chiefly because unto them were commited the oracles of God This the Lord himself declares to be one of their singular Prerogatives Deut. 4.8 And what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day Psal 147.19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his statutes and judgements unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any nation as for his judgements they have not known them Therefore from the sense of this wonderful Blessing the Psalmist cries out Praise ye the Lord. To have the custody of Gods Ordinances and the use of them the Word Sacraments Worship Ministry Pastors after Gods own Heart and all the Service of God Who can express or declare how happy the People are that have such Depositions and are so distinguish'd and magnify'd as to have the Means of Grace in and by which they may come to know and learn the Mind of God to have Ordinances wherein they may draw nigh to God to have a Membership and visible Standing in that Society where Salvation is ordinarily dispensed John 4.22 For salvation is of the Jews There were the Means and no where else not among the Samaritans hence the Law was called the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob Deut. 33.4 Certainly those that understand in any competent measure the Excellency of this Priviledge cannot but adore and admire God in it and magnifie his Name for it 2. Such that be but outwardly in covenant are part of and go to make up the Vineyard of the Lord they be planted in the Lords Vineyard they be part of the Garden of the Lord hedg'd in and separated from the rest of the World and God doth own them to be so It is no small benefit to be within the Pale of the Church and to have a fix'd Standing in Zion Isa 5.7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant 3. They have the Proposals and the Offers of the highest Mercy they live under the Overtures of the richest Grace they be in the Kingdom and are the Children of the Kingdom therefore have the highest Tenders and the choicest Invitations to the best of Mercies They are in the Kingdom and Salvation is nigh unto them the Bosom and the Arms of Grace and Love are always before their Eyes and ready to receive and embrace them After the Days of the Messiah the Jews being in covenant with God their happy Estate was not to be overlook'd but to be honourably respected therefore they had the first offer of Life and Salvation by Christ after his Ascension So it was in Acts 2. and in other places Acts 3.25 26. Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities They were yet in covenant and the Lords Vineyard and had this precious Tender of Christ and Salvation by him sent unto them to bring them to Faith and Repentance before it was sent unto the poor out-cast Gentiles Acts 13.46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said It was necessary that the word of God should have first been spoken unto you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the Gentiles Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles did not betake himself to them till his Embassy was rejected by the Jews unto whom he was to make his Application Our gracious Lord when he gave Commission to his Apostles to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins in his Name directed that they should begin at Jerusalem Oh! how was his Heart upon his Covenant-people and how unwilling was he that their Covenant-State should expire therefore he waited upon them to the utmost period of the time set for the Patience of God to attend them Oh! Go said he break up and execute your Commission in that bloody City see if they will Repent and Believe that I may not lay them wast The Jews as is well observed by one had a double Priviledge before Christ came they were Soli they were alone they were the only Church and People of the Lord and inclosed from all the Nations of the World there was a Partition-wall erected between them and the spurious part of the World And at the Ascension of Christ and the Tenders and Exhibitions of the Grace of Life and Salvation they were Primi they had the first Effort of Mercy sent and directed unto them 4. Such have their dwelling and residence where the gracious and peculiar Presence of the Lord is to be enjoy'd such have an Habitation where God hath fixt his Throne of Grace and where are his delightful Walks the gracious presence of the Lord is with his Church and People those that are his Covenant-Ones they have the Signs and the Symbols of his residence in the midst of them His general Presence by a glorious Extension diffuseth and disposeth it self every where but This is the alone Happiness of his select People to enjoy Deut. 4.7 For what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them Great because nigh Psal 76.1 2. In Judah is God known his name is great in Israel In Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling-place in Zion Viz. His peculiar place of residence Rev. 21.3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God Where the Tabernacle of God is himself is and there he will dwell How happy are they that dwell where God in a distinct manner doth dwell And this is the Happiness of all those that dwell within the Bounds of the Covenant 5. Those that be in covenant and are Members of the Church are always comprehended in and have the benefit of having a share in the Prayers that are continually ascending up unto God for all Israel As it is the Duty of every sincere and true Believer to make Supplications for himself and to offer up this Sacrifice to God with the publick Assembly so to be sure to be very mindful of Zion and to be very importunate with the Lord for all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Psal 122.6 7. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces There is a continual Cloud of Prayers going up to Heaven for those that are the Lords Inclosure for all that are the Dwellers therein every one that is internally in covenant will be sure to pray for all that are any way in Federal Relation to God Psal 137.5 6. If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my
