no Gospel Covenant But let us hearken to Christ the best Expositor and applyer of Scripture who is the Substance and infallible Oracle of all divine truths Mat. 22.31 32. But saith he touching the Resurrection of the dead have ye not read what was spoken unto you by God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but the God of the living where our Saviour affirms that the present glorification of Abraham's Isaac's and Jacob's Spirits and the future Resurrection of their bodies to live with God both Soul and body for ever to be included in that Promise and the very accomplishment of that promise I am the God of Abraham c. Hence this clearly appears to be a Covenant of grace of Spiritual and eternal Blessings 2. The promise of the Spirit is made to the Children of those Parents that be in Covenant therefore they must be also in Covenant Such unto whom God promiseth his own Spirit their's is the promise and Covenant of grace for that is a Covenant of promise Ezek. 36.26 A new heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you ver 27. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my ways The promise of the Spirit is one of the most gracious promises that the Covenant of grace is inriched withall Christ and the Spirit are the two Emphatical promises When Christ was upon the earth and hastning towards his ascension this was the great promise that he made to be left behind him and this is the promise that by the gracious gift of God doth appertain to the Children of those that are in Covenant with the Lord Isa 44.3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and flouds upon the dry ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my blessing upon thy off-spring Little Children that spring like little twigs from their parents that be graffed into the Covenant Chap. 59.21 As for me this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord My spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put into thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever Here is a blessed Promise to the Parents and the Children of this rare Priviledge of the Spirit with a perpetual Entail Acts. 2.38 39. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost For the promise is unto you and to your children Viz. The Promise of Remission of Sin and of the Holy Ghost The Truth is Dying Infants without this promise could never be saved 3. The Promise of Regeneration belongs to such Children Such to whom the Lord promiseth Regeneration and Renovation must needs be in covenant to them doth belong the Promise and Covenant of Grace for that is a Blessing of the Covenant of Grace Ezek. 36.26 A new heart also will I give unto you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh This doth expresly set forth the Work of the Holy Spirit in renewing and sanctifying and regenerating the Hearts of the Elect this is that which is promised to the Off-spring of those in covenant with the Lord therefore they themselves must also be in covenant Deut. 30.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul The Seal of Circumcision the Token of the Covenant did eminently signifie and Assure this to all the Elect Infants that were in covenant therefore Regeneration and Sanctification are oftentimes set forth by Circumcision and when the Lord calls for them he doth it under the Name and Notion of Circumcision This might have been evidenced by many place 〈◊〉 Without this Promise and the accomplishment of it in the Hearts of dying Infants they can never be saved for those Scriptures that exclude all unsanctified Persons out of the Kingdo◠of Heaven are as applicable to the young Children as to those that are the most Adult I need not stand to call in here any of those many Scriptures that have set an unmovable Barre before the Gate of Heaven against all unsanctified Sinners 4. The Promise of being taught of God is an Excellent Promise of the Covenant of Grace those that do partake of a Standing in this Covenant this is one of the Evangelical Promises that they are entituled unto those shall have a greater Teacher than Man viz. they shall be taught of God and by his Spirit This is the Promise that is made with such Infants that are in covenant with their Parents though some do scornfully say What can they learn Or what are they capable to be taught Let such know that they have reasonable Souls and God by his Spirit can easily teach them and they be under the promise of being taught of God Jer. 31.34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest God can teach the least Infant to know him Isa 54.13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord. Let us consider can any but those that be taught of God be admitted unto the Eternal Injoyment of God He will take no ignorant Sinner into the company of the Glorifi'd It is said of Timothy that from a Child he knew the holy Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.15 Every one of you I presume will readily grant that his Knowledge was saving and that he was effectually taught of God and I must tell you that he was very little when first he was taught and this will appear if we consider the Word in the Text And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from his infancy Some that be learned and critical do tell us 〈◊〉 the Word doth signifie the very Embryo 〈◊〉 the Womb. God is able to teach and to sanctifie there propriè dicitur de partu recèns edito a Child so soon as brought forth of the Womb. It is an easie matter for God to fulfil the Excellent Promises of the Covenant and to cause the Babe that falls out of the Womb to fall into the Arms of Grace and he that sucks on the Breast to draw in the Heavenly Knowledge of Christ otherwise how can many be taken from the Breast and the Womb to Heaven as doubtless a Multitude of Coverant-Babes are 5. The Promise of Justification and the Remission of Sin is an Excellent Promise of the Covenant of Grace The Blood of Christ is assured
God doth not take some or many but all they be all in Covenant with the Lord until they eject themselves When the Lord made this Covenant and took Abraham into it he took all his Seed with him Cain was in covenant as well as Abel and Ishmael as well as Isaac though some have from Electing Love and Special Grace a greater Blessing from the Covenant than others as you will see presently This Covenant runs to Abraham and his Seed and to his Seeds Seed Let not us curtail and contract Gods Covenant and confine it to narrower bounds than ever the Lord design'd There be some Men that talk great Words of the Grace of God and yet in the mean time are great Enemies to the copiousness and amplitude of it largely expressed in his Covenant 3. Quest Some may say How can that he that the natural Seed of such that be in covenant should be in covenant too Do not we see by sad experience that many of the Children of pious Parents prove very profane and wicked What do you hold falling from Grace Here is a Rock that many mistaken Persons do split themselves upon in respect of falling into Errour in this Affair and many through ignorance do stumble upon Answ More generally we must know that as to the Posterity of Abraham there are two sorts of them though both in corenant There is a Seed according to the Flesh a carnal Off-spring and Generation and they were the Seed of Abraham and did highly value themselves upon this and boasted much upon it Mat. 3.9 And think not to say within your selves We have Abraham to be our father Bear not too much upon this think not that this will excuse you you may be the Seed of Abraham and yet Enemies to the Messiah for it was the Seed of Abraham that did hate persecute crucifie and slay him Acts 2. So there is a Seed after the Spirit that be pious and holy and walk in the Steps of Abraham and in the Paths of the Faith of Abraham There is a double Paternity there is the begetting Abraham and a believing Abraham so there is a twofold Sonship Children according to the Flesh and Heirs according to the Promise Rom. 9.6 7 8. Not as though the word of God had taken none effect For they are not all Israel which are of Israel Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called That is They which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for the seed Viz. In short though all that be in covenant are Children in a proper sense yet all are not the Spiritual Seed for we see here that the Carnal and Spiritual are called the Seed of Abraham ver 7. yet do not all walk in the Steps of Abraham nor partake of the special Grace that Abraham did The Apostle doth here tell us that we must not think that the word of God had taken no effect because not all nay not compacatively many that are the Seed the natural Seed of Abraham did believe and embrace it therefore he doth distinguish of the Seed of Abraham them that be under the Purpose of God to Salvation and are chosen to Eternal Life they do and shall believe and become the holy the spiritual and peculiar Seed Abraham had two Sons Ishmact and Isaac and both taken into covenant I but the Line of Election was to run through the Lines of Isaac That we may something more fully open this Matter to your satisfactions and that you may rightly understand how any may be said to be in this Covenant of Grace and yet in a State of Nature and in the First Adam I shall distinguish herein this well understood would contribute greatly to put an end to this Controversie Some may say the Covenant is full of gracious Promises and what right can any have unto the same that be but the natural Seed Are they Promises of saving Grace or outward Priviledges or temporal Mercies Or what are they How is this to be understood that the Promise is to the Children of those that are in covenant if by Children are meant the natural Seed Answ By Promise I understand the Covenant of Grace as I have said call'd also the Covenant of Promise Eph. 2.12 and because of this they that be in it are called the Children of the Promises Now the Promise or the Covenant is taken two ways and so there are two ways of being in the Covenant 1. Strictly And that which Divines call Foedus Internum or Pars Foederis Interna the Internal Covenant or the spiritual part of the Covenant that which doth contain Promises of spiritual Blessings and saving Graces such as Justification Reconciliation Regeneration Adoption Persevetance and Glorification or Eternal Life and hence we read that God will give a new Heart that he will take away the Stony Heart out of the Flesh and will give a Heart of Flesh that he will circumeise the Heart to love and fear him that he will write his Law in their Hearts and they shall never depart from him that he will sprinke clean Water upon them and they shall be clean and from all their filthiness and Idols will he cleanse them that he will blot out all their Iniquities and cast their Sins into the depth of the Sea and remember them no more This is the Internal and spiritual part of the Covenant These be the Excellent Promises of Special Grace that God will accomplish and fulfil to all the Elect both Adult and Infants that die in their Infancy 2. Sometimes it is taken more largely which Divines call Foedus Externum or Pars Foederis Externa the External Covenant or the External part of the Covenant they being both in truth but Branches of one and the same Covenant This External Part contains Promises of many choice Mercies and Priviledges which God out of the bounty of his Grace bestows upon People that be in covenant with him which he does not bestow upon the rest of the World which be not taken into covenant with him One may be in covenant and partake of many precious and eminent Promises and yet have no saving and special Grace or Interest in God So it was with a Multitude of the Jews yea with the greatest part of them and that when our Lord and Saviour himself was amongst and conversed with them Rom. 2.28 29. For he is not a Jew that is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh But he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God Viz. He is not internally and savingly a Jew he is but only an external one partaking of the external Blessings of the Covenant injoying the circumcision of the Flesh not that of the
