undertaken to perform and to work in the Creature as further appears in Ezekiel 16. latter end For thus saith the Lord God I will even deal with thee as thou hast done which hast dispised the oath in breaking the Covenant Notwithstanding I will remember my covenant with thee in the day of thy youth and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant and as he saith afterward not by thy covenant but by my covenant so that which he calls thy covenant was that which they broke and therein dispised the Oath as he saith plainly holding forth that it was a covenant of works answerable to that in Nehemiah 10.29 They clave to their Brethren the Nobles and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in Gods Law which was given by Moses the servant of God In which case you may discern here was two covenants the one that God calls his covenant and another that was their covenant a covenant of works which they broke And likewise you have further the covenant of eternal life opened in Ezekiel 36.25 26 27. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from your Idols will I cleanse you A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you and I will take away the Stony heart out of your flesh and will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my Statutes and you shall keep my Judgements and do them Where you have as I said before this New covenant wholly lying on Gods part that he would first cleanse them from all their Idols and iniquities that he undertakes to give a new heart to take away the heart of Stone and to give them hearts of flesh And that he will give the soul his own Spirit and thereby came these to walk in his ways whom he calls to the obedience of his truth If they sin he binds himself to pardon their sins and to remember their sins and transgressions no more so that it is impossible that this covenant should be broke or that a soul shall ever miscarry that is once in this covenant as in respect of his everlasting estate And to this purpose David very eminently speaks in 2 Sam. 23. and 5. verse Although my house he not so with God yet he hath made with me an Everlasting Covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow Where you have David setting out the Covenant of Grace and the mercies in it to be in all points perfect and sure And to this purpose the Prophet in the 55. of Isaiah and the third verse inviting souls and perswading them to come to Christ saith Incline your ear and come unto me Hear and and your souls shall live and I will make an everlasting Covenant with you even the sure mercies of David that is he will give a Soul those New Covenant mercies which are most sure no way depending upon any condition to be performed in the Creature but wholly upon the Lord as appears in Psalm 89.28 to the 37. ver My mercy will I keep for him for evermore and my Covenant shall stand fast with him his seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of Heaven If his children forsake my Law and walk not in my Judgements If they break my Statutes and keep not my Commandments then will I visit their transgressions with the Rod and their iniquities with Stripes Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to fail My Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing which is gone out of my lips Once have I sworn by my Holiness that I will not ly unto David His seed shall endure for ever His Throne as the â—un before me It shall be established for ever as the Moon and as a faithful Witness in Heaven Selah Now in these words you have the Covenant of eternal life made with Christ and his spiritual seed which David and his seed were types of which Covenant is a sure Covenant to all those to whom it is once made and to this doth the Author to the Hebrews allude when he saith in chap. 6.17 18. Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his Counsel confirmed by an oath That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to ly we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us Now in this Covenant before spoken to you have both the promise and oath here spoken of and here in this Covenant must needs be discovered the immutability of his Counsel because this is as David saith a covenant that is in all points perfect and sure and James in his Epistle alluding to these New covenant blessings or gifts saith Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning and that he doth here speak of the New covenant gifts doth appear in the next words he saith Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his Creatures Now consider well that in this covenant there is nothing that he requires but he ingageth himself to enable us to accomplish If he command to pray he promiseth to give his Spirit to help our infirmities If he command to walk in all his waies as you have heard he promiseth that he will put his Spirit in them to cause them to walk in his waies But some may object and say That we find the Gospel is held out upon Condition of Faith and Repentance Answer It is true Why though the Covenant of Grace be absolute yet the promises are held forth under a condition the promise of salvation and remission of Sin is held out with a condition to the world because it is Gods free mercy to work that condition in the hearts of his Elect by means of preaching and tendering of the Gospel and in them only But we are not to think that this grace of Faith and Repentance are any Qualifications that persons are to attain by their own abilities unto which the Gospel is tendred But in the new covenant the Lord undertakes to work the condition and to give the salvation tendred upon that condition also for saith he I will be unto you a God and you shall be unto me a people and in particular he saith He will put his Law in their hearts and in their minds will he write them and he will teach them to know him Now doubtless the Law of Faith and Repentance are here included according to those Scriptures Ephes 2.8 For by grace are you saved through Faith and
