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
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
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
unbelieving Jews the true fleshly seed of Abraham that the Apostle Paul affirms the contrary Acts 19.9 But when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude he departed from them and Acts 13.45 46. But when the Jews saw the multitude they were filled with envy and spake against those things that were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life Lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us and v 50. the Iews stirred up the devout and honorable women and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas but they shook off the dust of their feet against them and therefore Paul is plain in Rom. 11. saying That God had a certain number that were of the eternal election among the Iews those obtained right to the remission of sins and the rest were blinded and hardened but it should seem to be the general understanding of those that urge this Text for a covenant in the flesh That if they were the seed of the Jews though they were not called nor did not believe but were hardned in their continuance in unbelief yet this promise of remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost belongs to them and this interpretation that this Text must have to defend a covenant in the flesh which I leave to any intelligent man to consider how greatly erroneous it is to affirm that the promise of the remission of sins belongs to the unbelieving and hardened children of the Iews that God hath nor nor doth call So that you may clearly see that the truth lyes in this text that the promise is to no more of Fathers nor children nor those afar off but such as God by his especial grace doth call to be the Sons of of God by faith An answer to that text 1 Cor. 7.14 Another Scripture made use of or rather abused and wrested to defend this error is 1 Cor. 7.14 The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctifyed by the believing husband else were your children unclean but now are they holy whence is gathered by those of that opinion that this holiness is as they call it a federal holiness of a covenant holiness that is to say God having taken the believing parent with the child into covenant with himself the child is in this sense holy that is covenant-holy Now for the better understanding this Text I pray consider how and in what sense God takes persons into Covenant with himself and that as you have heard is two waies either he takes souls to himself in a typical covenant so he took Israel to himself in that covenant and in that sense they may be said to be separated from the rest of the World which separation of them from the rest of the World to himself is a holiness that the carnal Iew was only partaker of such a typical and legal holiness that people being separated from all other nations in the world to God in this covenant now the word holy signifies so much as separating or setting apart and in this sense the Vessels of the Temple were holy as also the Priests being by Law set apart from the rest of Israel to offer the bread of their God Now in the 2d. place there is also a new covenant or a covenant of life that God takes a people to himself which is to write his Law in their hearts in their minds to sanctify thē to justify them Now this internal holiness which God as an effect of that Covenant infuseth into the heart is only this new Covenant-holiness for there is no other holiness that relates to the new Covenant when the heart and the inward man shall be purified through faith And when the whole heart and affections are by the powerful work of Gods grace separated from sin and those vanities below to heaven and heavenly things this is the only holiness that the covenant of eternal life conveys to souls The Hypocrite may have this in appearance but the elect and chosen have this only in truth he puts no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith and he hath by one offering for ever perfected them that are sanctified Heb. 10. this sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth goes alwaies together 2 Thes 2.13 Therefore it is impossible that this should be the meaning of the Text that all believers carnal seed are in a covenant of eternal life and so have their hearts purified and sanctified through the work of the Spirit and faith before they are born and in this sense are born holy I know no other sanctification the Scripture speaks of belonging to a covenant of grace and eternal life and for that external or typical holyness in an outward covenant it cannot be because that was abolished through Christs death as appears in Heb. 8.9 chapters therefore far be it from the Apostle to intend here the countenancing of any such erronious opinion as that every believers Child was by virtue of his first birth internally holy with that holiness of truth as the Apostle calls it Ephes 4.24 If you please therefore hearken to the true meaning of this text which is to this effect The Corinthians having sent several doubts and questions to the Apostle to resolve and answer as appears in