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<DATE>2011-08-18</DATE>
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<NAME>Holly (Beeman) Smith</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>Infant-Bapti&s;m AND Church-Member&s;hip PROVED: And al&s;o the <HI>Mode of Bapti&s;m</HI> TO BE By SPRINKLING, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>In An&s;wer to Mr. <HI>Benjamin Dennis</HI>'s Book.</P>
<P>By <HI>Giles Shute</HI> of <HI>Limehou&s;e.</HI></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. R.</HI> and are to be &s;old by <HI>Nath. Hiller,</HI> at the <HI>Princes-Arms</HI> in <HI>Leaden-Hall-&s;treet;</HI> and at the Author's Hou&s;e in <HI>Lime|hou&s;e.</HI> 1695.</P>
<P>Price Three Pence.</P>
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<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="3" REF="2">
<HEAD>Here followeth &s;ome <HI>Ob&s;ervations</HI> I have made upon the Principal <HI>Arguments</HI> Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> hath pro|duced again&s;t <HI>Infant-Bapti&s;m</HI> and <HI>Church-Member&s;hip,</HI> in his Book, Intituled, <HI>Brief Remarks upon the</HI> Epi&s;tle <HI>of Mr.</HI> Fran. Mence<HI>'s Book, Intituled,</HI> Vindiciae Foederis.</HEAD>
<P>I Cannot but acknowledge with deep regret of Spirit, that I &s;hould have &s;uch a ju&s;t occa&s;ion offered unto me, to controvert the&s;e Points with my indeared Friend and very good Neigh|bour Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> whom I e&s;teem and honour, who of him&s;elf, &s;eparate from that part of his Prin|ciple, is very moderate and civil: But I cannot po&s;&s;ibly avoid this my Proceedings, in point of Honour and Veneration to that Eminent Servant of the Lord, Reverend Mr. <HI>Mence,</HI> &s;ubordinate to the Honour and Glory of God, which is that I aim at above all.</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e while he was An&s;wering Mr. <HI>H. C</HI>'s. Book, in vindicating and clearing him&s;elf from the many abominable fal&s;e Accu&s;ations and Ca|lumnies which Mr. <HI>C.</HI> laid to his Charge, ju&s;t as Mr. <HI>Mence</HI>'s Book was ready for the Pre&s;s, Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> very ungentily falls upon him al&s;o publickly in print, &s;o that Mr. <HI>M.</HI> had not time to An&s;wer his whole Book; but he hath fully An&s;wered that part of it wherein Mr. <HI>D.</HI> bore &s;o hard upon his
<PB N="4" REF="3"> Credit and Reputation, by his endeavouring vindicate and ju&s;tifie Mr. <HI>C.</HI> as may be &s;een in the <HI>Po&s;t&s;cript</HI> of Mr. <HI>M</HI>'s. Book.</P>
<P N="2">2. I have as much rea&s;on, and as clear a Ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> to vindicate and ju&s;tifie Mr. <HI>M.</HI> as Mr. <HI>D.</HI> had t<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> vindicate and ju&s;tifie Mr. <HI>C.</HI> and a great deal more for the former had Truth on his &s;ide, but th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> latter had not.</P>
<P N="3">3. My Third Rea&s;on for it is, Becau&s;e Mr. <HI>D.</HI> hath &s;hot at me through Mr. <HI>M.</HI> Sides, although he hath not mentioned my Name, <HI>viz.</HI> in hi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> gro&s;s Reflection upon &s;omething I writ former<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> concerning the preventing Grace of Habita<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Faith, in my <HI>Replication</HI> to Mr. <HI>H. C</HI>'s. Book agai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> it; which Doctrine I &s;hall, in my way, plain<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> prove and vindicate again in this in&s;uing Di<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+cour&s;e.</P>
<P N="4">4. I have not ingaged at this time in this Con|trover&s;ie, to undervalue nor dimini&s;h the Rep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+tation of worthy Mr. <HI>M.</HI> whom I highly e&s;te<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and honour, as if he had not been able to ha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> An&s;wered his whole Book him&s;elf as well as part thereof; but, as I hinted before, he v<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;traitened for time.</P>
<P N="5">5. Neither did I undertake it without Mr. <HI>M.</HI> con&s;ent and approbation.</P>
<P N="6">6. And La&s;tly: I &s;hall take all the care I ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> to avoid all undue, unbecoming Reflections, more than purely what the nature of things calls fo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and will ju&s;tly bear, becau&s;e I will not give an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> ju&s;t occa&s;ion of offence. Thus having cleared <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> way, I &s;hall now proceed to the matter in han<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> And,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t of all: I &s;hall begin with Mr. <HI>B. D</HI>'s. Fir&s;t Argument, which is as followeth:</P>
<P>In <HI>page</HI> 2. &s;aith he, <HI>It is none of the mea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Arguments with me again&s;t Infant-Bapti&s;m, tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Authorities brought for it are &s;o often changed, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="5" REF="3"> the Mediums to prove it &s;o conte&s;ted among the per&s;ons who agree in this only, To practice it.</HI></P>
<P>To which Argument I thus reply:</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>It is none of the meane&s;t Arguments with me</HI> (&s;aith Mr. <HI>D.) again&s;t Infant-Bapti&s;m, &amp;c.</HI> There|fore it mu&s;t be one of his greate&s;t and chiefe&s;t Arguments again&s;t it. But let us &s;ee what this Lo|gick of our Opponents will afford us.</P>
<P N="1">1. If difference in Opinion be &s;uch an infallible Argument again&s;t us, &s;o as to decide the Contro|ver&s;ie, then tho&s;e that have the greate&s;t difference among them&s;elves in Opinion, mu&s;t yeild and &s;ubmit unto the other Party that hath the lea&s;t: And if this be granted, as inevitably it mu&s;t ac|cording to Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s. <HI>The&s;is,</HI> then I doubt not but that we &s;hall find a great opportunity to fur|ni&s;h our &s;elves, out of our Opponent's Arcenal, to prove Infant-Bapti&s;m to be Authentick; for I know not of any &s;ort of People among us Prote|&s;tants, that differ &s;o much in Opinion as tho&s;e do that are again&s;t Infant-Bapti&s;m; and therefore I &s;hall proceed to name &s;ome of them.</P>
<P N="1">1. There are <HI>Arminians,</HI> that hold General Re|demption and Falling away from True Grace, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. There are tho&s;e that hold the mortality of the Soul with the di&s;&s;olution of the Body, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. There are a &s;ort among them that are called <HI>Seekers;</HI> and the&s;e are the moderate&s;t of them all.</P>
<P N="4">4. There are tho&s;e that hold the Seventh day of the Week to be the weekly Sabbath, even as he Jews do; and I have heard of &s;ome that have <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ravelled further in that Jewi&s;h Road, <HI>viz.</HI> to Cir|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">umci&s;ion.</P>
<P N="5">5. There are tho&s;e to be found among them, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">hat are <HI>Socinians,</HI> who deny the Deity of Chri&s;t,</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="6" REF="4">6. There is another &s;ort among them who pro|vide Legs of mutton for Supper at the Lords Table, ju&s;t before they Celebrate the Lords-&s;upper: But I know not what Rea&s;on they can produce for &s;uch a practice as that, unle&s;s it is becau&s;e o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Saviour Chri&s;t did eat the Pa&s;&s;over ju&s;t before he in&s;tituted the Lords-&s;upper; at which time be aboli&s;hed it, with all the re&s;t of the Ceremonial Law, Sabbath and all, and freed us from the Pa&s;&s;|over for ever.</P>
<P N="7">7. There are &s;ome few among &s;everal &s;orts o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the&s;e, that are for Singing of P&s;alms.</P>
<P N="8">8. There are a &s;ort of this Opinion in <HI>Germa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> that are for &s;prinkling and pouring water on <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Head and Face only in Bapti&s;m; and I have lat<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> heard, that &s;ome of them practice &s;prinkling <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Bapti&s;m here in <HI>England.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. And La&s;tly: There are another &s;ort of th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> who are reckoned the &s;ounde&s;t of them, and th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> differ from mo&s;t of all the re&s;t.</P>
<P>Now it hath been ob&s;erved by &s;ome, that th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> is not Two Congregations to be found among <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> one &s;ort of the&s;e I have named, that agree in <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> points one with the other, but differ in Opi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> in them&s;elves: No, nor one Congregation it &s;e<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> but differs in their Opinion one with anoth<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Now all the&s;e agree in nothing but in the Subj<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and mode of their Bapti&s;m, namely, in dipping <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Adult (tho&s;e only excepted that are for &s;prinkling Now if Mr. <HI>D.</HI> cannot find out &s;o many diffe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Opinions among us Prote&s;tants, who are for Pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> bapti&s;m, then the Argument is clearly falle<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> our Side; Therefore I challenge Mr. <HI>D.</HI> to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> out &s;o many &s;orts among us who are for Infa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> bapti&s;m, that do &s;o va&s;tly differ in Judgment o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> from another, as tho&s;e do which I have <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Nay, as for Mr. <HI>D.</HI> him&s;elf, &s;hould his Book <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;trictly examined, and compared with Mr. <HI>H. C.</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="4"> and Mr. <HI>B. K</HI>'s. Books, it will evidently appear, that as tho&s;e Two Noted Authours contradicted one another, and them&s;elves to boot, even &s;o hath M. <HI>D.</HI> contradicted them both, and him&s;elf into the bargain, as I &s;hall clearly prove upon him hereafter.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee one of Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s. Topping Argu|ments again&s;t Infant-bapti&s;m utterly de&s;troyed, and him&s;elf out-&s;hot in his own bow.</P>
<P N="2">2. Saith Mr. <HI>D.</HI> in <HI>page</HI> 2. That <HI>a po&s;itive Right that flows only from the Will of the Legi&s;lator, &s;uch as Bapti&s;m is, both as to the Subject and the manner of its Administration, &s;hould have by you its foundation in the Covenant made with</HI> Abraham <HI>in</HI> Gen. 17. <HI>re|lating to his Natural po&s;terity,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>To which I An&s;wer as followeth:</P>
<P N="1">1. Saith Mr. <HI>D. A po&s;itive Right, both as to the &s;ubject and the manner of its Admini&s;tration,</HI>&mdash; By which he intends dipping of the Adult onely: But he hath not proved it, neither can he (I am &s;ure) &s;o long as he lives: For fir&s;t, he cannot prove it by St. <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> who was the fir&s;t that ever Admini&s;tred that Ordinance after the coming in of the New Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel; for he baptized <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and all <HI>Judea,</HI> and all the Region round about <HI>Jordan, Mat.</HI> 3. Now if <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> was baptized, then Infants were bapti|zed; for otherwi&s;e it could not be &s;aid, that <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> was baptized; for no doubt, but there were abundance of Infants in &s;uch a great and populous City as that was: Therefore <HI>John</HI> bapti|zed Infants as well as Adult per&s;ons, or el&s;e he could not baptize <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. He baptized all <HI>Judea,</HI> and all the Region round about <HI>Jordan;</HI> he baptized all that came, or were brought, unto him; and the Scriptures are true, and cannot be broken.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="8" REF="5">3. This <HI>all</HI> here mentioned could not be com|prehen&s;ive of every individual Per&s;on; but if it had been &s;o, young Infants mu&s;t have been inclu|ded therein al&s;o.</P>
<P N="4">4. I humbly conceive this <HI>all</HI> is to be under|&s;tood of &s;ome of all Ages and Sects, <HI>viz.</HI> men, women, and children; and to deny both the&s;e Sen&s;es of it, is to lay violent hands upon the Sa|cred Scripture, for if either of the&s;e had been excluded, it could not have been <HI>all.</HI> But,</P>
<P N="2">2. We do not find that St. <HI>John</HI> did baptize any but tho&s;e of the Circumci&s;ion.</P>
<P N="3">3. He did not refu&s;e any of the <HI>Jews,</HI> the Stock of <HI>Abraham,</HI> that came to his Bapti&s;m, th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> did not wilfully and ob&s;tinately reject it them|&s;elves, though ar the &s;ame time he forbad them to take up and re&s;t in their Covenant-relation to <HI>Abraham.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. All tho&s;e that were baptized by St. <HI>Jo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">,</HI> were not all true Believers, becau&s;e we find that many that were Followers of Chri&s;t, and cryed <HI>Ho&s;anna</HI> unto him at one time, cryed <HI>Away with him, Crucifie him</HI> at another: For St. <HI>John</HI> bap|tized with water unto Repentence. Thus you &s;ee I have clearly proved from the Scripture, That <HI>John</HI> baptized Infants as well as Adult Per|&s;ons: Therefore on who&s;e Side lyeth the <HI>po&s;itive Right</HI> now, on yours or ours, think you?</P>
<P N="2">2. I ob&s;erve that when ever our Opponent have occa&s;ion to mention any thing about Gods Covenant e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Abraham,</HI> they will not lay down the Covenant fairly at length, and ope<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> all the parts of it, and rightly divide and explai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> it, that People might readily &s;ee the extent of it, whether it was extended to the male children only (as &s;ome without ground &s;ugge&s;t, becau&s;e the male children only were circumci&s;ed) or to both ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and female; Therefore I will lay it down i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="9" REF="5"> them, and make &s;ome Ob&s;ervations on it, and draw &s;ome Conclu&s;ions therefrom.</P>
<P>Gen. 17.7, 11. <HI>And I will e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant between me and thee, and thy &s;eed after thee, in their generations, for an everla&s;ting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy &s;eed after thee.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. All tho&s;e with whom God e&s;tabli&s;hed his Covenant are included in the Token thereof, the female Seed of <HI>Abraham</HI> as well as the males, un|le&s;s it could be proved that the females were no part of <HI>Abraham</HI>'s Seed: For,</P>
<P N="2">2. Though Circumci&s;ion, as to the Letter of it, belonged only to the male Seed, yet the vertue and efficacy thereof extended to the female &s;eed al&s;o, becau&s;e after God had e&s;tabli&s;hed his Cove|nant with <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Seed, he &s;aid, without variation or change of Speech, in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11.</P>
<P><HI>Ye &s;hall circumci&s;e the fle&s;h of your fore-skin, and it &s;hall be [a] token of the covenant betwixt me and you.</HI></P>
<P>Who are the&s;e <HI>[you]</HI> that God e&s;tabli&s;hed the Covenant with? Were they <HI>Abraham</HI> and his male Seed only? No; it was <HI>Abraham</HI> and all his Seed, both male and female, very few excepted.</P>
<P N="3">3. Here is another thing to be ob&s;erved which is very important, with a re&s;pect to the Contro|ver&s;ie in hand, and that is this, <HI>viz.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. This Token of the Covenant is called <HI>[a]</HI> Token of the Covenant; but the Token of the Covenant God e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Noah,</HI> is called <HI>[the]</HI> Token of the Covenant: And the Rea&s;ons of it, I humbly conceive, are principally the&s;e Two.</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e the Rain-bow is perpetual, and was to have no Succe&s;&s;or; and therefore it is empha|tically called <HI>[the]</HI> Token of the Covenant.</P>
<P N="2">2. The other was called <HI>[a]</HI> Token of the Covenant becau&s;e it was to have a Succe&s;&s;or, being
<PB N="10" REF="6"> it was to expire, and come to an end, with the Ceremonial Law.</P>
<P N="3">3. What was to &s;ucceed and &s;upply the room of Circumci&s;ion if Bapti&s;m doth not? For there were no other Ordinances of God, that either then had, or now have, to do with the Subjects external part of the Fle&s;h, but the&s;e Two, namely, Circumci&s;ion and Bapti&s;m.</P>
<P N="4">4. Neither were there then, nor are there now, any other Ordinances of God wherein the Sub|jects were then, or are now, wholly pa&s;&s;ive, but the&s;e Two, <HI>viz.</HI> Circumci&s;ion and Bapti&s;m: For, as none were to circumci&s;e them&s;elves then, &s;o none are to baptize them&s;elves now.</P>
<P N="5">5. For a further confirmation of what I have &s;aid touching the&s;e things, pray ob&s;erve, and take good notice, and you &s;hall find, that Cir|cumci&s;ion and Bapti&s;m are both joyned together in the Antitype, <HI>viz.</HI> 1. Circumci&s;ion of the Heart; and 2. Bapti&s;m of the Holy Gho&s;t; i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> which all the Subjects are pa&s;&s;ive: And the&s;e are both one and the &s;ame; for Circumci&s;ion of the Heart is Bapti&s;m of the Holy Gho&s;t, and Bapti&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of the Holy Gho&s;t is Circumci&s;ion of the Heart that is, Regeneration and Sanctification, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> pure preventing Grace.</P>
<P>Mr. <HI>H. C.</HI> hath &s;o far yeilded unto the Truth the&s;e Things afore&s;aid, as that he hath publick declared in Print, <HI>viz.</HI> That <HI>as Circumci&s;ion <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the door of entrance into the Jewi&s;h Church, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> national, &s;o Bapti&s;m is the door of entrance now i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Go&s;pel-Church, which is congregational.</HI></P>
<P>Now if the female Seed of <HI>Abraham</HI> were <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> as much intere&s;&s;ed in the benefit of Circumci&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> as the male &s;eed were, then no women could <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> entred in at that door into the Jewi&s;h Chu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and been Members of it; for that door <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> have been &s;hut, and fa&s;t bar'd again&s;t them <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="11" REF="6"> This mu&s;t be granted, <HI>viz.</HI> Either the female &s;eed of the Jews had a benefit by Circumci&s;ion as much as the male &s;eed had, or they could not have been Members of the Church with them; for other|wi&s;e, they mu&s;t deny all Women entrance into the Go&s;pel-Church by the door of Bapti&s;m, be|cau&s;e as Circumci&s;ion was the door of entrance to all the Members of the former, even &s;o Bapti&s;m is now the door of entrance to all the Members of the latter. Thus you &s;ee all the Arguments to prove the contrary are confuted, notwith&s;tanding Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s. &s;aying, that the male children of <HI>Abra|ham</HI>'s natural Po&s;terity were only to be circum|ci&s;ed; and his wondering, that from this Cove|nant &s;hould be devolved a Right on the Gentile Church to baptize their Children, both males and females, is brought to nought.</P>
