Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A87257
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Infants baptizing proved lawfull by the Scriptures: objections against it resolved and removed. Aug. 24. 1644. Imprimatur, John White.
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1644
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Wing I162; Thomason E8_31; ESTC R15802
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13,658
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16
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INFANTS BAPTIZING Proved lawfull by the SCRIPTVRES Objections against it resolved and removed MAT. 18. 6. Whosoever shall offend a little child which beleeves in me it were better for him that a mil-stone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea Aug. 24. 1644. Imprimatur JOHN WHITE LONDON Printed by George Miller dwelling in Black-Friers 1644. The Printer to the Reader Reader PErceiving some Pamphlets to be sent abroad against Baptizing of Infants to corrupt the people I thought it my duty to the Church of God to publish this short discourse which came to my hands to give some check to the spreading of Anabaptisticall fancies untill some Learned penne shall more fully and largely evince the truth in this controversie consider thou seriously what is said in it and be established in the present Truth and not carried off from thy stedfastnesse with every wind of Doctrine shew thy selfe to be sollid wheate and not slight chaffe in the garner of God Farewell INFANTS BAPTIZING Proved lawfull by the SCRIPTURES COnsidering the present strange and dangerous spreading of the old Error of the Anabaptists That children are not to be baptized which in all ages of the Church under the Gospell hath been condemned whensoever it hath beene stirred and is now againe revived and pressed by the workings of Satan who hath prevailed to the infection of many therewith even among those that pretend unto holinesse and have obtained a good degree in the Church of God I could not be satisfied in my selfe till I had searched into first the title and claime of Infants unto this ordinance of Baptisme and then into the barrs and pretences brought against it and finding the claime of Infants to be by the Scriptures strong and cleere and the batteries raised against it weake and slight my spirit was at rest and setled in the truth and justice of the constant and generall practises of all the Churches in it and did not so much as think of making any of my thoughts and meditations concerning these things legible till by occasion of some debate I had with some Ministers I reverenced and of a Letter sent unto me by one of them I addressed my selfe to set downe in writing solutions and answers to those things which I perceived to stick with them whereby it comes to passe that in this following discourse there is no methodicall handling of the controversie as it well deserves but the stating of the question and proofe of Infants baptisme falls in by parcels as the objections against it gave occasion And whereas one basis upon which the Infants right is founded is suggested by the Anabaptists to be a promise proper to Abraham and not to extend to all professors of the Gospell nor to any of them I begin with that namely GEN. 17. 7. I will be the God of thee and of thy seed THis is a double Promise First I will be the God of thee Secondly I will be the God of thy seed The first promise is no peculiar of Abrahams but is common to every beleever under the Law and Gospell a branch of the new Covenant Jer. 31.33 The second being the same Promise signifying and carrying in it the same things and in termes the same only varying the subject extended to seed his seed as related to him must be of as large extent as the first and common to every beleever with Abraham and this is plaine and manifest by the Grammaticall construction of this Promise Secondly It is farther evidenced by comparing this with other Scriptures Deut. 28.4 The righteous shall be blessed in the fruit of their bodies where blessednesse is promised to their seed as theirs in reference to them Deut. 30.2 6. God promises to the true penitent to circumcise their heart and the heart of their seed to love him Isa 44 3 I will powre out my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Isa 59.21 My Spirit and my words shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor of thy seeds seed for even Mat. 19.14 and Luk. 18.16 Jesus Christ declares his mind concerning the children of the members of the Church he would have them brought to him he blesses them and saith that of them is the Kingdome of God Acts 2.39 The Apostles speaking to converted Jewes and Gentiles penitent beleevers affirmeth that the Promises belong to them and to their children Thirdly That the said Promises were no peculiars of Abraham appeares by that of the Apostle Gal. 3.16 that the Promises made to Abraham were made to Christ and so to Abraham as interessed in him in whom Abraham and all the nations of the earth are blessed All promises of grace are made to Christ and to Abraham and to beleevers under the Gospell in him in respect of our interest in him In him are the promises yea and Amen unto us Abraham was an antecessor in the faith whose steps the faithfull follow Rom. 4 12. but neither father of our persons nor of our faith God honoured him to be the first to whom this promise was expresly made after the same made in the beginning to Jesus Christ the seed of the woman and so he was a father and not otherwise more then any other beleever There was also another speciality in this Promise to him that of his naturall seed should proceed a people that should have the honour till Christ came to be the only visible Church on earth but the Scriptures make this rather a peculiar of Isaack then of Abraham and made to him in Isaack and not generally Gen. 17.19 Rom. 9.7 The Promise to Abraham comprehended Ishmael also whereupon the seale of it was given to him by Gods appointment cleerely declaring the extent of that Promise to all in the visible Church and so it belonged to Ishmael till for his mocking of Isaack by which he forfeited it he was justly excommunicate Fourthly Another thing manifests this truth namely that God gave Abraham the seale of the Promise not as Abraham nor as a Jew but for and in respect of the righteousnesse of faith he had before circumcision instituted in his uncircumcision by that it appeared he was in Christ capable of the Promise and intituled unto it and this is common to Christians of the uncircumcision as well as to Abraham that received circumcision Rom. 4.11 Fifthly This further appeares by the thing contained in this Promise namely the appropriation of God to beleevers by a free Covenant of peculiar grace above and before others and this grace as believing is either outward for and concerning visible Church priviledges to be members of the visible Church partakers of Baptisme * The visible Church is called Christ 1 Cor 1â— 12. And the Kingdome of Christ Mat. 13. c. or inward and meerely spirituall which none but true Saints in whom the new creature is formed have Covenant-right unto Cleerely all the naturall seed
