Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	body_n	member_n	mystical_a	1,520	5	10.6674	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76816	A moderate ansvver to these two questions 1. Whether ther [sic] be sufficient ground in Scripture to warrant the conscience of a Christian to present his infants to the sacrament of baptism. 2. Whether it be not sinfull for a Christian to receiv [sic] the sacrament in a mixt assembly. Prepared for the resolution of a friend, and now presented to the publick view of all, for the satisfaction of them who desire to walk in the ancient and long-approved way of truth and holiness. By T.B. B.D.	Blake, Thomas, 1597?-1657.	1644 (1644)	Wing B3148; Thomason E19_6; ESTC R12103	35,052	36

Teachers and Officers in the Church They must indeed put a difference betwixt things holy and profane they must separate the precious from the vile pronouncing mercy to the one denouncing judgement to the other admitting the one to the Holy things keeping of the other This must they do and if not they deserve a just reproof But what is this to the cause in hand Doth this countenance the course of such who condemn those that do not put themselves from the Holy things of Gods because those be admitted which ought not Is not this rather to make sad the Heart of the righteous That of Esay 65.11 Yee are they that forsake the Lord that prepare a Table for the Troup and furnish a drink-offering for the number This I say hath been alledged to tax the negligence of them who admit the promiscuous multitude to the Table of the Lord As if the Prophet had blamed Israel for the like carelesness in their Passover and Peace-offering wheras the text doth blame their Idolatry not their profaness Idolatry in sacrificing to Jupiter and Mercury to the Host of Heaven But admit it as a tax of negligence and profaness yet must it not fall upon every particular person Apply it to the Church officers and spare not but blame not them who because the promiscuous multitude are not turn'd away do not turn away themselves from the Table of the Lord. And so much for the first Argument c. The second Argument NO man may neglect either the Duty that he oweth to God or the Benefit which God reacheth forth to Him upon pretence that another man doth not perform his Duty or is not fitted to receive the Benefit with Him Shall not the Husband pray or Hear and Receiv because the wife of his Bosome is passionate and irreconciliable Shall not Lot make hast out of Sodome because his son-in-laws do not prepare to go with him That it is a Duty to receiv the Sacrament is plain enough by that precept Do this in Remembrance of mee That ther is a Benefit reached forth to us in it is as evident by that word of our Saviour This is my Body This is my Blood He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life Nay more This Benefit cannot be had without this duty Except yee eat the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood yee have no life in you Joh. 6.53 You will perhaps reply That Duties must be performed in a right manner otherwise we may provoke God Israel must eat the Passover yet not in their uncleanness nor with the unclean say the same of Christians I grant the Proposition for sound and good The instance of Israel doth not reach home to the point in hand It doth not appear by any text of Scripture That if the Master of the familie did neglect to exclude such as were unclean that therupon the children or servants did or might lawfully forbear the Passover Add this also To bring home the Argument more particularly to the cause in hand where a prepared Heart may comply with the principall end of Receiving the Sacrament ther ought he not to absent himself for want of the secondary Reason giveth it That wher ther is a Duty to be done a Benefit to be expected If ther be divers Ends of doing that duty some more some less principall No reason to neglect that by which the Principall end may be obtained because we cannot obtain th● s●condary Now then As God hath appointed and ordained this Sacrament 1. To hold forth the Benefit of Christs death to the worthy Receiver that by partaking of Christs flesh and blood the Christian may be more neerly united to Christ himself in the first place and then to the members of Christ 2. To call for and cause in the Society of the faithfull a publick Testification of their mutuall love and charity one to another as members of the same mysticall body So the principall end of Receiving is to continue the Union and Communion with Christ and all good Christians the living members of Christ which was begun in Baptism And the secondary is to make profession of it by joining with this and that Assembly of Christians Now then since the primary end of Receiving is our Union with Christ and our union with Christians is but the secondary For we are not united to Christ by being received into the Congregation but indeed received into the Congregation because first united to Christ Nay since the primary end is Union and our Profession or Testification therof is but the second or third end of Receiving Therfore where the Primary