is grounded upon an error and a mistake taking for granted that a man may be a believer and in a state of grace and yet void of spiritual power to perform obedience to the Commands of God and that a man that is a Christian may know such a thing to be a Command of God and yet left without ability to perform obedience to the same I judge this is a dangerous error and contrary to Scripture For God doth at the very first conversion put his Law in the heart of his child as in Heb. 8.10 and as in Ezek. 36.26 27. God is said to put his Spirit in them to that end to cause them to walk in his waies therefore in some measure doubtless God doth give his people power to obey him as in Ezekiel 11.19 20. I will give them one heart and I will put a new Spirit within them and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and I will give them an heart of flesh that they may walk in my Statutes and keep my Ordinances and do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Whence you may observe That Gods main drift in making his Covenant and giving his Spirit into the hearts of his people is that they may keep his Ordinances and be able to walk in his waies Therefore at the first Conversion of Paul God puts in him a disposition to obedience for saith he Lord what wouldst thou have me to do in Acts 9. and so in Acts 2.37 when they through the belief of Peters Sermon were pricked at the heart they cryed out Men and Brethren what shall we do So you see there was a disposition of heart in their first Conversion to be doing what God should command and teach them to be his will So we find God gives them power to submit as soon as his will was revealed for if not so we should lay an aspersion upon God that he should enter into a covenant with a Soul by way of engagement and yet neglect to make good his promise which is to put his Spirit in him and to cause him to walk in his waies And again further God gives to every believer the power of believing by virtue of which he is enabled to fetch virtue from Christ his head to strengthen him to duty and to resist sin therefore the Apostle thus reasons in the 2 Cor. 7.1 â— Dearly Beloved seeing you have these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness in the fear of God Whence observe the Apostle takes for granted the soul having great and precious promises and faith to draw virtue from them should thereby oppose sin and perfect holiness in the fear of God For though it is true God works to will and to do of his good pleasure yet it is constantly and unfailingly his good pleasure thus to work more or less in a soul that is in him thus by faith And a believer by faith ought to look at himself in a capacity to draw Water out of those Wells of salvation for else what difference between a child of God and a wicked man the form of godliness and the power if a child of God must be forced to live in a course of disobedience to the solemn worship of God for want of power to obey And by the same rule we must take for granted that a child of God may be in a state of Grace and want power to resist sin and upon this ground plead excuse for drunkenness and covetousness and theft or uncleanness and say though he is a believer yet he wants power to resist and conquer these sins Beloved thus for any to plead would be very absurd and contrary to the truth and the nature of a Christian in a state of grace And further observe the deceit lying in this objection Hath not God given thy soul power to hear the word of God and to read and to meditate and to pray and that some times earnestly and fervently to God and is it likely that there wants power to perform obedience to this Ordinance of baptism any more than thou doest perform prayer or other duties which require the same spiritual power upon due examination what enabling power is required in the one more than in the other Again consider thou dost in this walk by sense and not by faith contrary to the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. who saith We walk by faith not by sight it is a very childish thing in a Christian to walk by sense only when he feels strength and power sensibly then he thinks himself able to perform duty and resist sin but when he feels not ability and power then to neglect it Whereas contrary to this Christ saith to Paul in the 2 Cor. 12. My power shall be made perfect in your weakness my grace shall be sufficient for you and as after Paul expresseth himself When I am weak then am I strong When Paul was made most sensible of his own weakness in himself then was the time for Paul to be made most strong by Faith in the strength of another Therefore in Isaiah 45.24 In thee Lord have I righteousness and strength In him shall they boast And the Psalmist saith in Psalm 73 â—4 Though my heart fail and flesh fail yet God will never fail he is the strength of my life and my portion for ever So that when in a mans own sense his heart fails his flesh fails then is the only time for God strength to appear in his weakness this is the way of living by faith and the way which Gods believing children have been carryed therefore we find Jonah when in