Spirit When our Lord and Saviour was in the Flesh he had much to do with such Jews that boasted themselves of their outward Priviledges which were great but neglected the internal part of the Covenant which he did caution them against but did not shut them out of the Covenant but left them as he found them This I know is a distinction though never so solid and sound yet the Anabaptists will not take it down Notwithstanding I know not how they themselves can subsist without it in their Covenant-way They take into the Covenant and affix the Seal of the Covenant to those that be Adult profess their Faith in and Obedience to Christ and their repentance and renouncing their Infant-baptism if they have had any I but here is the Question Are all that do so internally and savingly in covenant with the Lord Dare they be so bold as to say so If they dare I shall offer two things unto them 1. This is against the plain and evident Truth of the Word of God Is not the Visible Church otherwise represented in the Scriptures unto us what are all their Israel of the peculiar Seed of Isaac Is this agreeable to the Parables of the Tares of the Net of the Wedding of the Virgins and of the variety of the Vessels in the Church Visible and in the House of God These things are so well known to all that read and consider what they read that I need not stand upon them The Lord Jesus in his little Church and Family had one Devil They be happy Churches indeed in whom there are no Hypocrites and from which never any do fall off and prove Apostates Oh how many out of the purest Churches shall encrease the number of the Damn'd 2. This is against too great experiences How many have we seen to turn out of the way of Truth into Errour Many that after they have seemed to be washt from their Sins and have escaped the Pollutions that are in the World through Lust by the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ are again intangled and turn'd with the Dog unto the Vomit 2 Pet. 2.20 21 22. How many be there that the unclean Spirit doth but go out of and after returns again and takes a greater possession than ever So that the last end is worse than the beginning Mat. 12.43 44 45. Let me apply my self unto you my Brethren of the Anabaptist Perswasion Have you no Revolters among you None that fall from Truth to Errour from Strictness to Looseness from an outward holy Conversation to Profaneness Have you never any occasion to exert your Authority in Excommunication Have you never any rotten Members to cut off I am misinformed if my good Neighbour be not something good and frequent at this Work after he hath laid his Hands upon his Converts and rebaptized Proselytes no wonder when we consider his numerous and easie Admissions But what I do speak of one that is but the Head of an overgrown Schisme his Church as it is called declared to be so not only by Congegrational but also by Anabaptistical Elders When the Anti-paedobaptists admit any to the Seals of Church and Covenant-Fellowship is it not possible that some false Brethren may creep in unawares Jude 4. Some Wolves get into Sheeps-cloathing and they be lookt upon to be the covenant-People of God this is undeniable and their revolt proves themselves to have none of the saving special Gifts and Graces of the same but at best were only externally in covenant You will not pretend to put Seals to Blanks but you will say They did appear to us to be so and so and to be in the Covenant of Grace For my part I must say though I desire to be very careful in my Admissions yet I have as great a hope and as much confidence about the Salvation of Infants in covenant with God dying in their Infancy as I have in any that I do admit Here I may retoâ—â—… upon my Brethren because many of your Members that you have taken into covenant unto whom you have affixed the Seal do fall off Do you hold falling from Grace So that this may be as well objected against you in your Adult Persons as against us in our Infants 4. Quest If it be granted That Children with their Parents be taken into covenant even the natural Seed of believing Parents yet you say they are but External Priviledges and Benefits that many of them do partake of and a great number of them fall short of the Spiritual and Eternal Advantages of the same Therefore what do they obtain thereby seeing he is not a Jew that is one outwardly c. What profit did Cain reap by being circumcised or Ishmael For as the Apostle saith circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law but if thou be a breaker of the law thy circumcision is made uncircumcision Rom. 2.25 Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised Isa 9.25 Answ They have great Advantages more than others have that are not so much as externally in covenant I will refer you to the Apostle who propounded and answered this Question for us Rom. 3.1 2 c. He had said in the close of the Chapter before to cut off the vain confidence of those that did securely repose themselves in their External Priviledges that he was not a Jew that was one outwardly c. He was very sensible what Objection some would make at that time therefore he propounds this Question and returns a free Answer What advantage then hath the Jew or what profit is there of circumcision I Answer with the Apostle first generally Much every way and then particularly chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God c. Thus say some You stand stifly to this that Children be in covenant with their Parents and God hath taken them into covenant with them but what are they the better for it What advantage doth accrue unto them from thence I Answer Much every way Methinks the Spirit of God foreseeing how the Covenant and the Infant-right in it would be infringed and invaded in the Times of the Gospel did inspire the Apostle here to contradict and oppose those bold Usurpers that should attempt to make Breaches upon the Lords sacred Inclosure I could shew in many particulars the wonderful advantage that those have that are but externally in covenant above those that are not and what an inestimable Favour and Blessing it is to be within the Pale of the Covenant I shall mention some of the chief Priviledges that such do enjoy 1. They have the Excellent Oracles of God reposited among them and committed unto them this was the Priviledge of the Jews in propatulo and their great advantage which did distinguish them from the rest of the World and represented them to all Nations to be a peculiarly happy and dignified People Rom. 3.2 Much every way
first-fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches The Root is Abraham and the Fathers and they may be said to be the First-fruits because they were first consecrated to God and the Branches are denominated from the Root Exod. 19.6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation Here the whole Nation was called holy How could it be called so Not because all the Individuals of the Nation were personally holy partaking of a saving Work of Holiness upon their Hearts There were but a few such But because as a Nation the Adult and Children were in covenant with the Lord for the Children were no small part of the Nation We have this very Phrase conferred upon the Christian Church in the Times of the Gospel 1 Pet. 2.9 But ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation a peculiar people Believing Gentiles with their Seed were ingrafted into the same Place from whence the Jews were broken off and are become a holy nation unto God 7. Demonst Those unto whom the Promises of the Covenant are made and do appertain they are in Covenant with the Lord Some time the Covenant is exprest by the Promise as in our Text and the Covenant of Promise the gracious promises of the word are the branches of the Covenant of grace Some do stile the Covenant a Collection or bundle of Promises which God hath bound up and conferred through Christ upon his People unto which there are annext the duties of the Covenant unto the performance Of which there is provision made in the same Covenant of grace and divine assistance But the promises of the Covenant are made to the Children of those that are themselves in Covenant as well as to the parents it seems to be very cruel and irrational to turn those out of the Covenant unto whom are assured the gracious promises of it not only Temporal and external but Spiritual and eternal blessings are promised unto the Children of Believers Those that are the opposers of this truth must first Obliterate all the Promises that are comprehended in the Covenant as the inheritance of the Seed of the Parents that themselves are in Covenant with the Lord. As to any common ordinary rule appointed to us belonging to our duties and hopes concerning our off-spring we have nothing as I know to build upon but Covenant promises What an excellent one is our Text unto pious Parents as to their Children and in this it is founded for the Promise is to you and your Children To illustrate and amplifie this I shall in several particulars shew you some of the Ranks of Covenant-Promises that are extended unto such little Ones that are the undoubted Proprietors of them 1. That great and Capital promise of the Lords being their God this comprehends all the rest and is instar omnium Is not this Promise made to the Seed of Believers wrote in Capital Letters in many places in the word of God This is Gods great record in the Covenant of grace and the great foundation the Church of God is built upon viz. this of Gods promising to be the God of his people and of their Seed in every age and generation of time yea to the end of the World usque ad consummationem omnium unto the compleating and fulfilling of all things Thus the blessed constitution and promulgation of the Covenant hath alwayes run this is wrote with a Noverint universi That which every one under the sound of the Gospel should know and understand yea even those that are but raw and rudely instructed in the very Principles and Rudiments of Religion This gracious promise is the golden Frontis-piece of this Covenant The heart of God was so full of grace and love to the Seed of the faithful that when he called Abraham to establish his Covenant the fountain of his grace did immediately emit this sacred sweet and most refreshing Stream Viz. That I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed and that in all Successions and periods of time unto the utmost bound and period of all read the Scriptures following Gen. 17.7 Jer. 24.7 and 31.33 and 32.38 Ezek. 11.20 and 34.24 31. Chap. 36.28 Chap. 37.27 Mat. 22.27 2 Cor. 6.17 18. These rare promises must be expung'd out of the Book of God before I can unless left by God to fall into error put this Article out of my Creed that the Children of Believers naturally Springing from their Loins are in the Covenant with them I have spoke much already to prove that the Covenant in Gen. 17.7 made unto Abraham did referre to the Covenant of Grace Some may be making of some Query about that because they see what must be the Consequence of granting of it Wherefore I would desire them to return back unto what hath been said upon that Point Only I will add one or two things here 1. In this form run the promises which are acknowledged by all that know any thing of the Gospel-Covenant or Covenant of grace let all the places of Scripture immediately here before mentioned be examined as to the Phrase of them I will be a God to you or your God and you my people which includes Believers and their Seed Now in as much as this in the 17. of Gen. runs in the same Phrase of the Covenant of grace that we see in other places that are allowed to be such we may conclude that such is this also Doctor Ames saith thus against Bellar. Omnia illa quae spectant ad novum foedus eadem phrasi summatim explicantur So that when we are challenged to prove the Covenant with Abraham to be a Covenant of grace and Circumcision to be a Seal of the Covenant of grace Note that in this Point we have to do with our old Adversaries the Papists tho' marching forth under the banner of a People of another Denomination for their Doctrine as to the Covenant made with Abraham in the place mentioned is thus that it was a Covenant of outward blessings this is indeed the Doctrine of the worst of them thus saith Bellar. Legimus Deum promisisse Abrahamo quando illi injunxit Circumcisionem terrena tantùm ad literam i. e. propagationem posteritatis terram palestinae Again Illis verbis ero Deus tuus significat totum promissum peculiaris protectionis Thus we may see that our great disputant doth sweetly lick up the Doctrine of this great Doctor of the Church of Rome tho' to give him his due I believe he is not overmuch versed in him to which Doctor Ames answers Legimus benedictionem illam Abrahamo promissionem fuisse plane eandem cum illâ quâ jam fideles ex gentibus justificabantur Gal. 3. Now when the Holy Ghost testifies in Scripture every where that the gospel-Gospel-Covenant runs in that form why should we fall in with the Papists and take their word for it that that is
