Baptism But the Seal cannot do it without the Covenant that is the great Instrument of Donation and Conveyance Our Saviour prescribing the ordinary way of Salvation Mark 16.16 says He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but adds He that believeth not shall be damned Not he that is not baptized The Covenant of Grace and our being in Christ is absolutely necessary But the Sign the external Seal is not of a like necessity And yet it is of such necessity too that it cannot be neglected without Sin and Danger To speak summarily and briefly 't is necessary as a Law of Christ as a part of his external Worship as a Seal of the Covenant of the Promise of remission of Sins as a means of exhibiting and conveying of Grace necessary as the ordinary way by which in Conjunction with the Covenant and the Grace of it God doth save And therefore none can neglect it without great indignity to Christ and great ingratitude for such an high Priviledge and eminent Advantage But still we must take along with us this Caution That this sacred Ordinance be not past over as a mere customary Thing as an external Rite only or Ceremony without minding the thing signified and the correspondent of our part of the Covenant which our Baptism Signs and Seals Our common Negligence in the Duties incumbent on us and in those Conditions which our Baptism obligeth us to is certainly one of the great Prejudices that hath hardned the Anabaptists and made them look upon our Infant-Baptism as a trifling Business a mere insignificant thing I proceed now to the next thing I noted as the second general Head which I am in order to consider viz. That Baptism is the initiating Sacrament of the New Testament and so succeeds Circumcision which was the initiating Sacrament of the Old And to discuss this the more fully and methodically I will endeavour to shew you First What Baptism or the Sacrament of Baptism is Secondly What it is to be baptized or what are the Priviledges and Advantages that do accrue to us by our Baptism And then in the Third Place I shall endeavour to prove that Baptism is the initiating Sacrament of the New Testament As to the First The word Sacrament in its original intendment had the signification of such a Military Oath as was attended with sacred Rites and such as led Men by sensible resemblances to things of an higher nature As for the Sacraments of the New Testament particularly that of Baptism we may consider it in divers Respects and so may take up various and distinct Notions and Conceptions concerning it If we consider it with respect to the Divine Grace so it may and ought to be conceived by us to be such an outward and visible Sign thereof as is moreover ordained by Christ to be a means of conveying it unto us and a pledge to assure us of the same Secondly With relation to our Virtue or the embracing the Conditions on our Part So 't will be such an outward visible Sign thereof and ought to be so reputed as is appointed by Christ for us to make a Declaration of it and an Obligation to continue this our Profession and to practise what we so publickly declare and profess Thirdly With reference to that New Covenant by which the Divine Grace and our Duty are as it were tied together so it must be defined such an outward and visible Sign as is ordained by the same Christ for God and Man to declare their mutual Consent and by that Rite explicitely to enter into the said Covenant Lastly As to those who are joyned together in the same Covenant and so are connected to Christ and to one another then 't is such an outward and visible Sign as is by Christ ordained and fitted as a general Badge of their common Profession And a means of bringing particular Men into Society Communion and Fellowship one with another In sum 't is an outward and visible Sign ordained and fitted by Christ to signifie and convey and assure the Divine Grace unto us and on our part to declare the Duty we owe to God and to Christ and to one another and to oblige our selves to the constant Profession and Practice of it * See Towerson on the Sacraments Having thus seen what we are to understand by the Sacrament of Baptism let us consider 2. What it is to be baptized What are the Priviledges and Advantages that do redound to the party baptized First Then to be baptized is by a solemn Rite to be explicitely admitted into Covenant with God a Covenant of Grace Pardon and Salvation which Christ hath purchased with his Blood And surely 't is no small Advantage to be brought into such a State whereby we are consign'd to the Grace of the Gospel and the mercies of God Who thereupon don't measure our performances by Grains and Scruples by perfect unsinning Obedience but with the allowances of the balance of the Sanctuary Not exacting from us according to the strict measures of the Law but saving us by his Grace or as it is elsewhere in Scripture expressed According to his mercy That is by pitying and pardoning us by relieving and supporting us because he remembers that we are but Dust Some say that Baptism only washeth away all the Sins that are past or at present adhering but not the Sins of our future Life But this Sacrament promiseth more and greater Things even in futurum and therefore is not repeated because it doth all at once which it can do at a hundred times For it admits us to a state of Pardon to the condition of Repentance and the Evangelical Mercy He that hath entred into this gate of Life is always in the ready way of having his Sins forgiven unless he turns aside out of this Path by renouncing his Baptism and by utter Apostacy The Messalians denied this and 't was part of their Heresie to undervalue their Baptism and to lessen the Grace thereof * Whom you 'l find confuted by Isidore Pelusiot lib. 3. 195 Epist ad Herman But it was in pursuance of this Grace of Baptism that St. Paul calls the lapsed Galatians to their Covenant of Baptism and the Grace of God stipulated in that Sacrament †Gal. 3.26 and therefore wisht them not to hope to be justified by the Law seeing they are entred into the Covenant of Faith and to be justified thereby And this he proves for that they have been baptized this being the Covenant made in Baptism the gate to all this Mercy Wherefore he exhorts us to hold fast the Profession of our Faith the Faith into which we were baptized when we had not only the Truth of God's Promises absolutely Sealed and Confirmed to us but likewise an assurance of what God is ready to do for us in a way of Grace and Mercy on condition we be faithful in the duties of the Gospel For we must know that the
Gospel-Govenant of which Baptism is the Sign is not without its Conditions which Baptism seals in a way of particular application not only that upon the performing our part of the Covenant we shall obtain the Grace but it seals up to every receiver their particular right in the Graces promised If we do not forfeit all by violating and breaking the Covenant and rend'ring our selves unworthy of the benefits of it Hence the Sacrament of Baptism is said by the Schools to be gratiae exhibitivum an Ordinance of exhibiting and conferring Grace to those that are rightly baptized not by its own Operation but through the Operation of God alone who in the right use of Baptism does always perform what he hath promised For who can deny the effect when we have God's fiat for it Some indeed ascribe too much to Baptism others leave it as a mere naked Sign The bare Element 't is true hath not a power and vertue to convey Grace The Water is not a subject capable to receive it and consequently cannot convey it it toucheth not the Soul it cannot operate upon that to infuse real Grace this would be to ascribe that to the external Instrument which is peculiar only to the great efficient Cause What it conveys and confers is not from any vertue of its own by its bare application but by vertue of Christ's Institution and its relation to the Covenant For this Reason its effects are not confin'd to the instant of its Administration But it extends its efficacy and influence throughout our Lives it continues a seal to the Covenant and the promises of Grace and Mercy till the Covenant be utterly violated by absolute Apostacy or final Unbelief And so it continues an Instrument