<P N="6">6. And la&s;tly: I &s;hall humbly offer &s;ome Rea|&s;ons why the male children were to be circumci|&s;ed, and not the females.</P>
<P N="1">1. It was to praefigurate the death and &s;uffer|ings of Chri&s;t, who was given for a Covenant of the People, and was to be cut off and die for the Sins of his People: Therefore as St. <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith in another ca&s;e, <HI>Was Paul crucified?</HI> &s;o &s;ay in this, <HI>viz.</HI> Was a female to be crucified for the &s;ins of the People? I think there are none but will deny, that</P>
<P N="2">2. This al&s;o was the rea&s;on why the Pa&s;chal Lamb for Sacrifice mu&s;t be a male of the flock without blemi&s;h, and not a female; which did likewi&s;e praefigurate Chri&s;t's Incarnation and Cru|cifiction: For, 1. He mu&s;t be a man, and not a woman: 2. He mu&s;t be a man without &s;in: 3. He mu&s;t be taken out of the flock of God, namely, the Tribe of <HI>Judah:</HI> 4. And la&s;tly: He mu&s;t be offered up without &s;pot to God, for the &s;ins of his People, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 5.7.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="7">
<P>Therefore, for the&s;e Rea&s;ons, the male child|ren were circumci&s;ed, and not the female: But yet notwith&s;tanding, the female &s;eed of <HI>Abraham</HI> were as much in the Covenant of Grace, and &s;hared as much in the Redeeming Love of Chri&s;t, as ever the male children of <HI>Abraham</HI> did.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Token of the Covenant was, and &s;till is, to be on the fle&s;h, becau&s;e all fle&s;h had corrup|ted its way; therefore nothing &s;hort of the death and &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t could appea&s;e the Wrath of God, and reconcile him unto us, and retrieve us from that lo&s;t and condemned &s;tate of &s;in and mi&s;ery, into which the Fall of <HI>Adam</HI> had involv'd us: But Chri&s;ts Deity did not &s;uffer, for it was impo&s;&s;ible; it was only the Humane Nature of Chri&s;t that &s;uffered, and was cut off, but not for him&s;elf, but for the &s;ins of the People, <HI>Dan.</HI> 9. <HI>And after three&s;core and two weeks &s;hall Me&s;&s;iah be cut off:</HI> There was the Antitype, or end of Cir|cumci&s;ion; for he &s;uffered both in body and &s;oul, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 53.11. <HI>His &s;oul was made an offering for &s;in.</HI> Thus I have proved, That the female &s;eed of <HI>Abraham</HI> were intere&s;&s;ed in the Token of the Co|venant as well as the males; and &s;o are all the &s;eed of Believers now, and have all a Right to the Ordinance of Water-bapti&s;m, the &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Token of the Covenant of Grace: For as Circumci&s;ion of the Heart, and Bapti&s;m of the Holy Gho&s;t, both &s;ignifieth one and the &s;ame thing, even &s;o Circumci&s;ion in the Letter, and Bapti&s;m with Water, &s;ignifieth one and the &s;ame thing, namely, Regeneration and Sanctification by the death, me|rits, and Spirit of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="3">3. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> hath po&s;itively a&s;&s;erted, That the Covenant God e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Abrahnm,</HI> and his Seed, was a Covenant of peculiarity, <HI>viz.</HI> a Co|venant made peculiarly with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Natural po&s;terity; but this I &s;hall make appear
<PB N="13" REF="7"> to be a very gro&s;s mi&s;take, for &s;everal Rea&s;ons:</P>
<P N="1">1. Becau&s;e it was not a new made Covenant with <HI>Abraham</HI> which never had a being before, as appeareth by the very words in Gods Declaration to <HI>Abraham, viz.</HI> for thus &s;aith the Lord, <HI>And I will e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant between me and thee, and thy &s;eed after thee,</HI> &amp;c. Though it is true, that it was new to <HI>Abraham</HI> and his &s;eed, becau&s;e they were never in it before.</P>
<P N="2">2. This Covenant which God calls <HI>my covenant,</HI> which he e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Abraham</HI> and his &s;eed, is the &s;ame which God made <HI>(fir&s;t,)</HI> with <HI>Adam,</HI> and his &s;eed after the Fall, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.15. and <HI>(&s;e|condly,)</HI> it's the &s;ame which God e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Noah,</HI> and his &s;eed, after the Floud; for God u&s;ed the very &s;ame frame of Speech with <HI>Noah</HI> as he did with <HI>Abraham,</HI> as you may &s;ee <HI>Gen.</HI> 9.9. <HI>And I, behold I, e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant with you, and with your &s;eed after you:</HI> That was with <HI>Noah</HI> and his Hou&s;hold, and their Po&s;terity. <HI>Gen.</HI> 7.17. <HI>And I will e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant between me and thee, and thy &s;eed after thee.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>Behold, I e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>And I will e&s;tabli&s;h my covenant,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>What difference is there between the&s;e Two e&s;tabli&s;hments of the Covenant? Even none at all. Then it mu&s;t be one and the &s;ame Covenant; nay, God telleth us &s;o; for both to the one and to the other, God calls it emphatically <HI>my cove|nant.</HI> So it was not a Covenant made peculiarly to <HI>Abraham</HI> and his natural po&s;terity.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let us addre&s;s our &s;elves to Gods frame of Speech concerning the Tokens of the one and of the other.</P>
<P N="1">1. In <HI>Gen.</HI> 9.12. <HI>And God &s;aid, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you:</HI> That was <HI>Noah</HI> and his Hou&s;hold.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="14" REF="8">2. In <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.11. <HI>And ye &s;hall circumci&s;e th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> fle&s;h of your fore-skin, and it &s;hall be a token of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> covenant betwixt me and you.</HI> But it may be Ob|jected, What congruity or agreement is there be|tween the&s;e two Tokens of the Covenant, to the Rain-bow and Circumci&s;ion? Why there is a very &s;weet agreement between them both; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> in effect, it's one and the &s;ame; for they are bo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Tokens of God's Love and Grace, primarily an<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> e&s;pecially unto his own covenanting people.</P>
<P N="3">3. Per&s;ons may as well &s;ay, That the Rain-bow is the Covenant, as to &s;ay that Circumci&s;ion is the Covenant, being both but Tokens thereof.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Covenant of Grace had its beginning at the Fall of <HI>Adam;</HI> for had our Fir&s;t Parent &s;tood in their primitive &s;tate of innocency, the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> would have been no room for the Exerci&s;e o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Grace and Mercy; for mi&s;ery, in a &s;en&s;e, may be &s;aid to beget Grace and Mercy; for in <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">. there came in all our mi&s;ery; and in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 15 there came in Gods free preventing Grace a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Mercy, which is his Darling Attribute; for Mer|cy is his delight.</P>
<P N="5">5. The Covenant of Grace ran down in a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|neal De&s;cent from <HI>Adam</HI> and his po&s;terity, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> <HI>Noah</HI> and his, and took in <HI>Job, Melchizedec, Eli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI> and <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob, Mo&s;es, Dav<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI> and all the Patriarches; and la&s;t of all; it <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">+volved upon the Go&s;pelized Gentiles, and all th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> po&s;terity; and this only is the Covenant of Grace for was it not great Grace, that God &s;hould <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> only &s;pare Man when he fir&s;t broke out into ope<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Rebellion again&s;t him, but found out a Ran&s;o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> for him.</P>
<P N="6">6. All tho&s;e that are, or have been, or may be in the Covenant of Grace, are not, nor new may be in the Covenant of Redemption; but a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> that are in the Covenant of Redemption, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="15" REF="8"> go through the Covenant of Grace to Glory.</P>
<P N="7">7. All the Elect of God are in the Covenant of Redemption, and were &s;o from all Eternity; for that Covenant was made between God the Fa|ther and his Eternal only Son, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 1.9. <HI>Who hath &s;aved us, and called us with an holy calling; not according to our works, but according to his own purpo&s;e and grace, which was given us in Chri&s;t Je&s;us before the world began:</HI> But the Covenant of Grace was made with Man by God the Father in his Son Chri&s;t Je&s;us, in the beginning of Time, immedi|ately as &s;oon as man Fell, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.15.</P>
<P N="8">8. Not one Soul of all tho&s;e in the Covenant of Redemption, &s;hall ever &s;in to &s;uch a degree as to fall &s;hort of eternal life and &s;alvation; for they are all in the hands of Chri&s;t, and none can pluck them thence, <HI>John</HI> 10. <HI>My &s;heep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life: And they &s;hall never peri&s;h, neither &s;hall any pluck them out of my hand.</HI></P>
<P>1 John 3.9. <HI>Who&s;oever is born of God doth not commit &s;in; for his &s;eed remaineth in him, and he cannot &s;in becau&s;e he is born of God.</HI></P>
<P>This re&s;pects the believers per&s;everance in his &s;piritual &s;tate, and not his &s;piritual frame of heart; for the &s;ame Apo&s;tle &s;aith, in the &s;ame Epi&s;tle, <HI>chap.</HI> 1.8. <HI>If we &s;ay that we have no &s;in, we deceive our &s;elves, and the truth is not in us.</HI> Many Thou&s;ands have &s;inned them&s;elves out of the Covenant of Grace, and fallen &s;hort of eter|nal life and &s;alvation: For as God's elde&s;t Son upon Earth, namely <HI>Adam,</HI> &s;inned and broke the Covenant of Works, &s;o <HI>Adam</HI>'s elde&s;t Son, namely <HI>Cain,</HI> was the fir&s;t that &s;inned him&s;elf out of the Covenant of Grace; and <HI>Ham</HI> was the fir&s;t that &s;inned him&s;elf out of the Covenant of Grace after the Flood; and <HI>Judas</HI> &s;inned him&s;elf out of the Covenant of Grace under the Di&s;pen&s;ation of the
<PB N="16" REF="9"> Go&s;pel, and all tho&s;e Jews we read of in <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. where it is thus &s;aid;</P>
<P><HI>For if the fir&s;t fruit be holy, the lump is al&s;o holy; and if the root be holy, &s;o are the branches:</HI></P>
<P><HI>And if &s;ome of the branches be broken off, and the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter"> being a wild-olive tree, wert graffed in among the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">, and with them partake&s;t of the root and fatne&s;s of the olive-tree:</HI></P>
<P><HI>Well; becau&s;e of unbelief they were broken off.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. This Olive-tree, which the Jews were broken of from, and the Gentiles graffed into, was the Co|venant of Grace: Mi&s;take me not; for I do not hold [that] popi&s;h Doctrine of falling from true &s;aving Grace; for it is impo&s;&s;ible for any to fall out of a &s;tate of Grace, though they may out of the Covenant of Grace, becau&s;e they are in the Covenant of Redemption, which is the inner Court, <HI>viz. Sanctum Sanctorum.</HI></P>
<P N="10">10. And La&s;tly: All that are in the Covenant of Grace are the Subjects of Water-bapti&s;m; they are either baptized, or ought to be: But none but tho&s;e that are in the Covenant of Redemption, are circumci&s;ed in heart, and baptized with the Holy Gho&s;t, and with fire.</P>
<P N="2">2. Saith Mr. <HI>D.</HI> in <HI>pages</HI> 2, 3. <HI>How came it to pa&s;s that holy men, &s;uch who were intere&s;&s;ed in the Covenant of Grace, at the very in&s;tant of making this Covenant of Circumci&s;ion with</HI> Abraham, <HI>were not concerned in that Covenant, and the Token of it? &s;uch as</HI> Melchizedec, &amp;c. <HI>and the Fathers before the Flood to</HI> Abraham<HI>'s Time, and after to</HI> Job <HI>and his Family, and the Saints of God contemporary with him, &s;uch as</HI> Elihu <HI>and</HI> Job<HI>'s Three Friends,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>The Learned Mr.</HI> N. Cox <HI>hath &s;o &s;olidly opened this Covenant of peculiarity made with</HI> Abraham <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<PB N="17" REF="9">
<P>Here are &s;everal things to be ob&s;erved from the&s;e Words of Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s:</P>
<P N="1">1. Is this; He calleth the Covenant which God e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and his Seed, a Cove|nant of Circumci&s;ion.</P>
<P N="2">2. He queries how it came to pa&s;s, that the&s;e holy men were not concerned in that Covenant, and the Token of it: Which is a contradiction; for fir&s;t, he a&s;&s;erts the Token of the Covenant, <HI>viz.</HI> Circumci&s;ion to be the Covenant it &s;elf; and how and where he will find another Token for the Token of the Covenant, I know not.</P>
<P N="3">3. I ob&s;erve Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s drift and de&s;ign in calling God's Covenant with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and his Seed, a Covenant of Circumci&s;ion, is to make way to lay a foundation to build their Covenant of peculiari|ty on; but this I will prove to be a gro&s;s mi&s;take, for the&s;e Rea&s;ons following.</P>
<P N="1">1. Circumci&s;ion could not be the Covenant it &s;elf, becau&s;e (according to their own Princi|ples,) all the female &s;eed of <HI>Abraham</HI> would have been excluded and &s;hut out; for they will not grant, nor allow, that the female &s;eed of <HI>Abra|ham</HI> were any way concerned in Circumci&s;ion, or had any benefit by it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Circumci&s;ion could not be the Covenant, becau&s;e it was but a Token of it, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.11. <HI>And ye &s;hall circumci&s;e the fle&s;h of your fore-skin, and it &s;hall be a token of the covenant between me and you:</HI> That was with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and all his Seed, both male and female.</P>
<P N="3">3. Circumci&s;ion could not be the Covenant, be|cau&s;e in the Covenant it &s;elf God promi&s;ed to be <HI>Abraham</HI>'s God, and the God of his Seed after him, in their Generations, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.7. Ay, and <HI>to a thou&s;and Generations,</HI> P&s;al. 105.8. <HI>And God &s;aid, I will make an everla&s;ting covenant with thee,</HI> &amp;c. Now Circumci&s;ion as to the Letter of it, was
<PB N="18" REF="10"> not everla&s;ting, for it expired with the Ceremo|nial Law.</P>
<P N="4">4. And La&s;tly: Circumci&s;ion could not be the Covenant it &s;elf, becau&s;e then <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> would have been in it; which is repugnant to the holy Scrip|ture; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">r he had neither part not lot in the Co|venant, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.18, 19, 20, 21. But they run upon this mi&s;take to prove Gods Covenant with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and his Seed, to be a Covenant of pe|culiarity, with a de&s;ign to exclude all the Gentile Believers and their Seed, purely to de&s;troy Infant-bapti&s;m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">, for they know, that unle&s;s they can do that, they cannot bring it to pa&s;s; and this is the rea&s;on why they pre&s;s the&s;e holy men afore&s;aid into their &s;ervice, <HI>viz. Melchizedec, Job, Eli<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">, &amp;c.</HI> becau&s;e they were not circumci&s;ed.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall humbly offer my Rea&s;ons to &s;hew why <HI>Abraham</HI> and his po&s;terity were circumci&s;ed, and not tho&s;e holy men afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="1">1. The fir&s;t is, becau&s;e God never required it of them, and therefore it would have been &s;uper|&s;tition for them to have done it.</P>
<P N="2">2. Becau&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> was cho&s;en by God him&s;elf, and fixed in a publick &s;tation to be a &s;ub-repre|&s;entative Head, and father of the faithful to the end of the World; and &s;o was not any of tho&s;e Wor|thies afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="3">3. God's Covenant was with <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;everal years before Circumci&s;ion was annexed unto it, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.4. <HI>As for me, behold, my covenant is wit<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> thee, and thou &s;halt be a father of many nations.</HI> Now to which of tho&s;e Worthies did God ever &s;ay, he would make him a father of many nations?</P>
<P N="4">4. In <HI>Gen.</HI> 12.3. <HI>And I will ble&s;s them that ble&s;s thee, and cur&s;e him that cur&s;eth thee: And in thee &s;hall all the families of the earth, be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI> This was Gods Covenant with <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;ome years before Circumci&s;ion.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="19" REF="10">5. In <HI>Gen.</HI> 13.16. <HI>And I will make thy &s;eed as the du&s;t of the earth: &s;o that if a man can number the du&s;t of the earth, then &s;hall thy &s;eed al&s;o be numbred.</HI></P>
<P N="6">6. In <HI>Gen.</HI> 15.5. <HI>And he brought him forth abroad, and &s;aid, look now toward heaven, and tell the &s;tars if thou be able to number them: And he &s;aid unto him, So &s;hall thy &s;eed be.</HI> God did not make any &s;uch peculiar promi&s;e unto <HI>Melchizedec</HI> or <HI>Job,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="7">7. The ble&s;&s;ing of <HI>Abraham</HI> was to come upon the Gentiles, <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.14. God made <HI>Abraham</HI> a publick ble&s;&s;ing, both to Jew and Gentile.</P>
<P N="8">8. It was &s;aid of <HI>Abraham, In thy &s;eed &s;hall all the kindreds of the earth be ble&s;&s;ed,</HI> Acts 3.25. <HI>In thy &s;eed, that is in Chri&s;t,</HI> Gal. 3.16.</P>
<P N="9">9. My Ninth and la&s;t Rea&s;on why <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Seed were circumci&s;ed, and not tho&s;e holy men, was, becau&s;e our Saviour Chri&s;t was to be born of the Seed of <HI>Abraham;</HI> and therefore it is &s;aid, <HI>In</HI> Abraham<HI>'s &s;eed &s;hall all the kindred of the earth be ble&s;&s;ed;</HI> for our Saviour Chri&s;t was not to come out of the Loyns or any one of the&s;e Worthies, but from the Lineage of <HI>Abraham,</HI> Mat. 1.1. <HI>The book of the generation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the &s;on of David, the &s;on of Abraham:</HI> Not the Son of <HI>Melchizedec,</HI> nor the Son of <HI>Job, &amp;c.</HI> but the Son of <HI>Abraham:</HI> Therefore becau&s;e he was to come from his Loyns, both <HI>Abraham,</HI> and his Seed, mu&s;t wear the Badge or Token of his In|carnation and Crucifiction, which were both prefi|gurated in Circumci&s;ion, which was then a Badge of Honour as Bapti&s;m now is, and centered in the Covenant of Grace as Bapti&s;m now doth; And for the&s;e Rea&s;ons afore&s;aid, God was plea&s;ed to give unto <HI>Abraham,</HI> and his Seed, a Token of his Covenant-Love and Grace, in that di&s;tingui&s;h|ing way and manner above all other Saints con|temporary with them, who were al&s;o in the &s;ame
