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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59660	The church-membership of children, and their right to baptisme according to that holy and everlasting covenant of God, established between Himself and the faithfull ... cleared up in a letter, sent unto a worthy friend of the author ... / by Thomas Shepard ...	Shepard, Thomas, 1605-1649.	1663 (1663)	Wing S3108; ESTC R14745	40,639	50

THE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OF CHILDREN AND THEIR RIGHT TO BAPTISME According to that holy and everlasting COVENANT of GOD established between Himself and the Faithfull and their Seed after them in their Generations Cleared up in a Letter sent unto a worthy Friend of the AVTHOR and many Yeares agoe written touching that subject By THOMAS SHEPARD somtimes Pastor of the Church of Christ at Cambridg in New-England Published 〈◊〉 the earnest request of many for the Consolation and Encouragement both of Parents and Children in the Lord. Genesis 17.7 And I will establish my Covenant between Me and the● and thy 〈…〉 Generations for an Everlasting ●●venant to be a GOD unto thee and to thy seed after thee Mark 16.16 He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be saved Acts. 2.39 For the Promise is unto you and to your Children and to all that are a●●r● off even as many as the Lord our God shall call 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your Children unclean but now are they Holy CAMBRIDG Printed by Samuel Green 1663. CHEMNITIVS that eminent light in the Church of God in those elaborate workes of his against the Papists Exam part 2. can 14. de Baptismo hath this memorable saying viz. IT is not to be left free to the choice of those who have been Baptized in Infancy when they come to be Adult whether or no they will have that confirmed which was done in their Baptisme as though the Covenant of grace Testament of peace which is offered and sealed up to little Children in Baptisme should then first begin to be established when the consent of their will when Adult is added thereunto for from this wicked foundation the Anabaptists simply have taken away and Condemned Paedobaptisme but such Baptized little ones are to be admonished as they grow up what a Covenant of Grace and Testament of peace it is which God hath entred into with them in Baptisme and by what promise of gratitude they have likewise obliged themselve 〈◊〉 Obedience to God with the renouncing of the Devil and they are 〈◊〉 to be exhorted that they render thanks to God for that wonderful great Benefit that they abide in that Covenant of peace and endeavour to fullfil that obligation by mortifying sin and setting upon newness of life and that they do this freely and sincerely or if they shall through unthankfullness depart from that Covenant and ingagement that then they repent and return to the Covenant and subject themselves again to that stipulated Obedience But us for them that shall do otherwise the most severe comminations of the wrath and Indignation of God are to be heap't up and set before them unto which saith he excommunication is to be added for these are the weapons of our warfare 2. Cor. 10. A PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader M●ght I have had mine own choice and desires granted some other should have performed the task of a Preface to the following Treatise of my precious and much Honoured Father but being put upon it by divers worthy friends whom I knew not how to deny I shall therefore humbly premise a word or two in tenderness to the Truth and out of unfained love to those especially of Christ's poor sheep how ever feeble or diseased that either have been or may be in danger of going astray from so great a Truth as is the subject of the ensuing discourse being sincerely desirous that they may be restored and from thence returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of our Soules and may in nothing be made a prey to him who is our great adversary the Devil who walketh about seeking whom he may devour For we should not be ignorant of his devices The enmity put by the Lord between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent Gen. 3.15 soon began to work even in the infancy of the Church in the family of our first Parents as we see Gen. 4.8 by the Martyrdome of righteous Abel No small portion of that fixed hatred and hostility of the old Serpent hath ever since been discovered against the young ones of Christs little flock The multiplication of the Children of Israel is the occasion why Pharaoh deals so wisely as we read endeavouring first by the Midwives secretly to destroy the male Children and after that more openly by an Edict to drown them in his Egyptian waters for which what ever his pretence might be alleadged Exod. 1.10 yet no doubt as Calvin on the place somewhat that way hint's Satan had a design therein to cut of the name and posteri●y of Abraham who is the Father of all them that beleive even of US all the Father of many nation Rom. 4.11 16 17. and so to evacuate and annihilate the promise of God even that great promise of his everlasting Covenant to be a God to him and to his seed for ever in their Generations Hence also afterward we find this spite of the great accuser of the brethren vented against these poor little ones in the forbidding them Communion with the Church of God in that Worship which God had instituted and which he had Commanded his People by the hand of Moses and Aaron to observe Exod. 10.3 let my People goe that they may serve me saith the Lord but hardhearted Pharaoh seemes to scruple whether the young Children are a part of the Lord● People as appears by his question verse 8. But who are they that shall go● Moses pleads for the young as well as the old for the Sons and the Daughters verse 9. but Pharaoh is of another apprehension and resolution verse 10 11. he will let the men goe and serve the Lord but not the little ones Again Haman the Agagite we find is not satisfied with the destruction of the old Generation of the Iewes but the little Children of the Church also are expresly mentioned and designed to the same condemnation and Massacre with their Fathers Est● 3.13 And much more of the like nature might be alledged out of many records both ecclesiastical and other were it needfull the satanicall delusions of those heretical Cataphrygians and Pep●z●ans of o●d who were wont to mingle the Eucharist with the blood of an Infant of a year old of whom Austin speaks Tom. 6. do haeresibus ad Quodvultde●m are not unknown Not here to insist on that Instance of Herods Infanticide Mat. 2.16 17. We need not so much wonder at Hazaels cruelty against the Children of Israel in sl●ying their young men with th● sword and dashing their Children and r●pping up their Women with Child 2 King 8.12 seing Satan hath many times prevailed with those who were Church-Members and of long standing in the house of God even the pare●● themselves to murder and sacrifice their Infants and little ones which were the Lords Children and born unto the Lord Ezek. 16 20 21. c. Such an evil eye doth that great adversary of our comfort and Salvation seing himselfe shut out of the Kingdom of

