Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	true_a	worship_v	worshipper_n	5,566	5	12.1877	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85387	Cata-baptism: or new baptism, waxing old, and ready to vanish away. In two parts. The former containes LVIII. considerations, (with their respective proofs, and consectaries) pregnant for the healing of the common scruples touching the subject of baptism, and manner of baptizing. The latter, contains an answer to a discours against infant-baptism, published not long since by W.A. under the title of, Some baptismall abuses brielfy discovered, &c. In both, sundry things, not formerly insisted on, are discovered and discussed. / By J.G. a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.	Goodwin, John, 1594?-1665.	1655 (1655)	Wing G1155; Thomason E849_1; ESTC R207377	373,602	521

11 12 13 14. Yea Solomon saith The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord. Pro. 15. 8. 21. 27. These places with many more of a like import that might readily be added unto them doe with a surplussage of evidence prove that much benefit did NOT accrue to the doers of the things specified upon the account of the deed done And yet of the two there is much more reason why benefit should accrue unto the doers of such things of the Law as these upon the work done then upon their being Circumcised For 4. Whereas he saith that much of the benefit of Circumcision did accrue to the circumcised upon the work done if he speaks of those that were circumcised according to the standing Law viz. on the eight day who were farre the greatest part of the Iewish nation the work it self of Circumcision was not done by them but by others to them unknown Whereas the offering of incense and of sacrifices the observation of the new moons sabbaths and other feasts appointed by the law were works done by persons themselves Now questionlesse if there be any benefit accruing unto men upon the work done it is more like to accrue in this kind upon works done by persons themselves then upon works done totally by others and without their knowledge desire or consent Nor doth nor can Mr. A. give us any substantiall account either from the Scriptures or otherwise why the benefit of Baptism should be more suspended upon the knowledge faith c. of him who is baptized then the benefit of Circumcision was suspended upon the like qualifications of the circumcised For Sect. 128. 5. The Texts of Scripture which he cites prove no such difference as this between the two Ordinances Circumcision and Baptism nor do they either divisim or con●unctim prove or so much as colour with a proof that much of the benefit of Circumcision did accrue to the circumcised upon the work done For what though the Apostle saith and this by way of contradistinction from the voyce of the Gospell or righteousnesse of faith The man that doth those things shall live by them yet is it no part of his meaning to implie or teach that by the literall performance of the Legall ceremonies men either were or might have been saved The Law of which the Apostle speaks is not the Law of Ceremonies which Mr. A. understandeth but the whole system or body of precepts and commandments delivered by Moses Nor is the Apostles doing those things the same with Mr. A's doing them The Apostle must needs be conceived to speak of such a doing of the things of the Law which includes as well the spiritualitie or perfection of the Law and of the severall precepts thereof at least in will desire and endeavour as the bare letter or externalitie of it For God never made any such Covenant with or promise unto any man that by doing externals only he should be either justified or saved which Mr. A's doing evidently supposeth Nor doth his second Scripture stand any whit closer to his cause then the first For when the Apostle saith Gal. 3. 12. The Law is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them his meaning is not that the Law required not as well the conformitie and subjection of the inward man unto it as viz. in Love Faith Holinesse Humilitie c. as of the outward consisting of a meere bodily observation of so much of it as might thus be observed but that the voice purport or tenour of the Law did exact of all those who expected justification by it yea in a sense of all men simply an universall and constant obedience and subjection unto it in the whole compasse and extent of it according to what he had more plainly said a verse or two before Cursed is every one that CON●INUETH NOT IN ALL THINGS which are written in the book of the Law to do them in which respect it is said not to be of Faith i. not to promise justification unto any act of Faith or beleeving in another Whereas the tenor of the Gospel although it simply requireth as perfect and thorow an obedience unto all the precepts of it as the Law did to all the precepts thereof yet it exacteth not this obedience upon the same inexorable terms nor doth it threaten every person no nor any person with a curse who shall not con●nue in all things which are written therein to d● them in case they shall truly and unfeignedly believe in Jesus Christ So that these two Scriptures rightly understood know nothing either of reason or truth in Mr. A's cause Sect. 129. His other Scriptures levied upon the same account p. 27. 28. do scarce so much as face the design which they are brought into the field to advance For what though the ministration of the Law be called the ministration of the letter and the Ordinances thereof carnall Ordinances and such as did no● make perfect as pertaining to the conscience or again that the Apostle to shew wherein the Gospell or new Covenan● exceeds the Law or old one saith that according to this God puts his Laws in the minds of men and writes them in their hearts Heb. 8. 