them off then draw them on let any impartial person judge Was this a probable way to comfort and support these self-condemned finners to deliver such a heavy message unto them as to wrest from out of their bosoms and to rend all their Children out of the Covenant of grace and turn them into the herd of those that are afar off that were out of Covenant without God and having remaining in that condition no hope in the world Eph. 2.12 This would be but to add affliction to the afflicted and to cast a wonderful stumbling Block in the way of these Jews But the true and sound Interpretation gives them choice relief and removes all impediments out of their way leaving them no remora to obstruct or retard the Apostles exhortation unto them The Promise is already to you and to your Children as you are Jews which Promise shall be confirmed to you and your Children if you now believe I the Apostle that he might give them the highest incouragements tells them furthermore that the Promise shall be extended to those that are afar off even to so many as the Lord in any part of the world shall call and they and their Children shall partake of the Covenant made with them Here is the full breast of the Gospel laid open for to hang upon to suck and be satisfied here is the fountain opened and not only the Parents but the Children also invited unto it It is a good observation that a learned Man here observes saith he hic enim Judaei aliis praeferuntur quia sunt velut primogeniti in Dei familia imo singulari privilegio Segregati tunc erant a reliquis omnibus ergo legitimum ordinem Petrus observat quin Judaeis assignat priores honoris partes Quod illis filios adjungit pendet ex verbis promissionis Ero Deus tuus et seminis tui post te Gen. 17.17 Having spoke thus much to clear up my way for a Doctrine I come to propound that great truth that is obviously comprehended in this text for our comfort and improvement There be indeed two eminet doctrines in the text I shall name both but fix only upon one First Doctrine That the Children of believing Parents as such are taken into Covenant with God with their Parents Second Doctrine the Covenant being made with Believers and their Children is a very great obligation and inducement to repent and to accept of the new Administration of the Covenant This the Apostle doth strongly and aptly urge upon the convinced Jews unto this great duty But I shall not stand upon this truth my business is with the other This is the Doctrine I would by the help of God treat of That the Children of believing Parents as such are taken into Covenant with their Parents This the Apostle positively and comfortably asserts the Covenant of Promise that is to the Parent is also to the children they be both involved in one and the same gracious Covenant God doth not take in the Parent and exclude the child but he admits both into this blessed holding by the golden rod of his grace This inheritance hath a grant with an irrepealable Intaile upon the Seed and off-spring Believers and their Seed are in the Covenant of grace with God by this the Child holds in capite from him from whom he doth descend This is a Doctrine that is violently opposed by those that venture something boldly to contract and restrain the Covenant into a narrower compass than ever the Grace of God in constituting of it intended by turning what they can covenanted Infants into the same miserable Wild Field with the Seed of Infidels and Pagans But this is very plain to every Eye that will observe the Scriptures that when ever the Lord was pleased to enter into a Covenant of Grace with the Parents he did also with the Children Gen. 12.1 2 3. Now the Lord said unto Abram Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy fathers house into a land that I shall shew thee 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 them that curse thee and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed Gen. 17.7 And I will establish my covenant betwixt 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 This is not to last for a time or for an Age only but for ever even to the utmost point of time until the Mediator in whose hands this Covenant is shall perfectly accomplish his Work Ver. 19. And God said Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed and thou shalt call his name Isaac and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him Acts 3.25 Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy seed shall all the children of the earth be blessed viz. All Nations here we see He was not to be a Covenant-Father only to the Nation of the Jews but also to those of the Gentiles all of them that should be called and converted unto God by the preaching of the Gospel they were to be impaled in Abraham's Covenant and he was to be their Father Rom. 11.17 And if some of the branches