the first verse of this chapter he answereth them particularly and it seems among the rest they had a Jewish question started grounded as we suppose upon Ezra 9. Deut. 7.2 where you find it was unlawful for a Jew to marry with a stranger therefore Ezra caused all those men that had taken them strange wives to put them away as not lawfully married because contrary and against the Law given to them therefore they were to put them away and the children born of them as illegitimate and unclean in an unlawful fellowship These Corinthians it seems did propound in writing to the Apostle this question whether such of them as had unbelieving husbands and wives yet reimaining in idolatry might lawfully abide with them in that fellowship in the marriage-bed and whether that fellowship were not unclean and unlawfull as in Ezra's time Unto this question the Apostle answers verse 12. To the rest speak I not the Lord. If any Brother hath a Wife that believeth not and she be pleased to dwell with thim let him not put her away and the woman which hath a husband which believeth not and if he be pleased to dwell with her let her not leave him But also might they say why is not our marriage fellowship unclean Therefore in ver 14. saith he The unbelieving wife is sanctifyed as the Geneva Translation hath it to the believing Husband or else were your children
constantly resorted to the meetings of the people in New England desiring to have good satisfaction in them and their doctrine and practice before I joined in Communion In order thereunto I constantly attended the preaching of the word where hearing many often preaching for baptizing of children of believing parents I began to examine the grounds thereof and the weight of their arguments and genuine scope and drift of the Scriptures alleged by them to prove that point and finding that the Scriptures 〈◊〉 generally 〈…〉 contrary to 〈…〉 and proper driâ—â—â—â—â—â—cope Also finding 〈…〉 thâ—sâ—â—â—â—tion Argument by 〈…〉 â—o exceeding contrary to several 〈◊〉 of Râ—â—igioâ— which both theâ— and I did believâ— These things being hinted into 〈◊〉 soul I wâ—â— resolved to examine the 〈◊〉 I 〈◊〉 formerly 〈◊〉 great profit 〈…〉 several other â—â—nts of Reliâ—â—â— Bâ—◠〈◊〉 this Resolution temptations came in 〈◊〉 my 〈◊〉 that I was but weak â—â—nd 〈◊〉 caâ—â— it were not a 〈◊〉 did I think 〈◊〉 â—any â—â—â—nent 〈◊〉 for Religion Piety Gifts and 〈◊〉 should not discover 〈◊〉 sooner 〈◊〉 I therefore it 〈◊〉 purpose 〈◊〉 â—â—me to trouâ—â—â— my self 〈◊〉 whiâ—â— I had this answer in 〈◊〉 soul that I had been too â—â—ng mislead already o◠〈◊〉 grouâ—◠〈…〉 and 〈…〉 〈…〉 â—n th◠〈…〉 cam◠〈…〉 peopâ—◠〈…〉 Not â—it 〈…〉 th◠〈…〉 choice 〈…〉 â—â—ching their flocks by Night In the first place this eminent truth was delivered and revealed to them when all the learned and eminent men in Israel had no knowledge thereof And finding the poor Theef on the Cross to have a sounder Judgement than the General Synod or Council of Learned Men at Jerusalem and also the Speech of Christ to this purpose in Matthew 11.25 where Christ thanks his Father for hiding these things from the wise and prudent and revealing them to Babes and sucklings out of his good pleasure the spirit being like the wind which bloweth when and where it listeth And also finding some of Christs Disciples bearing testimony of Christ in Luke 19.38 39 40. The Pharisees desired Christ to rebuke them But Christ answered and said I tell you if these should hold their peace the stones woulâ— immediately â—â—y out Where I observed Christ to descâ—â—â— and not to ascend he doth not say â—f his simple and weak discipâ—â— should neglect â—â—eir testimony th◠〈◊〉 Pharisees would cry out but if his disciples neglect the stones should which manifests that God loves to choose the most simple and foolish things to reveal his will by And then again I found God had not so much ingaged by promise to reveal himself to men considered of such outward and excellent parts but in Psalm 25.14 The Secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him and he will shew them his Covenant And Christ saith in John 15.15 You are my Friends if you do whatsoever I command you henceforth I call you not Servants for the Servant knoweth not what his Lord doth but I have called you Friends for all things that I have heard of the Father I have made knoâ—â— you And David saith Thou hast made me wiser than my teachers because I have kept thy Commandments Where the Lord promises tâ—aching principally to such as fear him and conscienciously keep his Commandments guiding them in Judgement and in the way that he should choose Notwithstanding I found further Objections in my heart that though it was not men of parts and outward Learning but babâ— and sucâ—â—ings having their hearts bowed to obediâ—â—â— and to the holy fear of God That God would teach yet I was sensible of so much evil in my heart that I questioned whether I might not be mislead upon which I was put upon humble and fervent prayers to the Lord to guide and teach me and to reveal his mind to me having again resolutions to seek the mind of God in this truth and great incouragements to believe that God would satisfy me and the rather