Prodigy to me that any should Assert that the Covenant that God made with Abraham was a Covenant of Works and yet Circumcision was the Seal of it for so it is expresly commanded of God to be as we have seen Did we ever read of this Seal amx'd to the Covenant of Works No in the perfect state that Man was in when God enter'd into a Covenant of Works there was no need of nor occasion for this Sacrament or Seal Let us but a little consider the Uses and Words of this Seal and we may see that that must be a Covenant of Grace to which it is affix'd as a Seal for either it holds forth our need of Grace or the merciful provision of Grace prepared for us I shall only mention a very few Particulars 1. This doth intimate unto us that vile polluted State of Sin that we were conceived and transmitted into the World in This may give us the knowledge of our undone State by Nature how God may loath and abhor us for ever The cutting off of the Fore-skin of the Flesh discovers the filthiness of our Flesh and how by Sin we have forfeited our selves and all into the hands of Justice that we be filthy and guilty Sinners 2. This sets forth the gracious Purposes and Intentions of a merciful God to wash and to cleanse and to sanctifie us by his Grace and by the Blood of Sprinkling The Blood that did follow the circumcising Instrument did clearly signifie that therefore cleansing and sanctification are set forth by Spiritual Circumcision When God doth graciously promise to wash and to sanctifie he doth promise to circumcise the Heart Deut. 30.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul that thou mayst live Col. 2.11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ viz. By the Sanctification of the Blood and Spirit of Christ Phil. 3.3 For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit We have the inward Spiritual Circumcision of the Heart which was graciously signified by that Seal of the Grace of God belonging to that Covenant of Grace the Lord was pleas'd to make with Abraham and his Seed 3. To denote and set forth the need we have of the Blood of Christ to justifie us and that God would justifie us through his Blood And this Abraham had a special eye unto and his Faith was firmly fix'd upon after God had made this Covenant with him and his Seed and fix'd this significant Seal unto it This might be evidenced by many Scriptures Rom. 14.1 2. In many Verses in that Chapter therefore it is that Circumcision is called a seal of the righteousness of faith of that righteousness that is apprehended received and applied by faith certainly then that Covenant that hath such a significant gracious Seal added unto it can be nothing less or else than a Covenant of Grace 7. Reason To prove that this was a Covenant of Grace may be the great Result and Period of it which is no less than Heaven this is obviously implied in the comprehensiveness of this Promise we have here Gen. 17.7 I will be a God unto thee and unto thy seed after thee I will be a God unto thee and all thine Elect Seed for ever I will be a God to love thee to provide for thee to be with thee and with my self eternally to reward thee How vain and frivolous is our Challenger in Asserting that this Covenant made with Abraham was not a Covenant of Grace Because the great Promises of it were outward Blessings and the greatest of all was the Land of Promise Canaan What is not that a greater Promise for God to promise himself to be a God to Abraham and his Seed Is not an Infinitely Glorious and Blessed God better than Canaan than all the Canaans and Paradises in the World yea than thousands of Worlds But further to see the ignorance of this Man in the Scripture and in such Expressions which denote a higher good intended by God than what they themselves may import as this Promise is explained in the New Testament When God did make the Promise of an Earthly Canaan to Abraham and his Seed he did ultimately intend a better Land than this viz. an Heavenly one when the Lord doth promise this Canaan he doth promise Heaven which this was a Type of the main thing and good that the Lord design'd for his People by this Promise was Heaven and that they should be eternally saved Abraham did so understand it and others of the Fathers and so set their Hearts upon and rais'd up an Expectation of that blessed City and Country that was above that what they had here were but dark Shadows and cloudy Representations of what was to come Heb. 11.10 13 14 15 16. 8. Reason To prove that the Covenant made here with Abraham was a Covenant of Grace is viz. Because of that Obedience the Lord did both require and accept at the hands of Abraham in this Covenant There was Obedience and there was Service that the Lord did command and expected from Abraham this will determine whether this be a Covenant of Works or of Grace If it be a Covenant of Works it requires nothing less than perfect Obedience nothing short of it will or can be accepted therein as it was in the Covenant made with Adam Do this and live I but now here in Abraham's Covenant the Lord doth call for and accept of sincere and upright Obedience as in Gen. 17.1 2. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared to him and said I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect viz. right or sincere And I will make my covenant betwixt me and thee Every one knows that though Abraham for Grace and walking with and obeying God was an excellent Man yet he was not a sinless perfect Man he had the perfection of sincerity but not a sinless perfection such an one as Adam had in Innocency In this Covenant Abraham did walk before God he did please God and he was accepted by God in vertue of this Covenant which could never have been had it not been a Covenant of Grace that had Christ to be the Mediatour of it in whom he believed and found acceptance Thus Beloved I promise my self that I have given you such Reasons to prove that this Covenant was of Grace which the Lord made with Abraham and his Seed for an Everlasting Covenant as cannot well be denied 2. Quest Whether some only or all the Children of Believers are in this Covenant of Grace with their Parents Whether this Covenant doth inclose and impale them all or not Answ All they that are the Seed of the Faithful the Lord takes into this Covenant with their Parents
