surely then if the Childrens right come from the Parent it must be from the faith of the Parent which only gives himself a right thereunto Here are four things to be spoken of Answ 1 That it 's not the Grace and saving faith of the Parents that gives either them or their children right unto external Church-Priviledges 2 That it 's a visible Profession of faith that does it 3 Yet it is not a bare Profession and a bare living in a Christian Church that is sufficient either for the Person to claim a title or for the Church to admit of it 4 I will give an answer to the Objections that are before mention'd of the entrance into Abrahams Covenant and having a title to be call'd Abrahams Children 1. I say it is not Grace regenerating and sanctifying that gives a title either to the Parent or to his seed and that I shall prove by these particulars 1. If men that have no Grace that were never regenerated never new-born to God may have a Covenant-title then that which gives a man a title is not Grace but a man that has no Grace that was never born from above may have a true title therefore it 's not their Grace that gives them this title Here consider 1 That the Church of God is either Invisible or Visible the Invisible Church is the Church of the first-born Heb. 12.23 whose names are written in Heaven and consists only of regenerate and Believers in truth this is the body of Christ the Spouse of Christ and the fulness of him that filleth all in all But as for the Visible Church it is made up of visible Saints and it does enjoy visible Ordinances as we see in the Church of the Jews and in all the converted Churches of the Gentiles they did all imbody for the publick Worship of God 2 This visible Church has visible Members and visible Priviledges as the Church invisible has invisible members and invisible Priviledges Indeed it is unto these that all the spiritual Promises of the Covenant do belong and all the saving Graces of the Covenant are conferr'd but yet there are many visible Priviledges of the visible Church which none but the visible members according to the Rules of the Word are to partake of we have these summed up in eight particulars Rom. 9.4 5 6. These are the visible Priviledges of the visible Church 3 Unto these a man that has no saving Grace may have a right according to the Rules of the Word and being looked upon by the Word as a visible member of a Church he has by the same Rule a right to the visible Priviledges which belong unto a Church-member A man may be a true member of the visible Church without Grace for the Net gathers of every kind some good and some bad Matth. 13.47 and into this Society many are called that are not chosen there be foolish as well as wise Builders and Virgins unclean as well as clean Beasts branches in Christ as he spreads himself upon Earth into a visible Church that bear no fruit and yet are truly said to be members and grow as members of the Church and therefore the Jews are said to be broken off Rom. 11.19 that the Gentiles might be grafted in now what were the Gentiles grafted into not into the Church invisible for many of them have no saving Grace never were regenerated therefore they were grafted into Christ spreading himself into a visible Church upon Earth and what were the Jews cast off from not from being members of the Church Invisible for there the calling and election of God is without repentance he knows who are his and he never casts out whom he knows to be his All the Jews were call'd Loammi they are not my people Rom. 9.26 they were once owned by God as a peculiar people and as a holy Nation unto him but now he will be no more styled their God and as men may have a visible standing in the Church and a visible right of membership without Grace so a man may partake in and have a right to the visible priviledges of a member though he have no Grace Rom. 11.17 Thou being a wild Olive Tree wast grafted in amongst them and to what end were they ingrafted it was that they might with them partake of the root and fatness of the Olive-tree this root and fatness cannot be meant of saving grace for if they had partaken of them Pareus they had never been broken off therefore it 's meant of outward priviledges only therefore the Gentiles have their priviledges into which they are ingrafted that is installed as well as the Jews had and yet it 's not saving grace in them that entitles them unto this priviledge because he says Let them also take heed for all this lest they also be broken off as the Jews the natural branches were 2. These external priviledges are such as belong to the visible Church into which men must admit and they cannot judge of the truth of grace and regeneration by an infallible judgment and therefore there must be some visible signs which as rules they are to act by in things of so high a nature As the Church is distinguished into visible and invisible so there is a double power of the Keys answerable 1 The Lord Christ has a Key of Royalty Rev. 3.7 as you have heard the Key of David which I conceive to have respect to the Church only and he admits into the Church invisible and it 's by vocation and union with Christ which is the end or terminus of vocation 2 There is a Key of charity as some call it though improperly yet true in this respect because it 's only the judgment of charity that they can proceed by and not of infallibility and this is an act belonging properly to Church-officers Mat. 6.19 by virtue of an institution of Christ unto that end and they that are imployed in this work cannot judge infallibly of the truth of grace in any they admit Though it 's true that the tree is much known by the fruit yet we find that Peter did baptize Simon Magus and the Church admitted Ananias and Saphira and those mentioned in 1 Joh. 2.19 they were admitted amongst them though afterwards they appeared not to be of them and that which was said of Israel is true still of the visible Church They are not all Israel that are of Israel The Church invisible has no Officer but Christ alone and he admits by a judgment of infallibility but the visible Church has visible Officers who are to proceed by a known rule and Baptism being the ordinance of admission is by them to be administred to persons as visible and not as invisible members of the Church all these therefore that are to be admitted by them must be admitted by a known rule which they can judge of which is not truth of grace for that they cannot know it
belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ only who knows both the counsels of God and the hearts of men and therefore they must admit such as in appearance and in the judgment of charity are so though it may be in truth and verity afterwards they prove not so to be 3. Excommunication breaks a man off from the visible Church and the visible priviledges thereof but it cannot cut a man off from the Church invisible and the truth of grace in the heart which the Lord has promised to continue to the end for into what a man is admitted by the Keys out of that by the Keys he may be ejected but no man is admitted for grace neither can he be ejected for want of grace if visibly a member Mat. 18.15 Let him be unto thee as a Publican it 's not spoken of one without but of one within for it 's an offending brother and he says he should be put into the same condition with a Heathen and Publican Amongst the Jews they did not hold communion with Heathens and Publicans Heathens were not admitted into Ordinances as Church-members till they became circumcised Proselytes so that the meaning is count them unworthy to be admitted to publick Ordinances and the publick priviledges of the Church which other Church-members may challenge a right unto and they themselves had a right before their scandal and ejection 1 Cor. 5.5 Deliver such a man unto Satan which I conceive cannot be meant of any miraculous work because the Apostle commits it to the Church to do it in the Name of God and by virtue of the authority committed to them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore I conceive it to be nothing else but casting a man out of the society of the Church and leaving him amongst the society of ungodly men over whom Satan rules and being put out of the Kingdom of Christ which is the Church and the care of the Church he is truly delivered to Satan to carry him whither he will as ungodly men are called by the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and yet the incestuous Corinthian was a godly man and he was not cast out from the promises of grace and the workings of the Spirit but from the external priviledges of the Church and so may a godly man for scandalous falls justly be and yet his grace continue an immortal seed and he remain a member of the invisible Church still even when he is cast out of the visible Church as Job and many of the Saints were members of the invisible Church and yet had not opportunity to joyn themselves unto any visible Church any further than their own family were such The Church then can cast a man out of what he was by them admitted to but that was not grace but outward priviledges and they can only cast men out of these It is not grace gives a man a right to external admission for then a man that had grace what offence soever he committed could not be ejected but a man that has true grace may for a scandalous offence be according to the rules of the word lawfully ejected therefore it was not his grace that gave him his admission neither is it grace that in his ejection he can be deprived of that being an act of God but they can only hinder him from visible communion 2. A visible profession will give unto a man in foro Ecclesiae a right of membership 1 Men can go upon no other ground for if the matter of a Church must be Saints they can judge no further of Saintship than by the visibility of it and because they cannot have certitudinem fidei ergo Deus judicium charitatis eis substituit for the Key of Ministry committed unto Officers doth but open and shut in reference unto the external priviledges and benefits of the Church into which a visible profession will give unto a man a visible right and is proper and proportionable thereunto 2 Upon this ground admissions have always been it was so that the Jews admitted Proselytes called Proselytae foederis upon their profession of the Jewish Religion and a subjection unto the Ordinances of God there and yet many of them were the children of Hell after they were made Proselytes as Christ himself tells us and so John Baptist admitted unto Baptism they were baptized of him after they had confessed their sins c. and Peter Simon Magus and Philip the Eunuch on his confession of the Faith and we read 2 Cor. 9.13 of a professed subjection to the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's in the Original a subjection or confession of the Gospel and all their after-obedience is but a manifestation of the truth of that profession of theirs and therefore I conclude that it 's but outward profession will give a man a right in the external court of the Church 3. Yet I conceive it 's not a bare profession how unanswerable soever a mans conversation be that will bring in a man being without or being within keep him from being cast out and this will appear in these