Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bring_v	good_a	let_v	1,459	5	4.0417	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35308	A solemn call unto all that would be owned as Christ's faithful witnesses, speedily and seriously, to attend unto the primitive purity of the Gospel doctrine and worship, or, A discourse concerning baptism wherein that of infants is disproved as having no footing nor foundation at all in the Word of God, by way of answer to the arguments made use of by Mr. William Allen, Mr. Sidenham, Mr. Baxter, Dr. Burthogge, and others for the support of that practice : wherein the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai ... : together with a description of that truly evangelical covenant God was pleased to make with believing Abraham ... / by Philip Carey ...	Cary, Philip.	1690 (1690)	Wing C742; ESTC R31291	244,449	284

time since unto this very day For thus run the Words Deut. 30. 1. And it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee the Blessing and the Curse which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them to mind among all the Nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee ver 2. And shalt return unto the Lord thy God and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day thou and thy Children with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul ver 3. That then the Lord thy God will turn thy Captivity and have Compassion upon thee and will return and gather thee from all the Nations whether the Lord thy God hath scattered thee ver 4. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of Heaven from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee and from thence will he fetch thee ver 5. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the Land which thy Fathers possessed and thou shalt possess it and he will do thee good and multiply thee above thy Fathers ver 6. And the Lord thy God will Circumcise thine Heart and the Heart of thy Seed to Love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul that thou mayest Live ver 7. And the Lord thy God will put all these Curses upon thine Enemies and on them that hate thee ver 8. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his Commandments which I command thee this day ver 9. And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine Hand in the fruit of thy Body and in the fruit of thy Cattle and in the fruit of thy Land for good For the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good as he rejoiced over thy Fathers ver 10. Because thou shalt obey the voice of the Lord thy God in keeping his Commandments and his Ordinances which are written in the Book of this Law when thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul For thus run the Words of this 10th verse according to the Old Translation though they are rendred otherwise in the New § 9. Wherein First we cannot but observe the Absoluteness of these Gospel Promises since that which was the very Condition of the Le●●l Covenant Do this and live And if ye be willing and obedient ye shall cut the good of the Land is here made a main branch of the promised Blessing ver 6. The Lord thy God will Circumcise thine Heart and the Heart of thy Seed to Love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and with all thy Soul that thou mayst Live And therefore when Moses tells them ver 1 2. That when all these things were come upon them the Blessing and the Curse which he had already set before them and they should call them to Mind among all the Nations whither the Lord their God had driven them and they should return unto the Lord and obey his voice with all their Heart and with all their Soul that then the Lord would return their Captivity We are by no means to understand these Words as the Condition upon the Account of which their Captivity should be returned For then indeed it ha●● been all one with the Covenant of Works mentioned Exod. 19. 5. Deut. 29. 9. or that mentioned Gen. 2. 16 17. And had been failable as that was But these Words are plainly spoken by way of Prediction rather of what should be that at the same time when they should thus obey God's voice their Captivity should be returned But how Is it left to an uncertainty If ye will obey my voice then shall your Captivity be returned No for God undertakes even this also for them to work up their Hearts to an answerable frame of Obedience suitable to the Mercy to be bestowed on them And therefore to prevent their Jealousie concerning any further forfeiture of the promised Blessing on their part he is pleased to give them a full Assurance thereof by an absolute Promise ver 6. The Lord thy God will Circumcise thy Heart and the Heart of thy Seed to Love the Lord thy God with all thine Heart and withal thy Soul that thou mayest Live And so also ver 8. Thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his Commandments which I command thee this day § 10. Mr. Baxter indeed suggesteth that the Promises mentioned ver 6. are Conditional and therefore made to more than to the Elect. And if saith he they were not performed to more than the Elect no wonder ●hen they were Conditional But that they are Absolute