<PB N="20" REF="11"> Covenant with them; for God had not Two Co|venants of Grace, one peculiar to <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Seed, and another for the re&s;t of his Saints; but give me leave to tell ye, that all tho&s;e Wor|thies afore&s;aid, though they were not circumci&s;ed in the fle&s;h, yet they were all circumci&s;ed in heart, with the Circumci&s;ion made without hands; for what though God was plea&s;ed to deny them the Token or thing &s;ignified at that time, for Rea&s;ons be&s;t known to his holy Wi&s;dom? yet they had the thing &s;ignified, which was infinitely better: <HI>I&s;hmael</HI> had the Token of the Covenant, which was but the &s;hell, and not the kernel; but all tho&s;e holy men, which Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;poke of, had the kernel, though they had not the &s;hell; they were in the &s;ame Covenant with <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Seed, though they had not that Token of the Covenant as they had.</P>
<P>Now let us hear what a Gentleman of <HI>New-England</HI> &s;aid, in his <HI>Hi&s;tory of Bapti&s;m,</HI> in <HI>pag.</HI> 8.</P>
<P N="1">1. <HI>A promi&s;e to</HI> Adam<HI>'s believing; in this decla|ring A promi&s;e of the Me&s;&s;iah<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">s, That he will be his God, and the God of his &s;eed in their Generations, keeping Covenant or Command revealed to them; for when this promi&s;e was made to</HI> Abraham, <HI>it is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> to be &s;uppo&s;ed a new thing not in u&s;e before, but it was renewed to him with a peculiar re&s;pect to his &s;eed, when the Gentiles were ca&s;t off for &s;inning again&s;t this promi&s;e, as the Jews now are: And there is no doubt but that the Family of</HI> Adam, <HI>who was the fir&s;t Be|liever, and of</HI> Noah <HI>and his &s;eed, were the Church of God, becau&s;e God exerci&s;ed Excommunication on the apo&s;tate Members; and there is no Church-hood but to &s;uch as are under the promi&s;e: Tho&s;e who cannot &s;ay, God is their God, and the God of their &s;eed, in their generations keeping covenant, have little to &s;ay for, their Church-hood.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><PB N="21" REF="11">2. Let us hear what that eminent Servant of the Lord, Reverend Mr. <HI>Samuel Pomfret,</HI> &s;aid to this which Mr. <HI>D.</HI> writ about <HI>Melchizedec, Lot,</HI> and <HI>Job, &amp;c.</HI> when he &s;aw it in his Book, which is as followeth:</P>
<P><HI>Touching Mr.</HI> D<HI>'s doubt about the&s;e holy men,</HI> Mel|chizedec, Job, Elihu, <HI>and</HI> Lot, &amp;c. <HI>why they are not mentioned as well as</HI> Abraham <HI>concerning the Token of the Covenant,</HI> viz. <HI>Circumci&s;ion, his judi|cious Heart and Head might quickly have perceived, if he plea&s;e but to con&s;ider the lineal de&s;cent: The God of all Grace was plea&s;ed to call out</HI> Abraham, <HI>as the Father of the faithful through all ages to the end of the World, both down the Go&s;pel as well as the Old Te&s;tament Di&s;pen&s;ation; as he may know in the</HI> Epi&s;tle to the Galatians <HI>is clear, e&s;pecially the third</HI> chapter, <HI>where it is &s;aid, the ble&s;&s;ing of</HI> Abra|ham <HI>is devolved upon the Gentiles.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Let us hear what Mr. <HI>Cobbet</HI> of <HI>New-England</HI> &s;aith al&s;o to this: 1. Saith he,</P>
<P><HI>Let us addre&s;s our &s;elves a while to con&s;ider of the external and Church right of little ones to the initia|ting Seal and Church right which follows thence; for the initiating Seal follows the Covenant: We &s;peak not of an extraordinary time of the Church, when either it hath no particular expre&s;s initiating Seal di&s;tinct from another &s;ealing Ordinance, as before that &s;olemn covenanting of God in reference to the Church in</HI> I&s;aac<HI>'s Race,</HI> Gen. 17.7, 8, 9. <HI>with the</HI> 19. <HI>&s;o there is &s;ome peculiar &s;tate of the time not applicable to the ordinary time and way of a vi&s;ible politick Church and its Admini&s;trations, as then al&s;o were Family Churches as that in</HI> Melchizedec's <HI>and</HI> Job<HI>'s Families, which being not &s;ucce&s;&s;ively to continue, were not &s;o immediately eyed, in point of &s;olemn In&s;titution and Church Laws, as was this of</HI> Abraham, I&s;aac, <HI>and</HI> Jacob<HI>'s Race, wherein the vi&s;ible Church was to be continued: Such extraordinary times and ca&s;es
<PB N="22" REF="12"> are very impertinently urged by &s;ome to infringe th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> force of ordinary Rules and principles; they know a extraordinary ca&s;e of eating &s;hew-bread by &s;uch as were not prie&s;ts, and of plucking ears of corn on the &s;abbath day, of a private di&s;ciples baptizing,</HI> Acts 9. <HI>and</HI> Zipporah<HI>'s circumci&s;ing of her &s;on: And the&s;e do<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> nullifie or invalidate ordinary rules and principles touching Circumci&s;ion or Bapti&s;m, or the &s;anctifying the &s;abbath. In ordinary times and ca&s;es re&s;pecting the political vi&s;ible Church and its admini&s;trati<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;uch little ones as are of parents in &s;uch vi&s;ible Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> e&s;tate, they have external right unto the injoyned <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">|tiatory vi&s;ible &s;eal, of which they are outwardly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">|pable, and ought not to be denyed the u&s;e and ben<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> thereof: Ordinary times then, and not extraordina<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> are here con&s;idered: Let none object then, Child<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of Members of an ordinary political vi&s;ible Church <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> here con&s;idered: Let none object an extraordinary <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> of</HI> Job's <HI>or</HI> Melchizedec<HI>'s Families a vi&s;ible <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> enjoyned; not a ca&s;e wherein actually any &s;uch &s;ed<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> not enjoyned, is here al&s;o con&s;idered, or at lea&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> view at the pre&s;ent making of the covenant with th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> reference, as in the ca&s;e</HI> Gen. 17.7, 8, 9. <HI>And <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> none object</HI> Adam <HI>and</HI> Noah<HI>'s time, and ca&s;es aga<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> our</HI> The&s;is; <HI>external right in &s;uch a church &s;eal propounded: Let none confound this with inward <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;aving right, which is vi&s;ible to God, and not to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> man the initiating &s;eal is propounded, not all the&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> or church priviledges, as choice of officers, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> in other church occa&s;ions,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>A male child of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> days old might be circumci&s;ed, but was never intend to be injoyned per&s;onal appearance at the &s;olemn <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+bration of the pa&s;&s;over: Let none then object, tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> may as well plead for Infants coming to the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Supper as in</HI> Cyprian<HI>'s time. In a word; we &s;pea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> initiatory &s;ealing of per&s;ons outwardly capable <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"></HI></P>
<P>Thus you hear what this Authour &s;aith.</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="23" REF="12">5. And la&s;tly: When they have &s;aid all that can be &s;aid concerning <HI>Melchizedec, Lot, Job,</HI> and <HI>Elihu,</HI> why they were not circumci&s;ed; I cannot find that they were under any obligation to it, and the rea&s;on is plain, Becau&s;e they had not Gods command for it; for if they had Gods com|mand for the doing of it and neglected it, then they were guilty of a great &s;in, for not complying with it.</P>
<P N="2">2. If there was no command for it, then they had &s;inned if they had done it.</P>
<P N="3">3. God may make that an Ordinance at one time that may not be &s;o at another time; of which I &s;hall give you an in&s;tance in the ca&s;e of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>'s departure out of <HI>Egypt,</HI> Exod. 12.7, 13. <HI>And they &s;hall take of the blood, and &s;trike it on the two &s;ide-po&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>And the blood &s;hall be to you for a token upon the hou&s;es where you are: and when I &s;ee the blood, I will pa&s;s over you, and the plague &s;hall not be upon you to de&s;troy you.</HI></P>
<P>This Ordinance was but for that night.</P>
<P N="4">4. It is a &s;in for any man to be circumci&s;ed now God doth not require it, and it would have been a &s;in in Gods <HI>I&s;rael</HI> under the Law, if they had neglected it; for he that was not circumci&s;ed at eight days old, was to be cut off, <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.14.</P>
<P N="5">5. If the&s;e holy men had done it, namely, <HI>Mel|chizedec, Lot,</HI> and <HI>Job, &amp;c.</HI> they would have been as deeply guilty for the doing of it, as <HI>Abraham</HI> and his &s;eed would have been for the neglecting of it.</P>
<P N="6">6. And la&s;tly: It would be a great &s;in in a Go&s;pel-Mini&s;ter, that was duly qualified for it, with Gifts and Graces, and a right call to the work of the Mini&s;try, if he &s;hould refu&s;e and neglect it; and it is as great a &s;in for any to intrude and undertake that great Work without being duely
<PB N="24" REF="13"> qualified with Gifts and Graces, and not having a clear call unto it, as too many Novices do i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> this our day, that do not under&s;tand Covenant-My&s;teries; for the Scripture &s;aith, in <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 25.14. <HI>The &s;ecret of the Lord is with them that fear him: and he will &s;hew them his covenant.</HI></P>
<P>So that this ca&s;e of the&s;e holy men is fully an|&s;wered; For if Circumci&s;ion had been a Duty incumbent on them, as they were good men they would not have lived in the neglect of it.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee this <HI>quaint,</HI> new-found Notion of a Covenant of Peculiarity made with <HI>Abraham</HI> and his natural Po&s;terity fairly laid in the Du&s;t; for du&s;t thou art, and to du&s;t thou art returned.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall prove Infant-Bapti&s;m, and Church-Member&s;hip, to be of Divine In&s;titution.</P>
<P N="1">1. From <HI>Acts</HI> 2. <HI>Therefore let all the hou&s;e of I&s;rael know a&s;&s;uredly, that God hath made that &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Je&s;us whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Chri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Now when they heard this, they were pricked i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> their heart, and &s;aid unto Peter, and to the re&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the apo&s;tles, Men and brethren, what &s;hall we do?</HI></P>
<P><HI>Then Peter &s;aid unto them, Repent, and be bapti|zed every one of you in the name of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for the remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins, and ye &s;hall receive the gift <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the holy Gho&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>For the promi&s;e is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> our God &s;hall call.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Here we may ob&s;erve, that what&s;oeve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Promi&s;e was unto the Jews, and to all the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> children, in the former part of the <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> the Promi&s;e is the &s;ame to the called Gentiles and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> all their children, in the latter part of the &s;a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> <HI>ver&s;e:</HI> But by the way, before you go any furthe<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> What Promi&s;e is this that is here mentioned? <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> when was it made to the Jews and their childre<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and to the Gentiles and their children al&s;o? <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word">
<PB N="25" REF="13"> it is no other than the Covenant that God e&s;tabli|&s;hed with <HI>Abraham,</HI> wherein he promi&s;ed that he would be his God, and the God of his children after him, and that this Ble&s;&s;ing, or Promi&s;e, &s;hould de&s;cend, and devolve, upon the Gentiles, and their children al&s;o: And for clear proof of this, mind the&s;e Scriptures, <HI>Gen.</HI> 12.3. here is the fir&s;t broaching this Cele&s;tial Liquor of Life to <HI>Abraham, Acts</HI> 3.25. <HI>Gen.</HI> 13.16. <HI>Gen.</HI> 15.5. <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.2, 4, 7. <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.8, 14, 16, 17. Thus you &s;ee this Promi&s;e is the Covenant in which are com|prehended all Go&s;pel-believers, and all their chil|dren; &s;o that if we went no further than this, here is &s;ufficient Authority to admini&s;ter the Ini|tiatory Seal of the Covenant to the Infant-&s;eed of believers.</P>
<P N="2">2. But &s;econdly; when they heard what the Apo&s;tle charged them with, (which was with the blood of Chri&s;t) they were convinced, being pricked in their con&s;ciences, and then they &s;aid, <HI>What &s;hall we do?</HI> Even as the Jaylor that had been tormenting the Apo&s;tles, when he was con|vinced &s;aid, in <HI>Acts</HI> 16. <HI>Sirs, what mu&s;t I do to be &s;aved?</HI> &s;o the&s;e here, <HI>What &s;hall we do?</HI> Pray ob&s;erve; the Apo&s;tles An&s;wer unto them was mandatory, <HI>viz. Be baptized every one of you:</HI> That was, them&s;elves, and every one of their children that did belong unto them: This mu&s;t needs be &s;o, becau&s;e the Apo&s;tle, to rein|force his <HI>Mandamus</HI> with a clear inclu&s;ive Argu|ment, &s;aid, <HI>For the promi&s;e is unto you, and to your children.</HI></P>
<P>Now what need Bapti&s;m have been command|ed, and the children pre&s;ently mentioned, if they had not been to be baptized as well as their Parents; for they were as much in the Promi&s;e as their parents? Pray where lies the difference? <HI>For the promi&s;e is unto you, and to your children;</HI> and
<PB N="26" REF="14"> upon which Bapti&s;m is intailed, for it mentions no conditions in the Promi&s;e with a re&s;pect to children: And therefore it is as clear as the &s;un, that the children of believing parents ought to be baptized, let who as will, or dare, deny it.</P>
<P N="2">2. There is Chri&s;t's po&s;itive command for the baptizing of Infants as well as others, in his ge|neral commi&s;&s;ion to all his faithful Labourers in his Vineyard, in <HI>Mat.</HI> 28. <HI>Go, and di&s;ciple all na|tions:</HI> That was, baptize them; for the Learned do &s;ay, that Bapti&s;m precedes Teaching: Now children are included in this commi&s;&s;ion, or el&s;e they are no part of a nation; which is non&s;ence to a&s;&s;ert or imagine; for they are a very great part of a nation, and therefore they come under the command of Chri&s;t to be baptized, every one of tho&s;e children where their parents did &s;ub|mit to the di&s;cipline of Bapti&s;m. Thus I have pro|ved Infant-bapti&s;m and Church-member&s;hip to be of divine In&s;titution, and therefore have a right to the Ordinance of Bapti&s;m by vertue of Chri&s;ts command, and the Apo&s;tles argumentative manda|tory Exhortation, and al&s;o their covenant intere&s;t.</P>
<P N="1">1. Therefore I challenge all our Opponents to prove that ever the children of believing parent were once denied the Ordinance of Bapti&s;m is our Saviours time, or his Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P N="2">2. I al&s;o challenge them to prove, by any one Text of Scripture, that none but adult believer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> were to be baptized.</P>
<P N="3">3. Let them give us but one &s;ingle In&s;tance, among all tho&s;e Hou&s;holds which were baptized, that any one child was exempted.</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly: Let them prove that Infant-bap|ti&s;m is any where forbid in the holy Scripture: But if they can do neither of the&s;e, as I am &s;ure they cannot, where then is divine Right which they &s;o highly boa&s;t of, and &s;o confidently la<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="27" REF="14"> claim unto? Why, it appears clearly to be on our &s;ide, and not on theirs; and the Rea&s;on for it is undeniable, For nothing can be of divine Right that is repugnant to the holy Scriptures: But to deny the Infant-&s;eed of Believers to have an In|tere&s;t in the Covenant or Promi&s;e of God, which intitles them to Bapti&s;m, is repugnant to the holy Scriptures, and therefore cannot be of divine Right, as is clear from <HI>Acts</HI> 2.38, 39. 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.14. and <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.7.</P>
<P N="5">5. Some of tho&s;e that are again&s;t Infant-bapti&s;m have publickly and confidently a&s;&s;erted in print, that the children of <HI>Turks</HI> and <HI>Heathens</HI> have as much priviledge as the children of believing Chri|&s;tians; but Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;eems to be of another mind, if he had but held tightly to it; for &s;aith he, in <HI>page</HI> 2. <HI>Many of tho&s;e you call the outward priviledges of the covenant of Grace, our children have as well as yours.</HI></P>
<P>Pray note by the way, Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;aith, we call the&s;e Priviledges &s;o; he doth not own them to be really &s;o, and yet at the &s;ame time, he &s;aith, their children have them: This is a contradiction in it &s;elf; for it is to have and enjoy that which they hold, is not in being.</P>
<P N="6">6. I will prove that the children of believers have a far greater priviledge, than the children of <HI>Turks</HI> and <HI>Heathens.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. Fir&s;t of all; when the ungodly World was drowned, and all de&s;troyed, all tho&s;e children who&s;e parents were not in the covenant, were de&s;troyed with their parents, not &s;o much as one of them e&s;caped: Pray take notice; I do not judge nor meddle with their future e&s;tate.</P>
<P>But holy <HI>Noah</HI> and all his Hou&s;hold were &s;aved, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.7. not one of his children peri&s;hed in the Flood, becau&s;e they were all in the Covenant of Grace.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="28" REF="15">2. When <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Gomorah</HI> were de&s;troyed by Fire from Heaven, all tho&s;e children, who&s;e wic|ked parents were not in the covenant, peri&s;hed with them in that conflagration; but righteous <HI>Lot,</HI> who was in the Covenant of Grace, was &s;aved and all his own children.</P>
<P N="3">3. Where is the <HI>chapter,</HI> or <HI>ver&s;e,</HI> to be found in all the Book of God, that doth declare, that the children of <HI>Turks</HI> or <HI>Heathens</HI> are holy chil|dren, as it doth the children of either believing father or mother, in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.14.?</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly: Where is it &s;aid in Scripture to <HI>Turks</HI> and <HI>Heathens,</HI> (while &s;uch) that <HI>The promi&s;e is unto you, and to your children,</HI> as in <HI>Acts.</HI> 2.39.?</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee I have proved, That the children of Chri&s;tian believers have a far greater privi|ledge than the children of <HI>Turks</HI> and <HI>Heathens;</HI> by which I have utterly de&s;troyed that carnal, ig|norant, pre&s;umptious A&s;&s;ertion of theirs.</P>
<P N="6">6. Saith our Opponents, <HI>What benefit is it for a child to be baptized:</HI> To which I An&s;wer thus; So might proud carnal Rea&s;on, and natural Affe|ction, much more have queried in the time of the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Law, What good doth this &s;marting Ordi|nance do to our children? Or, what benefit is it for them to be circumci&s;ed at eight days old? which the Apo&s;tles them&s;elves counted to be an intole|rable yoke, which they were not able to bea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">, <HI>Acts</HI> 15.10. and yet in <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. he counts it a very great priviledge and advantage; for &s;aith he,</P>
