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truth_n	church_n	profess_v	visible_a	1,998	5	9.1242	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79488	A Christian plea for Christians baptisme: raised from the grave of apostasie. or, a short treatise, being a reproof of some things written by A. R. in his treatise, intituled, The vanitie of childish baptisme. In the answer whereof, the lawfulnesse of infants baptisme is defended, the sufficiency of our baptisme received in the state of apostasie, shewed: and the deficiencie of the arguments brought against it manifested, by sufficient grounds and reasons drawn from the sweet fountains of holy Scripture. / [by] S.C.	Chidley, Samuel.	1643 (1643)	Wing C3836; Thomason E104_2; ESTC R12174	34,699	39

you conclude that because their power and authority is not of Christ therefore the baptisme is not from Christ * Pa. 13. lin 1.2 To which I answer That I grant they have no enrighting power to administer any of the holy things of God no more then the Apostate Israelites yet as that Antichristian power by which they did administer destroyed not circumcision but that it remained true circumcision so baptisme being as dureable as circumcision it cannot be worne out by these Apostates no more then circumcision was by the other And what right had the Philistines to the Arke or what authority had the Babylonians to steal the vessels of the Lord or what power had Idolaters to lay sacralegious hands upon any of his holy institutions Surely they had no such commission either from God or Christ so to do yet I hope you will not say that the Arke was no Arke the vessels no vessels the institutions as in themselves nothing at all for then you would openly contradict the Scripture * 1. Sam. 4. 5. Dan 5.3.23 Ezra 6.5 Ezek. 43.8 Rev. 11.2 The like may be said concerning Gods institutions under the defection of Antichrist the marriage is marriage though the manner be not performed lawfully the Word is the Word of God and baptisme his own though in apostasie And whereas you say * Pa. 13. at li. 25 that as the Lord Jesus Christ hath no where in his Word ordained or appointed any women to administer his baptisme Nor no more hath he any where in his Word authorised any men by any false power to administer his baptisme I answer The like may be said concerning circumcision We read not that any woman had authoritie from God to circumcise * And yet Mr Spilsbery in his Treat se of Bap p. 33. lin 47.48 saith he seeth not but that in case of nec●ssity a woman might lawfully circumcise she being no where prohibited But by the same rule of his a woman may lawfully baptise yet the act being done by Ziporah a woman it was not false circumcision and God who is the God of order never gave wicked men any order to circumcise or any one by any false power to administer his signe and seale of the righteousnesse of faith and yet though it were administred in that Apostate estate of Israel by apostates and upon Apostates yet it made no anullitie of the ordinance but was the signe and seale of the righteousnesse of faith to those that returned out of the grave of that Apostasie Therefore the ground which you draw by similitude from the civill ●ates applying the same comparatively to the spirituall will not serve your turne For the Kings Proclamations are his though proclaimed by any which thing you would have to be nothing * Pa. 13. p. 14. for in speaking of the ordinances of the common-wealth you include them all and so you would inferre that what an Antichristian ministry doth if it be done by a false power the action whether it be baptisme or any other thing it is false but this your ground will not hold For the Kings lawfull acts are reall and substantiall though the dispensation of the same in respect of the party dispensing be contrary to his mind and will As if the King command that none in his Realme shall marrie persons together but the Christian Magistrates But if the Priests do the same contrary to the Kings command shall we say the Parties are not married and that the marriage is false and counterfeit this I conceive you will not affirme * For then their children begotten in th● estate are bastards So your former ground being groundlesse your comparison is frivolous And considering that Gods ordinance of circumcision was reall and effectuall though administred by a false power you cannot say that it was none of Gods ordinance for then they should have been circumcised again so the like may be said concerning baptisme Therefore your other comparison and application * Pa. 14. at l 26 in this case about Jannes and Jambres rods c. 2. Tim. 3.9 Exod. 7.10 ver 11.12 is of no weight but rather a wresting of the words of the Scripture for you can gather no such conclusion out of Pauls words neither by any part of the Scripture it self or necessarie consequence for though these Antichristians in opposing the truth are like Jannes and Jambres yet because they draw neer unto God with their mouthes and their hearts farre from him they are rather like the Apostate Israelites For which Papist of the grossest of them will deny verbally that Christ is come in the flesh that there are three persons in