The revealed will of God in this Covenant concerning the good of my children is the rule to the Church and me what to beleeve hope and expect concerning them and what to doe to and for them to prepare and enter them as much as in us lies into and for the whole good of this Promise The secret counsell of God how my children shall prove in the end belongs not to us is no rule for us to walk by towards them till it be revealed And this Promise holds out unto us First A ground comfortably to believe and hope that God will fulfill the whole of the Covenant unto them whence we have as cleere a ground to expect their spirituall as their temporall good and upon this promise we may ground a prayer of faith for both for the children Secondly This Promise binds us to use in faith all meanes that the children are capable of for the interessing of them in the good of this Covenant and among other to baptise them Infants are capable of grace to such belongs the Kingdome of Heaven and for ought we know the Spirit hath sanctified the believers children and from this promise we have ground to hope that it is so they being within it expressely and this Covenant gives them a right to the seale of it and this revealed will is the rule by which the Church and we are to judge leaving secret things to God and therefore without incurring the guilt of infidelity and breach of the command included in this promise of using meanes and without manifest injury to the children and contempt and slighting of this great mercy and kindnesse expressed and assured in this Covenant to believers neither the Church nor they can withhold Baptisme from their children Hence it appeares that this Objection is cast in impertinently to trouble the cleere waters of this sweet Promise and weaken our faith in it What God hath undertaken it being his work and not ours we are to rest upon his truth and faithfulnesse in accomplishing it and not trouble our hearts or heads about it but doing our duties believe in his truth revealed and submit to his soveraignty the exercise whereof is unknown unto us when he shall reveale it It is true that the election only obtaines the invisible grace of this promise as the Apostle saith of Abrahams seed but what is that to us before God manifests who are in his election and who not It ought not being secret to impeach our faith in this Promise nor withhold us from using all meanes to our children for the obtaining of that grace Ob. It is further objected That Baptisme requires a spirituall use and children cannot make such spirituall use of it and by experience it is cleere that many baptised in Infancy after deny it Sol. To which I answer That the spirituall use of Baptisme is either by the Spirit of God and that that is done in the children of believers we have from this Covenant good ground to beleeve or by the Church and parents in bringing the children unto this ordinance in faith which is done in the right administration of it or lastly by the children themselves who being passive in this ordinance it is not necessary that at present they expresse the fruits of it in any activity of theirs no more then in circumcision but this is to be beleeved and expected that God who hath promised will produce it in time And though it fall out that some denie their Baptisme afterwards as some did their circumcision that is not materiall in this question being secret and therefore not considerable in the dispensation of the outward visible grace and priviledges of this Covenant which such children have Covenant-right unto Which also is by this further manifested that though many of them that receive Baptisme at full age after deny it and declare by their apostacy that they are in the gall of bitternesse and bond of iniquity as Simon Magus yet that hinders not the Church to administer Baptisme to others of full age upon their profession of faith and repentance For we are to walke by the revealed will of God and not be hindred by future events which being secret are to be left and referred to God And we are incouraged so to doe in the case in question not only from the Covenant of God but also from the experience of his gratious performance thereof who hath made good this promise to the children of beleevers and professors in the uttermost extent of it specially where there hath been no fault in the believers either in not beleeving this gratious promise or not using the meanes sanctified for the obtaining of the performance of it Ob. It is further objected That religious parents have no other priviledge concerning their children then from the meanes of knowledge for them which unbeleevers have not Sol. To which I answer It is plaine by what I have said that the Scriptures speake great and excellent things of the seed and generation of the godly which it not only excludes the seed of the wicked from but speakes sad and dreadfull things of them of the seed and children of beleevers the holy Scriptures testifie that God is their God will circumcise their hearts to love him poure out his Spirit and blessing upon them will shew mercies to thousands of them they shall be blessed the promises belong unto them and the Kingdome of Heaven they are holy beloved for the Fathers sake c. but of the children of unbelievers they speake no good but contrarily that they are cursed God will visit the iniquities of their fathers * Num. 14.18 Deut. â— 9 Ier. 32.18 Iob â—â— 19. upon them unto the third and fourth generation that they are a â— Cor. 7. â—4 uncleane the seed of the serpent farre from safety Job 5.4 God will make their plagues wonderfull Deut. 28.59 c. And by this appeares that there is a broader difference between the children of beleevers and of unbeleevers then that beleevers have the meanes of knowledge for their children Besides many unbeleevers as Papists and open profane persons among us have the meanes of knowledge for their children and so between them and the children of beleevers is no difference nor the condition of the children of beleevers better then of unbeleevers Into what a bottomlesse pit of absurd opinions doth the spirit of error hurry men that turne from the truth and forsake it Ob. It is further objected That this ordinance is not appointed for children Sol. To which I answer First That God includes the children of beleevers in the Covenant Secondly To whom the Covenant belongs the seale belongs b They â—hat have the thâ—â—g signifiâ—â— may not be denied the signe â—f capable of it 〈◊〉 47. Aâ—t â— 7 They havâ—ng the lik◠〈◊〉 and promise as we to deny thâ—m baptisme is to withstand God all Gods Covenants are sealed Covenants Thirdly The children of beleevers are capable of this