<P><HI>What advantage then hath the Jew? or wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> benefit is there in circumci&s;ion? Much every way chiefly, becau&s;e that unto them were committed the oracles of God.</HI></P>
<P>Here you &s;ee the Apo&s;tles An&s;wer is very com|patible to this Query; but &s;aith he farther:</P>
<P><HI>For what if &s;ome did not believe? &s;hall their <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> belief make the faith of God without effect?</HI></P>
<PB N="29" REF="15">
<P>Here you &s;ee tho&s;e eight-day di&s;ciples were capable of receiving the Oracles of God, or el&s;e they would not have been committed unto them.</P>
<P N="6">6. Saith Mr. <HI>D.</HI> in <HI>p.</HI> 3. <HI>The primitive Fathers, for &s;ix hundred years after Chri&s;t, had a far diffe|rent</HI> Medium <HI>to prove Infant-bapti&s;m by,</HI> viz. <HI>The ne|ce&s;&s;ity of it to &s;alvation: Your notion of covenant-right from</HI> Abraham, <HI>and habitual faith, is not to be found in their Writings.</HI></P>
<P>To which I An&s;wer; We are not bound to &s;ail by their Compa&s;s; if the Fathers were mi|&s;taken, mu&s;t we be &s;o too? I can produce &s;ome that were mi&s;taken in a paraelel ca&s;e, long be|fore their time; and &s;ome of Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s. own Opi|nion, that have been mi&s;taken al&s;o in this Point, in our Time.</P>
<P N="1">1. Some of tho&s;e Jews that were converted to the Chri&s;tian Faith in the Apo&s;tles time, who were Teachers of others, <HI>Acts</HI> 15. <HI>And certain men which came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and &s;aid, Except ye be circumci&s;ed after the manner of Mo&s;es, ye cannot be &s;aved.</HI> Here tho&s;e men laid a very great &s;tre&s;s upon the very <HI>manner</HI> of circum|ci&s;ion; it mu&s;t not be after the manner of <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> but <HI>Mo&s;es.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. I have heard of &s;ome, (even in our Time) that are again&s;t Infant-bapti&s;m, that have held the &s;ame thing in effect; for &s;ay they, <HI>No bapti&s;m, no &s;alvation;</HI> and they hold, That there is no Bap|ti&s;m but that of dipping; which is to reprobate all tho&s;e who are not for dipping in bapti&s;m, and all their own children al&s;o, that die before they are dipped; which is to place an Ordinance in the room of Chri&s;t's Righteou&s;ne&s;s: But my good Friend, It is &s;afer relying upon <HI>Thus &s;aith the Lord,</HI> than upon <HI>Thus &s;ay the Fathers.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><PB N="30" REF="16">2. I &s;hall in the &s;econd place prove that the mode of bapti&s;m is by &s;prinkling, or pouring water on the &s;ubjects in bapti&s;m; and this I &s;hall do partly to &s;atisfie my much e&s;teemed friend Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> who gave me a &s;trict charge on the <HI>Royal Exchange</HI> &s;o to do, though I have been very large already on this &s;ubject in my <HI>Replication</HI> to Mr. <HI>B. K</HI>'s. Book.</P>
<P N="1">1. I &s;hall begin and make &s;ome Ob&s;ervations from <HI>Acts</HI> 2. where we find a great number that were baptized at one time; but we do not find that the Apo&s;tles did lay any Injunction upon them to change their Rayment to be baptized in; 1. They did not command the men to &s;trip them|&s;elves, and put on other Garments proper for the Ordinance, and then come and be baptized, nei|ther did they &s;ay unto the women and maids, Go and get ye Gowns made with lead in the lower end of the skirt thereof, and &s;hift ye, and then come again to us, and we will baptize every one of you.</P>
<P N="3">3. How could it be po&s;&s;ible that &s;o few as the Apo&s;tles were, not exceeding Twelve in number, (if they were all there) &s;hould be able to trip and dip three thou&s;and men, women, and maids, ac|cording to their Principle and practice, in &s;o &s;hort a time as but part of a day?</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall prove Bapti&s;m to be by Sprinkling, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> from the <HI>Levitical</HI> Law, and not by Immer&s;ion of Dipping.</P>
<P N="1">1. Negatively: If there is nothing to be done in Go&s;pel-Wor&s;hip and Ordinances, but what there mu&s;t be an Example or Shadow from that Pattern which God &s;hewed unto <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount, with all its Appendix that were then in force, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> then bapti&s;m cannot be by dipping: But nothing ought to be done in Go&s;pel-Wor&s;hip and Ordinances, but what there mu&s;t be an Ex|ample
<PB N="31" REF="16"> or Shadow for, from that Pattern which God &s;hewed unto <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount, with all its Appendix that were then in force, &s;uch as Cir|cumci&s;ion and Sacrifices, which were then in be|ing, and long before the Ceremonial Law.</P>
<P>Therefore bapti&s;m cannot be by immer&s;ion or dipping under water, becau&s;e there is no manner of &s;hadow or Example for that way of baptizing in all the Ceremonial Law, nor its Appendix there|unto belonging: Now for proof of which, let us addre&s;s our &s;elves to the Scriptures gradually, as we go along.</P>
<P N="1">1. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. <HI>For the law having a &s;hadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things.</HI></P>
<P>Pray mind; the Law was but a &s;hadow of good things to come; and what the&s;e good things are, I &s;hall have occa&s;ion to declare by and by.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall prove that bapti&s;m ought to be by &s;prinkling, and pouring water on the &s;ubjects baptized.</P>
<P N="1">1. Thus: If there be an Example or Shadow for &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m, from that Pattern which God &s;hewed unto <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount, then bap|ti&s;m is by &s;prinkling, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>But there is an Example or Shadow of &s;prink|ling, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> from that Pattern which God &s;hewed unto <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount:</P>
<P>Therefore bapti&s;m is by &s;prinkling.</P>
<P>Now for the Proof of this, I &s;hall call in ma|ny Scriptures to te&s;tifie the truth of it, and the fir&s;t &s;hall be that</P>
<P N="1">1. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 8. <HI>For if he were on earth, he &s;hould not be a prie&s;t, &s;eeing that there are prie&s;ts that offer gifts according to the law:</HI></P>
<P><HI>Who &s;erve unto the example and &s;hadow of heavenly things, as Mo&s;es was admoni&s;hed of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For &s;ee (&s;aith he)
<PB N="32" REF="17"> that thou make all things according to the pattern &s;hewed to thee in the mou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">t.</HI></P>
<P>Pray ob&s;erve; the&s;e <HI>all things</HI> that were then to be made according to the pattern &s;hewn in the Mount, were the Example and Shadow of the Heavenly thing<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">: which is the &s;ame with that afore-mentioned Text, <HI>A &s;hadow of g<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1+ letters">d things to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word">,</HI> namely, the Go&s;pel-Ordinances and Wor&s;hip; which mu&s;t be according to the pat|tern &s;hewn by God to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Apo&s;tle reproved the <HI>Hebrews</HI> that were reconciled to the Chri&s;tian Religion, for cleaving to, and hankering after, the aboli&s;hed Ceremo|nial Law; for he told them in effect, that they robbed Chri&s;t of the Honour and Glory of his prie&s;tly Office; for &s;aith he unto them, <HI>If he</HI> (that was Chri&s;t) <HI>were on earth, he &s;hould not be a prie&s;t, &s;eeing there are prie&s;ts that offer gifts according to the Law;</HI> and then he proceeds to tell them, that the Law was but an Example and Shadow of the Go&s;pel-Ordinances and Wor&s;hip, tho&s;e heavenly things, and a &s;hadow of good things to come, not the very Image or Sub&s;tance of the things.</P>
<P N="3">3. If there were no Example or Type for dip|ping in bapti&s;m, then there can be no Antitype; Therefore it cannot be bapti&s;m; for there was nothing among all the Examples and Shadows of the Heavenly things, that was any thing like dip|ping in bapti&s;m.</P>
<P N="4">4. But fourthly; I will produce you a Cloud of Witne&s;&s;es, which all center in a Type for &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m.</P>
<P N="1">1. In <HI>Exod.</HI> 24. <HI>And Mo&s;es took the bloud, and &s;prinkled it on the people, and &s;aid, Behold the bloud of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you.</HI></P>
<P>Now was not this a lively Type or Seal of the Covenant, namely Bapti&s;m? for it &s;ignifieth
<PB N="33" REF="17"> the &s;ame thing as Bapti&s;m doth, <HI>viz.</HI> Regeneration, Sanctification, and renewing Grace, which co&s;t Chri&s;t the price of his precious blood, which is the blood of the covenant; for he was given for a covenant to the people, and therefore <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;aid, <HI>Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you;</HI> and yet that blood, in it &s;elf, was but the blood of a bea&s;t:</P>
<P N="2">2. In <HI>Exod.</HI> 29. <HI>And thou &s;halt &s;tay the ram, and thou &s;halt take his blood, and &s;prinkle it round about upon the altar.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. In <HI>Levit.</HI> 1. <HI>And he &s;hall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the prie&s;ts Aarons &s;ons &s;hall bring the blood, and &s;prinkle the blood round about upon the altar, that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. In <HI>Ezek.</HI> 36. <HI>Then will I &s;prinkle clean water upon you, and ye &s;hall be clean: from all your filthi|ne&s;s, and from all your idols will I clean&s;e you.</HI></P>
<P><HI>A new heart al&s;o will I give you, and a new &s;pirit will I put within you, and I will take away the &s;tony heart out of your fle&s;h, and I will give you an heart of fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>Here is God's Promi&s;e to the Jews, the Race of his old covenanted peculiar People, predicted, which is to be renewed and fulfilled in this latter day of the Go&s;pel, as in <HI>ver&s;es</HI> 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. compared with <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.25, 26, 27. Fir&s;t, here in <HI>Ezek.</HI> is their bapti&s;m predicted, <HI>viz. Then will I &s;prinkle clean water upon you;</HI> for as they were a baptized Church under the Law, &s;o they &s;hall be again under the Go&s;pel, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.2, 3, 4. And that was al&s;o by &s;prinkling. Secondly, here is their Calling and Conver&s;ion predicted and promi&s;ed, <HI>viz. A new heart al&s;o will I give you,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly: Pray mind the&s;e Scriptures, for they are all for &s;prinkling, <HI>Levit.</HI> 9.9, 18. <HI>ch.</HI> 4.6, 17, 18. <HI>ch.</HI> 5.9, 13. <HI>ch.</HI> 8.11, 24. <HI>ch.</HI> 14.
<PB N="34" REF="18"> 7, 8, 9, 16, 51. <HI>Numb.</HI> 19.18, 19, 20, 21. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">2 <HI>Chro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 29.22. <HI>ch.</HI> 30.16.</P>
<P>Now what could all the&s;e &s;prinklings and pour|ings of blood and water be an Example and Sha|dow of, if not of bapti&s;m?</P>
<P>Therefore I demand Two Things of our Op|ponents.</P>
<P N="1">1. If &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m be not the Antitype of all the&s;e &s;prinklings and pourings afore&s;aid? Then I challenge them to find out, and di&s;cover unto us, &s;ome other Go&s;pel-Ordinances wherein the &s;ubjects are all pa&s;&s;ive, as tho&s;e were of the&s;e Sprinklings under the Law, that is more appo&s;ite to it, than &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m is, to the Examples and Shadows of the Heavenly things, which were the good things that were come.</P>
<P N="2">2. Let them produce us a Type under the Ce|remonial Law for immer&s;ion or dipping in bap|ti&s;m, otherwi&s;e let them cea&s;e from &s;uch an un|warrantable practice.</P>
<P N="2">2. In the Second place, Let us ob&s;erve how excellently the Apo&s;tles have conjoined and ap|plyed tho&s;e Heavenly things in the Go&s;pel new Di&s;pen&s;ation, their proper center.</P>
<P N="1">1. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 9. <HI>For if the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the a&s;hes of an hei&s;er &s;prinkling the un|clean, &s;anctifieth to the purifying of the fle&s;h.</HI></P>
<P>Here is Sprinkling and Sanctification joined together.</P>
<P N="2">2. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. <HI>Let us draw near with a true heart, in full a&s;&s;urance of faith, having our hearts &s;prinkled from an evil con&s;cience, and our bodies wa&s;hed with pure water.</HI></P>
<P>Here is Sprinkling and Wa&s;hing joined to|gether.</P>
<P N="3">3. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 11. <HI>Through faith he kept the pa&s;&s;ever, and &s;prinkling of blood.</HI></P>
<PB N="35" REF="18">
<P>Here is the Pa&s;&s;over and Sprinkling of blood joined together, the one a Type or Pattern of the Lords-&s;upper, and the other of Bapti&s;m, the two Seals of the Covenant, and both pointing to the Death and Sufferings of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, the E&s;|&s;ential Covenant; and al&s;o Regeneration and San|ctification, as Bapti&s;m and the Lords-&s;upper mo&s;t compatibly do.</P>
<P N="4">4. In <HI>Heb.</HI> 12. <HI>And to Je&s;us the mediatour of the new covenant, and to the blood of &s;prinkling.</HI></P>
<P>Here the Covenant of Grace, under the new Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel, and Sprinkling are joined together, namely, Bapti&s;m the Seal or To|ken thereof.</P>
<P N="5">5. And la&s;tly: Here is the Foundation of all the&s;e Sprinklings clearly explained by the Apo&s;tle St. <HI>Peter,</HI> in the&s;e Words, in 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 1.2. <HI>Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through &s;anctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and &s;prinkling of the blood of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Here is the Covenant and Sprinkling the blood of the Covenant joined together, namely, the blood of Chri&s;t: And what God hath joined together, let not proud carnal Rea&s;on part a|&s;under.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee I have clearly proved from the Ceremonial Law, That bapti&s;m is by &s;prinkling, and pouring water on the &s;ubjects baptized; for nothing can be the Antitype of all the&s;e Sprink|lings, but this Heavenly Thing, namely, the Sa|crament of Water-bapti&s;m: Therefore bapti&s;m cannot be by dipping, becau&s;e there is no Exam|ple or Pattern for it among all the Ceremonies; for if it had been one of the Heavenly Things, then there mu&s;t have been a Pattern for it; but there is none as I know of, unle&s;s it be tho&s;e two which are not of the Heavenly Things, here men|tioned, but a Di&s;pen&s;ation of Wrath from Hea|ven,
<PB N="36" REF="19"> namely, the drowning the old ungodly World, and proud <HI>Pharaoh</HI> and all his Ho&s;t, they were all immer&s;ed, or dipped, and drowned: Therefore dipping in bapti&s;m is of the Earth, and but a humane Invention.</P>
<P>Now to bring things nearer home &s;till; Wha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> did all the&s;e Sprinklings with blood and water &s;ig|nifie under the <HI>Mo&s;aick</HI> Di&s;pen&s;ation, which are brought down into the <HI>New Te&s;tament</HI> and applied by the Apo&s;tle.</P>
<P N="1">1. As they were Examples and Patterns of Water-bapti&s;m, &s;o they pointed unto the &s;ame things as Water-bapti&s;m doth. <HI>viz.</HI> Regeneration and Sanctification, both which we have in <HI>John</HI> 3. <HI>Je&s;us an&s;wered, Verily verily I &s;ay unto thee, Excep<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cann<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> enter into the kingdom of God.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. Sprinkling under the Ceremonial Law is bapti&s;m under the Go&s;pel; for they both point at one and the &s;ame thing, namely, the Death and Sufferings of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; without which there had been no Regeneration or Sanctification; for without &s;hedding of blood, there could have been no Remi&s;&s;ion of &s;ins.</P>
<P N="1">1. Sprinklings under the Law pointed forward to the Death of Chri&s;t, to &s;hew that he was to come and &s;uffer.</P>
<P N="2">2. Bapti&s;m under the Go&s;pel points upward, to &s;hew that Chri&s;t is come, and hath &s;uffered, and is a&s;cended, though bapti&s;m was in&s;tituted before Chri&s;t's Sufferings; ju&s;t as things are &s;po|ken in the pre&s;ent Ten&s;e for the future, as con|cerning Chri&s;t's birth and nativity, in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 9.6. <HI>For unto us a child is born:</HI> Chri&s;t came by water and blood, 1 <HI>John</HI> 5.6. <HI>For even Chri&s;t our pa&s;&s;over is &s;acrificed for us,</HI> 1 Cor. 5.7.</P>
<P>Therefore Chri&s;t called his own Sufferings his bapti&s;m:</P>
<PB N="37" REF="19">
<P>That is, calling the thing it &s;elf by the name of that which repre&s;ents it:</P>
<P>And Chri&s;t was really circumci&s;ed and al&s;o bap|tized, both which pourtrayed his Death and Suf|ferings, <HI>Col.</HI> 2.13, 14.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee how the Ceremonial Law, and the new Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel, were related one to the other; the Ceremonial Law was a Shadow of the Image of Chri&s;t in his Ordinances; And in the Go&s;pel-Ordinances, tho&s;e Heavenly Things, the Image of Chri&s;t him&s;elf is held forth unto us, <HI>Heb.</HI> 10. <HI>For the law having a &s;hadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things.</HI></P>
<P N="5">5. Tho&s;e that are baptized by the Holy Gho&s;t, are not &s;aid to be dipped into the Holy Gho&s;t; but the Graces of the holy Spirit are poured out upon them, and &s;hed abroad in their Hearts, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 44.3. <HI>Joel</HI> 2.28. <HI>Acts</HI> 2.18. Thus you may &s;ee that I have proved from the Ceremonial Law, that bapti&s;m is by &s;prinkling, and not by dip|ping.</P>
<P N="6">6. And la&s;tly: I &s;hall add one Scripture more, to corroborate that which hath been &s;aid touching the mode of bapti&s;m, which is that famous Text in 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3. <HI>When once the long-&s;uffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight &s;ouls, were &s;a|ved by water.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The like figure whereunto, bapti&s;m doth al&s;o now &s;ave us, (not the putting away of the filth of the fle&s;h, but the an&s;wer of a good con&s;cience towards God) by the re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>Here are &s;everal things of great note in this Text of Scripture.</P>
<P N="1">1. Here is the twofold patience of God; fir&s;t he waited patiently on the old ungodly. World for their Repentance.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="38" REF="20">2. His patience in waiting on <HI>Noah</HI> until he had prepared the Ark for the &s;aving him&s;elf and his Hou&s;hold.</P>
<P N="3">3. Here is the fewne&s;s of the Number of the&s;e which were &s;aved, among the many Thou&s;ands of Families of the Earth, <HI>viz.</HI> but eight per&s;ons, and they were &s;aved by water; that which was a mo&s;t dreadful di&s;pen&s;ation of Gods Wrath to the old ungodly World, was a di&s;pen&s;ation of di&s;tin|gui&s;hing Love and Grace unto <HI>Noah</HI> and his Family; for the Text telleth us, they were &s;aved by water; the like figure whereunto, even bap|ti&s;m doth al&s;o now &s;ave us.</P>
<P N="4">4. Here are two things enveloped in the&s;e words; Fir&s;t, As <HI>Noah</HI>'s temporal pre&s;ervation and deliverance in and by the Ark was typical of eternal Life and Salvation, by Je&s;us Chri&s;t the Ark of Gods Covenant, &s;o is bapti&s;m al&s;o.</P>