10 Or again that the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth what is there I say in all or in any of these or in twenty more of a like import to prove that much of the benefit of Circumcision did accrue to the circumcised upon the work done or that the benefit of baptism is any whit more suspended upon the knowledge Faith c. of him who is baptized then the benefit of Circumcision was c All that can be inferred from these and such like passages are only these and such like notions That God is more communicative of the clear knowledg of himself and of the mysterie of his will concerning the salvation of the world by Jesus Christ under the Gospell then he was under the Law that the anointing of the generalitie of the Saints with the Spirit under this dispensation the Law was nothing so rich or full as it now is under the Gospel that the instituted worship especially the publique worship and service of God under the Law consisted in a farre greater number and varietie of external rites and observations then now under the Gospell that the hearts of the people yea of the people of God themselves were generally nothing so raised or enlarged to the obedience of God under the Law as they are and especially will be when the time cometh under the Gospell c. But none of these things prove so much as inshew that according to the nature of the legal ministration children void of understanding and faith were any whit more capable of holy things or of the end● and benefits of them in part upon a literall administration or reception of them then children now are under the Gospell For my better

leave no weighty no effectual or lively impression of their truth or import upon the spirits and consciences of the hearers 5. Whether the now-named deficiences with § 9. several other disorders too frequent amongst you considered there be any great presence of Jesus Christ at any time in your holy Assemblies or such as is frequently manifest in the assemblies of other Churches or whether you have any countenance from heaven either in gifts or graces comparable to other Churches of the Saints And whether the principal if not the only cement and band that keeps and holds your Churches and Congregations together be not the simple conceit that you are by means of your new Baptisme gotten neerer to God and deeper in his favour then other men how holy or worthy soever otherwise above your selves 6. Whether the bulk and main body of persons whether men or women for I hope better things of some of you and which accompany Christian sobriety and true mortification but whether the generality or far greater part of persons of your judgement and practise in the Nation be not so far from that Christian sweetness humility and meekness of spirit which becometh those who profess themselves baptized into the death of Christ buried with him in Baptism towards all men that they scarce retain the moral principles of common Civility but are heady rash fierce despisers of others yea of good men self-conceited arrogant quarrelsome clamorous captious vain boasters unjust defamers of men dissenting in judgement from them still upon all disputes between men of their judgement and others about Baptisme how weakly soever their cause hath been pleaded by her Patrons and how potently and manifestly soever overthrown by her Adversaries yet ringing the great Bell of Ephesus for joy of the victory Great is Diana of the Ephesians Great is the Doctrine of Ana-baptisme and prevaileth a Cumque passim isti Anabaptistae de victoriâ ab Oecolampadio reportatâ gloriarentur edidit ille Colloquii cum Anabaptistis habiti acta Scultet Annal. Dec. 1. An. 1625. Vt primum Constantiam venit Balthasar Anabaptista apud ministros verbi sic nos calumniatus est victoriamque suam de Catabaptismo jactavit ut nesciam an nillos in odium nostri traxerit Ibid. In disputatione autem suprà modum erant vehementes parati mori potius quàm cedere Balthazar quidam Anabaptista literis ad Senatum Tigurinensem pollicetur se Zuinglium suis Scripturis superaturum de Baptismo Ibid. Anabaptisme it seemeth being more hardy then God supposed the King of Tyre would be Ezek. 28. 9. and daring to say in the hands of him that slayeth her I am God I am a divine Truth 7. Whether any person man or woman who § 10. have turned Proselyte to your way hath ever given or at this day can give any competent satisfaction unto men by any sensible growth in grace in knowledge in faith in love in humility in fruitfulness c. that their Proselytism in this kind hath added so much as one cubit nay so much as one hairs bredth to their spiritual stature or that their souls have prospered to any degree by means of their new Baptism Nay 8. Whether a very great number at least of those who have done homage to your way and have bowed down their judgements and consciences unto it have not been spiritual losers by the change sensibly declining and decaying in their graces in those Christian and worthy principles and dispositions which at first they brought with them unto your way waxing much worse after their new Baptizing then they were before as if their new Baptisme had not been into Christ or into his death but rather into old Adam and into his life And whether you your selves in several of your Congregations are not experimentally sensible of such a frequent declining and putrifying of your Members as this casting out and cutting off great numbers of them from day to day I was somwhat more particularly re-minded to put you upon consideration of these two particulars last mentioned by occasion of some of my acquaintance formerly who since have stumbled in the dark into your way These I confess are not many only this I have observed concerning them and must needs upon this occasion testifie that not any one of them as far as an estimate can be made by what is visible or discernable in point of conversation profecit hilum hath gained so much as the making of one hair either black or white by