in this Foederal Mercy not only to wash away the Filth but also to remove the guilt of Sin Pardon of Sin is one of the most desirable Branches of this Covenant there can be no obtaining the pardon of one Sin without it all the Promises of pardon are founded upon the Grace of God and satisfaction made to Divine Justice by the Blood of the Son of God whose Blood is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant I shall not stand to mind you of the many Promises that we have of Remission the Word of God doth abound with them and wheresoever you find any of them you may conclude that they do relate to the Covenant of Grace Now the covenant-Covenant-Seed of those that be Believing Parents have a share in those Promises that hold out a Free and Full pardon of Sin Acts 2.38 39. Repent and be baptized every one c. for the remission of sins For the promise is to you and your Seed Viz. That Promise and Covenant that hath made provision for the Remission of your Sin and the Sin of your Children for they had involved their Children into the guilt of their Sin but in the Covenant there is pardon for both Isa 45.24 25. Surely shall one say In the Lord have I righteousness and strength In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and glory The rich Provisions of the Covenant of Grace have laid up for the Justification and Remission for the Seed of Israel 6. Such to whom God is pleased to promise Blessedness theirs is the Promise and the Covenant of Grace But the Children of those that are in covenant are promised Blessedness Such that be under such a Promise as this is have right to be lookt upon to be in the Covenant of Grace In the Covenant of Works there are the terrible Cursings of a Just and Righteously angry God But in the Covenant of Grace there you may hear the Soul-comforting Voice that pronounceth all Blessings yea Blessedness it self and this Blessed Voice is sounded out to the Little Ones of those Parents that are in covenant Psal 37.25 26. I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread He is ever merciful and lendeth and his seed shall be blessed What Blessedness is there which is not in and from that Covenant Psal 3.8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord thy blessing is upon thy people Thus I have done with this Demonstration of the Doctrine by which I have endeavoured to shew that the Seed of those that are in covenant must be so because the precious Promises do belong unto them 8. Demonst To Evidence the Truth of this Point those from whom God demands Covenant-Duty and doth challenge the same from them to them the Promise and the Covenant doth appertain The same Covenant that saith You shall be my people saith I will be your God Now the Covenant requires of the Children of Gods People that they be Gods People too therefore they be in covenant Look as the Parents do covenant for their Children in their Infancy so 't is their Duty so soon as may be to counsel and to instruct them as Covenant-children to know to love to fear to serve and obey God These are Covenant-Obligations Those that the Lord is pleased to take into Foederal-relation with himself to be his People it is that they may be found in the constant and persevering discharge of Relative Duties Thou shalt be my people What only to partake of Priviledge No but also to perform Duty Abraham was very sensible of this and therefore did command and oblige all of his what he could to be conversant in all necessary and incumbent Covenant Duties See what observation the Lord did make of him and what a Commendation he fastens upon him Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his children and his houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment All Parents in covenant ought to see to this they are ingag'd in covenant with and for their Children and are under an indispensable Obligation to see that their Children walk and act suitably to the Priviledges and Duties of it God expects a Revenue of Honour from covenant Children therefore he doth command their Parents to bring them up in the Fear and Admonition of the Lord Eph. 6.4 And ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thus Timothy was educated and brought up from a little child Children are to be dedicated unto God by the Seal of the Covenant by which they be bound to fear God to serve to obey him to keep his Word and to walk in his Way as Abraham did instruct and command his to do Believers Children must be under Gods discipline bound to Gods Worship kept in Gods Way they be the Lords People Must this be and no Covenant-priviledge belong unto them and be what Pagans and Heathens only be This is the Covenant-Dispensation first Priviledge and then Duty therefore Children that are in covenant with the Lord are called Disciples Acts 15.10 Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples They are in a peculiar manner to be instructed and taught as those from whom God expects early Service 9. Demonst The same Covenant is transferr'd unto the Times of the Gospel since the Actual Exhibition and Ascension of the Messiah the same for Essence and Substance though in the Administration of it it may vary in some circumstances the believing and the covenanted Gentiles stand in the very same Condition by Faith and in the very same Kingdom-state for the Essentials of it out of which the Jews through unbelief were broken and cast off for they were graffed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the place and room of those broken Branches as Beza hath it Rom. 11.17 And it hath its first rise from that seasonable and never-failing Promise Gen. 3.15 which will run through all the Ages of the World wheresoever God hath his Elect by the preaching of the Gospel to call into and to inclose within the limits of the Covenant It was the Saying of a great Man that Adam and Eve when they entred upon a new Covenant bottom were seminally a Visible Church for by them the World as well as the Church as to be built Here when the Lord did reveal his Grace and gracious Covenant he took in the Seed also in the very downing and first day-spring of the Gospel God takes in the Seed of the Woman so afterwards to Abraham and so all along until the Time of the calling of the Gentiles Now in the Times of the Gospel those that be called be the Children of Abraham they and their Seed have a happy admittance into the Covenant of Abraham and are Heirs according to promise and blessed with that ever-living Father The New Testament
only induce and sweetly entice them with a promise which upon their accepting of his counsel they might be certain to enjoy It was indeed a most gracious promise such an one that would make them eternally happy and more necessary than the gifts of Miracles 3. Because the promise here meant is of a perpetual duration at least to be in force in all Ages for it is extended to as many as the Lord shall call which doth reach to all Ages and Generations and so is a promise that is not limited and restrained to some Ages and to some Christians but toucheth and belongeth unto all Wheresoever God shall be pleased to call any the promise shall be extended to them and their children this laid down as a ground-work for the proceedings of grace in encouraging to believe and repent to the end of times even unto the calling in of all the Elect. 2. There is another acceptation of the Words which I shall take up withal such a one that I think is built upon better grounds let us observe well the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is set before the word promise and that may give us a clear light herein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This must denote some great and eminent promise that was made to the Jews and such a promise that they were well acquainted withal The promise is to you and to your children the promise that was made to you and that is well known to you This can be looked upon as nothing less then the Covenant of Grace or one of the uppermost or top-branches of it for to them did pertain the Covenant of promise Rom. 9.4 Who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving the law and the service of God and the promises Let us see what they be called in Acts 3.25 Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed But what was that say you or what Covenant was that You may see it in Gen. 17.4 7. As for me my covenant is with thee and thou shalt be the father of many nations or as the words may be read of multitudes of Nations He was then but the Father of one Nation I but God doth here promise unto him that he shall be a Father of a multitude of Nations This must needs look unto the Gentiles and the many Nations of them after the Incarnation Suffering and Ascension of the Messiah when the Wall of partition was to be broken down and the Covenant of Abraham carried over unto them And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee This is the Covenant-promise the Apostle urgeth upon these convinced and awaken'd Sinners that he might overcome them to repent and accept of the new administration of the Covenant for the promise was to them and to their Children Quod illis filios adjungit pendet ex verbis promissionis ero Deus tuus seminis tui post te Gen. 17.17 Vbi Deus filios patribus accenset in adoptionis gratiâ Saith a Learned Expositor and he addeth Hic locus abundè refellit Anabaptistas qui infantes ex fidelibus genitos à baptismo arcent quasi non sint Ecclesiae membra This place saith he doth abundantly confute the Anabaptists who drive away the Infants born of godly Parents as if they were not Members of the Church 2. The Promise here spoke of must be such an one which gives remission of sins and the Gift of the Holy Ghost such an one that to drooping disconsolate Souls assures of pardoning and sanctifying Grace Ver. 38. Then Peter said unto them Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy Ghost This is that Promise that he tells them doth appertain to them and not to them only but to their Children also The same Promise we have Jer. 31.33 34 and Ezek. 36.25 26 