to convey Grace during our whole Lives not only remission of Sins for the time present but upon our perseverance in the conditions of Faith and Repentance it continues this Grace of Pardon to us to the last Period So that we are but once baptized for the remission of Sins though we daily contract Guilt because being once received it remains a perpetual Pledge and Testimony of the everlasting Covenant of God and of the continual washing away of Sin by the Blood of Christ 'T was therefore a causeless fear occasioned from the Novatian Errour that made some of the Ancients defer Baptism till near their death as tho' it did not continue to exhibit and convey the Grace of Pardon But from what I have already noted there is no resting on the bare work done All are not upon the receiving the external Baptism regenerate and made partakers of internal Grace as if it were necessarily annexed to the outward Ordinance Real Sanctification doth not always accompany the Ministration of Baptism Nevertheless the Ordinance is not without its effect in a way of Grace it doth confer on us in a Sacramental Way what it doth exhibit and Seal to And till there be a Bar put by Men's actual Rejection those that are truly baptized have a right to the Grace and Mercy sealed And tho' Baptism be not always an Instrument of infusing real Grace Yet hereby we are actually de presenti made partakers of relative Grace and have a right to real sanctifying Grace in that way that God gives it and so are partakers of relative Regeneration Being as it were born again into a new State of gracious Relations Priviledges and Hopes And our Baptism is the Character and Sacramental Seal of this new blessed State of Adoption and Salvation And this continues as I have said till there be a forfeiture on our Part and he that will not call this Grace knows not how to value things Spiritual But how rich so ever this Baptismal Grace may be in its self and effects for the benefit of Infant-Innocency 't is not that which is the terms of our Salvation in riper Age when we come under the guilt of actual Sins Those that arrive to the Years of Reason and Choice to them the Gospel tenders Salvation upon condition of actual Faith and Repentance What is sealed to us in our Infant-state is continued to us upon other conditions at Age The Grace that is made over by the free Covenant of God and sealed in Baptism confers a right to the baptized So that if he dies in this State he dies in this right But there are other things required for the continuance of it at years of Knowledge and Reason which as it is a great Foundation of comfort touching the Salvation of dying Infants and justifies that Clause formerly in the rubick for Baptism so it destroys the vain presumptions of others and takes Men off from resting on the Grace of Baptism as if it were sufficient for their Salvation not considering whatever Mercy or Priviledge Baptism doth confirm is continued to us upon other conditions after we come to Age and fall under the guilt of actual Sins Again To be baptized is to be enrolled a Member of the Church incorporated into the Communion of Saints ingrafted into Christ's Mystical Body The Apostle speaking of Christ Mystical under the similitude of a natural Body 1 Cor. 12.13 saith We are baptized into Jesus Christ into that noble blessed Society of which Christ is the Head and to which belong the Adoption and the Covenant and the Promises It would be too large a digression particularly to insist upon the Priviledges and Advantages of the Church of Christ beyond the rest of the World Sure I am of all the judgments that God inflicted upon the Jews none had comparably that fire of Fury that terrour of Wrath in it which was executed in the accomplishment of the threatning mentioned Zach. 11.9 10. upon their heinous Provocation in crucifying the Lord of Life which filled up the number of their Sins Upon which they were rejected cut off from the Olive-Tree and their Church-enclosure pluckt down So that they were no longer his peculiar People but were left in common with the rest of the World without God without Christ and so without all hope of Salvation Whereas they only that are added to the Church that are separated to be God's peculiar Inheritance among all the Tribes of the Earth are in the way to be saved as being the sole objects of his special Care and Providence And therefore it must needs be a blessed Priviledge to be brought within the Pale to be owned by God under such a Relation Now into this Body this Society this holy Corporation we are baptized And as the Church in its Constitution is blessed of God beyond all the World So all its Members have the advantage of other benefits flowing from the Communion of Saints in order to their spiritual and eternal Good As the labours and services of God's Ministers and Ambassadors all are theirs whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas they are all Servants of Christ for the edifying this his Body and the building of them up till they come to Perfection Again they
aquam quae adfuerit super caput nascentis dicens Ego te bapt Synod Colon sub Rudolpho Imper. apud Magd. Cent. 13. And consequently with so much precipitancy as speaks their laying too much stress as their manner is upon the Opus operatum and as if God ties himself to means as well as us Agreeable hereto Christ's Commission is as full for baptizing Infants as any others for if they be the natural or adopted Children of Believers or such as are proselyted they are Abraham's Seed and so are interested in the Covenant and belong to Christ which in Christ's own Dialect is the same thing with being his Disciples * Compare Matt. 10.42 with Mark 9.41 Yea they are called so by the Holy Ghost †Act. 15.10 with v. 1. And the Commission runs to Baptize all Disciples ‖ Matt. 28.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go Disciple all Nations baptizing them if then Infants be or are made Disciples together with their Parents or Proparents so as the Promise of Abraham reacheth to them they are to be baptized for there is nothing to interpose between discipling and baptizing Yea such is the near conjunction of the Commands that they seem to be coincident q. d. Whosoever are my Disciples or Relatives Partners of the Covenant or are in the Church's Power to stipulate for their Religious Education let them be consigned thereunto by this Sacrament of Baptism let this be the Rite of their Admission let this be the Badge and Cognizance of their Discipleship and who are we that dare in contradiction to this express order of our Saviour hinder any such out of our own Imaginations from entering in at this ordinary Gate or Door of Grace who do not exclude themselves Ananias finding Saul in the state of a Disciple baptized him * Act. 9.18 tho' neither he nor any Minister else had made him so Infants are Disciples not so much of Man 's as of God's making vouchsafing graciously in their believing Parents to accept them also into his Covenant †Rom. 11.16 1 Cor. 7.14 and so into the State of Disciples The Apostle also plainly declares that interest in the Promise is alone by it self a sufficient ground for the application of Baptism in that he exhorts those awaken'd Jews to be baptized upon this Ground or for this reason that the Promise did belong to them ‖ Act. 2.38 39. 