the exchange of his Baptisme but sundry of them have lost many degrees of that sweet Christian savour and love wherewith they excellently adorned the Gospel before I will not positively say by but upon after and since the translation of their judgements into your way 9. Whether amongst men and women whose § 11. Consciences have at any time been surprized with a conceit of more goodness in your way then in the contrary and so have betaken themselves unto it such who have been either the most Christianly meek and humble on the one hand or the most judicious sober learned and best composed on the other hand have not upon a little experience of your way grown cool and very indifferent in their thoughts about it yea and many repented of their weakness and surprisal and forsaken your tents as about Luthers time Oecolampadius Johonnes Gaster Pfistermeierus Johannes Denkius persons of great learning worth and humility with several others and of late yeers many of like character among our selves whom if I judged it convenient I could name Only I may be free I presume to mention that concerning Mr. Richard Baxter a man as like as any man I know to make a crooked generation streight if it be possible which himself hath published of himself viz. that his foot was once very neer to be taken in this snare Huldericus Zuinglius a man of most signal worth likewise in his times maketh the like acknowledgement in these words Wherefore I my self that I may ingenuously confess the truth some yeers ago being deceived with this error thought it better that childrens Baptisme should be delayed until they came to full age 10. Whether since the first invention and practise of your way in later times which according to Scul●etus who wrote the History of the Reformation of Christian Religion by Luther and other his Assistants partakers of the same grace with him therein was in the yeer 1521. a Origo fanaticae ●nabaptistarum sectae ●●ic Anno deb●tur Scultet Annal. Dec. 1. in Anno 1521. Nicolaus Ciconia Marcus Stubnerus Martinus Cell●rius Thomas Muntzerus primi hujus sectae nominantur Authores Ibid. men of your judgement wherever almost they have come have not obstrustructed the course and proceedings of the Gospel opposed troubled defamed the most faithful and worthy Instruments of Christ in the work of Reformation and upon this account been complained of by them b Cursum Evangelii

other forms and fashions of professing Christ which he hath devised to please the humours and fancies of unstable persons in these latter days 6. Beware especially of the Notions and §. 9. Doctrines of those who to magnifie as they suppose the inward teachings enlightenings and workings of God or of the Spirit of God in or upon the hearts and minds of men vilifie his Ordinances and outward administrations judging these to be but impertinencies and things which may without loss yea and as the prophane madness of some uttereth it self with no spiritual disadvantage be layd aside For though neither he that planteth be any thing nor he that watereth any thing and so neither preaching any thing nor hearing any thing viz. comparatively or in respect of God who giveth the increase yet he that speaketh this saith also though with a modest expression to Philemon that he owed unto him even his own self Philemon v. 19. And elsewhere giveth thanks unto God who always caused him to triumph in Christ a meaning in respect of the great success of his Ministry in the conversion of men unto Christ where ever he came preaching the Gospel yea and ascribeth unto Timothy the saving of the souls of those who should hear him 1 Tim. 4. 16. All which with very many more like unto them clearly assert a Soveraign necessity of the Ministry Yea where he that planteth and he that watereth are despised it is not God but the Devil that giveth the encrease For we read of no increase at least ordinarily given by God but upon and by means of the planting and watering by men Yea if there were nothing but meer sacramentality in the preaching of the Gospel and other Ordinances the teachings and inspirations of God and of his Spirit cannot upon any competent ground be expected without them no more then Naaman had ground to expect a cleansing from his leprosie without washing seven times in Jordan or Moses and the Israelites that the waters of the Red Sea would have been divided and afforded them a passage thorough on dry Land had not Moses lift up his Rod over them as God had directed him and so divided them Exod. 14. 16. 21. 7. If you shall at any time be by the Providence of God seated and setled under such a Ministry where the words of eternal life are preached unto you with power and as the Apostle speaketh in the evidence and demonstration of the spirit know that you cannot better your selves by changing your Station but you may by such a change endamage your selves in the things of your eternal peace exceedingly Lord saith Peter to whom shall we goe Thou hast the words of eternal life Joh. 6. 68. There is no removing or going from before the face of the Gospel where the glory of it from time to time shines out in the face of the inner man but with imminent danger of spiritual loss upon the remove For though there are that are called Preachers of the Gospel whether in one form of a Religious profession or of another as there are Preachers of the Gospel many and Teachers many yet to those who have a true and lively tast of the Gospel and of the spirit thereof the able and faithful Preachers thereof are very few Nor will nor can the practise of any carnal Rite or Ceremony one or more especially by others least of all when not onely the necessity but even the lawfulness of the practise of them is matter of doubtful disputation ballance the loss that is like to be sustained by exchanging the Sun for the Moon I mean a lightsome spiritful and lively Ministry for that which is cloudy