Selected quad for the lemma: grace_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
grace_n	circumcision_n	covenant_n	seal_n	6,166	5	10.0625	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34877	A supplement to Knowledge and practice wherein the main things necessary to be known and believed in order to salvation are more fully explained, and several new directions given for the promoting of real holiness both of heart and life : to which is added a serious disswasive from some of the reigning and customary sins of the times, viz. swearing, lying, pride, gluttony, drunkenness, uncleanness, discontent, covetousness and earthly-mindedness, anger and malice, idleness / by Samuel Cradock ... useful for the instruction of private families.	Cradock, Samuel, 1621?-1706.	1679 (1679)	Wing C6756; ESTC R15332	329,893	408

Seal of the Covenant and therefore the less is spoken of it in the New 3. Those truths which were not controverted in the Apostles dayes they were not so zealous in pressing or defending there being not any apparent reason or occasion for it And of that nature the Baptism of Infants seems to be 4. Those Scriptures which speak of the priviledges of Children or Infants are the fittest Judges of this controversie and not those which speak only of the priviledges of grown or adult persons As if the question be whether any Infants may be saved you must not determine it by Mark 16.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned For this concerns only grown persons but by such scriptures as these Gen. 17. v. 7. and v. 10.11 12. Where God promises to be a God to Abraham and to his Seed and requires that his male children at eight dayes old should be circumcised as a token or seal of the Covenant between him and them So if there should be a question started whether Parents ought to maintain their Children in their Infancy you must not determine this question by 2 Thes 3.10 Where the Apostles sayes this we commanded you that if any will not work neither should he eat but by 1 Tim. 5.8 He that provides not for his family is worse than an Infidel And according to this rule we must proceed in this matter This controversie must be determined by those places of Scripture which do either express or imply the priviledges of Infants Having laid down these rules I come now to give some arguments or reasons for Infant Baptism 1. The Covenant of Grace stands now in force for the benefit of the Children of believing Parents and if they be within the Covenant of God the Seal * Esse foederatum sufficit ad accipiendum signum foederis Dave nant Haec est fundamentalis ratio paedo-baptizmi Daneus of the Covenant belongs to them Be baptized every one of you sayes the Apostle to the converted Jews Acts 2.39 For the promise is to you and to your Children The same Greek word that is here used for children is used for Infants and Children at nurse as may appear if you consult 1 Cor. 7.14 1 Thes 2.7 If it were not so the converted Jews should have suffered loss by believing in Christ namely if their children should be excluded now from the promise or Covenant of grace who were included in it for 2000 years before under the old Administration For as we said before God established a Covenant with Abraham and his seed And Isaac was within this Covenant when he was but eight dayes old and received the Seal of it Now concerning this Covenant made with Abraham observe these particulars 1. It was an evangelical Covenant and the Seal of it viz. Circumcision was the Seal of the righteousness which is by Faith Rom. 4.11 2. It belonged not to Abraham only but to his Children 3. This blessing bestowed on believing Abraham was to descend on the believing Gentiles Gal. 3.14 For he was to be the Father of all them that believe though they were not circumcised as the Apostle tells us in the place fore-quoted Rom. 4.11 Now could the believing Gentiles be heirs of this Covenant according to promise as it is Gal. 3.29 if their children be excluded from it For the Childrens right to the Covenant and promise is part of the Fathers inheritance the promise being I will be a God to thee and thy seed 4. Consider the Covenant of Grace hath alwayes been one and the same for substance though not as to manner of Administration And under the Old Testament it took in Children and can we think it leaves them out now under the Gospel Surely the grace of God is not straiter under the Gospel than it was under the Law For Christ is the Mediator of a better Covenant as the Apostle tellls us Heb. 8.6 that is of a better administration of the Covenant of Grace And how could this be if infants who were within the Covenant under the Law should now be out of it under the Gospel But to clear this matter yet further the Apostle tells us that Children of believers are foederally holy 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your Children unclean but now are they holy As if he should have said if both Parents were Heathens then were their Children unclean that is out of Covenant but now one of them being a Christian it