'T is true he exhorts them to Repentance to which Faith must be conjoyn'd as necessary to their interest in the Promise but 't was their interest in the Promise on which he Grounds his Exhortation to them to be baptized Hence however Persons come to have an interest in the Promise whether it be by descent or adoption or by their own personal Faith and Repentance 't is all one to our present purpose And this is agreeable to the first Command to keep the Covenant that is the token of the Covenant the Command is grounded upon interest in the Promise Gen. 17.9 Thou shalt keep my Covenant therefore that is upon this Ground because the Promise is unto thee and having the Promise thou shalt wear the Sign and Seal thereof for it follows à majori ad minus that the Children being in Covenant should not want the Sign and Seal that ensures the Benefits and Priviledges of the same Who then can forbid Water 'T is the Apostle's Argument * Act. 10.47 to those that have received the Grace of God the Promise by Virtue whereof they are in Covenant with God as well as we Now what have the Anabaptists to Object against what is here alledged for the putting on Infants the present Sign or Token of the Covenant Why nothing in effect but what they are beholden to the Papists for viz. That Circumcision was the Token only of a Carnal Legal Covenant and that such was the Covenant which God made with Abraham and his Seed and renewed by Moses to the Children of Israel and that its being a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith was peculiar only to that Patriarch and that there is no such thing now as foederal holiness or any Right or Priviledge accruing by vertue of any Promise or Covenant from Birth or by being of such a Lineage or Descent but that the Children of Believers in their Infant Estate are in no better Condition than those of Heathens 'T is strange that they who in shew are so much against Popery should broach so much of it speaking the Language of Rome against the Protestant Doctrine maintained in the Church of England Is this to come out of Babylon thus to side with the Papists and Bellarmine * De Sacr. effectu l. 2. c. 13. alibi in particular Mr. Blake †Answer to Tombs p. 61. Printed Anno 46. declares that their Arguments against foederal Holiness are borrowed from them and that he hath not met with any either in Mr. Tombs or Blackwood which may not be found in Stapleton Cornelius a Lapide the Rhemists or some of that Party and that the Jesuits were the first Opposers of it 'T is likewise a great and much agitated Controversie between the Papists and those of the Reformed Religion concerning the Identity and Efficacy of John's Baptism compared with Christ the Papists thundering Anathema's against them who shall affirm the Baptism of John to have the same vertue and power with that of Christ Those of the Reformed on the other side are generally of Opinion that John's Ministry was the same that was afterwards delegated to the Apostles And his Baptism the same which was afterwards ministred by them This the Anabaptists deny to take occasion there-from to Ground their dipping again or Rebaptization and to this purpose draw most of their best Shafts out of the Popish Quiver and form most of their choicest Weapons on their Anvil yea in the whole conflict they have been necessitated to borrow help from these Philistine Artists But let them if they can produce any thing in the whole Bible to overthrow what is here laid down otherwise what I have retorted on them must be acknowledged to be very just Neither is there any doubt but that the Practice of Christ's Church hath been answerable to the Doctrine here represented They say there is not any express Instance of any Infant baptized in the whole History of the Gospel but is there any instance of any Infant of a Christian believer left unbaptized Are there not strong Presumptions that upon coming over of any to the Faith their Children together with themselves were received and baptized 't is said only of Lydia that she believed but of her and her Houshold that they were baptized * Act. 1◠15 yea our Saviour himself upon Zaccheus's receiving of him says to Day is Salvation come to thy House forasmuch as thou also art the Son of Abraham †Luk. 19.9 So St. Peter told Cornelius words by which he and his House should
it And thereupon he gives several Instances wherein they differ But what would he infer hence That the one succeeds not the other And so there can be no Argumentum à pari That therefore Infants should be baptized because such were circumcised I answer the Lord's Supper succeeded the Passover and yet they differ in many Punctilio's and Circumstances It sufficeth to make the Parallel suitable that Baptism is a Sacrament of initiation into the Covenant of Grace and the Seal of the Righteousness of Faith under the Gospel as Circumcision was before under the Law Gen. 17.11 Act. 7.8 Rom. 4.11 compared with 1 Cor. 12.13 1 Pet. 3.21 and doth as properly and effectually confirm and establish the Covenant betwixt God and us now as Circumcision did then Baptism being the only ordinary way of adding to the Church in the time of the Gospel on which score 't was instituted And 't is as requisite that we should in some such manner seal to the Covenant now as Abraham before we being as much unable to give an answerable assurance to Almighty God for our selves and Children as ever Abraham was for himself and Posterity or if you will may it not be thought as highly necessary that we should be by some Rite matriculated members of the Christian as they were solemnly initiated into the Jewish Church Now what other way is prescribed to us of Matriculation than Baptism the only most proper Rite for this purpose as it hath been in all Ages accounted insomuch that all the several Baptisms that were before Christ were all meant for initiating forms So the Jews had a Custom long before the coming of Christ to make proselytes or converts to their Religion not only by Circumcision but by baptizing or washing them with Water The same was the meaning of John's Baptism to make Men Disciples under his Administration And the same was the meaning of Christ's Baptism to initiate Men into the Christian Religion and make them Disciples of Christ Hence baptizing and making Disciples means the same thing John 4.1 John made and baptized more Disciples that is baptized them Disciples which was the form of making them such All the instances of Baptism in the New Testament were used as initiating Forms and to no other Purpose being therefore never repeated no more than men were twice circumcised or admitted into the Church before Christ Nor do we find since the coming in of the Gospel any other Rite or Ceremony of initiation permitted much less enjoyn'd Sure I am there was at first no framing of distinct Covenants for each Congregation according to the fancy and humour of the respective Teacher a mode which some of our late upstart Sects have boldly introduced without any Divine Authority or Foundation in the Word of God And as there is no mention in the Gospel of any Covenant but one of Grace so neither of any other Sign or Token thereof or any other form of entering into the said Covenant than Baptism but as Circumcision was heretofore so Baptism is now the initiating Rite But to Reply to his Instances whereby he would prove the Parallel not suitable His first Instance or Reason is because the natural Seed of Abraham without any token of a work of Grace on them ought to be circumcised but the natural Seed of Believers without some token of a work of Grace upon them ought not to be baptized For which he cites Matt. 3.6 to v. 10. That some had a sense of their Sins and were brought to a confession is plain v. 6. But what token was there of a work of Grace on them whom the Baptist calls there a Generation of Vipers And yet of them he says Matt. 3.7 v. 11. Mark 1.5 Luke 7.30 I indeed Baptize you And St. Mark says they were all baptized of him he refused none of them So that they were only the Pharisees and Lawyers that were not baptized of him who exempted themselves Or what token of a work of Grace appeared on those that were baptized of Lydia's Houshold besides what was observed on her self Act. 16.15 Domûs autem nomine ipsam intelligimus familiam imprimis vero Liberos nepotes says Marl. on the Place See Mons le Clerc's Supplement to Dr. Hammond on the Place And yet not she only was baptized but her Houshold upon her Conversion And if others of the House were thereupon baptized much rather her Infant-Children if she had any such This is certain she had a Houshold a Family and they were baptized as well as her self To alledge that some had such a work of God wrought upon their Souls before they were baptized proves nothing for so doubtless had some Jews and Abraham in particular before they were circumcised That interrogative Mat. 3.7 having there the force of a Negation implies that they had no manner of Conviction nor could any have taught them that they should merely by St. John's Baptism avoid the destruction that hung over their Heads and therefore he bids them to repent He must prove if he