and not Conditional is plain since no Condition can be Assigned of performing those Promises but that of the good Pleasure of God's own Will it being only brought forth as the Sovereign Effect of his own Purpose and Grace and of that alone For to say that God promiseth to Circumcise their Hearts on Condition of their Obedience is to put the Effect before the Cause For therefore God promiseth that they shall be Obedient because he will Circumcise their Heart Neither indeed is there any true Gospel Obedience but what flows from that Principle And what Condition can there be of that but that of the good pleasure of God's own Goodness and Grace Let the Heart once be Circumcised so as that God's People be made a willing People in the day of his Power and then their Obedience naturally and necessarily follows till that be done nothing is done when that is done all is done And this is that which God here promiseth viz. To Circumcise their Heart and the Heart of their Seed to Love and Serve the Lord their God with all their Heart and with all their Soul Which therefore must needs be Absolute since no Condition can be assigned whereby God should be obliged to the performance thereof but that of his own Purpose and Grace Which being Obvious in the Words § 11. We must in the next place take notice of the Time appointed for the fulfilling of these Gospel Promises unto them And that was not the time then present as Mr. Baxter would have it For saith Moses Deut 29. 4. The Lord hath not given you an Heart to perceive and Eyes to see and Ears to hear unto this day Nor in the time of the Judges or the Prophets that followed after nor indeed any time that is as yet past But as Moses here tells them when all these things should have come upon them the Blessing and the Curse which he had before spoken of which must of necessity refer to the latter times or the last Age of the World when the Lord should turn their Captivity return and gather them from all the Nations whether they should be scattered And so it is plainly expressed Deut. 4. 30. When thou art in Tribulation and all these things are come upon

whereas the other two are Participles it is manifest that the whole Command or Commission is given in that and that the Mode of Execution is express'd in these And if the Mode of executing that general Commission be express'd in these where Baptizing is first and Teaching comes after What is become of the Order the Antipaedobaptists have so long talked of Certainly the insisting on the Order in that place proves to them an unhappy Weapon to stab that Cause for the defence of which it hath been brought into the Field For Answer hereunto we say That how fatal soever you suppose it may prove to us or the Cause we plead for to insist on the Order there mentioned Of this we are sure that if we neglect the Order Christ himself hath appointed we shall come short of pleasing him and consequently so to Teach must needs prove an unhappy Weapon to stab that Cause in the defence of which it is engaged In the Scripture before us Mat. 28. 19 20. there are plainly 3 distinct Acts required by Christ in the Commission he there gave his Apostles First Go Teach or Disciple all Nations that is not by Baptizing them as the Objection supposeth and afterward to teach them but singly by the Preaching of the Gospel unto them For so it must of Necessity be understood as appears by the Parallel Account that is given us of the same Commission Mark 16. 15. Go Preach the Gospel to every Creature Secondly to Baptize them So it follows in Mathew that is such as shall give a believing Entertainment thereunto For so it follows in Mark. He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be saved And accordingly this was the consequent Practice of the Apostles Act. 8. 37. If thou believest with all thine Heart thou mayst Thirdly To teach them their following Duty Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you You tell us indeed That a Person may be Baptized before he is Taught and that if the Mode of executing the general Commission be express'd in these where Baptizing is first and Teaching comes after What is become say you of the Order the Antipaedobaptists have so long talk'd of But it may rather be demanded What then is become of the Order the Scriptures have so long spoken of For if Baptizing is first as you say and Teaching comes after then it will follow that the Apostles understood not their Commission aright for they always first endeavoured to make Disciples by the Preaching of the Gospel and then Baptized those that gave a Believing Entertainment thereunto So did Philip to the Eunuch he first Preached the Gospel to him and then Baptiz'd him Act. 8. So did Peter to Cornelius and the rest with him Act. 10. And so did the same Peter to the 3000. Jews that were converted by that Gospel Sermon Recorded Act. 2. And accordingly upon the Profession of their Faith and Repentance we are told Vers 41. Then they that gladly Received his Word were Baptized And thus runs the whole Current of the Scripture and no Example to the contrary But according to your Doctrine neither Philip nor Peter did well in Preaching to them first