And it may further appeare by these Scriptures Act. 8.38 Nothing now could hinder the Eunuch from being baptized for now the spirituall blessing appertained to him and therefore the externall signe Act. 10.47 48. Can any forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the holy Ghost as well as we And he commanded them to be baptized c. And Chap. 11.17 The Apostle implies that it had beene a withstanding of God not to have baptized them on whom the gift of the holy Ghost had been powred And so still upon the profession of faith and repentance when in the judgement of charitie the Preachers apprehended the parties to have interest and right to the spirituall grace they administred the outward signe though questionlesse they were deceived in many as Ananias Sapphira Simon Magus c. Yet it was a sufficient warrant to the Ministers to baptize them because so farre as they could judge they were under the promise For if amongst Christs few Disciples there was one traytour sonne of perdition devill doubtlesse amongst those many thousands that were baptized upon their profession of faith and repentance at the preaching of Iohn and the Apostles many were hypocrites as may appeare by the great evils that brake out in the Primitive Churches This I adde to shew that there is no infallible certainty of the inward grace required of or possible to the Minister And that to whom the inward grace belongs to them the outward signe belongs appeareth in Peters exhortation in that place quoted in the proposition Act. 2.38 39. And Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Iesus Christ to the remission of your sinnes and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are afarre off even so many as the Lord our God shall call Wherein he shews them that if they will repent they have right unto baptisme as having right unto the thing signified in baptisme viz. the remission of sinnes by the bloud of Christ powred on their soules and the gift of the holy Ghost being the Spirit of Christ powred on them of which he had spoken before ver 17. both clearely represented and signified by the infusion or powring of water in baptisme And the rather to perswade them to repent and be baptized that they might receive remission of sinnes and the gift of the holy Ghost Peter tels them that the promise is to them and their children and so many as God should call though afarre off even among the Gentiles So that if by faith and repentance they and the Gentiles should accept the promise they and their children should have interest in the remission of sinnes and the gift of the holy Ghost and so consequently in baptisme so that not onely the parents repenting but also their children had title to the promise of the holy Gohst and so to the seale thereof A. R. First against this you object It is not said your infants but your children Ans Infants are not excluded I hope for infants are children though not onely infants neither do we hold that the promise was made to infants onely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peter useth a generall word that signifieth posteritie of what age soever whether of ripe or tender years Secondly you object It is not said promises but promise and that it is not promises but promise not infants but children You promise us satisfaction by looking back to what went before in the Chapter after a long repetition wherof you tell us what we may gather to wit that the gift of the holy Ghost mentioned ver 17. to be prophesied of by Ioel and to be received of the Father and shed forth by Christ ver 33. is repeated ver 38. Answ All this maketh nothing against us but for us Thirdly you adde You may see who are meant by children viz. the same that were mentioned ver 17. under the termes of sonnes and daughters that should prophecie Answ As if the Spirit mentioned here were onely a Spirit of prophecie The Spirit hath divers operations some ordinary and some extraordinary 1 Cor. 12.4.7 8 9 10 11. Neither is it said that all shall prophecie and dreame dreames Fourthly you say Therefore no infants are meant here who cannot prophecie c. Answ Why may not infants be of the number of that all flesh on which God would powre his Spirit though none of those that prophecie see visions dreame c. For these effects of the Spirit are not related as common to all on whom God would powre his Spirit but peculiar to some which had extraordinary gifts Secondly What hinders but they may receive the Spirit in their infancie by which they may prophecie in ripe yeares as we see in Iohn the Baptist Luk. 1.15 41. Thirdly I answer That this promise is not onely made concerning the extraordinarie gifts of the Spirit which were bestowed in the times of the Apostle by which men did prophecie dreame dreames see visions speake with tongues c. but also of the sanctifying Spirit which is common to all ages of the Church even where such miraculous and extraordinarie gifts are not bestowed may appeare vers 30. The promise saith the Apostle was to all afarre off whomsoever the Lord should call that is all the Gentiles whom God should call by the Gospel to faith Now no man I hope will say that all whom over God called dreamed dreames saw visions prophecied spake with strange tongues c. Fifthly you adde There is not so much as any colour for baptizing of infants from hence For the Text is not Be baptized For the promise is to you and your children