end may be obteined why should the want of the second or perhaps the third be accounted any just barr to keep us off Now howsoever the mixture of bad with the good or the scandalous courses of over-many in the Assembly might seem a just barr to our Profession of Communion and Fellowship with this or that Congregation yet since it cannot hinder us in obtaining our desire of Union with Christ and his mysticall Body why should this mixture be any barr to the Duty enjoined In very deed if that Profession of our selves to be of the Number of them who hold of Christ and his Church if this I say were the principall end of Receiving the Sacrament Then were there some shew of Reason to forbear joining with a mixt Assembly But now it is otherwise It were indeed to be wished that the whole Congregation were such as that we might affectionatly desire to continue in Communion and Fellowship with them But if it fall out otherwise through the fault of other men Can that be a sufficient reason to hinder us from the Sacrament The prime fruit and Benefit wher-of we may partake of even in the mixt Assembly Add this also That it is charitably supposed ther be some Saints in the Congregation and in our address to the Sacrament we do profess our desire of Union and Communion with them if others intrude themselves we came not thither to meet with them Now the Question is whether we may neglect the good and godly Christians and that Duty which we ow to God in respect of them because of the bad and wicked whom finding ther we have not power to remove The third Argument TThat Opinion which in the best Ages of the Church hath been condemned of errour And that which necessarily casteth Christians upon inextricable difficulty's and discomforts is in all probability erroneous and therfore not to be embraced Such is the opinion of them who hold it sinfull for a Christian tho well-prepared for the holy Sacrament by self-examination according to the Doctrine of the Apostle to draw neer to the Table of the Lord in the company of them that are unjustly permitted to come to that holy Ordinance That it hath been condemned as erroneous in the best ages of the Church is evident by the story of the Novatians first and the

not to be dis-joined viz. the Covenant of Grace and the Promise of a Numerous off-springs Is it not evident that in Gen. 17. ther is speciall mention of the Covenant of Grace viz. I will be the God of thee and thy seed after thee and then followeth Thou shalt therfore keep my Covenant thou and thy seed This is my Covenant Every man-child among you shall be circumcised Why should Circumcision be restreyned to the Promise of a Numerous of-spring when the text doth not restrein it If any reply That in Gen. 15. wher the Righteousnes of Faith is mentioned to which the Apostle alludeth ther is only mention made of a Numerous of-spring promised Be it so But that of Calvin is sound who saith That whatsoever promises God did give to Abraham Jn dubium est axioma apud Christianos quascunque promissiones Abrahae dedit Deus pr●mae illius fuisse appendices Ergo cum audiret Abraham Erit sem●n tuum si●ut arena m●●is in hoc verbo non substitit sed ipsum potius includebat in gratia Adoptionis tanquam partem in toto Calv. in C●l 3 6. they were Appendices of that first promise made to Him and so this of a numerous of spring was by Faith received as a fruit of that first Grace he bestowed on Him viz. His Adoption Nay more That Promise of a Numerous of-spring that he should be the Father of many Nations Was it fulfilled in the children of the flesh only or in the children of the Promise also And how came he to be the Father of those children but by Faith in the Covenant of Grace Conclude therefore That Circumcision was a Seal of the Covenant of Grace A Remedy of that Dis-ease which is derived from Father to Sonn by Propagation Which being in the Posterity of Beleeving Christians no less than in the Posterity of Beleeving Jewes It followeth that these have as much need as the other And being Holy by virtue of their Parents interest in the Covenant are as capable of this Benefit as the other were Consequently that the implantation of Infants into that Mysticall Body of Christ by a Sacrament is not incompatible with the state of the Church in the New Testament And if not so Since it is not repealed by Christ and his Apostles we conclude That ther is a Precept virtuall and implicit And tho it be not said in direct terms Go and baptise Beleevers and their Children yet in that it is said Circumcise them their Baptism is included so much the more Because it will appear that ther is also for the Baptising of Infants Pattern virtuall and Implicit This is in the Baptising of whole Families upon the conversion of the Masters ther-of The whole Housholds of Lydia Cr●spus Cornelius and others were baptised To say that in them ther might be no children because none are mentioned is to speak against all sense and reason As well may it be said ther were no servants and so make up a Family of I know not how few What say we to those three thousand souls mentioned Acts 2. which were added to the Church