and Baptizing them afterward for say you Baptizing is first and Teaching comes after 'T is true there is a sort of Teaching that comes after as hath been before express'd But to say that a Person may be Baptized before he is Taught is certainly Repugnant to the whole Doctrine and Practice of the Gospel And indeed according to this Reckoning If a Minister were to be sent into a Foreign Land among a Company of Ignorant Heathens to Disciple them to the Practice and Profession of Christianity His first work must be to take them by the Shoulder and to lead them into the Water or at least by Surprize to sprinkle a little Water upon their Faces For it may justly be doubted few would readily submit thereunto unless they were first Taught and Instructed in the Mystery of that sacred Institution And if any should be induced to submit thereunto without the Precedency of Preparatory Instructions This Practice you see would be Foreign to the Doctrine and Practice of Christ and his Apostles And therefore certainly to insist on such an Order must needs prove an unhappy Weapon to sta●● that Cause in the defence whereof 't is thus engaged The Scripture is indeed full in the Justification of the Order we now plead for and to affirm the contrary carries with it no small Absurdity Go Teach or Disciple all Nations saith Christ to his Apostles that is according to the scope of the fore-mentioned Objection Baptize them first and Teach them afterward this being the mode of executing that General Commission But is the Opus Operatum of Baptism think you a likely way or means to beget or bring forth Disciples unto Christ If Men be Preach'd by the Gospel into Discipleship it is no wonder For it is the Wisdom of God and the Power of God unto Salvation unto every one that believeth 1 Cor. 1. 21. 24. And accordingly where the Spirits Energy doth accompany it it Disciples Men into the very Life and Spirit of Christianity But we never read that Baptism was ever appointed for that end whether by it self or in Conjunction with Preaching It follows after 't is true but not to make us Disciples but to shew that we are such as a visible Mark to this purpose to be taken on us Gal. 3 26 27. If you say that Baptism is not sufficient to make a Disciple or Christian without the after-Teaching How comes it then to pass that Infants are Baptized who are uncapable of the after-Teaching you speak of Many of whom also dye in their Infancy and so are never Taught whether before or after Of whom nevertheless it is affirmed that the Baptized Infant is Regenerate received into the Number of the Children of God and an Heir of Everlasting Life And hence it is that the Baptism of Infants is commonly called the Christening of them that is they are thereby made Christians So that though you seem to allow the Necessity of joyning Instruction with Baptism to make a Disciple or Christian yet the common Practice shews that Baptism aloue is reckoned sufficient for that Purpose But say you These two Conclusions do plainly flow from the Premises First that Infants are not there excluded from Baptism Secondly That a Person may be Baptized before he is Taught For Answer you see we have plainly proved to you from the constant Doctrine and Practice of Christ and his Apostles that none ought to be Baptized before they are Taught And then it will equally follow and that with the same Clearness that Infants are there excluded from Baptism because uncapable after an ordinary rate of being taught as the Gospel directs So that you see the whole of your Argument falls to the ground You may Criticize therefore at Pleasure and talk what you will of Imparative Moods

it is strange that all Flesh should so soon have corrupted its way that God saw Cause to bring the Flood upon the World of the Vngodly And surely if there had been any such Covenant Holiness as is imagined before the Flood there would have been some Godly Society some greater Number of Believers to have been preserved beside Noah and his Family Who were not all Godly neither there was a Cham even among them which would not have been if there had been such a Lineal Conveyance of Grace and Covenant Holiness from the Father to the Son as is affirmed § 5. Fourthly Though Infant Church-membership did indeed take place as an Ordinance of God before the Ceremonial Law was instituted It doth not therefore follow that it was a Moral Institution and therefore not to be Repealed For so did Sacrifices also and the building of Altars for the Worship of God as is evident in what is related concerning Abel and Noah and yet there is none but take it for granted that they are now abolished Nay even Circumcision it self was in use in the Church of God 400 years before the Proclaiming of the Law to that People in the Wilderness and yet there is none that reckons it therefore to be a Moral Institution or that questions the Repeal thereof together with the rest of those Ceremonies which were imposed on them till the time of Reformation § And whereas we are told that if Infant Church-membership be Repealed it must be either in Justice or in Mercy It may be neither in Judiciary Justice nor in Favourable Mercy but from a pure