his own sense he was cast out of Gods sight then he resolved to look towards Gods holy Temple and cryed to God out of the belly of Hell as in Jonah 2. therefore surely this objection hath no weight in it Object But some other soul may say I grant the practice of baptism to be an Ordinance of God and the way of such Churches that walk under the baptism of believers to be that only justifiable practice in the Gospel and could willingly walk with them and be baptized were it not for their rigidness in that they will have no Communion with any though godly that are not baptized Answ To this I answer by way of distinction between Church-union and Communion and personal Union and Communion Now if we find a soul not baptized nor joined to any Church and happily ignorant of baptism yet if I have ground in my own heart to judge that soul to be godly and not an enemy to the truth and Gospel of Christ but a soul willing to hear and learn what truth God shall further reveal unto him and so having ground to judge such a soul to have union and personal communion with the Lord in such a case I ought to immitate the Lord in owning a Communion with such a Christian in
infatuated and had no ears to hear his plain word They of this opinion do defend the contrary to what purpose should any man seek the conversion of any of Believers children whether formerly of the nation of the Jews or now the nations of the believing Gentiles seeing they are born heirs of a covenant of eternal life and so are in as good a state without conversion and believing and being born again as any other soul by believing and by new birth can be brought into This doctrine tends to justify the Rebellious Jews against John Baptist and against Christ the Sadduces and Pharisees came to Johns Baptism Matthew 3. Saith John O ye Generation of Vipers who hath forwarned you to fly from the wrath to come bring for 〈◊〉 fruits meet for repentance and think not to say within your selves we have Abraham to our Father John you see would have this people to be converted to intitle them to this covenant of Grace and so to baptism which is an Ordinance of the same covenant and not so much as think so erroneously as if being children to Abraham according to the flesh should intitle them to the same therefore saith he think not within your selves we have Abraham to our Father and we are his children according to the flesh and therefore we need not a work of conversion or true Repentance to intitle us to the privileges of the covenant such as was baptism And also in John 8.31 and forwards saith Christ unto some Jews unto whom he spake If you abide in my words then are you my Disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free and then you shall be free indeed They answered him We be Abrahams children and never were in bondage to any How sayest thou then We shall be made free Where you may observe these wicked obstinate Jews were of the same opinion that they were in a state of happiness good enough by generation by being Abrahams seed according to the flesh Jesus answereth Who so committeth sin is the servant of sin and the Servant abideth not in the house for ever We find Christ afterwards tells these Sons of Abraham that they were so far from being the adopted sons of God in a covenant of life that they were of their Father the Devil and these same persons Christ speaks to in verse the 24. telling them Except they believed Christ was he they should dy in their sins Christ was far from this opinion as to think that covenant of Circumcision to be a covenant of life but he doth throughly reprehend them for this groundless confidence which error was the main obstacle that hindered the Jews from faith and repentance because they thought it intituled them to happiness enough to be of the stock of Abraham and to be born heirs of the covenant of Circumcision This very rotten opinion was to them one of the Devils sleights to lull them asleep in a carnal and unconverted condition they thought that needed not which thought of theirs had been true enough provided all the children of Abraham had by generation interest in the covenant of life which other men could have no interest in without regeneration But Christ you see presseth a necessity of conversion to these children of Abraham that at the present were as fully interessed in the covenant of Circumcision as Abraham himself even to Nicodemus which was a Ruler of the Jews Christ presseth a necessity thereof to him and also labours by a parable in Luke 16. to convince those sottish Jews that one might be the seed of Abraham according to the flesh and yet be irrecoverably damned and therefore he brings in the rich man in Hell speaking thus Father Abraham I pray thee send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue And Abraham is brought in owning him to be his Son speaking thus My Son remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things Where you may observe That the man in Hell irrecoverably damned owns Abraham to be his Father and Abraham also doth acknowledge him to be his Son My Son saith Abraham where you clearly see man may be a Son of Abraham and yet damned thou hadst thy good things in this life but Lazarus his evil things Ezekiel 18.9 10. where a just man is presupposed to beget a son that is a Robber and a Shedder of blood and that goes out in all manner of wickedness and that in Israel Wherein observe Abraham owns no other privilege belonged to the rich man by virtue of being the Son of Abraham but what was in this life or in this world Hell was his best portion