the Trinity c. so farre are they from denying it that they abhorre those that say to the contrary and are readie to burne them with fire and fagot Such a kind of zeal have they for him whom they know not rightly but in their superstitious works denie him And by your own confession ** Pa. 15. l. 20. the Church of England doth in their nineteenth Article professe that the visible Church of Christ consisteth of faithfull men c. this is a reall truth And yet these persons I say do deny Christ because they submit not unto him as he is Prophet Priest and King And yet notwithstanding we will not say but that these Apostaticall persons have baptisme and as much right unto it and power and authoritie to administer it as the Apostates of old had to receive and administer circumcision But the Temple and the Altar and the worshippers must be measured when the Court which is without by Gods command must be left out and not measured because it was given to the Gentiles Rev. 11.1 2. *** Christian Reader understand that whereas Mr. A.R. hath in his treatise of Baptisme p. 12. to 22. p. 31.32 spoken against the power and authoritie and office of ministry which the man of sin hath given to the Ministers of Antichrist I contradict him not in this but do judge them in the same visible estate as Ieroboams apostaticall priests were though they have baptisme as the other had circumcision Fourthly you * Pag. 23. to p. 24. lin 4. say the ground from which baptisme is there administred is the repentance and faith of the sureties the evidence whereof you bring out of the Catechisme where they declare that repentance and faith is required to baptisme and that the infants performe it by the sureties who take upon them to answer for the infants Answ That repentance and faith is required to baptisme is true but seeing the sureties are not able to perform it for themselves much lesse can they do it for others It is not Noah Daniel or Job that can save any sinner from Gods wrath a Ezek. 14.14 the righteous are scarcely saved themselves b 1. Pet 4.18 how then shall the wicked undertake so presumptuously to answer for any especially for

A CHRISTIAN PLEA FOR CHRISTIANS BAPTISME Raised from the grave of Apostasie OR A SHORT TREATISE Being a reproof of some things written by A. R. in his Treatise intituled The vanitie of Childish Baptisme In the Answer whereof The lawfulnesse of Infants Baptisme is defended the sufficiency of our Baptisme received in the state of Apostasie shewed and the deficiencie of the Arguments brought against it manifested by sufficient grounds and reasons drawn from the sweet fountains of holy Scripture S. C. Ezek. 37.12 13 14. O my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves c. 2. Chron. 30.18 19. The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his fathers though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary Jer. 9.25.26 Behold the daies come saith the Lord that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised Egypt and Judah and Edom and the children of Ammon and Moab and all that are cut off into corners that dwell in the wildernesse for all these Nations are uncircumcised and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart Rev. 11.1 2. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the Angel stood saying Rise and measure the Temple of God and the Altar and them that worship therein But the Court which is without the Temple cast out and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles c. LONDON Printed by T. P. and M. S. and are to be sold by Ben. Allen in Popes-head-Alley 1643. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER Grace Mercie and Peace be multiplyed c. HAving considered that the weaknesse and frivolousnesse of the Arguments brought by A. R. against Baptisme deserved no Answer and conceiving that most of them were publickly confuted in print * By Ainsworth Wilkinson Clifton Robinson divers others before any of them were thus published I thought not to have medled with them in such a publick way But further considering that the said Arguments of his were divulged in print and might do much hurt amongst some ignorant people who would do better if they knew better I thought it meet to help to take off this new vizard put upon the Anabaptists old out-worn arguments and so to pull down this little tottering turret of Babel because that in this false fire and light of the sparks of these crackling thornes the makers thereof delight still to walke and some are yet deluded by such frothie Divinitie and smokie clouds of subl me sophistry without due triall of them by the light of Gods Word or weighing them in the balance of the Sanctuary Wherefore in obedience to God and love to his people I have here undertaken to use my talent in vindicating the lawfulnesse of Christians Baptisme raised with them out of the grave of the Apostasie of the man of sinne which hath been for many yeers in which Apostate estate and wretched condition the name of God hath been greatly profained his institutions though not destroyed yet highly abused to the destruction of many souls out of which state God hath called some who have obeyed his voyce and come out of Babel to Sion