Act of God's Soveraignty who as he is highest Lord of all may do with his own what he listeth having an Unlimitted and Boundless Right to Bestow or Revoke what he pleaseth according to the Counsel of his own Will For though the Gifts and Callings of God are without Repentance in respect of Inward and Spiritual Blessings yet not so in respect of outward Priviledges But that the Repeal in question is not to the Loss but rather to the Spiritual Advantage of Parents and Children and consequently in Mercy to both hath been already sufficiently manifested in the foregoing parts of this Discourse § 7. So that it clearly appears that the Novel Opinion which hath been lately started concerning the Morality of Infants Church-membership hath no Scripture Foundation for the support thereof it being evident that as it came in with the Law of Circumcision so it went out and was Repealed with it For the Priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the Law Heb. 7. 12. Which must needs include Circumcision with all the Appurtenances and Priviledges thereunto belonging as hath been before abundantly proved SECT XVII § 1. FOR a Conclusion therefore unto the whole of what hath been offered on this Subject in this and the foregoing parts of this Discourse It is now at last with all Humility presented unto God's People to consider whether it be not their high Concernment Speedily and Effectually to endeavour a thorow Reformation of so great an Abuse in the Divine Service as the Practice of Infant-Sprinkling hath been now proved to be It being no other than the Change of a Divine Institution and that not only in respect of the Subject Infants being substituted in the Room of Professed Repenting Believers But also in respect of the due Form or Manner of its Administration Sprinkling being used instead of Dipping And so in both Respects making void the Commandment of Christ It was the Commendation that Paul gave the Corinthians 1 Corinth 11. 1 2. That they had kept the Ordinances as they were delivered unto them Certainly Jesus Christ is very Punctual in things of this Nature and he will one day call men to an account for their Deviations in matters of such importance If men are careful to see that their Laws be strictly obeyed without which they reckon their Authority slighted What may we think of the Laws of the Great King And whether or no will he not reckon his Authority slighted in our present case when he cometh to make Inquisition concerning such as have not demeaned themselves according to the Divine Prescript We know with what severity God proceeded against Nadab and Abihu for their presuming to Change his Ordinance of Old by Offering up Strange Fire which he had not Commanded Lev. 10. 1 2. We know also what befel David and the People of Israel who had made a New Cart for the Carriage of the Ark which was to have been born on the Priests shoulders only They might have pleaded as well as you that this was not expresly forbidden But yet nevertheless For this Cause the Lord made a Breach upon them for that they did not seek him after the due Order 1 Chron. 15. 13. In reference whereunto let that Scripture also be duly considered Isa 24. 5 6. Because they have transgressed the Laws changed the Ordinance broken the Everlasting Covenant therefore hath the Curse devoured the Earth and they that dwell therein are desolate therefore the Inhabitants of the Earth are burned and few men left § 2. That Infants Baptism hath no Footing nor Foundation at all in the Word of God hath been already at large demonstrated And that it is made use of to the Justling out and making void the Commandment of Christ in reference to the Baptism of Believers hath been also evinced and all the most Material Arguments which are usually urged for the support thereof have been with Scripture Evidence Refuted The Lord grant a hearing Ear and an understanding Heart and an obedient Mind that the present Testimony rise not up at last as a Witness against you For the Lord the God of gods even the Lord the God of gods he knoweth and Israel at length also shall know if it be in Rebellion or if it be in Transgression against the Lord that the present Witness is born and if it hath not rather been done with his Approbation and at his Commandment in order to the stirring up all that truly love and fear God's Name to a sincere endeavour after the Primitive Purity and that both in respect of Doctrine and Worship § 3. Certain it is that these things will be found at length to have been of Highest concernment unto us and must therefore be our most Serious Practise and Faithful Endeavour as BOOKS Printed for John Harris at the Harrow against the Church in the Poultrey 1. A Discourse of Divine Providence 1. In General That there is a Providence Exercised by GOD in the World 2. In Particular How all Gods Providences in the World are in order to the good of his People By the late Learned Divine Stephen Charnock B. D. sometimes Fellow of New Colledge in Oxon. Price bound Three Shillings 2. THe Balm of the Covenant Applied to the Bleeding Wounds of Afflicted Saints First Composed for the Relief of a Pious Worthy Family Mourning over the Deaths