in the world to come which if he had been born heir to the covenant of life how then could Abrahams affirmation have been true Beloved Let all ingenuous Spirits that are not willing to walk blind-fold consider how contrary to the whole tenor of the Gospel this opinion is and how destructive to this fundamental principle of the Gospel the necessity of Christ of Regeneration and destroys all sense of the necessity of conversion and helps to harden men to destruction as it did the blind Jews who as it appears were fully blinded in the receipt of that opinion that being Abrahams seed according to the flesh interessed them in happiness and eternal life Fourthly This opinion destroys the doctrine of the new covenant and the nature of it and the manner of Gods making of it with the soul for to make a new covenant with the soul is to write the Law of God in a mans heart and in his mind and to infuse saving knowledge and faith by which God unites the soul to himself and so pardons all his sins and without any condition considered in the creature binds over himself to be their God freely in Christ and binds over himself to own them to be his people And only thus and no otherwise is God said to make his new covenant with a poor soul Whereas this dream would seem to bear you in hand that a whole nation may be in a new covenant and have it made with them and yet have none of all this work wrought in their hearts Fifthly This opinion destroys the doctrine of Justification by faith in Christ only seeing that it doth hold out another way than by faith to come to Justification which is by carnal birth of beleeving parents for if a soul be admitted into a Covenant of life I hope you are not ignorant that Justification is a great privilege in the new covenant and really the portion of all that are in that covenant Sixthly This opinion destroys the Doctrine and foundation of all Gospel Churches where it is held which will appear by two things First It destroys the matter of the Church you know that this is a fundamental truth that the matter of the Church ought now under the Gospel to be Saints by calling 1 Cor. 1.2 Spiritual
When Paul had received the holy Ghost Annanias saith And now Paul why tarriest thou Arise and be baptized for the washing away of thy sins calling upon the name of the Lord. Observe that Annanias had an immediate extraordinary commission from Christ by vision to come with the message to Paul and Christ in a vision bids Paul go to Annanias and he should tell him what he should do and Annanias according to that Commission of Christ upon his being filled with the holy Ghost commands him to be baptized And this agrees with the Covenant of grace in Ezekiel 36.27 where the Lord saith I will put my Spirit in them and cause them to walk in my way and Ezek. 11.19 I will give them one heart and will put my Spirit within them and will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh that they may walk in my Statutes and keep mine Ordinances to do them and they shall be my people and I will be their God Where you may see that God is so far from giving his Spirit to the end that souls should plead thereby freedom from the practice of those commanded Ordinances of Christ that on the contrary it is the end why God gives his Spirit to enable and to cause them to walk in his way and in his Ordinances and in particular baptism And observe the Apostles have not left us a bare example only that they did baptize after that Christ powred out the Holy Ghost and that by the authority received from heaven but doth command it as you have heard to all that repent and believe and to all that receive the holy Ghost to submit to it But again the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire that John foretold of it is clear was extraordinarily given upon an especial ground and reason fulfilled in Act. 2. The Holy Ghost falling down in fiery Cloven tongues in the sight and view of the bodily eyes which was that outward sign and that clear light and fervent zeal and love they had in uttering the wonderful things of God in variety of strange tongues was the inward thing signified So that herein the baptism of the Holy Ghost was an outward sign and an inward thing signified but there is now no man in the world hath this baptism only it is true that the Spirit in the saving gifts of faith repentance and the like is held to be essential to the Ordinance of Baptism of water and must be joined together with it without which it cannot be said to be an Ordinance of God there must be the inward grace as well as the outward sign This Baptism that the Apostle according to Christs Commission hath left a standing Command for cannot be Johns baptism his holding forth Christ to come baptizing them in that doctrine But in this we baptize persons in Christ already come and fully exhibited And though it may be objected that the Apostles practiced some things that were abolished as the circumcising of Timothy and the like We also say that as they practised it among the Jews so the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles saith if they be circumcised Christ should profit them nothing but they were faln from grace and we never find that circumcision was practised among the Gentiles that were void of all Religion before they taught them It is evident in the new Tastament that Circumcision is abolished as part of the Mosaical Covenant and yoke of bondage Gal. 5.1 2 3. but the case in baptism is clean otherwise Whereas you hear the Apostle did press Cornelius his family to be baptized who was