flat and of small execution 8. You can hardly enter into and walk in any of § 11. those many by-ways or new-devised forms of profession which are at this day occupyed and used by men and women pretending highly to Religion amongst us but there is signal cause of fear that your spirits will receive some ill tincture or other even from the best of them and that your hearts wil be disordered and levened with some un-Christian impression by means of them Amongst those known by the name of QUAKERS who are at present the rising and growing Sect or Faction and whose way hath in a short time welnigh swallowed up quick the way of Ana-Baptism which till of late magnified it self above all its fellows there is little question to be made but that the Devil dwelleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodily and subjecteth the Proselites of this way unto his own most inhumane tyranny under the pretence and shew of mortification self-denyal austerity of life c. teaching them to give heed unto and follow the light as they term it which is within them without any examination or search whither this light be darkness or no which the Lord Christ supposeth it may very possibly be If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness Mat. 6. 23. Such a Doctrine as this viz. to forbid all examination or tryal when as God expresly counselleth us to try all things is the express Character of the great enemy of the precious souls of men Another Sect we have amongst us borderers upon the former whom I know not yet how to call by any appropriate name but the way of their folly is to cast behind their back or trample under their feet all the Ordinances of God unless it be such a kind of preaching which strengthens their hand thereunto teaching that God or the Spirit of God doth all with a total exclusion of mans care study thoughts or endeavours whatsoever A Doctrine exactly calculated for the Meridian of Hel and serves with an high hand for the advancement of the Devils Kingdom amongst men Amongst these men you wil learn to honour every Spirit that shall at any time enter into you though never so frantique and fanatique though never so lying or unclean with the worthy name of the Spirit of God Yea you wil learn negligence sloathfulness and prophaneness as matters of duty and regular submission unto God Amongst the Ana-Baptists I mean those of the § 12. Ana-Baptists high form you wil be tempted to build upon the water instead of the Rock and to rejoyce in a thing of nought You wil be apt to learn pride peremptoriness self-conceitedness unquietness and turbulency of spirit the despising of those that are good the magnifying of a minute of wil-worship against or above the divine Nature it self in men above Faith Love Holiness Humility Mortification Self-denyal Fruitfulness in wel doing and whatsoever do most unquestionably commend both men and women unto God and sober men Antinomianism is a Schole of Lawless Liberty wherein is taught how without the least regret of conscience to turn the grace of God into wantonness and where the progymnasmata or impure Elements of Ranting the dregs and retriment of all Sects and where men and women are

more then enough that any one of the said characters be found upon them and that more then one shall not be found By the way because I would not be mista●en in any thing asserted by way of proof either of the present or former Consideration I here declare 1. That whereas there are two kinds of Anabaptism the one simple the other compounded I mean by the former that which rejecteth not the Christian Communion of Beleevers because not re-baptized nor placeth either justification or salvation in its own appropriate way of baptizing but contenteth it self with a meer exchange of its own Baptism by the latter that which separateth it self from faith and holinesse themselves as impure and unclean if they cannot stoop to their prescript about baptizing I declare I say that what hath been said either concerning the sad sufferings of the Gospel from Anabaptism in the former Consideration or concerning Gods witnessing from Heaven against Anabaptism in this I desire to be understood onely of the latter sort of Anabaptism and not of the former For though the former be an errour or mistake yet being simply and meerly such c. not accompanied with pride or malignity against the honour or peace of the Churches of Christ 1. The Gospel may run and be glorified without any considerable interruption or disturbance by it 2. Neither is the God of all grace wont to inflict any exemplary or signal judgement upon the simple errors or mistakes of men but covereth a thousand of these with a covering made of his love and great compassion in Christ towards men 2. I declare further that notwithstanding any thing delivered either in this or in the former consideration yet my sence and belief is that there are or may be many under the form of the latter and worser kind of Anabaptism who are at present the sons and daughters of God Onely my belief is withall that they are in a way full of danger unto perseverance and of enmity unto all growth in grace or in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ the Lord and which frequently corrupteth and imbaseth yea for the most part un-Christianizeth the hearts and spirits of those who for any long time walk in it Little do they know saith Mr. Baxter speaking of good men entred into the way of Ana-baptism whither that way leads nor where it will leave them unlesse they return And elsewhere viz. p. 244. For my part having diligently obs●rved what hath become of those ●f my acquaintance who have been re-baptized I have seen them fal to so many desperate opinions and practises some to mak● a Religion of Swearing and Blaspheming none to grow better and most to grow presently worse as if a visible judgement of God did follow that action that I cannot