shall add by clear Scripture Proof as followeth in Exod. 25.40 Acts 7.44 Heb. 8.4 5. Heb. 10.1 2. That the frame of the Jewish Church was made more glorious at the coming in of the Gospel New Dispensation I readily grant but the state of the Church was never altered and the Materials or Subjects are still of the very same kind without any substantial variation 2. Their spiritual Food in Gods House the Church is still the very same though under a better and more glorious Dispensation 3. If Mr. D. could have proved that the state of the Church had been plucked up by the roots and the Covenant dissolved and that it was but a carnal Constitution as Mr. H. C. and Mr. B. K. laboured in vain to do as may be seen in their Books against me then Mr. D. might have gained the Point but he is wiser than to attempt such a gross Absurdity which borders upon blasphemy and therefore he hath rather chosen to contradict those two populous Authors or Champions 4. The Jews and all their children under the Law were Members of the Church visible and the state of the Church was never altered Therefore all the children of Christian believers are Members with their Parents of the Church visible also now under the Gospel Dispensation unless any of them sin themselves out of it when they are grown Persons John 15.2 Rom. 11.17 But that the state of the Church was never altered I shall prove as followeth 1. The Jewish Church state was built upon the Rock of Ages namely that spiritual Rock Christ Jesus as in 1 Cor. 10.3 2. The Church hath its Foundation in the Covenant of Grace of which Christ is the chief Corner-stone Isa 28.16 3. The Covenant of Grace was first declared and made with Adam immediately after the Fall for Adam had the Gospel Preached first to him by God himself who spake as never Man spake like him Gen. 3.15 4. Noah was a Preacher of Righteousness 2 Pet. 2.5 that was he Preached the Gospel for he that doth not preach up the Righteousness of Christ for Justification Satisfaction Sanctification and Salvation doth not Preach the Gospel for the Righteousness of Christ is the very Marrow and Quintessence of the Gospel 5. Abraham had the Gospel Preached unto him as in Gal. 3.8 And the scripture foreseeing that God would justifie the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all nations be blessed Pray observe The Gospel is that which was Preached before unto Abraham that was when God first blessed Abraham and in him both Jews and Gentiles at his first establishing his Covenant with him in Gen. 12.3 And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed 2. This Preaching the Gospel before unto Abraham 1. It was before the Covenant was so fully declared and established with him And 2. before God had changed his Name 3. And lastly It was before God had fixed a Token unto the Covenant All which you have in Gen. 17.5 7 11. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram but thy name shall be called Abraham for a father of many nations have I made thee And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your fore-skin and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you The Covenant was as much a Covenant to Abraham before God added â— Token unto â—â— as it was unto him after as is also clear from Verse 4. As for we behold my covenant is 〈◊〉 thee and thou shalt be a father of man◠〈◊〉 God did not change nor alter his Covenant with Abraham when he added Token to it though he changed his Name Thus you see 1. by whom the Gospel was preached unto Abraham 2 When it was preached unto him 3. How is was preached unto him 4. And lastly What the Gospel was that was preached before unto him Why it was the Covenant of Grace it self in the first broaching of it to Abraham Which utterly destroys that new invented Notion of a Covenant of Peculiarity made with Abraham of Circumcision That is to place the Token of the Covenant in the room of the Covenant it self which is absurd and false And this we must observe also that this was not the first broaching of this Celestial Liquor viz. the Gospel though it was so to Abraham and his Seed for it was first broached and set a running to Adam immediately after the Fall and hath run down upon his Posterity ever since from Generation to Generation and will continue to the end of the World So that to Preach up the Covenant is to Preach the Gospel Hence by the way I infer How unfit all those are who take upon them the Ministry of the Gospel that disown the Covenant that are so ignorant of these profound Mysteries that cannot distinguish between the Covenant and the Token thereof 2. That the Church-state is still the same and the substantial Matter and Form the same now as it was under the Law plainly appears by our Saviours Words to the unbelieving Jews who were then Members of the Church visible as in Mat. 21. Therefore the kingdom of heaven shall be taken from you and gives to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof And in Mat. 8. Aâ—â— I say unto you that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven That is they shall be brought into the same Covenant which God established with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and into the same Gospel-Church as they and their Seed were in for this cannot be meant of the Kingdom of Heaven above for none can be cast out of that as these were to be in the remainder of the Verse Mind it but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness there shall be weeping 〈◊〉 gnashing of teeth 1. From hence we may observe that the unbelieving Jews were to be cast out of the Church or Kingdom of Heaven and the Elect Gentiles were to be taken in for them in their room which did not destroy the Constitution of the Church no more than the casting out of Hypocrites out of a Church doth now but it was to purge and refine the Church from all its chaffe Hypocrites and to gather in the Elect Gentile-wheat into the Garner Mat. 3. Whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner but he will burn up the châ—ff with unquenchable fire 2. When this Threatning was executed viz.