<P N="5">5. None are eternally &s;aved by, nor for, their being baptized, no more than all were &s;aved eter|nally that were in the Ark; for if it were &s;o, then all would be &s;aved that were, are, or &s;hall be, baptized; for external holine&s;s will not give them a Right to eternal Salvation, nor foederal holine&s;s neither, though inherent holine&s;s doth: Pray mind the Apo&s;tles Words; for &s;aith he, <HI>The like figure whereunto, even bapti&s;m doth al&s;o now &s;ave us, (not the putting away of the filth of the fle&s;h,</HI> (that is external holine&s;s) <HI>but the an&s;wer of a good con|&s;cience towards God) by the re&s;urrection of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI></P>
<P>There is Internal Grace and Holine&s;s; Tempo|ral &s;alvation and deliverances are not a &s;ure &s;ign of Eternal &s;alvation; nor external purification, or putting away the filth of the fle&s;h, without in|ward heart-purification by the Re&s;urrection of Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, of which <HI>Noah</HI>'s pre&s;ervation was a true Type or &s;ign, and Water-bapti&s;m is no more.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="39" REF="20">6. What analogy is there between <HI>Noah</HI>'s pre|&s;ervation and dipping in bapti&s;m? for the Text &s;aith plainly, that bapti&s;m maketh the like figure unto it: To which I an&s;wer in the negative, There is none at all; it is altogether incongruous; all that can be &s;aid of it is this, namely, It makes a true figure of Gods Wrath on the old drowned World; for they were all immer&s;ed and de|&s;troyed.</P>
<P N="7">7. And la&s;tly: What analogy or congruity is there between <HI>Noah</HI>'s pre&s;ervation and &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m? To which I an&s;wer in the affirma|tive, There is a &s;weet harmonious Agreement be|tween them; for &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m is the like figure.</P>
<P N="1">1. As <HI>Noah</HI>'s Pre&s;ervation and his Family, was a Mark and Token of Gods di&s;tingui&s;hing Love and Grace unto them above all the re&s;t of the World, even &s;o is Bapti&s;m now to all true Chri|&s;tian believers, and their children, which is the Figure thereof, a Mark and Token of Gods di|&s;tingui&s;hing Love and Grace unto them, above all other per&s;ons in the World; for bapti&s;m is a &s;ealing the Name of God upon them, whereby they are externally received into the Family of Chri&s;t; for who&s;o &s;hall receive one &s;uch little child in Chri&s;ts name, receives Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. As <HI>Noah</HI> and his Family were all in the Ark, even &s;o believers and their &s;eed are all in the Co|venant, and therefore they all ought to have the Figure of <HI>Noah</HI>'s Pre&s;ervation admini&s;tred unto them, namely, Water-bapti&s;m, and that by &s;prink|ling, otherwi&s;e it cannot an&s;wer to the Figure of <HI>Noah</HI>'s Pre&s;ervation; for he nor none of his Fa|mily went over-board into the water, and were dipped, but was &s;prinkled with the Rain from Heaven, and with the water that did fly over in|to the Ark by the beating of the Waves again&s;t
<PB N="40" REF="21"> it, even as it doth again&s;t a &s;hip at &s;ea in a &s;too<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> by which the Mariners are often &s;prinkled; and know this my &s;elf experimentally; but if any <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Mariners are dipped in the &s;ea, they are com+monly drowned.</P>
<P N="3">3. And la&s;tly: As the Waters in mercy b<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> up the Ark and &s;aved <HI>Noah</HI> and his Family, eve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;o in judgment it drowned all the World be&s;ides for the Text &s;aith that <HI>Noah</HI> was &s;aved by wate<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> unto which bapti&s;m is annexed. Thus I have p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+ved that &s;prinkling in bapti&s;m is of Divine In&s;ti|tution, and dipping for bapti&s;m but a human Invention.</P>
<P N="7">7. Saith Mr. <HI>D. Habitual Faith is not to be f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> in the primitive Fathers Writings.</HI> To which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> thus reply:</P>
<P>What is that to us? I will put it to a fair and &s;hort I&s;&s;ue; which &s;hall be this: Either Mr. <HI>D.</HI> mu&s;t grant, that all elect dying Infants have Ha|bitual Faith, otherwi&s;e he mu&s;t totally deny Ori|ginal &s;in; which he plea&s;e; here is his choice; for this is the genuine con&s;equence of it, witho<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> offering the lea&s;t force or violence unto his Alle|gation.</P>
<P N="1">1. For Fir&s;t, If all young Infants by nature are guilty of <HI>Adam</HI>'s Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, then they cannot be &s;aved without Regeneration; for there is no pa&s;&s;ing immediately out of the Kingdom and Dominion of Sin, and Satan into the Kingdom of Glory; for there is a great Gulf fixed between them, <HI>Luke</HI> 16.26. And if they are not in the Ark of Gods preventing Grace, to ferry then over, they mu&s;t peri&s;h; for the only Road to the Kingdom of Glory lyeth through the Kingdom and Dominion of Gods free preventing Grace for all old and young that are &s;aved, <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.8.</P>
<P N="2">2. All young Infants by nature are guilty of Original Sin and depravation, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 51. <HI>Behold I
<PB N="41" REF="21"> was &s;hapen in iniquity, and in &s;in did my mother con|ceive me.</HI></P>
<P>Rom. 3. <HI>For all have &s;inned, and come &s;hort of the glory of God.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore they mu&s;t have Grace poured into their Souls, to &s;ubdue and conquer that original depravation, or they cannot be &s;anctified, nor &s;aved; for we all received our very &s;hape and fir&s;t being in &s;in: Therefore they mu&s;t have Grace to unite them to Chri&s;t; the lo&s;t Image of God by the Fall of <HI>Adam,</HI> mu&s;t be re&s;tored unto them, and re-in&s;tamped upon them; and Chri&s;t, with all the Graces of his Spirit, mu&s;t be formed in them, or God will never &s;ave them, nor be recon|ciled unto them, no more than he will to the Fallen Angels; and this mu&s;t be done by the Infu&s;ion of Gracious Habits into their Souls, 1 <HI>John</HI> 3.9. <HI>Who&s;oever is born of God doth not commit &s;in; for his &s;eed remaineth in him:</HI> This Seed of God is the Principles and Habits of Grace, which is a Fruit of the Spirit; but Grace in Act and Exerci&s;e is called the Fruit of the Spirit.</P>
<P N="3">3. Habitual Grace is &s;ufficient by the powerful Agency of the Spirit, to &s;ubdue and conquer ori|ginal Depravation in regenerating and changing their &s;tate, and making them Partakers of the Divine Nature by the application of the Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s and Merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for Ju&s;tifica|tion and Sanctification, by the afore&s;aid Habitual Grace, in&s;trumentally of which Faith is &s;upream, becau&s;e without Faith it is impo&s;&s;ible to plea&s;e God.</P>
<P N="4">4. The &s;alvation of all Gods Elect, both old and young, is begun, carried on, and fini&s;hed, by the Work of Chri&s;t without us, and by the power|ful Operation of his holy Spirit within us; Chri&s;t ever lives to make Interce&s;&s;ion at the Right hand of God, for the Application of his Satisfaction to
<PB N="42" REF="22"> the Fathers Ju&s;tice for us; and his Spirit abide<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> in us, to help our infirmities, in making Inte<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+ce&s;&s;ion for us al&s;o, with groanings which cannot <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> uttered, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.26, 27.</P>
<P>And thus all Elect dying Infants are made me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> to partake of the Inheritance with the Saints <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ight, even as all Adult believers are; for this <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the only way in which God doth ju&s;tifie, &s;anctif<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and &s;ave all his cho&s;en People, both old and young and therefore it is emphatically called the Fai<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> of Gods Elect, <HI>Titus</HI> 1.1.</P>
<P N="5">5. Wherefore if any dying Infants are any pa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> of Gods Elect, as that they are, then they m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> have this Faith, becau&s;e it is peculiar to God Elect and to none el&s;e, which is the Faith of the Operation of God, and not by maturity of yea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> for he is the Author and the Fini&s;her of it, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> 12.2. And it is the gift of God, <HI>Eph.</HI> 2.8. We reverence be it &s;poken, God may be compared <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> a man that maketh a Watch, with all the Wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and Pins, and Members thereof; but it may be, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> doth not wind it up, and &s;et it a going as &s;oon <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> he hath made it; but the Watch is a complea<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Watch notwith&s;tanding, though it &s;hould never <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;et a going; but it is ready to go, whenever the Watch-maker plea&s;e: Even &s;o God forms and fa|&s;hions the new creature with all its lineaments and members in the Souls of his Elect, namely, all the Graces of his Spirit; but the new creature ca<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="3 letters"> act nor move without Divine Influence, no more than the Watch can go of its &s;elf; and God m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> take either old or young into Glory, as &s;oon as the<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> are regenerated and born again, and never give them time to act Grace; the Thief upon the Cro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> had but very little time to act Grace in.</P>
<P N="6">6. For Per&s;ons to imagine or dream of San<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">+fication and Salvation by the Imputation of Chri<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Merits, without the In&s;trumen|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">allity
<PB N="43" REF="22"> of Habitual Faith to regenerate and change their Natures, is meer &s;piritual Non&s;en&s;e; for Chri&s;t's Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Merits are not to be ap|plied, nor expo&s;ed in any other way, nor by any other means, but what God him&s;elf hath appoin|ted and revealed unto us, and therefore it is cal|led the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Faith; but according to our Opponents Principles, it is a Righteou&s;ne&s;s without Faith: Pray, dear Friends, con&s;ider of this, and be no longer deluded.</P>
<P N="7">7. I challenge all our Opponents, every Soul of them, to produce but one &s;ingle Text of Scrip|ture, throughout the whole Book of God, that doth give the lea&s;t &s;hadow of countenance to this kind of Doctrine of theirs, namely, That Elect dying Infants can be &s;anctified and &s;aved without Habitual Grace, of which Faith is the chief.</P>
<P N="8">8. That &s;alvation of dying Infants, which our Opponents &s;tickle &s;o &s;trenuou&s;ly for, is a Salvati|on without Ju&s;tification and Regeneration, which in plain Engli&s;h is to &s;ave them in a &s;tate of ori|ginal &s;in and depravation; for the Antipaedobap|ti&s;ts will not by any means, allow young Infants to be capable of receiving the Habits and Seeds of Grace, to regenerate and change their Natures, though Chri&s;t him&s;elf (who &s;pake as never man &s;pake like him) hath told us plainly, that <HI>Except a man be born again, he cannot &s;ee the kingdom of God:</HI> And the Scripture al&s;o &s;aith, <HI>Without holine&s;s no man &s;hall &s;ee the Lord.</HI></P>
<P N="9">9. A young Infant in the Womb, or in the Cra|dle, is as much polluted, and depraved by nature, as the olde&s;t and vile&s;t &s;inner upon Earth, and as much a child of Wrath as he, and he hath as much need to be ju&s;tified, regenerated, and &s;anctified, as he; therefore all tho&s;e that deny this, mu&s;t deny original &s;in; which is to overthrow the very Foundation of mans &s;alvation.</P>
<P N="10"><PB N="44" REF="23">10. I never read one word in all the Writ<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of our Opponents about the Controver&s;ie, that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> declared, or once di&s;covered, the ab&s;olute ne<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+&s;ity of Ju&s;tification and Regeneration, in order<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;alvation of Elect dying Infants; I de&s;ire th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> to produce us the Book and Page if they o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> where there is any &s;uch Doctrine: It is true <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> tell us fine quaint Stories of Sanctification, a Application of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Merits Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for the &s;alvation of Elect dying <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+fants, and of their great hope and charity <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> have for them, and yet, in the &s;ame breath, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> tell us, that they are not capable of receiving <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Graces of the Spirit, by which it is to be brou<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> about and effected; which knocks all their ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and hopes for dying Infants on the head, concer<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+ing their future &s;tate of Happine&s;s; for Mr. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">. <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> very ingenuou&s;ly hath publi&s;hed and confe&s;&s;ed his Book, that he is <HI>not capable of under&s;tands the Notion of Habitual Faith; for</HI> (&s;aith he) <HI>it's <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> fine for my uncultivated head:</HI> That is, His <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Rea&s;on cannot fathom it.</P>
<P N="11">11. I do po&s;itively affirm, as I &s;hall An&s;wer at the great day of Judgment, that all tho&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> will not allow Elect dying Infants to be capable receiving Habitual Grace, to regenerate, &s;ancti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> and change their Natures, do at once reprob<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> them all by their Principle, and bar the Gate <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Heaven fa&s;t again&s;t them: For,</P>
<P N="12">12. And la&s;tly: If the &s;alvation of lo&s;t &s;inne<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> is a pure De&s;ign of preventing Grace, then I <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> affirm, That a young Infant is as capable of &s;alva<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+on, as any Adult per&s;on is what&s;oever; but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;alvation of lo&s;t &s;inners is a pure De&s;ign of p<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+venting Grace: Therefore a young Infant i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> capable of &s;alvation as any Adult per&s;on is w<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+&s;oever.</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="45" REF="23">1. <HI>It is a pure de&s;ign of preventing Grace, with a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">e&s;pect to God the Father that contrived it.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <HI>It is &s;o with re&s;pect to Chri&s;t the Son, that accom|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">li&s;hed it.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. And la&s;tly: <HI>It is &s;o with a re&s;pect to Man, that hath the benefit of it.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t Grace and &s;ub&s;equent per&s;evering Grace unto Eternal Salvation, is all of pure preventing Grace, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t is brought about by effectual Calling, Ju&s;tification, Adoption, and Sanctification; for preventing Grace <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">uns through them all;</HI> As hath been mo&s;t elegantly <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">llu&s;trated, amplified, unfolded, and applied, by that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">minent Divine, who is worthy to be ranked among the re&s;t of our Stars of the fir&s;t Magnitude, in this Hemi&s;phere of Gods Heaven upon Earth, the Church, namely, Mr. <HI>M. M.</HI> of <HI>Stepney,</HI> from that Famous Text of Chri&s;t's wonderful preventing Grace, in St. <HI>Luke</HI> 19.10. <HI>For the Son of man is come to &s;eek and to &s;ave that which was lo&s;t.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That the &s;alvation of lo&s;t &s;inners is a pure De&s;ign of preventing Grace, appears in the&s;e following Particulars.</P>
<P N="1">1. In that men by nature are &s;piritually dead, as in <HI>Eph.</HI> 2. <HI>And you hath he quickened who were dead in tre&s;pa&s;&s;es and &s;ins.</HI></P>
<P>The &s;inner being dead, is not able to quicken nor rai&s;e him&s;elf, but God doth it; &mdash;<HI>you hath [he] quickened,</HI> &amp;c. that is God: Therefore it is preventing Grace.</P>
<P N="2">2. If the &s;inner be lo&s;t, and God is found by him, when he &s;ought him not, then it is pure pre|venting Grace; but &s;o it is, as you may &s;ee in <HI>Rom.</HI> 10. <HI>I was found of them that &s;ought me not, I was made manife&s;t to them that asked not after me;</HI> Compare with <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 65.1.</P>
<P N="3"><PB N="46" REF="24">3. In <HI>Ezek.</HI> 16. &mdash;<HI>thou wa&s;t ca&s;t out in the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> field, to the lothing of thy per&s;on, in the day that th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> wa&s;t born.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And when I pa&s;&s;ed by thee, and &s;aw thee polluted in thine own blood, I &s;aid unto thee when thou wa&s;t i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> thy blood, Live: yea, I &s;aid unto thee when thou wa&s;t in thy blood, Live.</HI></P>
<P N="4">4. Man by nature is not only in a &s;tate of &s;epa|ration from God, but al&s;o in a &s;tate of Enmity again&s;t him; and until that Enmity be &s;lain, and the Soul united to Chri&s;t, which is done by Ha|bitual Faith in&s;trumentally, there can be no hope of Reconciliation nor Eternal Salvation. I &s;ay again, God will as &s;oon &s;ave the Fallen Angels, as &s;ave any Fallen &s;inner, old or young, in the Womb or out of it, that dyeth in a &s;tate of &s;epa|ration and Enmity again&s;t God, as all Mankind by nature are, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 51. <HI>Rom.</HI> 3.11, 12, 23.</P>
<P>It mu&s;t be Habitual Faith in&s;trumentally that mu&s;t ju&s;tifie the &s;inner, by taking hold of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and ap|plying it to the &s;inner, by the manuduction of the holy Spirit; for God is the Author and the Fi|ni&s;her of our Faith.</P>
<P N="5">5. In the fifth and la&s;t place, to conclude this Head: No Saint of God ever was, or ever will be, ju&s;tified, neither for, or by, the Act of Faith; and the rea&s;on is plain, becau&s;e that would be for a man to be ju&s;tified by Works, which would de|&s;troy Ju&s;tification by Faith in the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t; which is Popery all over; for there is no Ju&s;tification without the Grace of Faith, though not for the Acting of that Grace.</P>
<P>Therefore it is all a pure De&s;ign of preventing Grace, from the Foundation to the Top-&s;tone of mans Salvation; it is all Grace, Grace, pure pre|venting Grace: And therefore an Elect dying In|fant is as capable of Ju&s;tification, Regeneration,
<PB N="47" REF="24"> Adoption, Sanctification, and Eternal Salvation, as any Adult per&s;on is what&s;oever. And thus I have proved, That Habitual Faith is e&s;&s;entially nece&s;&s;ary for the &s;alvation of dying Infants, as well as Adult believers: None can be &s;aved without it; for there can be no Acts of Faith, where there are not fir&s;t Habits of Faith; it is as impo&s;&s;ible, as it is for a Tree to grow, and bear Fruit, without a Root.</P>