in this Foederal Mercy not only to wash away the Filth but also to remove the guilt of Sin Pardon of Sin is one of the most desirable Branches of this Covenant there can be no obtaining the pardon of one Sin without it all the Promises of pardon are founded upon the Grace of God and satisfaction made to Divine Justice by the Blood of the Son of God whose Blood is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant I shall not stand to mind you of the many Promises that we have of Remission the Word of God doth abound with them and wheresoever you find any of them you may conclude that they do relate to the Covenant of Grace Now the Covenant-Seed of those that be Believing Parents have a share in those Promises that hold out a Free and Full pardon of Sin Acts 2.38 39. Repent and be baptized every one c. for the remission of sins For the promise is to you and your Seed Viz. That Promise and Covenant that hath made provision for the Remission of your Sin and the Sin of your Children for they had involved their Children into the guilt of their Sin but in the Covenant there is pardon for both Isa 45.24 25. Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness and strength In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and glory The rich Provisions of the Covenant of Grace have laid up for the Justification and Remission for the Seed of Israel 6. Such to whom God is pleased to promise Blessedness theirs is the Promise and the Covenant of Grace But the Children of those that are in covenant are promised Blessedness Such that be under such a Promise as this is have right to be lookt upon to be in the Covenant of Grace In the Covenant of Works there are the terrible Cursings of a Just and Righteously angry God But in the Covenant of Grace there you may hear the Soul-comforting Voice that pronounceth all Blessings yea Blessedness it self and this Blessed Voice is sounded out to the Little Ones of those Parents that are in covenant Psal 37.25 26. I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed shall be blessed What Blessedness is there which is not in and from that Covenant Psal 3.8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord thy blessing is upon thy people Thus I have done with this Demonstration of the Doctrine by which I have endeavoured to shew that the Seed of those that are in covenant must be so because the precious Promises do belong unto them 8. Demonst To Evidence the Truth of this Point those from whom God demands Covenant-Duty and doth challenge the same from them to them the Promise and the Covenant doth appertain The same Covenant that saith You shall be my people saith I will be your God Now the Covenant requires of the Children of Gods People that they be Gods People too therefore they be in covenant Look as the Parents do covenant for their Children in their Infancy so 't is their Duty so soon as may be to counsel and to instruct them as Covenant-children to know to love to fear to serve and obey God These are Covenant-Obligations Those that the Lord is pleased to take into Foederal-relation with himself to be his People it is that they may be found in the constant and persevering discharge of Relative Duties Thou shalt be my people What only to partake of Priviledge No but also to perform Duty Abraham was very sensible of this and therefore did command and oblige all of his what he could to be conversant in all necessary and incumbent Covenant Duties See what observation the Lord did make of him and what a Commendation he fastens upon him Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment All Parents in covenant ought to see to this they are ingag'd in covenant with and for their Children and are under an indispensable Obligation to see that their Children walk and act suitably to the Priviledges and Duties of it God expects a Revenue of Honour from covenant Children therefore he doth command their Parents to bring them up in the Fear and Admonition of the Lord Eph. 6.4 And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thus Timothy was educated and brought up from a little child Children are to be dedicated unto God by the Seal of the Covenant by which they be bound to fear God to serve to obey him to keep his Word and to walk in his Way as Abraham did instruct and command his to do Believers Children must be under Gods discipline bound to Gods Worship kept in Gods Way they be the Lords People Must this be and no Covenant-priviledge belong unto them and be what Pagans and Heathens only be This is the Covenant-Dispensation first Priviledge and then Duty therefore Children that are in covenant with the Lord are called Disciples Acts 15.10 Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples They are in a peculiar manner to be instructed and taught as those from whom God expects early Service 9. Demonst The same Covenant is transferr'd unto the Times of the Gospel since the Actual Exhibition and Ascension of the Messiah the same for Essence and Substance though in the Administration of it it may vary in some circumstances the believing and the covenanted Gentiles stand in the very same Condition by Faith and in the very same Kingdom-state for the Essentials of it out of which the Jews through unbelief were broken and cast off for they were graffed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the place and room of those broken Branches as Beza hath it Rom. 11.17 And it hath its first rise from that seasonable and never-failing Promise Gen. 3.15 which will run through all the Ages of the World wheresoever God hath his Elect by the preaching of the Gospel to call into and to inclose within the limits of the Covenant It was the Saying of a great Man that Adam and Eve when they entred upon a new Covenant bottom were seminally a Visible Church for by them the World as well as the Church as to be built Here when the Lord did reveal his Grace and gracious Covenant he took in the Seed also in the very downing and first day-spring of the Gospel God takes in the Seed of the Woman so afterwards to Abraham and so all along until the Time of the calling of the Gentiles Now in the Times of the Gospel those that be called be the Children of Abraham they and their Seed have a happy admittance into the Covenant of Abraham and are Heirs according to promise and blessed with that ever-living Father The New Testament