both to believing parents their children not in life only but in death whence it is that they only can be preserved against sorrowing when they fall asleep as others do which have no hope This ensuing Treatise is at the earnest request of many worthy freinds to the Author of it of blessed memory now published wherein we may see both 1. The Membership of the Children of Church-Members proved to be of Divine institution and likewise 2. among other things The continuance of the Membership of those Children in particular Churches when they are grown up even until they are excōmunicated unless there be a dissolution of the person by death or of the Church-society So that this latter is not a principle of Innovation and Apostacy but as it was the Judgment of the Author of this following Letter as is therein to be seen and to manifest which was one speciall end of the Printing thereof so was it the light which others have held forth who in their time were Stars not of the smallest magnitude whom we have here seen sometimes shining with him in Christs right hand but are now set and shining with that Sun of righteousness in another World That there is no cessation of the membership of a person in this or that particular Church the Church whereof he i● a m●mber continuing in b●ing together with the person himselfe unles it be by meanes of a Church-act intervening is a truth of no small importance And therefore as for that notion which doth obtain with some That in particular Churches of Christ walking in the order of the Gospel there are such as become Ecclesiastically Felones de se that is such Church-members who by their scandalous sin do become their own executioners Ecclesiastically cutting themselves off from the Church so as that they thereby become actually non-members and that the Church hath no more power over them either Ecclesiasticallly to admonish them or Excommunicate them this seem's unto me to be but an humane invention and not of Divine institution yea in truth destructive to the Order of the Gospel And therefore to apply it as to members in full communion so to these Children of the Church whom we now speak of is not of God as may appear by these reasons following 1. Because it is unscriptural In matters of Gods worship a negative argument is conclvsive if that which is asserted be not contained in the Scripture expresly or 〈◊〉 the consequence therefrom it is to be rejected To the Law and by the Testimony The Scriptures alledged by som●●●d thought to favour this notion of Felones de se are only such as do but lay down before us the sinns of some Church-members and do not speak of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punishment or censure as 't is called 2 Cor. 2.6 which in such cases is to be inflicted and therefore are not ad rem only that which seem's to have most weight in it and to which therefore I shall breifly reply is that in Acts 8.21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter Answer I would not say that this text propounded with reference the children of the Church that are not in full cōmunion is not apposite because the text speak's of a member in full communion though to say so much is accounted by some a sufficient answer to such Scripture arguments as conclude against felones de se from Church-members that are in full Cōmunion quatenus Church-members to such Church members as are not in full communion But yet having gained this fort that what is in Scripture spoken of a member in full communion is applicable as farr as meer membership reachet● to a member that is not in full cōmunion we may now the more easily proceed in the after discourse To this Scripture then ●lledged for children of the Church not in full communion by their sin when adult to become felones de se as above said I answer 1. That the objection from hence tend's as much to frustrate the Church act or censure of excommunication upon members infull communion and makes that ordinance of Christ vain needless to the parents in full cōmunion as to these children 2. These words of the Apostle Peter were indeed a dreadfull admonition and the Apostle being a Church Officer did judg this sinner to deserve it for his simonie so that he was not granting the cessation of his membership felo de se. 3. By this matter spoken of in the text seem's most properly to be meant not Church-membership but the power of giving the holy Ghost spoken of in the context which power Simon Magus would have bought with money and for which the Apostle rebukes him and therefore his not having part or lot in that matter is to be understood directly with relation to that Extraordinary power the Apostle would have him k●ow that he should not share in such a power or priviledge as that was 4. I would ask whether if a Member of a church be discovered not to have his heart right in the sight of God but to be in the Gall of bitterness and bond of Iniquity stand conv●ct of Simonie and the wickedness be so grosly aggravated as this Scandal of Symon Magus was I say whether the Church is not bound to bear witness against such an offender by inflicting some Church-Censure properly so taken upon him if it be said ●oe then may it not be questioned whether such a Church would not as well tolerate any other pollutions and defilements in it whatsoever The wofull fruit whereof who is there that doth not easily perceive On the other side if it be said yea that the Church is to Censure and Authoritatively to put away from among themselves such a wicked person by excommunication I then demand if this notion of felo de se be right and sound how they can excommunicate one who is a non-Member before the Church can pass the sentence of excommunication against him whether doth this Scripture Act. 8.21 give the Church power over him by it's Discipline to censure him who already as the objection speak's hath cut himself off from being a Church-Member or whether the Church hath any part in him who hath no part or lot in them or in these matters 2. Scripture Example lead's us to what is contrary to this Felon●● spoken of witness under the old-Testament Ishmael's being cast out by Abraham who was the chief Officer in that family Church So the incestuous person under the New-Testament is not felo de s● though guilty of such a sin as was not so much as named among the Ge●●iles 1 Cor. 5.1 but there is a Church act intervening his sin and the cessation of his Memberly-Communion with that Church viz a delivering him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a one unto Satan Hence as the Church of Ephesus is commended for not bearing with them which are evill Rev. 2.2 so the Church of Th●a●ira is rebuked for