an empty law Third General I. That though in the 4 last books of Moses is an oft repetition of the Statutes and Judgements yet usually there is inserted in each of them some weighty distinction and not without great reason repeated which because of my necessity and brevity of time of writing with my other imployments I have omitted to observe leaving it to your selves to do as being the sole object of your study and rule of life to live by II. That as in the beginning God divided government committing some to Moses in the judicials and other to Aaron in the ceremonials 1. Moses government in the law is not destroyed Mat. 5.17 and cap. 23.2 2. Aarons Priesthood and with that his government ceaseth and in the place thereof Jesus Christ by the Fathers appointment is set up Heb. 7.11 12 15 16. 3. So that now as first there was Moses and Aaron so now there is to be to the end of the World Moses and Christ to rule and govern the World by 1. Moses in the World or State under the covenant of works also the servant of Jesus Christ ruling for him because he is not of the World 2. Christ in the Church among the Saints or believers under the new covenant of grace among whom the Lord himself is being one of them III. Those words Exod. 20.2 I am the Lord thy God cannot be said of nor applyed to any in that way as the words are delivered but to those 1. That have covenanted with God in the way of the law as the Israelites did 2. That are under the rule and goverment of the commands the Statutes and Judgements contained in that law Object That was spoken only of those God brought out of Egypt and concerns not us Resp As the Jews were under the bondage of Egypt and were restrained from Gods service and were then not in covenant with him nor had not his law to judge by so we have been under Antichrist in Babel and have been restrained from Gods service and were then not in covenant with the Lord as they were not nor is his law set up as a rule to judge by among us so that when God shall have brought us out of Babel and set up his laws and brought us into covenant with himself according to Moses it shall then be as binding to us that God brought us out of Babel as to them that he brought them out of Egypt Jer. 16.14.15 They shall no more say The Lord Liveth that brought them out of Egypt but out of the north countryes Jer. 23.7 8 9. Note Under the first covenant God was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hos 2.16 In the one God is as Abram to Hagar whose son she had by him was to be cast out under the Gospel-estate which was fulfilled in the casting out of unbelievers from the society of Saints they being not to inherit the promise that is Jesus Christ Gal. 4.30 which work was then done and shall be most certainly done againe in this age of ours In the other God is as Abraham to Sarah whose son Isaac being born of the free-woman signifieth the state of the Church under the Gospel under the name of Jerusalem from above which are a society of believers joyned to the Lord Jesus in the fellowship of the Gospel in whom the better promises are conferred and made over to the Saints born after the Spirit Gal. 4.30 Conclusion The covenant of works was after the covenant made with Abraham of grace but being renewed in Christ it is called new and the new old Gal. 3.17 The now first covenant though it hath not the best yet it hath many excellent promises necessary for the life annexed to it which we wanting bodily are reduced to great necessities and the breaking thereof brought ruine and desolation suddainly to the Jews And though at this time it be not in esteem among men yet the prophesie of Isaiah 42.19 21. incourageth me that after Gods servant comes who the blind world accounts blind though God saith he is his servant and perfect and which the Scripture before clearly shews was to come after the grand Apostacy of Antichrist I say after he comes the Lord will magnifie the law make it great though all the world have endeavoured to make nothing of it or of no use at all a long time when they shall againe judge by it and punish by it and rule by it c. yea and more the Lord will make it honourable also they shall never set up traditions in the place thereof again O Parliament This God will do but whether God will do this by you or not and honour you herein or not I do not know you see it is my desire if it be his will ye are witnesses and God also that the work may be yours who have dore much of the work of the Lord in the Nation that the Honour here and reward thereof hereafter may be yours and let me speak freely to you thus that if you will not do it God in few yeers will not want them that will do it upon whom and whose posterity the blessigs of God and the Nation will fall in great abundance who did that in their generation for them was never done it being then and never untill then fulfilled that of Paul Rom. 10.19 I will provoke you to jealousie by them that are not a people that is some heathens which none never yet did do should as the Jews nationally covenant with God in the covenant of Moses with which the Jews as awaked begin to thinke that people Jacob-like steal away or God gives away his birthright from him the not doing whereof delayes their call Now what Nation in all the world is like to do this as England O that it might be offered them who would not refuse it The fourth General That to the Elders Heads and Judges were other inferior subordinate officers to serve in the same rule who have their authority from the Scriptures and from God as the rest Josh 23.2 Deut. 16.18 Command the First Exod. 20.3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me Statutes DEut. 6.5 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart c. Chap. 10.20 Fear the Lord thy God him shalt thou serve and to him shalt thou cleave Exod. 34.12 Take heed to thy self that thou make no covenant with the inhabitants Verse 15. Lest thou and they go awhoring after their gods and one call thee and thou eat of their sacrifice Deut. 11.6 Take beed to your selves that your hearts be not deceived to turn aside to serve other Gods and worship them Deut. 8.19 If thou forget the Lord thy God and walk after other Gods and serve and worship them c. Deut. Thou shalt not go after other gods the gods of the people round about you Exod. 23.24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do after their
continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free And again cap. 15.7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you ask what you will and it shall be done unto you and the word is able to save our souls Jam. 1.21 and the Lord will have respect to them that are of contrite spirits and tremble at his word Isa 66.2 but whose despiseth the word shall be destroyed but he that regardeth the Commandment shall be rewarded Pro. 13.13 And thus its evident that if we run to the word for refuge we do wisely and are safe in so doing But as for Mr. Hall he hath never a word to run to for Infant-baptism as he himself confesses pag. 30. in his fifth Argument in these words In express terms so infants baptism is not commanded nor a thousand things more which get we are bound to observe I shall now conclude with shewing some undenyable Reasons why the word of God must beunderstood and obeyed as it is written without adding to or taking from 1 Because God did never without words make known his minde to the sons of men therefore we read that God at sundry times in divers manners spake to our fathers by the Prophets but now in these last days he hath spoken by his own son c. Heb. 1.12 2 By words the minde of God is compleatly made known so that to fear God and keep his Commandments is the whole duty of man Eccles 12.12 13. 3 Because Christ blames men for erring from the Scriptures saying You erre because you know not the Scriptures Mark 12.24 4 Because we are commanded to hear the words of Christ in all things what soever he shall say unto us Act. 3.22 5 Because they that consent not to wholsom words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Doctrine which is according to godliness are proud or fools knowing nothing 1 Tim. 6.3 4. 6 Because the Scriptures are able to make us wise to salvation through faith in Jesus and to make the man of God perfect and throughly to furnish us to all good works 2 Tim. 3.15 16 17. 7 Because when Paul left the Church in a dangerous condition because of deceivers he committed them to God and to the word of his grace affirming it is able to build them up and to give them an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified 8 Because if men or Angels shall preach any other Gospel then what is already preached they shall be accursed Gal. 1.8.9 9 Because those that preach are commanded to preach the word in season and out of season 2 Tim. 4.12 and not their own words 10 Because Christ will judge all men by his words that he hath spoken in the last day and then they which do add to his word he will add to them all the plagues written and those that diminish from it he will take their names out of the book of life and their part out of the holy City and he will come in flaming fire to render vengeance on them that know not God and obey not his holy Gospel Joh. 12.48 Rev. 22.18 19. 2 Thef 2.7 8 9. Lastly I shall propound these following Queries with a desire to have them answered by any who will or can 1 Whether God doth require the sons of men to believe any thing in point of Justification that is not recorded in the holy Scriptures of truth 2 Whether God doth require or command us to obey any thing after believing which is not contained in the word of truth 3 Whether the Saints have any ground to believe the Resurrection from the dead and eternal life in glory but as it is recorded in Scripture 4 Whether if a man believe and obey all the known precepts and promises contained in the word of God as much as in him lyeth will God condemn and punish him at the great day because he hath believed and done no more 5 If the Scriptures be not a perfect rule of faith and obedience without the help of any mans inventions what is Or who may we trust or at whose mouth must we seek wisdom 6 If the Scriptures ought to be believed and obeyed as they are written then how dare some deny faith in and obedience to some part of them and impose things not written in the Scriptures to be obeyed in stead of the ordinances of Christ 7 Whether there be any sin or corruption incident to man that the Scriptures doth not reprove and make manifest in express terms 8 Whether there be any vertue or praise in any thing that the best of men ever did but what is expresly commanded or commended in the Scriptures of truth 9 I appeal to every mans Conscience in the sight of God whether their Consciences do not condemn them when they walk contrary to what is written in the Scripture 10 Whether every mans Conscience do not justifie him when he walks according to what is contained in the word of God Now if all these Queries be granted as they are stated to be true then it followeth that those that teach and perswade men to do any thing in matter of Justification or salvation more or less then is plainly written and expressed in the word of God are such as do add to or take from what God hath spoken to the sons of men for instruction and are guilty of those plagues pronounced Rev. 22.18 19. but infants baptism is nowhere written nor expressed in all the Scriptures as Mr. Hall Mr. Baxter and Mr. Cook do confess therefore they and all they that plead for it are guilty of the plagues aforesaid except they repent And thus have I answeâ—â—d to Mr. Baxters ten Positions which he saith pag. 3. must necessarily be well understood before we can understand the point in hand So that the Reader must take notice that if these Positions be not well understood to be true then all the rest of his book cannot be understood to be true by his own confession For saith he If people be mistaken in that which goeth before no wonder if they deny the consequents or that which followeth after c. So that if I have fully answered these Positions I need say but little to the rest of the book All which I leave to the Reader to consider of But howsoever I shall not fail by the assistance of God to speak so much to the two first parts of his book as may undermine his building and lay it in the dust As for the last part of his book from the 162 page to the end himself confesseth that they are but such vain contendings as he is like to be guilty of and Mr. Tombs also as you may see in his Epistle to the Church at Bewdley towards the latter end Likewise Mr. Cooks Arguments being the same with his the substance of both tending to prove that infants are in Covenant and that they are
