as they owned him only for their God according to their Covenant with him tho otherwise they had great guilt upon them This still confirms what was said before that tho the immoralities of this People for the generality of them were such in other respects as that all that they had done in Covenanting and in a partial performance of Covenant could not give them the reputation of being Members of the Invisible Church yet their Covenant with God and partial performances of it in worshipping him only with a worship of his own appointment did denominate them in an external and visible respect to be his People and so his as the rest of the world were not By the way then if those of this Church under the Old Testament were stiled Saints a holy People and the like upon other accounts and in other respects than their being really and inherently holy as I have shewed they were by inspired men then it cannot be concluded but that the People of the Churches in the New Testament were so likewise when the Apostles in their Epistles to them stiled them Saints the Sanctified in Christ Jesus and the like For the same Epithetes and Appellations signifie but the same thing in the Old Testament as in the New In both they signifie a People separated from the Pagan unbelieving world unto God among whom some were more so and some less some by external Covenant and profession and some by that and much more to wit by the Renovation of the whole inner man I the rather note this as I pass along because those of the Congregational way lay so great a stress as they do upon St. Pauls stiling the Churches to whom he wrote Saints for the proving as they would have it that none but such as are savingly sanctified are Church-matter or to be admitted as Church-Members except when it is done through mistake of them that admit them Having taken a brief survey how things stand related touching Visible Church-Membership under the Old Testament I shall now proceed to enquire how matters stand declared touching the same under the New And our inquiry must be whether persons adult are by no other means Visible Church-Members unless they are reputatively Members of the Church as Invisible Or whether they do not become truly Members of the Visible Church in Scripture account by their voluntary Covenanting by Baptism with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost tho it should be supposed that there is not enough in them to denominate them Members of the Church as Invisible The question is not whether it does not become those who admit men into the Church by Baptism and the Baptismal Covenant to think the best of them who are so admitted and to hope they do it with a sincere mind when they therein give up themselves to God But whether their due admission thereto does depend upon such a judgment in those that admit them Or whether such Persons may be refused and not suffered to Covenant with God in Baptism and thereby to enter into the Church tho they offer themselves thereto and desire it in case those whose office and place it is to admit men thereto should be unsatisfied touching the truth of their saving Conversion or Regeneration Or thus the question is not whether it be not the duty of every man that enters into Covenant with God in Baptism to do it with a sincere mind and with all his heart But whether this be required by way of condition without which it is neither lawful for the person himself to Covenant with God nor for others to suffer him to do it if they suspect he will do it with such a frame of mind as is short of Regeneration Nor is the question whether a man might not be refused admission into the Church in case there were cause to suspect him to have an evil design in desiring it to betray the Christians to their Enemies upon account of which suspicion its probable the Disciples refused Saul's joyning with them after his Conversion tho he desired it until they had received better satisfaction concerning him But the question is whether such as have only some general and in distinct belief that Christ is the Son of God and Saviour of the world by his death and that the way of Christianity is the way of Salvation and do desire admission into the Christian Church to be further instructed in that way and in order thereto are willing to enter into Covenant with God and to be Baptized I say the question is whether such may be suffered to Covenant with God and enter into the Church by Baptism supposing them as yet to have no thorow saving work of Conversion wrought in them but only so much as may be hoped is preparatory and dispository thereto but yet have something tho not all which is necessary to it and whose profession is serious and sincere so far as it goes as that is opposed to dissembling knowingly And to prove that they may and that the lawfulness of such Covenanting by Baptism does not depend upon their being savingly Regenerate and that our Saviour himself owns Unregenerate men received into the Visible Church by such Covenanting in Baptism to be as well Members of it as the Regenerate I shall offer several things 1. And I shall lay down this first as a foundation to build upon in this proof viz. That it is not a thing unlawful in it self for some such as are not of the Church as Invisible by regenerating Grace to enter into Covenant with God to be his People nor is such a qualification enjoyned as a necessary condition of doing so When all the Males at Age in Abrahams House were commanded to enter into Covenant with God by Circumcision And when his Seed after him were required to cause all the Male-strangers bought with their money to do the like And when the Proselytes from among the Gentiles were required to Circumcise themselves and all their Males and thereby to enter into Covenant with God I say in all this there was no such thing as their being Circumcised in heart enjoyned as a condition of their so entring into Covenant by Circumcision The Lord also commanded Joshua to Circumcise all the Hebrew Males that in the space of forty years had been born in the Wilderness which was an entering them into Covenant with God and this without any condition of such qualification as would have made them of the Church as Invisible Nay Almighty God at another time commanded all Israel Men Women and Children and the Strangers in their Camp to enter into Covenant with him and into his Oath Deut. 29.10 11 12. This command was absolute and peremptory also and without condition The Lord did not in this nor in any of the other instances require men to enter into Covenant with him only upon this condition that they did already truly fear him and sincerely love him or otherwise to forbear No