pleases God that the Child shall have benefit and priviledge by that Parent now are they holy that is in Covenant with God And in this sense If the root be holy so also are the branches Rom. 11.16 If the Parents be holy so also are the Children The Apostle speaks not of an inward holiness inhering in the nature of the Child but of an outward holiness or right to Church Priviledges and Ordinances And according to this sense those words of Ezra are to be understood Ezra 9.2 Ye have mingled the holy seed that is that are in Covenant with the Nations that is with those who are out of Covenant I know the Anabaptists interpret those words of the Apostle now are your Children holy to import no more but this they are legitimate and no bastards But that cannot be the meaning of them For the Children then of many Pagans would be as holy as they For multitudes of them are born in lawful Wedlock and so no bastards All visible members of the Jewish Church had a foederal right to the Sacraments 1 Cor. 10.2 3 4. They were all baptized into Moses all eat the same spiritual meat and yet with many of them God was not well pleased This foederal right did not stamp on them a character of saving grace but was only a right to the means of Salvation and how far God would make them effectual no man could tell Some that had a right to them made no right use of them For an infant therefore to be born of Christian Parents professing to believe in Christ and willing solemnly to dedicate him to God is all that God requires of an infant to give him Title to his Covenant * Hypocrites may have a right to outward Church priviledges though the Spiritual benefit do not belong to them they not making a right use of them No outward Ordinance is intended for the elect only Christ a●d ●is Apostles admitted some to Church priviledges that shall never be s●ved We must baptize all whom the Parents bring with such a profession for themselves and their children And their Infants are in Covenant because reputatively their Parents wills are theirs to dispose of them for their good And the Children are supposed to consent by their Parents who consent for them And the Parents will is reckoned for the Childs till he come to age to have a will of his own His Parents faith and consent to dedicate him to God is his Title

Now Parents dedicate their Children 1. Virtually when they dedicate themselves to God 2. Actually when their hearts actually and particularly consent to dedicate this Child to God 3. Sacramentally when they bring him to baptism and solemnly there dedicate him to God And this is the title of Children to baptism and not their meer natural relation to their Parents As for Sponsors God-fathers or witnesses probably the use of them in ancient time was this They were such as came to the Church and professed they believed the Parents were true believers and in case they did Apostatize or die did promise to see to the Christian education of the Child themselves But surely as the Parents faith and consent to dedicate their Child to God and that either of one or both conveys the right of baptism to the Child so the Parents themselves ought to be the principal dedicators of their Child to God in baptism If God-fathers or Sponsors be chosen by them as their deputies to do it for them it may possibly be admitted but as this is generally used 'tis a matter more of ceremony and civility than of Christianity And as a learned man * Fuller in his Infants Advocate page 156. sayes God-fathers are generally like brass andirons standing more for sight than service more for ornament than use 2. If Children were circumcised under the Law they may be baptized under the Gospel For baptism succeeds to all the essentials of circumcision Circumcision was not a meer badge of distinction to distinguish the Jews from other nations but a Seal of their consecration to God It had more in it of what was Sacramental than of what was Ceremonial And the chief mystery signified by circumcision was that natural corruption must be cut off and done away Now Christians are said by baptism to be spiritually circumcised Ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands sayes the Apostle Col. 2.11 12. He urges it as an argument to them to throw off the Jewish circumcision for they were circumcised with the circumcision of Christ viz. with that which he had appointed in his Gospel and that was baptism So that baptism is now come in the room of circumcision And as Solomon sayes Eccles 1.4 One generation passes away and another comes but the earth remains for ever So may I say one Sacrament of initiation viz. Circumcision passeth away and another viz. Baptism cometh in its stead but yet the same Covenant of Grace that was then remaineth still So that what circumcision was to them our baptism is to us as particularly 1. Circumcision was to be a sign or token of the Covenant to them Gen. 17.11 So is baptism to us Acts 2.38 39. Then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins c. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call 2. Circumcision was a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith to them Rom. 4.11 And so is baptism to us Acts 22.16 Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord. 3. Circumcision signified the necessity of sanctification to them and therefore they were required to be circumcised also in heart Rom. 2.29 So baptism to us Rom. 6.4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life All the difference between circumcision and baptism is for our advantage For 1. Baptism is not so painful as Circumcision was None of our blood is required here to be shed 2. Baptism is not confined to the eighth day but may be done before or after 3. Women and female children may be baptized who could not be circumcised Acts 16.5 We read that Lydia was baptized And Acts 18.1 't is said they were baptised both men and women But we come to a third argument for infant Baptism and that is this 3. Whole Families were baptised under the new Testament as Lydia and her houshold Acts 16.15 Stephanus and his houshold 1 Cor. 1.16 And the Jaylor and his houshold Acts 16.31 32. Can we imagine so many families without any Children in them 4. Children are capable of receiving benefit by baptism why should they therefore be kept from it The benefits of Baptism are 1. Remission of sin by the blood of Christ and children need that remission by reason of original sin 2. Sanctification by the Spirit of Christ and they need the Sanctifying of the Spirit to renew their natures And Christ may in the due administraion of this Ordinance graciously work on the Soul of an Infant and change its disposition and infuse the seeds of grace into it before it comes to the use of reason why then should not children be brought to Christ and dedicated to him by baptism Surely they that keep them from him dangerously expose them to the grand enemy of their Souls 5. The fifth and last argument I shall bring for Infant Baptism shall be the practice of the Church in ancient times and near to the Apostolical And for proofs of this nature I shall take my rise from the time of Austin without looking lower and so ascend toward the days of the Apostles First then for Austin Augustinus Anno. Chr. 410. who flourished about the year of Christ 410. he is positive and express for it Epist 3. ad Volusiam consuetudo matris ecclesiae in baptizandis parvulis nequaquam spernenda est neque omnino superflua deputanda nec omnino credenda nisi apostolica esset traditio Idem libro primo de pec mer. remiss cap. 26. Parvulos Baptizandos esse Pelagiani concedunt Qui contra authoritatem Vniversae Ecclesiae proculdubio per Dominum Apostolos traditam venire non possunt Et Serm. 10. de verbis Apostoli de Poedobaptismo loquens Nemo inquit vobis susurret doctrinas alienas Hoc ecclesia semper habuit semper tenuit Hoc a majorum si de accepit hoc usque in fidem perseveranter custodit Somewhat before Austin lived St. Hierom Hieronymus 4●0 viz. Anno. 400 who is clear for Infant Baptism Epist ad Laetam Qui parvulus est Parentis in Baptismo vinculo solvitur c. Children sayes he are freed in Baptism from the sin of Adam in the guilt whereof they were involved but men of riper years from their own and his Hieron advers Pelag. libr. 3. in fine And in conclusion he resolves Infantes etiam in peccatorum remissionem baptizandos esse that Infants are to be baptized for the remission of sins Before him lived St. Ambrose viz. about the year 370. Ambrosius 370. who speaking of the Pelagian Heresies who published among other things that the hurt which Adam did to his Posterity was exemplo non

all these glorious favours and benefits Let thy Soul rejoyce in God and call upon all within thee to praise his holy name 6. Pray earnestly that Christs Kingdom may be propagated and that many others may come to understand and partake of this great salvation purchased by our Lord and Saviour Pray that he may be more known believed on and faithfully obeyed all the world over And so much of the duties to be performed in time of receiving I come now to those required of thee after thou hast received For it is not enough that thou duly prepare thy self for this ordinance and carry thy self reverently at it but thou must labour to walk suitably unto it afterwards To that end observe these directions 1. When the Ordinance is done withdraw thy self to some secret place and there on thy knees bless the Lord for Jesus Christ and for the Covenant of Grace made in him and for adding the Sacraments as Seals of the Covenant to confirm thy faith And further for giving thee to be born in a land where the glorious light of the Gospel has shone so clearly for so many years and where thou hast such great helps and advantages for the eternal good of thy Soul 2. Labour to keep thy heart in the fervent love of God and Jesus Christ and with an holy delight and joy meditate often how much thou owest to God for sending his Son to be thy redeemer and how much thou owest to Christ for so willingly condescending to undertake this great work The Apostle tells us 1 Pet. 2.7 that to them that believe in him he is precious yea very precious in many respects 1. His name is precious 'T is as an ointment poured forth Matth. 