And in
the old law there were many figures or minds of things to come. For
before Christ, circumcision was commanded by a law; and he that kept not
the law was slain. And yet St. Paul saith, "And neither is it
circumcision that is openly in the flesh, but he that is circumcised of
heart in spirit, not the letter whose praising is not of men, but of
God." Peter saith in the third chapter of his epistle, "And so baptism
of like form maketh not us safe, but the putting away of the filthiness
of the flesh, and the having of good conscience in God by the rising
again of our Lord Jesus Christ from death, that we should be made heirs
of everlasting life, He went up into heaven, and angels, and powers, and
virtues, are made subjects to Him."
And also the Scripture saith of John Baptist, that he preached in the
wilderness and said, "A stronger than I shall come after me, and I am
not worthy to kneel down and unlace His shoe;" and yet Christ said that
he was more than a prophet. See also Isaiah xl., Matt. xi. How may ye
then say that ye are worthy to make His body, and yet your works bear
witness that ye are less than the prophets? for if ye were not, ye
should not teach the people to worship the sacraments or minds of Christ
for Christ himself; which sacraments or figures are lawful as God taught
them and left them unto us, as the sacrifices or minds of the old law
were full good.
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