from my former experience of his goodness having satisfyed me in many weighty points that I was every way as much unsettled in Upon which this Temptation came in afresh upon me what need I trouble my self in a point so Disputable for if by my search and tryall in that matter I should come to see grounds swaying in conscience against childrens baptism that then I should be generally dispised and slighted of all the godly in that Countrie and not only be frustrated of Communion and Fellowship with them but must expâ—â—â— to suffer imprisonment confiscation of goods it banishment at least which would be my ruin not knowing where to go but in the woods amongst Iulians and wild beasts Under this Temptation I had a sore conflict my evil and treacherous heart resisting the blessed motions of the Spirit of God but considering that the ground of these discouraging arguments did arise from the flesh and the Devil as Peter when he said Pity thy self Master this thing shall not be to thee My Resolution was as Christ saith Get thee behind me Satan thou savourest not the things of God Which put me in no small agony or conflict for some good space together but it pleased the Lord to set that Scripture home upon my heart Buy the truth and sell it not buy the truth at any rate but sell it at no rate if truth cost me my life I must buy it though I might have all the favour and friendship in the world I must not sell it this wrought in mâ— a grounded and settled resolution that I would seek after the mind of God as well in suffering truths as other because Christ saith He that keeps the word of my patience I will keep him in the hour of Temptation apprehending that to be the words of Christs patience he embracing and practizing whereof would bring the crosse that is contempt and hatred from all sorts of men I found Christ said for this cause he was born and came into the World to bear witness to the truth these things satisfyed me and that from the Lord that I ought to make diligent search what his mind was in this point Hereupon I found the special presence of God with me carrying out my heart to the Lord by Faith and earnest Prayer to be instructed and guided all which time I was not acquainted with any that opposed Christening children and conversed onely with such as were for that practice Finding my carnal part to desire satisfaction in Infant-baptism but the more I conferred with or heard any preach for it the more was I convinced of the folly and ignorance of that judgment and practice having heard one man preach fifteen Sermons upon this subject urging that in substance which many considerable Authors had wrote I also searched many Authors who wrote thereof night and day with much attention weighing and examining the grounds they urged many times breaking my sleep by watching in the night season at the last it pleased the Lord to reveal his mind to me so that
set out for the maintenance of Childrens Baptism grounded upon this Consequence opposing themselves against duty as you have heard which is That every penitent or believing person ought to be baptized Now the whole tendency of those Books being to oppose the practicâ— of the same and to hinder it I may say of them as Christ said before c For upon this ground we may conclude all those Discourses not to be of God I shall therefore leave what is said to you seriously to weigh whether or no this is not an erroneous consequence But in the next place let us come nearer to examine this consequence both in its self and the grounds from whence it is drawn The grounds of this Consequence is That the Covenant of Grace belongs to believers Children the consequence is therefore Baptism being an Ordinance of that Covenant must needs belong to believers children in which two lyes our whole business for the grounds of this consequence is brought the Covenant of Circumcision that belonging to Abraham and his seed after him in their generation Gen. 17.7 and 10. to 14. From hence it is gathered That the Covenant of Grace viz. of eternal life belongs to believers and their seed born of their body For the Covenant God made to Abraham and his off-spring viz. the Covenant of Circumcision belonging to Abraham and his seed in their Generation therefore Circumcision the sign of the Covenant belonged to them so the New Covenant now belongs to believing Gentiles and their seed Baptism being an Ordinance of that Covenant belongs also to believing Gentiles and their seed this being the onely and alone foundation ground of all those except Papists for their Rantizing or Sprinkling of Children We shall endeavour to prove this ground from whence this consequence flows to be so far from being the truth that it is an error and yea such an error that if it were maintained with all those errors that naturally must needs be defended as consequences of this opinion it would shake the foundations of the Gospel But that I may with as much clear satisfaction inform others as God had clearly convinced my own soul of the truth of this I shall propound this method to be handled First then I shall make it appear to you That there is two Covenants held forth in Scripture the one a Covenant