particulars 1 The Lord in his Word requires that they should be visible Saints which we heard before a bare profession would not entitle them unto therefore Esa 54.12 He will lay their foundations with precious stones c. it 's not to be interpreted de doctrina of doctrine Calvin according to that 1 Cor. 3 10. but de hominibus ex quibus spirituale Ecclesiae aedificium construitur of men whereof the Church is composed Rev. 22.15 Without shall be dogs Rev. 22.15 and every one that loves and makes a lye Some do expound it of Hypocrites though I conceive that not to be the meaning but it is such whose heart does love and hanker after a way of idolatry specially that lye of Antichrist which should then be destroyed and when once the members of the Church began to be corrupt and degenerate it became an outward court into which all were admitted even without distinction then the Lord cast it out and gave it unto the power of Antichrist to tread it under foot in a most cruel and tyrannous way Rev. 11.2 Rev. 11.2 The court which is without the temple leave out c. and therefore it concerns all Churches to look that they become an outward court in allusion to the Atrium Gentium the Court of the Gentiles among the Jews for it was that which set up Antichrist and gave him in judgment that power that he has exercised over them And it was a great tryal how lightly soever we conceive of it that the Apostles had of all they did admit for if we suppose they did only require of them a confession that Christ was the Son of God and that upon this they were added to the Church yet if we consider that this was the great truth then opposed and persecuted the great controversie of the age and that which betrayed
A DISCOURSE OF THE Two Covenants WHEREIN The Nature Differences and Effects OF THE COVENANT OF WORKS AND OF GRACE Are distinctly rationally spiritually and practically discussed together with a considerable quantity of Practical Cases dependent thereon By WILLIAM STRONG LONDON Printed by J. M. for Francis Tyton at the Three Daggers in Fleet-street and for Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside near Mercers Chapel 1678. TO THE HONOURABLE THE LADY ELIZABETH RICH. MADAM ALbeit I am no friend to Epistles Dedicatory because they too frequently prove to use the Cynick's Phrase but mellifluous snares yet because common Justice obligeth me to return unto every man his own I find my self under an essential Obligation to prefix Your Ladyships Name to the ensuing Noble Discourse and that not merely by reason of the Trust you were pleased to commit unto me for the Publication thereof but rather because Divine Providence has made Your Ladyship the Midwife to conduct this Noble Birth into Light which otherwise must necessarily have layen buried in the womb of Darkness And Madam give me leave to speak it Your Honour is herein the greater in that you undertook this service so laborious and difficult which no other mortal as I am assured was in a capacity to perform You being the only Person who very opportunely were instructed in that Character wherein the Original Copy was writ Madam I am not of those who admire Titles of Honour further than they are shadows of Virtue but rather am of the opinion of the morose Philosopher that Honours without Virtues are but the Masques of Vices yet Your Ladyship will be assured that the Honour You have acquired by this generous Vndertakement is far more illustrious than that which Nature has conferred on You. Solomon gives us an excellent Character of an Honourable Lady Prov. 11.16 Prov. 11.16 A gracious woman retaineth honour and or a ד vertitur ut Jun. as strong men retain riches With what force do persons strong in wisdom and power retain their acquired Riches And doth not the Gracious woman with an equal force retain her Honour And what greater Honour can be acquired and retained than that which is acquired by the service of Christ and his Churches What more Honourable than for a creature to be immediately employed in the service of his Creator Doth it not speak a Mind descended from on High and truely generous to be inspired with a divine Ambition of being engaged in service for the King of Kings Is man ever greater than when greatly serviceable to his Lord Was it not a great effate of the Moralist That he who will be truly Free and Noble must serve Philosophy What Liberty then and Nobility do they acquire who serve Theology What is b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Definit Platon Nobility according to the Platonick Definition but a Virtue of generous Manners and Services And who are invested with this Virtue if not they who are employed for the improvement of Divine Knowledge the most sublime and generous Science Are not all Honours measured by approach unto the Fountain of Honour And who approach nigher unto the Fountain of all Honour than such as are most deeply engaged in the Service of the Supreme King The common Title of Honour given to Courtiers among the Persians as also the Jews was Men of Presence And who are the Men of Gods presence but such as are engaged in the service of his Church And do we not find Memoires in Scripture of many both Hebrew and Christian Women very Honourable for their service in and for the Church â—xod 38.8 Is it not recorded Exod. 38.8 as the great Honour of those devout Women that they assembled by troops at the door of the Tabernacle and consecrated their Looking-glasses for the making the Laver of Brass What more valued by some than their Looking-glasse How much pretious time is spent thereon Yea do not some spend more moments in poring on their Looking-glasse than on their Souls Yet lo these Virtuous Women part with their Looking-glasses which had been of so great use to them and now resolve to spend their time to a better account at the door of the Tabernacle in Fasting and Prayer and other parts of Divine Service And O! what a lustre of Divine Honour remains on them to this very day Again there is an Honourable mention made of other virtuous Women who employed their time and labours in the service of the Church Exod. 35.25 26. And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands and brought that which they had spun both of Blue and Purple and Scarlet and fine Linen as an Offering to the work of the Tabernacle Whâ—â— greater Honour could have been affixed to these wise-hearted Women And how far Your Ladyship may claim an interest in this Title of Honour the World at least the Church may judge Have you not indeed spun with your hand a fine thread both of Blue and Purple and Scarlet and fine Linen for the Tabernacle of the New Jerusalem So likewise in the New Testament what Honourable mention do we find of virtuous Women eminently useful in the Service of the Church Is it not an illustrious Title of Honour that Paul gives Phâ—be Rom. 16.2 3. Rom. 16.2 That she was a succourer of many and of himself also The Grecanic c Non dixit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adjutrix sed magnifico planè titulo eam exornans dixit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Patronam Grot. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Magnific title and signifies not merely an Assistant but a Patron for so the Athenians termed the Defensors of Strangers and Plutarch renders the Latin Patron by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What greater Honour may a poor Mortal expect than to be a Succourer and Patron of the Churches or Ambassadors of Christ The like Honour also he reflects on Priscilla the wife of Aquila v. 3. whom he styles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Helpers or Co-workers in Christ To be any way Assistant in promoving the Doctrine of the Gospel or in drawing men to the embracement thereof what an high piece of Honour is it These Instances Madam I have given Your Ladyship and the World the mention of to let You see what an Honour it is to be in any way or measure assistant in and for the Church of Christ and all that I shall subjoin is That as Your Ladyships hand has been so happy an Instrument in transcribing so Noble a Work so my Prayer for you is that the divine Hand would so far favour you as to transcribe those great Truths contained therein over and over in more visible Characters on your Soul 2 Cor. 3.3 that so you may be more perfectly the Epistle of Christ written with the Spirit of Christ Which will give You a greater Capacity of Service for your Lord and Me of being as I ought really
baptized and their Baptism did remain and yet they did wilfully separate from the Church of God wherefore according to this opinion they are to be looked upon still as Church members because Baptism which gave them a right does remain and there is nothing can take away their right but that which does null their Baptism and makes it void 2. In the case of Excommunication as the former does cast off the Church so is the latter cast off by the Church and as the one renounceth fellowship with the Church so does the Church renounce fellowship with this man Now if there be a power of the Keys as 't is commonly granted then as there is a power of admission so there is also a power of ejection and therefore Christ says of such a man You are to account him a Heathen and a Publican that is no Church-member and yet this mans Baptism remains and the man may be truly godly and a member of the Church invisible as the incestuous Corinthian was and yet justly cast out of the Church visible and to be looked upon according to the rules of Christ as one that had no right unto visible membership nor to be reckoned among that number 3 This will evidence the Church of Rome to be a true Church and the Papists among us to be true members for all the members of the Church of Rome have received true Baptism and therefore they are members of the true Church and yet we know that the Scripture calls Rome Babylon the great the mother of Harlots Rev. 11. and that she is spiritually Egypt and Sodom the Lord has given her a bill of divorce and our Divines generally will not acknowledge Rome to be a true Church and therefore the members thereof not to be true members and yet it is as generally acknowledged that their Baptism is true Baptism therefore 't is not Baptism that gives a man a right unto Church-membership 2 It 's not an outward profession in a Christian Church that gives a man a right of membership now by a profession I mean an assent unto the Doctrine of Faith and life as it is in the Word of God delivered unto us as it stands in opposition unto practice and so we usually oppose it for if profession and practice go together as far as man can judge then there is something to judge of such a mans membership by besides profession only but profession only will not suffice 1 Because the members of a visible Church must be visible Saints for the matter of the Church visible and invisible is the same that is Saints only the one are Saints in Gods account who discerns them by the judgment of certainty and infallibility because it 's God that admits into the Church invisible and the other are Saints in the account of those to whom the power of the Keys is committed who judge only by the judgment of charity and therefore what there is in the one in truth must be in the other in shew and appearance for it must be a judicious and not a blind charity Calv. Instit l. 4. c. 108. Apoll. de qualif membrorum Now our Divines generally say that there are three things that do concur to make a man a visible Saint 1 They must be men instructed in the Principles of Religion and able in some measure to give an account of the reason of the hope that is in them 2 They must yield a willing subjection to the Gospel 2 Cor. 9.13 and they that gladly receive the word as Act. 2. 