be broken off and thou being a wild olive-tree wert graffed in among them and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive-tree Here must be a graffing in suitable to the casting out or breaking off that cannot be unless the Gentiles and their Children their Spriggs be graffed in as the Jews and their Children were broken off Gal. 3.14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit Viz. The Blessing of Abraham in his Covenant might through Christ be brought over unto the Gentiles The Lord Jesus was the great Seed of the Covenant and the Mediator of it and through the offusion of his Blood this Covenant is conferred upon the Gentiles according to many Evangelical Promises made before the Actual Exhibition and Incarnation of the Son of God our Emmanuel God with us These are a few of that Cloud of Witnesses that might have been brought to prove this Doctrine let them suffice for the present many more will occur in our Discourse In the handling of this Point I would do these things I. Open the Doctrine something more II. Lay down the Demonstrations of it to prove it III. Give some Reasons of it IV. Make a little suitable Vse of it The First General Particular The opening the Doctrine To do this I shall propound some Questions and give the Answers unto them This may tend very much to clear up
rested upon I shall here lay down Two Positions that shall conclude this present Matter in hand 1. That as God by the Election of Grace doth make the distinction among the Natural Seed of Covenanters with God accordingly is their Childrens participation of the Promise The Elect have the Promise in the extent the other in the external part only which in it self is a Priviledge and a great Advantage There might have been given great Instances of this in Abraham's Family and others but I forbear and shall not need to stand upon it There is the Elect Isaac the Covenant was establisht with him in all its Spiritual and External parts and Ishmael the Son of a Bond-woman in covenant and must be circumcised too and participate of the Seal and become a great Nation and have a Standing till his time come to be cast out 2. That there is great ground and very good foundation for a Parent in covenant with God to pray and to hope for the accomplishment of the Covenant in the extent of it Pious Parents in covenant with God should labour to lay hold upon the gracious Promises thereof and put them daily in suit at the Throne of Grace pleading of them for their poor Children with God Ay and this should be done with a great deal of hope and that partly because the Purpose of God is secret and not to be the Rule of our Covenant-Duties and the Promise is open in the full and ample Extent of it and also because Gods gracious Promise is so full copious and comprehensive as to be the God of the Seed of those Parents he hath highly gratified and graced in taking them into covenant with himself which Faith ought in the largest sence to take hold upon and swallow down and to be warmly and comfortably exercised about the inward spiritual and eternal Blessings of the Covenant for Children But somewhat more of this if the Lord please in the Use of this Doctrine Thus much for the first General Thing Viz. The opening of this Point Now we come unto the II. General Head proposed in my Method which is to offer some Demonstrations to Evince the Truth of my Doctrine and so we shall insist upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this Great Truth 1. This hath ever been Gods way in covenanting with his People this way God hath observed ever since the Fall yea this was the way that he took in the first Covenant that ever was concluded between him and Man viz. The Covenant of Works that he made with Adam in innocency in his perfect State Adam and all his Posterity were strictly included in that Covenant so that as it fared with him it was to be with all that were to descend from his Loyns or all his Seed he falling all fell in him and with him Upon his Fall the blessed Covenant of Grace that was eternally provided through Christ the great Channel of the Grace of God took place and was published with Gods own Lips Gen. 3.15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel Here we have the Seed immediately comprehended this I take to be the very same Covenant for substance that was made and more fully explicated confirmed and established with Abraham where was the first emanation and springing forth of the inexhaustible Fountain of Grace through a Covenant for apostate and trembling Adam who was capable of no other Covenant in that his miserable State It was only naked and pure Grace that could support him from sinking into eternal desperation and destruction Ever since the Fall of Man God hath been pleased to gather a Church and People to himself by covenant and he evermore hath taken in the Children with the Parents when ever he hath made a Covenant with a Family with a People and with a Nation he never excluded and shut out the Children and Seed accounting the Children to be of that Family People or Kingdom This might be abundantly proved were it needful We have fully seen it in the Lords covenanting with Abraham taking in all his Natural Seed with him a famous and obvious Instance hereof we have in Deut. 29.9 10 11 12. One would think that this should for ever silence the Opposers of this Truth Here we have the Adult and all their Little Ones standing before the Lord to enter into covenant