as many in Print doe falsely alledge But repent and be baptized c. and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy ghost For the promise is to you and your children Answ If we should take the words in your sense viz. that those words For the promise is made c. are brought as a reason onely of the words going immediately before it makes nothing against me for so the 38. vers containes a pregnant proofe of my proposition and vers 39. of mine assumption Secondly I answer There is no necessitie can appeare no nor probable reason I beleeve can be rendred why the reason For the promise c. vers 39. should be referred onely to the words immediately preceding you shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost and not unto the exhortation Repent and be baptized c. which untill you could have given some proofe of you might well have spared your immodest language and hainous accusation of false alledging Scripture For the context may either be analysed thus First Peter exhorts to repent and be baptized then he spurres them on by a reason taken from the effect viz. remission and the gift of the Spirit secondly from the promise that God had
made concerning the thing signified viz. powring his Spirit which promise belonged to them and their children therefore they should receive the signe which God had instituted to signifie it which may seeme the most genuine resolution of the Text. Or secondly This reason may be understood as brought both to the exhortation Repent and be baptized and the promise And you shall receive remission of sinnes and the gift of the holy Ghost for considering that baptisme and the gift of the holy Ghost are correlatives as the signe and thing signified the reason well may that I say not necessarily must be referred to both Or thirdly if we grant that it is immediately referred to the foregoing promise yet it must necessarily be taken as a reason of the exhortation at least mediately for seeing the promise of remission of sinnes and the holy Ghost is brought as a reason to perswade them to be baptized and these words For the promise is to you c. is brought as a confirmation of the promise Causa causae est causa causati and considering that the cause of the cause is the cause of the caused and the reason of the reason is the reason of the thing proved by that reason this For the promise c. must needs be brought as a reason why they should be baptized and so those who bring this as a reason that the Apostle gives why they should be baptized joyning the thing argued and the Argument together and omitting that which was interposed as not pertinent to the purpose are quit from your slander of false alledging Scripture and you convinced to be a false accuser of the brethren The next Objection that you frame I owne not Assenting that it is true that neither these Iewes nor the Gentiles were in Covenant untill they had entred into the same by repentance and faith seeing that the old Covenant was now abrogated and the Gentiles had beene hitherto foreiners so that you will acknowledge that whensoever Iewes or Gentiles should receive the promise by faith and repentance it did not onely belong unto them but also to their children For though it be expressed to the Iews That the promise was to them and their children it is to be understood to hold of the Gentiles also For now the partition wall was removed and the Iewes had no priviledge for their childrens having right unto the promise any more then the children of beleeving Gentiles Thus farre I have digressed in answer to some objections made against the Scripture which was brought for the proofe of my proposition though it might be handled as well in the assumption yet because I have more to say on the assumption I brought these objections under the proposition The summe of the proposition must be remembred to be this Where is right to the spirituall blessing promised in the word and sealed in baptisme there is right to baptisme which stands firme against whatsoever hath beene objected I come to the assumption The places of Scripture quoted to confirme the assumption have beene spoken of before Onely we may consider now First what things are promised in those Scriptures expresly Secondly what is implied Thirdly to whom these promises are made For the first God promiseth to be their teacher yea though they be uncapable of humane discipline They shall not teach one another but they shall all be taught of God Esa 54.13 Ier. 31.34 Againe that he will give yea powre his Spirit and that his Spirit shall be upon them Ioel 2.28 Es 59.21 Secondly under these two expressions yea each of them severally are comprehended all those things that are requisite for our being in Covenant with God and all those spirituall graces that give us right to the seale of entrance as first Regeneration which is the proper and certaine worke of the spirit of sanctification Ioh. 3.5 which spirit of regeneration to be signified by the water of baptisme may appeare by that Scripture Ioh. 3.5 Tit. 3.5 Againe this implies communion with Christ which must needs be by faith actuall or virtuall Ioh. 6.45 Heb. 11.6 For whosoever is taught of God and hath the Spirit of Christ must needs have Christ and so it follows that such have right unto remission of sinnes Thirdly these promises belong unto the children of the Church the sonnes and daughters of the faithfull all of them from the