Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	apostle_n	holy_a	scripture_n	6,970	5	5.7262	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43469	Some plain letters in the defence of infant baptism and of the mode of baptizing (now generally used in the Church of England), which may serve, for a confutation of a small treatise entituled The reason why not infant-sprinkling, but believers-baptism ought to be approved, &c.	Hewerdine, Thomas, 1659 or 60-1738?	1699 (1699)	Wing H1630; ESTC R5896	62,852	138

only that I have been perswaded to make these Letters publick I have not so much as made the Style gawdy with any high-flown Strains Ornament and Rhetoric was none of my aim but Sincerely Faithfully and to the utmost of my mean Abilities to shew the naked truth and whether I have hit or miss'd my Aim you may now be pleas'd to examine and Judge I am My very good Friends and Brethren Your very much obliged and most humble Servant T. Hewerdine From March 7 Aug. 1699. LETTER I. SIR YOURS of the Third Instant has just now surpriz'd me wherein at the very first dash of your Pen you somewhat bluntly require and charge me as I will answer it at the dreadful Day of Judgment when the Secrets of all Hearts shall be disclos'd to tell you freely and plainly whether I do in my Conscience believe That the way of Baptizing now used in the Church of England namely by Sprinkling or Pouring on Water is a good and justifiable way of Baptizing Good Sir You have known me some hundreds of times Baptize after this manner and I wou'd sain hope that I have not by any practice of mine given you the least just Cause to suspect me of Hypocrisie I don't say this with any intent to give the Go-by to your Request and Charge but since you have put me to 't I do here solemnly protest and wou'd enter the same Protestation tho' I was immediately to appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ That I do in my Conscience believe that the Mode of Baptizing now used in the Church of England by Sprinkling or Pouring on Water is a good and justifiable way of Baptizing And thus far I 'm sure I am in the right My Conscience bearing me Witness But Sir You next pretty flatly put it upon me to inform you how this Mode of baptizing is to be defended and justified Now in good Truth I cou'd be very well contented to save my self this Trouble by referring you to those Books and Pages of Books wherein this Matter is industriously debated and the Mode of baptizing which you now seem to call in Question sufficiently defended and justified so as not to be gainsay'd but by the stiffest Obstinacy But lest you should construe this as a giving up the Cause I will here venture to say what you so earnestly desire to hear from me namely upon what Grounds it is that I my self am perswaded in my own Conscience concerning the Validity and Lawfulness of this way of Baptizing I will be very brief and yet go to the Bottom and rise by such Steps and Degrees as shall help to carry us over all difficulties and shew us the truth of the Matter in some light And therefore I begin at our Catechism in which we are well and truly taught that in the Sacrament of Baptism there 's The outward Sign and The Thing Signified The outward Sign is Water wherein the Person is Baptized in the Name of the Father c. And Sir I will not here spend either Ink or Paper in the Proof of this presuming that we are still agreed thus far But then The Inward part of this Sacrament or the Thing Signified is the Holy Spirit or the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit such as these mention'd in our Catechism A Death unto Sin and a New Birth unto Righteousness c. for you must know that wheresoever we read in Scripture of God's giving or of Man's receiving the Holy Spirit by the Holy Spirit must be meant The Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit and This I say is the Inward part or Thing Signified by the Water in Baptism And this was represented by the Descending of the Holy Ghost upon our Saviour at his Baptism Matth. 3.26 and there seems to be a plain Evidence of this in those Words of John the Baptist I indeed Baptize you with water but He speaking of Christ shall Baptize you with the Holy Ghost The Baptist and I add all the Ministers of Christ do but baptize with Water 'T is Christ himself who does the Inward part and baptizeth with the Spirit and so says ours Saviour himself A Man must be born of Water and of the Spirit For as it is said of Circumcision That the outward Circumcision of the Flesh is as no Circumcision without the Inward Circumcision of the Heart too Rom. 2.28 29. So to compleat the Sacrament of Baptism there must be the Inward part as well as the Outward For except a Man be Born of Water and of the Spirit He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God John 3.5 And thus St. Paul in his description of Baptism not only speaks of the external Washing of Regeneration but of the Internal Renewing of the Holy Ghost Tit. 3.5 And so again putting some of his Corinthians in