can that none else ought to be baptized for as yet we have only his bare Ipse dixit his own say so he may pass for a Magisterial Dictator to his own ignorant Party who can follow him with an implicit Faith but his Authority will not sway with any others of sober sense 2. He says the natural Seed of Abraham were commanded to be circumcised but the Children of Believers are no where in the word of God commanded to be baptized This is that we call a begging of the question Is not Baptism as expresly commanded now as Circumcision was then But Infant Baptism he will say is not Neither need there to be a new or distinct Command for it Because their right to be within the Church or Covenant together with their Parents is not a new Institution but as old as Adam for ought I know says Dr. Wallis * Defence of Infant Baptism pag. 14. Printed Anno 97. but the solemn Rite of admission into this Church to which the Children of Believers have a right to be admitted is a new Institution Then by Circumcision appointed to Abraham And Now by Baptism upon a new Institution appointed by Christ as the same Author expresseth it Another Reason that he gives which is the only one more that I need consider here is because there is a sore Punishment threaten'd on the Man-Child that is not circumcised †Gen. 17.14 but no Punishment threaten'd in the whole Word of God on an Infant for not being baptized Answer This Argument were it of any force doth militate against the Lord's Day succeeding the Sabbath * Exod. 31.14 which nevertheless he himself hath granted and in some measure made good Moreover the Punishment threaten'd doth not affect Infants wanting Circumcision but Persons neglecting or contemning that Ordinance The words in the Original import no more Praeputiatus Mas the uncircumcised Male so
Externals of Religion are not to be regarded in comparison of its inward Life and Substance The Circumcision of the Flesh when the Commandment was most in force was nothing to that of the Heart Secondly We are given to understand that Baptism is the initiating Sacrament of the New Testament and so succeeds Circumcision which was the initiating Sacrament of the Old Thirdly We may note that our Baptism represents Christ's Burial and Resurrection in the manner of its Administration or if not in the symbolical Ceremonies yet at least it doth and must in its spiritual Concomitants and Effects And it behoves us to exemplifie Christ's bodily Actions and Passions in a spiritual way that as he died and was buried so should we die and even be buried unto Sin and as he rose so should we rise to newness of Life Mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections and daily proceeding in all vertue and godliness of living as our Church exhorts For the First That the Externals of Religion are not to be regarded in comparison of its inward Life and Substance In the former Verse the Apostle declares to his Colossians that they are circumcized in Christ that is by his Spirit as the Margin of your Bibles of the Geneva Translation hath it and therefore they need not be so scrupulously Zealous after an external Rite much less this of Circumcision which is now antiquated Since withall they want not an outward Rite in this respect they have Baptism tho' Circumcision be laid aside and abolished they have another Sacrament instituted in its room Buried with him in Baptism Now should you compare the Circumcision of our Saviour the inward Circumcision of the Heart with that of Moses the outward Circumcision of the Flesh you will without difficulty perceive that it infinitely surpasseth it in Dignity and Excellency that wounded the Body this enlivens the Soul The one pared away a little Skin and markt the Flesh the other mortifies the whole Body and quickens the Spirit And therefore they were extravagant who notwithstanding that excellent and Divine Circumcision which Christians have received are yet so sollicitously bent upon that which is but the Figure and Shadow Nevertheless to shew how rich that sanctifying Grace is which we have in Jesus Christ he adds that besides our being circumcised in heart and so divested of the Body of the Sins of the Flesh we have moreover been buried with him in Baptism in which we are also risen again with him which is a more excellent and lively Sacrament than ever Circumcision was a Sacrament resembling it and answering to it signifying and sealing up both our Mortification and Vivification But then there is both an outward and an inward Baptism or there is in Baptism the Body and the Spirit as I might have said in effect concerning Circumcision and the internal spiritual Part is the most material and ought to be more especially minded by us The thing that saveth us is by St. Peter said to be Baptism 1 Pet. 3.21 But that in Baptism which doth most contribute to our Salvation next to the vertue of Christ's Resurrection is not the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the Answer of a good Conscience towards God Which shews the outward washing is the least considerable q. d. 't is not so much the outward Administration as the Conversion of the Soul to God that is the effective disposition in which Baptism saveth us God will have mercy and not sacrifice as he said by his Prophet Hos 6.6 that is rather than Sacrifice Not that he did then renounce Sacrifice but would rather have Acts of Mercy and Charity shewn to Man than any such Sacrifices or Oblations offered or made to himself He preferred not Mercy or Charity before inward Devotion or the adoration of the Heart the Sacrifice of a contrite Spirit which he 'll in no wise despise but before any outward Acts or external Performances in his Service which is of little or no account at all with him where the inward spiritual Part is wanting which is the very Soul and Life of Religion But it cannot be supposed he would not have Sacrifice too seeing he had given so many Commands concerning it And therefore the Prophet immediately adds that he desired the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings q. d. he did not desire either Sacrifice or Burnt offerings in the same degree with other more material Duties So when St. Peter says that 't is not the outward washing with Water that saveth us but the inward Purification of the Spirit we are not to suppose his meaning to be that the outward washing is of no vertue or that the Baptism of Water is wholly excluded being an Ordinance of God but that if we would approve our selves unto God we must not rest in an outward formal Worship No not in Circumcision though the Law was never so much in being or were renewed or reinforced But we must Worship him inwardly with the Circumcision of the Heart So the sealing of the Covenant in our Baptism will be of little advantage to us unless we make good our Stipulation and can return some satisfactory Answer touching the Faith we have entertained and the Resolutions we have taken up to live according to that Religion we are initiated into Circumcision availeth not neither the outward Lavour of Baptism without the inward Sanctification and renewing of the Holy Ghost Hence ariseth our great Miscarriage and the frustration of all the hopes and advantages of those blessed Relations we are admitted to by Baptism when from time to time we mind only the external Rite and Ceremony which is low and mean without considering the substance and reality which is high and excellent The Figure the outward Element is poor and beggarly The thing signified is rich and heavenly The Seal is mean the Inheritance is great It hath differently fallen out with the carnal Jew and the carnal Christian the outward Glory of their Ordinances was a stumbling Block to them which made them rest in the Type and look no further the meanness of ours is a stumbling Block with us we look not for such Treasure in Earthen-Vessels Nor indeed can we so long as we make the Ordinance a customary Piece of formality But here I would not be thought to insinuate the Non-necessity of the Ordinance of Baptism which God hath appointed as the way in the common Order of means to bring to Grace and Glory for in this way he ordinarily brings us to Salvation And therefore makes it our Duty But he has not bound himself to outward means and instruments and consequently it cannot be said to be of that universal absolute necessity as if there were no Salvation without it The Covenant we know can convey Pardon and Salvation without the Seal Abraham was justified before he received the sign of Circumcision The seal of the Righteousness of Faith And the Thief upon the Cross was saved without