Baptized are not tanght of God nor made Disciples of Christ This is directly against the express Word of God Isa 54.13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord Is not this giving God the lye so in saying They be not the Disciples of Christ is also directly opposite to the Word of God Acts 15.10 Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which Disciples are evidently Children Here still you may see what fatal Doctrine this bold Asserter delivereth about poor Infants can they be saved without their being taught of God Though they be not capable of the teaching of Men yet they are of Gods and must be taught of him otherwise I understand not how there can be any possibility of their Salvation Thus I have given you a few hints of many that might be brought out of this Authors Works I think such sanguine sayings as these are about Infants in Covenant with God do loudly call for trembling from me and Repentance from him 8. This Doctrine doth inform us that a great part of the Scripture was written for the good and sake of Children God did greatly design and intend them in the choicest part of his Word The Covenant of Grace doth comprehend the most precious and gracious part of the Word of God though our late Author and my Confuter tells us That they were writ for the Adult and not for the Infants His Reason I suppose is because of their present ignorance This is some of this excellent Divines New Doctrine We may as well say that their Mothers Womb and Breasts that the Heavens and the Earth and all the Elements that Meat Drink and Rayment do not belong unto them that Eating Drinking and Sleeping do not belong unto them But we may ascend a great deal higher if the Scripture was not wrote for their sakes what will become of these poor Creatures for ever Can God can Christ can any special Grace be theirs What are the Scriptures relating to the Covenant the Blood of it and the gracious Promises of Remission Union with Christ Adoption and Sanctification not appertaining to them Were not the Scriptures wrote for their sake when there are so many Directions and Commands abounding concerning their Parents Duty to them in all things and all for the good of them and to demonstrate the great concernedness of a gracious God for them and the value he hath of them Surely if we do but confider what is wrote of Children in the Word we may easily see that God did greatly intend them in writing of it I will name a few places Psal 78.6 That the generation to come might know him even the children which shall be born Psal 127.3 Lo children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward Prov. 20.7 The just man walketh in his integrity his children are blessed after him Deut. 4.37 And because he loved their fathers he chose their seed after them Isa 61.9 Psal 18.50 A multitude of Scriptures might be brought to show how that in many Predictions and Promises and other wayes the Scripture was eminently wrote for the sake of Infants and Children and the Seed of Gods People What doth not those precious Scriptures of Christ taking little children up into his arms and blessing of them appertain unto Children Is it not left upon Divine Record for their sake But that which is beyond all may make us all to be amazed which is this If the Scriptures were not wrote for the sake of Infants what shall we say of all those Blessed Scriptures that were wrote about the Holy Child Jesus of his Conception Birth and Infancy If it be as this bold Asserter would have it then all Scriptures relating to the same must not be the subject matter of our Faith and Hope but all of them should be expunged out of the Word of God or stand upon its record as idle insignificant Stories It is clear that if the Scriptures were not wrote for the sake of Infants then our Lord Jesus Christ must come in for a share in this Doctrine which well may be called the Doctrine of Devils This Man is greatly skilled in propounding such Doctrine that hath a direct tendency to exclude poor Children and Infants out of the Kingdom of God not only out of the Kingdom of Grace here but also the Kingdom of Glory hereafter If the Scripture be not wrote for their sake I know not the Duties that are incumbent upon Parents concerning them neither any hopes of any good here and hereafter can be conceived about them But one would think the very naming of this should be more than sufficient to baffle it and its Author from the stage of his Presumption and Confidence 2. Vse of the Doctrine and all that furthermore I shall make of it shall be of solemn and serious Exhortation and that to those Pious and Godly Parents who are inriched and honoured with this transcendent priviledge of being in Covenant with God they and their Children also As your Mercy is great so those Duties that do refult from hence are very great God hath bestowed much upon you and he doth expect much from you Where much is given from thence much is expected The Lord hath done more for you than he hath for others therefore he doth expect more from you than he doth from others A few of these many Duties that this Covenant and your Interest in it do call for from you I would set before you and exhort you to a diligent observation and practise of 1. Make a great account of the priviledge of this Covenant State esteem it very high tho' some and that too many reproach and trample upon it yet let it be a matter of wonderful valuation with you God hath revealed much unto you if he hath but revealed unto you a right understanding of his Covenant Psal 25.14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his covenant or he will make them to know to understand the Covenant in its Nature and Latitude this is a secret that God reveals All those that enjoy this Blessing had need to esteem it very highly What a blessed entail is here upon your Children Those look upon themselves to be very happy that be the Heirs of great Estates in the World though they have not a present possession yet there is a sure and certain entail upon them and theirs But what is this to the entail of the Covenant and unto the being Heirs to the Promise How glad would some be should they be assured that such a great Lordship was continued to them and their Children Ay but here is the incomparable and for ever to be esteemed dignity viz. The promise is to you and your children Some good Parents when they shall come to dye are like to have but little of the World to leave their Children but this is
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