of Grace and the other a Covenant of Works or an absolute Covenant and a Conditional Covenant Secondly I shall prove that the Covenant of Circumcision was no Covenant of eternal life but a Conditional Covenant a Covenant of Works Thirdly I shall prove that none but believers ever had or shall have right to the Covenant of Grace Fourthly I shall endeavour to answer such Scriptures especially those in the New Testament that are usually alleged for defence of a Covenant of life in the flesh To the first That there is two Covenants mentioned in Scripture is very plain The one a Covenant of eternal life the other a Covenant of works Two Covenants the one of Works the other of Grace or the one the Old the other the New in which eternal life was not conveyed or given as appears in Jeremiah 31.32 33 34. But behold the day commeth saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which my Covenant they brake although I was to them an husband saith the Lord. But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those daies saith the Lord I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the Lord for I will forgive their Iniquities and remember their sins no more You have here set forth two Covenants the one Old the other New and as here we find a New and Old Covenant so there is likewise mention of two Covenants in the eighth to the Hebrews where you have upon the matter the very same words only it is clear that Jesus Christ is the Minister of the New Covenant in the 6. and 7. verses of that chap. But now hath he obtained a more excellent Ministery by how much also he is the Mediator of a better Covenant which was established upon better promises for if that first Covenant had been faultless there would no place have been sought for the second In which place we may understand two Covenants a new Covenant and an old Covenant and Jesus Christ holding himself to be the peculiar Minister of the New Covenant unto the Church then gathered all those that are in Christ being Gods Israel Abrahams seed If you be in Christ then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to promise Gal. 3. the latter end So that those that are Christs have this Covenant now made to them and it appears at the 3. verse that the other Covenant was a meer Covenant of works in that he saith he hath made the first old And now that which waxeth old is ready to vanish away where by old Covenant he means that typical Covenant of works which run upon the fleshly line of Abraham till Christ came out of the flesh of Abraham and so put an end to that Covenant in the flesh and this you have further proved in Heb. 9.15 16. There is again mention made of two Covenants or Testaments the first and second the first was confirmed by the blood of Goats and Calves the second by the blood of Christ Now if any please but to search these Scriptures it will appear that there is two real distinct Covenants or Testaments the one of Grace and the other of works the one conditional the other absolute Now an absolute Covenant is a Covenant without all Condition required in the Creature but what God himself performs as Jerem. 32.40 I will make an everlasting Covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good but I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me Where you see God undertakes both first that he will not leave or forsake his people but do them good and secondly undertakes that he will plant his fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from him And as in that eighth of Heb. he engaged that he will write his Law in their hearts and that he will be their God and they shall be his people and that he will teach them to know him and will pardon their iniquities and their sins he will remember no more Now here is nothing but what God hath
Abraham First Because this righteousness of faith the Text saith he had before he was circumcised Therefore good reason it might be sealed or confirmed having it before he received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the righteousness of faith which he had being uncircumcised But his posterity after him at eight daies old cannot be said that they had this righteousness of faith to seal having it not preceding their Circumcision The second reason the text affords us is that he might be the Father of all that believe this is the main reason the Apostle insists upon He received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the righteousness of faith that he might be the Father of all that believe This reason cannot be applyable to any of Abrahams posterity besides himself for they were not the Fathers of all that believe That was proper to Abraham to be a high Father or a Father of all nations therefore as I said before God promising in Abraham that publique righteousness as a father of all Nations in the the covenant of grace adds to that covenant an external covenant to be intailed in his line and in his flesh as a confirmation of the same A third reason is this Here is the Spirit of God affirming the sealing use of Circumcision to Abraham only and not to any one of his fleshly seed and as before upon a reason special to Abraham Now where the Scripture