with him the Little Ones were confederate with their Parents and entered into covenant in and with them thus when the Covenant was carried over to the Gentiles Children were still involved as in our Text Acts 2.39 For the promise is to you and your children And so it shall be unto all that are afar off when they shall be called and brought home unto God they shall come with their Children with them and enter into covenant with the Lord Rom. 11.17 19. If here Children of the Gentiles be not taken into the Covenant with the Jews in the place of those that were broken off then there would be no Analogy or Proportion between the rejection of one and the acceptation of the other 2. Demonst This hath been Gods way in his conveying all saving Good unto the Elect this is Gods ordinary way of communicating unto the Salvation of the Infants of Believers they being actually in the Visible Church and in covenant with God out of which ordinarily no Salvation can be expected and hoped for All the Promises that be made to Infants of any Spiritual Blessing conducting to their Eternal Happiness are lodged in the Covenant and the Promises are the Instruments of the Spirit of God in its great Covenant-work of distilling and infusing Grace into the Hearts of the Elect dying Infants Even before the World began God ordained and instituted all Good to be conveyed to us in a way and by vertue of a Covenant therefore 't is called the everlasting covenant and the everlasting gospel Heb. 13.20 Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant Rev. 14.6 And I saw another angel flie in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people This everlasting gospel I think may here be though not exclusively yet eminently meant the Everlasting Covenant of Grace through which in the preaching of it is transmitted all saving Good to all the Elect in all the Nations Kingdoms Kindreds and Languages in the World Nay Christ himself that unspeakable Gift is all the Elects both Infants and Adult in a way of a Covenant Isa 42.6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people and for a light of the Gentiles His Blood is the Blood of the
them to be bastards they would not have them to be the product and Children of harlots and whoremongers but they indeavuor to make them the Children of the Devil they cannot be the Members of the Body of Christ if not in Covenant because all that are his he receives them by injoys them in and communicates to them through a Covenant Doth he pardon them Doth he Adopt them Doth he sanctifie them Doth he preserve them All is through a blessed Covenant without which they must be plung'd into a miserable condition God is not their God and Father Christ is not their Redeemer and Advocate they be remote and far distant from God they be in the Tents of the Egyptians of the Synagogue of Satan and his Children if they be not in the Covenant of Grace they cannot be in the Kingdom of God but must be in the Kingdom of Satan the God of the World and the Prince of Darkness that rules in the Hearts of the Children of Disobedience Until the converted Ephesians were called out of Sin they were without the Covenant and without a Promise yea without God and Christ and all hope in the World both for themselves and Children also 5. This takes from and defeats godly Parents of all ground of hope concerning the Eternal Happiness of their dying Babes Children and Little Ones A Pagan an Infidel may by this Doctrine have as good a Foundation to build their Hopes of Happiness upon as to their deceased Little Ones as the most holy Saints of God in the World For what is that which can give any one great hopes of another but a visible Covenant-State where all Salvation is lodg'd and founded To turn Infants out of the Covenant and to make them Strangers thereby to all the salvificable Promises thereof is the way to leave them no hope nor their Parents for them I wonder what hopes in an ordinary manner and we must not build upon extraordinary things they can have concerning their Departed Infants who before they were dismist out of the World were by them dismist out of the Covenant For my part I do comfortably profess that the hopes that I have of the Salvation of my dear Young Ones that are out of the Body is purely built upon the Grace of God in this Covenant which I would not be without for Ten Thousand Worlds Oh! Christians Christians let not this Hold of Mercy go as ever you would incourage your selves to hope that your dear Expired Babes are in the Bosom of Christ 6. And by consequence according to this Doctrine of our Adversaries we can have no hope of seeing our buried Infants again in comfort when we dye or at the Blessed Coming and the Glorious Appearance of the Lord Jesus in the last and ultimate Day What hopes can we have that our deceased Infants are fallen asleep in the Arms of Christ and that he will bring them again with him and you shall enjoy them eternally If they be not inclosed and intrencht in the Covenant of Grace vain are the hopes of all in this matter without it But whereas the Lord in covenant hath in a most gracious manner proclaim'd himself thus I am the God of Abraham of Isaac and Jacob and of their Seed for ever this is sufficient ground to comfort our selves that we shall have a blessed fresh View and a glorious Enjoyment of our little absent Ones and that for ever There can be no ground of a happy Resurrection to Eternal Life for our selves or Infants but by and