27. It must be such a Promise as carries in the womb of it the offer of pardoning and sanctifying Mercy which is in the Covenant of Grace 3. The Scope of the Apostle is to shew what an Obligation there was lying upon them to accept of and to believe in Christ freely offered unto them and not to stand out and be shy of coming under his new administration From hence he argues for the promise is to you and your children We may sum it up thus q. d. You are the Posterity of such whom God accepted and took into Covenant with himself promising to be a God to them and their Seed to whom he also promised to send his Son by whom this Blessing should be confirmed accordingly this promised Seed the great Promise of the Covenant is come for this very end Rom. 15.8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promise made unto the fathers To confirm the Covenant not to dissolve it confirm it to whom To the Jews and also to the Gentiles I but how is this confirmed by Christ if the Children must since the coming of Christ be shut out of the Covenant Oh! what a sweet allurement was here to hasten their acceptance of the Apostles Exhortation Oh! said he do not you by your infidelity and distrust of the Grace and Mercy of God deprive your selves of such an inconceivable and inestimable Blessing and Priviledge Thus saith an Excellent Author So that the Apostle lays before them a good encouragement to come to Christ and a firm bottom of hope to found pardon upon their Repentance because in their Church-estate which was going also to be carried over unto the Gentiles they and their Children were under being in covenant with God and stood firmly possessed of the same which God would make good to them and confirm them in if by their unbelief they did not cut themselves and their children off So the Promise is the Covenant of Grace made to Abraham and his Seed continued hitherto to them and their Children Here we may evidently see that the Apostle does not undertake to dissolve the Covenant nor to cut off the gracious Entail thereof as to the Children nor shut them out of this great Blessing he would establish them in but acquaints these vile and trembling Sinners that the Promise is to them and their Children 2. Quest What is meant by Children Answ By Children is meant the natural Seed Children after the Flesh for the Covenant here is the Covenant made with Abraham and his natural Seed This is that Covenant the Apostle mentions when he saith The promise is to you and your children Viz. That Covenant which they were well acquainted withal and valued themselves
Prodigy to me that any should Assert that the Covenant that God made with Abraham was a Covenant of Works and yet Circumcision was the Seal of it for so it is expresly commanded of God to be as we have seen Did we ever read of this Seal amx'd to the Covenant of Works No in the perfect state that Man was in when God enter'd into a Covenant of Works there was no need of nor occasion for this Sacrament or Seal Let us but a little consider the Uses and Words of this Seal and we may see that that must be a Covenant of Grace to which it is affix'd as a Seal for either it holds forth our need of Grace or the merciful provision of Grace prepared for us I shall only mention a very few Particulars 1. This doth intimate unto us that vile polluted State of Sin that we were conceived and transmitted into the World in This may give us the knowledge of our undone State by Nature how God may loath and abhor us for ever The cutting off of the Fore-skin of the Flesh discovers the filthiness of our Flesh and how by Sin we have forfeited our selves and all into the hands of Justice that we be filthy and guilty Sinners 2. This sets forth the gracious Purposes and Intentions of a merciful God to wash and to cleanse and to sanctifie us by his Grace and by the Blood of Sprinkling The Blood that did follow the circumcising Instrument did clearly signifie that therefore cleansing and sanctification are set forth by Spiritual Circumcision When God doth graciously promise to wash and to sanctifie he doth promise to circumcise the Heart Deut. 30.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul that thou mayst live Col. 2.11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ viz. By the Sanctification of the Blood and Spirit of Christ Phil. 3.3 For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit We have the inward Spiritual Circumcision of the Heart which was graciously signified by that Seal of the Grace of God belonging to that Covenant of Grace the Lord was pleas'd to make with Abraham and his Seed 3. To denote and set forth the need we have of the Blood of Christ to justifie us and that God would justifie us through his Blood And this Abraham had a special eye unto and his Faith was firmly fix'd upon after God had made this Covenant with him and his Seed and fix'd this significant Seal unto it This might be evidenced by many Scriptures Rom. 14.1 2. In many Verses in that Chapter therefore it is that Circumcision is called a seal of the righteousness of faith of that righteousness that is apprehended received and applied by faith certainly then that Covenant that hath such a significant gracious Seal added unto it can be nothing less or else than a Covenant of Grace 7. Reason To prove that this was a Covenant of Grace may be the great Result and Period of it which is no less than Heaven this is obviously implied in the comprehensiveness of this Promise we have here Gen. 17.7 I will be a God unto thee and unto thy seed after thee I will be a God unto thee and all thine Elect Seed for ever I will be a God to love thee to provide for thee to be with thee and with my self eternally to reward thee How vain and frivolous is our Challenger in Asserting that this Covenant made with Abraham was not a Covenant of Grace Because the great Promises of it were outward Blessings and the greatest of all was the Land of Promise Canaan What is not that a greater Promise for God to promise himself to be a God to Abraham and his Seed Is not an Infinitely Glorious and Blessed God better than Canaan than all the Canaans and Paradises in the World yea than thousands of Worlds But further to see the ignorance of this Man in the Scripture and in such Expressions which denote a higher good intended by God than what they themselves may import as this Promise is explained in the New Testament When God did make the Promise of an Earthly Canaan to Abraham and his Seed he did ultimately intend a better Land than this viz. an Heavenly one when the Lord doth promise this Canaan he doth promise Heaven which this was a Type of the main thing and good that the Lord design'd for his People by this Promise was Heaven and that they should be eternally saved Abraham did so understand it and others of the Fathers and so set their Hearts upon and rais'd up an Expectation of that blessed City and Country that was above that what they had here were but dark Shadows and cloudy Representations of what was to come Heb. 11.10 13 14 15 16. 8. Reason To prove that the Covenant made here with Abraham was a Covenant of Grace is viz. Because of that Obedience the Lord did both require and accept at the hands of Abraham in this Covenant There was Obedience and there was Service that the Lord did command and expected from Abraham this will determine whether this be a Covenant of Works or of Grace If it be a Covenant of Works it requires nothing less than perfect Obedience nothing short of it will or can be accepted therein as it was in the Covenant made with Adam Do this and live I but now here in Abraham's Covenant the Lord doth call for and accept of sincere and upright Obedience as in Gen. 17.1 2. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared to him and said I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect viz. right or sincere And I will make my covenant betwixt me and thee Every one knows that though Abraham for Grace and walking with and obeying God was an excellent Man yet he was not a sinless perfect Man he had the perfection of sincerity but not a sinless perfection such an one as Adam had in Innocency In this Covenant Abraham did walk before God he did please God and he was accepted by God in vertue of this Covenant which could never have been had it not been a Covenant of Grace that had Christ to be the Mediatour of it in whom he believed and found acceptance Thus Beloved I promise my self that I have given you such Reasons to prove that this Covenant was of Grace which the Lord made with Abraham and his Seed for an Everlasting Covenant as cannot well be denied 2. Quest Whether some only or all the Children of Believers are in this Covenant of Grace with their Parents Whether this Covenant doth inclose and impale them all or not Answ All they that are the Seed of the Faithful the Lord takes into this Covenant with their Parents
chiefly because unto them were commited the oracles of God This the Lord himself declares to be one of their singular Prerogatives Deut. 4.8 And what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgements so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day Psal 147.19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his statutes and judgements unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any nation as for his judgements they have not known them Therefore from the sense of this wonderful Blessing the Psalmist cries out Praise ye the Lord. To have the custody of Gods Ordinances and the use of them the Word Sacraments Worship Ministry Pastors after Gods own Heart and all the Service of God Who can express or declare how happy the People are that have such Depositions and are so distinguish'd and magnify'd as to have the Means of Grace in and by which they may come to know and learn the Mind of God to have Ordinances wherein they may draw nigh to God to have a Membership and visible Standing in that Society where Salvation is ordinarily dispensed John 4.22 For salvation is of the Jews There were the Means and no where else not among the Samaritans hence the Law was called the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob Deut. 33.4 Certainly those that understand in any competent measure the Excellency of this Priviledge cannot but adore and admire God in it and magnifie his Name for it 2. Such that be but outwardly in covenant are part of and go to make up the Vineyard of the Lord they be planted in the Lords Vineyard they be part of the Garden of the Lord hedg'd in and separated from the rest of the World and God doth own them to be so It is no small benefit to be within the Pale of the Church and to have a fix'd Standing in Zion Isa 5.7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant 3. They have the Proposals and the Offers of the highest Mercy they live under the Overtures of the richest Grace they be in the Kingdom and are the Children of the Kingdom therefore have the highest Tenders and the choicest Invitations to the best of Mercies They are in the Kingdom and Salvation is nigh unto them the Bosom and the Arms of Grace and Love are always before their Eyes and ready to receive and embrace them After the Days of the Messiah the Jews being in covenant with God their happy Estate was not to be overlook'd but to be honourably respected therefore they had the first offer of Life and Salvation by Christ after his Ascension So it was in Acts 2. and in other places Acts 3.25 26. Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Vnto you first God having raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities They were yet in covenant and the Lords Vineyard and had this precious Tender of Christ and Salvation by him sent unto them to bring them to Faith and Repentance before it was sent unto the poor out-cast Gentiles Acts 13.46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said It was necessary that the word of God should have first been spoken unto you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the Gentiles Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles did not betake himself to them till his Embassy was rejected by the Jews unto whom he was to make his Application Our gracious Lord when he gave Commission to his Apostles to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins in his Name directed that they should begin at Jerusalem Oh! how was his Heart upon his Covenant-people and how unwilling was he that their Covenant-State should expire therefore he waited upon them to the utmost period of the time set for the Patience of God to attend them Oh! Go said he break up and execute your Commission in that bloody City see if they will Repent and Believe that I may not lay them wast The Jews as is well observed by one had a double Priviledge before Christ came they were Soli they were alone they were the only Church and People of the Lord and inclosed from all the Nations of the World there was a Partition-wall erected between them and the spurious part of the World And at the Ascension of Christ and the Tenders and Exhibitions of the Grace of Life and Salvation they were Primi they had the first Effort of Mercy sent and directed unto them 4. Such have their dwelling and residence where the gracious and peculiar Presence of the Lord is to be enjoy'd such have an Habitation where God hath fixt his Throne of Grace and where are his delightful Walks the gracious presence of the Lord is with his Church and People those that are his Covenant-Ones they have the Signs and the Symbols of his residence in the midst of them His general Presence by a glorious Extension diffuseth and disposeth it self every where but This is the alone Happiness of his select People to enjoy Deut. 4.7 For what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them Great because nigh Psal 76.1 2. In Judah is God known his name is great in Israel In Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling-place in Zion Viz. His peculiar place of residence Rev. 21.3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God Where the Tabernacle of God is himself is and there he will dwell How happy are they that dwell where God in a distinct manner doth dwell And this is the Happiness of all those that dwell within the Bounds of the Covenant 5. Those that be in covenant and are Members of the Church are always comprehended in and have the benefit of having a share in the Prayers that are continually ascending up unto God for all Israel As it is the Duty of every sincere and true Believer to make Supplications for himself and to offer up this Sacrifice to God with the publick Assembly so to be sure to be very mindful of Zion and to be very importunate with the Lord for all the Inhabitants of Jerusalem Psal 122.6 7. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces There is a continual Cloud of Prayers going up to Heaven for those that are the Lords Inclosure for all that are the Dwellers therein every one that is internally in covenant will be sure to pray for all that are any way in Federal Relation to God Psal 137.5 6. If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my
violence is offered to this Text to destroy that federal holiness that shines forth in it The Anabaptists one would think are put greatly to their shifts in shifting off the force of this Text from them when all that they will allow Believers from this Text is that if one Parent be but a Believer then they will free their Children from the foul charge and scandalous imputation of being Bastards Thus they comment upon the words else were your Children Bastards but now they be Legitimate lawfully begotten what must be the consequence of this but that the Children of those Parents neither of which is a Believer must tho' they be never so lawfully Married and live never so chastly together be Bastards what a multitude of the off-spring of this our Nation must after this interpretation be illegitimate and a spurious bastardly Brood This hath been so often confuted that I will say no more to it the very naming of it may be a sufficient confutation of it 2. A peculiar people a people set a part from others the Covenant is for an enclosure and so for a separation of some from the rest of the World to be distinct and peculiar from others Deut. 14.2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth The Lord hath a visible people that are to him a peculiar people they are his Church those that are in a peculiar Covenant-appropriation unto Him We have this Title and that before of Holy ascribed to those that are under the Administration of the Covenant in new Testament times 1 Pet. 2.9 But ye are a chosen generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar people 3 They be called Gods Houshold or Family the worship of God and the blessing of the Covenant first took place in Families and those were the Families of the Lord since the more open publick and diffusive dispencing of the Covenant those that are the Lords Covenant ones retain still the Title of a Family and Houshold and so this is brought down unto the time of the Gospel Gal. 6.10 As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith Viz. Gods Covenant-houshold Eph. 2.19 Now therefore we are no more strangers and foreiners but fellow Citizens and of the houshold of God those Gentiles that were not in Covenant and so not of the Houshold of God Now saith the Apostle you are made partakers of the Covenant which was the peculiar Blessing of the Jews and ye are become now of the Houshold of Faith and of God or of the Houshold of Faith and so of God you are grafted into the Olive and this is some of the sweet and precious fat and juice of it 4. Such be called Gods Vineyard or the garden of the Lords surely it is a Singular Priviledge to be planted in the Lords Vineyard and not to have a standing without in the Wilderness of the World which the Lord hath little regard for or care of Isa 5.1 7. Now I will sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his Vineyard My well beloved hath a Vineyard in a very fruitful hill For the Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant The Church of God in Covenant with Him is by the Lord Jesus the Husband and Bridegroom of it delightfully called a garden it being the sweetest the most pleasant and fertilest spot in all the World Cant. 4.12 16. A garden enclosed is my Sister my Spouse Awake Oh north-wind and come thou south and blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out Cant. 5.1 I am come into my garden my Sister my Spouse Cant. 6.2 My beloved is gone down into his garden to the beds of spices to feed in the gardens and to gather Lilies Thus was the Church of the Jews that was the Lords Covenant-inclosure stiled Zach. 2.5 Thereâ—ore particular Churches that make up the Church Catholick are called golden Candlesticks Rev. 1.20 The mystery of the seven Stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden Candlesticks are the seven Churches The Lord Jesus walks in the midst of them they are the place of his feet and his delightful walks Rev. 2.1 He walketh in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks to shew his delight that he hath in them the peculiar watch of his Providence about them and his plentiful and his inexhaustible supplying of them Oh how good is it to dwell where Christ hath his continual residence and his perpetual walks 't is a comfortable thing to have the Lord of infinite grace to walk constantly to and fro by ones door how soon may he open the door and come in and bring his Blessed retinue of peace mercy grace and love along with him 6. The Church of Christ involv'd in this Covenant is called Heaven this is Heaven upon Earth where the Throne of the blessed God is fixt when the Lord takes Believers and their Children into Covenant with himself he takes them into Heaven those that be out of Covenant do inhabit such darkness as to represent those that are even in Hell I but the Church of God that hath the light of the Word and grace of God shining upon it is Gods heaven below Rev. 12.1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman cloathed with the Sun This wonder was seen in the Church of God below I but here called Heaven for her trampling upon the World having the righteousness of Christ begirt about her and living in the Starry Region of Evangelical and Divine light Thus I have in some Particulars endeavoured to discover something of the Priviledges of those that be in Covenant with the Lord from this head I come to another Priviledge which is this that many of them that are thus in Covenant shall be saved a multitude of them are Elected for here chiefly lyes the secret Mine of Election where many shall be called and Effectually brought home to God the great Bulk and Mass of the Elect are taken and dug out of the Loins of Believers that are brought under Covenant many of those that be in Covenant shall be sure be to saved therefore surely 't is a great priviledge to have a standing among those that shall be saved how is it the duty of those that do enjoy this mercy to bless the Lord for it and to improve it for their own Childrens advantage 'T is good to have a footing and dwelling in that Body out of which the Lord doth call many to saving grace and glory to be in the best capacity and the most hopeful disposition as to Externals for life and Salvation The Soveraign Grace of God calls whom he pleaseth but most frequently the lot of Salvation falls upon the Children
of Covenant Ones they are the most hopeful to partake of that great blessing of the Covenant of effectual calling and of having the Law of God to be ingraven upon their hearts Isa 54.13 And all thy Children shall be taught of the Lord. Those that are not in Covenant with the Lord as they do not regard so neither are they under such a hopeful expectation of the accomplishment of such a promise as those are that are themselves the Children of the Promise who have good right to approach unto the gracious Throne and plead such a promise with him that sits there with the Rain-bow of the Covenant about his head 10. This is the great ground that is administred unto pious Parents greatly concerned about the external good of the Souls of their little Ones to build their hopes upon godly Parents would cast out the Anchor of hope upon a firm ground such that may hold and this is the great if not the only one those the Lord is pleased to bereave them of and demand out of their tender bosoms this may quiet their hearts about their death and their eternal State So that upon this account a Parent may say more then what one said of a dead Child Ego in illo puero nihil habeo praeter dilectum he may compose and sedate his Spirit with David who while his Child was sick did fast and weep refusing to eat I but when the pleasure of the Lord was signified by his death he could arise wash and eat and go to the house of the Lord and calmly pour out his sincere devotions unto the most high saying unto them that were struck into stupendous admiration of his great change I shall go to him but he shall not return to me Surely David had a further prospect than the grave that prevailed upon him to this Sedate composure and Serenity of mind he did intimate that his heart was at rest as to his felicity above that his Soul that he was most concerned about had made its escape from the sick and painful Body into Abrahams bosom the great Covenant Father he having this heart-supporting promise I will be thy God and the God of thy seed This is Gospel and a man interested in this promise may nay is bound to lay hold upon it and to