least to the greatest the seede of the faithfull and their seeds seed as may appeare in the Scriptures quoted and here must be comprehended infants as well as others who have right unto the promise by vertue of their parents entering into Covenant with God as Act. 2.39 The Apostle bids them repent and be baptized and so enter into Covenant for the promise saith he is unto you and your children so that there can no reason be given why infants should be excluded from these promises unlesse any one shall say that infants are uncapable of these gifts which this A. R. seemes to hold in many places of his booke which opinion is more worthy detestation then confutation Are not infants capable of sinne Psal 51.5 and therefore of sanctification shall the first Adams disobedience be available to bring guilt and defilement and not Christs obedience to procure remission and sanctification Or is there no remedie for the poore infants of beleeving parents but if they die before they come to the use of reason they must necessarily perish as being born the children of wrath and being uncapable of remedie Or doth this man hold that they are brutes without soule in that he compares baptizing of infants to circumcising of Camels or Asses 2 Part pag. 21. Are not these profane Atheisticall conceits contrary to the promises of God cleare testimonie of Scripture and example as of Iohn the Baptist who was sanctified and moved by the Spirit even in his mothers wombe Quest But what must we then beleeve that all the children of Christians are already indued with the holy Ghost taught of God and sanctified c. so soone as borne or in their infancie Answ It is enough to prove their right to baptisme that they are under the promise and interessed therein by vertue of their parents being at least externally in Covenant so that whether they have already received the Spirit or have a promise thereof it sufficeth to give them a right to the Sacrament As these are bid repent and so come under promise themselves with their children and then be baptized and afterward they shall receive the holy Ghost Quest But must we think that all children of Christian parents that are baptized either have or shall receive the Spirit and so be saved Answ Iohn the Baptist and the Apostles though they were not to beleeve that amongst those multitudes whom they baptized there were none but truely had or should receive the Spirit for it was after proved by the event that many were hypocrites yet they turned away none because by
of your quotations you doe most grosly God will not hold them guiltlesse that take his name in vaine When you come to us with the same spirit and authoritie as Peter Ananias and Samuel had we will hearken to you Now though what hath beene said in answer to this disputers Arguments against baptizing by sprinkling or infusion and for onely dipping or plunging might suffice yet I will adde something more to what hath been written endeavouring to make it appeare that washing whether it be by dipping or sprinkling is the externall act required in this Sacrament to be used and that sprinkling or infusion is as if not more agreeable to the nature and institution of this Sacrament as dipping or immersion Argument 1. As the word used signifieth washing as hath beene shewed so the thing represented signified and sealed in this Sacrament is set forth in the Scripture by the phrase of washing or cleansing as 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are washed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but ye are sanctified but yea are iustified c. Now who questions but our justification and sanctification or remission of sinnes together with mortification and vivification are sealed and signified by baptisme c. But these are here called washing So T it 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 According to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost In the former of which expressions washing if here be not meant baptisme it selfe which to deny I see no reason yet certainely here is meant the thing signified by baptisme which is sufficient for our purpose which way so ever it is taken Heb. 10.22 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Having our bodies washed with cleane water 1 Ioh. 1.7 And the bloud of Iesus Christ his Sonne shall cleanse us from all our sinnes Heb. 9.14 The bloud of Christ shall purge your conscience Now we know washing purging or cleansing may be and commonly is as well by infusion or powring on the thing to be washed as by dipping Common experience testifies so much and Scripture is not silent herein Luk. 7.44 She hath washed my feet with tears viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by powring or distilling as the word signifies And though it were granted that in those hot Countries they commonly washed by going downe into the water and being dipped therein whether in ordinary or ceremoniall or sacramentall washing that will no more inforce on us a necessity of observing the same in baptisme now then the example of Christ and his Apostles * Matth. 26.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mar. 14.18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 22.14 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Matth. 