be born who should arise and declare them to their Children Psal 78.5 6. Those Prophesies fore-mentioned concerning Nations being joyned to the Lord referring to times under the New Testament the event of them as we shall see will shew that they foretold Christian Nations their being joyned to the Lord Nationally or in the course of National Government And the nature of Events which answer to divine Predictions are I think the best and most approved Expositions of those Prophesies when they are fulfilled and the best measure which can be taken for the understanding of them Two things then would be enquired into touching the Events we speak of 1. What and which they are which we may reasonably pitch upon for those Events 2. How we may be assured from some Scriptures of the New Testament that those Events of Providence which we shall pitch upon are indeed of that sort and kind which the Prophesies we speak of point us to I. For the first of these we have very great reason to believe that those National Reformations from Paganism and Judaism and those National Reformations from Popery which have been made in the world since the Christian Religion was first set on foot and which shall yet farther be made are those very Events or the chiefest part of them which the Prophesies before specified point us to We cannot say that any Reformation of either kind has been National untill it has been back'd by National Authority It s true there have been great multitudes of men during the standing of the Roman Empire as Pagan that were recovered from Judaism and Paganism to Christianity and there were many famous Churches of such But I think no one Nation as such could be said to be joyned to the Lord in all that time tho out of many Kindreds Tongues and Nations there were many very many both men and women that were But Nations then became Nationally the Lords when the Christians in them were owned as such and required to behave themselves as such by the Supreme Authority and ruling powers of those Nations tho there might possibly be many in those Nations at the same time which yet did not so much as pretend themselves to be Christians 2. But let us inquire in the second place what assurance we have from any of the holy Writings of the New Testament that those National Reformations from Paganism and Popery that have been made in New Testament times and which shall further be made in other Nations are those Events of Providence which the Prophesies touching National conversions point at And to this end let us observe First That at what time the Supreme Power of the Roman Empire fell into Christian hands and was imployed for the destruction and rooting out Pagan Idolatry and for the setting up and establishing the Publick Worship of Almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ throughout its Dominions Then it was that this Kingdom or Dominion became Gods Kingdom in Scripture account For to this great turn of Affairs in the judgment of the most approved Interpreters of the Revelations does that joyful acclamations refer which we have set down in Chap. 12.10 Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ At which time also the great Dragon called the Devil and Satan was cast out and his Angels with him ver 9. that is those Rulers supreme and subordinate who had till then done his work in promoting the Interest of the Kingdom of darkness by supporting Idolatry and persecuting Christians as it was said The Devil shall cast some of you into prison Rev. 2.10 But was not Gods Kingdom come into the Empire till now that the Government was made Christian by the Emperour being a Christian Were there not many great and famous Christian Churches within the Empire while the Government of it was Pagan in respect of Worship Why yes there was Why then was not the Kingdom of God and the Power of his Christ said to be come till the Government in the hands of Constantine the Emperour became Christian Why should this Song Now is come salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ be applied to this great turn of Affairs in the Empire rather than to that when the Preaching of the Gospel was first set on foot in it and many Christian Congregations erected There can no other reason hereof be given I conceive but that all the while the Government of the Empire in reference to Religion was engaged for the upholding of the Visible Kingdom of the Devil so far and in this respect it might be said to be his Kingdom to be sure it could not be said to be Gods so far as it was imployed against him But when the Government of it became Christian and engaged it self in throwing down the Kingdom of darkness the Worship of false Gods and in setting up and establishing the Publick Worship of the true God and the Christian Religion then and from that time in this Scripture account that Kingdom or Empire became the Kingdom of God and of his Christ tho many of the Inhabitants of it continued still for a time at least Idolaters as to their profession and private practice So that when and so long as the Government of the Empire in its constitution in reference to Religion continued idolatrous so long the Empire it self was not owned for Gods Kingdom tho there were many Christian Churches in it but when once the Government of it became Christian it was then owned for Gods Kingdom tho many of the Inhabitants of it were no Christians From whence it follows may naturally be inferred that in Scripture Notion Kingdoms are said to be Gods Kingdoms upon the account of a National Reformation from Idolatry and false worship when ever it is made by the publick Government and authority of such Nations But now after this Reformation from Paganism by the Imperial Authority and Power in process of time therecame a falling away in the Empire from the purity of Christian Worship unto a Worship of a mixt nature made up partly of a Worship given to the true God and partly of a Worship given unto Creatures which is due only unto God which was done by the prevailing of the Papal Apostacy And the ten Kings mentioned Rev. 17. into whose hands the Empire became divided gave their power and strength unto the Beast for the support of this impure Worship and Pagan-like Superstition But after this had been done and continued in for several hundreds of years several of those Kingdoms and Principalities which had before given their power and strength unto the Beast fell off and reassumed that power and strength and then devoted it to the service of God in reforming their Dominions from Popery and in restoring the Publick Worship of God throughout their Dominions without any Idolatrous mixture Upon which great turn of Affairs those great