believe that men shall be cut off by Christ from his people for want of being Re-baptized Concerning the third and last testimony wherein as it hath been said God declareth himself from Heaven against high Anabaptism I shall onely transcribe a few lines from Mr. Baxter pag 143. of his Treatise for Infants Church-member-ship and Baptism Leaving the Reader to peruse at his leisure what other Authors have observed and recorded upon that account And how they saith he meaning the Anabaptists have withered every where and come to naught is too evident to need proof So that when the light of the Gospel once brake forth and the true work of Reformation was set on foot wherein Infant-Baptism was both taught and practised God pr●spered it so mightily to the astonishment of the very ●nemies that in a short space it overspread a great part of the Christian world But Anabaptistry which set The sixth and last head of Considerations shewing how and why the opinion and practise of Anabaptism may prevail and spread amongst Professors notwithstanding so little either from the Scriptures or s●und principles of reason can be pl●aded for th●m out near the same time and place with Luther's Reformation did onely make a noise in the world and turn Towns and Countries where it came into seditions and misery and so died in disgrace and go out with a stink And I am all thoughts made that the same doom is written in Gods books against the high Anabaptism in this nation which doth little less then magnifie it felf against all that belong to God amongst us Consectary If God hath time after time witnessed from Heaven against the way of Anabaptism and those who have walked in it by all those three kinds of judgements which have been now mentioned then is it not a way of divine prescription or approbation nor doth he take pleasure in those who imbrace it and pertinaciously adhere to it CONSIDERATION LII JT hath very seldome or never been known that any opinion or practise tho●gh never so unco●th importune wicked or absurd ever brake forth or was set on foot in any p●rt of the Christian world but that it gathered considerable numbers of proselites both men and women unto it Proof There needs be no other proof made of the truth of this consideration but onely by enquiry into the Church records concerning the rise and progresse of those ancient errors Nicholaitisme Ebionisme Eutychia●isme Manicheisme Eunomianisme Nestorianisme Arrianism with others more without number on the one hand and by a recognition of those prodigies of opinions with their practises which our own daies have in great numbers brought forth amongst us as viz. the opinions and practises of the Familists of the Antinomians diversified into several sects and opinions so again of those called Seekers Ranters Quakers Adamites Anti-Scripturists Enthusiasts Anti-Ordinancers Super-Ordinancers Anthropom●rphites Pneumatomachists Erastians with their Antipodes High Presbyterians Thero Johnnians Coppian● with other names of a like dolefull sound almost without end all which though several of them are most broadly irrational and absurd yea beneath common sence it self and some others of very pernicious wicked and hellish consequence have yet taken the fancies of great multitudes both of men and women all pretenders to religion yea to the most excellent way of worshipping God who at this day go wondering after them respectively Consectary Then need it not seem strange unto any that the opinions and practise of persons known amongst us by the name of Anabaptists should heap up disciples to themselves amongst us as they do CONSIDERATION LIII BY Opinions and practises which bear or seem to bear any thi●g hard upon the flesh and outer man are apt to take with four sorts of persons 1. With th●se that are melancholily devout 2. With those that are vain gloriously devout 3. With those who through a spiritual unthriftinesse are behind hand with the things of their eternal peace 4. And lastly With those who secr●tly hanker after a fleshly liberty otherwise without check of conscience Proof The reason why the first sort of these persons are apt to fall in with such opinions and practises is because their

information I would willingly sit at Mr. A's feet to learn of him how why in what consideration or respect children under the Law should be more capable of holy things or of any part of the ends or benefits of them then children under the Gospell or what there was in the Legall ministration that did accommodate or comport with the naturall infirmitie or condition of children above what there is in the ministration of the Gospell Certain I am that Baptism is an Ordinance more indulgent unto and better comporting with the tendernesse of Infants then circumcision was and for matter of Spirituall signification upon the understanding whereof all the materiall and principall ends and benefits of both Ordinances alike depend children are as much and as soon capable of the interpretation or signification of Baptism as they could be of Circumcision Therefore Mr. A's cause is no whit beholding to those Scriptures which he hath hitherto importuned for the advocation of it Sect. 130. Nor doth 1 Pet. 3. 