a Gentile never acquainted with Johns baptism nor wedded to such a doctrine as that whereby we should think that Peter did baptize them to condiscend to that error or weakness in their minds Again he doth not only simply baptize them as a Liberty that might be done or not done but commands them to be baptized and so doth as you heard before he did in Acts 2. and it cannot be said that the Apostles commanded any duty to be done with a promise of blessing to the right performance of the same after the Holy Ghost came down upon them but it must needs be a solemn standing Ordinance of God that every soul upon pain of the guilt and rebellion against Christ his head and King ought to be subject unto But this of Baptism hath as aforesaid many standing Laws left in holy Record speaking to all that believe and repent promising remission of sins and salvation to the right performance of the same which proves it to be a standing Ordinance of the new Testament And truly with the same reason Souls may affirm that Christ ceaseth to be a Mediator as to hold the Law of dipping believers ceaseth so much and no less is affirmed by the Soul that saith the Ordinance of baptism is an expired Ordinance he may as well say Christ is expired and abolished as a a fleshly form as some have had the confidence to say For as in the time of Moses Ministration till there was a change of the Priesthood there could not be a change of the Law no more now except there be another Christ and Saviour come or another Priesthood instead of this Priest and Minister of the New Testament assure your selves there can be no change of this Law as in Heb. 7.12 18. Therefore such as pretend to profess Christ to be their Saviour that came of the seed of David and the same persons deny and slight this fundamental Ordinance of Baptism they do therein testify that they reject Christ in their heart as abolished and have got some pretended fancy-Christ instead of him It is utterly inconsistent with the Faith of the Gospel and with true Religion to hold baptism and the Supper two solemn Ordinances and Symboles of the new Covenant to be abolished for in Ephes 4. the Apostle pressing there a visible Church-union layes down the main things wherein that union consists called saith he by one hope of their calling one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism this one Baptism cannot be meant the Spirit because the Spirit is mentioned distinct but baptism here must needs be meant that standing solemn Ordinance of God commanded to every one that believes Now the Apostle pressing here a Church Union doth mention these particulars that are essential to a visi lâ— Church-union without which they could not walk together if not in these things agreed and where a people in all these particulars are one no other thing coming should make a breach of their union Object But some other souls will object and say That Believers baptism is an Ordinance of God and he thinks they do well that are drawn out to practise it by a power from God But saith the soul I want a divine power upon my heart drawing me out to the practice of the same and that is the let and hinderance in me Answ This objection
verse to the 14. the covenant of Circumcision in the flesh the new covenant is expressed in the third verse where he saith As for me my covenant shall be with thee and thou shalt be a Father of many nations or of a multitude of nations and thy name shall be no more called Abram but Abraham for a Father of a multitude of nations have I made thee this is by the Apostle Paul in Rom. 4.17 18. held out to be the Covenant of life which he doth clearly hold distinct and different from the covenant of Circumcision in that place denying that Abraham or his spiritual seed had their justification in the covenant of Circumcision but bringing in this that Abraham should be a Father of many nations and so shall thy seed be as that in which Abraham and his spiritual seed whether of Jews or Gentiles were and should be justified And this promise or covenant is made with Abraham in Gen. 18.18 In thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed So long as Christ was according to the flesh in Abrahams loyns the promise runs thus In thee meaning that through Christ which then was in him should all nations of the earth be blessed But assoon as Isaac was come out of Abrahams loins as in Gen. 22.18 then saith he In thy seed shall all the nations of the Earth be blessed whereby seed most strictly is to be understood Christ as the Apostle Paul intimates in Gal. 3.16 where he expounds this word seed to be not seeds as of many but seed as of one which is Christ So this blessedness in the seed Christ is here expounded to be Gods confirming his Covenant in Christ and note that this blessedness which David holds out to be the Covenant confirmed of God in Christ it was not entailed upon the flesh of Abraham and his fleshly seed but made in Abraham as a Father of all the spiritual seed in all nations and confirmed in the seed Christ to all nations Here the Jews after the flesh have no more interest than any other nation except it be by faith for faith only unites to this seed and gives an in-being in the same This blessedness is expounded by David in Psalm 32. last ver To ly in remission of sins and purgation of the heart from guile and expounded by the Apostle in Acts 3. last ver To be a turning every one from his iniquities for so there Peter expounds this blessedness confirmed in Abraham and his seed And though Christ did fulfill this covenant to the Elect of the Jews