1.21 His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins And 1 Thes 1. last 'T is Jesus who delivereth us from the wrath to come 2. His person is precious being God and Man in the same person What an high honour is it to be related to him 3. His Offices are precious He is Prophet Priest and King and he took on him all these offices for our benefit 4. His performances are precious both his active and passive obedience 5. His Life is precious which was so holy so humble so exemplary 6. His Death is precious being a propitiatory Sacrifice for our sins 7. His Resurrection is precious For God releasing him from the prison of the grave thereby declared he had received full satisfaction for the debt of our sins which he as our Surety undertook to discharge 8. His Ascension is precious For he ascended into Heaven as our fore-runner to prepare a place for us 9. His Intercession is precious For he ever liveth to make intercession for us 10. His authority and power is precious whereby he governs his Church and which he will farther exercise in raising our bodies from the Grave and in Judging the World at the last day and making our bodies if we be his members like his own glorious body 11. His Doctrince is precious 12. His Ordinances are precious 13. His ●nterest is precious to all that truly believe in him 3. Meditate on the priviledges promises and comforts of the Covenant of Grace sealed by the blood of thy dear Savior The priviledges are Justification Sanctification Adoption Glorification O how great are these priviledges The promises are such as these Psal 84.11 The Lord is a Sun and shield the Lord will give grace and glory no good thing will he withold from them that walk uprightly And Rom. 8.28 All things shall work together for good to them that love God The comforts are the consolations of the Spirit here and eternal comfort hereafter 4. Earnestly beg and humbly expect grace from Christ to enable thee to crucifie thy inward lusts and corruptions especially those thou findest thy heart most pestered with Having entertained Christ into thy Soul do not unhallow it again by suffering any evil lust to reign and rule therein 5. Labour to walk more watchfully Remember the Devil will now be very busie to tempt thee to sin after this ordinance as he did our Saviour presently after his Baptism He will if he can by some worldly diversion damp and cool those heavenly affections that were excited in thee in time of receiving 'T is a dangerous thing after an heat and warmth of heavenly affections to catch cold 6. Labour to strengthen thy purposes and resolutions of living more unto God Remember thou hast stronger obligations now upon thee to all Christian duties than before 7. Often meditate on the joys of Heaven and the eternal Supper of the Lamb and the blessed life which the Saints do live above Luke 14.15 Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God 8. Labour to live in charity with thy brethren to which thou art in an especial manner engaged by this Sacrament Do not cover the coals of contention under the ashes for a night or two and then blow them up again But consider if Christ hath so loved thee and forgiven thee so much thou oughtest to love thine enemies and heartily forgive them Remember what the Apostle saith Beloved if Christ so loved us we ought to love one another 1 John 4.11 Lastly When thou art tempted to sin remember thou hast been at a Sacrament and there hast renewed thy Covenant with Christ and thou must not be so base nor so false as willingly and deliberately to sin against him again And thus much of the duties to be performed before we come to receive and in the time of receiving and after we have received A Brief Exposition OF THE Lords Prayer OUR Saviour Matth. 6.9 c. taught his Disciples after what manner to Pray and gave them a breviary or pattern of Prayer which they might use in form as seems to be intimated Luke 11.2 or according to which they might order and regulate their other Prayers In this Plat-form there are three parts 1. The Preface Describing God to whom we are to pray 1. By his dear Relation to us Our Father therefore most ready to succour us and others with whom or for whom we pray 2. By his greatness and Majesty which art in Heaven that is who doth manifest hims●lf though he be every where present in Glory and Majesty in and from the highest Heavens and therefore most able to hear and help all his children and most justly to be reverenced loved and trusted in by them 2. The substance of the Prayer containing six Petitions The three first whereof have respect to Gods Glory the three latter to our selves and our particular good 1. Hallowed be thy Name wherein we Pray and Petition that Gods glorious Nature and Attributes viz. his infinite Power Wisdom Goodness Justice Truth Mercy c. which are discovered in his word and works and whereby he is made known as men are by their names may be displayed and more manifested to the world that all