Covenant of Redemption and were so from all Eternity for that Covenant was made between God the Father and his Eternal only Son 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began But the Covenant of Grace was made with Man by God the Father in his Son Christ Jesus in the beginning of Time immediately as soon as man Fell Gen. 3.15 8. Not one Soul of all those in the Covenant of Redemption shall ever sin to such a degree as to fall short of eternal life and salvation for they are all in the hands of Christ and none can pluck them thence John 10. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life And they shall never perish neither shall any pluck them out of my hand 1 John 3.9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God This respects the believers perseverance in his spiritual state and not his spiritual frame of heart for the same Apostle saith in the same Epistle chap. 1.8 If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Many Thousands have sinned themselves out of the Covenant of Grace and fallen short of eternal life and salvation For as God's eldest Son upon Earth namely Adam sinned and broke the Covenant of Works so Adam's eldest Son namely Cain was the first that sinned himself out of the Covenant of Grace and Ham was the first that sinned himself out of the Covenant of Grace after the Flood and Judas sinned himself out of the Covenant of Grace under the Dispensation of the Gospel and all those Jews we read of in Rom. 11. where it is thus said For if the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches And if some of the branches be broken off and theâ— being a wild-olive tree wert graffed in among theâ— and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree Well because of unbelief they were broken off 9. This Olive-tree which the Jews were broken of from and the Gentiles graffed into was the Covenant of Grace Mistake me not for I do not hold that popish Doctrine of falling from true saving Grace for it is impossible for any to fall out of a state of Grace though they may out of the Covenant of Grace because they are in the Covenant of Redemption which is the inner Court viz. Sanctum Sanctorum 10. And Lastly All that are in the Covenant of Grace are the Subjects of Water-baptism they are either baptized or ought to be But none but those that are in the Covenant of Redemption are circumcised in heart and baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire 2. Saith Mr. D. in pages 2 3. How came it to pass that holy men such who were interessed in the Covenant of Grace at the very instant of making this Covenant of Circumcision with Abraham were not concerned in that Covenant and the Token of it such as Melchizedec c. and the Fathers before the Flood to Abraham 's Time and after to Job and his Family and the Saints of God contemporary with him such as Elihu and Job 's Three Friends c. The Learned Mr. N. Cox hath so solidly opened this Covenant of peculiarity made with Abraham c. Here are several things to be observed from these Words of Mr. D's 1. Is this He calleth the Covenant which God established with Abraham and his Seed a Covenant of Circumcision 2. He queries how it came to pass that these holy men were not concerned in that Covenant and the Token of it Which is a contradiction for first he asserts the Token of the Covenant viz. Circumcision to be the Covenant it self and how and where he will find another Token for the Token of the Covenant I know not 3. I observe Mr. D's drift and design in calling God's Covenant with Abraham and his Seed a Covenant of Circumcision is to make way to lay a foundation to build their Covenant of peculiarity on but this I will prove to be a gross mistake for these Reasons following 1. Circumcision could not be the Covenant it self because according to their own Principles all the female seed of Abraham would have been excluded and shut out for they will not grant nor allow that the female seed of Abraham were any way concerned in Circumcision or had any benefit by it 2. Circumcision could not be the Covenant because it was but a Token of it Gen. 17.11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your fore-skin and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you That was with Abraham and all his Seed both male and female 3. Circumcision could not be the Covenant because in the Covenant it self God promised to be Abraham's God and the God of his Seed after him in their Generations Gen. 17.7 Ay and to a thousand Generations Psal 105.8 And God said I will make an everlasting covenant with thee c. Now Circumcision as to the Letter of it was not everlasting for it expired with the Ceremonial Law 4. And Lastly Circumcision could not be the Covenant it self because then Ishmael would have been in it which is repugnant to the holy Scripture â—â—r he had neither part not lot in the Covenant Gen. 17.18 19 20 21. But they run upon this mistake to prove Gods Covenant with Abraham and his Seed to be a Covenant of peculiarity with a design to exclude all the Gentile Believers and their Seed purely to destroy Infant-baptismâ— for they know that unless they can do that they cannot bring it to pass and this is the reason why they press these holy men aforesaid into their service viz. Melchizedec Job Eliâ—â— c. because they were not circumcised 2. I shall humbly offer my Reasons to shew why Abraham and his posterity were circumcised and not those holy men aforesaid 1. The first is because God never required it of them and therefore it would have been superstition for them to have done it 2. Because Abraham was chosen by God himself and fixed in a publick station to be a sub-representative Head and father of the faithful to the end of the World and so was not any of those Worthies aforesaid 3. God's Covenant was with Abraham several years before Circumcision was annexed unto it Gen. 17.4 As for me behold my covenant is witâ— thee and thou shalt be a father of many nations Now to which of those Worthies did God ever say he would make him a father of many nations 4. In Gen. 12.3 And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed This