first-fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches The Root is Abraham and the Fathers and they may be said to be the First-fruits because they were first consecrated to God and the Branches are denominated from the Root Exod. 19.6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation Here the whole Nation was called holy How could it be called so Not because all the Individuals of the Nation were personally holy partaking of a saving Work of Holiness upon their Hearts There were but a few such But because as a Nation the Adult and Children were in covenant with the Lord for the Children were no small part of the Nation We have this very Phrase conferred upon the Christian Church in the Times of the Gospel 1 Pet. 2.9 But ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation a peculiar people Believing Gentiles with their Seed were ingrafted into the same Place from whence the Jews were broken off and are become a holy nation unto God 7. Demonst Those unto whom the Promises of the Covenant are made and do appertain they are in Covenant with the Lord Some time the Covenant is exprest by the Promise as in our Text and the Covenant of Promise the gracious promises of the word are the branches of the Covenant of grace Some do stile the Covenant a Collection or bundle of Promises which God hath bound up and conferred through Christ upon his People unto which there are annext the duties of the Covenant unto the performance Of which there is provision made in the same Covenant of grace and divine assistance But the promises of the Covenant are made to the Children of those that are themselves in Covenant as well as to the parents it seems to be very cruel and irrational to turn those out of the Covenant unto whom are assured the gracious promises of it not only Temporal and external but Spiritual and eternal blessings are promised unto the Children of Believers Those that are the opposers of this truth must first Obliterate all the Promises that are comprehended in the Covenant as the inheritance of the Seed of the Parents that themselves are in Covenant with the Lord. As to any common ordinary rule appointed to us belonging to our duties and hopes concerning our off-spring we have nothing as I know to build upon but Covenant promises What an excellent one is our Text unto pious Parents as to their Children and in this it is founded for the Promise is to you and your Children To illustrate and amplifie this I shall in several particulars shew you some of the Ranks of Covenant-Promises that are extended unto such little Ones that are the undoubted Proprietors of them 1. That great and Capital promise of the Lords being their God this comprehends all the rest and is instar omnium Is not this Promise made to the Seed of Believers wrote in Capital Letters in many places in the word of God This is Gods great record in the Covenant of grace and the great foundation the Church of God is built upon viz. this of Gods promising to be the God of his people and of their Seed in every age and generation of time yea to the end of the World usque ad consummationem omnium unto the compleating and fulfilling of all things Thus the blessed constitution and promulgation of the Covenant hath alwayes run this is wrote with a Noverint universi That which every one under the sound of the Gospel should know and understand yea even those that are but raw and rudely instructed in the very Principles and Rudiments of Religion This gracious promise is the golden Frontis-piece of this Covenant The heart of God was so full of grace and love to the Seed of the faithful that when he called Abraham to establish his Covenant the fountain of his grace did immediately emit this sacred sweet and most refreshing Stream Viz. That I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed and that in all Successions and periods of time unto the utmost bound and period of all read the Scriptures following Gen. 17.7 Jer. 24.7 and 31.33 and 32.38 Ezek. 11.20 and 34.24 31. Chap. 36.28 Chap. 37.27 Mat. 22.27 2 Cor. 6.17 18. These rare promises must be expung'd out of the Book of God before I can unless left by God to fall into error put this Article out of my Creed that the Children of Believers naturally Springing from their Loins are in the Covenant with them I have spoke much already to prove that the Covenant in Gen. 17.7 made unto Abraham did referre to the Covenant of Grace Some may be making of some Query about that because they see what must be the Consequence of granting of it Wherefore I would desire them to return back unto what hath been said upon that Point Only I will add one or two things here 1. In this form run the promises which are acknowledged by all that know any thing of the Gospel-Covenant or Covenant of grace let all the places of Scripture immediately here before mentioned be examined as to the Phrase of them I will be a God to you or your God and you my people which includes Believers and their Seed Now in as much as this in the 17. of Gen. runs in the same Phrase of the Covenant of grace that we see in other places that are allowed to be such we may conclude that such is this also Doctor Ames saith thus against Bellar. Omnia illa quae spectant ad novum foedus eadem phrasi summatim explicantur So that when we are challenged to prove the Covenant with Abraham to be a Covenant of grace and Circumcision to be a Seal of the Covenant of grace Note that in this Point we have to do with our old Adversaries the Papists tho' marching forth under the banner of a People of another Denomination for their Doctrine as to the Covenant made with Abraham in the place mentioned is thus that it was a Covenant of outward blessings this is indeed the Doctrine of the worst of them thus saith Bellar. Legimus Deum promisisse Abrahamo quando illi injunxit Circumcisionem terrena tantùm ad literam i. e. propagationem posteritatis terram palestinae Again Illis verbis ero Deus tuus significat totum promissum peculiaris protectionis Thus we may see that our great disputant doth sweetly lick up the Doctrine of this great Doctor of the Church of Rome tho' to give him his due I believe he is not overmuch versed in him to which Doctor Ames answers Legimus benedictionem illam Abrahamo promissionem fuisse plane eandem cum illâ quâ jam fideles ex gentibus justificabantur Gal. 3. Now when the Holy Ghost testifies in Scripture every where that the Gospel-Covenant runs in that form why should we fall in with the Papists and take their word for it that that is