hath not a Mouth to speak we must not have an Ear to hear But the Scripture here only affirms Circumcision to be a Seal of the righteousness of faith to Abraham and affords no such thing as to his seed A fourth reason lies in verse 13. That the promise of Abraham to be the heir of the world was not to him nor his seed through the Law that is through the covenant of Circumcision but through the righteousness of faith For if they which are of the Law be heirs then faith is made void and the promise of none effect because the Law worketh wrath therefore it is of faith that it might be by Grace to the end the promises might be sure to all the seed Not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all as it is written I have made thee a father of many Nations before him who believed even God who quickneth the dead So that there is not in all the Scripture a place more clearly proves the covenant of Circumcision intailed on the fleshly line of Abraham to be a covenant of works than this 4. of the Romans clearing and setting the covenant of Circumcision and Faith in opposition holding forth that Abraham and all his spiritual seed had their Justification in another covenant and not in the covenant of Circumcision clearly holding forth the covenant of Circumcision to be works and not Grace which doth sufficiently prove that the covenant of Circumcision had no promise of Justification or eternal life in it But further An Appendix to the second Argument to prove Circumcision a Covenant of works That the covenant intailed on the flesh must needs be understood to be a Covenant of works viz. that of Circumcision appears in Philip. 3.2 3 4. and so forward where saith the Apostle Beware of Doggs beware of evil Workers beware of the Concision for we are the Circumcision that worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Jesus Christ and put no confidence in the flesh By flesh he means the covenant entailed upon the flesh the covenant of Circumcision it is plain by his answer for he saith If any man thinketh he hath whereof to trust in the flesh I more circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the Tribe of Benjamen an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the Law a Pharisee concerning zeal persecuting the Church touching the righteousness of the Law blameless And this he sets by no more than dung or dross in comparison of the other Covenant or Promise of Christ righteousness and salvation by him which he received by faith and he suffered the loss of all things for the sake of him and did accompt all the whole privilege of Circumcision and the covenant of works to be but as dung that he might win Christ which if the promise of Christ and salvation and justification by him had been given in the Covenant of the flesh and line of Abraham then it had been very improper for Paul to accompt this as dung and to cast contempt upon it as that which was wholly void of Christ It would be very sinful for any man in such a case to cast such contempt upon the covenant of grace it self and the privileges thereof peculiarly relating to the same But you see Paul doth here clearly distinguish two covenants The one of saith the other of Circumcision This will further appear in Gal. 3.3 Are ye so foolish that having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect in the flesh Where he again distinguisheth two covenants the one Spiritual the other a fleshly covenant The Gallatians having at the first hearing of him begun to imbrace the Gospel or the Spirit or Spiritual word of the New Covenant and now they would join the covenant of works in the flesh with the Gospel which it is evident he means the covenant of circumcision which here they would seek to be perfected by Therefore in Gal. 4. lâ—tter end he clearly distinguisheth between two Covenants under the figure of Sarah and Hagar and two seeds holding forth the covenant of Circumcision to be the covenant of works and to be that bond-woman as it were in chap. 5.1 2 3. Chap. 6.12 13. So that if you will seriously mind these Scriptures they do most evidently prove that the covenant of Circumcision made in the flesh or fleshly line of Abraham is a covenant of works and that which the Gospel or Covenant of grace is set in opposition to and as this covenant of Circumcision is set in opposition to the covenant of eternal life as having all the works of the Law included in it So consider the new covenant speaks thus I will put my Law in your hearts and in your minds will I write them But Circumcision is a covenant not in the heart but in the flesh only as you have heard This is the second ground why the covenant of Circumcision cannot be a covenant of eternal life but a covenant of works only The third reason to prove Circumcision to be a Covenant of works an not of eternal life 3. Argument to prove Circumcision a Covenant of Works is Because that there is no promise of eternal life in it but of temporal blessings in the Land of Canaan and that God promising himself to be a God is only in that respect as to outward Protection and Provision in the Land of Canaan and other like privileges And that is noted by the Apostle in Heb.