and greater Priviledges are granted to all English Subjects without mentioning the former or their Children those former Priviledges are held by all Lawyers to belong still to all English Subjects and their Children because all such Acts and the beneficial Clauses thereof are still in Force 'till they are repealed by the same Authority and Power that made them neither will it suffice to say that the Priviledge here granted is in a Testamentary way and the making a New Testament is a vertual repealing any former Will or Testament so that supposing this was a Legacy bequeathed to the Jewish Church by Christ's Testament yet forasmuch as 't is not granted by Christ's last Will and Testament which we call the Gospel or the New Testament the Priviledge ceaseth of it self But this Comparison is faulty and will not hold For the Old Testament or as it is by way of distinction with reference to that Ministration sometimes called the Law and the Gospel tho' they differ in Circumstantials yet are not two Wills of Christ but for substance one and the same Will and Testament even the same Covenant of Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ or if you will the Gospel in respect of the Law is like a Schedule or Codicil to a Will the adding some further Legacies not already given and no Legacies that were bequeathed in the foregoing Will can be cut off except they be particularly recalled in the Codicil in like manner Infants Church-membership must remain in force under the Gospel except it be the Will of Christ it should cease and he had declared as much in the Codicil of the New Testament but no such thing appearing there proves it still in force 'T is not denied but that the Collective Body of the Jews were broken off from the Church thro' unbelief * Rom. 11.20 that is by reason of their positive infidelity whereby they did directly and openly disown and reject the true Messiah yet all of them were not there were many thousands or as the word is Myriads of the Jews that believed as the Scripture witnesseth †Act. 21.20 Neither were the rest broken off but the believing Gentiles were inoculated in amongst them ‖ Grotius on Rom. 1.17 till they professedly rejected Christ and were become open Enemies to his Gospel now it would be unreasonable to infer that all the Infants were broken off for the infidelity of some of the Parents The elect Jews which obtained Mercy kept their Station and so must needs be conceived to retain their Priviledges for themselves and theirs otherwise they would become losers to what they were before the exhibition of Christ in respect of their Infant Seed for they who were before within and wore the Badge of the Covenant should afterwards be without and deprived of that Dignity and 't is the general received opinion and even of some Anabaptists * This is granted by Harrison in his Paedo Baptism oppugn'd as he is cited by Geree in his Vindiciae Vindiciarum pag. 20. that what Priviledges the Nation of the Jews had before their Rejection the same shall they recover with an advantage at their Restoration †Hos 2.23 Rom. 11.25 26. and to say the Geniles shall not have the same Covenant-Priviledges with them is to make a difference and so set up a Partition-wall when as the Apostle asserts ‖ Gal. 3.28 both Jew and Grecian Male and Female are all one in Christ * Act. 8.12 which shews the Apostle's Practice in the Case And the reason on which it was grounded you have Gal. 3.28 fore-quoted Summarily and briefly excluding Children out of the Covenant and debarring them of the Sign put a sacrilegious restraint thereon and excludes them from the ordinary way of Salvation for if they have no visible interest in the Covenant in regard of God's visible dispensation then they have no visible interest in Christ they are no way related to him who is the Mediator of the Covenant we conclude therefore that the aforesaid Law of keeping the Covenant and of entering into the Covenant is as much in force as ever and we are still bound to observe the Covenant and the token of it that is after the manner of its Administration for the time being if the Sign be changed the Case is not altered our Obligation continues the same Now Baptism is the initiating Ordinance as afore when Circumcision was the Token Not but that there is a difference in the Administration viz. That whereas the Females are as susceptive of the Rite of Baptism as the Males therefore 't is equally and as distinctly to be administred unto them * See our warrant for this Gal. 4.9 10. Neither hath God taken any order in that Case of Infants to tie us to administer it precisely on the 8th Day no more then he hath done in the Case of the adult or actual Believers whether immediately upon their believing or the next Day or the Day after but the Gospel indulging a discretionary Latitude in both Cases it may be done sooner or later provided we do not out of a profane or careless humor procrastinate it as St. Cyprian argues in his Epistle to Fidus †Epist 58 the query was about baptizing Infants before the 8th Day Fidus did not deny Infant Baptism but only denyed the baptizing of them till then to which the Father returns this Answer that both himself and the Council with him which consisted of 66 Bishops unanimously determined that a Child might be baptized as soon as he was Born whereupon St. Austin speaks to this effect that St. Cypr. did not make any new Decree but observing the faith and practice of the Church judged with his own fellow Bishops that as soon as one was Born he might be lawfully baptized Ut parvuli si infirmari contingat eodem die quo nati sunt bpatizentur Concil Gerund Can. 4. yea in danger of Death in ipsa hora says Greg. l. 12. Epist 10. apud Magdeb. Cent. 6. c. 6. Col. 367. and Ina King of the West Saxons made a Law that Infants should be baptized within thirty Days after their Birth under the penalty of thirty shillings a great sum in those Days Leg. Inae c. 2. apud Spelm. Concil Ang. Tom. 1. p. 183. Quicunque parvulos recentes ab uteris Matrum baptizandos negat Anath sit Concil Milevit Can. 2. apud Magdeb. Cent. 5. c. 9. col 835. Caranz fol. 123 being the 11 Conc. in the African Code confirmed by the 4th and 6th general Council there being no necessity why we should delay their Baptism but rather that we should hasten it all we can so long as I may add we become not alike Superstitious with the Church of Rome who in danger of Death do it e're the child is fully Born into the World ‖ Si timeatur de morte Infantis antequam nascatur caput ejusd appareat extra uterum infundat
Covenant of Grace Now suppose the Land of Canaan be the main matter Promised to Abraham in the said Covenant it may not follow that 't is only a temporal Blessing because under temporal Promises Spiritual Blessings were veild and consigned by a temporal Possession of the promised Land an eternal Inheritance in the heavenly Canaan was assured to them Besides you take a part for the whole that which is but an Adjunct or an appendix for an entire Covenant as if God made two distinct Covenants with Abraham when as there is not the least hint for it in the whole Bible which speaks only of one Covenant made with that Holy Patriarch even that which Circumcision did consign which was a Spiritual Covenant under a Veil but now 't is one and the same without a Veil as Doctor Taylor who is so often quoted by them expresseth it * Discourse of Baptism p. 37. and so could not respect only as the Answerer saith God's blessing him with a numerous Issue and them with the Land of Canaan there being in that no sensible Blessing to Abraham seeing neither he nor his Posterity enjoyed the Promise as a mere earthly Blessing for near 500 Years after doubtless therefore this must be made good to him as before premised or there was a Blessing for him which was concealed under the leaves of a temporal Promise Besides there were others than Abraham's Seed and Ismael who were to be circumcised †Gen. 17.11 12. to whom the Land of Canaan did not belong The Mysteriousness of this Transaction we are further instructed in by St. Paul Heb. 11.13 They all dyed in the faith having not received the Promises as he observes viz. of a Temporal Possession in Canaan They saw the Promises that is the Spiritual Part afar off they embraced them and looked through the Cloud and temporal Veil and desired a better Country that is an heavenly or the same in an heavenly State This was the Object of their desires and the secret of their Promise And therefore Circumcision was a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had before * Rom. 4.11 and so must relate principally to an Effect and Blessing greater than the generality of the Jews apprehended or was exprest in the surface of the Temporal Promise Wherefore when God promised pardon and forgivness of Sins he promised to remember this Covenant †Levit. 