therefore he takes them both into Covenant with himself Covenant Love is alwayes exprest in the Scriptures to be peculiar Love that God might shew even to the face of all the World that distinct and special Love which out of infinite and special Grace and Favour he had lodg'd in his heart to Abraham and his Seed he was pleased to take them both into Covenant with himself and so they came under a blessed Marriage Bond which doth not only denote a near Relation but also Conjugal Affection God hath a peculiar Love for them will make them his Church and People therefore brings them under a Covenant Bond and Compact and Engagement Deut. 4.37 And because he loved thy fathers therefore he chose their seed after them This hath been the way of the Lord to express his peculiar love that he hath to and care over a People to enter into Covenant with them which is of a distinguishing and of a discriminating nature from the rest of the World and their Seed Ezek. 16.8 I entered into covenant with thee and thou becamest mine Mine and Covenant do alwayes go together 4. Reason Because the Lord may lay a good and sure foundation for the hope comfort and joy of pious Parents concerning their Children God knows how much the hearts of good men are concerned about their little ones the Lord is pleased to bestow upon them how much and how deeply they be taken up in their considerate and studious minds about their Eternal State Religious Parents know what immortal and never dying Souls their Children are inspired withal that must be everlastingly happy or miserable that must live with Saints and Angels or Devils for ever they know not how soon it may please the Lord to demand them back again from them and consign them to an unalterable station they know that they have conveyed and communicated to them a sinful Nature and as they are descended from them they be plunged in the filthy labyrinth of Sin and that they be born under the guilt of Sin by Nature Children of Wrath These and such like matters cannot but oftentimes sink and overwhelm the thoughts of good Parents and occasion pensive meditations about their little ones Now for them to sit down and contemplate what grounds of hope God hath been pleased to give them in relation to the Souls of their Children oh how comfortable is it And they find that all their hopes must center in this blessed Covenant which the Lord hath been graciously pleased to make with Parents and their Children A Covenant abundantly inriched with all Temporal Spiritual and Eternal Blessings and Priviledges which may give full solace and acquiescing content and satisfaction to godly Parents that are thus concerned about their Children There is enough in that promise of the Covenant I will be thy God and the God of thy seed By reason of the Covenant of Grace Believers may look upon their Children to be the gracious gifts of God unto them So did Jacob Gen. 33.5 said he unto Esau These are the children which God hath graciously given thy servant and by reason of this Covenant they may hope and believe that God will graciously take care of and provide for them If Parents did believe that their Children were not in Covenant with the Lord and that the promises and priviledges did no more appertain unto them than unto the Children of Pagans and Infidels as some do too impiously assert I know not what joy and comfort they can conceive in their minds about their Children nor what can feed their Faith in crying unto and wrestling with God for them What comfort can poor grieved Parents take concerning that miserable state they receive their Children into the World in unless they find sweet and comfortable support and relief from the everlastingly gracious Covenant which doth wonderfully magnifie the Grace of God to Parents in that he hath taken their Children with them into it and makes abundantly for their peace and consolation This was that which satisfied and even ravished the heart of David with joy concerning his Family and Children 2 Sam. 12.23 when his Child was dead he was greatly comforted and satisfied saying I shall go to him but he shall not come to me which words as I apprehend denote the good hopes that quieted his mind through the thoughts he had of the eternal happiness of his Child and that he should shortly go to him and injoy the same happiness with him This good man David did meet with great disappointment in his House and Family but from the consideration of the Covenant he had a never-failing spring of joy and comfort which did exhilarate his Spirits in their depressing sinkings 2 Sam. 23.5 Although my house be not so with God yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure for this is all my salvation and all my desire although he make it not to grow This is a full breast of consolation upon which all godly Parents may hang and suck and draw a fullness of peace and comfort for themselves and Family in their most discouraging and dying dispensations 5. Reason Because by this means the Lord may provide for a perpetual and an uninterrupted succession for his Church and Kingdom in the World That God will have a Church unto the end of the World is founded upon his Eternal Purpose the Mediatory Transactions of his ever blessed Son and upon the infallible Promises of the never-failing Word But this is the way and expedient that he is pleased to pitch and fix upon for the preservation and perpetual propagation of it he hath taken his Church into Covenant with himself the Parents and their Children the latter of which are to promote and to provide for its continual succession that so when Parents have finisht the work of their generation and shall descend the stage of the World their Children may take place and fill up the vacancy in the Church of God This was one great reason why the Lord did take Adam Noah Abraham Isaac and Jacob into Covenant with their Children that out of their Loins might issue a Seed to populate and to secure the Church as to a perpetual succession in Gods Family House and Kingdom So the Covenant in the new Dispensation of it takes in the Parents and their Seed for the same end and purpose For the great built of the Elect and body for the future provision of the Church are provided from the Covenanâ— Seed Therefore as it hath before been proved that Children are Members of the Kingdom and Church of God this is one great end why the Lord hath instituted Marriage for Covenant Parents that he might provide a constant Seed for his Church The Metaphors by which the Church is illustrated described and lively represented do abundantly demonstrate this sometimes the Church is compared to a Vineyard sometimes to an Orchard and sometimes to a Garden see Cant. 4.13 Psal
