the Apostle Rom. 10. 6. applyeth to the Gospel in opposition to the Law as in it selfe considered without the Gospel or as a covenant of works Before the Fall the Law was given by God as Lord of his Creature but since the Fall it hath been the Law of the Kingdom of Christ which maketh it cease to be a covenant of works 1. Because Christ in his Kingdome is so our Lord as he is also our Head and we the members of his body and quickened by his spirit and therefore part of our duty therein required is that it be done by his strength Joh. 15. 5. Philip. 1. 11. In the covenant of works the Law was Do this and live but in the covenant of grace it is Do this in the strength of Christ and live 2. Because our state and condition as subjects of his Kingdome dependeth not upon our keeping the Law but upon free grace in Christ by faith although our comfort in that Kingdom and State be much according as we keep or break that Law Joh. 14. 21. He that hath my Commandements saith Christ and keepeth thē he it is that loveth me he shal be loved of my father and I wil love him and will manifest my self to him So we are to understand those words when the Apostle saith we are free from and dead to the Law and are not under the Law but under Grace that is in respect of our state and condition or of the justifying of our persons In the state of innocency Do this and live was the covenant in respect of state therefore Adam had no sooner sinned but he was in a state of eternal death but to us onely in respect of the comforts in that state wherein we are as subjects of the Kingdom of Christ and members of his body Therefore although we are punished for sin yet not with eternal death but with temporal punishments whether corporal or spiritual and that out of love to do us good as from a Father our state in Christ continues still Therfore although we are bound by this Law as subjects of his Kingdome yet we are free from the law in respect of that legal state as under a covenant of works 3. Because however we are punished by Christ for sinne yet the matter is wholly taken up by him in his Kingdom and we are not carried out thence to be punished or thrown to hell Therefore are we free from the Law as to the eternal curse 4. In that when he punisheth for sinne he proceedeth therein according to the nature of the justice of his Kingdom which is the justice of a Father which obligeth him in punishing to aime not only at the glory of his justice but also at the good of the person punished which end if he can attain by sparing he is engaged even in justice and that he may be a righteous Father to spare or if a lesser affliction will do it to take a lesse and although sometimes when he sees cause he will not spare and when a lesser affliction will not do the work he takes a greater and comes with seven times more Levit. 26. yet never to punish any of his children according to the full desert of any sinne He hath not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Psal 103. 10. Now this is not according to the tenour of a covenant of works for there is no such liberty taken there is no sparing because the end of punishment therein is not the good of the person punished but onely the glory of his justice Thus we see that although one ingredient in the general nature of the Law both before and since the coming of Christ be that it is a command under penalties yet it follows not that either they were or that we now are under a covenant of works I have made so large a digression upon this subject because some do insist so much upon this point against Infant-baptisme alledging that the new Testament is so silent in it for by that which hath been said of the general nature of the Law to be one and the same to the people of God under both Testaments we see clearly the reason of these two things First how God could make the time of the old Testament to be the season wherin he would instruct his people in his Law and that for all ages afterwards according to that of our Saviour The law and the Prophets were until John and since that time the kingdom of God is preached implying that the doctrin of the Law was unfolding until then Secondly why the Lord Christ who is the Apostle of our profession and was faithful to him that appointed him as Moses also was faithful in all his house Heb. 3. 1. that is in all the service of it should speak so little in his new Testament concerning the Law which is the rule which he hath set for the service of that his house namely because he could look upon that for the greatest part to be done already And should he have been more particular therein he had taken his people off from the study of the old Testament which he would not doe since it was written for our learning yea he purposely avoyds it that he might oblige his people to that study His faithfulnesse in the house of God did bespeak it of him Therefore whoever shall confine himself only to the new Testament to finde out the law of Gods worship and service he shall never finde it not onely as to Infant-baptisme but also to all other Ordinances whatsoever because as I said the new Testament speaks of things only by hints here and there for the most part and as supposing many things then already known when that was written and commonly received among his people As for instance he saith of his Church even that Church wherein Timothy was instructed touching his behaviour 1 Tim. 3. 16. and therefore meant of a visible Church that it is his House See p. 28. and the Church of Corinth is said to be the Temple of God 2 Cor. 6. 16. But where is the nature of the house or Temple unfolded in the new Testament For that we must goe to the old and there we finde that a Temple or an house of God must be separated from that which is common and made sacred to his presence and such must a people be who are now his House and Church which presence of his when he totally withdraws he calleth it a profaning or defiling of his Sanctuary Ezek. 24. 21. I will profane my sanctuary the excellency of your strength that is he would make it common and to be as any other place Again the word separate is sometimes used in the new Testament as Acts 13. 2. 2 Cor. 6. 17. which is of necessity to be understood by him that would understand the Ordinances of God and service of his house or the house it selfe for
