Anabaptists subtleties with which we find him to puzzle some of his eminent opposers In that the Apostle says then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The unbelieving husband hath been sanctified by the wife and again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The unbelieving wife hath been sanctified by the husband the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being in the Praeter-tense hath been sanctified the Apostle speaks of what had been experienc'd that the wife had been a means to sanctifie the unbelieving husband and the husband of sanctifying the unbelieving wife in their converting to the faith of Christ A good reason this why the believer should not separate from the unbelieving upon this hope of gaining him or her unto the Church And this interpretation is apt to what the Apostle subjoins to confirm his judgment and opinion v. 16. What knowest thou O wife whether thou shalt save thy husband or what knowest thou O man whether thou shalt save thy wife Which saving answers so pat to the former sanctifying that to be sanctified seems plainly to be a converting to the faith and so bringing in to the communion of the Church in respect of which communion says the Apostle your children are holy which otherwise were unclean Act. 10.14 And that this is so S. Peter's Vision will resolve us where by unclean is meant not fit to be received into the communion of the Church and so by holy opposite to unclean must be interpreted one already received or fitted to be received into the Churches communion So that from these three Arguments 1. That Infants of believing parents were members of the visible Church under the Jews and that this priviledge is not repealed 2. That our Lord and Saviour hath testified that to such Infants belongs the kingdom of God 3. That S. Paul hath asserted it of all such Infants that they are holy From these three arguments the surest and soundest we can fix upon to plead the Infants cause against the Anabaptists from these I say I may make my infallible inference of holy truth That the Infants of believing parents have a right and interest in the communion of the Church as the Disciples of Christ This I have been the more large in because I intend this my sure foundation whereon according to the method of my Text to build the structure of Infants baptism according to our Saviours commission and instruction Go disciple all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. 2 Having proved that Infants of believing parents as Disciples of Christ have a right and interest in the communion of the Church I shall now give you the ground and reason of that interest and right which ground and reason is this most sure and firm Their being parties in the same Covenant of grace with their parents upon which Covenant of Grace is founded the Communion of the Church and therefore they who are parties in that Covenant must needs be partakers of this Communion And that children are parties in Covenant with their Parents is most plain from the express words of the Covenant first made with Abraham Gen. 17 7. 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 that this thy Seed after thee doth relate to the Infant posterity of all Believers as well as of Abraham is not onely evident from the Seal of the Covenant-Circumcision Deut. 29.10 11. but also from that renewing of the Covenant to Israel where are present before the Lord to enter into his Covenant not onely the men of Israel but also their wives and their little ones Now this same Covenant which God made with Abraham Jere. 31.31 and established with Israel we finde renewed by the Prophet which is therefore called the New Covenant and as renewed by the Prophet so published and declared by the Apostle Indeed God had told Abraham Heb. 8.10 that he did establish with him an Everlasting Covenant and such as is the Covenant such must be the Communion both Everlasting and therefore Infants admitted in the Jewish Church must not be excluded the Christian And further That children of believing Parents do retain their interest in the Covenant of Grace is confirmed by the doctrine of St. Peter in that his powerful Sermon where he tells the Jews Acts 2.38 39. The promise is to them and to their children as if the Apostle had said Now God hath remembred his Covenant unto Abraham and performed it he hath sent that blessed Seed the promised Messiah in whom all Nations of the Earth are blessed Deprive not then your selves of the Blessing of Grace and Life through obstinacy and unbelief for according to the tenor of the Covenant so runs the promise of the Gospel To you and to your children And that what is here said unto the Jews does also reach the Gentiles and what is spoken to those then present does extend to all that shall come after is fully implied if not plainly exprest in that the Apostle addes And to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call Which clause As many as the Lord our God shall call no ways excludes Infants they being called in their Parents And observe the Apostles argument is purposely framed in a regard to that benefit which their children should receive under the Gospels administration of the Covenant by Baptism And if this sense be not purposely intended children will seem but needlesly exprest But the Adversaries urge None but Believers ever had Object or shall have a right to the Covenant of Grace I answer True Answ none but Believers ever had or shall have a right in themselves yet this excludes not Infants for it is the Parents right who is a believer that brings in the infant by vertue of the promise Herein then is the ground of error that men imagine we affirm the childs right to the blessing of the promise is in himself as a child whereas it is in the believing parent who conveys the right in this relation to the infant that it is his child his to whom God hath oblig'd himself by the promise of his covenant that he will be his God and the God of his seed Indeed it is worth our observing that in the right manner of entring covenant with God no parent can enter single but he must stipulate for himself and his children And this is plain both from the condition on mans part and the promise on God's On God's part the promise runs to us and our children that he will be our God and on our part the condition runs from us and our children that we will be his people That as by vertue of the promise God makes it his act of grace that the seed of the godly be blessed so by vertue of the