3 They must walk unblameably in their conversation but the foolish Virgins as well as the wise had oyl in their lamps and made a shew a profession before men and did seem to shine as lights in the world and yet their hearts were not upright and sound with God It 's true that some there are that grow higher in the qualification of members but we will content our selves with these in reference to the thing in hand and if a visible Saintship doth make a man a member and that visible Saint must be in this manner qualified then it 's not barely profession will do it but many a man amongst us holds forth the profession of Christ who is ignorant even in the Principles of Religion and knows little more of the Religion that he professes than if he were a meer Pagan yea is so far from subjection unto the duties of Holiness that he is a professed enemy and scorner of them and whose life is full of nothing else but profaneness and the most profligate wickedness Now I cannot conceive that a mans profession of the name of Christ and calling himself a Christian can give him a right of membership because it cannot constitute him a visible Saint which is acknowledged by all to be the matter of a visible Church 2 It will appear that profession will not do it by this because persons who are Church-members may scandalously fall as the incestuous Corinthian did and may by the scandal of their fall justly deserve Excommunication and thereby be cut off from the Church and yet the mans profession still remain And being cast out profession is not enough to restore a man to the right of membership for there must be a humiliation and an answerable conversation upon tryal proving that humiliation to be true or else all the profession in the world will never be a ground unto them that have the power of the Keys to restore such a man as in the incestuous Corinthian it doth appear neither was meer profession a ground of admission in the primitive times and therefore though men had embraced the Christian Faith and made a profession of it yet they were not admitted Church-members till they were baptized and they were Catechumeni some of them a great while to be instructed in the Principles of Religion and that an exact account might be taken of their conversation before they were baptized Now if this be true that the childrens right of membership is from parents that are members and that none are members but visible Saints and visible Saints are such only as are instructed in the Principles of Religion and profess to subject themselves to the Ordinances of Christ and walk outwardly answerably thereunto then surely many of them who are counted Church-members really are not so and if in their visible standing they be yet so because not cast out yet de jure they ought not to be so reputed for they ought to be cast out Calvin confesseth Calv. epist pag. 438. Nullam esse legem quae coenae baptismi sanctitatem custodiat ne utrumque mysterium contemptui ludibrio expositum sit remissio est minimè excusabilis c. And truly if the parents have no right what can they convey unto their children Nil dat quod in se non habet That which hath nothing can give nothing And if the generality of men be such as de
ground of a mans judgment in reference to persons Pag. 200 The parents covenant takes in all their seed Pag. â—04 The covenant of grace hath two parts viz. spiritual priviledges and saving graces Pag. 206 All mankind for the state of their persons are either under the covenant of works or of grace Pag. 207 It is a special priviledge for parents and children that they are taken into their parents covenant Pag. 208 What the federal holiness of children is shewed negatively and positively Pag. 214 Parents only can give their children a federal right Pag. 219 Objections against it answered Pag. 225 None can have a right to the seals of the covenant but those that are members of the Church Pag. 226 Right of membership conveyed unto children from immediate parents is a truth the whole Scriptures hold forth ibid. The right of membership consists not barely in being baptized Pag. 227 Whether it be converting grace or external profession that gives children this federal right Pag. 230 The reasons why God will have the covenant run by way of entail as to its outward priviledges and not inward graces Pag. 234 How far arguments drawn from circumcision can by way of rule determine any of the essentials of baptism Pag. 236 How far the Jews by being Abrahams seed might pretend right to Evangelic Ordinances Pag. 238 1. The covenant the same for substance both to Jews and Gentiles ibid. 2. The covenant under different administrations as to its external ordinances Pag. 239 3. The Jews and Gentiles on equal terms as to the new administration ibid. How can children who cannot restipulate be taken into covenant with God ibid. 1. Whether consent be essential to a covenant ibid. 2. That infants may enter into covenant with God demonstrated ibid. 3. The consent of the parents is in Gods account accepted for the childrens being in a covenant Pag. 240 Whether it were not better to leave children out of this federal consideration ibid. 1. Gods command not to be disputed ibid. 2 3. To be taken into the parents covenant a great priviledge and dignitie to children ibid. 4 5. The influences of baptism many and great ibid. 6. It lays a great obligation on parents and children ib. 7. Why Christ deferred his baptism so long ibid. SECT III. The Covenant-right of Children applied Pag. 241 Use 1. For information 1. To shew the evils of Anti-pedobaptism 1 Hereby is framed such a covenant as God never made ibid. 2 By this means great injury is done to children ib. 2. The cruelty of unbelieving parents ibid. The Church of Rome no true Church ibid. Use 2. For exhortation 1. Vnto parents to take hold of the covenant for their children Pag. 241 2. Vnto children that they would walk worthy of this covenant-relation ibid. 3. Vnto the Churches of Christ to take care of their members children that they be brought up in the fear of the Lord. ibid. Use 3. For consolation to the people of God ibid. BOOK III. The Covenant of Grace its Nature and Benefits CHAP. I. THE difference between a Law Testament and Covenant Pag. 241 Gods part of the covenant consists in promises 1 Because in Scripture covenant and promises signifie the same thing 2 Because a people taken into covenant are thereby entitled to the promises 3 Because when God performs a promise he is then said to keep his covenant 4 The end of the covenant is but to inherit the promises Pag. 242 A promise is a declaration of Gods eternal purpose concerning good things to come which he ingages his faithfulness freely through Christ to bestow upon his people ibid. The reasons why Gods part of the covenant mainly consists in promises 1 Because Saints life here is a life of faith 2 Promises are great grounds of their hope 3 Great means of their souls purification 4 They are the rule of their prayers Pag. 244 Of Gods promises some are absolute some conditional ib. Absolute promises not formally made unto us but unto Christ Pag. 245 In them the creature is meerly passive ibid. The state of faith is double of affiance of assurance ibid. The ways of assurance are 1 By immediate testimony 2 By mans own graces ibid. The promises of the first covenant were all conditional and supposed grace In the second there are promises of giving grace where there is none ibid. Absolute promises have their degrees of accomplishment as well as conditional Pag. 246 Saâ—â—s should look on the promises as precious and store their souls with them stay their sinking souls upon them and wait for their accomplishment ibid. The way to attain promises is 1 To be sensible of the want of them 2 To get a strong faith 3 To be much in prayer 4 Patiently to wait for them Pag. 247 Grounds to assure the soul of attaining the promise at last 1 Gods faithfulness 2 The covenant made with Christ confirmed by an oath 3 The Intercession of Christ 4 The experience of the Saints Pag. 249 Signs of the near accomplishment of the promise 1 When extremity increases 2 An earnest expectation in the soul which makes him more earnest for it 3 When notwithstanding the heart is brought to a holy indifferency to be content with God alone Pag. 250 The great promises of the covenant on Gods part are personal promises ibid. That there are such promises in which the three Persons in the Godhead are made over to the soul Pag. 251 These promises import a gracious propriety in the persons which God by covenant makes over to the creature ibid. The reasons why the second covenant must have personal promises 1 Because man in his Fall lost all his relation to God 2 Without this he caâ— never be happy 3 These Promises are the grounds of our Vnion with all the Persons in the Trinity Which 4 is the Foundation of all communion Pag. 251 Adam had not such a personal interest in God as the Saints now have Pag. 253 To deny any of the Persons in the Trinity is a devilish Doctrine Pag. 255 c. Saints should exercise faith upon all the Persons grounded upon these Promises 1 As all have a special hand in the sinners Salvation 2 Gods main intendment in the Gospel is to glorifie the three Persons in the Trinity in believers hearts Pag. 257 Saints should exercise Love towards all the three Persons Pag. 258 CHAP. II. The Covenant of Grace makes God to be our God Two things to be considered in God His Essence his Subsistence Pag. 259 To be a God is a Term of Sufficiency and Sovereignty Pag. 260 It notes the manner of fulfilling Promises even as becomes a God ibid. All mankind that are out of covenant have no interest in God ibid. When men are in Covenant with God they change their God Pag. 261 Three things in the New Covenant give a man Propriety in God 1 Gods gracious and free making over of himself 2 Vnion with Christ 3 A free and voluntary giving up the Soul
