached to God in the name of the people; being ordained for men in things pertaining to God, Heb. v. 1. And they became sureties, whenever they took upon them to offer sacrifices for sin. For, by that offering, they performed what God, at that time, required for the expiation of sins, Lev. i. 4. and Lev. iv. 26, &c. and Lev. xvi. 24. And thus be

1

lievers were assured, that Christ is the Surety of an eternal testament; who, immediately on man's first sin, undertook to fulfil the whole will of God, at the appointed time, and to offer a sacrifice, which should be the cause not of a typical, as formerly, but of a true and saving expiation. By which will of God and of Christ we are sanctified, Heb. x. 10.

:

IX. In the animal, which is offered, we should consider, 1. That it was to be clean, without spot or blemish that it might signify that most unspotted purity of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, 1 Pet. i. 19. 2. That it was to be such as was given to man for food, by the use of which food man continues to be what he is. And therefore such an animal might be substituted for man himself, and, in the typical sigrification, be a sponsor, partaking of the same flesh and blood with us. 3. That it was to be such as men set a great value upon: The goats are the price of the field, Prov. xxvii. 26: Of old, flocks and herds were the only or principal riches. Accordingly Columella, in præfat. lib. 7. conjectures, that the names pecunia (money) and peculium (private property) seem to be derived from pecus (a beast) which not only the ancients possessed, but are, at this day among some nations, reputed the only kind of riches. By this was represented, that Christ was to be offered for men ; and as he is the choice and beloved of his Father, and his blood infinitely more precious than gold and silver; so he should also be most precious to us, who believe, 1 Pet. ii. 4, 6, 7. 4. That it be an animal, dumb before its shearer and slayer, in order to be an hieroglyphic of that unspeakable patience which was illustrious in Christ. 5. That the

firstlings were most acceptable to God; which thereføre Abel offered; and God afterwards required under VOL. III.

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