in one day Is it probable that they were all present at the Sermon and converted to the Faith by that Sermon it being in a private House Is it not more probable that the Men being present and converted they brought also their Families to be baptised which they might well do because they heard St. Peter say The Promise is made to you and to your children So that the totall summe of men women and children might be 3000. souls Some such thing doubtless is intimated in that phrase 3000. souls answerable to that in the story of Gen. 46. ver 27. Act. 7.14 All that came down into Egipt with Jacob were 70 souls Souls i. e. persons men women and children And here doubtless the course and practice of the Converts was answerable to that in Gen. 17. No sooner is the Covenant made with Abraham but he circumciseth all the Males in his house both young and old So doubtless No sooner is the Covenant of Grace ratified betwixt Christ and the Beleeving Parents by Baptism but the Houshold is also accounted Holy and so baptised Doubtless what St. Peter said to them in Act. 2. The Promise is made to you and to your children The same did St. Paul preach to the Gentiles when they were converted that they might know the large bounty of God to them and theirs in the Covenant of Grace And how should they confirm this to them but by baptising their children Take away this and you leav open a wide gapp to an Objection which is not easily answered For they might object What tell you us of the Grace of God in Christ of the super-abundance of that Grace Do we not see the contrary This is nothing answerable to that of Abraham and Israel They by their Faith received a Benefit for their children yea their servants Not so here We our selves per-aduenture may be the better for our Faith But our children remain still as they were strangers to the Covenant Will you imagine the Apostle to reply Nay but the Promise is to you and your children So that when they come to beleev they also may be admitted How justly might the Objector rejoin what great priviledge is this So may the very Heathen all that are afarr of when they beleev If this be all that we gain Our children notwithstanding our Faith are in no better condition than the Heathen themselves Nothing so good as the children of the Jews And so the great boast of super-abundant Grace falls to the ground Thus we see good Reason to acknowledge this Custome of baptising Infants to be warranted both by Precept and Pattern tho not formall and explicite yet virtuall and implicit And that with so great light and evidence from Scripture that greater in that kind cannot be expected Before I proceed to an other Argument Let me improve this further That Custome and Practise of the Church may well be presumed to be Apostolicall which is so consonant to the text of Scripture that it doth readily illustrate the text and openeth a door of light to understand the same Such is the Custome of Infants Baptised therfore That which being granted giveth light and which being denyed doth leave the text under such a cloud of obscurity that it is not easily understood how it may pass for Truth This must be granted to open a door of light to understand the text of Scripture Now then suppose this Act of the Apostles baptising Infants we easily see how 3000. souls may be added to the Church in one day notwithstanding the Sermon were in a privat house We see how St. Peter might confirm their Beleef in this The Promise is made to you and to your children even the Promise of super-abundant Grace We see how St. Paul might urge this your children are Holy But take away the supposition of this Custome and

be admitted to the Table of the Lord. This is evident enough No uncircumcised person might eat of the Passover Nor any person unbaptised be admitted to the Lords Supper how morally righteous soever he bee The Reason her-of is Because None may be received into the Communion and fellowship of the Church till he have professed himself one of them that desire to lay hold on the Hope of Eternall life by the Mean and Mediation of Christ in whom alone is founded the Covenant of Grace Now this Profession is by submitting himself to the Sacrament of Baptism Hence it is that our Blessed Saviour hath joined these two together He that beleeveth and is baptised As none unbaptised So not all that are baptised Children so soon as they be able to learn must be taught and by teaching be fitted to discern the Lords Body before they be admitted to it Of old Israel must instruct their children in the Rites of the Passover Exod 12 26 13.14 In imitation wher-of Christians receiv a charge touching their children to bring them up in the knowledge and practise of their holy Profession Yea and by an Apostolicall Ordinance as it is probable from that of Heb. 6.2 The Pastours of the Church in all ages according to the trust committed to them have taken an account of what the Parents have done in this Education of their children examining them in the Articles of their Beleef and the points of the Catechism And ther-upon have approved those whom they found Proficients and by their