and are as dearly beloved of God as the penitent Israelites whom God in former time brought from Jeroboams apostasie to Judah where they kept the feast unto the Lord and were both young and old accepted of him though they retained the Circumcision which they received in that apostate estate where there was neither true visible Church ministry worship nor government but all diabolicall and Apostaticall yet God having reserved his own ordinance pure unto himself the evill of the manner being repented of by them the thing it self was not commanded to be administred upon them again And surely God could have commanded that Circum●ision done in Apostasie by a wrong administrator and by a false power and upon a wrong subject to have been esteemed as not done at all and that the parties when they returned from that Apostasie should have been circumcised again but he would not no more hath he commanded us to be baptised again though we were baptised in an Apostate state for Baptisme is as durable as Circumcision and God is as able to purge baptisme now as he was to purge Circumcision then But Mr. A. R. hath taken upon him to prove the Baptisme which we Christians received in the state of Apostasie to be none of Gods Baptisme but insufficient In the prosecution whereof he alledgeth severall particulars by which he would disprove the same which particulars are examined and his inferences from thence answered in the ensuing discourse But it would not have been amisse if he had well considered for abridgement of his work that baptisme being by his own confession a great ordinance of the New Testament To make it lesse generall or lesse durable then Circumcision or inferiour thereunto would be to make Christ lesse faithfull in his house then Moses and inferiour to him But baptisme is more generall then Circumcision And Christ is more excellent then Moses and Baptisme is as durable as Circumcision Therefore seeing Circumcision was not worne out by those Baptisme is not worne out by these Think not Christian Reader that I intend to plead for the Apostaticall Church of Rome or any of her daughters or for their ministry worship or Government So farre am I from this that I utterly renounce and disclaime the same and leave the Justification of them to the disposition of those who account them no worse then Heathens that never knew the truth and seek to lessen their sinne by labouring to vindicate their supposed innocencie teaching them in this to plead ignoramus and not guiltie when they are justly accused for committing of sacriledge Yea and Gods definitive sentence pronounced against them and his just judgements executed and daily executing upon them as appeareth at this very day since the sharp arrows of the Almighty have been and are still so generally scattered abroad to the destruction and ruination of those persons not onely for their abuse of common meats and drinks and other temporall blessings but chiefly and above all for the abuse and prophanation of spirituall things as the prophanation of Gods holy word and ordinances which they distribute to all sorts of sinners that come under the notion of a verball profession though very vile in their life and conversation All which is of us not to be lessened or excused as if it were not sacriledge or theft in an high degree but rather to be lamented that those persons who draw neer unto God with their mouthes and outwardly pretend to stand for Christ and fight for his true Religion taking upon them to defend the same some with the Word others with the sword against those who do oppose them should have their hearts so farre alienated from God as so much to take his holy Name in vaine

estate For though God visiteth the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those that hate him yet he sheweth mercie to thousands of those that love him and keep his Commandments h Ver. 6. The deniall of Baptisme to the infants of beleevers ariseth from many grosse and ignorant mistakes of the true sence and meanin● of many texts of Scriptures as also from many foolish conceptions and idle dream●s wherewith persons have intoxicated their minds and wraped themselves into grievous absurdities As in other things they bewray a great deale of ignorance so do they in this about infants and are driven in maintenance of this errour to discover more errours in themselves g Exod. 20.5 and to strike at the fundamentall principles of Religion They suppose that those Scriptures which set forth the excellent priviledges of the faithfull and their seed concerne not infants at all but only persons of yeers that are capable and do professe faith and repentance limiting the seed to them of yeers onely or to Christs person barring out infants in their conceptions from visible union and communion with him Where it is said that the Covenant of Circumcision was to be in their flesh * Gen. 17.13 they interpret that flesh to be Christ where Circumcision in Scripture is called the signe a Gen 17.11 and seal of the righteousnesse of faith b Rom. 4.11 they limit that to Abraham onely and Gen 17.10 these words this is my Covenant * For this see A. R. his second book pa. 24 lin 13. 