yet the rest were hardned and were never in this sense blest either in the point of Justification or purgation from sin because they were never in Christ the true seed by faith nor never were thereby the spiritual seed of Abraham walking in the steps of his faith as all his spiritual seed did Rom. 4.12 and Gal. 3.29 If you be in Christ then are you Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise Thus I have given you from clear light of Scripture that there were two covenants a covenant of Grace and a covenant of Works the covenant of Grace belonging to Abraham and his spiritual seed in Christ and all along from Adam to all the spiritual seed of the Woman that were born of promise as the Apostle describes the spiritual seed in Rom. 9.8 for he saith such are accounted the seed that are so born of promise And so at this day all nations both Jews and Gentiles that are born again they are the seed and children that only have an Interest in the promise of salvation And so much for this first head Circumcision proved to be no covenant of eternal Life but a typical and carnal covenant Now I come in the next place to prove that the covenant of Circumcision is no covenant of eternal life but a typical covenant yea a covenant of works which is also called by the Lord a Covenant in the flesh Gen. 17.13 and therefore to be sure no covenant of eternal life But for the better clearing of the truth of this I shall first expound some words in the covenant How the word Eve lasting is taken in the Law and that is the word Everlasting Covenant that word seems to some to hold it forth a covenant of life because it is said to be everlasting wheras the word everlasting used in this Covenant is to be understood only for the Ever of the Law for the time of the Jewish State as alwaies the word is to be understood when applyed to the Jews in their generation As for example In the 16. of Leviticus it is said the Priest should make an attonement for the holy Sanctuary an attonement for the Tabernacle of the Congregation and for the Altar and he shall make an attonement for the Priests and for all the people of the Congregation and this shall be an everlasting Statute to you to make an attonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year which everlasting here must needs be understood but till Christ came and so in Numb 25.13 He shall have it and his seed after him even the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood because he was zealous for his God and made an attonement for the Children of Israel speaking here only of a Ceremonial Priesthood typing out Jesus Christ the substance that was to put an end to it And so this covenant of Circumcision is to be understood as everlasting as Canaan and the possession thereof which was until Christs comming who was the substance thereof this being a Maxim That wheresoever the word Everlasting or Ever hath this joined with it to you or to your seed in their generations that then it is to be understood only for the Ever of the Law and the time and period of that Ministration till Christ come and no longer Exod. 40.15 Thou shalt annoint them as thou didst annoint their Fathers that they may minister unto me in the Priests office for their annointing shall surely be an everlasting Priesthood throughout their generations And so you have it in Exod. 30.20 21. Moses saying When they go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation they shall wash with water that they dy not and when they come near the altar to minister to burn offerings made by fire unto the Lord so they shall wash their hands and their feet that they dy not and it shall be a Statute for ever to them even to him and to his seed throughout their generations The next word that I would speak to is I will be to thee a God and to thy seed after thee which to some seems to hold forth a covenant of grace in that he gives himself as a God in this covenant To which I answer That God either gives and makes himself over in a covenant of works which is upon a condition of works done in the creature or else he gives himself in an absolute covenant of
Faith offered a more acceptable or excellent Sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous So by Faith in the promised seed he came to be righteous and accepted of God as you have heard in Ephes 1.3 God hath blest us with all spiritual and heavenly blessings in Heavenly things in Christ Jesus Therefore no heavenly or spiritual blessing can belong to any out of Christ for as in Adam all dy so in Christ shall all be made alive There is none made alive but those that are in Christ for the wicked mens resurrection is not said to be to life but to damnation 1 Cor. 15. â—1 with John 5.28 29. And therefore in thee shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Gen. 18.18 must imply thus much that out of Christ the true seed all the Nations should be accursed Gen. 12.3 with 22.18 Gal. 3.8 I must confess it is a sad thing that at such a time of the world as this where the means of grace and knowledge of the Gospel hath been so plentifully held forth that we must be forced to bestow such pains to prove that men cannot be in a State of salvation and acceptation before God in a covenant of grace without union in Christ by Faith But howsoever considering that the Apostle saith There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved but by the name of Jesus and a particular faith in him Acts 4.12 and therefore Peter saith in John 6.69 Whether shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life he is the way the truth and the life John 14.6 There is none can come into the Fathers love and mercy nor into the covenant of life or any spiritual privilege but by him he is the narrow way that leads to life and few there be that find it as Matth. 