through a Covenant without this Parents can have no warrantable nor comfortable expectation of seeing their Infants at the Right hand of Christ in the Great Day but on the Left among them that were never in covenant but lived and died afar off from Christ and so without all hope What can we expect to hear of our Little Ones when Christ shall judge the World in Righteousness if they be then found without the Pale of the Covenant but a formidable though a righteous Doom pronounced against them to inhabit the Flames of Eternal Burnings Thus I have insisted upon some of the gross Absurdities that do fall in with their cruel and unwarrantable turning the Children of Believers out of the Blessed Covenant of Abraham the Father of us all I wish that all that have heard me may seriously and impartially without all prejudice ponder upon these things I perswade my self did but Christians throughly consider these Matters it would not be that many durst be so prompt and bold to disfranchise Infants of this Covenant Charter as they are Many make nothing to make Breaches upon the Lords gracious Inclosure that they may turn the Lambs forth into the Herds of the Goats and Wolves Thus I have done with the Second General Head propounded to be observed in the Method of this my Discourse and so I proceed III. To the Third General Head the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of this Matter which is to give some Reasons to shew why it is so why the Lord doth take Insants into covenant with their Parents Many good Reasons might be given for this But I have been large upon the immediate preceding Head that was in this Controversie chiefly to be insisted upon insomuch that I design much brevity in this but however I judge it very suitable to give you a few Reasons of this good and precious Point of Gospel Truth 1. Reason Shall be taken from the Rich and abundant Grace of God that is the inward moving Cause of all this Covenant is all of pure Grace and it is a great Birth from the Infinite Womb of Grace Here is an unconceivable Instance of the Riches of the Grace of God to Sinners Oh! what but unsearchable Grace did the Lord manifest in calling Abraham out of an idolatrous place and Nation and to establish his Covenant with him and his Seed for ever and make him to be the Father of many Nations Kindreds and Tongues Away with that pitiful Notion of a Covenant of Works and outward Blessings made with Abraham and his Seed in Gen. 17. whereas the very Tenor of that Covenant representeth it to be a Sparkling Constellation of the Shining Refulgency of the Grace of God The God of Grace takes whom he will and impales in this Covenant first he was pleas'd to take the Jews into it and leave out all the World besides to enter into covenant with them and to be their God then Grace took the Gentiles in among the Jews and into the place from which some through unbelief were broken off Rom. 11.17 The casting away of some of the Jews was the reconciling of the World God would shew his Goodness and his Severity to whom he pleased and who can say unto him What dost thou he gives no account of his matters Job 33.13 Grace hath accepted of the Gentiles and of their Seed to be holy under the Administration of the Gospel Is Grace less abounding giving out
80.15 Isa 5.1 7. Matth 21.33 Cant. 4.12 16. and 5.1 and 6.2 11. now we know that those that have the care of Orchards Vineyards and Gardens one principal thing that they have in their eye and endeavour is a succession either of Trees Plants Herbs or Flowers therefore they have their Nurseries and their Seeds Oh! so it is here the great God that takes care of his Orchard Vineyard or Garden hath a curious regard of and respect to a constant succession and the Infants and Children of his inclosed and impal'd Covenant ones are his Nursery and his Seed to secure a perpetual supply for all vacancies that frequently by Death are incident to his Church and Kingdom though the Lord doth not so confine himself but that he doth sometimes take a wild Plant and set in his Garden such a one as he may find in the Wilderness or Forest of the World but we speak of his usual way of provision in this matter and because of this Parents in Covenant with the Lord must be careful in their educating and admonishing of their Children which are the Lords Nursery that they may be a visible and hopeful provision for a succession in the Church of God For this very end they ought to have a singular respect unto and a careful and diligent complyance with that holy command Eph. 6.4 And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath buâ— bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Thus they must endeavour to do that and when they shall have finisht their work and course in the World that then their Children may stand up in their room and place as the immediate successors to them in the Church in the work and service of the Lord in their Generation So much for the Third General Head propounded in my Discourse and for the Doctrinal part of it now we approach unto the Use of this Point which is the last thing I promised and propounded in this matter IV. The Fourth General Thing to conclude this Point is to make some useful improvement of it by way of Application I did not neither do I intend to be large in this particular only I thought it was pity that such a Truth should be wholly overlook'd without some though but little Application 1. Vse By way of Information This Doctrine