mind of their being baptiz'd Ye are Washed and Sanctified says He that is not onely Washed with Water but Sanctified with the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 6.11 And to mention but one place more for all Be Baptized and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost says St. Peter Act. 2.33 From whence 't is very plain That when the Ministers of Christ baptize with Water Christ himself baptizeth with the Holy Ghost which as I have said before is the Inward part or Thing Signified by the Water in Baptism And with great Reason therefore do we pray in the Office of baptism Give O Lord thy Holy Spirit to this Infant that He may be Born again and also Wash him and Sanctifie him with the Holy Ghost For to clear this Matter to the most Vulgar Capacity As when we pray in the Communion-Service Hear us most merciful Father we most humbly beseech thee and grant that we receiving these thy Creatures of Bread and Wine may be Partakers of Christ's most blessed Body and Blood 'T is as much as to pray that we may not only be Partakers of the outward Part of that Sacrament the Bread and Wine but also that we may be Partakers of the Inward part or thing Signified likewise which is the Body and Blood of Christ So when we pray for the Baptized That He may have the Holy Spirit given him and that he may be Sanctified with the Holy Ghost 't is as much as to pray That he may not only be baptized with the outward part of Baptism which is Water but also that he may be baptized with the Inward part or thing Signified by Water which is the Holy Spirit And hence it is likewise that as the other Sacrament is sometimes express'd with allusion to the Outward part when we speak of receiving the Bread and Wine and sometimes with allusion to the thing Signified when we speak of receiving the Body and Blood of Christ so Baptism is sometimes express'd with allusion to its outward part when we speak of baptizing with Water and washing with Water as the Apostle calls it and sometimes with allusion to the Inward part or thing

Signified when he speaks of baptizing with the Holy Ghost or baptizing with the Spirit for so says the Apostle again By one Spirit we are all Baptized 1 Cor. 12.13 I add That it is no new thing for the Holy Spirit to be figur'd or represented by Water for thus in the Prophet of Old when God had said I will pour Water on him that is Thirsty He interprets himself immediately I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed Isai 44.3 and again when he had said in Ezekiel I will Sprinkle Clean Water upon you he adds as the meaning of it I will put my Spirit within you Ezek. 36.25 27. And again with allusion to Water is the promise of the Spirit express'd by pouring out I will pour out my Spirit upon all Flesh Joel 2.28 and to clear this matter from all doubt St. John quoting these Words of our Saviour He that Believeth in me out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of Living Water This he spake says that Evangelist of the Spirit which they that believe in him should receive John 7.38 39. Sir If you would see more and larger proofs of this you may read Mr. Mede's Discourse upon Titus 3.5 Indeed I cou'd hardly have thought that there cou'd have been any difference among Catechetical Writers as to this matter only I find in that same discourse of Mr. Mede that some would have the Blood of Christ to be the thing signified by the Water in Baptism as it is by the Wine in the other Sacrament To which he replies That the Blood of Christ is not once mention'd by the Fathers of the Primitive Church as the inward part of this Sacrament of Baptism no more than it is in our Liturgy and he further adds That the Opinion is Novel and That the Lutheran Divines make it peculiar and proper to the Followers of Calvin But now Sir give me leave to observe to you That Calvin himself seems not to have been always of this Opinion nay but he plainly asserts That the Holy Spirit is the Thing signify'd by the Baptismal Water For complaining of the Church of Rome for feigning Confirmation to be a Sacrament by which the Spirit of Regeneration is conferr'd he adds That they transferr'd to Confirmation what was proper to Baptism meaning that they made the Spirit of Regeneration which is the Inward part of Baptism to be the Thing signifi'd by the laying on of hands in Confirmation Calv. in Heb. 6.1 2. And here Sir if I was minded to enlarge I could confirm this Matter with abundance of Testimonies out of the best Writers and Fathers of the Primitive Church but I forbear being pretty confident that there is no great need of their Evidence in so plain a Case And now my good Friend are not your Eyes open Don't you clearly see from what I have said of the Inward part of Baptism how rightly the Outward part may be administred by Sprinkling or Pouring on Water The Gift of the Holy Spirit the thing signified in Baptism is exprest by Sprinkling or Pouring on And is there or can there be any Reason given why the Thing Signifi'd should be exceeded by the Sign