26.42 what stay could it be to Moses's Faith when God appeared to him in the Bush in saying I am the God of thy Fathers of Abraham c. ‖ Exod. 3.6 if it only concern'd temporals Agnoscatur says Chamier * Lib. 5. de bapt let it be granted that the Promise of the Land of Canaan together with the Multiplication of Abraham's Posterity is annexed to this Covenant yet says he this is not the Covenant but an appendage to it as to Godliness the promises of this Life are annexed Earthly things were indeed under that dispensation promised more fully and distinctly suitable to the Jewish Pedagogical Estate to allure them to the service of God and heavenly things more generally and sparingly On the contrary spiritual Blessings are more fully and clearly and earthly Things more generally and sparingly held forth and promised to us under the Gospel Administration And the Land of Canaan was more particularly insisted on in the first Dispensation being design'd for the Type of Heaven and an explanation of the Primary grand Promise to be their God Denoting that he would as certainly bring them to the Celestial Canaan and to the spiritual and glorious Rest there as to that temporal and corporeal Rest from their servitude and captivity in Egypt Hence it was that Jacob gave such a solemn Charge to Joseph and Joseph to his Brethren the one to Bury his dead Body in Canaan the other for the Transportation of his Bones thither which they would never have done for an earthly Inheritance but to nourish in the Hearts of their Posterity Faith and Desire of rest in Heaven in the Communion of Saints whereof Canaan's rest was a Type into which not Moses the Law-giver but Joshua or Jesus the Type of Christ was to bring them So that the whole Tenour of the Ahrahamical Covenant speaks it a Covenant of Grace and the Apostle giving us the substance of it in the Gospel doth it in these Words * Heb. 8.10 I will be to them a God and they shall be my People But such is this Man's Confidence that he prays me to take notice whether there be any thing else in the 17th of Gen. but temporal Blessings But what saith he to v. 4. as the Apostle applies it Rom. 4.27 whereto 't is referred in the Margin Or to v. 7. denoting the quality of the Covenant that 't is not temporary but everlasting respecting spiritual good Things Or to the following Words To be a God to thee and thy seed after thee Bellarmine indeed says that God when he enjoyned Circumcision to Abraham did Promise only earthly Things i. e. the Propagation of his Posterity and the Land of Palestine as this Answerer doth and again I will be a God to thee and thy seed holds forth says Bellarmine only a Promise of a peculiar protection But Amesius well observes in his Answer to him that our Saviour gathered from thence a Resurrection to Bliss or his Argument against the Sadducees †Matt. 22.32 had not been Conclusive In short this Covenant is so much the Covenant of Grace that it contains in it the great Mystery of Man's Redemption as is plain from the Comment of Zachary upon it * Luke 1.71 the belief whereof was the justification of Abraham †Gen. 15.5 6. Rom. 4.3 wherefore 't is expresly said that when God enacted this Covenant with Abraham he preached the Gospel unto him ‖ Gal. 3.8 that is he made a Covenant with him concerning Christ and Salvation by him and he saith further that it was preached to the Jews as it is to us * Heb. 4.2 Thus we see what that Covenant with Abraham was that 't is substantially the same that we are now under or by what means else did any of the Jews before Christ came obtain Grace or Glory It was before Christ's coming into the Flesh cloathed with many Shadows of now abolished Ceremonies Types and Sacrifices in its Administration having upon Mount Sinai the Covenant of works adjoyned to it or the first Covenant so termed for that in the substance thereof it represented the first Covenant So that by Reason of these adjuncts 't is sometimes distinguished from its very self as it was administred by Christ after his Incarnation But if not the same how are the Gentiles said to be grafted in amongst them †Rom. 11.17 as Grotius hath it or according to Beza and Piscator pro ipsis instead of them or in their Place or how doth the same Olive-Tree continue still It
And Christ's coming must have rendred the condition of Children worse than before Whatever then be the Priviledges of being within the Pale and the Promise of the visible Church they must belong to the Children of Believers now as they did to the Seed of Abraham heretofore By being such they have jus ad rem a right thereunto and by being baptized they have jus in re and are as it were put into the possession of the same So that denying them Baptism we do as much as lies in us debar them of the outward means the enjoyment of the Priviledge of being in the Church and the benefits thereunto appertaining Should a like Question be put concerning a baptized Christian a member of Christ's Church with that which the Apostle proposeth Rom. 3.1 touching a circumcised Jew What advantage the Answer may be the same with his v. 2. Much every way And in Rom. 9.4 5. are reckoned up no fewer then eight Priviledges or Prerogatives belonging to a Jew upon the score of that Relation The same advantage that there was then to the Jews as God's visible Church is now common to the Gentiles also and if Children were sharers therein with their Parents during the former Administration how are they excluded now Those Children more particularly whose Parents kept their Station * Rom. 11.5 17. and if some Children continued within because their Parents so continued what hinders but others should be admitted whose Parents are re-instated or have gained a like Priviledge with those that are The Prophet Elisha wept when he looked upon Hazael because he foresaw he would dash the Infants of Israel against the Wall and even Hazael thought himself worthy to be esteemed a Dog if ever he should do such a thing But certainly to dash all the Infant Children of Believers out of the Covenant of Grace as much as in them lies and to deprive them of the Seal of it is in a spiritual Sense far more heavy and I dare appeal to the tender Bowels of any believing Parents whether it were not easier for them to think that their Children should be dashed against the Stones and yet in the mean time to die under Christ's Wing as visible members of his Kingdom rather than to have them live and behold them to have a visible standing only in the Kingdom of the Devil We read of Herod the Tyrant that he destroyed all the Children in Bethlehem and the Coasts thereof from two Years old and under But is it not a far more cruel sentence to set these in no better state than Pagans and Infidels without Christ Aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel strangers from the Covenant of Promise having no hope and without God in the World How far Heaven extends its mercy to those that are without means and cannot use them is a Mystery hid from us and known only unto God 'T is our Happiness that he hath not left us destitute of the ordinary means of Salvation with respect to our Children as well as to our selves and therefore whatsoever means of Grace God has appointed as Instrumental to that end that they are capable of are