highly from Our Brethren the Anabaptists affirm That Abraham's natural Seed had only a Covenant of temporal Promises that the natural Seed had no part in the Covenant of Grace but only the Spiritual the Followers of Abraham's Faith But we affirm That by Children here are meant the natural Seed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such as were begotten of you and did spring and proceed from your Loyns As when the Covenant was renewed at first with Abraham God would be a God to him and to his Seed that Seed that was to be circumcised so the terms of the same Covenant are here repeated by the Apostle The promise is to you and your children Christ would make good his Promise to all Believers This is that which I hope I shall evidently prove in its proper place 3. Quest But if the natural Seed be here meant as having an Interest in the Covenant with their Paâ—â—â—ts whether is not their Right and Title limited and restrained by the following Expression The time of their calling as many as the Lord our God shall call and none but such and never till then Answ There have been so many Learned Divines that have gone before with such clearness of Light in this Controversie that little can be added or need to be spoken something consonant to what they have said and agreeable to their Answers I shall offer We are to distinguish about Calling for Calling is either effectual and saving or only external Calling 1. There is an effectual and saving Calling that which appertains to the Elect of God by which by the external Call of the Word and the inward efficacy of the Spirit they be throughly Called out of all Sin unto God To urge a necessity of this without which no Benefits of the blessed Covenant of Promise can be obtained or challenged is a palpable Error against which there may be many Clouds of Witnesses produced to testifie In every Age of the Church and propagation of the Covenant there have been many Hypocrites and formal Professors that have had a standing in the Church which is a Priviledge of the Covenant yet had no effectual Calling so it is now and will be at the coming of Christ when he shall find amongst the Virgins as many foolish as wise Mat. 8.12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Isa 33.14 The sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness hath surprized the hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings Hypocrites that are in the Church and externally in Covenant shall possess the hottest place in Hell Will our Adversaries that apply the Seal and take into Covenant their way be so bold as to say that all those they admit to Baptism are true Believers and Gospel-penitents Do not many of them prove Apostates And are not many of them cast out of their Churches and delivered over to Satan And may they not have cunning Hypocrites among them that enjoy many Priviledges with them and such as they thought to be effectually Called 2. If they say that an outward Call be urged as necessary to the obtaining an Interest in the Promise then the natural Seed of Believers enjoy this Calling virtually in and with their Parents with whom they are confederate which they are Called to do as Deut. 29.10 11 12. Where we have a solemn way of the People visibly standing before the Lord to enter into Covenant with him and they had their little ones with them as confederates with their Parents and so part of those that were separated and Called to be the distinct People of the Lord Members of the Church in covenant with him 2. Answ And what I judge the fullest That that Restriction As many as the Lord shall call pertains only to those that are afar off and hath no respect to these here spoken unto or to their children If we consider the Apostle doth add this partly to discover the glorious Intention of the Grace of God in carrying over the Promise and the Covenant of Grace under the new administration unto the Gentiles who were accounted afar off and also to give those he spake unto the greater and the more ample encouragement to accept of and close in with his Exhortation to repent and to believe As thus If God will be so gracious to them that are afar off as upon their repentance to admit them and their children into covenant with him why do ye doubt and fear Both you and your children are in covenant with him already They that trouble us with the Dust of their false Glosses to blind the Eyes of the Simple and to darken clear Scriptures by all means would have that Clause to be applied to all the three Subjects viz. They their children and those afar off when Called then the Promise is theirs but that the Apostle meaneth and restraineth this only to those that are afar off I shall evince by several Reasons which if ponderously thought upon may give good satisfaction herein 1. Calling of Persons supposeth such that are at a distance off therefore it must peculiarly and only belong to them that were afar off 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this Channel runs the Stream of Expositors those that be afar off they mean the Gentiles in opposition to the Jews that were nigh Thus the Scripture doth distinguish between the Jews and the Gentiles Isa 57.19 I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him that is afar off and to him that is near Here is a blessed Promise of the Grace of God in reference unto the Calling of the Gentiles that were said to be afar off in opposition to the Jews that were nigh They were nigh to God and they and their children were in covenant I but said the Lord I will create the fruit of the lips peace to those that are afar off viz. the Gentiles Eph. 2.11 12 13 17. Wherefore remember that ye being in time passed uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands that at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the common-wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise and without God in the world But now in Christ Jesus ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ This was the state of the Gentiles they were far off I but the Jews at that time were nigh And came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh viz. the Jews Children of the Covenant God was their God and the God of their Children I but the Gentiles were Strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel not in covenant with God and afar off they be called as we see in the Scripture those that be remote and distant and must be meant in this Text. 2. What rational account can be assigned or can any give why