<P N="8">8. Saith Mr. <HI>D.</HI> in <HI>page</HI> 6. <HI>It's to be wondered at, how you come to &s;top at Bapti&s;m, and do not let chil|dren partake of the Lords-&s;upper,</HI> &amp;c. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> can &s;ee no rea&s;on <HI>why Infants &s;hould not be perfect Mem|bers of the Church vi&s;ible, if they are any at all.</HI></P>
<P>To which I reply,</P>
<P N="1">1. Truly it is to be wondered at, that &s;uch an in&s;ipid Argument &s;hould be de&s;tilled from the Brain, and drop from the Pen, of a Per&s;on of &s;uch natural Endowments, as Mr. <HI>D.</HI> is generally taken to be: But &s;uch is the un&s;earchable Wi&s;dom of God, to confound the Wi&s;dom of the Wi&s;e, and to entangle them in their own Devices, that no fle&s;h &s;hould glory in his pre&s;ence. Now I &s;hall make good what I have &s;aid, with a re&s;pect to this Argument.</P>
<P N="1">1. It cannot be denied but that the Jews chil|dren were perfect Members of the Church vi&s;ible when they were circumci&s;ed at Eight days old; for the Apo&s;tle tells us, that <HI>unto them were com|mitted the oracles of God, Rom.</HI> 3.1, 2. But yet notwith&s;tanding, they did not partake of the Pa&s;&s;|over; and this I am &s;ure, that the Go&s;pel of Grace, and Chri&s;t the Purcha&s;er of Grace, did not at all dimini&s;h the gracious Priviledges of the children of Chri&s;tian believers.</P>
<P N="2">2. Circumci&s;ion was in&s;tituted about four hun|dred and thirty years before the Ordinance of the Pa&s;&s;over was in being; and were there not perfect
<PB N="48" REF="25"> Members of the Church vi&s;ible before the Pa&s;&s;over was in&s;tituted, which was ju&s;t the Night before they were delivered out of that <HI>Egyptian</HI> Bo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">|dage?</P>
<P N="3">3. To come nearer home: All tho&s;e men, wo|men, and children, that were baptized by <HI>John the Bapti&s;t,</HI> were perfect Members of the Church vi&s;i|ble, by vertue of their Covenant-relation to <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> who was a Type of Chri&s;t, the Father of al<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Faithful, and yet they did not partake of the Ordinance of the Lords-&s;upper; for it was im|po&s;&s;ible they &s;hould, becau&s;e that Ordinance was not in&s;tituted until about thirty years after; for as Circumci&s;ion was in&s;tituted before the Pa&s;&s;over, &s;o was Bapti&s;m before the Lords-&s;upper; and as the Pa&s;&s;over was not in&s;tituted until the Night in which <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was delivered out of the <HI>Egyptian</HI> Captivity, &s;o the Lords-&s;upper was not in&s;tituted until the Night in which our Lord was betrayed, when he Actually delivered us out of Spiritual <HI>Egyptian</HI> Bondage.</P>
<P N="3">3. If none are perfect Members of the Church vi&s;ible until they partake of the Lords &s;upper, ther if any of their own Opinion die, after they are dipped, before they partake of the Lords-&s;upper, (as no doubt but that many do) then they dye imperfect Members of their Church vi&s;ible.</P>
<P N="4">4. Bapti&s;m was in force long before the Pa&s;&s;|over was aboli&s;hed; for our Saviour Chri&s;t did eat the Pa&s;&s;over, and in&s;titute the Lords-&s;upper, both at a Meal, the very Night in which he was betrayed; which was the total abolition of the former, and the e&s;tabli&s;hment of the latter.</P>
<P N="5">5. Our Saviour Chri&s;t him&s;elf hath in effect, declared the Infant-&s;eed of Believers to be perfect Members of the Church vi&s;ible, in <HI>Mat.</HI> 19.1<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the&s;e Words, <HI>viz. Then were there brought unto him little children, that he &s;hould put his hands on them,
<PB N="49" REF="25"> and pray: and the di&s;ciples rebuked them. But Je&s;us &s;aid, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me: for of &s;uch is the kingdom of heaven:</HI> That is, the Church. Surely the Kingdom of Heaven is not comprized and made up of imper|fect Members, or Subjects.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee this Argument is pluckt up by the Roots.</P>
<P N="9">9. Saith Mr. <HI>D.</HI> in <HI>page</HI> 6. <HI>Many of tho&s;e you call outward Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace, our children have as well as yours:</HI> 1. <HI>We dedicate them to God by our Prayers for them as &s;oon as born, and tho&s;e of the Church, into which in time we hope they will incorporate:</HI> 2. <HI>Our Example:</HI> 3. <HI>Religious Education; by catechi&s;ing, and by daily Prayers for them,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Here are &s;everal things worthy to come under our con&s;ideration, from the&s;e Premi&s;es afore|&s;aid.</P>
<P N="1">1. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> a&s;&s;erts and declares, that their chil|dren have many of tho&s;e we call outward Privi|ledges of the Covenant of Grace, as well as ours; but he will not allow them to be outward Privi|ledges, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but &s;aith, that we call them &s;o.</P>
<P N="2">2. Either they are Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace, or they are not; and if they are not &s;o, then they are no Priviledges at all; for they mu&s;t be of the Covenant of Works; they mu&s;t be of Grace or of Works; this is clear from the Scrip|ture, in <HI>Rom.</HI> 11. <HI>And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwi&s;e grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: other|wi&s;e work is no more work.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore if tho&s;e we call outward Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace, of which our Oppo|nents children partake of as well as ours, are not outward Priviledges of the Covenant of Grace,
<PB N="50" REF="26"> then they are of the Covenant of Works, which is no Priviledge at all thus to boa&s;t of.</P>
<P N="3">3. This de&s;troys that common and unclean Na|tion of theirs, <HI>viz.</HI> That the children of <HI>Turk,</HI> and <HI>Heathens</HI> have as much Priviledge as the chil|dren of Chri&s;tian Believers; for <HI>Turks</HI> and <HI>Hea|thens</HI> do not dedicate their children to God in Chri&s;t, as &s;oon as born: Which I take to be Mr. <HI>D</HI>'s. meaning, though he will not allow them one Dram of Habitual Grace; which renders it wholly invalid.</P>
<P N="4">4. This Dedication of their children as &s;oon as born, and Prayers for them, mu&s;t not pa&s;s with|out a &s;trickt Examination, for fear lea&s;t it &s;hould prove to be but blear-eyed <HI>Leah,</HI> in&s;tead of beau|tiful <HI>Rachel,</HI> to u&s;e our Authour's own Phra&s;e: Therefore I will bring it into the Ballance of the Sanctuary, and try whether it be weight or not.</P>
<P N="1">1. How can Mr. <HI>D.</HI> dedicate his children to God in prayer for them as &s;oon as born, &s;eeing he will not allow them to be capable of receiving the Seed and Habits of Grace to unite them to Chri&s;t? For it is Habitual Faith that is the Grace which doth that in&s;trumentally; for it cannot be Actual Faith that unites a Soul to Chri&s;t; that is im|po&s;&s;ible, becau&s;e that would be for Faith to act before it received its being; there mu&s;t be the Root before there can be any Fruit; there mu&s;t be Habitual Faith before there can be Actual Faith: Therefore it is Habitual Faith that unites the So<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> to Chri&s;t in Regeneration, notwith&s;tanding Mr. <HI>D.</HI> and tho&s;e of his Opinion's deriding and ridiculin<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> of it; for it is called the <HI>faith of Gods elect.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. I ob&s;erve that Mr. <HI>D.</HI> doth own, that tho&s;e children that are &s;aved dying in their Infancy are Elected; therefore I de&s;ire Mr. <HI>D.</HI> to tell us what &s;ort of Faith that is which doth of right belong unto them; for it is evident from <HI>Titus</HI> 1.1. tha<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">
<PB N="51" REF="26"> there is a Faith which doth peculiarly belong un|to all Gods Elect, and to none el&s;e; and our Op|ponents them&s;elves will not allow Infants to be capable of acting Faith in their own per&s;ons, nei|ther indeed can they in an ordinary way, as Adult believers do: Therefore it mu&s;t be Habitual Faith that unites them to Chri&s;t, their Head and Hus|band; and Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> mu&s;t own it too, or raze [that] Notion out of his Book, <HI>viz.</HI> That all dy|ing Infants that are &s;aved are elected: What are they elected, and &s;hall they not have the Faith of Gods Elect? Where is the &s;en&s;e of this? for there is but one Faith, as well as one Bapti&s;m, which belongeth to all the Elect of God, and therefore emphatically called the Faith of Gods Elect.</P>
<P N="3">3. Though young Infants are not capable of the profe&s;&s;ion of Faith, yet they are of the re|ception and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of Faith; for God is the Authour and the Fini&s;her of our Faith, who worketh all things according to the coun&s;el of his own Will.</P>
<P N="4">4. The very fir&s;t Moment of Gods Infu&s;ion of Grace into the Soul, that Soul is united to Chri&s;t: in which the creature is wholly pa&s;&s;ive: Therefore without the hope of this, they dedi|cate their children to God in their own unbelief, and their childrens original &s;ins and depravation; which is to offer unto God a corrupt thing, which God abhors, <HI>Mal.</HI> 1.14: For no unclean thing &s;hall enter into Heaven.</P>
<P N="5">5. Though I do not hold that all Infants are &s;aved that are dedicated to God in bapti&s;m, yet we do not bar the Gate of Heaven again&s;t them by Principle, <HI>viz.</HI> by denying them to be capable of receiving tho&s;e Habits of Grace that mu&s;t qualifie them for eternal life and &s;alvation if ever they are &s;aved.</P>
<P N="6"><PB N="52" REF="27">6. The con&s;equences of this kind of dedication and Prayers for their dying Infants are the&s;e, That God would accept of them and &s;ave that in their &s;ins, <HI>viz.</HI> in a &s;tate of depravation and &s;eparation from Chri&s;t; which is for them to go to Heaven, and be &s;aved in &s;ome other unknown way which God never appointed.</P>
<P N="7">7. For unle&s;s they are united unto God i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Chri&s;t, they are not only in a &s;tate of &s;eparation from God, but al&s;o in a &s;tate of Enmity again&s;t him: Therefore unle&s;s they pray unto God for their dying Infants, and believe that their chil|dren are capable of receiving, and God of infu|&s;ing Grace into their Souls, to unite them to Chri&s;t, to ju&s;tifie and acquit them from their ori|ginal &s;ins, and to &s;anctifie and change their Na|tures, and make them partakers of the Divine Na|ture; all their Prayers for them on this Topick, are but like a fine gilded painted Sepulchre, which appears very fair and beautiful without, but full of dead mens bones and putrefaction within.</P>
<P N="8">8. All Prayers (of this kind e&s;pecially) ought to have &s;ome footing in a Promi&s;e; for otherwi&s;e it is but pre&s;umption, to pray for that which God never promi&s;ed to grant; and al&s;o, that they do not believe the creature can be made capable to receive: And this is the &s;um and &s;ub&s;tance of their Principle on this account.</P>
<P N="1">1. For fir&s;t they deny that the Seed of Believer are in the Covenant of Grace, or that they have any thing to do with that Promi&s;e which God made unto <HI>Abraham,</HI> though it is the &s;ame Pro|mi&s;e which the Apo&s;tle &s;aith belongeth unto then and their children, in <HI>Acts</HI> 2.39.</P>
<P N="2">2. They deny that young Infants are capable of receiving Habitual Faith, though the whole current of the &s;acred Scripture is again&s;t them,
<PB N="53" REF="27"> as in <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.7. <HI>I will be thy God, and the God of thy &s;eed after thee,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>Now that this Promi&s;e is devolved upon the believing Gentiles, and their Seed, I have already proved, as in <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 44. <HI>I will pour my Spirit upon thy &s;eed, and my ble&s;&s;ing upon thine off-&s;pring,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>And in <HI>Acts</HI> 2.39. <HI>For the promi&s;e is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your God &s;hall call.</HI></P>
<P>Rom. 3. <HI>Cometh this ble&s;&s;edne&s;s then upon the cir|cumci&s;ion onely,</HI> (the&s;e were the Jews) <HI>or upon the uncircumci&s;ion al&s;o?</HI> (the&s;e are the Gentiles) <HI>For we &s;ay that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righ|teou&s;ne&s;s.</HI></P>
<P><HI>And he received the &s;ign of circumci&s;ion, a &s;eal of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the faith,</HI> (Here you &s;ee what Circumci&s;ion was: It was a Sign and Seal of the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Faith.) <HI>which he had yet being uncircumci&s;ed: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumci&s;ed; that righteou&s;ne&s;s might be imputed to them al&s;o.</HI></P>
<P>Now if they do not go to God in prayer for their children in the Faith of this Promi&s;e, their Prayers will avail them little or nothing.</P>
<P N="9">9. I ob&s;erve that Mr. <HI>D.</HI> is &s;o true to his Prin|ciple, as that he hath not &s;aid that he dedicates his Children to God by Faith and Prayer as &s;oon as born, but he hath &s;aid, <HI>We dedicate them to God by our Prayers for them as &s;oon as born:</HI> For if his Prayers had any regard to Gods Promi&s;e to belie|vers and their children, then it would have been by Faith in Prayer; for what is not of Faith is Sin.</P>
<P N="10">10. How can tho&s;e per&s;ons who are again&s;t In|fant-bapti&s;m, and deny that young Infants are capable of receiving Grace, or that they have any relation to the Promi&s;e, pray for their In|fants, either dying or living, when according to
<PB N="54" REF="28"> their avowed Principle, there is nothing for them to act Faith upon, being they will not allow them to be capable of receiving the Promi&s;e, in which Chri&s;t and all the Graces of his Spirit are con|veyed it to their Souls? And to deny this, is to deny all; for to exclude them of the Promi&s;e, is to exclude them from Heaven, and de&s;troy the very foundation of Prayer.</P>
<P><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">. The <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;t con&s;truction that can be made of the&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> of Prayers for their dying Infants, is onely this, <HI>viz.</HI> That God would be plea&s;ed to &s;pare and continue their Lives until they came to Years of di&s;cretion and maturity, that &s;o they may be capable of receiving Grace by their own natural &s;trength and ability, and exerci&s;e it by the afore&s;aid power and ability: This is the natu|ral genuine tendency of this their Principle; and who&s;oever dives into it &s;eriou&s;ly and judiciou&s;ly, will find it to be &s;o; otherwi&s;e, why do they &s;ay that children are not capable of receiving the Habits of Grace? which highly reflects di&s;honour on the Free Grace of God, and al&s;o the omnipo|tent Power of God; for, unle&s;s they do pray for their dying children, or living either, that they may be united to Chri&s;t, and be begotten and born of God, and ju&s;tified by the Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Merits of Chri&s;t, and have their original &s;ins &s;ub|dued, and their Natures &s;anctified and changed, and the Image of God impre&s;t upon them, that they may be made meet to partake of the Inheri|tance with the Saints in Light, which mu&s;t be by infu&s;ing Grace into their Souls; all their Prayers &s;ignifie no more than their Prayers do for any o|ther outward Mercy and Injoyment. But how can they pray for their young Infants union with Chri&s;t, when at the &s;ame time, they declaim the very in&s;trumental Bond of union, <HI>viz.</HI> The Grace of Faith, which is peculiar to all Gods Elect.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="55" REF="28">2. You &s;hall &s;ee how incongruous Mr. <HI>D.</HI> is in him&s;elf: For,</P>
<P N="1">1. Saith he in <HI>page</HI> 5. <HI>God knows how to &s;ancti|fie and &s;ave our dying Infants without our application of Ordinances unto them,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="2">2. In <HI>page</HI> 6. he &s;aith, <HI>We dedicate them to God by Prayers for them as &s;oon as born,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P N="1">1. He &s;aith, <HI>God knows how to &s;anctifie and &s;ave our dying Infants without our application of Ordinances unto them.</HI> Now by the &s;ame parity of Rea&s;on, Adult believers may ca&s;t off all Ordinances, and &s;ay, I am in the Invi&s;ible and Catholick Church, and God knows how to &s;anctifie and &s;ave me with|out the application of Ordinances. This would make a notable Plea for tho&s;e that do ca&s;t off Ordinances.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is true, that God doth know how to &s;an|ctifie and &s;ave all Elect Infants: But here I mu&s;t &s;top, for I dare go no further with Mr. <HI>D.</HI> be|cau&s;e I &s;ee a dangerous Precipice.</P>
<P N="2">2. It is al&s;o as true, that God hath revealed unto us how he doth &s;anctifie and &s;ave Elect dy|ing Infants; for it is in the &s;ame way in which he doth &s;anctifie and &s;ave all Elect Adult believers, as I have already &s;ufficiently demon&s;trated and proved: For as there is but one Lord, one Faith, and one Bapti&s;m, even &s;o there is but one way to Heaven, and that is thro' Chri&s;t, by Ju&s;tification, Regeneration, Adoption, and Sanctification; for Chri&s;t him&s;elf &s;aith, <HI>I am the way;</HI> and in <HI>Acts</HI> 4.12. <HI>Neither is there &s;alvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we mu&s;t be &s;aved.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. Is not the dedication of our children to God an Ordinance of God? and, Is not Prayer al&s;o an Ordinance of God?</P>
<P N="1">1. If the dedication of our children to God be not an Ordinance of God, why do our Opponents
<PB N="56" REF="29"> practice it? Secondly, If Prayers to God for them be not an Ordinance of God, why do they u&s;e it? Why doth our Author him&s;elf apply the&s;e Ordinances of God to his children as &s;oon as born, &s;eeing he thus declaims them?</P>
<P N="2">2. If they are not Ordinances of God, then it falls under the &s;in of Will-wor&s;hip and humane Invention; and if &s;o, then it would be &s;aid ano|ther day, Who hath required the&s;e things at your hands? But,</P>
<P N="3">3. If they are Ordinances of God, then they ought not to be again&s;t the application of Ordi|nances unto them by others, &s;eeing they allow it in them&s;elves; for Dedication without In&s;titu|tion is down-right Super&s;tition: Get over this Sir, if you can.</P>
<P>For we are to do all things [&s;piritually,] in the Wor&s;hip and Service of God, according to the Pattern &s;hewn by God him&s;elf unto <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> in the Mount.</P>
<P N="4">4. Bapti&s;m (as hath been proved) is one of the Heavenly Things, or Go&s;pel-Church-Ordinances, which is a publick &s;olemn dedication of the &s;ub|ject baptized, unto God in the Church, in the pre&s;ence of God, Angels, and Men, by Thank&s;|giving and Prayer; for as we receive our chil|dren from God, &s;o it is but rea&s;onable we &s;hould offer them up to God through Chri&s;t from whom we received them: But yet notwith&s;tanding, we ought to dedicate them to God &s;ecretly as &s;oon as born, and privately in our Families; for as in Prayers, there i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> (1) &s;ecret Clo&s;et-prayer; (2.) there is private Family-prayer; (3.) and la&s;tly, there is publick Prayer in the Church A&s;&s;embly; And the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> former may be &s;aid to be prepara|tory to the latter; &s;ecret Prayer in the Clo&s;et ought not <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> or hinder private Prayer in the Family, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> ought both the&s;e to excu&s;e
<PB N="57" REF="29"> or impede publick Prayer in a publick Church A&s;&s;embly.</P>