shall be effectual to a mans pollution Vse 1 § 5. See here the malignity and the vile nature of sin and what a deadly disease it is when that which God did give of purpose to destroy it will increase it We say that is a very deadly disease that you can apply no physick but it does stir up the disease and it 's increased by it and all that you can take feeds the disease so here sin must needs be a deadly thing that the law should increase it which in its own nature should abate it There are two truths that should be always in a mans eye God to be the chiefest Good and Sin to be the greatest Evil. There is no one thing that does set forth the evil of sin more than this that the Commandment of God which doth forbid it curse it condemn it should improve it It 's no wonder then if mercies make men more wicked and if crosses add to mens sins for the very Law of God and his threatnings and restraints thereof will do it if any thing make sin appear to a man to be out of measure sinful and a disease incurable in it self this will 2. See hereby the vanity of that Doctrine that says Moral perswasion is sufficient unto conversion God enlightning of a mans mind and shewing him what is his duty and what is required of him and perswading of his will it is according to these able to imbrace it and so turn unto God and duty and herein is the drawing of God the Father when as we see that when God does set a mans duty before him in the Law with all the threatnings of it and all the promises of it this is so far from converting the man that it improves his sin sin and makes it the more to rage against God and become out of measure sinful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore there is an inward work of God an Almighty Power put forth in changing the heart and converting of the will Moral perswasions may make a man more wicked but they will never convert him or make him the more holy without this inward work put forth by God in changing the heart 3. See here what is the proper rise and ground of that unpardonable sin the sin against the Holy Ghost It is by a curse of the first Covenant coming upon to the word of God that it is an occasional means lust opposing it to make sin rise the higher and first it brings forth in a man sins against knowledge and afterwards sins with malice and despight If the Law had never been revealed again but man had been left as many of the Heathens are who have but that small glimmering of light which some do call the remainders of the Law within them which the Apostle speaks of Rom. 2. They shew the works of the law written in their hearts this sin had never been heard of in the world it is a sin proper unto the Church of God and cannot be committed out of the Church where men are enlightned in the truth and sin takes occasion from the Law to break forth into despight against it 4. See what a vain thing it is for a man to glory in any Church-priviledge The Jews did stand much upon it and doubtless it was a great mercy that unto them did belong the giving of the Law and the Promises and unto them were committed the Oracles of God and therefore they rested in and made their boast of the Law c. Rom. 2.18 19. And what fruit had most of them by the Law it did aggravate their sins in the guilt of them and drew forth their sins in the power of them unto the greater height and in many of them even to the sin against the Holy Ghost And so it does many men that live under the Gospel at this day they have no other fruit by their ordinances and of the word of God amongst them but to make them more exceedingly wicked 5. See what a misery it is to be in a state of unregeneracy he that is so is wicked by nature and every thing wâ—â— make him worse See also what a mercy restraining grace is to a man that is unregenerate when we read of Judas and how Christs reproof did heighten his malice and of the Pharisees how by Christs Sermon their rage was drawn forth and they gnashed their teeth upon him c. What a mercy is it should every soul say that all the Sermons that ever I have heard of Christ c. should not have wrought the same effects in me long ago Luther saith that reading that place Rom. 1.17 The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith and understanding it only de justitia activa scilicet punientè of Gods punishing justice Non amabam imo odiebam justum punientem Deum tacitaque si non blasphemia certe ingenti murmuratione c. odi istud vocabulum poenitentiae I did not love but hate the just and punishing God and by a silent great murmur if not blasphemy I did hate that word Repentance Now that it has not been so to every one of us and we sinned against the Holy Ghost and in the highest acts of direct enmity that there had been no hope of mercy seeing that we cannot say that we have done it ignorantly Oh what a mercy is restraining Grace 6. Lastly how should it engage the people of God to thankfulness that God has freed them from this great misery that now the Law should subdue their lusts and not enrage them and if it does at any time yet it 's not to bring forth fruit unto death not to have a full dominion over them how should it make them fear when they read or hear the Law lest it should add to the disease Oh! how ought people to pray and Ministers pray that they may not be a curse and that the word which they hear and preach may not ripen their sins and draw out and improve their corruptions but their graces and make them holy CHAP. IV. The Rigor and Coactive power of the Law Gal. 5.18 But if you be led by the Spirit you are not under the Law SECT I. Wherein the Coactive power of the Law consists § 1. THere is a double sense of these words given by Interpreters and both may very well be put together The Apostle having said before That in a godly man there are two contrary principles flesh and spirit and they lust and act one against another so that they cannot do the things they would but when they would do good evil is present with them he adds here a consolation to bear up their hearts in this which is the greatest conflict upon earth between flesh and spirit in the same heart and that which made them to look upon themselves as miserable men all their days Rom. 7.24 but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law that is though there
do him no good for they are all of them added unto the Covenant of Grace as signes and seals thereof In the ordinance of Baptism there must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 3.21 an answer 1 Pet. 3.21 which I take to be an allusion to the ancient manner of John Baptist Luk. 3.10 the people asked him and what shall we do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereby implying a willingness to engage themselves unto those practices of repentance and those duties of reformation unto which John did baptize them whence arose that ancient form in the Church in baptizing persons by propounding unto them Questions concerning Faith Repentance renouncing the World the Flesh and the Devil and their solemn engagement and stipulation thereunto which if it were in truth and from a good conscience the person was truly baptized in the sight of God or else he was only baptized with water and no more So what was circumcision but a sign and a seal of the Covenant which if it did reach unto the heart it was circumcision Gen. 17.13 else their circumcision became uncircumcision for the men were not in Covenant with God therefore Jer. 9.25 I will punish all them that are circumcised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jer. 9.25 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Omnes circumcises in praeputio so it is in the Original and so Montanus and others do render it all that are circumcised in uncircumcision Now it is by the Learned observed that the Nations there named did thus circumcise but being a people out of covenant with God it was no circumcision unto them and though they were circumcised yet they were in uncircumcision still and so the Jews they were circumcised and in an outward Covenant but yet their hearts did not consent and therefore though they were circumcised in flesh yet they were not circumcised in heart So for the Sacrament of the Lords Supper it is the New Testament in the Blood of Christ Mat. 26. Zach. 9.12 and this blood is the blood of the Covenant and therefore if thou be a man out of the Covenant thou hast no right to it it can do thee no good but hurt all thy days As Cyprian de Lapsis hath a story of one that when the people of God were receiving the Sacrament came secretly in amongst them to receive it also Ausus est latenter accipere he durst take it secretly and having taken the bread in his hand Cinerem se ferre apertis manibus invenit opening his hand he found it turned into ashes and so Gratia salutaris in cinerem imo in venenum fugiente sanctitate mutatur the salutarie grace is turned into ashes yea poyson c. And therefore if such a man receive the Sacrament he takes the name of God in vain for in Gods account he did never receive it because it is a seal of the Covenant of Grace and he remains still under the covenant of works 4 All the motions of the Spirit of God as the giving of the Spirit doth belong to the second Covenant This is the Covenant says the Lord that I will make with them Isa 5.9 ult my spirit that is upon them c. And it is the Gospel that is the ministration of the Spirit for it is Christ the Prince of the Covenant that doth send the Spirit and what is the end of the Spirits coming it is only to advance the Covenant of Grace He shall take of mine says Christ and shew it unto you that he may bring you into Union with Christ and so into Covenant with God by him and therefore it is the Spirit of the second Covenant and the healing motions and strivings and impressions of the Spirit of God with man are all to this end to bring them within the bounds of the Covenant and though they may receive many gifts and common graces and common works yet the Spirit is grieved resisted and quenched if this great work be not wrought that the spirit may become a spirit of adoption and all those glorious works of the Spirit as a witness as a seal and as an earnest they do all come under the second Covenant and belong to the spirit as the spirit of the Gospel 5 If thou be not translated into the Covenant of Grace thou art left in a remediless condition for thy first Covenant being broken does bring thee under a curse and there is but one remedy against the sting of the Serpent and that 's the brazen Serpent there 's no avoiding the curse of the Covenant but by being translated out of it and this translation thou wilt not accept of therefore thou art in a helpless condition for thy disease is mortal of it self and thou wilt not accept of a remedy and so thou art left to the punishment of the first Covenants curse Joh. 3.33 He that believes not the wrath of God abides upon him not comes upon him only but abides upon him There is ira transiens and ira permanens transient wrath and permanent wrath All sin brings a man under wrath but there is no sin leaves a man under wrath but unbelief because a man will not accept of peace and reconciliation that is made to him And let me tell thee O soul whoever thou art in such a condition thy misery will be so much the greater that thou hast had a second Covenant offered and yet despisest it and in this Sodom and Gomorrah will come in against thee and will condemn thee for if they had had the offers that thou hast had they would have accepted of them yet thou hast rejected them nay the Devils themselves will be brought in against thee for thy condemnation and in this as thy sin is greater so will thy judgment be for they never had an offer of any terms of peace made to them they found themselves shut up under wrath without hope but thou hast had offers and hopes all thy days and this will be matter for that never-dying worm to feed upon at the last and great day when the soul shall reflect seriously upon its by-past life I neglected hopes and possibility and it 's now unrecoverable though there was a time that the offers of mercy were made to me and treaties of Grace made with me by the common works of the Spirit of God which I rejected mercy was upon her knees to me and I had as great possibility and probability to have found mercy as any other there are some that lived under the same Ordinances and offers of Grace with me and many of them had never the opportunities that I have had and yet I see them sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God and I am left out And this will be the great misery of many I may say of most of the children of the Kingdom they that live in the Church at the last and great day § 3. We may hence see the