Separates and Anabaptists you say are your enemies therefore you cannot in conscience expect any from them because you war not for them but against them All you can have from that Scripture is that you should have charges of them you fight for and if they judge the quarrel good that you have in hand it s but reason they should maintain you in it but it must be freely or else if you force them you fight not for them but against them and make them your enemies and lose your priviledges Again You will say Who planteth a Vineyard and eateth not the fruit thereof Answ It is true but you never planted the Vineyard of the Separates and Anabaptists as you call them therefore you may not eat of the fruit of their labours except you buy it or take it from them wickedly by force nay you say we are not the Lords Vineyard but rather an accursed people like the ground that brings forth thornes and thistles therefore you cannot possibly expect any fruit of us for men cannot gather grapes of thornes nor figs of thistles Again you will say Who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk thereof Answ Truth but you do not feed the flocks of the separated people and Anabaptists nay you will and do say they are not the flock of Christ but Wolves and Tygers therefore if there be milk to be had amongst them you have no right to it because you feed them not neither can you in the second place expect any from them because you deny them to be a flock Lastly You will say We must not muzzle the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the corn I answer It is not true but what is that to the other beasts that tread out no corn but rather destroyeth it and will not suffer it to grow till the Harvest but will pull up Wheat and Tares together contrary to the command of the Lord of the Harvest Mat. 13.28 29 30. and this is one reason of our dissenting or departing from all those Churches whose Ministers do thus covet after the wages of unrighteousness whose Priests teach for hire and whose Prophets divine for money and yet are so impudent as to lean upon the Lord and to say Is not the Lord amongst us and no evil can come upon us 2 Pet. 2.14 15. with Micah 3.11 The second reason is their pride because they plead humane learning to be the glory of their Ministry as appeareth by their slighting of all those that have not served an apprentiship at Cambridge or Oxford calling themselves Orthodox Divines and the other illiterate mechanick men and sometimes when you are so put to it that you have nothing to say for your selves then you will confess that learning is but the hand-maid and grace is the Mistress But I pray what part of Scripture do you finde this saying written in or is not rather one of your cunningly devised fables which Peter saith he never followed 2 Pet. 1.16 But doth any wise Christian think that grace being in the heart of a man or woman cannot do her own work without a maid or did any man ever read in the Scripture that humane learning was graces hand-maid if there be such a place let us see it but if there be not for shame leave this idle fantastical reasoning and know that it is but to set up self and flesh and the Devil in mens hearts for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved Mark 16.15 15. if they indure to the end Mat. 24.13 and Christs sheep are those that hear his voice and follow him and he give will them eternal life and none shall pluk them out of his band John 10.27 28. but he doth not say If they have humane learning or if they were educated at Cambridge or Oxford or at some University nay God is so far from taking delight in the words that mans wisdome teacheth that he saith he will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent 1 Cor. 1.19 and he chuseth not many wise men after the flesh nor many mighty nor many noble but God hath chosen as James saith chap. 2.5 the poor in this world rich in Faith and heirs of the kingdome promised to them that love him and God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things and things that are dispised hath God chosen yea and things that are not to bring to nought things that are and this he doth that no flesh should glory in his presence See 1 Cor. 1.26 27 28 29. and yet you will glory in your humane leaning saying at least it is graces handmaid when the truth is if grace be truely in the heart of a man it is able to do its work without an handmaid for the Lord saith My grace is sufficient and his strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 and the Lord is so far from setting up learned men above unlearned that Christ saith Luke 10.21 I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to Babes even so O Father for so it seemed good in thy sight And it was alwaies Gods way or for the most part to chuse his Prophets out of unlearned men and honest labouring men that knew what it was to get their living by the sweat of their brows and not such as were brought up idly so that they cannot dig and are ashamed to beg and therefore prove unjust Stewards These are not fit to be Ministers of Christ because they must preach for hire or else they cannot live therefore they must please men and have mens persons in admiration because of advantage as Jude saith ver 16. or else men will give them little or no wages but the Lord chose other manner of persons as Moses a Sepherd Exod. 3.1 2. Elisha a plow-man as he was plowing 1 King 19.19 20. David a shepherd as he followed the Ews great with yong Psal 78.70 71. Amos an herds-man and one that gathered Sycomore The Lord took him as he followed the flock and said Go prophesie to my people Israel Amos 7.14 15. and Fishermen as they were about their honest callings and mending their nets like people that intended still to follow their callings them Christ called to follow him and to preach the Gospell he did not say to them as the learned Priests now a daies to honest tradesmen You must abide in your calling you must not preach but leave that to the learned Divines that have been brought up to it you must not presume to take such a work upon you c. but Christ was not of their minds as you may see Mat. 4.18 19 20 21 22. Likewise he chose ignorant and unlearned men as Peter and John yea and