cast himself upon the promise as well for his little Ones as for himself Wherefore hath the Lord as an Instance of his unsearchable grace given such a promise if not in our great and close afflictions to be choice and suitable food for our faith 〈…〉 but this can support Parents when they see their tender Infants in the bitter bonds of death reclining their heads upon their dissolving Pillows and having their Bowels to be sounding and yearning within them Now this I would humbly demand what they can build their hopes upon to make them readily to comply with Divine Pleasure When the Souls of their Little Ones sit upon their Lips to take their flight into an Eternal Ocean that excludeâ— them out of that Covenant they be confident they themselves be in and upon which they bottom and center all their trust and confidence as to their own Salvation for the ordinary way of Salvation is by and through the Covenant 11. Those that be in covenant thus have many great and temporal Blessings bestow'd upon them which others fall short of they share in the peculiar Providential Care and Watch of God there is the general Providential Care of God which as he is an Omnipresent Majesty filling all Places Persons and Things with his Essential Presence out of which there can be no departing or absconding he doth extend unto all Psal 139.7 8 9 10. But moreover there is the peculiar Transmission of the Providential Care Observation and Tuition of God and this is that which every Moment doth environ and encircle the Church and Covenant-Ones round about and all that are interested in the same stand possest with the free fruition of they are the proper Objects of the peculiar and special Providential Watch of God Psal 121.4 Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep This denotes the careful and the diligent keeping of the Church the Lord is ever in the exercise of as one saith Curam solicitudinem diligentiam connot at nec dormit nec dormitat He neither sleeps nor slumbers The Lord sets a peculiar Fence about his Church Isa 5. â—2 And he fenced it After he planted it he set the Fence of his peculiar Providence round about it to preserve it Isa 27.3 I the Lord do keep it I will water it every moment lest any hurt it I will keep it night and day Thus we see what a peculiar Vigilancy the Divine Eye doth exhibit unto the Covenant-People This is no small Priviledge to have a Place with those that are thus beautify'd I might have added that such have many outward Favours of Peace Plenty and Prosperity and that People Places and Nations do enjoy many rare Mercies for their sake the Old World sped the better for Noah's sake Sodom for Lot's Pharaoh for Joseph's as Obed-edom for the Arks sake and Laban was greatly blessed for the sake of Jacob. A Nation speeds the better for the Gospels sake most fare the better for the Elect the greatest Body of which descend from Covenant-Ones Temporal Blessings are the Appendices of that Covenant made with Abraham Gen. 17. where the Land of Promise was inserted though a far greater in that was intended as hath been shewn More Priviledges might have been convened unto these but let what hath been said suffice and I think what hath been insisted upon may satisfie as to this Question We have seen that those that are in covenant have advantage and that much every way But before we dismiss this let us a little distinctly apply the Matter suitable to the distinction that I have laid down concerning the way of being in covenant as to those that be Externally and those that be Internally in it Observe heedfully here that the same Promises that are to the Parents are to the Children I will be their God and the God of thy Seed Those that the Lord is pleased to take into covenant with himself some are Elect and some not Elect so amongst the Children some are Elect and some not Elect and here I chiefly mean those that arrive unto the Years of the Adult 1. Those that be the Elect of the Natural Seed they do partake both of the external and internal part of the Covenant for they do partake of the Promise in the extent of it such peculiar salvificable Blessings as Justification Adoption Sanctification c. and Eternal Glorification in a Word they do partake of Temporal Spiritual and External Priviledges 2. The Non-elect they do partake of the external part of the Promises and of the Covenant-Priviledges as have been mentioned which be exceeding great though not saving therefore not to be relied and
nominis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the proper signification of the words Infants and that they were carried to Christ and also that he took them into his arms when he blessed them must be kept But I may have an opportunity to meet with my Adversary in a more suitable place Thus we see what little things the Seed of Believers be that are Members of the Church visible for by Kingdom of Heaven is by all judicious Divines taken to be the visible Church Now because they be declared by Christ himself to be such Members with their Parents they must also with them be in Covenant with God 5. Demonst The Parents by Covenant do ingage themselves and their Children unto God When Parents do enter into Covenant with the Lord they do by the Bonds of the same oblige themselves and theirs unto the Lord and to be the Lords for ever Every Covenant-Parent does oblige himself and his Seed to God to walk according to the Covenant of Grace to which the Initiating Seal of the Covenant is annext and God doth promise to be his God and the God of his Seed Gen. 17.7 Parents when they do dedicate their Children to God by the Seal of the Covenant then they do ingage to the utmost of their power that they shall observe the Duties of the same So Children when they are Adult ought by Faith to lay a firm hold upon the Covenant and answer the Obligation of their Parents In a Federal Consideration when Parents do ingage for their Children this as it hath always been is accounted among the Judicious the Act of the Children in and by their Parents and they are obliged strictly to the performance of the same That Parents have thus ingaged for their Children in covenant with God might be easily proved Deut. 26.17 18. In which place Parents and their children are comprehended as is more fully and specifically expressed in Chap. 29.10 11 12 13 14. There we have the little ones expressed which are involved with their Parents in the former place Some that are Adversaries herein pretend to wonder how this can be but what is more common among Men In a Mans Covenant do not Men put their Childrens Names in their Writings Obligatory And their Little Ones and those unborn shall stand firmly obliged thereby and the Law doth take it as firm as if the Child had actually bound himself A little to Illustrate and Invigorate this We are to consider that the Children when grown up and prove sinful walking contrary to the Covenant yea and those that never did receive the Token of the Covenant by Circumcision stand accused of the high Charge of breaking the Covenant which is an Evident Proof of their being when but Infants in covenant otherwise this Charge could not be so clearly exhibited against them Deut. 29.25 The men shall say Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers Viz. the Covenant which the Lord God made with their Fathers This you have but a few Verses before to demonstrate that it was that Covenant the Lord made with the Parents and their Little Ones that stood before him to covenant with him 1 Kings 19.10 14. You may see what Covenant this was 2 Kings 13.23 And the Lord was gracious unto them and had compassion on them and had respect unto them because of his covenant with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and would not destroy them neither cast he them from his presence Yet they had broken this Covenant and for the Covenant's sake they descending from the Fathers and being the Seed of those with whom he had made this Covenant he would not enter upon them for the breach they made upon it to extinguish or to destroy them as yet It was the Covenant that did bind up and restrain the Hands of Justice from casting off the Jews the Children of the Fathers and of the Covenant therefore the Lord is said Psal 111.5 He will ever be mindful of his covenant Gen. 17.14 And the uncircumcised man-child whose flesh of his fore-skin is not circumcised that soul shall be cut off from his people he hath broken my covenant Surely if the Seed of Parents in covenant are accused for the breaking of the Covenant they themselves must be in covenant and obliged by their Parents to keep it 6. Demonst Such as God is pleased to account and accept as holy are in covenant Those that have a Foederal Holiness must be Foederates and such that be in covenant with the Lord but this is the great Blessing of those that are the Children of believing Parents there is a Holiness attributed to them that is not to the Seed of Pagans and Infidels and it is a Covenant-Holiness therefore it must follow by undeniable consequence That they are in covenant with their Parents What makes Israel and his Seed more holy than the Egyptians or Canaanites and their Seed but God's taking one into covenant and not the other Thus Israel and his Seed are said to be holy Deut. 14.2 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God If but one Parent be in covenant the Children be accepted as holy with the Lord 1 Cor. 7.14 Because of this the Children are not unclean as the Canaanites but holy like the Israelites I have spoke something to this in the Explication of this Point therefore shall hasten over it it would be to small purpose to enter into the Miry Labyrinth wherein some have lodg'd this precious Scripture I shall only say this with an Acute Person That commonly Reasons of Positions are brought à notiori to prove a thing doubtful by a thing known yeilded or confest this I judge to be a granted and a well-known Truth as one of the Jews Divine Axioms But that none but Believers Children are Legitimate and that none but Believers have a lawful use of their Children which are the two usual Expositions of the Adversaries on that Text which to me seems very jeiune and spurious those will hardly pass for unquestionable Truths among the wisest of Men And to make the Apostle argue thence to prove the lawful continuance of the Believer in conjugal Society with the Unbeliever would make the Apostle guilty of proving obscurum per obscurius an obscure thing by that which is more dark and obscure But to take Holiness there for that which is Foederal that is a clear Medium to prove that and whosoever shall stand up and oppose it there is the Dispensation of the Covenant with Isaac all along and that continued in the Christian Churches to prove it Your Children are holy Viz. Heirs to the Covenant a known Truth then granted and allow'd by all even like unto our Text That the Covenant was to the Parents and their Children How can the Children of Believers be said to be holy if they be not in covenant with their Parents From whence all the Seed of Believers do receive the denomination Rom. 11.16 For if the