Church of God before Circumcision the Faith of the Parents and the Promise of the Covenant was the Salvation of Infants then when there was no Seal So is it now the Salvation of those who die without the Seal it being most agreeable to the grace and goodness of the Almighty Ut qui alienâ culpâ cecidit alienâ fide refurgat That he who fell by anothers fault might rise again by anothers Faith And as in the Catechumens of old those who were designed to Baptism if any of them died unbaptized their intention of minde and desire of will was in the judgment of the Church interpretativè as the actual Performance And thus we determine in the case of Infants who have votum parentum Ecclesiae the desire of their Parents and of the Church God accepts the will for the deed Thirdly What the Judgment of the Church is as to the state Quest 3 of those children which die before Baptism being children of Anabaptists I answer We can plead no excuse for the Parents Answ though we have some good hope of the Infants which hope is mixt with fear as being raised from a judgment of Charity not any infallible proof nor indeed any very probable argument of verity Children are in a state of Salvation baptized but we cannot say they are so without Baptism except the case of necessity be pleaded and the reason is because God the free-dispenser of his grace hath by Positive Law made this the condition of his promise That we shall continue in our selves and in our children the initiating Seal of his Covenant I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed Gen. 17.9 10. saith the Lord unto Abraham and therefore Thou shalt keep my Covenant thou and thy seed after thee in their Generations every man-childe among you shall be circumcised And the like obligation our Saviour makes as to Baptism when he says Except a man be born of Water John 3.5 and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God If then there be no Salvation without the Covenant of Grace and that Parents are to Covenant for their children what firm hope can there be of those Infants whom their Parents exclude from Promise and condition of the Covenant We certainly know that very often the Parents guilâ— hath deprived their posterity of the whole Gospels Ministry witness the Nations from whom God hath removed his Candlestick And sure Rev. 2.5 if the Parents contempt of Gods Ordinances hath deprived whole Nations of the comfort of the Gospels Ministry it is justly to be feared though not positively to be determined That the contempt which Anabaptist Parents cast upon Infants Baptism may deprive their children of the benefit of the Covenants promise especially considering That by Schism they are separate from the Church of Christ into which there is no ordinary way of entrance and admission but by Baptism according to our Saviours Commission and Instruction to his Apostles Go ye disciple all Nations baptising them c. 1. Applic. We have here Beloved to answer the Anabaptists grand Quaere Where have ye any Gospel precept for Infants Baptism And withal to establish your Judgments and Faith against all their oppositions and clamors Wherefore we thus prove Gospel Precept in that Christ gives in Commission Disciple all Nations baptising them Now Infants are a part of the Nations capable of discipling and no where excepted from Baptism therefore needs must Baptism extend unto Infants Again it is our Saviours express precept Mark 10.14 Suffer little children to come unto me but children have no way of coming to Christ in which we can suffer or hinder them but by Baptism and therefore Baptism is ordained for children Now back those precepts of Christ with the practise of the Apostles and the Universal Church together with the Grounds and Reasons of that practise and those precepts even childrens discipleship and Church Communion founded upon their interest in the Covenant of Grace And doing this I dare with confidence assert you have Infants Baptism so firmly founded and fixt as not all the wind and storms of the Anabaptists subtlety or fury can overturn it 2. We will answer the Objections of the Adversaries who press us with these Arguments That Infants have not Faith that they are not capable of teaching and not liable to precept These the chief Objections to which we return our particular Replies Object 1 First They have not Faith And our Saviour is express He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16.16 thereby intimating That he alone is to be baptized who doth believe Answ I answer to this He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved our Saviour addes But he that believeth not shall be damned Where a not having Faith excludes Infants from being saved as much as from being baptized So that if we count them capable of Salvation we must count them â—â—pable of Baptism if capable of being admitted into the Church Triumphant then capable of being received into the Church Militant I suppose then no man will imagine Faith of any more necessity to Baptism then it is to Salvation so that if Infants may be saved without Faith infallibly it follows they may be baptized without Faith that is actual Faith in themselves not in their Parents for the Parents Faith avails to the Infants Baptism and credit in alterâ— qui peccavit in altero he believes in another Acts 2.39 who sinned in another And children baptized are reckoned in the number of the faithful though not propter fidem Sacramenti yet propter Sacramentum fidei though not because of the Faith of the Sacrament yet because of the Sacrament of Faith so St. Augustine very frequently Besides Infants they are indeed non-believers but not unbelievers Now it is infidelity Positive not Negative which excludes from Baptism that infidelity which opposeth or denyeth the Faith not a meer carentia fidei want of Faith in a subject not capable of believing Faith then and Repentance too they are not necessary as to the susception of Baptism but as to the persons baptized not necessary as to the susception of Baptism This is apparent from that of our Saviours being baptized who is the Author of Faith Heb. 12.2 and needed not any Repentance but Repentance and Faith they are necessary as to some persons to be baptized even in whom there are false principles of an adulterate Religion and erroneous perswasions together with actual enormities of a sinful life These these must be put off by a sincere Repentance and actual Faith as being contrary and a direct obex and hinderance to the effects and state of Baptism Faith and Repentance then they are not essentially but accidentally necessary to Baptism not absolutely requisit and to all as not to Infants but conditionally and to some as to the adult Acts 2.38 Acts 8.37 to whom all those particulars are to be
applied in Scripture that of St. Peter to the Jews that of Philip to the Eunuch and the rest To close then Baptism coming in place of Circumcision as the initiating Seal of Gods Covenant Col. 2.11 12. there must needs be this Analogy in the administration That as Abraham first believed and then was circumcised and Isaac he first circumcised and after believed so in the conversion of the Gentiles and discipling of the Nations the Parents first believe and then are baptized but their children first are baptized and after believe And thus want of actual Faith does no more exclude Infants now from Baptism then it did of old from Circumcision Secondly They are not capable of teaching and our Saviours Object 2 commission runs Go teach and baptize I answer We have already blunted the edge of this weapon Answ repelled the force of this Argument and Objection having made it plain from the propriety of the word and the congruity of the sense that our Saviour bids Go disciple all Nations which discipling refers not to teaching before but after a receiving and admitting into Christs School to be taught And thus the Argument is retorted seeing it is our Saviours express precept to disciple all Nations by Baptism and that all men in all ages account children one part of the Nations they being capable of discipling in its proper notion either they must be plainly excepted or necessarily implied Thirdly They are not liable to Precept not having the use of Object 3 Reason I answer The Precept obligeth the Parents Answ and the Promise reacheth the Children as administring the proper remedy of their original guilt and contagion As when a Medicine is prescribed as the onely cure of the sick Patient though the sick know not the Medicine and so is not obliged to the prescription