the Apostle should here mention the Children if children here the Seed of the faithful that be in Covenant should not be meant of the Gentiles Those two Members of the distinction you that are nigh and those that are afar off would take in all persons in the world and frustra sit per plura c. the Children of these would be found either afar off or nigh one of those terms would have involved them all the mentioning of the Children must be an impertinency if it were not for some other reason There are some I know for a shift this bearing hard upon them will urge that imprecation Mat. 27.25 but it is improbable that all that were the hearers of this Sermon did joyn in that dreadful wish for many of them were strangers and lived remote from Jerusalem However the Apostle presseth them all alike to repent and to yeild subjection to Christ by an argument from the Covenant which carries weight enough with it though they had never been guilty of that horrid imprecation This argument of the Covenant hath been pressed at another time to prevail upon the Jews to the same duty of repentance Acts 3.19 20 25. Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you In this verse he doth incourage them from a promise and observe the rare Motive 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 kindred of the earth be blessed This extends to them that were afar off not only the kindred of the Jews but also the kindred of the Gentiles should partake of the blessing of Abraham viz. of the Covenant made with Abraham Gal. 3.14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles the blessing of Abrahams Covenant through Jesus Christ whose blood was the blood of the Covenant 3. The Apostle doth here fix his argument in the benefit that will redound unto them and to their posterity by their submission to the Gospel Administration by this he doth Emphatically press them to it Oh! what an incouraging and cogent Argument doth this Apostle by a divine instinct urge them withall such a one that poor awakened souls ready to sink into desperation could not tell how to reject or withstand This seems to be the genuine sense of it you are greatly troubled for sin in general and some of you have been guilty of that dreadful sin of a malicious pouring out of the incorruptible and sacred blood of the Son of God and crucifying the Lord of Glory therefore have highly deserved that his blood should be upon your heads and upon the heads of your Children for ever and since you have instead of reverencing killed the Lord of the Vineyard you have dreadfully provoked God to turn you out of it for ever but if after all you will but submit to him that you have crucified it shall not be so your deserts though never so great and crying shall never be given unto you but you shall still be to the Lord a chosen and a peculiar People the Church and the People of God to you and your Children the Promise shall still continue and all under a better Administration than ever because there is now abundance more of grace and of the Spirit to be poured out you and your Children shall have the first experience of it Oh how sweetly doth the Apostle here entice and allure them to accept of the Seasonable offer made unto them 4. That interpretation certainly that renders this Argument of the Apostle to the Jews to prevail upon them to the duty exhorted unto to be a discouragement unto them and to dishearten them in their submitting to the Gospel-Administration rather than an incouragement is not to be admitted That which doth contradict or at leastwise greatly impede and obstruct the design of the Apostle must not be entertained What was the design of the Apostle but to perswade these poor lost creatures to accept of Christ and his Administration that was taking place Therefore that he might obtain his end said he the Promise is to you and your Children for both were concerned in the blood of Christ and we may rationally suppose these weeping bleeding sinners were not only concerned for themselves but for their Children also They might well deliberate in themselves thus what will become of us I and of our miserable off-spring too Why saith the Apostle here is that that may allay all the amazing and confounding tumult of your self-condemning hearts the Promise is to you and your Children The Apostle did see that their Soul-disease had so sunk their Spirits and they were so ready to faint that they wanted the highest Cordial that could be poured into them and without this ingredient of their Children it could never have revived them This was the opening of a comfortable door of hope in their pinching and affrighting valley of Achor I have wondered sometimes how our Friends the Anabaptists can support their minds when they behold their dear dying Infants ready to expire and to give up the ghost to restrain the interest of the Children of these Jews in the Promise to the time of their calling could not but be a considerable discouragement unto them from coming under this Administration rather than an encouragement That it would have been so I shall give two Reasons to prove it 1 This would make their exchange to be for the worse and not the better for the Covenant under which they were before did run to them and their Seed but this runs otherwise to the great disadvantages of the Children and the great discouragement of the Parents Children by this way of Interpretation are excluded and dismist the Covenant till their call This could not but have a deep regret upon the hearts of these Parents that were well instructed into their Childrens Covenant-right with them and did so strongly depend upon it as they did 2. This would put their Children into the same condition with those afar off the restriction equally taking hold of the Children of the Jews with the Gentiles and Heathens yet afar off which would sound harshly in the Ears of the Jews If it were so of what import must the Argument be but of this Viz. If ye will now ye awakened trembling Jews believe in Christ and come under his Administration the Promise shall continue unto you but your Children shall be cut off and turned out of this priviledge they shall be in the same condition of the rest of the Pagan world when they hereafter and any of the Heathen shall be called then they may have a part in the same Promise too and not till then This being contained in that Interpretation whether it would not in the nature of the Argument rather drive