but made with us as in him and for his sake as fire is hot in it self and the Sun light in it self and all things else by participation as they receive from these so Christ is the Covenant because it is with him in himself originally and with us but as we are one with him 2 Because all parts of the Covenant lye upon him whatever is to be done in it if the Covenant be to be made he is the Mediator of it if it be to be confirmed he is the witness of it Isa 55.4 if to be published he is the Angel and if to be performed he is the surety And he is not a surety as other sureties are that enter into one and the same bond so as the creditor may seize on whom he will the debter or the surety and on the debter first for him we commonly call the principal but in this Covenant God takes Christs single bond for us all that so he might be sure of satisfaction and therefore he is said to lay help upon one that is mighty one able to pay and so to discharge us so God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 not imputing their trespasses 2. If you have not an interest in this Covenant you are undone for all the happiness that the antient Saints had was by an interest in that Covenant and all the glory that they or we shall have is by vertue of this Covenant All the benefits of this Covenant are branched into these three sorts 1 Promises and they belong to none but the heirs of promise 2 Graces 3 Priviledges Gal. 4. we read there of a company of men that are Abrahams seed the children of the free-woman that are begotten under the Covenant of Grace and there is no promise or grace or priviledge whether in this life or the life to coâ—â— that belongs unto any but those that are in the Covenant and have accepted it as it appears in the matter of the Sacraments in that of the Lords Supper for a mans self and that of Baptism for his child if a man be not himself within the Covenant the seal can do him no good no more than if a man that had gotten the writings of an heiress should conclude that he should inherit the Lands because he hath the writing whereas the ground thereof is interest in the person first and being made one with her then he doth seize upon the Land by a legal title and never till then so they are Abrahams seed to whom the Sacraments do belong And for that of Baptism the Lord gives a title from the parent to the child he doth not so in the other Acts 2.39 And the thing signified in Baptism the Soul being passive in a Child hath as good ground by Gods Covenant as by the mans profession yea better the mans profession being fallible than he can have any other way and it is a mans own interest in the Covenant that gives him title unto all those priviledges There are indeed membra praesumptiva of the Church of God to whom these priviledges do in appearance belong but not in truth and in reality unless they are within the Covenant 3. This is not a Covenant that is conveyed by nature but by consent Consider here 1 that there is a twofold Union the one natural and the other voluntary and by way of suretiship now we come under Adams Covenant by nature our union with him being natural for we are born under it but the Covenant of the second Adam is not so and therefore we come under Christs Covenant freely and by consent for our new birth is voluntary and our consent is free we are drawn and yet we come for Gods drawing makes men willing to come and therefore faith is commonly expressed by consent who ever will let him come Rev. 22. There is therefore no way of getting into Christs Covenant but by our consent by laying hold of his Covenant Esa 56.4 Esay 56.4 and this is that I would exhort you to the word in the original signifies to take fast hold of a thing and that strongly and with all a mans might as in Job 2.3 it is said of Job Job 2.3 that he did hold fast his integrity Satan and his friends would have plucked it from him and have made him to conclude against himself that he was an Hypocrite and his heart unsound before God but he yet held it and said I will not part with my integrity till I die and so Job 8.15 it 's said of a Hypocrite that made himself a house of gifts and common graces Job 8.15 and outward performances and upon this house he leans puts all his confidence and when God by the way comes and shews him the deceit of it and that it is but a sandy foundation upon which it is built the self-flattery of his own spirit and that it is but a Castle in the Air and will do him no good in the evil day the storm will overflow his hiding place yet the man holds it fast he will live and dye with them and will not cast away his own righteousness it is such a taking hold of the Covenant that is here meant with all a mans heart and might But you 'l say What is it for a man to take hold of Christs Covenant We have formerly heard that there are two wayes of conveyance either by way of gift or by way of dowry The promises and all the graces of the Covenant yea the Covenant it self is not bestowed upon us as a man would give a gift to another without any farther relation but it is by way of a dowry which you cannot have without the person so it is here Christ in the Covenant is a common person a second Adam and if we have an interest in him and be represented by him the Covenant belongs unto us but there can be no benefit in his Covenant without interest in his person As we see the ground and intendment of union is 1 John 5.11.12 that there may be a communion and a communication and all communion is grounded upon union and is the fruit of it Gal. 3. ult it 's our union with the first Adam that brings us under his Covenant wherefore as soon as a man becomes a man his Covenant and the curse of it takes hold on him and therefore Infants die so it was the union of Christ with us that brought him under our Covenant he was made of a woman under the Law Gal. 4.4 had he not been one with us he could never have stood in our stead living and dying so it is our being one with him that gives us an interest in his Covenant and brings us under it 2. The terms and condition of this union is that you shall receive and accept him and give up your selves to him I am my Beloveds and my Beloved is mine Cant. 6.3 you must cut off
with thee and thou becamest mine Ezech. 16.8 then I cloathed thee with broidered work and shod thee with badgers skins and girded thee with fine linen and covered thee with silk I deckt thee with ornaments of gold and put bracelets upon thy hands c. Upon the removal of the Candlestick if the Lord unchurch a people all other blessings go away with it They shall take away thy eminent place Ezech. 16.39 and they shall strip thee of all thy cloaths and 2 Chron. 7.20 this house will I cast out of my sight and I will pluck them up by the root out of the land which I have given them 5. They have a special patience and long-suffering attending them and the Lord doth bear with them far for his peoples sake Mat. 13. he lets the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say unto the reapers Gather the tares in bundles to burn we know that the patience and long-suffering of God is salvation 2 Pet. 3. 6. They are delivered from many temporal judgments that others fall into there is a special preservation and protection over them in the time of common danger there is a sealing for the Church the Lord sets a special mark upon them Rev. 7.4 and wicked men receive much by this and so even a Cham may be saved in a common deluge where many a better man may be drowned There are priviledges belonging to the society that a man joyns himself unto that a man injoys for their sakes but not for his own as many a man saith Austin in the Invasion of the Goths did scape by joyning themselves unto the Christians August de Civit And Rehoboam shall be a Prince all the days of his life for David my servants sake that David my servant may have a light always before me in Jerusalem Jehoram the son of Jehosaphat 1 King 11.34 36. a wicked man walking in the ways of Ahab and the Kings of Israel and one who at the entrance of his Raign had practised that ordinary devillish policy in use amongst Princes to slay all his brethren with the sword and divers also of the Princes of Israel thereby to strengthen himself and yet the Lord would not destroy the house of David because of the Covenant that he had made with him to give him a light for ever and when Jerusalem was besieged in the days of Hezekiah by a mighty Army the Lord says Esa 37.35 They shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there but I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant Davids sake 7. There is a holiness that comes to them thereby 1 Cor. 7.14 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean but now are they holy 1 An inward holiness and sanctification it cannot be for it 's a holiness that is conveyed from the parents but so the graces of the Spirit cannot be which are not of blood nor of the will of the flesh 2 Neither can it be meant of legitimation Joh. 1.13 that they are legitimate for there is a lawful marriage between one man and one woman out of the Church as well as in the Church so that they are lawfully man and wife and their children lawfully begotten for the truth of those relations are not founded in grace a father is as truly a father a Magistrate a Magistrate a husband a husband in wicked men and grace adds nothing to the truth of them though it doth to the comfort and right use of them 3 It 's such a holiness as is derived from the faith of the parent for it doth not come unto the child through the unbelieving parent for if they were both unbelievers the children were unclean but it 's a holiness that comes upon the child from the faith of the parent which can be nothing else but a federal holiness being taken into the parents covenant which is either from father or mother derived unto the posterity Now all these are great blessings in themselves though they do ripen a mans sins and bring a greater curse upon him in the end for the marish places shall be given to salt there be no men in the world delivered over to such fearful spiritual plagues as they are Amos 8.1 Heb. 6.1 Quest 4. Answ and if any men prove Devils they doe the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out and the Lord will say unto them I know you not c. § 4. But what is this foederal holiness and wherein doth it consist This I shall speak to 1 Negatively and shew you what it is not 2 Positively and shew you what it is and both are very necessary in the present business both that the false glosses fastened upon this place may be removed and also the true nature of this Holiness cleared and established 1. Negatively what it is not and here I find three interpretations as false and corrupt glosses given of it 1. Of a