to be afforded them unless God hath made any particular exception in the Case And Baptism being appointed by God as such a means we cannot well Administer it too early to our Children for tho' it doth not confer Grace ex opere operato yet it always doth so when God is pleased to vouchsafe the concurrence and co-operation of his Holy Spirit with it And we know not how soon the operation may be how soon God may by his Grace pre-dispose their Souls to an aptness for good through the means it may be long before they are in a capacity to Act any and therefore the Ordinance ought by no means to be withheld from them or neglected Pag. 16. He questions what a Disciple is whether he be not a Scholar or one taught and whether Infants can be said to be Disciples till they are taught To this I Answer That a Disciple in the New Testament is the same with Christian * Act. 11.26 any one that hath a Relation unto Christ and so of as large an extent as the word Israel in the Old Testament Infants therefore having a Relation unto Christ are of his Body not Heathens but Christians and so consequently Disciples infieri not for that they are actually taught of God but because they are as I may say retainers to Christ and designed for his School into which when they are admitted or initiated by Baptism they are more compleatly Disciples Disciples in facto esse having then not only a right to but are invested with the Priviledge of those that are properly and actually Scholars or Disciples not as being personally instructed but as consecrated and set apart for the service of Heaven placed so as to be reckoned Scholars of Christ being entered into his School tho' they be no Proficients And thus they are commonly reputed of the number of the Scholars or Disciples who are admitted into a School and only entered there to learn tho' they have not learnt a Lesson or a Letter As John the Baptist baptized to Repentance or in order to it Who should limit God May not he make Disciples several Ways By the Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism and so by putting on them his Livery or by teaching them by his Spirit from the greatest to the least by writing his Laws in their Hearts or by graciously accepting them into his Covenant with their Parents or bringing them under a Religious Government Page 18. He would know whether I can tell Lydia was a Maid Wife or Widow or whether there were any Infants in her House I answer 'T is plain she had a Family and that upon her Faith alone they were brought into God's ordinary way of Salvation and were forthwith baptized * Act. 16.15 unless they 'l understand by her House the Stone-Walls By Salvation coming to Zacheus's House he understands Page 19. the Messiah Answer Christ would have rather said I am the Messiah which had been true whether Zacheus was the Son of Abraham or no and so there had been no occasion of giving that Reason that the Covenant of Abraham reached him But why doth he so perversely understand by Salvation the Person only of the Messiah but purposely to avoid the Argument which yet is no other but what the whole Current of the Scripture holds forth viz. That the blessing of Abraham immediately descends to an House or Family upon the Conversion of the Head or Chief thereof But none are more blind than they that will not see In the forementioned 18 and 19 Pages he endeavours to render it probable there were no Infants in the Housholds I had instanced in but there is enough said in these instances that the blessing of Abraham viz. Salvation came to an House especially to the Children if any such there were upon the Faith
Christ that have dedicated your selves by Covenant to his Honour and Service to break those sacred Bonds and to stand it out in your Impenitency and Rebellion against God and to live like Gentiles his professed Enemies to forsake him and his ways and to wallow in the impurities of an evil Conversation is unaccountable How dreadful will the Day be when the Lord shall come to avenge him of his Adversaries You shall not perish under such easie Circumstances of Wrath and Vengeance as do the Gentiles The Aggravation of your Sin and Judgment will be the treading under Foot the Blood of the Covenant Thus far in general But to proceed to some particulars and so to make some further improvement by way of use of what hath been delivered on this Subject Doth holy Baptism admit us to a state of such high Priviledges and Advantages as I have observed Then we may see how injurious they are who deny Baptism to Infants and so as much as lies in them keep them from Christ I mean in the visible way in which we are brought unto Christ from that Grace which is the internal mystery of this sacramental Ordinance In which respect we are said to be baptized into Christ if they have any right to the grace and spiritual Benefits which are the Mystery the Spirit and Life of this Sacrament why not to the external Symbolical signification and Seal of it Shall Men hinder them from this visible application of the Grace of Baptism If we affirm they have no right to this Grace what greater uncharitableness and presumptuous straightning the favour of God and Christ For where has he debarred and excluded them from his Covenant and Promises and cast them out of that Body whereof he is the Head and the Saviour Certain it is this was one of the great Blessings of the Covenant with Abraham I will be thy God and the God of thy Children after thee Thus ran the Promises of old He sheweth mercy unto thousands of generations of them that love him and keep his commandments the seed of the righteous is blessed Children are the heritage of the Lord. They had the Seal of the Covenant Circumcision externally applying the Promises And are the favours of Christ more narrow under the Gospel who is yet the Mediator of a better Covenant Has Christ only a love for the Parents and none for the Children and yet hath told us if the root be holy so are the branches Is not Christ the Redeemer of Infants Did he purchase no Pardon no Grace or remission of Sins for them How abominably injurious would this be to Christ and the fullness of his Oblation and Merit Will Christ give them no place in his mystical Body in his Church and Kingdom And yet when he was upon Earth commanded the little Children to be brought unto him and took them into his Arms and blessed them declaring that such did belong to his Kingdom of such is the kingdom of God Mark 13.14 If the Infants of Believers under the Gospel be not capable of the Grace signed and sealed then there will follow many sad unscriptural Consequences Then they belong not to the Church and Body of Christ they are in the same Case with the Children of Infidels left without as common and unclean This Principle mingles the holy Seed with the Heathens and renders the favours of the Gospel more narrow than those of the legal Covenant and the Christian Seed in much worse Circumstances than the Jewish Yea they would not only be without the Church but without the Covenant and so without Christ or any special relation to him So far without as are the Gentiles Dogs and Strangers While they are disputed out of the Covenant all well grounded hopes of their Justification and Salvation are disputed away dying in that State 'T is vain to recur to the secret Election of God for the grounds of this Hope Faith and Hope must be grounded upon some Word of God If God have excluded them from the Covenant of Salvation how shall we conclude that they belong to the Election of God And if the Case were so well may the Parents of dying Infants mourn over them as those that have no hope All those then are rash groundless uncharitable Conclusions highly derogatory to the Love of God to the infinite riches and freeness of his Grace But on the other hand if God and Christ have not excluded them from the Grace of Baptism the Mercy and Grace which is there signified who shall forbid Water the external sealing Application If God have not denied the greater who shall deny the less if God have not excluded them from the Substance and Mystery why shall they be denied the external Rite and Symbol Either then they must be highly uncharitable in denying Infants the Grace of Baptism and so leave them in an evil