Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A85020
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The infants advocate of circumcision on Jewish and baptisme on Christian children. By Thomas Fuller, B.D.
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Fuller, Thomas, 1608-1661.
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1653
(1653)
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Wing F2447; Thomason E1431_1; ESTC R202071
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87,089
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272
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generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee Hence we collect it a Gospel-Covenant From 1. The language and expression of it 2. The continuance and duration of it 3. The blessings and benefits conveyed by it For the language and expression the voice is the voice of Jacob. The speech agreeth thereunto not to betray it as it did Peter to his shame and sorrow but to discover this covenant to its honour and our comfort to be an Evangelical Covenant That very phrase to be a God unto thee is a Gospel-phrase Otherwise how cometh he who upon the breach of the covenant of works was left our enemy our inraged judge to be a God unto us I see here Matthew in Moses the New couched in the Old Testament Parallel is the expression Mat. 1. 23. And they shall call his name Emanuel which being interpreted is God with us God with us and to be a God unto us differ something in sound nothing in sence Secondly for the continuance and duration of it An Everlasting Covenant that with Adam was but a short-lasting covenant Some conceive Adam never naturally slept in his Innocency accounting that caused deep sleep Gen. 2. 21. before Eve her creation supernatural but forfeited his Innocency before night As there be some kind of insects called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Naturalists say survive but a day so some conceive Adams integrity of no longer duration And though we dare not certainly close with their opinion the Scripture not acquainting us with the date of Adams perseverance in paradise we may be confident that covenant of works was of no long continuance before it was broken This short-liv'd covenant thus expired it was never reviv'd again on the same conditions but utterly extinguished Yea herein God magnified his mercy that upon any termes he would treat with mankind whom he might have condemned as incapable of any future contract for once breaking of Covenant Yet now he draweth up a second agreement with them being a covenant of grace and that everlasting such his goodnesse that though we if strictly examined break it with him he will not break it with us I confesse everlasting in Scripture is sometimes taken for long-lasting in which sense the Hebrew tongue accepteth of an ever after an ever but here it is taken truly for eternity seeing whom God loveth he loveth to the end without end The third argument to prove the evangelical nature of Gods covenant with Abraham is drawn from the blessings and benefits conveyed thereby whose size and measure is so great they are only of a Gospel proportion to be a God unto thee Could lesse be said then this so short the words yet could more be said then this so large the matter All things herein are comprized a promise to give repentance faith hope and charity patience in afflictions preservation from or in them competency of outward maintenance perseverance unto the end in a word grace and holinesse here glory and happinesse hereafter How tedious are the instruments of our age a span of ground being scarcely passed under a span of parchment in comparison of the concise Grants of our ancient Kings some of whose Charters contain not so many words as they convey Manours therein Yet even those Patents are prolix if compared with Gods Covenant in my text to be a God unto thee promising therein more then what man can ask or desire God hath set us a pattern therefore let thy words be few Eccles 5. 2. not to be babling to him in our prayers seeing he is so plain and pithy to us in his promises couching all things in so short an expression To put all out of doubt this Covenant of Circcumcision made with Abraham and his seed appears to be a Gospel Covenant because S Paul so expoundeth it If any scruple arise about the sence of a Law to whom should people repair for satisfaction but to the makers thereof if alive Thus on the emergency of doubts about the nature of this Covenant we may and must have recourse unto the Author thereof Now the same spirit who indited Genesis by Moses indited the Epistle to the Romans by S. Paul who plainly affirmeth Rom. 4. 11. that Abraham received the sign of Circumcision the seal of righteousness by faith Object It is strange to conceive how in that age there could be a Covenant of faith the word faith appearing properly but once Habac. 2. 4. in all the old Testament and once afterwards with a negation before it in reference to the Jews Deut. 32. 20. Children in whom is no faith Seeing therefore such silence of faith in the Old Testament so frequently resounded in the New this Covenant with Abraham seemeth suspicious to be an old Covenant of Works and to have nothing of Gospel therein Answ The word Faith only not the thing signified thereby is wanting in the old Testament What Christ and his Apostles call faith and believing that the Prophets and pen-men of the old Testament expresse by Trusting The Religion and Creed of the Ancient Patriarchs is briefly drawn up by David Psal 22. 4. Our Fathers trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them they cried unto thee and were delivered they trusted in thee and were not confounded I will not say the Triplication of the word Trust denotes their belief in the Trinity Father Son and holy Spirit but here it plainly appears they had their confidence in and dependence on God though then not so clearly revealed unto them which sheweth the sameness in substance of their belief with ours Vse This serveth to confute such who account the Jews a meer husk shell and shadow of Gods people as if all the promises made unto them meerly terminated in temporal happinesses Thus they feed the Jews bodies with milk and fill their bellies with hony even to a surfeit flowing from the fruitfulnesse of the land of Canaan whilest in the mean time they starve and famish their souls excluding them as incapable of heavenly and spiritual blessings Their uncharitable errour is grounded on this argument because when their blessings are reckoned up Deut. 28. 3. it extendeth only to the city field fruit of their bodie ground cattle kine sheep c. but no mention of their eternal beatitude hereafter in heaven Yea when Isaac cordially blessed Jacob desiring no doubt to make the same as compleat as he could bestow and Jacob receive his expressions Gen. 27. 28. amount no higher then to the dew of heaven the fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine On the other side when the Jews curses are solemnly pronounced Deut. 28. 16. they are confined to city field basket store fruit of the body land kine sheep c. Here a deep silence of hell and damnation so that the smiles or frowns of God to the Jews seem to reach no farther then to their well or ill being in this life To this it