doth inform us of many precious Truths it is a Field out of which we may gather most rare and excellent Flowers it is a full Fountain from whence doth issue variety of Streams Some of those things that may be deduced and inferred from it I shall set before you 1. This doth inform us of the exceeding Riches of the Grace of God both as to Believers and their Seed The Grace of God hath alwayes been exprest in a Covenant way here is Grace abounding and running over to Parents those that God hath taken into Covenant with himself here it is intended to all sorts and degrees of the Children of Men here is help to the poor helpless Infant even to him that sucketh upon the breast and a ground of hope administered to tender and concerned Parents to their dying Little Ones In this Covenant is lodged a blessed plethory of Grace a full provision made for the smallest as well as for the greatest not only for electing but for calling justifying and sanctifying Mercies here is that which is sufficient to supply the least twig with liquor to fill all sorts of vessels There was a fullness of Oyl poured out in a Covenant way upon the head of our great High Priest that ran down and extended it self to the uttermost skirts of the garments Psal 133.2 It was of wonderful Grace that God was pleased to single out Abraham to establish his Covenant with and that it might appear in its clearest beauty and be most transparent it did comprehend his Seed for ever So in our Text when the Apostle would give his awakened and almost succumbing Hearers the most suitable and supporting relief he opens the bosom of Grace in the Covenant extent of it telling them The promise is to them and their children 2. This doth instruct us into the high honour that the Lord is pleased to confer upon his People It was not only an Act of Grace but also of Honour that God was pleased to admit Abraham unto when he took him and his Seed into this Covenant with him This is that which made the Nation of the Jews so honourable as it was above all the Nations of the World besides they and theirs were the Lords inclosure and Covenant People and so were discriminated and distinguished from all the rest of the World I may allude to that place Psal 149.9 This honour have all the saints praise ye the Lord. Oh I Christians you that do injoy this high preferment though you have never so small a proportion of the matters of the World yet God hath gratified you with greater honour than if your Families had appertained to Crowned Heads and Sceptred Hands Ezek. 16.8 And I entered into covenant with thee saith the Lord God Then did the Lord deck her with all manner of rich and noble Ornaments and ver 14. it is said Thy renown went forth among the heathens for thy beauty was perfect through my comeliness which I put upon thee 3. This doth inform us of the great mistake of those that deny the Children of Believers as such to have any interest in the Covenant of Grace This is the Doctrine of our Friends the Anabaptists but we have I hope sufficiently proved that God is so gracious as to take them into Covenant with their Parents They be not left out till they be so adult as to make profession of their Faith Repentance and Obedience and until then to be looked upon as the miserable off-spring of Heathens Infidels and Pagans They that oppose this Truth shut out the Natural and talk of a Spiritual Seed and so out of a pretence to magnifie the Grace of God they do greatly eclipse and restrain it I might have insisted upon the many evils and the dangers of this but I must not inlarge or distinctly stand upon particulars I might have told you and proved 1. That our Adversaries herein make another Covenant than what the Lord hath made a Covenant of Grace excluding all the Children of those that are taken into it It would be easie to shew that from the Lords making of a Covenant at first and so all along both in the Old and New Testament he never made one leaving out of the Children 2. That by this means there is very great and apparent wrong done unto the Infant Children which are the Seed and Embryo of the Church of God It 's sad for those that take upon them the power and exercise of the Keyes to exclude and shut them all out together Into what a miserable state and condition must they be east into Our great Champion and Challenger hath laboured extreamly
Spirit When our Lord and Saviour was in the Flesh he had much to do with such Jews that boasted themselves of their outward Priviledges which were great but neglected the internal part of the Covenant which he did caution them against but did not shut them out of the Covenant but left them as he found them This I know is a distinction though never so solid and sound yet the Anabaptists will not take it down Notwithstanding I know not how they themselves can subsist without it in their Covenant-way They take into the Covenant and affix the Seal of the Covenant to those that be Adult profess their Faith in and Obedience to Christ and their repentance and renouncing their Infant-baptism if they have had any I but here is the Question Are all that do so internally and savingly in covenant with the Lord Dare they be so bold as to say so If they dare I shall offer two things unto them 1. This is against the plain and evident Truth of the Word of God Is not the Visible Church otherwise represented in the Scriptures unto us what are all their Israel of the peculiar Seed of Isaac Is this agreeable to the Parables