and his Visible Members In which Covenant God on his part promiseth to be their God in Christ to pardon them and to confer eternal life on them upon condition they take him only for their God and Christ Jesus for their Lord and Saviour by believing in him and obeying him And men on their part Covenant to perform the Condition of Gods Covenant in taking him for their God and Christ for their Lord and Saviour by believing in him and obeying him Those words I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a People contain the substance of the Covenant of Salvation both on Gods part and mans part Heb. 8.10 The mutual Covenant between God and his Israel of old is thus described Thou hast avouched this day the Lord to be thy God and to walk in his ways and to keep his Statutes and his Commandments and his judgments and to hearken to his Voice And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar People as he hath promised thee and that thou shouldest keep all his Commandments Deut. 26 17 18. This mutual Covenanting is the Copulative or Bond by which the conjunction is made between the Head and his Members Christ and his Body the Church For the nature of it is to Vnite the Parties Covenanting and to convey a mutual interest in each other I entred into Covenant with thee and thou becamest mine saith God Ezek. 16.8 And this tying or knitting together by Covenant is called the Bond of the Covenant Ezek. 20.37 I might multiply places to shew that mens being joyned to the Lord in the common notion of Scripture is by Covenanting with him to be his People Thus Jer. 50.5 Come let us joyn our selves to the Lord in a perpetual Covenant never to be forgotten Also Isa 56.6 The Sons of the Stranger that joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him to love the name of the Lord and to be his Servants every one that taketh hold of my Covenant c. That this Union is thus made by Contract and Covenant between God and men we may the rather believe and the more easily conceive because the Holy Scripture delights to resemble and illustrate the Union between God and his People Christ and his Church by the Union that is between Men and their Wives which is an Union by mutual Contract and Covenanting the one to take the Woman for his Wife the other to take the man for her Husband with promise to deport themselves towards each other according to the nature of the mutual relation between them Ephes 5.28 Isa 54.5 Jer. 31.31 Hos 2.19 And those who were Strangers to the Covenants of promise were said to be without God and without Christ that is not related to him nor he to them as his Church and People Ephes 2.12 And here let it be observed and remembred once for all that the same thing which Unites men to Christ Unites them to those also who are already one with him by Covenant Union with the Head is the Reason of Union with all those Members which make the body of that head like as a man by becoming a Covenant Servant to a Master becomes a Member of that Family and a Fellow-servant to all the rest of the Servants of that Master QUERY IV. HOw and when is the Covenant between God and men entred into by which People are externally Vnited to Christ and visibly made Members of his Church This Covenanting is transacted when People are Baptized For Baptism is a Sacred Rite instituted by Christ by which the Covenant we speak of is solemnly entred into As for Almighty God he has prevented men on his part in Covenanting with them and stands openly declared in his Word to be a God to all those to pardon and save them whoever they be that shall become a People unto him by believing in him and serving him And not only so but he has also Authorized his Ministers to transact with men in his Name according to that declaration by bringing them into Covenant with him by Baptism and thereby to receive them into his Church For to that end are the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven delivered to them viz. to open the door and to let such into the Church and this they do as Stewards of God's House Now whenever men take hold on this Covenant of God and openly and publickly Covenant with him to become a People unto him and to perform the condition of his Covenant with them in order to the obtaining the benefits promised on his part then and by that means is their visible Relation to God to Christ and to his Church constituted and made And all this a being visibly Baptized in his Name doth imply For this I conceive is the meaning of their being Baptized into the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Mat. 28.19 Not only that they are Baptized in their name as that signifies its being done by their Authority but also into their name as that signifies their being brought into a special Relation to them as then God whom they Covenant to worship and serve And therefore from thenceforth they are called by that name into which they are Baptized like as a Wife is called by the name of her Husband from that very moment in which the Marriage-Covenant is compleated Isa 4.1 Hence it is that S. Paul saith That as many as have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 For by that they put on his Name and put on their Relation to him For this Visible Membership we speak of is nothing else but a Visible Relation to Christ the Head of Christians and to all those that are visily related to him By Baptism they are planted into Christ Rom. 6. which is another metaphor by which our External Union with Christ by Baptism is signified And by it they are Baptized into one body 1 Cor. 12.13 Those words of St. Peter shew likewise that there was a Covenanting with God in Baptism when he says The like figure whereunto Baptism doth now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good Conscience towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 3.21 I find that which is here translated The answer of a good Conscience is rendred by others the promise or stipulation of a good Conscience and by some the question or questioning of a good Conscience Now if the Greek will bear or countenance these several readings Answer Stipulation Questioning yet the matter may be thus well accommodated The Answer of a good Conscience here spoken of was an answer to somewhat proposed or put questionwise to be resolved or answered to by them who were to be Baptized and that the Answer to it was of the nature of a Promise Stipulation or Covenant in reference to God As when it was proposed or put questionwise to the party to be Baptized whether he did believe Jesus