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
and Hagar the covenant of Works both these women continued in Abrahams house together for a time the first child he begat by the strength of nature without faith in a promise of a bond-woman The other he begat by faith in a promise without strength of nature of a free-woman and the free-woman continued in Abrahams house with the bond-woman and her son without any Scruple till Isaac was born and also weaned And when the son of the bond-woman persecuted Isaac the free-woman testifyes against the bond-woman and her son and will have them no longer to abide in the house with her son Abraham likewise had first the free-woman and the last the bond-woman The free-woman was sometime barren in Abrahams house but the bond-woman was fruitfull Now the mystery that the Apostle hints to be held forth in this History is clear from which he speaks in this 4. of the Gallatians which must be this That God in like manner first made a covenant of Grace even as Abraham first had a free-woman which covenant in a great measure was barren bringing forth no seed or else totally barren as Sarah was in respect of that substantial seed Christ Jesus which Isaac typed forth as soon as God had made this covenant he in the same house or Church hath also a Hagar that is a Covenant of works in which God hath abundance of seed becoming his by strength of nature without faith in a promise and the Covenant of grace as Sarah in a sense becomes barren All which time the covenant of grace and covenant of works both agree very well to be in Gods house together but at the last as the free-woman brought forth Isaac so the covenant of Grace brings forth Christ Jesus without strength of nature by faith in a promise as in Matth. 1.21 Luke 1.35 and when this substantial seed is come then the covenant of grace and works remain in Gods Church together but afterwards when Christ the true Isaac was as it were weaned that is come to maturity so as to appear that he was now in the office of the Ministery the Scribes and Pharisees with the high Priests all the sons of Hagar the old covenant persecuted Christ and those in him Whereupon the free-woman or rather the free Covenant of grace doth testify that a covenant of Works with her seed shall no longger remain with her in the Church of God But now the free covenant and her sons that is the Covenant of grace only and her children born by faith in a promise onely must for a time forward remain in the house of God So that now rejoice thou barren that barest not the Covenant of grace becomes fruitfull having seed in all nations therefore the Apostle saith the Jerusalem which is above which is free is the Mother of us all and those us or we that were members of the primitive Church were born from above by faith in a promise Therefore it is plain from hence that there were no carnal babes in that Church But when Christ the true seed of the Covenant was persecuted by the Jews which were the children of the covenant of Works the Gospel doth plentifully testifie the abolishing the Covenant of Works and the casting forth of those bond-children out of Gods Church Acts 13.45 46. But when the Jews saw the multitude they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul contradicting and blaspheming Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing ye put it far from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us And as appears in the 11. chap. of the Romans and as that 4. chap. of Gall. in express words saith in the 25. verse this Hagar is meant Mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her children this being so clear that the bond-woman and her son that is to say the covenant af works and all those related to Abraham only in a covenant of works are cast out of the house of God How opposite then is their opinion to the truth that still would have a fleshly generation to be in the house of God with their children But seeing the natural branches that truly were descended of the Line of faithfull Abraham might not have that honor How much less the unbelieving seed of the Gentiles that are wild by nature Thus you see in brief this objection answered and that there is no ground for childrens baptism but an imagination through thick darkness upon the minds of people they setting up this idol in their hearts God hath answered them accordingly as the Prophet speaks in Ezekiel 14.2 3 4 5. verses And the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man these men have set up their idols in their heart and put their stumbling block of their iniquity before their face should I be inquired of at all by them therefore speak unto them thus saith the Lord Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his Idols in his heart and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face and commeth to the Prophet I the Lord will answer him that commeth according to