21. any whit more befriend him nor is his introductorie glosse to the words here so farre as he presenteth them over-ingenuous or true But saith he p. 28. the case is farre otherwise now under the Gospell how farre otherwise and how farre not we have both lately and formerly shewed which is the ministration Mr. A p. 28 of the Spirit It is not the work done but the manner of doing it in knowledge faith and fear of the Lord that entitles men to the benefit and blessing of Gospel Ordinances For so the Apostle affirms concerning BAPTISM IT SELF 1 Pet. 3 21. where he sayes that it saves us now as the Ark did some in the dayes of Noah not saith he the putting away of the filth of the flesh i. not by the externall letter of the ordinance but the answer of a good conscience towards God i. when accompanied with such a frame of mind and conscience as does answer Gods in●endments of Grace in that Ordinance For 1. He saith that Peter in the words cited speaks concerning BAPTISM IT SELF when he saith that it saves us now c. whereas it is evident that that Baptism to which he ascribes salvation is not Water-Baptism or Baptism in the letter of it which any reader will think that Mr. A. means by BAPTISM IT SELF but Baptism in the Spirit or the answer of a good conscience towards God as we have the Originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated which words notwithstanding were better rendred but the demand of a good consciēce God-w●rd or towards God or as some translate the stipulatio or promise of a good cōsciēce a vi Grotium in 1 Pet. 2. 21. unto God Yea he expresly rejecteth waterbaptism as insufficient to save men in these words not the putting away of the filth of the flesh Now the demand of a good conscience towards God i. of a conscience good and pure in his sight is said to save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ which clause is wholly omitted by Mr. A. because such a conscience taking the blessed advantage of the resurrection of Christ for its incouragement as it were demands claims and expects with boldnesse salvation from God as due upon promise and this made upon a valuable consideration viz. the death and sufferings of Christ This demand or claim may be said to save us much in such a sence as hope is said to save us Rom. 8. 24. For we are saved by hope viz. as it exhibits and yeilds unto men a first fruits and so a kind of possession of salvation in abundance of comfort peace and joy The reason it seems why Peter mentioneth Water-Baptism as typically saving us as the demand he speaks of saves us in part and to a degree really is because having had occasion to speak of the preservation of Noah and his familie from perishing in the generall deluge wherein all the world besides perished by means of the ark he conceived there was a kind of typical resemblance thereof in Baptism or rather a typicall overture made herein by God of such a like preservation unto Godly persons when the whole world of unrighteous ones round about should be destroyed and perish in their sins So that Peter in this place ascribes no other salvation or salvation in no other sence unto Baptism it self I mean unto Water-baptism then wherein it was altogether as ascribable unto the carnall Observations as viz. to the offering of Bulls and Goats c. under the Law For as these did overture and after a sort promise salvation by the true sacrifice of the Messiah yet to be obtained and enjoyed by those only who believe we alwaies in this case speak only of persons capable by years and discretion of believing so doth Water-Baptism hold forth pardon and forgivenesse of sins and consequently salvation as attainable by all those and those only who repent and consequently beleeve And as Baptism edifieth profiteth blesseth no man but only those who repent and believe so neither did Circumcision as we formerly heard nor other externall Observations under the Law Therefore Mr. A. hath caught nothing at all by fishing in these waters for the relief of his cause Nor needed he at all have troubled either himself or his reader with quotations from the Scriptures to prove that a baptizing with water without a baptizing with the Spirit also makes more against then for him that shall be baptized nor hath he ministred any thing to the necessitie of his cause hereby This required at his hand that which he had not to give unto it I mean a substantiall proof that the nature of the ministration of the Law was such that the literall and externall performance of the Ceremonies and carnall Ordinances thereof were without repentance or faith of better acceptance with God and more available to the salvation of the Performers then Gospell Ordinances are without the like qualifications Sect. 131. 2. Whereas he saith p. 28. that Infants as they are not capable of acting this faith or making this answer of a good Conscience so they are not capable of those blessings and benefits intended by God in Baptism in as much as he hath suspended the donation thereof upon these in conjunction with Baptism I answer 1. It hath been sufficiently proved that Infants are capable though with a mediate or remote capacitie of acting Faith as well as men See Sect. 64 65 68 69. In which respect also they are capable of making the answer of a good conscience as well as men where it was proved likewise that neither are believers themselves alwayes in a present or immediate capacitie of acting their Faith 2. Full proof hath been made likewise and the thing is evidēt enough in it self that children are capable of those benefits and blessings intended by God in Baptism as well as men as the children of the Jews were capable of the blessings and benefits intended by God in Circumcision as well as men