of the Tares of the Net of the Wedding of the Virgins and of the variety of the Vessels in the Church Visible and in the House of God These things are so well known to all that read and consider what they read that I need not stand upon them The Lord Jesus in his little Church and Family had one Devil They be happy Churches indeed in whom there are no Hypocrites and from which never any do fall off and prove Apostates Oh how many out of the purest Churches shall encrease the number of the Damn'd 2. This is against too great experiences How many have we seen to turn out of the way of Truth into Errour Many that after they have seemed to be washt from their Sins and have escaped the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust by the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are again intangled and turn'd with the Dog unto the Vomit 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. How many be there that the unclean Spirit doth but go out of and after returns again and takes a greater possession than ever So that the last end is worse than the beginning Mat. 12.43 44 45. Let me apply my self unto you my Brethren of the Anabaptist Perswasion Have you no Revolters among you None that fall from Truth to Errour from Strictness to Looseness from an outward holy Conversation to Profaneness Have you never any occasion to exert your Authority in Excommunication Have you never any rotten Members to cut off I am misinformed if my good Neighbour be not something good and frequent at this Work after he hath laid his Hands upon his Converts and rebaptized Proselytes no wonder when we consider his numerous and easie Admissions But what I do speak of one that is but the Head of an overgrown Schisme his Church as it is called declared to be so not only by Congegrational but also by Anabaptistical Elders When the Anti-paedobaptists admit any to the Seals of Church and Covenant-Fellowship is it not possible that some false Brethren may creep in unawares Jude 4. Some Wolves get into Sheeps-cloathing and they be lookt upon to be the covenant-People of God this is undeniable and their revolt proves themselves to have none of the saving special Gifts and Graces of the same but at best were only externally in covenant You will not pretend to put Seals to Blanks but you will say They did appear to us to be so and so and to be in the Covenant of Grace For my part I must say though I desire to be very careful in my Admissions yet I have as great a hope and as much confidence about the Salvation of Infants in covenant with God dying in their Infancy as I have in any that I do admit Here I may retoâ—â—… upon my Brethren because many of your Members that you have taken into covenant unto whom you have affixed the Seal do fall off Do you hold falling from Grace So that this may be as well objected against you in your Adult Persons as against us in our Infants 4. Quest If it be granted That Children with their Parents be taken into covenant even the natural Seed of believing Parents yet you say they are but External Priviledges and Benefits that many of them do partake of and a great number of them fall short of the Spiritual and Eternal Advantages of the same Therefore what do they obtain thereby seeing he is not a Jew that is one outwardly c. What profit did Cain reap by being circumcised or Ishmael For as the Apostle saith circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law but if thou be a breaker of the law thy circumcision is made uncircumcision Rom. 2.25 Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised Isa 9.25 Answ They have great Advantages more than others have that are not so much as externally in covenant I will refer you to the Apostle who propounded and answered this Question for us Rom. 3.1 2 c. He had said in the close of the Chapter before to cut off the vain confidence of those that did securely repose themselves in their External Priviledges that he was not a Jew that was one outwardly c. He was very sensible what Objection some would make at that time therefore he propounds this Question and returns a free Answer What advantage then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision I Answer with the Apostle first generally Much every way and then particularly chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God c. Thus say some You stand stifly to this that Children be in covenant with their Parents and God hath taken them into covenant with them but what are they the better for it What advantage doth accrue unto them from thence I Answer Much every way Methinks the Spirit of God foreseeing how the Covenant and the Infant-right in it would be infringed and invaded in the Times of the Gospel did inspire the Apostle here to contradict and oppose those bold Usurpers that should attempt to make Breaches upon the Lords sacred Inclosure I could shew in many particulars the wonderful advantage that those have that are but externally in covenant above those that are not and what an inestimable Favour and Blessing it is to be within the Pale of the Covenant I shall mention some of the chief Priviledges that such do enjoy 1. They have the Excellent Oracles of God reposited among them and committed unto them this was the Priviledge of the Jews in propatulo and their great advantage which did distinguish them from the rest of the World and represented them to all Nations to be a peculiarly happy and dignified People Rom. 3.2 Much every way