of the State is by the courtesie of the camp enrolled in the souldiers list on his birth-day and by the allowance of the State receives pay from the time of his nativity In the Christian warfare though Christ alone be our Captain every common souldier male or female enlisted under him derives this priviledge to all his children that from their very births they are thus far entred into the muster-roll of the Church as to receive pay I mean the right and title to the Sacrament of Baptism as being by their very extraction not unclean but Sacramently holy CHAP. XI The third Reason taken from the Holy Spirit which is given to little Infants THe Third Reason out of Scripture is thus framed Such who receive the Spirit of God may and ought to be Baptized but infants receive the Spirit of God therefore they may and ought to be Baptized The Major hereof is in effect the words of the Text Peter saith Acts 10. 47. Can any man forbid water that these should not be Baptized which have received the holy Ghost as wel as we Can he that is can he justly can he lawfully can he so do it as to avouch it to God and man when he hath done it Though I confesse too many de facto do it now adayes Can any man we can do nothing saith the Apostle against the Truth but for the Truth 2 Cor. 13. 8. It is not strength but weaknesse for one to be able to do that which he ought not to do Can any man Be he an Apostle or even Peter himself MAN He must be either worse then a man for his Envy or lesse then a man by his Ignorance The Minor remains to be proved that Infants receive the Spirit of God whereof we have two pregnant proofs one in the old Testament Jer. 1. 5. Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee and ordained thee to be a Prophet unto the Nations Object This sanctification of Jeremy intends not such as accompanieth the salvation of the soul but meerly importeth a designation of him to the Prophetical function with qualification for the discharge thereof It is therefore impertinently alledged to prove that Infants have the saving Spirit of God Answ It is confessed that Jeremy his destination to be a Prophet was a principal part of his sanctifying here mentioned Yet was it not the total thereof as being but a sprig and branch of the same which extended to Gods forming him according to his knowledge of approbation and hallowing him as yet unborn to be his Saint and servant The second instance in the new Testament is that of John the Baptist Luke 1. 41. Leaping in his mothers womb at the salutation of the virgin Mary Not that as some have mistaken it that then his Mother was first sensible that she quickned of him seeing it was said before vers 36. This is the sixth moneth with her which was called barren but as it is vers 44. the babe leaped in my womb for joy knowing and acknowledging Christ the Saviour of mankind and transported with transcendent gladnesse for the same Object But Jeremy and John the Baptist were Jeremy and John the Baptist I mean signal persons of extraordinary stature of grace above the size of common Christians Your Logick is but bad if from the induction of two instances you infer a general conclusion As soundly you might prove that all Davids worthies were equal in valour and atchivements 2 Sam. 23. 19. unto the first three as that al infants of Gods children may for their abilities be matched with these two by you alledged Answ I grant no lesse That these two instances were extraordinary However thus much advantage we gain thereby that they plainly prove the state of Infancy to be receptive of grace and of ability to entertain the same Let none look on Infants as so indisposed and unorganized by reason of their weaknesse but that the lownesse of their age is capable of the elevation to sanctity Secondly though we acknowledge such redundancy of the Spirit in the extraordinary and miraculous proportion thereof confined to a few persons in Christs and the Apostles time yet we may no lesse truly then confidently maintain that a sufficiency thereof as to salvation is conferr'd on all Gods servants now adays as well as before Nor is Gods Spirit super-annuated with aged Naomy Ruth 1. 11. or grown so barren or effete but that it is still procreative and produceth the effects thereof in Gods servants now as vigorously as ever before Otherwise most doleful yea indeed desperate were the conditions of Gods servants now adays if devoid of the Spirit of God as to the essentials thereof having now a fiercer foe and worse weapons to encounter him then the Christians had in former ages A fiercer foe Satan himself growing subtiler with the addition of fifteen hundred years experience and crueller Rev. 12. 12. because the shorter his reign the sharper his rage Worse weapons if we be left altogether naked of the offencive and defencive armor of the Spirit of God And here I cannot but admire at the practice of some persons now adayes boasting of strange measures of the Spirit bestowed upon them and we must needs believe them for they say so themselves yea such prodigious proportions thereof whereby per saltum they conceive themselves enabled for such offices for which they were never fitted by their education And yet the self-same persons who are thus prodigal in the praise of their own perfections assuming so much of the Spirit to themselves are most miserably nigardly to others and especialy to Infants denying the least degree of the Spirit unto them Whereas let matters be beheld with an unpartial eye and it will appear that it is more probable children should partake of the company of the Spirit then men now adayes May it not justly be suspected that the spiritual pride uncharitablenesse self-interest sinister respects cruelty and oppression of many men do fright away the spirit from them how highly soever pretending to holinesse whereas the mildnesse meeknesse silence humility and patience of a childe may invite the society of the spirit the sooner unto it and the Dove converse rather with Doves then with Vultures To put all out of doubt we can plainly demonstrate the fruits of Gods Spirit and Sanctification in Infants dying Infants and therefore the root therof must be granted to be in their hearts which we thus prove Whatsoever is saved is fully sanctified for Ephes 5. 5. no unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ But many children especially of Godly parents dying children are saved Therefore they are fully sanctified He wants judgement that denies the Major or former part of the syllogism And he lacks as much charity who questions the Minor hereof otherwise Herod the cruel Tyrant who killed only the bodies of the babes in and about Bethlehem