yet the friends of the sick are bound to prepare what is prescribed otherwise they make breach of charity and duty and if the sick die thorow their neglect of means and contempt of the remedy they bring the guilt of blood upon themselves And observe however it is most certain the Parents sin in the neglect of Baptism does not bring a punishment upon the Infant yet may it yea doubtless does it deprive him of a blessing if of no greater blessing sure we are of that which issues from the benefit of the Churches Prayers Notwithstanding then Infants are now no more capable of Precept as to Baptism then before as to Circumcision yet is the obligation as great to Parents and the benefit as great to Infants now and under the Gospel as before and under the Law To close then Notwithstanding all the Objections of the Adversary Mark 10.15 seeing men must receive the Kingdom of Heaven as little children it is most infallible little children do receive the Kingdom of Heaven as well as men Again seeing Infants are capable of the blessings it is an injury to Gods goodness as well as their Souls to deprive them of the Ordinance of Baptism And whereas the Anabaptists urge us to instance in any Infant baptized in the Scripture we urge them to shew in all Scripture or in any other History where or when any Infant of believing Parents was past by and not baptized till years of discretion let all Records be searched and the account of times examined from that period John Baptist begun his Ministry to that John the Evangelist ended his in all about eighty years in which time we doubt not many millions of Infants of believing Parents grew up to full manhood In all this time I say shew one Infant of believing Parents past by and not baptized till years of discretion and this being done there would be some plausible plea against Infants Baptism But there being no instance as to Fact nor Argument as to Reason no Proof as to Scripture to exclude Infants from Baptism We may confidently aver our Saviours Commission and Instruction extends to Infants as well as Parents Go disciple all Nations baptising them c. 3. Whereas woful experience especially that of the German miseries gave occasion to this Proverbial Speech That the Anabaptists Waters turn to Blood how much sad truth we can witness to this unhappy Proverb I had rather bewail then dispute deplore then declare And Oh! that we were Beloved so deeply so devoutly affected with our sins and sufferings both as to Church and State as to turn our late Baptism of Blood into a Baptism of Waters even of mournful Tears In which it will be piety to become all Anabaptists quenching the fire of Heaven with the waters of Siloam Gods wrath I mean by our penitence and his indignation by our contrition 4. Be we exhorted to testifie our holy Communion by an holy Conversation our Communion with Christs Church which we entred by Baptism Remember we then that innocence meekness peace patience purity and the like which are the silver feathers of the sacred Dove Matth. 3.17 Eph. 1.22 23. that holy Spirit which descended upon Christ the Head and still rests upon those who hold Communion with the Church his Body These these our virtutes Baptismales the Baptismal vertues of our new Birth let them be the continued practise of our whole life chuse we to lose the Humidum radicale the radical moysture of our natural constitution rather then that of our Baptismal Regeneration part we with our lives rather then with Faith and a good Conscience for that hereby it is we hold fast our Communion with Christ and our Communion with his Church sealed us by his Sacrament the Sacrament of our initiation and new birth concerning which our Saviour gives in Commission and Instruction to his Apostles Go ye Disciple all Nations Baptising them c. THE FOURTH SERMON UPON Matth. 28. V. 19. and part of the 20. Go ye Disciple all Nations Baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. Introduction WHen Faith is so much corrupted and Souls are so many subverted who can be silent and be faithful I observe as the receiving of Baptism is the entrance into all the priviledges and blessings of the Covenant and of the Church so the renouncing of Baptism is the open door to the greatest enormities and impieties of this day's Apostates In uno Caesare multi Marii and in one Anabaptist are many Hereticks a Sect as pregnant and fruitful of error and those monstrous too as that Holland-Lady was of children whose numerous brood is said to equal the days in the year It is easie to observe how men first turn Anabaptists despising the Ministry of the Gospel then they become Antinomians rejecting the rule of the Law then Enthusiasts making their fanatick revelations to outvie Gods word then Libertines casting off all Magistracie and Government and then Ranters destroying the very being of humane society yea by their disorders and confusions their blasphemies and execrations making a very
you the manner so let me minde you of the end of our Mission and Ministry even the good of your Souls and the chiefest good too that of Life and Salvation The office of the Magistrate intends the establishment of Peace the art of the Physitian the health of the Body the profession of the Lawyer the security of the Estate but the calling of the Minister the salvation of the Soul And therefore St. Paul admonisheth Timothy saying 1 Tim 4 16. Take heed unto thy self and unto the doctrine for in so doing thou shalt save thy self and them that hear thee He then that loves his Soul will prize the Ministry and bless God in making him a partaker of the peculiar priviledge of his vâ—sible Church the publick Ministration of his Word and Sacraments Which gracious privâ—ledge of his visible Church Oh! how near are we to the loosing of it Oh help help to prevent it by your Prayers and that which speaks louder then your Prayers the works of an holy Obedience And O how may God justly take away in wrath what men cast off in contempt the office of his Ministry Which sacred Office however slighted by men yet is it honored of God however esteemed of the world as a mean employment for what more contemptible a disdain 1 Tim. 3.2 then thou Priest yet is it stiled by the Apostle an excellent work And see some part of its excellency The Minister in publick Prayer he is the peoples mouth as their Orator unto God and in publick Preaching he is Gods mouth as his Ambassador unto the people and thus what honor on earth greater then this to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nazianzen speaks Naz. Apolog. a Presidentship of Souls and a kinde of Mediatorship betwixt God and Men Behold we the Minister at the Altar and I will not say what Prince on his Throne but what Seraphim in Heaven is employed in a service of more dignity and honor then this to offer unto God the Commemorative Sacrifice of his Sons Body and Blood I might enlarge were it not that I stand before those I know or at least am willing to beleeve not defective in this duty the honorable and reverential esteems of the Gospels Ministry in its several orders and degrees owned by Gods holy Church though despised by men and the wicked world Onely this from the dignity of the Ministration and Office is aggravated the guilt of their usurpation and violence who either thrust themselves into so sacred a function or thrust out others from their lawful Ministry The name of an Ambassador Cicer. in Ver. Non modo inter seciorum jura sed etiam inter hostium tela incolume versetur it is of that reverence and regard that it may not be violated not onely among the rights of confederates but even the weapons of enemies And what are the Ambassadors of earthly Princes sacred and inviolable by the Law of Nations and shall the Ambassadors of the King of Heaven be silenced Numb 16. rejected imprisoned against the Law of God Corah Dathan and Abiram opening their mouths in mutiny against Moses and Aaron the earth opens her mouth in revenge and they sink down quick into the pit Uzziah 2 Chron. 