consequent submission in Faith unto that Baptism which was administred unto a person without his antecedent consent in this kind may be as available unto him for all spirituall ends as an Antecedent submission could have been Let me put a case to Mr. A. Suppose any one or more of his Baptismall Proselytes should at the time of their taking up Baptism deceive both him and themselves conceiting that they submit unto it and take it up out of Faith when as they know not what true Faith meaneth which I have cause in aboundance to fear is a case of very frequent occurrence among the Proselytes of his newfound Baptism and it was the case of Simon Magus who it seems deceived both Philip and himself in his taking up Baptism but should afterwards come to be convinced of their errour and hypocrisie in this kind and thorow the Grace of God be brought to believe indeed is it Mr. A's sence that their Baptism because not submitted unto and taken up out of Faith at the time of their literall reception of it can now contribute nothing towards their receiving of the Spirit or have no influence upon them this way Or is it his opinion that in this case they ought to take another voyage by water to invite the Spirit unto them If it be certain I am that there is neither precept nor example in the Scriptures nor any competent ground in reason to support it But Sect. 152. 4. We have Examples in the Scripture of edification and spirituall benefit received by men afterwards by such both words and actions which at the time of the hearing of the one and transacting of the other were not understood by those who were in time thus edified by them When Peter thought it strange that his Lord and Master should come to wash his feet Jesus answered and said unto him What I do thou knowest not NOW but thou shalt know HERE AFTER a Ioh. 13. 7 Might not God have spoken in like manner to every child which he by his precept and order in that behalf circumcised under the Law the continuance of their lives untill years of discretion only supposed What I do thou knowest not now but thou shalt know afterwards Or is there not the same consideration of children in their Baptism When Christ said to Joseph and his mother how is it that ye sought me wist ye not that I must be about my Fathers business● it is immediatly subjoyned And they understood not viz. at the present the saying which he spake unto them b Luk. 2. 49 50 but were they therefore in no capacitie of understanding it yea and of receiving spirituall benefit by it afterwards So again when Christ said thus to his Disciples The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men the Evangelist presently adds But they understood not this saying and it was hid from them that they perceived it not a Lu. 44. 45 viz. at the time when it was spoken unto them Was it therefore spoken unto them in vain or did it not do worthy execution upon their judgements and consciences in due time Severall other instances there are of like consideration See Joh. 10. 6. Ioh. 12. 16. Mat. 16. 6 7 c. we formerly shewed that the end of planting is not made void by the non-fructification of the tree at the time of the planting of it See Sect 69. So that Mr. A's first Answer in this place leaves his Objection in full force strength and vertue Nor doth his second answer any whit more disable it Infant-Baptism saith he is disagreeable to the Gospel-ministration M. A. p. 36. as it is the ministration of the Spirit in this respect also viz. as it requires all worshippers in all acts of worship in all the Ordinances of this ministration to worship God in Spirit with the mind in faith fear of the Lord. I answer that to this reasoning answer hath been given over and over For 1. it hath been opened that the Gospel-ministration is by the Apostle called the ministratiō of the spirit cōparatively only not with any import or intimatiō that the ministratiō of the Law was in no respect or degree a ministration of the spirit also This Sect. 133 150. 2. It hath been proved likewise that the adnistration of Baptism is no part of the Gospel-ministration but an Appendix only unto it This Sect. 146. 3. It hath been made good That Infant-baptism may be agreeable enough to the Gospel ministration though it should not agree with it in some one propertie or particularly in this as it is the ministration of the Spirit This Sect. 145. Therefore whereas he here pretends to give a reason why Infant-Baptism should be d●sagreeable to the Gospel-ministration as it is the ministration of the Spirit doth he not pretend to give a reason of that which is not and withall take that for granted without proof which is denied by his adversaries Sect. 153. And whereas he appropriates it unto the Gospel-ministration that it requires all worshippers in all acts of worship to worship God in Spirit with the mind c. as if the Legall-ministration required not the same this Conceit of his also hath been made to lick the dust at the feet of the Truth Sect. 1●0 145. So that we have here nothing but braided ware soiled and foiled notions But whereas in the further traverse of this Argument he professeth his ignorance or want of understanding how children should be uncapable of the Ordinance of the Supper and yet capable of Baptism especially considering Mr. A. 37 that they both represent the death of Christ both relate to the great benefit of rem●ssion of sins c. I suppose that this Salve in his own Rhetorique is proper for this sore and will heal it without a scarr If Mr. A. can but understand how a child may be carried ten or twenty See Mr. Rich. Baxter plain Scripture proof for Infants Church-membership c. Part. 2. cap. 4. 114. miles and yet not be able to go this journey or the like upon his own leggs did not that bane of understandings prejudice and preoccupation here intoxicate him he may as well understand how a child may be capable of the Ordinance of Baptism and yet not of the supper For Baptism is an Ordinance of such a calculation nature and condition that as to the Elementarie and literall reception of it it requireth no principle of action a● all in its subject but passivenesse only as Circumcision also did under the Law which among many others to mention this briefly by the way is an Argument to me of a very considerable intimation that it was and is as an Ordinance principally intended by God for such subjects of man-kind which are meerly passive and know not how to act any thing in or about their reception of it The like counsell of God is observable in his enditing of that Ordinance which he intended