Holiness of Regeneration but that cannot be the meaning of it for the gracious qualifications of the Soul are no more ex traduce than the Soul it self Joh. 1.13 no man is regenerated from his Parents that he proceeds from though they be themselves regenerate yet the New-birth is not by Propagation In this sence it is true and to be understood what Tertullian saith None were born Christians Here is a case propounded to the Apostle by some of the converted Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.12 1 Cor. 7.12 whether from the example of the Jews and the Law in force amongst them and their practice in Ezra to put away their strange Wives or whether it were really the fear and jealousie of their own spirits lest they might be corrupted by them and lest their converse with them should be displeasing to God and bring a Curse of God upon them for it 's spoken non de matrimoniis contrahendis sed retinendis Calv. not of contracting but continuing marriage Calvin for else the command holds be not unequally yoaked together with Vnbelievers and marry onely in the Lord but being married when they both continued in infidelity whether now one party being converted and the other continuing in Idolatry it be not the duty of the party converted to depart from such a yoak-fellow because of the danger of being defiled by such constant and intimate society In answer to this case the Apostle says if the unbelieving will continue let not the believing husband put away his unbelieving wife c. and the Apostle gives the reason drawn from the powerful influence that a state of Grace hath upon those that are brought into it for the priviledges of the Covenant of Grace are not like unto Conclusions in Logick which do follow in deteriorem partem the same grace that doth sanctifie the man hath a powerful and a gracious influence to sanctifie all things unto
them to persecution immediately Joh. 9. for whoever did confess him was to be put out of the Synagogue and this made many men to keep off from embracing of the Gospel wherefore it was then a great mark of sincerity for a man to embrace a persecuted Truth in times of Persecution and to endure a great fight of afflictions and yet receive the Word in much affliction with joy in the Holy Ghost it was a very great ground for a mans judicious charity to rest on As it were now a small matter for a man to preach against Transubstantiation the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament yet for a man to bear witness against that errour and to maintain the truth in Queen Mary's days when all the power of the Kingdom was against it and when so many were sent to Heaven in a fiery Chariot for the same that had been a great ground for judicious charity to have rested upon for the sincerity of the man and therefore it 's said Phil. 1.6 7. He that hath begun the good work in you will perfect it it is but an equal and just thing for me to think so of you all they were all such of whom he might have some ground in charity to hope and judge that they had a good work begun in them which should be perfected in the day of the Lord. 2 The matter of the visible Church must be suitable to the ends for which the Lord has instituted such Churches for every wise man does chuse materials suitable to the work in which he intends to use them as in the Tabernacle there was gold and silver and there was purple and blue each answerable to the end in which it was to be used now there is a double end why the Lord has instituted visible Churches 1 That they may be a pillar of truth to hold forth his word and to hold up his worship 1 Tim. 3.15 2 That they may be a people amongst whom the Lord may dwell and therefore the Church is called the House of God and he will dwell in them and walk amongst them 2 Cor. 6.16 The tabernacle of the Lord is with men Rev. 21. the name of the city is Jehovah shammah the Lord is there Now if men profess and yet be ignorant they cannot hold forth the truth and if they be profane they will never hold up the worship of God and if they are wicked the Lord will depart from them and will not dwell among them 3 It will appear also from the nature of the Ordinance of Excommunication which is to pass upon none but those within 2 Thess 3.6 if a brother c. and it was the honour of the Church of Ephesus that they looked upon them that were evil as burdens and could not bear them Now if a profession with a scandalous conversation will not keep a man in when he is in surely it is no good ground to let a man in when he is without if such ought to be separated from the Church being admitted surely if they be without they are not to be admitted and I do think it strange that men should speak of it as a great sin that profane persons in the Church should be tolerated and yet should plead for a promiscuous admission upon a bare profession only though their whole conversation speak the contrary Truly unless we make Churches and Church-members to be only notions and empty things we ought I conceive to make conscience of our admissions as well as ejections and surely if that were done there would be less need of Excommunications and yet a greater purity in our Churches preserved and be for ought I know the best bottom of our reformation 4. I must here repeat what has been already delivered viz. that it is the immediate parents only that give federal right to their children 1. Some considerations were premised namely that admission of members is an act of the Keys and the great trust the Lord has committed unto them and therefore they are to proceed by rule therein And that to administer Sacraments is not an act of Christian liberty that a Minister may dispense to whom he will but an act of power which Christ has given to them that are called to the Ministry of the Word and they are to dispense them to none but unto those whose priviledges they are and that as great care is to be taken in the administration of one Sacrament that it be not done promiscuously as of the other Whence we proceed to prove our position 1 I find in Scripture that when the immediate parents were taken into covenant the children were taken in with them how wicked soever their Ancestors were as Abraham's c. and when the immediate parents were cast out the child was cast out with them how holy soever their Ancestors had been as we instanced in the Jews therefore admission is with the immediate parents as well as ejection 2 From that place 1 Cor. 7.14 Else were your children unclean the Apostle speaks it as knowing no other way of their federal sanctification neither will that take it away to say because their Ancestors were Heathen for there is but one way of sanctifying Heathens by profession and those that are as Heathens in their conversation 3 There is no stop if a federal right from Ancestors will not wear out how shall a man know where to stay and if it must be thought to reach to all their succeeding generations then we must baptize all mankind therefore there is no certainty unless we pitch here 4 Sacraments are to be administred only unto Church-members and if parents have no right to membership they can convey none but it was not enough to make a member to be baptized and to make profession of the Christian Faith in a Christian Church and therefore being himself no member he cannot convey a right of membership 5 From the inconveniences that must needs follow upon it 1. The Ordinance is profaned by promiscuous administrations 2. Ministers are put to act upon uncertainties 3. Wicked men are hardned and incouraged that cry The Temple of the Lord are we and all the Lords people are holy which formerly I am sure many of our Divines bitterly complained of 6 I was much the more led into it because of many things that I have met with in the Writings both of ancient and modern Divines to that purpose some of which were quoted and there are many more that might be added but it 's not fit for a Pulpit and a popular Auditory this being as you know not a Doctrine of my fetching in but that which Providence in the course of my Ministry did put me upon I confess I durst not wave it though in my own inclination I could willingly have done it neither was it out of a desire of novelty to be the Broacher of some new Doctrine or Opinion amongst you God is my witness I know nihil novandum
they have no interest in it in respect of the spiritual priviledges and saving Graces of the same Covenant 3. There 's a two-fold Faith that the Scripture speaks of there is true and saving justifying faith which is call'd the Faith of Gods Elect and there is a temporary faith or a faith which is in profession only Math. 13. Heb. 6.4 Act. 8. and not in truth as we see in the stony ground and the temporary Believers and in Simon Magus and as it 's true saving faith that doth give a man an interest in the graces of the Covenant and makes a man Abrahams seed in reference unto grace so there is a visible faith a profession only that which only men are able to judge of to whom the power of the Keys for the dispensing of Ordinances are committed and this gives a man a title to the visible and external Priviledges of the Covenant in for◠Ecclesiae as we see Simon Magus profession of Faith was ground enough for the Apostles to administer Baptism unto him the Seal of the Covenant though afterwards he did quickly manifest that he was in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity Though therefore the Gentiles can never claim Abrahams Covenant as his seed according to the flesh nor many of them a spiritual right as not having the saving faith of Abraham yet they may claim relation to Abraham as an Ecclesiastical father and from a profession of the faith of Abraham may claim a true and a real interest in the external priviledges of Abrahams Covenant though they cannot pretend to his saving Graces and spiritual priviledges having never had any experience of a work of Conversion and Regeneration Quest 8 § 8. Why will the Lord have the Covenant run by way of entail in reference to the outward Priviledges of it and not in reference to the inward Graces of it The Covenant that was made with Adam was to convey the one as well as the other and the image that he had received he was to convey to his Posterity and the promise of Life spiritual and Life eternal was made unto his Posterity in case of their Obedience as well as unto himself and therefore as all dyed in him so all should have lived in him Nos omnes in Adam◠peccavimus in eo sententiam damnationis accepimus omnes Bern. S. 1. de Advent So that by the first Covenant Adam might have conveyed not only outward Priviledges but inward Graces also and whereas now by reason of the fall all Mankind do convey death to their Children Tertul. but not life and so they are become non tà m parentes quà m peremptores not so much parents as destroyers therefore seeing that the first Covenant is broken why doth not the Lord only take the Elect into Covenant and extend the Covenant of Grace unto none else and so make it with particular persons as the Covenant of the Angels did run or if he will make it to descend from Father to Son why doth he not convey the Graces of the Covenant from Parents to Posterity as well as the outward priviledges of the Covenant Why does not the Covenant run for all the Benefits