7.14 therefore saith the Apostle He that hath Christ hath life but he that hath not Christ hath not life but all the carnal unbelieving children from the foundation of the world unto this day have not Christ therefore not life that is to say nor the covenant of life nor the justification of life which every man must needs have that is in that covenant of life We find that all the Patriarchs and holy men of God by faith and patience inherited the promises and not by generation Heb. 6.12 and 11.12 therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the Stars in the sky for multitude and as the Sand which is by the Sea shore innumerable these all dyed in Faith This text speaks of that spiritual and believing seed of Abraham which he considered as believing and faithfull Abraham was the Father of according to Gen. 15.5 6. so shall thy seed be Secondly It further appears that the covenant of eternal life was never made with any but such as believe because all unbelievers both of Jews and Gentiles are charged under sin Romans 3.9 and have the wrath of God abiding on them John 3. last Yea though of the seed of Israel and children of that covenant of Circumcision to them Christ saith Except ye believe that I am he you shall dy in your sins John 8.24 And the Gospel tells the national Church of the Jews John 3.18 That those of them that beleeved not were condemned already because they believed not in the only begotten Son of God Which clearly proves that none of them were in a covenant of life by Generation for if they had then the want of conversion would not have damned them nor left them in a state of damnation Further doth not Christ himself call and account the unbelieving Jews the world when he saith to his disciples If you were of the world the world would love his own but because you are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hates you And this world that Christ chuseth his disciples out of and that hated his disciples as they had formerly hated him are but the Nation of the Jews that were in that covenant of Circumcision which plainly proves that all unbelievers in that nation were the world and therefore not in a covenant of Grace And again it must needs be so because the Apostle saith in Romans 4.16 therefore is it of Faith that it might be by Grace to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed Observe from the Text if the promise or covenant or any spiritual privilege should be intailed upon the flesh or conveyed any way then by Faith it could not be by Grace And again Faith is the first differencing Grace to difference Gods peopl from all other Acts 15.9 and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith therefore it is impossible the covenant of grace can be made to any other but such as have faith And again I find none counted the Spiritual seed of Abraham unto whom the covenant of life belongs but them that are in Christ by faith as Gallat 3.28 29. There is neither Jew nor Gentile there is neither Bond nor Free neither Male nor Female for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you be in Christ then are you Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise and so Rom. 4.14 If they which were of the Law be heirs Faith is made void and the promise made of none effect meaning thereby the Covenant of Circumcision as appears in ver 10. 11. and so in Romans 9.7 8. Not because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is they which are the children of the flesh they are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for the seed Where you see that the Apostle doth deny that seed of Abraham that were only his children according to the flesh to be the spiritual seed but such as are born of promise or begotten by promise they are accounted for the seed chosen in him and united to him by Faith These were pointed and figured out by the National and Temporal seed that came out of the Loins of Isaac those Souls there born in the house and bought with money were in the outward covenant and privileges but these regeneate and born again by promise are the Heavenly seed So the heavenly generation are such only born from above and this is that the Psalmist speaks of in Psalm 22.30 A seed shall serve him and it shall be accounted to him for a generation For the Temporal Israel and the typical Election of them into the temporal covenant did point out this Spiritual Election in a Spiritual Covenant confirmed of God in Christ Jesus Further it appears that none but such as believe are in a covenant of Grace because without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11 6. therefore Abel by faith had his person and his offering accepted Gen. 4.4 but