Parents were shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin Psal 51.5 Those that spring from corrupt Parents cannot be clean Job 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one and 15.14 What is man that he should be clean and he that is born of a woman that he should be righteous It is impossible that he should Parents by propagation can only convey Sin to their Posterity not Grace but all the hope that they can have of their Sanctification is lodg'd in a Covenant of Grace where there are Provisions of cleansing and Sanctification treasur'd up and unless Infants be sanctified they cannot be saved nor inherit the Kingdom of God Eph. 5.5 But the Covenant of Grace is eminently adorned with excellent Promises of cleansing and Purification And for this our Lord Jesus poured out his Immaculate Blood which is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant this he did for his Church which Children are a numerous part of Eph. 5.25 26 27. And all the washing and cleansing of Souls is promised in and transmitted through the Covenant so that for Children to be excluded from it they must be bereav'd and depriv'd of all this great Covenant blessing without which they must be lost eternally and be concluded with the abominable and filthy to be the Fuel of inextinguishable Flames of Revenging Wrath. But Parents may encourage themselves from the good Inducements that are administred to them in reference to their little Children from this Heart-supporting and Soul-reviving Covenant Jer. 31.33 Viz. This is one great Branch and Blessing of my Covenant Ezek. 36.25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean 〈◊〉 from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you Infants must be included in these Promises Deut. 30.6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul This is a blessed Encouragement vouchsaft by the Covenant of Grace but deny Infants a Title to this and then you have no room left to expect in an ordinary way their Purification and Holiness So that still it appears to be dangerous to exclude them this Covenant 9. They cannot enjoy the Lords gracious Presence without partaking of the Covenant it is his Covenant-Presence that is his peculiar and gracious Presence that he doth enrich his People withal The Church and the Covenant-People of the Lord did partake of this Presence before Christ came it was with them and with their Children 2 Cor. 6.16 I will dwell with them and walk with them and I will be their God and they shall be my people Viz. My peculiar and my Covenant-People for unto such doth this Special Presence appertain God pitcheth his Tabernacle and fixeth his Presence and Residence among his that are in this Happy Compact with him Lev. 26.11 12. And I will set my tabernacle amongst you and I will walk among you and ye shall be my people To turn Children out of this Covenant is the next way to send them from all the Beatifical Shines of this Mercy and to dismiss them from the gracious Presence of the Lord and to make them wandring and perpetually expos'd Vagabonds like unto Cain yea this is the way to bring the Children of Believers under that direful Imprecation Psal 109.10 Let his children be continually vagabonds The worst Vagabonds in the World are those that be stigmatiz'd with the infamous Brand of being Excluded the Covenant and the gracious Presence of the Lord. We see then that Men had need be careful how in respect of the Covenant they deal with poor Infants 10. They cannot be gathered to Christ nor brought under the Wings of his Mercy It is an Excellent Promise of Christ That the gathering of the People viz. of all the Elect shall be unto him Gen. 49.10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come viz. Christ and unto him shall the gathering of the people be But still the gathering of Christ is a Covenant-gathering Psal 50.5 Gather my saints together that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice The Wings of Christ underneath which the gathering must be are lifted up in this Covenant though his gracious Wings be never so receptive and large yet the only way to creep under them is by getting within the Bond of the Covenant Those that be not within the Inclosure of it are not said to be gathered but to be remote and distant from Christ Eph. 2.12 13. That at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the common-wealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promise having no hope and without God in the world But now in Christ Jesus ye that were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ You be called and brought into the Covenant though you were afar off yet now are brought nigh by the Blood of the Covenant so that all that are not in the Covenant are still afar off and remote from Christ This is the condition that Children of pious Parents must be unavoidably cast into that are banished the Covenant of grace by which a people are brought nigh and gathered into and unto Christ 11. They be by this way of dealing shut out of in a word all Covenant-Blessings and Priviledges and so are represented to be in a most deplorable and miserable condition this strips them naked of all the covenant-blessings they be cloathed and invested with It is the promise of the Lord and it is a promise full of grace that he will shew mercy to thousands of them that love him and keep his Commandments Viz. To many generations of their Seed and posterity I shall here inlarge no further Thus by what hath been said you may see that by excluding Infants out of the Covenant of grace they be shut out of all the ordinary ways and means of Salvation For a full confirmation of all these particulars we see our friends the Anabaptists deny to the Infant-Seed of Believers the token of the Covenant which Seals up all the Covenant-mercys that God hath promised and graciously provided For it is to be observed that when the Lord did establish his Covenant with Abraham and his Seed Gen. 17.7 in the 10. ver He instituted and appointed Circumcision the Seal of the Covenant to assure Abraham of the performance of all the gracious promises of it is To deny the Seal then is to break the Covenant and as far as man can to deprive the Seed of all priviledges and benefits of it 4. The next absurdity from the Doctrine of turning Infants out of Covenant is this It doth not only hinder them from being Members of Christ but makes them the miserable off-spring and Members of Satan Those that deny Childrens Covenantship by which they be Foederally holy pretend some kindness unto them in as much as they would not have
Baptized are not tanght of God nor made Disciples of Christ This is directly against the express Word of God Isa 54.13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord Is not this giving God the lye so in saying They be not the Disciples of Christ is also directly opposite to the Word of God Acts 15.10 Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which Disciples are evidently Children Here still you may see what fatal Doctrine this bold Asserter delivereth about poor Infants can they be saved without their being taught of God Though they be not capable of the teaching of Men yet they are of Gods and must be taught of him otherwise I understand not how there can be any possibility of their Salvation Thus I have given you a few hints of many that might be brought out of this Authors Works I think such sanguine sayings as these are about Infants in Covenant with God do loudly call for trembling from me and Repentance from him 8. This Doctrine doth inform us that a great part of the Scripture was written for the good and sake of Children God did greatly design and intend them in the choicest part of his Word The Covenant of Grace doth comprehend the most precious and gracious part of the Word of God though our late Author and my Confuter tells us That they were writ for the Adult and not for the Infants His Reason I suppose is because of their present ignorance This is some of this excellent Divines New Doctrine We may as well say that their Mothers Womb and Breasts that the Heavens and the Earth and all the Elements that Meat Drink and Rayment do not belong unto them that Eating Drinking and Sleeping do not belong unto them But we may ascend a great deal higher if the Scripture was not wrote for their sakes what will become of these poor Creatures for ever Can God can Christ can any special Grace be theirs What are the Scriptures relating to the Covenant the Blood of it and the gracious Promises of Remission Union with Christ Adoption and Sanctification not appertaining to them Were not the Scriptures wrote for their sake when there are so many Directions and Commands abounding concerning their Parents Duty to them in all things and all for the good of them and to demonstrate the great concernedness of a gracious God for them and the value he hath of them Surely if we do but confider what is wrote of Children in the Word we may easily see that God did greatly intend them in writing of it I will name a few places Psal 78.6 That the generation to come might know him even the children which shall be born Psal 127.3 Lo children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward Prov. 20.7 The just man walketh in his integrity his children are blessed after him Deut. 4.37 And because he loved their fathers he chose their seed after them Isa 61.9 Psal 18.50 A multitude of Scriptures might be brought to show how that in many Predictions and Promises and other wayes the Scripture was eminently wrote for the sake of Infants and Children and the Seed of Gods People What doth not those precious Scriptures of Christ taking little children up into his arms and blessing of them appertain unto Children Is it not left upon Divine Record for their sake But that which is beyond all may make us all to be amazed which is this If the Scriptures were not wrote for the sake of Infants what shall we say of all those Blessed Scriptures that were wrote about the Holy Child Jesus of his Conception Birth and Infancy If it be as this bold Asserter would have it then all Scriptures relating to the same must not be the subject matter of our Faith and Hope but all of them should be expunged out of the Word of God or stand upon its record as idle insignificant Stories It is clear that if the Scriptures were not wrote for the sake of Infants then our Lord Jesus Christ must come in for a share in this Doctrine which well may be called the Doctrine of Devils This Man is greatly skilled in propounding such Doctrine that hath a direct tendency to exclude poor Children and Infants out of the Kingdom of God not only out of the Kingdom of Grace here but also the Kingdom of Glory hereafter If the Scripture be not wrote for their sake I know not the Duties that are incumbent upon Parents concerning them neither any hopes of any good here and hereafter can be conceived about them But one would think the very naming of this should be more than sufficient to baffle it and its Author from the stage of his Presumption and Confidence 2. Vse of the Doctrine and all that furthermore I shall make of it shall be of solemn and serious Exhortation and that to those Pious and Godly Parents who are inriched and honoured with this transcendent priviledge of being in Covenant with God they and their Children also As your Mercy is great so those Duties that do refult from hence are very great God hath bestowed much upon you and he doth expect much from you Where much is given from thence much is expected The Lord hath done more for you than he hath for others therefore he doth expect more from you than he doth from others A few of these many Duties that this Covenant and your Interest in it do call for from you I would set before you and exhort you to a diligent observation and practise of 1. Make a great account of the priviledge of this Covenant State esteem it very high tho' some and that too many reproach and trample upon it yet let it be a matter of wonderful valuation with you God hath revealed much unto you if he hath but revealed unto you a right understanding of his Covenant Psal 25.14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and he will shew them his covenant or he will make them to know to understand the Covenant in its Nature and Latitude this is a secret that God reveals All those that enjoy this Blessing had need to esteem it very highly What a blessed entail is here upon your Children Those look upon themselves to be very happy that be the Heirs of great Estates in the World though they have not a present possession yet there is a sure and certain entail upon them and theirs But what is this to the entail of the Covenant and unto the being Heirs to the Promise How glad would some be should they be assured that such a great Lordship was continued to them and their Children Ay but here is the incomparable and for ever to be esteemed dignity viz. The promise is to you and your children Some good Parents when they shall come to dye are like to have but little of the World to leave their Children but this is