Benediction have confirmed and comforted them in these their happy Beginnings This Order of solemn Confirmation is acknowledged by the Godly learned to be of merveilous good use in the Church And reason giveth it so to be That so when children are come to a perfect Age and in some measure able to understand the matters of Religion and to give an account of their Faith they may then make an open profession of their Beleef and an open promise of their Obedience to the laws of God and so ther-upon in a solemn maner be admitted to the holy Communion And till they be thus confirmed I should yeeld it altogether unfitting at least for Orders sake that any be admitted to the Table of the Lord. 2. Some are to be shutt out and sequestred No doubt of this Adam was thrust out of Paradise that he might not tast of the Tree of life and feed himself with a vain hope of immortality The Leprous were to be shut out of the Camp They that were unclean by a dead body Num. 9.6 could not keep the Passover on the day The Refractary and Obstinate is to be accounted as an Heathen Mat. 18.17 The incestuous person must be delivered to Satan and Scandalous Christians excluded from civill much more from sacred Communion Cor. 5. Such order must be taken also with in-ordinate walkers 2 Thess 3. and with unreformable Heretiks Tit. 3.10 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ i. e. if any walk in a manifest Profession of Dislike and Detestation of Christ and his Gospel He must be pronounced Anathema This is the Discipline of the Church and good is the Reason ther-of 1. In respect of the Persons Delinquent That by the destruction of the Flesh the Spirit may be saved This was an wholsome severity a Church-punishment inflicted as a means appointed of God to reduce and reclaim those who were not desperately given up to a reprobate sense 2. In respect of the Congregation that others might hear and fear That others might shun familiarity wi h them for fear of infection by them 3. In respect of them that are without the Church That the name of the Lord might not be blasphemed by them but that they might see and know that as the Profession so the practise of the Church is a constant care of holines Nor will the Church of God indure it that any of their Society shall say one thing and do another talk holines and live profanely If any do forget himself and conform to the Men of the World in exorbitant courses he shall be shutt out from among them and cut off from their Communion that so the whol Assembly may even in the ey of the world be found in some measure conformable to the Holiness of Christ their Head For these Reasons some are to be shutt out and sequestred The first and second Reasons are perpetuall and press the Execution of this point of Discipline at all times The third was more urgent in the times of the first Plantation of the Church And in that respect it was as I conceiv that the Primitive Churches were so severe and rigid even to an over-great measure of extremity till experience taught them the Necessity of some more mildnes and moderation But yet alway ther is use of this point of Discipline to seperate and cut off scandalous persons that so the members of the Church may be secured from infection and the whol Body from scandal and imputation 3. The Neglect of the Church-Officers in doing their duty is a sinn that may expose the whol Congregation to the judgements of God Their office it is to watch over the Holy things of God that they be not laid open to contempt either by admitting them that are not fitted or by not sequestring them that ought to be sequestred And their Negligence is a provoking sinn was it not upon this ground that the Congregation doth smart in the case of Achan The Elders and officers were not so carefull as they should have been To which if ther be added also the Neglect of inferiour persons in doing what they ought it is their part to be eys and ears to the Governours informing them of what is amiss yea and in a dutifull way to admonish them of their duty and intreat their diligent circumspection which if they do not much more if they do approve of their slackness and like of them the better because they are not so officious What wonder if this Neglect of the Governour prove the destruction of the whol Congregation understand this in respect of temporall judgements God to shew his just indignation against sin and to teach all and every one to have a care of others both to greev for them and to admonish them doth for the sin of some one especially if an eminent person cause the whol to smart under the Rodd of some common Calamity This also is not denyed These things being premised as things granted and not at all questioned The Scruple doth ly in this one particular Whether the sinn of the unworthy and wicked person intruding himself into the company of them that draw neer to the Table of the Lord and the sinn of the Church-officers who should but do not exclude him whether this sinn of theirs defile the Conscience of Him a private Christian who hath no further communion with them save only that he is in their company and they in his