of it as well as for some only the internals of the Covenant as well as the externals Answ 1. The Lord will not have the Graces of the Covenant entail'd from Parents unto Posterity 1 Because the Curse of the first Covenant is now become ex traduce by propagation and all the Posterity of Adam do now as naturally convey the Curse by reason of their broken Covenant as Adam should have conveyed life and blessing if he had stood in his integrity and therefore whatever the immediate Parents be Adams sin comes alike upon all whether they be godly or wicked and the child of a godly Parent is as truly and as deeply guilty of the sin of Adam in his birth as the child of the most wicked man that is that is an entail left upon all mankind that can never be cut off while there is a man born upon earth Rom. 5.12 for in Adam all dye because in him all sinn'd and therefore the children of godly Parents as well as others are born the children of wrath Gregor so that Timothy though there was faith unfeigned that dwelt in his Grandmother and his Mother yet he himself must be converted by the ministry of Paul or else he had no benefit by the faith of his Ancestors Rom. 3.29 and thence the Apostle saith We look upon the Jews as a people holy unto the Lord and the only visible Church upon earth and the Gentiles as strangers unto God who follow'd dumb Idols as they were led and yet in reference to their natural condition the Apostle says there is no difference for all men have sinn'd and come short of the glory of God and therefore all in their births are alike corrupted with the sin of Adam that being imputed but the personal sins of their Parents are not imputed unto them and therefore they are said Joh. 1.13 to be born not of blood that is Joh. 1.13 not by a fleshly generation so some or else as Calvin it is bloods ut longam generis successionem melius exprimeret though Grace has continued long in that line and has as it were run in a blood and comes upon a man by succession as it were for many generations as it was with Timothy c. nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man Idem significat c. If the parents be godly and they never so earnestly desire that their children might be godly also as it was Abrahams desire for Ismael that he might live in Gods sight it was spoken of living before God as in Covenant with him as it appears by the answer that the Lord returns unto him but yet for all that his desire is not granted as concerning him though he saith I will make of Ismael a great nation and many nations shall come from him yet in Isaac shall thy covenant-seed be called and with him will I establish my Covenant c. therefore the Covenant in respect of the grace of it can never be entailed upon posterity because every man begets a son in the likeness of the first Adam as he himself did immediately after his fall Gen. 5.3 and thereby conveyed the image that by sin he had brought upon himself and his posterity 2 Because under the second Covenant it 's the Election of God that takes place and puts all the difference between men and men between whom in themselves there is no difference It 's true that it 's a great dispute Whether the Lord in Election did consider man in massa pura or corrupta and I conceive it was an act of Soveraignty and therefore God respected ma◠in massa pura as a creature and not in massa corrupta as a sinner as the potter hath power over the clay of
their infants were circumcised therefore are ours to be baptized They that are Antipedobaptists do say Antipedobaptists objection that no argument drawn from the Ordinances of the old Testament conclude in reference to the Ordinances of the new by that analogy and parity of reason and therefore by our own reason to draw consequents from Circumcision which was an Ordinance of another Covenant is to set our posts by Gods post and to be wise above what is written for Ordinances are grounded upon Institutions meerly and have their efficacy only from the will of the Institutor and do not depend at all upon the reason of the thing neither are we to make like Institutions from any analogy to the Ordinances of the old Testament that our reason suggests unto us and we are desired by them to consider that this way of arguing has brought in many a great Errour into Popery As because the Jewish Church was but in one Nation then till the bounds were enlarged so now the Gospel being preached unto every creature under Heaven by just consequence the Church should depend upon one head so that as there were many subordinate Priests and Levites among the Jews yet there was but one high Priest so by just consequence it must needs be in the Churches of the New Testament there is but one Pontifex Maximus great Bishop of our Souls in the Church all the world over and yet these we deny to be good arguments therefore that which is drawn from the circumcision of the Infants of the Jews unto the Baptism of the Infants of the Christians there being an express word of Institution for the one but not for the other but only grounded upon inferences drawn by way of analogy it is conceived that way of reasoning in the one as well as in the other is alike unsafe and unsound Answ Now to give an answer to what is said and to sum it up as briefly as may be I would lay down these Conclusions 1. In all Ages there has been great designs upon the Word of God to make it void and enervate it Men generally that are in an evil way bear the same affection to the Word that Jehoiakim did unto Jeremiahs roll which he cut in pieces with his Pen-knife and cast it into the firâ—â— that was upon the hearth But because that they cannot cut it therefore they would take it away in a secret manner and undermine it specially that part of the Word that is contrary either to their corrupt opinions or practice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr Ep. ad Zenam Et Scripturas secundum sensum suum legit voluntatem sequitur nunquà m audit sed quam attulit Aust de gra Christi And this did David complain of Psal 119.126 Psal 119.126 the word signifies non palam ex professo sed obliquè to do it secretly and under-hand and so did the Pharisees ye have made void the Law Matth. 15.6 it was not by denying it but by false Glosses and corrupt Interpretations they took away the ruling power and authority thereof and this has been mainly done in this latter age by these two wayes 1 Some men deny the authority of the whole Old Testament at least any further than it is in express words confirm'd in the New and this is looked upon as an argument sufficient to answer any argument that is brought for any thing of the Old Testament Can you shew any thing in the New Testament for it as if the Old Testament were now antiquated and out of date but we dare not divide the two words of the Apostle which he doth apply generally unto all the Scripture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Tim. 3.16 The whole Scripture is given by inspiration and is profitable c. therefore either we must deny it to be of divine Inspiration or we must say not only that it was but it is still profitable and we know that Christ and his Apostles do generally confirm the Doctrines of the Gospel by Moses and the Prophets and our Divines do generally therefore say that the Old Testament is but Evangelium sub velo which now we see with open face The Apostle speaks of a great trust that was committed to the Jews in the Word Rom. 3.2 Rom. 3.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them were the Oracles of God concredited that is committed unto them by way of trust that they might transmit them unto others and it is a testimony that 's given to the Jews to their honour Judaeum centies potius moriturum quà m ut pateretur legem in aliquo mutari And there is the like and a greater trust committed unto Christians for the Church is the Pillar and the ground of truth I desire we may be as faithfull to Posterity therein as the Jews were and not sell any part of the Truths of God unto the Lusts of men 2 Men take away the Authority of the Word by denying if not the express words of the Scripture yet all things that are drawn though by evident and necessary consequences out of the Scripture and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. They do steal from us a great part of the Word of God for a great part of it lyes in consequences We know 1 That Christ himself does cite Scripture by a consequence and prove the Doctrine of the Resurrection by a Consequence out of Scripture Mat. 22.32 2 We know the Apostles and Evangelists do often assert that to be Scripture which is no where in express terms to be found in the Scripture 2. I do acknowledge that no Ordinance of the Old Testament is a ground for the Institution of the same under the New Testament neither is it safe to make one Ordinance institutive of another neither can any Inferences made from a mans own Reason be a ground for any Institution in the Worship of God 1 I say one Ordinance cannot be institutive of another for Institutions do depend purely upon the will of God manifested to the creature in matter of Worship and therefore it were sinfull to say Because there were two Sacraments under the Old Testament therefore there must be two under the New and because there was one Sacrament of Initiation and the other of Confirmation therefore it must be so under the New unless we had a word from Christ that did warrant it or to say Because they had a Sabbath amongst the Jews a day of Religious rest therefore we must have so amongst the Gentiles that are now Christians unless we have a word that doth manifest this to be the will of God that he will in such Ordinances be worshipped in the Church and therefore we are far from making Circumcision to be the ground of the institution of Baptism 2 It is no inference from reason that man can make can be a ground in the things of God in which the reason of man must only stoop unto the will of