doth abundantly testifie of this in many Scriptures we have the Old Testament Phrase and Way Mat. 8.11 Many shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven By the Faith of the Centurion Christ takes an occasion to touch by way of prediction of the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews and the bringing of the Gentiles into the Covenant made with those Fathers and Patriarchs I do not know how to forbear the inserting of an excellent Observation that a Judicious Man makes upon this Text thus Quare non sine admiratione hoc additum fuit domesticos regni Dei haeredes fore qui tunc extranei erant neque id solum sed foedus salutis mox publicandum esse ut totus orbis in unum Ecclesiae corpus coalesceret dum Gentiles qui ad fidem accedunt ejusdem cum Abram Isaac Jacob salutis participes fore dicit Luke 19.9 And Jesus said unto him This day is salvation come to this house forasmuch as he also is the son of Abraham Here our Lord Jesus did preach the Covenant and upon the Faith of this good Man Abraham's Covenant entred into his House himself and whole Family were taken into covenant Exod. 16.31 32 33. This was the happy State of this Man so soon as he did believe God took him into covenant and his whole House and all of them in the same Hour of the Night did partake of the Seal of the Covenant after this Example we practice v. 14 15. This was the case of Lydia upon her believing she and all her House were Baptized 'T is strange if that in all these houses there might not be one Child there might be children in several of them however children be a part and a choice part of housholds So that here is a Rule for us to walk by that when the Master or head of the house doth imbrace the Faith that was never Baptized before both he and his are to receive the token of the Covenant as upon their believing they do enter into it with God This is the right way to be observed that Parents entertaining the Gospel that were never under the bond of the Covenant neither partakers of the Seal of it must be baptized and their Children that are Foederally received with them by God must be also with them Rom. 4.16 Therefore 't is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise or the Covenant might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all Viz. He is the Father of all that do believe both Jew and Gentile Eph. 2.13 14. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ For he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition Now by the blood of Christ the parting Wall that was between the Jew and the Gentile is taken away and both of them that believe are inclosed in one Covenant The Gentile that was afar off being out of Covenant and the Jew that was nigh being in Covenant Now in the New Covenant all our Spiritual and Eternal blessings come swimming to us upon the blood of Christ which blood for ever runs thro' the Covenant We have no other way of remission of Sin of renovation and Regeneration or of Eternal life then Abraham had in the Old Testament John 8.56 Neither doth the Lord require any other obedience from us then he did from Abraham therefore we are to walk in the steps of our Father Abraham 10. Demonst God doth challenge the Children of his people that be in Covenant with him to be his Children There is a special Interest and propriety that God layes claim to have in the Seed of his they be more his children then their's they are brought forth for him and by the Seal of the Covenant are and ought to be devoted and dedicated to God Ezek. 16.20 21. Moreover thou hast taken thy Sons and thy Daughters whom thou hast born unto me and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured That thou hast slain my children This is brought in as a great aggravation of their sin in their cruel and wicked Idolatry because their Children were those that God had a propriety in tho' they were their Parents children by generation yet they were his by Adoption and Federal assumption To offer any Creature to an Idol is a great sin but to offer Children is far worse and to offer Gods Children that is worst of all What greater Sacriledge can there be than this to rob God of his Covenant-Seed brought forth unto him and to cast them away upon Idols May not they be said to rob God that endeavour to rend and tear his Children out of the Covenant and refuse by the Administration of the Seal to give them up unto God 11. Demonst Shall be taken from many gross I wish I might not say wicked absurdities that follow the denying Infants interest in the Covenant of grace with their Parents That Doctrine cannot be of God that is cloathed with or attended upon with many absurdities I do find that those that are great zealots in casting Children out of their hold which the great Lord Proprietor hath given them in the Covenant are not apprehensive what absurd things do attend them The Livery of this Doctrine discovers it to be of no good Family its retinue may render it very questionable yea very unsound The truths of Christ admit of no absurdities of no gross Inferences you can infer nothing from any Doctrine of the Gospel but what is pure and precious Men to support their Errors may endeavour to extort and wrest the holy Scriptures to speak their filthy Language and to give countenance to their odious Tenents This is one of the Worst abuses and hellish Rapes that can be offered to the word of God Satan himself hath an exquisite skill herein and he hath taught many of his Disciples a dextrous knack in this black Art Did but the Adversaries of this my Doctrine consider into what absurdities they chase their Game and how the pretended beautiful face of their opinion is scratcht and torn it would make them a little more modest and moderate in their assertions and conclusions I shall touch upon some few of that multitude of absurdities that do inevitably follow shutting Infants out of the Covenant of grace they are included in with their Parents 1. This doth impose a great restraint upon the blessed Covenant contracting the large and copious grace of God that is involv'd in it This clips the wings of the love grace and mercy of God that doth dilate and amplifie themselves in a Covenant way Men may boast and vaunt that they are the great admirers and