14.19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gesture in the Sacrament of the Supper ties us to the same which was leaning and partly lying which was their usuall table gesture then Now the ordinary table gesture which is usuall among us is most fit so the usuall manner of washing amongst us is most fit to be observed in baptisme and that is by powring as well as by dipping But it may be objected That sprinkling a little water doth not so fitly represent the perfect washing away of all our sinnes as dipping or plunging sith here the whole body is washed there onely the face or head onely Answ First the Scripture no where requires the washing of the whole body in baptisme Secondly with as good reason one might plead thus It is most convenient that at the Lords Supper every communicant should receive his belly full of bread and wine and take as long as stomack and head will hold to signifie the full refreshment of the soule with the body and bloud of Christ But who would endure such reasoning These outward elements of Water Bread and Wine are for spirituall use and to signifie spirituall things so that if there be the truth of things the quantitie is not to be respected further then is sufficient for its end namely to represent the spirituall grace and that it be neither so little as not clearely to represent it 2. Pet. 3.21 nor so much as to take off the heart from the spirituall to the corporall thing Not the washing away of the filth of the body in baptisme nor the glutting or satisfying of the naturall appetite in the Lord Supper is to be looked after but the washing and refreshing of the soule which may well be represented by the sprinkling of a little water eating and drinking of a little bread and wine In Circumcision a little skin was cut off Arg. 2 The spirituall grace and invisible act of God upon the soule signified and represented by the outward act of baptisme is oft expressed in Scripture by the phrase of powring and besprinkling and that in great probabilitie if not certainly and unquestionably with allusion to the Sacrament of Baptisme either already administred 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fudit Infudit affudit profudit perfudit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or to be administred I mean the bloud of Christ and the Spirit of God which are the invisible grace of Baptisme are said to be powred or sprinkled on Gods people Esa 44.3 For I will powre water on him that is thirstie and floods on the dry ground I will powre my Spirit on thy seed and my blessing upon thine off-spring Here the Spirit is said to be powred and this benefit is signified by the type of powring water Ioel 2.28 I will powre out my spirit on all flesh Which promise Peter citing calleth upon the people to repent and receive baptisme as being the signe and seale which God had appointed to represent and exhibite this promised blessing by Ezek. 36.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And I will sprinkle upon you cleane water and you shall be cleane This cleane water questionlesse is the blood and spirit of Iesus Christ represented by the water in baptisme Thus we see three severall phrases signifying to sprinkle besprinkle powre If we look into the New Testament we shall find the like phrases Act. 2.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will powre forth my Spirit upon all flesh Heb. 10.22 Having your hearts besprinkled from an evill conscience 1 Pet. 1.2 By the sanctification of the spirit and sprinkling of the bloud of Iesus Christ See Heb. 9. 13. and 14. verses compared together and Heb. 12.24 Now let any one without prejudice consider these Scriptures whether at least some of them speake not in allusion to baptisme and whether they all hold not forth the thing signified in baptisme and whether baptisme be not a lively resemblance and representation of the things here spoken off And then withall let him consider whether the thing exhibited in this Sacrament be ever so fully set forth by dipping and then I leave him to judge whether sprinkling be not as that I say not more agreeable to the nature of this Sacrament as dipping Arg. 3 Thirdly this dousing over
aswell as there was in the Church of the Iewes Neither doth your long discourse or many abused scriptures prove any thing to the contrary To repeat what was said before Whence was the Church of the Corinthians holy or a Congreation of saints sith there were so many really profane and carnall amongst them but from federall holynesse by which they were distinguished from them that were without though some in the Church were more notorious for vice then those that were without whence were the Hebrews called holy brethren but because they were partakers of the heavenly calling though some were so fastned to the Ceremonies Heb 3.2 and inclined to backsliding that the Apostle useth sharp and severe language towards them ch 6.10 and 12 How is it said that they had been sanctified by the blood of the Covenant that afterwards trampled on the Sonne of God by apostasy accounting the blood of the Covenant profane and doing despite to the spirit of grace if men may not in the state of the Gospell have a federall holynesse without inward holynesse that accompanies the new creature and saving faith So 1 Pet. 2.9.10 the Apostle calls the Christians to whom he wrote a chosen generation a royall priesthood an holy nation a peculiar people a people of God that had obtained mercy Must we think that all these to whom Peter wrote were undoubtedly indued with