and the spirit teacheth us to come unto him as our Father so in all our addresses unto God he teacheth us to cry Abba Father and so the Saints in Scripture O Lord thou art my God early will I seek thee 7. Hence comes that glorious communication of properties that is between God and the Saints That as Divines do observe by reason of the hypostatical Union there is a communication of properties that what is done by the humane nature is attributed unto the persons and the blood of the humane nature is called the blood of God Acts 20.28 and God is said to be received up to glory 1 Tim. 3. and Christ is called the Son of God which is proper only to the Divine Nature Luk. 1.35 and the Humane Nature being taken into the same person it comes under the same filiation for the rule of the School-men is filiatio est suppositi filiation is of a person the Son-ship belongs and relates unto the person and not unto the nature so from our Union with Christs person arise those strange communications which some observe the Lord calling himself by the name of a Creature Psal 24.6 This is the generation of them that seek him that seek thy face O Jacob and that glorious and which some say is an incommunicable name of God Jehovah yet it is said to be attributed to the Creature through his interest in the person of God it 's the name of Christ Jer. 23.6 And in his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord our righteousness and this name is also given to the Church Jer. 38.16 And in those days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely and this is the name wherewith she shall be called The Lord our Righteousness c. and all this flows from interest in the person through personal promises 8. Our interest in the persons is always the same and varies not though the dispensations are very various and there is no Saint of God but doth find changes of the right hand of the most High though the Lord in himself changes not Sometime he lifts up the light of his countenance and sometimes he hides his face but yet in the middle of all this here is the comfort of the Saints the Lord is still their God and they have an interest in him And so did Christ himself find a change of dispensations there was substractio visionis a substraction of vision but yet not unionis of union and when the Lord hid his face from him then Christ flyes to a personal promise and in that he looks upon God when he could look upon him no other way my God my God c. and so doth the Church doubtless thou art our Father And there is a special Art and Mystery that the people of God have learned when they are in the deepest desertions to recover themselves out of it Cant. 5. there the Church falls in love with the person of Christ and looks upon her own interest in him and then she breaks out this is my beloved and this is my friend and this recovers her again so that she glories in Christs interest in her and hers in him I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine the comfort of the Saints in their worst estate is that God has an interest in their persons I am thine O save me may every Saint of God say and so they also have an interest in the person of God this God is our God for ever and ever Psal 48.14 if there be never so great Changes or Dispensations yet our relation unto the person is still the same and therefore so should our claim be 9. The highest objects of Faith are Persons for there is a three-fold object of Faith 1. Primarium primary and that is all Divine Truth 2. Mediatum mediate that is Christ as Mediator 3. Vltimatum ultimate for through Christ we believe in God 1 Pet. 1.21 therefore the ultimate and the highest object of Faith is a Person Objectum fidei est jus incomplexum the object of faith is an incomplex right Now that which is the highest object of Faith that is the most perfect in which only Faith can rest and therefore must be the greatest ground of Hope and Love as that wherein our happiness doth ultimately consist 10. The highest act of Gods Love to us is in accepting our persons Electing Love was set upon the person and in Christ he doth accept our persons and has respect unto them therefore if he respect our persons so highly being made over to him in Covenant how much more should we set a high price upon his excellent person being made over to us in Covenant It is his Love unto our persons that doth incline his heart to accept our services and reward them and to bestow all good things upon us and so should our Love unto the person of God be that which should sweeten all his benefits towards us he has not this Treasure only but he has the root also upon which it grows Revel 21.6 He shall inherit all things I will be his God and it is much more than all the Creatures can be to him for he shall receive a hundred fold more in this life it is not to be understood formalitèr formally sed eminentèr but eminently that is they shall have all made up in God that the Creatures could supply if they were a hundred times multiply'd God shall be all in all to them so that they can complain of no want for the Lord is their God Vse § 2. First we may hence gather the devillishness of that Opinion that denies all persons in the Trinity they do thereby make void the main of the New Covenant on Gods part which doth consist in personal promises for if there be no persons then the promises of making of them over by way of interest unto the Saints is void and of none effect And truly of all the Abominations of this last Age which Satan has cast forth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Athanasius calls it Orat. 1. cont Arian there is not any so desperate an Opinion that strikes more at the root of all Religion than this doth all Heresie is the smoak that arises out of the bottomless pit and it is commonly vented by some Star that falls from Heaven some Man Eminent in the Church and he making an Apostasie and Defection from the Truth the Key of the bottomless pit is given him in judgment a Key is potestatis symbolum a symbol of power as we know and unto one man it 's given as a special Mercy and unto another it 's given as a special Judgment Revel 20.1 to the one it 's given to bind Satan and to the other to let out his smoak and wo to the man to whom such a power is given as Revel 20.1 Satan is ready enough to
do the Saints that are of the same body with themselves for they do none of them live barely as private men though they are not all publick persons in respect of office and function yet they are in respect of their relation and they have all of them reference unto the body and they do pray as members of the body and have in all things respect unto the good of the body for as the Spirit that doth interpret the Scripture is not a private Spirit so the Spirit that doth act the Saints is not a private Spirit therefore as in the good of every member the body is interessed so also in the prayers of every one the body is interessed therefore as we are to look upon all the prayers of Christ not as the prayers of a private man but as put up by him who is the Churches Head so we are also to look upon the prayers of all the Saints not as of private men but also as under the relation of membership under which they stand in the body of Christ and as we are to look upon their sufferings as being of the body so are we also to look upon their services as being done by the members of the same body and all of them for the good and benefit of the body Moses obtained great benefits to the people of Israel by his prayers their blessings depended much upon his prayers Pardon them as thou hast done it from Egypt till now and the Lord answers I have pardoned them according to thy word and again Moses prays Go before them or carry us not from hence the Lord answers My presence shall go with you and I will give you rest The blessings that godly men attain are not barely the fruit of their own prayers and yet they that are godly do pray also but they are a concurrence of prayers and by them we do attain mercy yea sometimes when we are little able to pray for our selves when the spirit of prayer is low in its actings in us yet then the souls of some of the Saints are upon the wing and the Lord will have respect unto them for they are of the body As we rejoice not in the gifts of others because we look upon them as given unto other men and do not look upon them as a part of the body and so see our interest in them that they are given them for our good and therefore they are to us rather matter of envy than of rejoicing so we take no comfort in the prayers of the Saints upon this ground because we look not upon them as praying upon the same common interest with us and as praying for us as fellow-members who have with them an equal interest in the good of the body and its prosperity And as they obtain mercy so they keep off judgment if Noah Daniel and Job stood before me he speaks it as the most effectual way of prevailing with him and as that which he would least of all deny and yet the Decree being gone forth his heart could not be towards them The Saints have in their ages attained great mercy for the body and therefore Elijah is called the chariot of Israel and the horse-men thereof their main defence lay in him under Heaven they had not so great a one and therefore godly men in all ages have looked upon it as a great misery for the godly of the age to be removed as having their party and their interest upon earth weakned as if an eminent man of any party be taken away it 's looked upon as a great weakning to them and he is thereupon greâ—â—y bewailed by them Wherefore it is reproved as their sin Esa 57.1 That the righteous perish and no man layeth it to heart c. and Mic. 7.1 it is expressed by the Prophet as a duty and so it was with Austins mother he saies of her Orationibus vivebat and it was in answer to her prayers that he was new-born unto God Parturivit me carne ut in hanc temporalem corde ut in aeternam lucem renascerer Tom. 9. cap. 8. She travailed with me as in her flesh to bring me forth to a temporal life so in her heart to an eternal life he was an eminent instrument in the Church in the age in which he lived and mightily confuted the false Teachers of the time and did gloriously defend the truth and appeared for it and all this he did attain by the benefit of his mothers prayers And they do bring upon the Churches enemies very great and terrible judgments by their prayers there is a fire that comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies and that not as they are theirs but as they are the Churches enemies And not only the prayers of the present age shall have power against Antichrist but the prayers of the former ages as to instance in the prayers of David taking place against Judas Act. 1. so there have been prayers for many years that have been going for the Reformation of England from Popery which have been answered eminently in our daies and will be more and more answered in succeeding generations the people of God pray continually for more degrees of grace and light Now it 's true that when men strike an Oak with many blows yet it doth not fall till the last blow and yet we say that it is not the last blow that fells the Oak but all that went before so 't is here as it was in the death of Christ his last act was the full payment but yet all his former obedience and sufferings did concur thereunto to all that full satisfaction that was given by him to the Father and it 's dreadful when the prayers of all the people of God do fall upon a man surely vengeance will overtake him as an armed man Look as all the prayers of the Saints do at the last day meet together in the Devils destruction so it shall be in the destruction of any great and eminent instrument of his as in attaining special deliverances the Lord stands upon number so it is in bringing in eminent judgments also and therefore Hezekiah sends for Isaiah and tells him That the children were come to the birth the promises did travail with deliverance but there was no strength to bring forth unless he would add his prayers also and so it is with the people of God it is much more to lose one praying man than a plotting or a fighting man and that is the meaning that great Babylon came into remembrance before God how was it it was from the Lords remembrancers for the Vials did come out of the Temple Rev. 16.1 all their prayers met together Rev. 16.1 and there is a full cry that the Lord is put in remembrance which by his long delay and forbearance he had seemed to neglect and forget 8. By their Faith the people of God attain much mercy to others as well as by their