God himself thought it not necessary but makes Sprinkling or Pouring on Water sufficient to represent and signifie his giving or pouring on the Spirit for when He I say promises his Holy Spirit he does not no not so much as once in the whole Bible say I will dip or plunge into Water but I will sprinkle or pour on Water Isa 44.3 and Ezek. 36.25 Dr. Towerson who had once said something which was a little too harsh as himself confesses against this way of Baptizing by Sprinkling whose very words our Adversaries have catch'd hold of and have boasted of him as a brave Man on their side yet when he came to enquire more narrowly into the Matter he industriously defends it and amongst other Arguments uses this very Text Ezek. 36.25 and proves from Maimonides That the Words were spoken with reference to the Times of the Messiah and affirms That they cannot be better interpreted than of the Water of Baptism applying them as I have here done as very well expressing the Outward Sign of that Sacrament And shall Men be wiser than God Or think it any Wit to mock at and deride his Words And be at the pains of making a Greek word English to make their mockery the plainer Sprinkling forsooth out of Sport and Rallery must be call'd Rantizing and Baptism when administer'd by Sprinkling or Pouring on Water must be nicknam'd Rantism But let me tell you Sir and you may tell the Author of your little * A little Book call'd The Reason why not Infant-Sprinkling but Believers Baptism ought to be approv'd c. Book you boast of That when he so merrily calls our way of Baptizing Rantizing and our Baptism Rantism He makes a mock of the very Words of God himself and according to his reproachful way of Speaking when God promises to Sprinkle clean Water upon his People he must not then promise to Baptize but only to Rantize This puts me in mind how I had once the misfortune to hear a wild Wretch call the Lord's Supper He seem'd to quarrel with my Friend for calling that Sacrament the Supper of our Lord A Supper said he A Bite and a Sip you mean And he had as much to say for the Profane expression as any one can have for calling our Baptism Rantism Why Sir He urg'd that a Supper ought to be a full Meal that to Signifie our receiving the Body and Blood of Christ we ought to eat a piece of Bread as big as his Body and to drink as much Wine as he shed Blood And is it not at a like Rate that some plead against Baptizing by Sprinkling You have heard the reason why That profane Wretch call'd our way of Receiving the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper a Bite and a Sip and is it not for a very like reason that our way of Baptizing is by some call'd Rantizing I will not here say with the Psalmist What shall be done to the false Tongue but rather with our most charitable Lord Father forgive them for surely they know not what they say or do But this 't is to be so Zealous for Externals when Men think that they can never have enough of the outward Signs of the Sacraments when yet perhaps the thing Signified which is the main and principal thing is as much neglected But Sir When we receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper if we Spiritually eat his Flesh and drink his Blood which is the inward part of this Sacrament as to the outward part it will not matter much how little Bread we eat or how little Wine we drink So when any are baptized if their Souls are purifi'd and cleans'd with the Holy Spirit which is the Inward part of this Sacrament as to the outward part it will not matter much how little Water

be receiv'd and therefore as their Children were to receive it as well as themselves it follows that their Children as well as themselves were to be Baptiz'd that they might receive it And so says the Apostle Be baptiz'd every one of you and ye shall receive c. But here perhaps you may be ready to ask whether Baptism be necessary to our Receiving the Holy Ghost or whether none else do receive it but they who are Baptiz'd To which I answer that Baptism is as necessary to our receiving the Holy Ghost as a diligent Hand is necessary to make one Rich. The Diligent hand maketh Rich says Solomon And therefore as Riches do sometimes indeed by God's over-ruling Providence fall to the share even of the Lazy and the Slothful So by God's extraordinary Mercy is the Holy Ghost sometimes indeed given even to the Vnbaptiz'd But what then shall a Man hope to be Rich without Diligence because the Lazy are sometimes so In like manner shall any one hope for the Spirit without Baptism because the Unbaptiz'd do sometimes receive it It would not be wisely argued should a Man thus dispute Solomon tells us indeed that a Diligent hand maketh Rich well and it may be so but let them be ty'd up to his Rule that will for my part I shall hold my self excus'd hoping that Riches may be had in an easier way even as I sometimes see the Slothful have them And yet just such is his Argument who thus disputes 'T is the Apostles rule indeed Be baptiz'd and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost well and it may be so but let them be ty'd up to his Rule that will for my part I shall hold my self excus'd hoping for the Holy Spirit without any such Condition even as I sometimes see that the Unbaptized receive it But still further 'T is objected on the other hand that if the promise of the Holy Ghost was so annext to Baptism methinks we should see more and better Fruits of it in those that are Baptiz'd To which I answer That tho' it be very true that a diligent Hand maketh Rich yet it is not every diligent Man that becomes Rich for want of a good Use and wise Improvement of what his diligent hand acquires and gives him a just Title to So tho' Baptism has the promise of the Holy Ghost made to it yet the Baptiz'd do not all bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit for want of a good Use of that Spiritual grace and Influence which their Baptism acquires and gives them a Right and Title to But tho' the Diligent do not all become Rich for the aforesaid Reason yet Diligence is still to be Exhorted to as a great and necessary means of becoming Rich and so tho' the Baptized do not all bring forth the fruits of the Spirit for the like Reason aforesaid yet Baptism is still to be Exhorted to as a great and necessary means of receiving the Spirit Be baptized says St. Peter and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit And this indeed seems to have been the great and standing Argument of this Apostle It was his usual way to Argue from the Inward part of this Sacrament to the Outward For When the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and them that were with him Can any Man forbid Water said our Apostle that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we Act. 10.47 So here in this Text The promise of the Holy Ghost says he is to you and to your Children and therefore be Baptized every one of you that you may receive it But Sir Here is one Difficulty more to be Encounter'd still for here it is that our Adversaries have started an Objection to which they Boastingly say that we can give them no Answer but truly Sir the Reason is because they will receive no Answer and we cannot help that And therefore to deal fairly both with you and them you shall first hear their Objection in its full force and then our Answer and you shall Judge between us Their Objection is this That Children are not capable of Receiving the Holy Ghost and that therefore 't is all folly to Baptize them upon that account And farther St. Peter's saying to that great Assembly Act. 2.38 Be baptized every one of you and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost makes it very plain that he Exhorted none to be Baptized but such as were capable of receiving the Holy Ghost but of this the little Children were not Capable and therefore were not to be Baptized This Sir is their mighty Objection and I am pretty Confident they will acknowledge that I have not minc'd the matter but have set it before you with all its strength And now then to give a satisfactory Answer to it I shall make it my business to prove to you that even Infants and Children are capable of receiving the Holy Ghost and this I shall endeavour to do with all the plainness and brevity and closeness that I can And therefore First we hear it very often from our Adversaries in a Challenging and Triumphant way that if we could but shew in all the New Testament any one Infant to have been Baptized they would no longer dispute that Case with us But Sir we can shew them an Infant in the Old Testament yea and an Infant in the New Testament too that receiv'd the Holy Ghost And why then will they dispute this any longer We know that it is the Holy Ghost that Sanctifies us and yet we read in the Old Testament that the Prophet Jeremy was Sanctified even before he came out of the Womb Jer. 1.5 And if we will take an Angel's word for it we are assur'd in the New Testament that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his Mother's Womb Luke 1.15 And here I will add what I before observ'd of the little Children who were brought unto Christ and whom he took up in his Arms viz. That he blessed them with Spiritual Blessings and therefore 't is evident that even these little Children did then receive the Holy Spirit for we must mean nothing else by receiving the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit but receiving the Graces and Blessings of the Holy Spirit Secondly The Holy Job has most truly taught us That a Clean thing is not to be brought out of an Vnclean Job 14.4 No but all are conceived and born in Sin as well as he who said Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me Psal 51.5 But then if all our Children are so conceived and born and cannot be brought clean out of an unclean thing I am ready to tremble at the thought what would become of them if they were not capable of some Spiritual Cleansing certainly Dear Sir they are or else 't is most certain that no unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of God Again Our