was Gods Covenant with Abraham some years before Circumcision 5. In Gen. 13.16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbred 6. In Gen. 15.5 And he brought him forth abroad and said look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them And he said unto him So shall thy seed be God did not make any such peculiar promise unto Melchizedec or Job c. 7. The blessing of Abraham was to come upon the Gentiles Gal. 3.14 God made Abraham a publick blessing both to Jew and Gentile 8. It was said of Abraham In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Acts 3.25 In thy seed that is in Christ Gal. 3.16 9. My Ninth and last Reason why Abraham and his Seed were circumcised and not those holy men was because our Saviour Christ was to be born of the Seed of Abraham and therefore it is said In Abraham 's seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed for our Saviour Christ was not to come out of the Loyns or any one of these Worthies but from the Lineage of Abraham Mat. 1.1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David the son of Abraham Not the Son of Melchizedec nor the Son of Job c. but the Son of Abraham Therefore because he was to come from his Loyns both Abraham and his Seed must wear the Badge or Token of his Incarnation and Crucifiction which were both prefigurated in Circumcision which was then a Badge of Honour as Baptism now is and centered in the Covenant of Grace as Baptism now doth And for these Reasons aforesaid God was pleased to give unto Abraham and his Seed a Token of his Covenant-Love and Grace in that distinguishing way and manner above all other Saints contemporary with them who were also in the same Covenant with them for God had not Two Covenants of Grace one peculiar to Abraham and his Seed and another for the rest of his Saints but give me leave to tell ye that all those Worthies aforesaid though they were not circumcised in the flesh yet they were all circumcised in heart with the Circumcision made without hands for what though God was pleased to deny them the Token or thing signified at that time for Reasons best known to his holy Wisdom yet they had the thing signified which was infinitely better Ishmael had the Token of the Covenant which was but the shell and not the kernel but all those holy men which Mr. D. spoke of had the kernel though they had not the shell they were in the same Covenant with Abraham and his Seed though they had not that Token of the Covenant as they had Now let us hear what a Gentleman of New-England said in his History of Baptism in pag. 8. 1. A promise to Adam 's believing in this declaring A promise of the Messiahâ—s That he will be his God and the God of his seed in their Generations keeping Covenant or Command revealed to them for when this promise was made to Abraham it is 〈◊〉 to be supposed a new thing not in use before but it was renewed to him with a peculiar respect to his seed when the Gentiles were cast off for sinning against this promise as the Jews now are And there is no doubt but that the Family of Adam who was the first Believer and of Noah and his seed were the Church of God because God exercised Excommunication on the apostate Members and there is no Church-hood but to such as are under the promise Those who cannot say God is their God and the God of their seed in their generations keeping covenant have little to say for their Church-hood 2. Let us hear what that eminent Servant of the Lord Reverend Mr. Samuel Pomfret said to this which Mr. D. writ about Melchizedec Lot and Job c. when he saw it in his Book which is as followeth Touching Mr. D 's doubt about these holy men Melchizedec Job Elihu and Lot c. why they are not mentioned as well as Abraham concerning the Token of the Covenant viz. Circumcision his judicious Heart and Head might quickly have perceived if he please but to consider the lineal descent The God of all Grace was pleased to call out Abraham as the Father of the faithful through all ages to the end of the World both down the Gospel as well as the Old Testament Dispensation as he may know in the Epistle to the Galatians is clear especially the third chapter where it is said the blessing of Abraham is devolved upon the Gentiles 3. Let us hear what Mr. Cobbet of New-England saith also to this 1. Saith he Let us address our selves a while to consider of the external and Church right of little ones to the initiating Seal and Church right which follows thence for the initiating Seal follows the Covenant We speak not of an extraordinary time of the Church when either it hath no particular express initiating Seal distinct from another sealing Ordinance as before that solemn covenanting of God in reference to the Church in Isaac 's Race Gen. 17.7 8 9. with the 19. so there is some peculiar state of the time not applicable to the ordinary time and way of a visible politick Church and its Administrations as then also were Family Churches as that in Melchizedec's and Job 's Families which being not successively to continue were not so immediately eyed in point of solemn Institution and Church Laws as was this of Abraham Isaac and Jacob 's Race wherein the visible Church was to be continued Such extraordinary times and cases are very impertinently urged by some to infringe thâ— force of ordinary Rules and principles they know a extraordinary case of eating shew-bread by such as were not priests and of plucking ears of corn on the sabbath day of a private disciples baptizing Acts 9. and Zipporah 's circumcising of her son And these doâ—â— nullifie or invalidate ordinary rules and principles touching Circumcision or Baptism or the sanctifying the sabbath In ordinary times and cases respecting the political visible Church and its administratiâ—â— such little ones as are of parents in such visible Châ—â— estate they have external right unto the injoyned â—â—tiatory visible seal of which they are outwardly â—â—pable and ought not to be denyed the use and benâ—â— thereof Ordinary times then and not extraordinaâ—â— are here considered Let none object then Childâ— of Members of an ordinary political visible Church 〈◊〉 here considered Let none object an extraordinary 〈◊〉 of Job's or Melchizedec 's Families a visible 〈◊〉 enjoyned not a case wherein actually any such sedâ— not enjoyned is here also considered or at least â— view at the present making of the covenant with thâ— reference as in the case Gen. 17.7 8 9. And 〈◊〉 none object Adam and Noah 's time and cases