26. King of Judah invading the Priests office he is sequestred from his regal Function being smitten with a Leprosie and so separated from his people And what was God more jealous for the Legal then he is for the Evangelical Ministration did he punish Kings invading the office of the Priest and will he acquit the people usurping the Function of the Minister No sure But know we that under the Law Gods judgments and blessings they were most-what corporal and temporal whereas his judgments and blessings under the Gospel they are most-what spiritual and eternal so that to be given up to a blindness of minde and a reprobate sense which seems to be the judgment of this Nation it is the most dreadful vengeance that can befal a people of which vengeance there can be no surer symptom then this horrid sin even through Schism Heresie Violence Prophaneness and Sacriledge to invade the Function corrupt the Doctrine abuse the Persons debase the honor and spoil the maintenance of that Ministry which Christ hath constituted and constituted here in his Mission and Commission of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go ye Disciple all Nations Baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. THE SECOND SERMON UPON Matth. 28. V. 19. and part of the 20. Go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. Introduction WHilst I behold the Word and Ministry of Christ to to be amongst men as the Ark and Testament among the Philistines scornfully abus'd as in the Temple of Dagon 1 Sam. 5.2 rather then religiously reverenc'd as in the Church of God The sacred Scriptures the Evidences of our salvation not so much read in Devotion as wrested by Faction Malice or Pride being the venemous Spider which converts the wholsom sweetness of saving Truth into the deadly poison of destructive Heresie And as for the Sacramental Seals of Gods holy Covenant whilst I behold them either pluck'd off by the violent or defac'd by the foul hand of Schism and Profaneness so that a question it is Whether the profane neglecting or the unworthy receiving or the disorderly administring the blessed Sacraments bring greater guilt upon the Nation And no wonder then if our dearest blood hath been spilt in so large a profuseness seeing we have spilt Christs precious blood in so open a profaneness Oh! how how have men come to receive the bread and wine of the blessed Eucharist 1 Cor. 11.29 but have not discern'd Christs body and blood through their profane and unworthy participation And now how many oh too too many how do they go to receive Christs body and blood and alas discern not that it is meer bread and wine through an unlawful and Schismatical administration Of these two so horrid evils I cannot suddenly say which is the greater guilt And as for the Sacrament of Baptism whilst I behold Parents cruel to their tender Infants Joh. 3.5 denying them entrance into Christs kingdom and keeping from them the seal of the Covenant of grace out of which Covenant there is no salvation In which see the just judgment of the righteous God that they who in a blind zeal have been so cruel to their mother the Church to eat out her bowels by Schism they are given up to such a blindness of mind that they become cruel to their own children in not admitting them into the Churches bosom her holy communion by baptism And thus those very persons who did load our Church and Ministry with this reproach and scandal that we would bring up our children in the superstition of
Popery God hath preserv'd us entire in the faith and made us live to see them to bring their children to be without the character of Christianity Now whilst I behold these so horrid violations of Schism and Heresie of Sacrilege and Profaneness as I have begun so by Gods blessing I shall go on to vindicate the authority purity and dignity of Christs Ministry Word and Sacraments And to that end I shall make further progress in this present Text the sure Basis of the Gospels Ministry to us Gentiles Go ye disciple all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. Having given you the Explication of the first particular Explicat The Mission Go ye We proceed to the second particular The Commission Not barely no nor properly teach but more fully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make Disciples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Disciple all Nations But why disciple rather then teach I answer for a two fold reason the propriety of the word and the congruity of the sense 1. The propriety of the word which neither in profane Authors nor in the sacred Scriptures any where signifies to teach but either to admit another or to give up ones self to be taught To confirm this from the language of the Scripture we observe besides its radix 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which all Lexicons render disco to learn I say besides this we observe that the word here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ill translated to teach is aptly expounded and that according to the use of the Hebrews by a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make Disciples Joh. 4 1. which exposi ion is further confirm'd by that of S. Matthew where it is said according to the Greek of Joseph of Arimathea Mat. 27.57 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did signifie to teach must be absurdly rendred He himself taught Jesus But signifying as we interpret it and all Authors use it a giving up to be taught therefore it is properly rendred as our English reads it Himself was Jesus's disciple 2. The Congruity of the sense It appears a Tautology unbeseeming us to put upon the fundamental law of our Saviour in his constitution of the Gospels Ministry to us Gentiles it appears I say a Tautology to read Go teach baptizing and teaching Yea further we observe if our Saviour had intended the latter teaching either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either by way of explication or of amplification to the former he would have said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifying teaching we are hereby taught 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be properly rendred discipling And then the sense runs clear when the word is read true Go make disciples baptizing and teaching them which teaching extends it self to what may be required before or after Baptism according to the capacity of the discipled Thus then Beloved it appears by this little how requisite it is that Humane learning be handmaid to Divine knowledge for that no Translation can be the authentick Word of God any further then it perfectly agrees with the Original How unfit then are they to interpret Scripture who cannot tell you which is Scripture as sure I am no man can tell you upon his own knowledge but he who is competently skilled in the Original tongues In opening then the Apostles Commission we read it Disciple ye all Nations and propose these two particulars for our Explication 1. What it is to disciple 2. Who they are that are to be discipled 1. What it is to disciple