the Multitude of his Idols that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they are all estranged from me through their Idols Where you see that when souls set up an idol in their heart God doth answer them according to their idol as he hath in this case suffering blind blindnes and uncertainty of judgment to befall them For such as defend childrens baptism and the ablest I have met with do grant they have no command or example in the New Testament for their practice but ground the same on a consequence which you have heard evidently proved is drawn from an error For to affirm or maintain that the covenant of eternal life is made with believers carnal seed is a dangerous error and therefore the consequence must needs be as false and rotten as that error from whence it is drawn then judge you what a pitiful consequence that must be Take the whole result thus Childrens baptism hath no ground from the word of God either Command or Example for it but a consequence as before so that it is meerly a tradition of men setting up in the place and room of the Commands of God to wit baptizing of Believers This groundless tradition which makes void the commandment of God even as the wicked Jews did in Mark 7.7 Howbeit in vain saith the Lord they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and in verse 9. He said unto them Full well you reject or frustrate the commandments of God that you may keep your own Traditions and in verse 13. Make the word of God of none effect through your traditions which
we ought to submit that those only who were Baptized were admitted into the fellowship of the Saints and to breaking of bread and therefore we upon these grounds may not admit any member in communion into the church of Christ but by baptism But some may object and say There are many godly souls that do think they are baptized already in their infancy And till they be convinced of that error cannot you have Church Communion with them To this I answer I dare not say but precious souls to God in these times as well as formerly may be in that point in darkness I do not censure the case of such But sure I am that if they judge their own baptism or sprinkling in their Infancy to be an Ordinance of God they cannot but judge it a duty still to practice the same upon their own Infants being faithful to their principle and then how can a church and true Ministry that judges dipping of believers a duty and the other to be a grievous and provoking sin admit such a person into Communion that resolves to live not only in the neglect of a Solemn duty but in a great and heinous sin in the judgement of that Church and Ministery that is to admit him which the justifying of his Baptism must needs be Wherfore hath Christ set up in his Gospel church his Ordinance of Excommunication or casting forth out of the Church if that persons may be admitted that are resolved to live in both a sin of omission and commission and such as have not repented of that sin of sprinkling children So then that person that lives impenitently in any one known sin known I mean to the Church if that Church have communion with that person in that sin the sin becomes the churches sin Obj. But he liveth in this sin through ignorance Answ That we presuppose or else the Scripture would â—end us little hopes of charity as to his good estate For to knnow a sin to be a sin and to live in it doubtless it cannot stand with grace therefore it is generally concluded that the contempt of any Ordinance of God is damnable but not the simple neglect of it being upon scruples or doubts of conscience unanswered but the church knows it to be a sin and therefore they are not to have communion with it Object But may some say I am afraid some persons do rest in Ordinances and place that in them which is due to Christ only which is some offence to me and hath kept me off from that practice Answ There is no sound ground for this objection from either our profession or practice for we do profess salvation justification and the spiritual welfare to be meerly of the grace of God in Christ and that by faith only and that our obedience to Christ ought to be performed from a principle of Regeneration and union with Christ by faith and answerable is our practice in that we dare not put any soul on obedience but from that root For before we baptize any soul we prove whether a true work of conversion be wrought in his heart or no and whether he have union with Christ and dare not admit children because that we judge that they have not a principle of Christ in them from whence they should submit to baptism And further let me say thaâ— it is easie for a soul to forbear resting in duties that doth not perform them But that which is worthy in a Christian is to walk as strictly in obedience to all the commands of God as though he would be saved by his obedience and to rest as fully upon Christ and his blood