14. they take literally to be a reall Covenant without taking the exposition vers 11. even as the Papists expound Matth. 26.26 This is my body for his reall and corporall presence They also would most absurdly make Baptisme lesse general and more generall then circumcision which implyeth a flat contradiction Whereas it is said He that beleeveth and is baptised shall be saved c. This they say cannot be applyed to any infants for say they infants have no faith either by action or imputation then they are driven forcibly to run upon another absurditie that either Infants are saved without faith ar else that they are not saved at all Circumcision they conceive was not a seale of the new Covenant but of some carnall thing but this is a carnall affirmation like the judgement of him that saith the Church of the Jews was constituted upon nature and carnalitie opposite to the spirit and farre different from the Churches of Christ * Pag. 22.17.18.19.20 These absurdities with many more follow one another like links of one chain yea this is an evill under the Sun that those things which are old errors by some now adayes are esteemed as new truths Amongst whom some there are in particular who deny the heavenly state and baptisme of holy infants and also the baptisme of Christ received in the state of apostasie not distinguishing between a thing well done ill done and not done at all which distinctions ought to be observed both in spirituall and temporall things And considering Christian Reader that in many things we sin all and are subject to erre in our best actions I earnestly desire thee to take nothing upon trust which I set down but duely trie and discreetly weigh the same in the balance of the Lords sanctuary and if thou reap●st any profit by my poore endeavours give the glory to God and wherin I misse it let me be informed that the same may by me be reformed for the unchangeable truth of Jesus Christ we ought to love dearly prize highly and purchase it without ever parting from it and cherish it as the Lord doth put it into our bosome and so become one with it even like unto Jesus Christ who is the way the truth the life and the light of those who in his light do see light whose unsearchable riches I desire with all Saints every way to comprehend and therewith bid thee farewell And so remain Thy Christian Brother in the fellowship of the Gospel S C. A REPROOF OF SOME things written by A.R. in his Treatise intituled The vanitie of Childish Baptisme In the Answer whereof The lawfulnesse of Infants Baptisme is defended the sufficiencie of our Baptisme received in the state of Apostasie shewed and the deficiencie of the Arguments brought against it manifested by sufficient grounds and reasons drawn from the sweet fountains of holy Scripture Mr. AR. YOu have in your title page and Epistle to the Reader taken upon you to do that which you are not able and promised that which you cannot perform and affirmed that which you cannot prove by Scripture which is that the Baptisme of Infants is unwarrantable and a meer device brought into the world for politick and by ends c. and that therefore it being the baptisme in the Church of England you have undertaken to prove it to be deficient and none of Gods Baptisme IN the entrance of your discourse you confesse Pag. 1. That Baptisme is a great ordinance of the new Testament To which I adde that though every ordinance of the new Testament be great yet there is a difference between them for some ordinances are active both in respect of the administrator and partaker thereof other ordinances are meerly passive in reference to the parties upon whom the same are administred amongst which passive ordinances Baptisme is one * So Mr. Spilsbery saith the subject of Baptisme is to be passive See his Treatise pa. 26. li 7. That Baptisme is so as I have here declared the Scriptures Mat. 28.19 Acts 2.38 which you have quoted d●●xpresse where the Apostles were commanded to baptise others And the Disciples are not bidden by Peter to baptise themselves but to be baptised by others And you may know that the Eunuch baptised not himself but Philip a baptised person baptised him Act. 8.38 And therefore in this respect baptisme is unto us as circumcision was to the Saints of old to wit an ordinance not acted by the subject or receiver but submitted unto Josh 5. and suffered so it is said Joshua circumcised the children of Israel the second time for they were uncircumcised God did not require them to circumcise themselves but Joshua a circumcised person was to circumcise them Jos 5.2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. And as to circumcision then there was required a right instrument a right subject and an enrighting power so there is now required to baptisme But as circumcision was Gods though the subject and instrument and power was not right So is baptisme now Gods holy institution though done by a false minister upon a false subject and by a false power And though these Antichristians have no command or warrant from God to baptise Apostates or any other persons no more then the idolatrous Israelites had to circumcise yet as that circumcision then administred after that manner contrary to Gods revealed will was