That discipling is more then teaching appears by this that many were taught which were not Disciples of Christ and many are Disciples of Christ which yet are not taught Many were taught which were not Disciples of Christ such were many of age and understanding as of old the Pharisees Again many are Disciples of Christ which yet are not taught such are now the Infants of believing parents who are initiated by baptism to be educated in Christs school by teaching To disciple does not exclude teaching but signifies an initiating to be taught an admitting to be Scholars yet because no man will give up himself to a Master he knows not Christ must first be preached to the Nations before the Nations can be made Disciples unto Christ And thus teaching must necessarily precede discipling but this to the adult only persons of age and understanding whose being discipled brings in their children with them as parts of themselves according to the tenor of Gods covenant Camer in loc and the nature of the Churches communion For as it is observed well by the Learned our Saviour's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is answerable to the Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his making Disciples to their making Proselytes which still admits the children with the parents into the communion of the Church And it is the Criticks observation Dr. Hammond multis nominibus mihi honorandus that when our Saviour says Suffer little children to come unto me his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is equivalent to the Jews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby Christ receives little children as his Proselytes that is his Disciples Actual discipling then does not consist in teaching but in receiving in to be taught those that have learnt already to be further taught and those that have not learnt through defect not default to be taught so soon as they can learn Which latter is the condition of Infants dedicated unto Christ who though they are not in a capacity to learn as to the outward Ministry yet this does not exclude them from being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught of God Sure Joh. 6.45 those men who oppose Infants disciplining and baptism will not confine the teaching of the Spirit to the Ministry of the Word But however it be with Infants as to present teaching Christs disciples they are as admitted into his family and school made partakers of his Churches communion and prayers receiv'd under his protection and guard Thus then the Apostles execute their Commission they go out among the Nations preach the Gospel and upon their preaching the Gentiles believe upon their believing the parents and children are receiv'd to Baptism thereby initiated as Scholars of Christs School listed as Soldiers of his Army inroll'd as Subjects of his Kingdom receiv'd as Members of his Church So that in sum to make disciples is to admit into Church-communion which Church-communion before the Jews peculiar is now become the Gentiles priviledge who whilst they were without Christ they were Aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel Eph. 2.12 13. and strangers from the Covenants of promise but being made nigh by the blood of Jesus Jew and Gentile are made one one Church of Christ one Temple of the Holy Ghost diruto septo the wall of partition being broken down even the Law of commandments
truth and holiness thou shalt recover the favour of thy God and renew thy communion with Christ a communion of grace and life conveyed and seal'd thee in thy Baptism Concerning which our Lord and Saviour gave in commission and instruction to his Apostles and in them to all the Ministers of his Gospel Go ye disciple all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. THE FIFTH SERMON UPON Matth. 28. V. 19. and part of the 20. Go ye Disciple all Nations Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you GOD as he is Alpha so is he Omega too Introduction as he is the efficient so is he the final cause of all his Creatures especially of Angels and Men Rev. 1.11 endued with Understanding and Will who as they issue from God the product of his power so do they return to God the complement of their happiness And therefore whilst the Soul of Man winged with desires hovers over the surface of this Worlds changes like Noahs Dove Gen. 8.9 it findes no footing till it center its restless motions upon this sure Ark of the Almighties fruition But now what is the way which leads to his rest what the path of truth which conducts us safe to the Lord of Life whilst we all stand under one starry roof as Men as Christians our desires tend to the same Heaven yet we seek not to ascend by the same Ladder we all aim at the same Goal yet run not all in the same race In this we agree That God is our rest that happiness is our end yea that truth is the way and Christ is the Truth John 14.6 Yet when we come to the profession of the Truth and Faith of Christ how do we presently part hands and dividing our selves into several Sects we chuse to our selves several paths and all pretend the right way Now what is the reason of all our distraction and division but this That what God hath joyned men put asunder even the Authority of the Scriptures and the Doctrine of the Church Both which are established by Christ in the Commission and Instruction he here gives his Apostles Go ye disciple all Nations teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you Having done with the former part of our Saviours Instruction the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our admitting into the School and Church of Christ by Baptism we proceed to the latter part the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our tutoring and training up by Doctrine which doctrine is prescribed as to the extent of its object to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded Here then as the subject matter of our ensuing discourse we will insist upon these two particulars First The object of our Faith the Word of God in which we have Whatsoever hath been commanded of Christ to be taught Secondly The means of communicating this object and preaching this Word the Ministry of the Church by which we are taught whatsoever Christ hath commanded Explic. 1. The object of our Faith the Word of God in which we have Whatsoever hath been commanded of Christ to be taught That there is a natural Theology we willingly acknowledge but that there can possibly be any natural Christianity we utterly deny and therefore that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1.20 that which may be known of God in the visible things of the world it is not his infinite grace and love as a Redeemer but hi◠eternal power and Godhead as a Creator True it is then that a natural knowledge will serve us to understand the Creatures Dialect which loudly and plainly speaks the presence and power of a Deity but Psal 29 2. how to worship this Deity in a beauty of Holiness and so enjoy him in a communion of love must needs be the dictate of a supernatural Revelation especially and eminently called the Word of God Which Word of God the word of life and grace hath been delivered to the Church by the mouth of Moses and the Prophets of Christ and his Apostles registred and recorded in the several Books of the sacred Scriptures both of the Old Testament and of the New The Books of the Old Testament we receive transmitted to us from the Jews by an especial providence and divine appointment made faithful Registers and Bibliothists