<P>Even &s;o ought we to do in point of dedicating our children to God; fir&s;t, it ought to be from the very Womb as &s;oon as born, in &s;ecret devo|tion in our Clo&s;ets, and in our Hearts by Faith, prai&s;ing of God on the Childs behalf, that the Womb was not its Grave, and for that its Mem|bers were written in Gods Book of Creation; and al&s;o to pray unto God, that the name of it may be written in the Book of Life, that it may be regenerated, renewed, and &s;anctified, and be &s;ealed up unto the Day of Redemption by the Holy Spirit.</P>
<P N="2">2. We ought to dedicate our Children to God in like manner afore&s;aid, in our Family, with tho&s;e Neigbbours and Friends that are there as In&s;truments to help u&s;her them into the World.</P>
<P N="3">3. And la&s;tly: The&s;e Dedications afore&s;aid of our children as &s;oon as born, mu&s;t not hinder nor prevent our publick &s;olemn Dedication of them afterwards in that Church Ordinance of Bapti&s;m in a more publick &s;olemn manner, in the pre&s;ence of God, Angels, and Men; for the Angels are pre&s;ent in Church Ordinances and Di&s;cipline, and are &s;trickt Ob&s;ervators of all our Behaviour and Deportment, as in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 11.7, 10. Which brings me to the <HI>&s;econd</HI> thing, <HI>viz.</HI> That the An|gels attend the Church in their Mini&s;try, and in &s;pecial manner their Mini&s;try is extended to the Elect Infant-members thereof, as doth plainly ap|pear from the Words of our Saviour, in that Re|buke he gave to tho&s;e Di&s;ciples that were of his own peculiar Family, when they were &s;triving among them&s;elves who was the greate&s;t in the Church, as in <HI>Mat.</HI> 18. <HI>At the &s;ame time came the di&s;ciples unto Je&s;us, &s;aying, Who is the greate&s;t in the kingdom of heaven?</HI></P>
<PB N="58" REF="30">
<P>Pray ob&s;erve; they did not ask who &s;hould be greate&s;t in the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter, but who is the greate&s;t in the Kingdom of Heaven now, in the pre&s;ent ten&s;e: That was as much as to &s;ay, Who among us Di&s;ciples is great|e&s;t in the Church of God now? for they knew that Chri&s;t was the greate&s;t in the Church, and that God is greate&s;t in the Kingdom of Heaven in Glory.</P>
<P>Now pray mind Chri&s;ts An&s;wer unto them:</P>
<P><HI>And Je&s;us called a little child unto him, and &s;et him in the mid&s;t of them, And &s;aid, Verily I &s;ay unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye &s;hall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.</HI></P>
<P>This Chri&s;t &s;pake to cure them of their Itch of Pride and Ambition, which he perceived they began to be contaminated with, and therefore he &s;aid unto them, <HI>Who&s;oever &s;hall humble him&s;elf as this little child, the &s;ame is greate&s;t in the kingdom of heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Pray note, by the way, that Humility is the fir&s;t &s;tep unto true greatne&s;s in the Church: But to proceed f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">rther on our Saviours Words,</P>
<P><HI>And who&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;hall receive one &s;uch little child in my <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word">, receiveth me.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. That is, Who&s;o &s;hall receive little children of believing Parents into the bo&s;ome of the Church in Chri&s;ts Name, receives Chri&s;t along with them, becau&s;e Chri&s;t is externally formed in them.</P>
<P N="2">2. How can little children be received into the bo&s;ome of the Church in Chri&s;ts Name, but by Bapti&s;m? And for a clear demon&s;tration of this, pray ob&s;erve &s;trictly the Words of Chri&s;ts general Commi&s;&s;ion unto his Mini&s;ters and Servants, and there you will find that Chri&s;t commanded them to baptize all <HI>in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Gho&s;t:</HI> This is in the Name of Chri&s;t, and to receive them into the Church in
<PB N="59" REF="30"> the Name of Chri&s;t, which is by a publick &s;olemn dedication of them to God in Bapti&s;m, <HI>Act.</HI> 2 38.</P>
<P><HI>But who&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> &s;hall offend one of the&s;e little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill&s;tone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the &s;ea.</HI></P>
<P>What a dreadful threatning is here again&s;t all tho&s;e that offend the&s;e little ones! And for my part, I declare that I do not know who among Chri&s;tians there are, that do offend young Infants &s;o much as all tho&s;e do, that are again&s;t their be|ing dedicated unto God in the Ordinance of Wa|ter-bapti&s;m. Pray mind our Saviours threatning, all you that oppo&s;e Infant-bapti&s;m, and be no longer wilful and ob&s;tinate, for it is a mo&s;t dread|ful one, <HI>viz. But who&s;e &s;hall offend one of the&s;e little ones,</HI> &amp;c. How [&s;o] offend them? If you ob&s;erve narrowly it will appear, that the ground of the offence is the not receiving them into the Church in Chri&s;ts Name; for the threatning fol|lows upon that of our Saviour Chri&s;ts &s;aying, <HI>And who&s;o &s;hall receive one &s;uch little one in my name, receiveth me: But who&s;o &s;hall offend me of the&s;e little ones which believe in me,</HI> &amp;c. The offence cometh upon the contrary of receiving them in Chri&s;ts Name. This could not be meant of their Parents fir&s;t reception of them into the World, at their Birth and Nativity: But &s;ome of our Opponents have been &s;o confident in Print, as to &s;ay, <HI>What offences are young Infants capable of taking?</HI> which is carnal rea&s;on all-over; for though they are not per&s;onally capable of taking offence, yet Chri&s;t him&s;elf is; f<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">r as tho&s;e that receive them into the Church in Chri&s;ts Name by bapti&s;m, receive Chri&s;t him&s;elf, even &s;o all the&s;e that offend them, offend Chri&s;t him&s;elf, even as tho&s;e that per&s;e|cute his People, per&s;ecute Chri&s;t him&s;elf, becau&s;e by their not receiving them into the Church in
<PB N="60" REF="31"> Chri&s;ts Name, they &s;hut Chri&s;t him&s;elf out of the Church; theref<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">re Chri&s;ts mu&s;t need<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> be offended at them, <HI>Mark</HI> 9.41.42. The&s;e little ones which were brought unto Chri&s;t to be ble&s;&s;ed by him, were <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> of believers; and this will clearly appear to be &s;o, if we do but con&s;ider the&s;e things: 1. The old Di&s;<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">iples which were of Chri&s;t peculiar <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">amily, rebuked tho&s;e that brought them, for which Chri&s;t rebuked them, and &s;aid, <HI>Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of &s;uch to the kingdom of heaven,</HI> Mat. 19.13, 14. and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> <HI>Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">k</HI> 10.13, 14. <HI>Luke</HI> 18.15.</P>
<P N="2">2. Pray who had to do to bring young Infants to Chri&s;t for his ble&s;&s;ing on them, but their Pa|rents? And if they had not been believers them|&s;elves, they would not have brought their children to Chri&s;t to be ble&s;&s;ed by him; And for this rea&s;on, they mu&s;t be the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">ed of believers; nay, they had the Grace of Faith in them, for they believed in Chri&s;t, <HI>Ma<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">.</HI> 18.</P>
<P>Therefore I demand of our Opponents, Two Things:</P>
<P N="1">1. If the receiving of young Infants, the &s;eed of believers, in Chri&s;ts Name, was not to receive them into the Church? Then I demand, where they are to be received? for they mentioned in the Text were not to be received into Chri&s;ts pe|culiar dome&s;tick Family, for he had his &s;elect number of them, <HI>viz.</HI> the Twelve Apo&s;tles.</P>
<P N="2">2. If this receiving them in Chri&s;ts Name be a receiving them into the Church in &s;ome vi&s;ible way, being of the Church before, by de&s;cent of believing Parents, 1 <HI>C<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">.14. If it be not by the Ordinance of Bapti&s;m, then I de&s;ire them to tell us in what other way, or publick Ordinance in the Church it is to be done in Chri&s;ts Name; for you &s;ee it mu&s;t be done, or el&s;e they that re|ject them are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> to the threatning.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="61" REF="31">2. In the &s;econd place, Chri&s;t proceeds farther to inform us of the great Priviledge that tho&s;e little ones have by being in the Church; for they are under the Mini&s;try and Charge of the holy and ble&s;&s;ed Angels, as in <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 10. where we have Chri&s;t introducing it with a caution to all tho&s;e that de&s;pi&s;e the&s;e Infant-di&s;ciples, <HI>viz. Take heed that ye de&s;pi&s;e not one of the&s;e little ones; for I &s;ay unto you, that in heaven [their Angels] do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.</HI></P>
<P>But as they offend all th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e little ones, by re|fu&s;ing to receive them in Chri&s;ts Name into the Church vi&s;ible by Bapti&s;m, even &s;o they de&s;pi&s;e them by &s;aying, What good doth Bapti&s;m do a young Child? And what Grace is a young Infant capable of receiving? And thus they both offend and de&s;pi&s;e them.</P>
<P N="3">3. If there be &s;uch a dreadful threatning again&s;t him that &s;hall offend but one of the&s;e little ones, which belong unto Chri&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> the Seed of Be|lievers; what then is it again&s;t them which boldly adventure to offend and de&s;pi&s;e them all, by not receiving them in Chri&s;ts Name into the Church by bapti&s;m, and ju&s;tifie them&s;elves therein? <HI>It is better for them that a mill&s;tone were hanged about their neck</HI> (&s;aith the Scripture) <HI>and that he were drowned in the depth of the &s;ea, than to offend one of the&s;e little ones which believe in Chri&s;t.</HI> It is very &s;trange to me, that our Opponents will allow them to be of Gods Family Royal in Heaven, the invi&s;ible Catholick Church, and yet will not allow them &s;o much as a Name in the Hou&s;e of God, the Church militant here on Earth; which is a &s;pacious pre|text of allowing of them the greate&s;t Priviledge of all, and yet at the &s;ame time deny them one of the le&s;&s;er.</P>
<P N="4">4. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> hath publickly owned and declared that Elect dying Infants &s;hall be &s;aved, which I
<PB N="62" REF="32"> own to be true; And if dying Infants are elected, then are they Heirs of Salvation; and if they are Heirs of Salvation, then are they under the con|duct and mini&s;try of the holy and ble&s;&s;ed Angels, and do &s;hare as much in their Mini&s;try as any of the Adult Elect do, as is clear from that excellent Scripture in <HI>Heb.</HI> 1. <HI>But to which of the angels &s;aid he at any time, Si<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot&s;tool.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Are they not all mini&s;tring &s;pirits; &s;ent forth to mi|ni&s;ter [for] them who &s;hall be heirs of &s;alvation?</HI></P>
<P>I humbly conceive the&s;e Angels here are not to be under&s;tood of the Bi&s;hops, Elders, or Pa&s;tors of the Churches, but of the invi&s;ible Heavenly Ho&s;t, becau&s;e it is &s;aid in the very next Chapter, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 16. <HI>He took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the &s;eed of Abraham.</HI></P>
<P>Pray what account is an adult Believer capable of giving concerning the Mini&s;try of Angels, the&s;e invi&s;ible ble&s;&s;ed Spirits of their Mini&s;try for them, any more than Elect <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">abes in Chri&s;t can of their Mini&s;try for them? Even none at all. Pray take notice by the way, that it is not &s;aid that they do mini&s;ter <HI>unto</HI> them, but <HI>[for]</HI> them: And there|for a young Child is as capable of the Mini&s;try of of tho&s;e Angelical Spirits, as any Adult Believer is what&s;oever. O what a ble&s;&s;ed Priviledge is it for per&s;ons to be under the condu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t and mini&s;try of Angels! for they are their Life-guard, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 91. <HI>For he &s;hall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They &s;hall hear thee up in their hands, le&s;t thou da&s;h thy foot again&s;t a &s;tone.</HI> What an Honour is this? that the great and glorious Maje&s;ty of Heaven and Earth &s;hould conde&s;cend to Men of &s;uch a low degree and ex|tract, as to provide &s;uch a guard as this is for them; and this Honour have all the Saints, both old and young. O the admirable preventing love and Grace of God!</P>
<P N="5"><PB N="63" REF="32">5. The Mini&s;try of Angels lyeth principally next unto that in the Church in a&s;&s;i&s;ting and mini&s;tring for the Elect when they are lea&s;t ca|pable of the mini&s;try of Men; and that e&s;pecially with a re&s;pect to two Sea&s;ons, namely, the hour of the believers death, and to Elect Infants, as appears by our Saviour Chri&s;ts words; fir&s;t at the believers hour of death, in <HI>Luke</HI> 16. <HI>And it came to pa&s;s that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bo&s;ome,</HI>&mdash;</P>
<P N="2">2. The Angels mini&s;ters for Elect Infants in the Church, who are Heirs of &s;alvation, <HI>Mat.</HI> 18. <HI>Take heed that ye de&s;pi&s;e not one of the&s;e little ones, for I &s;ay unto you, that in heaven [their] angels do al|ways behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.</HI></P>
<P>Therefore we ought to dedicate all our children to God in bapti&s;m, by which they are more near|ly received into the bo&s;ome of the Church; for we ought not to reprobate our own children, but to deal with them as if we knew they were all Elected; the particular knowledge of which God hath re&s;erved to him&s;elf; for it is his Pre|rogative to know that, and not ours.</P>
<P>Thus I have proved that the dedication of our children to God by Faith in Prayer, in &s;ecret, private, and publick, is an Ordinance of God; for it is a &s;olemn offering up our children as a Sacrifice to God through Chri&s;t, and not to <HI>Mo|loch,</HI> as &s;ome of our Opponents have bla&s;phe|mou&s;ly &s;tiled it.</P>
<P N="3">3. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> doth grant that all elect dying In|fants are in the Invi&s;ible and Catholick Church, but will not by any means allow them to be in the Church vi&s;ible: And farther &s;aith, <HI>We have no Rule to put them into the Church vi&s;ible by bapti&s;m:</HI> To which I thus reply, <HI>viz.</HI> Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;hould fir&s;t have &s;hewn him&s;elf a skilful Logician, by proving that [ever] the Infant-&s;eed of Believers were ca&s;t out
<PB N="64" REF="33"> the Church vi&s;ible, by the per&s;onal coming of Chri&s;t in the New Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel, before he had talked of putting them into the Church vi&s;ible by bapti&s;m. Indeed, Bapti&s;m is a vi&s;ible receiving them nearer into the Church than they were before; for they were in Chri&s;t exter|nally before they were baptized, by vertue of their Covenant-relation, as being the Seed of believing Parents, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 7.14. though all that are thus in Chri&s;t, may not be &s;aved; for Chri&s;t hath exter|nal Branches in him, which he will never own at the Great Day, <HI>John</HI> 15. <HI>Every branch in me that heareth not fru<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">t, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> away.</HI> And thus who|&s;oever receiveth the&s;e little ones in Chri&s;ts Name into the Church by bapti&s;m, receiveth Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="2">2. Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;hould al&s;o have clearly demon&s;tra|ted and proved, what per&s;onal Actual &s;in and tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion tho&s;e young babes commited again&s;t God, which provoked him to ca&s;t them all out of the Church vi&s;ible, in which they had been from the beginning, in the fir&s;t Being or Formation of the Church, before he had told us we have no Rule to put them into the Church vi&s;ible by bapti&s;m; for otherwi&s;e, all his Arguments again&s;t Infant-bapti&s;m do but puzzle the Cau&s;e, and are but as &s;o many Arrows &s;hot again&s;t a brazen Wall.</P>
<P N="3">3. Becau&s;e all the Infant-&s;eed of the Jews and Pro&s;elytes were Members of the Church vi&s;ible under the Ceremonial Law, and the Go&s;pel of Grace, did not dimini&s;h the Priviledge of the In|fant-&s;eed of Believers, it did not bring le&s;s Grace, but more than there was in the Ceremonial Law: And therefore the Infant-&s;eed of believing Church members are &s;till members of the Church vi&s;ible now under the New Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel, and have a Right to the Ordinance of Water-bapti&s;m.</P>
<PB N="65" REF="33">
<P>Thus you &s;ee Mr. <HI>D.</HI> hath drawn a Conclu&s;ion without any Premi&s;es; which is to build a Hou&s;e without a foundation, or a Ca&s;tle in the Air: And this bringeth me to the Ninth and la&s;t Thing.</P>
<P N="9">9. And la&s;tly: Saith our Authour in <HI>page</HI> 4. <HI>The Go&s;pel-Church hath its Matter and Form fully pre|&s;cribed in the New Te&s;tament, its Laws and Ordi|nances of Wor&s;hip, and Subjects that are to be found in the practice of the&s;e. And their qualifications; this is what we &s;tick by, and dare go no further; the frame of the Jewi&s;h Church having had its day and end, we look upon it as taken down to admit a more glorious Di&s;pen&s;ation.</HI></P>
<P>Now our next bu&s;ine&s;s is to inquire what diffe|rence there was between the Church frame under the Ceremonial Law, and the New Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Go&s;pel, and try whether we can find any &s;uch capital difference as will favour our Authors Principles.</P>
<P N="1">1. Therefore in the fir&s;t place, What is all this which Mr. <HI>D.</HI> &s;aith, to the purpo&s;e? For he hath not told us where it is to be found in the N. Te&s;tament, that the Matter, Form, Laws, and Ordinances of Wor&s;hip in the Go&s;pel Church, are &s;o fully pre&s;cribed as to exclude the Infant-&s;eed of Believers from being Members thereof. But I find many Queries not an&s;wered, and the mo&s;t of our Authors Po&s;itions unproved: But I have already fully proved that there mu&s;t be nothing in the Go&s;pel New Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Matter, Form, Laws, Ordinance of Wor&s;hip and Subjects, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> but what mu&s;t an&s;wer to the Matter, Form, Laws, Ordinances of Wor&s;hip and Subjects of the Church under the Ceremonial Law; and I &s;hall now cor|roborate it, by what I &s;hall add by clear Scrip|ture Proof, as followeth in <HI>Exod.</HI> 25.40. <HI>Acts</HI> 7.44. <HI>Heb.</HI> 8.4, 5. <HI>Heb.</HI> 10.1.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="66" REF="34">2. That the frame of the Jewi&s;h Church was made more glorious at the coming in of the Go&s;pel New Di&s;pen&s;ation, I readily grant; but the &s;tate of the Church was never altered, and the Materials or Subjects are &s;till of the very &s;ame kind without any &s;ub&s;tantial variation. 2. Their &s;piritual Food in Gods Hou&s;e, the Church, is &s;till the very &s;ame, though under a better and more glorious Di&s;pen&s;ation.</P>
<P N="3">3. If Mr. <HI>D.</HI> could have proved that the &s;tate of the Church had been plucked up by the roots, and the Covenant di&s;&s;olved, and that it was but a carnal Con&s;titution, as Mr. <HI>H. C.</HI> and Mr. B. <HI>K.</HI> laboured in vain to do, as may be &s;een in their Books again&s;t me; then Mr. <HI>D.</HI> might have gained the Point; but he is wi&s;er than to attempt &s;uch a gro&s;s Ab&s;urdity, which borders upon bla&s;phemy, and therefore he hath rather cho&s;en to contradict tho&s;e two populous Authors or Champions.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Jews and all their children under the Law, were Members of the Church vi&s;ible, and the &s;tate of the Church was never altered: There|fore all the children of Chri&s;tian believers are Members with their Parents of the Church vi&s;ible [al&s;o,] now under the Go&s;pel Di&s;pen&s;ation, unle&s;s any of them &s;in them&s;elves out of it when they are grown Per&s;ons, <HI>John</HI> 15.2. <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.17. But that the &s;tate of the Church was never alter|ed, I &s;hall prove as followeth.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Jewi&s;h Church &s;tate was built upon the Rock of Ages, namely, that &s;piritual Rock Chri&s;t Je&s;us, as in 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10.3.</P>