and the love of God therein revealed as if he had done nothing at all accounting himself an unprofitable servant And whereas you say you fear they rest in duties that fear and jealousie in you I fear is your sin and possibly may flow from that inbred enmity and prejudice that is apt to be in every mans heart against the pure waies of God Or else it proceeds from the malice of the Devil suggesting such thoughts into thy heart For thou entrest into the hearts of such people and judgest their very intents in this thy fear and jealousy and therefore beware of this snare But further suppose some souls should be so far left of God that walk in the practice of Ordinances as to rest in them is that a ground for thee to excuse thee to live in a sinful neglect of them In a word there can be no objection come into thy heart tending to hinder thee from this duty and to keep thee from thy obedience to thy Lord and King but it must needs be from the flesh or from the Devil and therefore beware of them Suppose thy judgement inclined to such a Latitude as that thou couldst have communion with unbaptized persons consider with a tender conscience what hath been said and I hope it may much satisfy thee in that objection But suppose thou shouldst not be satisfied with what hath been said but still judge that thy liberty thou canst not but say its clear in the new Testament and out of doubt that such believing and being baptized ought to have Church fellowship together with the practice of Ordinances and is that a justifiable argument to keep thee off from communion with such as out of doubt thou maiest according to rule have communion with and further that thou canst not but say is thy duty to have communion with The Commands of Christ must not be disputed Therefore I would in all tenderness admonish and warn all that fear God to be more conformable and observe the rules of Christ and not to harbour such a gross error in thy mind as to think thou mayst at thy pleasure dispute the commands and Ordinances of Christ The Apostle Paul in Gal. 1.16 saith He conferred not with flesh and blood but he presently obeyed the heavenly voice And Christ when God by his Spirit directed him to go to the Doctors in the Temple to hear them and ask them questions he without so much as acquainting his Father or Mother obeyed the Lord though to their great grief and trouble in going And then in Phil. 2.14 our obedience should be without murmuring repining or any more ado and Luke 5.5 Peter had been fishing all night and caught nothing therefore had little hopes to catch any fish yet saith he At thy word I will cast down my net he did not dispute the commands of Christ though his own experience and skill did utterly testify against what Christ had commanded as to sense that there could be no good effect produced yet at thy word saith he I will cast in my net As David in Psalm 119. I made hast to keep thy righteouss precepts for delaying of obedience doth harden the heart and give place to the tempter and therefore I would advice all godly souls to drink in this as a Maxim that if you find an express Law of Christ given to a believer that it is utterly unlawful to dispute or to question the practice of it upon any pretence whatsoever or to admit any objection against it For amongst men both in Civil and Military Authority they will not have their Laws disputed who may err greatly in making those Laws But our righteous God whose Laws be sure are just will not have his disputed and therefore as before when Christ bid Peter cast down his Net into the Sea saith he I have been all night and catched nothing yet notwithstanding at thy word I will cast down my net Where observe though what Christ commanded him his skill experience and reason might have strongly objected against yet he learned this that there could not be any justifyable ground to bear him out in disputing Christs Laws And thus you have an example in Abraham in sacrificing Isaac who was the promised seed And when God called him he followed God not knowing whether he went And Noah when he built an Ark for the saving of his house And Jacob upon the command of God carrying away his family three daies journey before Laban and the family knew of it There might have been much dispute against these things but these holy men of God had learned not to give place to the pride and rebellion of their unmortified reason and understanding which many souls for want of more grace and soundness of judgement give way to in our days but they did obey the word of Gods coÌ„mand without any more a do as the Apostles rule is Phil. â— 12 13 14 15. Wherefore my Beloved as you have alwaies obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure Do all thinks without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless the Sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation amongst whom you shine as Lights in the world FINIS