to the Christian Church for unto them were committed the Oracles of God Rom. 3.2 But now under the New Testament Heb. 1.1 2. God who at sundry times and in divers manners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in different measures of light and divers manners of revelation spake in times past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days in which the Church shall receive no more alteration or innovation from God as to the general form of his Worship and Truth but after this state follows eternity even in these last days God hath spoken unto us by his Son who being the onely begotten in the Bosom of the Father John 1.18 that is most intimately one with him not in a meer conjunction of love but in a near union of Nature and communion of Attributes he hath declared yea 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath by divine Revelation expounded the Mysteries of the Godhead in his Communications of Grace unto his Church The Service then of God in the Old Testament Heb 9.1 that of the first Tabernacle and worldly Sanctuary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sanctuary earthly and material this did stand in meats and drinks Vers 10. and divers washings and carnal Ordinances imposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laid as a burden upon the Jews till the times of the New Testament the time of Reformation the coming of the Messiah who should reform the Ecclesiastical state by abolishing what was earthly and carnal and by establishing what is heavenly and spiritual So that now Joh. 4.24 now God being a Spirit they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth in Spirit that 's in opposition to the carnal Ordinances and in Truth that 's in opposition to the typical Sacrifices or in Spirit for the purity and in Truth for the sincerity of his Worship which must neither be Superstitious nor Hypocritical Having then shewed you where it is that we have the Word of God even in the Books of sacred Scriptures I shall proceed to describe this Word unto you in its inherent Attributes and its transient operations 1. In its inherent Attributes especially its full sufficiency and its self authority 1. It s full sufficiency The holy Scriptures they are the heavenly store-house from whence the Church of Christ is furnished with all spiritual provision of heavenly Doctrine whether it be of Faith or of manners They are the full treasury in which are laid up for the Church her inestimable riches of divine Promises and spiritual Blessings Profitable they are First
But of what Kingdom does our Saviour speak Is it of the Kingdom of power of which David sings Ps 103.19 The Lord hath prepar'd his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all This the providence of God in his government of the world Infants are Subjects of this Kingdom Gods providence being over them in the womb as fearfully and wonderfully made and from the womb Ps 139.14 as being fearfully and wonderfully too preserv'd considering the dangers of their education as well as the wonders of their conception Yea in the example of the Israelites Numb 14.31 32 we see how tender and careful they are of their children lest they should become a prey but God he punisheth the rebellious parents and preserves the innocent children Your little ones saith God which ye said should be a prey them I will bring in and they shall know the land which ye have despised But the Kingdom of Power is not that our Saviour intends when he says of Infants that of such is the kingdom of God but it is the Kingdom of Grace Mat. 18.10 Heb. 1.14 in testimony whereof God hath assign'd them tutelar Angels which holy Angels the Apostle tells us are ministring Spirits for the good of those God ordains heirs of salvation Of Infants then is the Kingdom of Grace in the promises of Gods covenant the priviledges of Christs Church even whatsoever their tender age is capable of in the communion of Saints Obj. But it is objected Our Saviour says not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not of them but of such as them of such in innocencie not of such in age Answ of such in humility not of such in childhood Answ If it had been thus intended by Christ as it is interpreted by the Anabaptist then what had Christ to be displeas'd with his Disciples for seeing they could not divine that Christ had a mind to read a lecture of admonition from the Emblematical resemblance of those children But our Saviour's being displeased argues something in the Apostles which was faulty either of ignorance or of heedlesness in not knowing or not observing what he now instructs them in or minds them of that to infants belongs the kingdom of God But further the Argument is clear if to such as Infants much more to Infants Our Saviour is so far from excluding them that he primarily intends them For so is our common saying in English suitable to the Scripture-phrase in Greek Nehem. 6.11 when Nehemian thus speaks Should such a man as I flie Now does Nehemiah speak this of himself or of some other Sure of himself And the like the very like is that of Christ of such even of infants themselves as as well as of those that are like infants of such is the kingdom of God Yea observe how our Saviour frames his speech to the best advantage of Infants Had he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of these or of them he might have been interpreted to have spoken of the then present individuals but in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of such as them he intends and expresly declares his intentions to concern all the whole species of Infants in as many as are presented unto him by the hand and faith of his Church To close Our Saviour as he receives these infants with love Mar. 10.16 so he sends them away with a blessing But what blessing does he bestow Why no ordinary blessing we are sure for he gives it with imposition of hands and it seems to be no single blessing for he lays on both his hands no temporal or earthly blessing alone but some spiritual and heavenly blessing in chief To them he says belongs the kingdom of God and therefore sure to them he gave the blessing of the kingdom Thus we have seen Christs singular affection to infants and seeing he embraceth them in his arms we may not we dare not but receive them into the Church We cannot sure deny them Church-communion to whom belongs the Kingdom of God for that being Subjects of Christs Kingdom we are sure they are Members of his Church and Disciples of his School concerning whom as a part of the Nations our Saviour gives out the commission to his Apostles with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go ye disciple all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. 