Covenant nor have any Habitual Faith and that is to have their Sins done away by an imputed Righteousness This would be something had he given us any Proof of his New Invention but not a word of this Indeed I think he must have a New Gospel to prove this I did say when I Preach'd these Sermons in my Congregations That to talk of a Righteousness of Imputation without a Covenant Interest and inherent Sanctification was Mountebank Divinity And so I say still not doubting but in a short time I shall not only say as he hath but prove what I say as he hath not I am sure the Scripture is abundantly on my side I pass it by at present because I intend if the Lord please suddenly to demonstrate this matter I am a weary of this pitiful trash therefore shall say no more till I shall Epitomize his Books provided I have a further Challenge and Provocation Only I shall give you one branch of his Charity to us that sometimes pretendedly he calls Brethren the Wounds he gives us and the Darts he would strike into our Hearts and the Hearts of our Children discover him to be more like an inveterate Enemy than a kind Brother for his Pen and Pulpit as to us are filled with little less than Wormwood and Gall yea I may add from what I have here discovered even with Poyson But pray take one touch of his Charity to his Brethren as he calls them He saith without the least Proof That not only the Conformists but also the Nonconformists have lost the Door and the Subject that should enter the Door So that we have lost the very Essence of the Ordinance viz. of Baptism we have neither right Form nor right Subject and who are they that enter not in by the Door but climb up and come in some other way We know the Scripture you refer to and apply unto us John 10.7 8 9. 'T is easie here to see your judgment of us that we are the Thieves and Robbers that come not in at the right Door I shall say but little to this now for 't is but the proud and empty sound of a Man that seemeth little to consider what he saith only I do humbly in the Name of the great Shepherd Challenge my bold Challenger to answer this Censure he hath put upon all his faithful Servants that are for Baptizing of Infants at the great Day Here he doth discernably enough Unchurch us Unminister us and Inordinance us the Lord lay not this Sin to his door We have little reason to wonder that he should give us such foul play when he ventures at the same time to deal no more kindly with the Church of England that is guarded by the strong Walls and Fences of the Laws of the Nation for he saith That the Conformists also have lost the Door and the Subject that should enter the Door and the very Essence of the Ordinance and they their Ministers enter not in at the Door Here is a Man that will not only tread over the low Hedge but will venture upon the sharps of the Piltes to vent his Unchristian and Censorious Opinion Christians I hope such pitiful raw spurious and jejune Allegations as these I have presented you withal will rather turn your Stomachs against them than open your Throats to swallow them Alas I have given you but a little to what I might have presented you withal let not such empty Assertions without the least shadow of probation lessen your esteem of this Blessed Doctrine I have been upon Truth is never the less precious because it is calumniated by opprobrious and dirty Pens Look upon this choice Truth by the Light of the Word of God and you cannot but see such a lustrious beauty in it as to cause an inconceivable estimation and value in you for it 2. Word of Exhortation I would press upon you is that you would improve this Doctrine in the best ways and unto the best advantages that you can You and your Children being in covenant ought to be made the best use of that may be There be several ways by which you ought to improve this Doctrine I shall propound some of them unto you begging you to put them into practice 1. By giving up your Children to God in the use of the Seal of the Covenant I mean Baptism When God did make this Covenant with Abraham and his Seed he did so and so it was all along when there was opportunity for it the Covenant is the same still for the Substance of it and the Seal ought to be affixt to the Subjects Let Men never so much vilifie and reproach it calling it Baby-baptism and Sprinkling of Infants without the least soundness of Mind or Judgment That is a pretty Saying for Children to laugh at which our Neighbour in one of his Books brings in thus That it may be very much questioned whether the Jaylor we read of Acts 16. that was baptized and all his House had any Children seeing it hath been observed some Years agoe that for very many Years together not one Child was born to all the Jayl-keepers in all the County of Essex This is a pretty Observation it seems it was some Years agoe I believe he knows not when however he is not minded to acquaint us of the Authour of this Excellent Story Let Men talk their fill pray do you mind your Duty God requires that your Children that be his by covenant should be given up to him by the Seal of the Covenant Christians have many Inducements lying upon them thus in this Ordinance to devote their Children unto God 1. By this they do manifestly own and set forth their Belief of the Doctrine of the Covenant It is Practice that is the best Indication of the Belief of Divine Truth we must not only be Knowers and Professors of the Will of God but must be Doers also that Man discovers but a slender Manifestation of his Knowledge of the Covenant whose Actions are not something comporting with the same 'T is observed by some that the reason why God met with Moses and threatned to kill him when he was sending him for the deliverance of his Brethren into Egypt was because he had not circumcised his Son Exod. 4.24 25. 2. By this means we do openly shew forth the Grace and Goodness of God unto us in making such a Covenant and the wonderful Love and Kindness of Christ in dying for us which Blood is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant as in the other Seal of the Covenant the Lords Supper Christians do shew forth the Death of Christ 1 Cor. 11.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ye do openly declare preach and publish it so by the affixing the Seal to your Children you do set out and declare the Infinite Grace Love and Goodness of God in taking you and your Seed into the Covenant 3. By this you do enter your Children visibly into the Church of God or
Ones the Children that the Lord hath graciously given thee to be with thee That thou and thine are become the Children of the Covenant and of the Promise magnifie God for so inestimable an injoyment and improve it to the utmost advantage of thy self and thine but be not ignorantly gull'd and trapan'd out of it as many are in this day 4. Exhortation Teach and instruct your Children so soon as they be capable of it in the right knowledge and understanding of the Covenant As the Lord hath honoured you in taking you and your Children into Covenant you ought to be much in explaining and unfolding the Priviledges and Duties of it to your Children This is one of the Magnalia the great things that God hath written in his Word viz. that we our selves and off-spring should be well versed in and acquainted with This is one great way to discover the high esteem that you have of the Covenant for your selves and Children when you take delight to study to arrive unto a good understanding of it and carefully to instruct and teach your Children the knowledge of it Timothy had Conscientious Parents or Parent that did so teach and instruct him that when he was very little he was well acquainted with the Scriptures 2 Tim. 3.15 Many there be that are very desirous to have their Children to be Baptized and to partake of the Seal of the Covenant but little make it their work and business to admonish and instruct their Children suitable to that Relative Duty which they stand under the obligation of to their poor Children One great reason why many as I find do renounce and reject the Seal of the Covenant is because they were never well instructed into the knowledge of it nor the Duties they were bound unto the performance of by the Seal of it Few Parents no not some that have the root of the matter in them do take that care as they are bound to do to inform their Children into the Gospel-administration of the Covenant since the time of the Incarnation and Ascension of the Messiah and to shew the parallel that there is between the Covenant first openly establish'd with the Jews and their Seed and now with the Gentiles and their Seed Wheresoever the Gospel is sent by Divine Conduct unto any place and Preach'd that never had the Beams of its Glorious Light shining before there those that believe and repent must be Baptized and their Children with them and enter into the Covenant together for saith the Apostle The promise is to you and your children and to those that are afar off and even to as many as the Lord shall cast The promise viz. the Covenant is to you and your children ay and so it shall be with those that are afar off even the poor Children of the Gentiles so many as the Lord shall call they with their believing Parents shall be received into Covenant with the Lord Acts 2.38 39. I shall conclude all with one word of Exhortation unto ungodly and unconverted Sinners It is to exhort them in the name and fear of the Lord that they would convert repent and turn unto the Lord. To Repent is one of the great Doctrines that is charged upon us in our Commissions to Preach to and urge severely upon Men. John the Baptist did much fill up his Ministry in calling upon those that did at any time attend upon it to repent Our blessed Lord began his Ministry in sounding out the same Doctrine This is a Doctrine that we that Preach the Gospel ought to be solemn and instant in How happy would it be if there were no other contention among Ministers than this for every one to strive to bring most Souls to Faith and Repentance It may be matter of lamentation to see how many take upon them the Work of the Ministry such that I fear though they make nothing to condemn and disannul the Ministry of others are scarce able to prove their own Call thereunto how they labour abundantly more to proselyte their followers to their Opinions than to obtain Converts to Christ But to close all I do here intreat and beg all that hear me that be yet out of Christ impenitent Sinners to repent and turn to God and take hold upon the Covenant and the rare Blessings and Promises of it and for your encouragement The promise shall be unto you and your children You and yours will be taken into this Covenant If you are not in it already what will you stand and stout it out against God under the precious means of Grace and the rich tenders of the Gospel proposed unto you and to labour to ruine your selves and Children for ever â—o far as you can After all the terrible threatnings of the Word that have been defeated by you oh let not this be rejected but let it melt your Hearts into Repentance This I say of my Text The promise is to you and your children Amen FINIS