Case or else be very unjust in denying them the Seal where God grants them the substance Thirdly Let this serve to humble those that walk unworthy of this Priviledge of being baptized and thereby admitted into the fellowship of Christ's Religion initiated Members of his Church Can it seem a light thing in our Eyes that when God has passed by the greatest part of the World as strangers from his Family and Kingdom and hath left them under the Kingdom of Satan and taken us no better by Nature than they are to be his peculiar ones into Covenant with himself and to train us up under such heavenly Ordinances We should notwithstanding walk as Rebels and Enemies unto him like the unbaptized World Do we know into what a Covenant he hath taken us what he hath done for and expects from us What means then our Conversation so repugnant to our Profession Is it because we renounce the Covenant as being made when we understood it not If there be any such Apostates let them take their Course serve the God they have chosen But say what iniquity what ill is there in this Covenant of your Baptism what disadvantage have you met withal Or how or where do you hope to find better things than what are here exhibited and ensured Than for instance for God to be your Father Christ your Saviour the Spirit your Comforter than to have your Sins pardoned and remitted than to be adopted justified sanctified and every way comfortably provided for here and in the end eternally saved Do the Gods you have chosen to serve provide better things than these that you renounce Christ for their sake If you say God forbid you should so do you hope to be saved by him as well as any other then tell me seriously do you expect that Christ should stand bound to perform his Part of the Covenant and you left at liberty whether you discharge your part or no That he should love you and you hate him That he should be your God and you remain the Devil's Servants That he should provide Heaven for you and you
walk in the way that leads to Hell Be not deceived he hath sworn the contrary and hath heaped up Tribulation and Wrath for every Soul that doth Evil. For that Person more especially who though baptized hath profaned and made the Blood of the Covenant as an unholy Thing Fourthly Let the consideration of this great Priviledge excite us to a Holy Life to live as Men who are dead to Sin and alive unto God To make account that it ought to be as strange to see a baptized Person walk in a sinful Course as to see a Spectrum a walking Ghost at Noon-day We are buried with Christ in Baptism And how can we who are dead to Sin live any longer therein saith the Apostle So that we are or should be at least as it were dead and buried to Sin and that this may be the rather effected and brought to pass we must be mortified as to the World To this use the Apostle seems to apply the Argument of the Text in the following Chapter to call off Mens affections from earthly Things towards the Things that are above There is acted a kind of Similitude upon the baptized to the Burial and Resurrection of Christ And we profess in a spiritual Sense to be dead to the World and to be risen again to a more Noble and Divine Life so as to be above the World And 't is the Engagement of Baptism to be as it were dead and buried with respect to the Things here below Thus some interpret that of the 1 Cor. 15.29 where the Apostle arguing against the Atheists and Sadducees who denied the Resurrection and the hopes of Glory in another Life says What shall they do that are baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for dead Men or as dead Men into a mortification of this World so as to run all Losses Dangers and Hazards for the Profession of Christ such would then be of all Men most miserable if things were so as the Sadducees and Atheists suggest But certainly there is a glorious state of eternal Life hereafter and therefore let us not be befooled with the Snares of earthly Vanities to neglect things Eternal Our Baptism engages us to live above the World to be dead to it to have mortified Affections to the things thereof The World indeed affords lawful comforts for the living and convenient resting Places for the dead but their Souls are above So should Christians be in the World use it as it doth administer to their necessities and conveniences but the Soul the affections should be above We are not dead Naturally and so there is need and there must be a using of the World but we must be dead spiritually to every thing in it that is matter of allurement and temptation to draw us aside from God and must be strangers to such immoderate cares and desires as drown multitudes of Men in Perdition Lastly Let this serve to comfort those whom God Honours so far as to bring them thus near unto himself as to adopt them into his Family and to take them for his own Let this encourage them to believe in him and to rely upon him for all the good things that he hath promised in the Covenant of Grace They of the Church of Rome as in some things they give and ascribe too much to Baptism making it to take away original Sin by the mere applying of the Ordinance so in other things they rob God's People of the comfortable use of it because they say when once we commit actual Sins after the susception of Baptism we make Ship-wrack of our Baptism and then Penance must be secunda tabula post naufragium the only Pinnace or Plank which we can safely catch hold of in this extremity But this blessed Sacrament is of a more durable and comfortable use even to be an Ark whereto 't is assimulated 1 Pet. 3.21 to carry us to Heaven 'T is not a business past and finished in the very Act of its Administration There are in it Promises of such Grace as we may still have need of and by its engaging us to Mortification and Holiness the most comprehensive Duties of Christianity we may experience it to be an Instrument of Grace throughout the whole transaction of our Lives That is when 't is from time to time improved and actuated by a sober Consideration and a serious Recognizing of the Baptismal Covenant and reflecting on the Terms and Conditions upon which we stand with God with respect to Justification and Glory And when the same is prest home by the conviction of the Spirit These things being premised we may readily Conclude what an effectual Instrument and Means it may prove of converting the Souls of Men and regenerating them long after the time of its reception So that Holy Baptism continues still to be altogether as effectual to apply the Blood of Christ for washing away of Sin upon true Repentance as when we first received it Know then that when ever we find our selves at a loss sensible of our undone Condition conscious of our Guilt and Bondage through Sin and so do fly by Faith unto Christ and our Conscience bears us Witness that we would fain Walk for the time to come according to the rule of the Covenant in Uprightness and Sincerity as often I say as we do this we may have recourse to our Baptism and plead it for our Comfort as we may plead the Rain-bow in great Inundations against the World's destruction by Water Thus upon the renewing of our Repentance and Faith in Christ Holy Baptism will be as an Ark to the Soul in all Cases of Relapse Desertion and Temptation For the like figure whereunto doth baptism also now save us saith the Apostle Which that it may so prove to every one of us and particularly to the Person that hath even now received it God of his infinite mercy Grant for Jesus Christ his sake To whom c. FINIS ERRATA PAge 5. line 19. read putting p. 12. l. 12. r. token p. 17. l. 18. r. Gentiles p. 18. l. 16. r. the Case p. 19. in marg r. Rodolpho p. 28. marg l. 30. r. Canon p. 31. marg l. 15. r. eâdem p. 33. l. 30. r. Independent p. 34. l. 32. blot out has p. 76. l. 20. blot out as p. 83. l. 13. r. not to be A Catalogue of Books Printed for and sold by John Taylor at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard POOL's Annotations on the Holy Bible in 2 Vol. The 4th Edition Much corrected Folio Philips's New World of Words or an Universal English Dictionary containing the Proper Significations and Derivations of all Words from other Languages c. 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