<P N="2">2. The Church hath its Foundation in the Co|venant of Grace, of which Chri&s;t is the chief Corner-&s;tone, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 28.16.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Covenant of Grace was fir&s;t declared and made with <HI>Adam,</HI> immediately after the Fall; for <HI>Adam</HI> had the Go&s;pel Preached fir&s;t to him by
<PB N="67" REF="34"> God him&s;elf, who &s;pake as never Man &s;pake like him, <HI>Gen.</HI> 3.15.</P>
<P N="4">4. <HI>Noah</HI> was a Preacher of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2.5. that was, he Preached the Go&s;pel; for he that doth not preach up the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, for Ju&s;tification, Satisfaction, Sanctifica|tion, and Salvation, doth not Preach the Go&s;pel; for the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t is the very Mar|row and Quinte&s;&s;ence of the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P N="5">5. <HI>Abraham</HI> had the Go&s;pel Preached unto him, as in <HI>Gal.</HI> 3.8. <HI>And the &s;cripture fore&s;eeing that God would ju&s;tifie the heathen through faith, preached be|fore the Go&s;pel unto Abraham: &s;aying, In thee &s;hall all nations be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI> Pray ob&s;erve; The Go&s;pel is that which was Preached before unto <HI>Abraham,</HI> that was when God fir&s;t ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Abraham;</HI> and in him both Jews and Gentiles, at his fir&s;t e&s;ta|bli&s;hing his Covenant with him, in <HI>Gen.</HI> 12.3. <HI>And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will ble&s;s thee, and make thy name great; and thou &s;halt be a ble&s;&s;ing. And I will ble&s;s them that ble&s;s thee, and cur&s;e him that cur&s;eth thee: and in thee &s;hall all the families of the earth be ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. This Preaching the Go&s;pel before unto <HI>A|braham;</HI> 1. It was before the Covenant was &s;o fully declared and e&s;tabli&s;hed with him; And 2. before God had changed his Name: 3. And la&s;tly, It was before God had fixed [a] Token unto the Covenant. All which you have in <HI>Gen.</HI> 17.5, 7, 11. <HI>Neither &s;hall thy name any more be called Abram; but thy name &s;hall be called Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will e&s;ta|bli&s;h my covenant between me and thee, and thy &s;eed after thee, in their generations, for an everla&s;ting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy &s;eed after thee. And ye &s;hall circumci&s;e the fle&s;h of your fore-skin, and it &s;hall be [a] token of the covenant be|twixt me and you.</HI></P>
<PB N="68" REF="35">
<P>The Covenant was as much a Covenant to <HI>Abraham</HI> before God added [<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">] Token unto <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">, as it was unto him after, as is al&s;o clear from Ver&s;e 4. <HI>As for we, behold, my covenant is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> thee, and thou &s;halt be a father of man<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"></HI> God did not change nor alter his Covenant with <HI>Abraham</HI> when he added: Token to it, though he changed his Name.</P>
<P>Thus you &s;ee (1.) by whom the Go&s;pel was preached unto <HI>Abraham:</HI> (2) When it was preached unto him: (3.) How is was preached unto him: (4.) And la&s;tly: What the Go&s;pel was that was preached before unto him: Why, it was the Covenant of Grace it &s;elf in the fir&s;t broaching of it to <HI>Abra|ham:</HI> Which utterly de&s;troys that new invented Notion of a Covenant of Peculiarity made with <HI>Abraham</HI> of Circumci&s;ion: That is to place the Token of the Covenant in the room of the Covenant it &s;elf, which is ab&s;urd and fal&s;e. And this we mu&s;t ob&s;erve al&s;o, that this was not the fir&s;t broaching of this Ce|le&s;tial Liquor, <HI>viz.</HI> the Go&s;pel, though it was &s;o to <HI>Abraham</HI> and his Seed; for it was fir&s;t broached and &s;et a running to <HI>Adam,</HI> immediately after the Fall, and hath run down upon his Po&s;terity ever &s;ince, from Generation to Generation, and will continue to the end of the World: So that to Preach up the Covenant is to Preach the Go&s;pel.</P>
<P>Hence by the way I infer, How unfit all tho&s;e are who take upon them the Mini&s;try of the Go&s;pel, that di&s;own the Cove|nant, that are &s;o ignorant of the&s;e profound My&s;teries, that cannot di&s;tingui&s;h between the Covenant and the Token thereof.</P>
<P N="2">2. That the Church-&s;tate is &s;till the &s;ame, and the &s;ub&s;tantial Matter and Form the &s;ame now as it was under the Law, plainly appears by our Saviours Words to the unbelieving Jews, who were then Members of the Church vi&s;ible, as in <HI>Mat.</HI> 21. <HI>Therefore the kingdom of heaven &s;hall be taken from you, and gives to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof.</HI> And in <HI>Mat.</HI> 8. <HI>A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> I &s;ay unto you, that many &s;hall come from the ea&s;t, and we&s;t, and &s;hall &s;it down with Abraham, and I&s;aac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of hea|ven.</HI> That is, they &s;hall be brought into the &s;ame Covenant which God e&s;tabli&s;hed with <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> and into the &s;ame Go&s;pel-Church as they and their Seed were in; for this cannot be meant of the Kingdom of Heaven above for none can be ca&s;t out of that as the&s;e were to be in the remain|der of the Ver&s;e: Mind it: &mdash;<HI>but the children of the kingdom &s;hall be ca&s;t out into outer darkne&s;s; there &s;hall be weeping <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> gna&s;hing of teeth.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. From hence we may ob&s;erve, that the unbelieving Jews were to be ca&s;t out of the Church or Kingdom of Heaven, and the Elect Gentiles were to be taken in for them in their room; which did not de&s;troy the Con&s;titution of the Church no more than the ca&s;ting out of Hypocrites out of a Church doth now; but it was to purge and refine the Church from all its chaffe
<PB N="69" REF="35"> Hypocrites, and to gather in the Elect Gentile-wheat into the Garner, <HI>Mat.</HI> 3. <HI>Who&s;e fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner: but he will burn up the ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ff with unquenchable fire.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. When this Threatning was executed, <HI>viz.</HI> when the un|believing Jews and their Children were <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">&s;t out, the believing Jews which remained in the Church, their Children remained in the Church with them, and God did take the Adult Elect Gentiles and their Children into the Church together; he did not take in their Parents, and &s;hut out and exclude their Children, as is clear from <HI>Acts</HI> 2.39. <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.17.</P>
<P N="3">3. The Church &s;tate, which is the Kingdom of Heaven, is the &s;ame now as it was in the Beginning in <HI>Adam</HI>'s Time, after the Fall, and ever will be to the End of the World; and the Covenant of Grace is the &s;ame, in whi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">h all the Matter, Form, Laws, and Ordinances of Wor&s;hip, and Subjects are contained, though &s;ome of the unbelieving Jews and their Ch<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">ldren were ca&s;t out, e&s;pecially of tho&s;e who were actually concerned in condemning our Saviour Chri&s;t, by which they intailed a Cur&s;e upon their Po&s;terity [when] they &s;aid, <HI>His blood be on us, and on our children,</HI> Mat. 2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">.25.</P>
<P N="4">4. And la&s;tly: The &s;tate of the Church is, and ever was, in|di&s;&s;olvable, though it is locally m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">table; God may, and he hath taken it from one place and fixed it in another, and re|move it from one People of Nation and be&s;tow in upon another.</P>
<P N="2">2. I &s;hall al&s;o prove the Church &s;tate is the &s;ame now as it was under the Old Te&s;tament, and the Frame the &s;ame &s;ub&s;tantially, but in a more glorious Dre&s;s, as farther appears from the Apo|&s;tles Doctrine in <HI>Eph.</HI> 2. <HI>Now therefore ye are no more &s;trangers and forreiners, but fellow-citizens with the &s;aints, and of the hou|&s;hold of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apo&s;tles and prophets, Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf being the chief corner-&s;tone; In whom all the building fuly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; In whom [you al&s;o] are builded together for an ha|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">itation for God through the Spirit.</HI> Here are &s;everal Things to be ob&s;erved.</P>
<P N="1">1. Tho&s;e whom the Apo&s;tle Preached this Doctrine unto were the then called Gentiles, who were come from the Ea&s;t, and We&s;t and were &s;at down with <HI>Abraham, I&s;aac,</HI> and <HI>Jacob,</HI> in the Kingdom of Heaven; and the Children of the King|dom, <HI>viz.</HI> The Reprobate Jewes and their Children, were ca&s;t out.</P>
<P N="2">2. The believing Jews, which kept their &s;tation in the Church, were the&s;e Citizens and Saints.</P>
<P N="3">3. That the Gentiles before their Conver&s;ion were Strangers and Forreiners to this City, but were then Fellow-citizens with the believing Jewes and their Children, the Citizens afore&s;aid.</P>
<P N="4"><PB N="70" REF="36">4. They were taken into the Family Royal of Heaven, the Hou&s;hold of God, who before <HI>were Gentiles in the fle&s;h, with out Chri&s;t, being aliens from the common-wealth of I&s;rael, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> &s;trangers from the covenants of promi&s;e, having no hope and without God in the world,</HI> Eph. 2.12.</P>
<P N="5">5. The&s;e Gentiles, as mi&s;erable and vile as they were, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> that Time, were not only made Fellow citizens with the Saints but al&s;o <HI>fellow heirs with them, of the &s;ame body, and partakers of his promi&s;e in Chri&s;t, by the go&s;pel.</HI> Now thi<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> was &s;poken to the Gentiles by name, as in <HI>Eph.</HI> 3.6.</P>
<P N="6">6. The foundation of the Church of Chri&s;t was to be <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> in the Doctrine of the Prophets in the Old Te&s;tament, which <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the &s;ame with the Apo&s;tles Doctrine in the New Te&s;tament and Chri&s;t him&s;elf is the chief Corner-&s;tone, in whom all the Building is joined exactly together, and groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord, an Habitation for God.</P>
<P N="7">7. And la&s;tly: All the believing Hebrews, and all their chil+dren, and all the believing Gentiles, and theirs, maketh but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> My&s;tical Body, which is the Church, <HI>Eph.</HI> 3.6.</P>
<P N="4">4. The Church under the Law was a Golden Candle&s;tick, <HI>Exod.</HI> 25. <HI>And thou &s;halt make a candle&s;tick of puregold,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Zech.</HI> 4. &mdash;<HI>What &s;ee&s;t thou? And I &s;aid, I have looked, and behold, a candle&s;ti<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">k all of gold,</HI> &amp;c. This was the Go&s;pel-church in the Old Te&s;tament-Times: 1. Gold to &s;ignifie the Matt<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> and Subjects of it: 2. Pure Gold to &s;ignifie the holine&s;s and purity of it: 3. A Candle&s;tick to &s;ignifie the Form of it: 4. And la&s;tly: A Candle&s;tick to &s;ignifie the u&s;efulne&s;s of the Church; for as a Candle&s;tick is to &s;et up a Light in, even &s;o <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> the Church: It is a City built upon a Hill.</P>
<P N="2">2. Compare this with the Churches in the New Te&s;tament, in <HI>Rev.</HI> 1. <HI>And I turned to &s;ee the voice that &s;pake with me. A<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> being turned, I &s;aw &s;even golden candle&s;ticks. &mdash;and the &s;even golden candle&s;ticks which thou &s;awe&s;t, are the &s;even churches</HI></P>
<P>Now I would fain know of our Author where lyes the diffe|rence; for my part, I can &s;ee none but this, namely, There was but one Candle&s;tick of pure Gold in the Old Te&s;tament, th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> was but one Church or Congregation, which was all the Nation; and there are &s;even in the New Te&s;tament, which is a certain number &s;et for an uncertain; but all of Gold under both Di&s;|pen&s;ations, <HI>viz.</HI> all Go&s;pel holy Churches.</P>
<P N="3">3. And la&s;tly: The Go&s;pel Church in the Old Te&s;tament lived upon the &s;ame Food as the Go&s;pel-Churches of Chri&s;t do now in the New Te&s;tament, and as the&s;e Churches are bapti|zed Churches, &s;o was that one Church in the Old Te&s;tament, for all the Members of it, men, women, and children, were bapti|zed. Hear is a clear Scripture-proof for it, let who as will or dare deny it: 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 10. <HI>Moreover, brethren, I would not that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;hould be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
<PB N="71" REF="36"> and all pa&s;&s;ed through the &s;ea; And were all baptized unto Mo&s;es in the cloud, and in the &s;ea: And did all eat the &s;ame spiritual meat; And did all drink the &s;ame spiritual drink: (For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock wa<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Chri&s;t.</HI> On this Rock the Church was built, immediately after <HI>Adam</HI>'s Fall, and on this Rock it hath &s;tood ever &s;ince, and ever will to the end of the World, and the gates of Hell &s;hall never be able to preva l again&s;t it, for Chri&s;t doth watch over it and keep it.</P>
<P>Thus I have proved what the Pre&s;cription of the Church in the New Te&s;tament is, though Mr. <HI>D.</HI> was not &s;o kind as to do it; and al&s;o of the Old Te&s;tament, and demon&s;trated the Matter, Form, Laws, and Ordinances of Wor&s;hip, and the &s;ubjects al&s;o, and I find them joined together, and &s;o I leave them; for I dare not part them a&s;under: For though this Di&s;pen&s;ation is more glorious than that of the Old Te&s;tament was, yet it is the &s;ame for &s;ub&s;tance: 1. It was made of the &s;ame Mettle, <HI>viz.</HI> Gold: 2. It was of the &s;ame quality, fine Gold: 3. The &s;ame Subjects, <HI>viz.</HI> Parents and Children: 4. The Church was of the &s;ame Form, <HI>viz.</HI> a Candle&s;tick: 5. It was of the &s;ame u&s;e, <HI>viz.</HI> it was for Light; for the Laws and Ordinances of Wor&s;hip are for Light: Indeed, Satans Kingdom is a Kingdom of Darkne&s;s; but Chri&s;ts Kingdom is a Kingdom of Light. 6. And la&s;tly: They lived upon the very &s;ame Food as the Churches of God now do.</P>
<P>And thus I have proved the Title of this my Book: For Infant-Bapti&s;m and Church-Member&s;hip is of Divine In&s;titution, and the Mode of Bapti&s;m I have al&s;o proved to be by Sprinkling; for it is one of the Heavenly Things.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<HEAD>POSTSCRIPT.</HEAD>
<P>HAving fini&s;hed my Di&s;cour&s;e at this time, concerning the Infant-&s;eed of Chri&s;tian Believers, I now come in the fir&s;t place to addre&s;s my &s;elf in particular unto my loving Friend Mr. <HI>B. D.</HI> who hath &s;aid in <HI>p. 8.</HI> as followeth: <HI>For many Years I have attended to &s;ee what could be made of this Argument, of the nece&s;&s;ity of Bapti&s;m to Infants; and could I have found it proved, I would not have been an Hour out of your Tents.</HI></P>
<P>Now, Sir, you have &s;een it proved to be of as much nece&s;&s;ity as Circumci&s;ion was under the Law to the Eight-day Di&s;ciples; for the Infant &s;eed of Believers are fixed in the &s;ame &s;tation in the Church now, as the Jews Children were then; for they were never excluded. <HI>2.</HI> It is nece&s;&s;ary it &s;hould be &s;o; for you &s;ee I have fully proved that God commands it. <HI>3.</HI> It is a Badge of Honour, and Token of Gods Covenant-Love and Grace to the Seed of believ|ing Parents, who are &s;tiled holy Children, <HI>1 Cor. 7.14. 4.</HI> And
<PB N="72" REF="37"> la&s;tly: Circumci&s;ion was the Type of Bapti&s;m, which is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Heavenly Things. Now my good Friend, if you dare ve<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="3 letters"> There was no nece&s;&s;ity for tho&s;e Things afore&s;aid, then you <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> that there is no nece&s;&s;ity for Infant-Bapti&s;m; for you &s;ee th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> proved Infant-Bapti&s;m and Church-Member&s;hip, <HI>1.</HI> From <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">+ample of <HI>John</HI> the Bapti&s;t: <HI>2.</HI> From Chri&s;ts Command <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> the Apo&s;tles Argumentative Exhortation, or <HI>Mandamus.</HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> la&s;tly: From their Covenant-relation to God, who hath pro<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> be the Believers God, and the God of his Seed, and of h<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Seed, <HI>P&s;al. 105.8, 9, 10.</HI> Whereever God layeth his Co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> there is an ab&s;olute nece&s;&s;ity of Obedience.</P>
<P>Now, Sir, I expect you &s;hould comply with your Pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">m<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> make ha&s;te, and delay not to come into our Tents, or &s;hew cau&s;e in Print why you will not; for I humbly (yet boldly longe you to do one or the other; either to confute it, or of it.</P>
<P N="2"><HI>2.</HI> I addre&s;s my &s;elf to all you that are of this Opinion, i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> not read our Books about this Controver&s;ie, but pa&s;s a de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Sentence upon them, and condemn them without Book <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> Popi&s;h Prie&s;ts and Je&s;uits do; for they judge and c<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters">de<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Books and Doctrines to be heretical, and charge the People hear them on pain of damnation. But methinks, no<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="2 letters"> that are called Prote&s;tants &s;hould be found guilty of imita<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Papi&s;ts. Pray, for the future, either forbear that ung<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> chri&s;tian Practice of yours, which &s;ome of you are guilty <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> knowledge, by their own confe&s;&s;ion, of judging Books withou+ing them; And if you cannot co<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">fute them, then comp<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> them: It is a greater Honour to recant and renounce <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> when detected, than to cleave to it. <HI>La&s;tly,</HI> Do not me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Truths of God by the Pa&s;&s;ions and Infirmities of the In<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter">i<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> which God makes u&s;e of to declare them; for <HI>Martin Lut<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"></HI> an Eminent Saint in his Day, yet very pa&s;&s;ionate: And, that is perfectly clear of this Sin, ca&s;t the fir&s;t &s;tone at <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> thus condemn.</P>
<P>Thus I leave a Challenge with you all, to An&s;wer this my <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Lord give you &s;piritual skill and under&s;tanding in the&s;e <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Covenant-My&s;teries, that we may all embrace the Truth, a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 letter"> Je&s;us, and be of one Heart, and one Mind, fervent <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="pdcc" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;erving the Lord with one Con&s;ent: And &s;o dear Friends, to you all.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