Cain and his offering being not in faith God accepted not for all the thoughts of such a man are only evil and that continually till they believe as Gen. â— 5 and 8.21 All the imaginations of all believers till converted are evil and only evil continually Secondly their words are evil Matth. 12.34 O Generation of Vipers how can you being evil speak good word for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh an evil man out of the evil Treasure of his heart brings forth evil things and as their thoughts and words are evil so in like manner their actions are all evil natural actions as eating Job 20.23 When he is eating to fill his belly God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him and shall rain it upon him while he is eating thus you see natural actions are evil such as eating and drinking for satisfying his hunger and also civil actions are evil as Prov. 21.4 an high look and a proud heart and the ploughing of the wicked is sin if plowing then all his civil actions and also his best duties of worship as his sacrifice is an abomination to God Prov. â—8 9 15.8 Isaiah 1. with 66.4 Upon this ground it must needs be that the Covenant of Grace and eternal life cannot belong to any such persons that do not believe for it is impossible to be in a covenant of Grace and yet not to have persons nor any of their best actions accepted Yea further all mankind are compared to beasts till they believe Job 11.11 Vain man would fain be wise but man is born like a wild Asses Colt with Jeremy 2.23 24. Yea the Lord saith in Revel 21.8 That the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Lyars shall have their portion in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Beloved therefore if any have been so deluded as to believe such a notorious error as this is to think that any ever hath been in the Covenant of life but such as are in Christ by faith I desire God may give you repentance for maintaining such a fundamental error as this is And now in the fourth place Answers to such Scriptures as are alleged to prove the baptism of infants I shall endeavour to answer such Scripture allegations and those especially brought in from the New Testament to countenance this error wherein I shall endeavour to take off those false and corrupt Glosses that are usually put upon them wherein men pretend to prove the covenant of grace among the Gentiles to run in the flesh and line of believing parents under the Gospel which I am sure was never yet since the world began nor never shall be with any neither parents nor children but such individual persons that particularly believed in Christ with their own hearts And first let me speak to that in Acts 2.39 An answer to that text Act. 2 39. which is usually pretended to be a proof of the covenant in the flesh the words are these The promise is to you and to your children and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call Now I pray you take notice how evident this Text makes against this error For this Text affirms only the promises to belong to so many even as God shall call and that is a fundamental truth if by promise you understand the gift of the Holy Ghost or remission of sins or both to be promised in this text It is most true that so many as God shall call have an interest both to Christ and all the promises in him and only they for saith the Text Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost So that remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost it is safe to understand here to be meant that promise that is said to belong to them to their children and to those afar off even so many of them and their children and of those afar off as the Lord our God should call agreeable to the words thus understood is Rom. 8.30 moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified So that justification or remission of sins is here given only to called persons with these agreeth that of Heb. 9.15 For this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgression that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of the eternal Inheritance So here you see that those that are predestinated to have a covenant of life and the blessing given in that covenant are first called as 1 Pet. 2.9 He hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light Now this text is plain to prove that those Jews and Proselytes that then heard him and their children and also the ten Tribes new afar off and also the Gentiles the promises did belong to so many of all these as God should call and except Souls be given up to a Spirit of Delusion will any dare to affirm that the promises of the Spirit remission of sins and eternal life do belong to any other Will any be so ignorant as to judge that those promises did belong to the Generation of the Jews whether they were called or not though they continued in unbelief and hardness of heart and impenitency Is not such a corrupt interpretation against Christs words to that very people John 8.24 Except you believe that I am he you shall dy in your sins speaking to these very Jews and doth not John the Baptist say to these John 3. last He that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him directing this speech indeffinitely to the generation of the Jews the seed of Abraham such as were in the covenant of Circumcision But if by the children you understand so many of them as God should call whether then at that time or afterwards to the end of the world it is most true that to such of their children the promise of grace did belong But Beloved the Scripture is in nothing more full than in this that the promise of grace belonged not to any of those Iews seed but such as were called for God shuts them under unbelief and because of unbelief they were broken off Rom. 11. if unbelief excluded them from that external relation which before Christs death they then had in the Covenant intailed on the flesh and Christ coming in the flesh and fully exhibiting and putting an end to that covenant no other covenant standing in force in the Church of God but what Christ was the Mediator of these unbelieving Iews of necessity were broken off The promise of remission of sins was so far from running upon the