3. Arg. From S. Paul's assertion who tells us expresly 1 Cor. 7.14 that the children of believing parents yea if one only of the parents be a believer they are holy Holy how Is it by an inherent quality of sanctification No but by a relative holiness of Church-communion To understand the Apostle observe the holiness he speaks of is that proper to Disciples not common to them with Infidels So that when the Apostle says Else were your children unclean but now are they holy if his meaning should be interpreted to be this Else were your children Bastards but now they are legitimate the Apostle thus interpreted should be made to speak what is most false for that the children of wedlock are no more bastards with the Pagans then with the Christians So that it is not the believing parent that can give the holiness of legitimation as the Anabaptist would evade the Apostle and therefore no such holiness is here intended But what holiness is it then that the Apostle speaks of Why it is an holiness of Church-fellowship and communion in a right to the promises and priviledges of the Gospel And this external holiness it is which is transmitted from the parent to the child like that of political freedom transmitted from the father to the son Thus as a Free-man begets a Free-man and Jews begot Jews so Christians beget Christians not by vertue of natural generation but by right of Church-communion So that as Israel is said to be an holy nation an holy seed so are the infants of believers said to be holy children as dedicate and separate unto God the proper notion of a relative holiness so often spoken of throughout the Scriptures But the Anabaptist objects further Obj. that the children are said to be holy as the unbeliever is said to be sanctified even sanctified to the believers use for cohabitation and converse To this I answer Answ There is an error in both parts of the assertion for that the Apostles words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will not bear that sense that the unbelieving husband is sanctified to the wife for it is an improper phrase says the learned Critick upon the place and by no instance to be made good They who will interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the wife as if it were without 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they do but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 endeavour to serve and support their own prejudice and opinion Thus then we are taught by the Learned to interpret the Apostle clearly to avoid all the
condition the godly make it their duty of obedience that their children be given up unto God and tutour'd to fear him Thus apparent it is that our infant-children have an interest in the covenant of grace for that the tenor of the covenant in promise and condition so takes in the children with the parents that the parents cannot covenant either excluding or not including their children This then remains as a firm ground and sure reason of infants being parties in the communion of the Church that they are parties in the covenant of grace And thus we have done with the second particular of the Text the Apostles Commission Disciple all nations Where we have shewed you what it is to disciple and who they are that are to be discipled What it is to disciple even to receive into Church communion and Who they are that are to be discipled and receiv'd into the communion of the Church evâ—n all Nations as many as believe and the believing parents bringing in with them their infant-children We proceed to Application Applic. 1. Do we here sharply reprove and seriously admonish those who deny Infants Church communion whereby as much as in them lies they do separate them from Christ and as it were pluck them out of his arms offering them greater injury then to dash them against the stones Know ye not vain men that either Infants are Christs disciples and servants or the Devils pupils and slaves That they are Christs disciples and servants you loudly deny That they are the Devils pupils and slaves you are loth to declare Can you then tell us a medium 2 Cor. 6.14 15. No sure for what communion hath light and darkness Christ and Belial Certainly to deny Infants Church-communion is to deprive us of all sound hope of their salvation For where can we find a sacred promise and therefore how can we have any found hope of any being saved that are not of the Church the Church the treasury of Christs promises and blessings to which God is said to adde such as shall be saved Act. 2 47. not saved without the Church but in being added to the Church so that without her communion we know no salvation On how do the Anabaptists in cutting off Infants from the Church how do they like those which in their heat cut off a tribe from Israel Judg. 20 21. And though with Benjamin this be the youngest tribe yet it is not the least the Infant age making up a chief part of the body of Christ For this Oh that our Brethren would with Israel sit down and weep yet at length repenting of their indiscreet and blind if not malicious and proud zeal drenching themselves with a baptism of tears for denying the Church the baptism of Infants 2. Comfort we those parents whose children God shall please to pass ab utero ad uterum from the womb to the grave yea that shall make their grave in the womb the place of conception the place of dissolution Here O ye afflicted parents mourning over the untimely deaths of your tender babes know ye that our Lord Jesus Christ owns your Infants as parties in the Covenant of grace and thereby partakers of his fulness in a communion with his Church And though they have not the seal they have the promise yea though not the outward sign as to the visible ministration yet the inward grace as to the invisible dispensation Though they have not actual baptism yet they have intentional in voto parentum Ecclesiae Eph. 1.22 23. in that desire and devotion of their parents and the Church which is accepted of God to account them as Disciples of Christ who took upon him the several states of humane being was conceived and lay in the womb was born and nurs'd up an Infant did grow up to youth and manhood Mat. 18.3 And thus did he take upon himself every age that he might sanctifie every age unto himself Even he when an Infant was Head of the Church that Infants might be members of that Church whereof He is Head 3. See we to our duty as Disciples of Christ and this by imitating our pattern even little children without which our Saviour is express we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven Except ye be converted and become as little children How is this why by self-denial in being harmless without malice innocent without guile humble without haughtiness contented without murmurings Yea in this imitate we our pattern as children submitting our understanding and judgment unto God Ps 131.3 in the mysteries of his grace and the truth of his promises Submit we our wills and affections unto him in the precepts of his Word and the dispensations of his Providence Yea further as Infants and tender Babes ordered by the Nurses hand in the day and by the same hand got to bed at night do neither question nor quarrel at the time or place or manner of their disposal but quietly fall asleep in the Nurses lap Ps 131 3. Thus O that we could with David we an our affections from the world that we might become as Children resigning up our selves to our heavenly Father submitting with all contentedness of humility and faith to the order of his wisdom and providence whether for day or for night for life or for death And when we go to bed and hasten to the grave O that we could fall asleep in Christs lap depart this life in his arms in his love as being of the number of his Disciples by vertue of his Commission here given his Apostles Go ye Disciple all Nations c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON Matth. 28. V. 19. and part of the 20. Go ye Disciple all Nations Baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost c. THough they are not the dictates of men Introduction nor the definitions of Councils no nor the Revelations of Angels but the Word of God and of Christ into which we make the ultimate resolution of our Faith yet sure I am in Controversies of Religion we have most reason next Christ to trust his Spouse his Church Universal and next her or rather with her our Mother this Church National Whose judgment and practise is most Orthodox and Religious in that great question and dispute of our present times the doctrine and duty of Infants Baptism And to justifie the judgment and practise of our Church into whose communion we have been baptised when Infants I shall keep me to the matter and method I have begun in giving you the evidence of divine Reason the authority of sacred Scripture and the consent of the Universal Church Remembring that sure rule of St. Austines Aug. de Trin. l 4 c. 6. Contra rationem nemo sobrius contra Scripturam nemo Christianus contra Ecclesiam nemo pacificus senserit No man that is a sober man will oppose reasons evidence no man that is a