those that brought them 4 If Christ had blessed these children only as emblems or types of Gospel converts in case Lambs or Doves or Sheep had been brought unto him likewise he might upon such an account as well have layd his hands upon these and blessed them and have said Suffer Lambs and Doves and Sheep to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of God But is it meet to make any part of a sober mans faith to beleeve or think that the Lord Christ in the case specified would either have done or spoken according to the tenour of these things 5. And lastly because the conceit we oppose is in it self so uncouth and improbable that it is not like to ride any mans judgement unless he finds it bowed down with prejudice the reason which Christ gives for this his order that Children should be suffered to come unto him and consequently of his gracious intentions towards them upon their coming is this viz. That of such is the Kingdome of heaven This clearly proveth that the blessing wherewith hee now blessed those children that were brought unto him and intended to bless those that should be brought unto him afterwards was a blessing appropriate unto Saints or such who are subjects in the Kingdom of God But the Bread in the Sacrament is no Saint though the Papists dream it to be the King of Saints and therefore no capable subject of such a blessing which the children obtained by their coming to Christ A Table of some Texts of Scripture occasionally handled or touched in the preceding Discourse and to which some light is given besides many others cited only probation-wise GEn. 17. 1. The uncircumcised Man-child shall be cut off from his people page 349 Exod. 3. 6. I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob p. 3 12 Eccles 7. 11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance 230 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the daies of thy youth 347 348 c. Isa 1. 11 12. To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices unto me c. 103 Mat. 3. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance 246 248 328 375 3. 15. Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness 263 390 401 12. 3. Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungry c. 12 12. 8. For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath-day 323 18. 6. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones who beleeve in me c. 166 167 19. 13. Then there were brought unto him litle children that he should put his hands upon them and pray c. 132 161 162 344 22. 31. But as touching the resurrection of the dead have ye not read c. page 3 28. 19. Go and teach all Nations baptizing them c. 167 168 c. Mar. 1. 4. The Baptism of Repentance for the Remission of sins p. 246 372 c. 1. 8. I indeed baptize you with water 328 1. 38. For therefore came I forth 247 10. 13 14 c. And they brought young children unto him that he should touch them c. and he layed his hands on them and blessed them 132 159 160 161 162 344 16. 16. He that beleeveth and is baptized shall be saved 229 230 c. 373 Luke 3. 15. And all men mused in their hearts of John whether he were Christ or no 284 7. 29 30. And all the people that heard him and the Publicans justified God being baptized with the baptism of John But the Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves not being baptized of John 182 183 260 261 Joh. 1. 31. But that he should be made manifest unto Israel am I come baptizing with water 175 176 3. 5. Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit c. 216 333 3. 23. And Iohn also was baptizing in Enon neer Salim because much water was there 62 63 3. 32. No man receiveth his testimony 152 5. 31. If I bear witness of my selfe my witness is not true 206 6. 40. And this is the will of him that sent me that he that seeth the Son and beleeveth on him c. 331 7. 39. This he spake of the Spirit which they that beleeve on him should receive pag. 329 13. 7. What I doe thou knowest not now but thou shalt know hereafter 202 20. 29. Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have bleee 8ed 331 Acts 2. 3. Then Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost 234 235 236 c. 330 376 2. 39. For the promise is unto you and your children c. 145 2. 41. And the same day there was added about three thousand souls 294. 3. 19. Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out c. 235 5. 14. And beleevers were the more added unto the Lord multitudes both of men and women 157 7. 25. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood how God by his hand would deliver them but they understood it not 4 8. 10. To whom they all gave heed c. 157 158 10. 47. They were baptized both men and women 152 158 10. 47. Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptised 25 15. 10. Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples c. 85 17. 31. Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead 4 21. 5. And they all brought us on our way with Wives and children 155 22. 16. And now why tarriest thou Arise and be baptised and wash away thy sins c. 252 253 c. Rom. 2. 26. Therefore if the uncircumcision shall keep the righteousness of the Law shall not his uncircision be counted for circumcision 294 295 4. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the Faith which he had being yet uncircumcised that he might be the Father of all men that beleeve 187 188 c. 4. 18. Who against hope beleeved in hope that he might be the Father of many nations 188 189 c. 6. 5. For if ye have been planted together in the likeness of his death ye shall also c. 280 8. 14. As many as are ●●d by the Spirit of God these are the Sons of God 286 8. 23. Even we do sigh in our selves waiting for the adoption 249 8. 24. For we are saved by hope 303 10. 1. My hearts desire and prayer for Israel is that they may be saved 246 10. 10. For with the heart man beleeveth unto righteousness c. 249 14. 22. Hast thou Faith Have it to thy selfe before God 107 1 Cor. 1. 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize but c. 128 327 3. 8. The ministration of the spirit 326 7. 9. It is