had confirmed by oath to Abraham that he might shew the immutability of his counsel to the Heirs of promise and that we might have strong consolation he gives that for one the multiplying of his seed A further proofe we have Gen. 15. 5. Look now towards Heaven and tell the Stars if thou be able to number them and he said unto him so shall thy seed be Abraham beleeved it is said and it was counted to him for righteousness This the Apostle bringeth to prove justification by free grace through faith in Christ Rom. 4. 3. 18. 22. Therefore that multiplying of his seed promised in those words so shall thy seed be had reference not onely to the Jews but also to believing Gentiles the increase of whose number by means of Gods blessing believers so as to make them blessings as Abrahams seed was intended in that promise and as part of that Gospel which God preached unto Abraham else his beleeving it had not been imputed for righteousnesse nor the Apostle alledged it to prove justification by faith in Christ as he doth in that place Again we know that one great promise to beleevers now under the New Testament is that the kingdome of Christ that is the Church at last shall fill the world Dan. 2. The stone cut out without hands which smote the image upon the feet and brake to pieces the Iron and the Clay the Brasse the Silver and the Gold became a great mountain and filled the whole earth And the stone is interpreted of the kingdome of Christ v. 44. To this purpose is that of our Saviour Matth. 13. 31. comparing the kingdom of Heaven to a grain of mustard seed which is the least of all seeds but when it is grown is the greatest of all herbs And that it is like to leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meale till the whole was leavened Now the Lords making beleevers blessings and thereby multiplying Abrahams seed is that which makes his kingdome thus to be like leaven whereby the whole world at last will be seasoned with the knowledge and love of Christ Therefore this multiplying of beleevers so as to fill the world is made by the Apostle Rom. 4. 13. to be part of Abrahams promise The promise that he should be Heir of the World was not to Abraham or to his seed through the Law but through the righteousness of faith Then mark what followeth v. 16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the Father of us all as it is written I have made thee the Father of many Nations Who against hope beleeved in hope that he might be the Father of many Nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be namely as the stars of heaven for number From these words observe First that Abraham by the promises given unto him was made the Heir of the world Secondly that the promise of multiplying his seed in those words I will make thee a Father of many Nations and so shall thy seed be was one promise whereby he was so made the Heir of the world Thirdly that this promise of multiplying his seed and of his thereby being made the Heir of the world was not made to Abraham or his seed through the Law but through the righteousnesse of faith therefore a Gospel promise Fourthly that this promise was made sure to all beleevers as well Gentiles as Jews Fourthly A fourth thing conteined in Abrahams promise confirmed both to him and all beleevers is that his seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies Gen. 22. 16. The place here cited by the Apostle in the Text as intended also to the Heirs of promise in the New Testament By my selfe have I sworn saith the Lord that in blessing I will blesse thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the Sea-shore and thy seed shall possesse the gate of his enemies that is their power and authority For as gates were for defence so they were places of judgement Amos 5. 15. Hate the evil and love the good and establish judgement in the gate Deut. 16. 18. Judges shalt thou make in all thy gates Dan. 2. 49. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were set over the affairs of the provinces but Daniel sat in the gate of the King This therefore was Gods promise unto Abraham that by means of this blessing he would so multiply his seed as they should not only fill they should also subdue the world at last and raign over it Psal 47. 3. He shall subdue the people under us Rev. 11. 15. The Kingdomes of this world shall be the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ Dan. 7. 18. 28. The Kingdom and Dominion and the greatnesse of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the people of the Saints of the most High and all Dominions shall serve and obey him All this you may observe is reduced to Abrahams promise Psal 47. which is a parallel prophecy to that of Dan. 7. O clap your hands all ye people shout unto God with the voice of triumph for the Lord most High is the King over all the earth He shall subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet God raigneth over the heathen God sitteth upon the Throne of his Holinesse Then mark what followeth The Princes of the people are gathered together even the people of the God of Abraham All this dignity and power therfore is confirmed upon them as his seed and heirs of his promise And although by what hath been said it is evident that this also is one branch of Gods promise made to Abraham Yet I shall adde one place more wherein with submission I suppose we have also a prophesie of what God wil do for his people in this kind and all reduced still to his promise unto Abraham It is Psal 105. mentioned before a Psalm made upon occasion of Davids bringing the Ark to the Tabernacle which he had prepared for it upon mount Sion as we see 1. Chron. 16. 1 7. in which accordingly we have a prophesie foreshewing what God will do when he shall set his King upon his holy hill of Sion having dashed his enemies in pieces like a Potters vessel even when the Kingdomes of the earth are become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ In which prophesie observe two things First how he putteth all that he saith therein upon Gods promise unto Abraham O give thanks unto the Lord make known his deeds among the people sing unto him talk of his wonderous works O ye seed of Abraham his servant ye children of Jacob his chosen Againe v. 8. Which covenant he made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac and confirmed the same to Jacob saying Vnto