have the conformity of the Universal Church and I know not what more can be required 1. As for the Apostles practice we can have no surer testimony then St. Pauls Argument 1 Cor. 7.14 Therefore are your children holy Holy in a known and common account of the Church which could be none other then that of Church Communion admitted thereunto by Baptism For observe This of the children being holy the Apostle makes a convincing argument That the unbelieving Parent is sanctified by the believing Wherefore this of the childrens holiness must be a known holiness otherwise the Apostles argument were no argument And whereby was the childrens holiness known but in order to Church Communion Into which Communion there is no known entrance and visible admission but by Baptism 2. Pass we from the Scriptures and consult we the very next ages after the Apostles Orig. l. 5. ad Rom. c. 6. in Luc. Hom. 8. For the usage of the Church And here Origen witnesseth That Traditionem ab Apostolis suscepit etiam parvulis dare Baptismum the Church received a Tradition from the Apostles to give Baptism even to children About the next age after Origen for later he could not be the Author of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite he pleads for Infants Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Eccles Hier. c. 7. as being of those things which the divine Ministers the Apostles from the beginning had delivered down to the Church I might give you the testimony of those first Fathers and Doctors both of the Greek and Latin Churches Irenaeus Tertullian Nazianzen Basil and others but we will insist awhile upon two Testimonies most full and convincing the one of St. Cyprian the other of St. Augustine Cypr. Epist ad Fid. Presbyt That of St. Cyprian we have in his Epistle to Fidus the Presbyter who propounds the Question Whether Infants might be baptized before the Eighth day urging the Instance and Analogy of Circumcision Cyprian gives his own judgment and that of a Council of Sixty six Bishops for the resolution resolving That Baptism be not deferred any long time and yet not confined to any certain time and if necessity required That there be a present Administration Now St. Cyprian lived within few years more then a hundred of St. John so that he and a Council of Sixty six Bishops could not be ignorant of what was the Apostolical practise as to Infants Baptism seeing some of their Fathers and many of their Grandfathers in all probability yea without all doubt did live in the Apostles times and were baptized by some Apostolical hands Now as for the testimony of St. Augustine it is of the more credit and esteem being spoken against his profest Adversaries the Pelagians who wanted neither wit nor will to have retorted the Error if he had not delivered the truth when he sayes of them Aug. de peccâ—t mer. rem l. 1. Parvulos Baptizandos esse concedunt qui contra authoritatem Universae Ecclesiae proeuldubio per Dominum Apostolos traditam venire non possunt They grant children ought to be baptized because they cannot go against the Authority of the Universal Church without all doubt delivered by Christ and his Apostles The Non-Baptism of Infants had been a strong argument for Pelagianism as their Baptism was an invincible argument against it so that either to defend themselves or offend the Orthodox certainly the Pelagians would have denied Infants Baptism had they not well known the practise of the Universal Church was warranted by the Authority of Christ and the Ministry of his holy Apostles I might yet further enlarge and give you infinite Testimonies for Infants Baptism as to the constant practise of the Universal Church for above these One thousand six hundred years that of the Prophet being perfectly fulfilled Isa 49.22 That God having lift up his hand to the Gentiles and set up a standard to the people they have brought unto the Church her sons in their arms she having few Members of her Communion but who were admitted in their Infant-Baptism So that certainly our Saviour was so far from excluding Infants that he chiefly intended them in the commission and instructions he gives his Apostles and in them all the Ministers of his Church saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go ye disciple all Nations baptising them c. Having given you the original and use of Baptism we proceed to the benefits and effects thereof all applicatory to Infants Know then the Sacraments are no empty and bare signs to signifie but they are sacred and moral Instruments to convey real and effectual Seals to confirm yea gracious and Evangelical pledges to assure For so we are catechised by the Church if we have not forgot our Church-Catechism in which we have this most clear most full definition of a Sacrament That it is an outward visible sign of an inward invisible grace which grace is given and which sign is ordained ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive that grace and a pledge to assure us thereof So that in Baptism then where the subject and person baptized does not ponere obicem put a bar and hinderance as the School speaks from St. Augustine as of Infants we are assured they do not In their Baptism then as the Water gives the outward sign so the Spirit gives the inward grace and when the Minister pronounceth saying I baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost then is the power and vertue of the Blessed Trinity present to justifie and to sanctifie to cleanse and renew the inward man as sure as the Sacramental Water is present to sprinkle and to wash to cleanse and to purifie the outward man And now that the Sacraments are thus effectual is not by any natural causality or physical operation in themselves but by vertue of the gracious promise and voluntary institution of Christ whose Spirit still accompanies his Word to the quickning sanctifying and saving of his Church and chosen Tert. de Bapt. c. 8. Very aptly then does Tertullian call the waters Pristinam sedem Spiritus Sancti the ancient Seat of the Holy Ghost by whose quickning power they become prolifical both in nature and in grace For that the renovation of the Church was typified in the Creation of the World as in the Creation The Spirit moved upon the waters Gen. 1.2 and by a quickning power did produce the living Creatures so now in the renovation the Spirit moves upon the waters still in that by a quickning power of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we are renewed by Baptism that Laver of Regeneration to become an holy and heavenly Off-spring alive unto God in Christ Jesus St. Cyril of Jerusalem calls Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Antitype of Christs sufferings the Water indeed that represents the Image of Death receiving the