true faith and holynesse that accompanies the new creature so that there was no hypocrite amongst them that we have no ground for How then are these glorious titles bestowed upon them all By vertue doubtlesse of Gods calling and their outward accepting of Gods Covenant though there was but a part only amongst those Churches to whom these clogies properly belonged for there were tares among the wheate You goe on and say If it be objected that in respect of justification it viz federall holynesse availeth nothing but to baptisme it may to which you answer That which availes to justification and salvation doth according to the rule only availe to baptisme For if thou beleevest with all thy heart thou art justified Rom. 10.10 shalt be saved Acts 16.31 and maiest be baptized upon the same and no other grounds Act 8.37 Answ If the same be the rule or ground for justification and salvation and for baptisme then must Ministers have no rule for baptisme unlesse they can know the heart as God who justifies and saves and so consequently the baptizer must either be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the knower of the heart that is God alone Act 1.24 or baptize beside or without rule that is unlawfully for the true holynesse that accompanies the new creature and saving faith is known to none but God and the spirit of man which is in him 1. Cor. 2.11 You proceed bringing us in objecting and saying that all that were baptized by the Apostles themselves were not saved therefore what you answered to our objection viz. that that availes to baptisme which availes to justification and salvation is not so To this you answer by distinguishing between the rule which is infallible the judgments of men which are fallible and may be deceived in applying the rule yet it followes not but that the rule being of God is still as infallible as God himselfe For all that beleeve shall be saved which is true as God himself is true but all who are judged by beleevers to be beleevers doe not beleeve and therefore are not saved This failing therefore is not in the rule but in their judgements that are but men Answ To what purpose is it to say this is an infallible and eternall rule Whosoever beleeves shall be saved unlesse you prove the other that is in question viz. that saving faith is the only rule of Baptisme and that none might be baptized but they that did actually beleeve with the faith that accompanies the new creature and that this rule is true as God is true which yet I conceive you will not be so bold as to say which unlesse you say you say nothing to purpose For hence it would follow that all whom Iohn and the Disciples c. regularly baptized had true faith and consequently were saved that they failed yea were rash and presumptuous and sinned grievously as going beyond commission when they baptized any hypocrite that such an one after he came to repentance must necessarily be baptized againe for his former baptisme was applied beside the rule and so was a false baptisme Yea if faith be the rule both of baptisme and justification alike it will follow that as all and only beleevers were justified and all and only the justified were beleevers So all and only the faithfull must be baptized and all and only the baptized are faithfull and consequently whosoever is baptized is a beleever and a justified person and whosoever is not baptized is neither beleever nor justified But to leave these absurd consequences that necessarily follow upon your absurd opinion It is evident that God never appointed saving faith to be the rule of baptisme by which his Ministers should be directed in administring baptisme For it is impossible for a Minister to know infallibly whether another savingly beleeveth and so whether he may baptize him according to the rule if faith be the rule That cannot be a rule to us to worke by which we must necessarily be ignorant of God never ordained such an uncertaine yea incomprehensible rule for his servants to worke by You proceed But in baptizing of Infants the case is farre otherwise yea quite contrary who will or can faile in judging an Infant to be an Infant Answ There is no more danger of failing in judging an Infant to be an Infant then in judging a man to be a man But there may be failing in judging an Infant to be truly and really holy and in Covenant though all the children of Christian parents are called holy aswell as there might be failing in judging this or that man in the Corinthian Church to be a saint indeed though the whole Church were called saints For as the Apostles did according to the rule of charity judge men to be beleevers and so baptized them when they made a profession of faith and did not manifestly discover the contrary though afterwards many proved otherwise So we are to judge Infants of Christian parents to be holy and so within Covenant and to be baptized because Gods word testifies that they are holy and neither your shifts and sophisticall evasions nor all the policie of Satan can disprove it though afterwards some of them are proved to have been only outwardly not inwardly in Covenant Here you bring in some authours testifying that baptisme of children is but a tradition a custome of the Church invented by the Pope c. Which testimonies I cannot for the present examine as not being furnished with the bookes of the authours Though if one should cast away so much time as to follow you