noble and a more edifying way of finding out the mind and will of God then they were then appears by this because that was the time of laying foundations ours are the times of building upon foundations being layed and of growing up to a more perfect man Ephes 4. 12. 13. Now though there be a strength in the foundation that is not in the building yet there is an eminency in the building above foundations It appeares also in that when knowledge shall most increase which towards the end it shall it shall increase that way namely by labour and study in searching of the Scriptures not by extraordinary visions or revelations Dan. 12. 4. At the time of the end many shall run to and fro that is shall search to and fro and knowledge shall be increased The same word is used 2 Chron. 16. 9. The eyes of the Lord do runne to and fro throughout the earth to shew himselfe strong for them whose heart is perfect towards him that is he searches and seeks occasions to shew his power for such it is meant of such a going to and fro as men use in searching such as when the children of Israel went about gathering the Manna Numb 11. 8. where the same word is also used Fourthly I may adde that which was mentioned before concerning Antichrist that notwithstanding in the Apostles dayes the same light did shine forth among the Saints and in some respect greater yet that then he had his rise and increase and in these our days is falling and declining to his utter ruin and extirpation which shewes that the Saints of these times in some respect even in point of knowledge and edification therein have preheminence above those who lived in the Apostles times Vse 2. Learn from hence what course is to be taken to be built up in the manifestations of God unto your soules search the Scriptures study throughly that Book of God and give your diligence to understand what God hath spoken to us by his Sonne That is the Mine in which we are to dig for this Wisdom as for Silver and search for it as for hid Treasures Prov. 2. 4. And look not after extraordinary visions or revelations Or else if that be your way you see First your labour will be lost your expectations frustrate Those wayes of speaking now are ceased since God hath spoken to us by his Sonne Secondly you shall runne a most desperate hazard of delusion because you are not in your way and so have nothing to defend you from the subtilties of Satan The way of the Lord is strength to the upright Prov. 10. 29. And he hath given his Angels a charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways Psal 91. 11. but out of your way you have no promise of protection as for instance If it be in things within the compass of nature and reason sense and reason is your guide look what their direction is that is your way and a sufficient guard they are from his delusions therefore our Saviour said to his Disciples Luk. 24. 39. Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle me see for a spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have implying that in matters of that nature sense and reason rightly used are a defence sufficient in a common way of providence from delusions of the Devil Or if it be in matters above nature as the things of the Spirit are yet if you keep to the word of God that is your way and that will keep you and be your protection because it is a creating word so as although it speaks of glorious things above the line or sphere of nature yet is it able to make all good But if it be in natural things you deal without sense and reason or in spiritual and supernatural things without the Scripture or in any other way of revelation then by the word of God which he hath spoken by his sonne now are ye upon the Devils ground and in his snare and he shall lead you captive at his will so the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 25 26. Those who oppose or acknowledge not the truth are in the snare of the Devil and taken captive by him at his will The reason is because he is a spirit who can make powerfull impressions upon phansie and much resembling those of the spirit of God and so in stead of a Conception by the Holy Ghost you shall ere you are aware receive a strong delusion of the Devil Thirdly by this means will you be taken off from that where your advantage lies embracing in stead thereof a phansie or a shadow Thus the Jewes who followed after the Law of righteousnesse their desire in general was good I bear them record saith the Apostle that they have a zeale of God but they sought it not by faith but as it were by the works of the Law and so by means of that diversion were deluded by Satan and their own corruption and attained not the Law of righteousnesse Rom. 9. 31. Thus also the Disciples did not know or not consider how their advantage was in Christ crucified their hearts were altogether set upon an earthly glory for which cause how foolish and slow of heart were they to beleeve all that the Prophets had said concerning Christ Luk. 24. 25. So in this case the advantage of the Saints lieth in their being led by the Spirit into all truth and that not by immediate speaking of himself but by taking of the things of Christ and shewing them unto us John 16. 13 14. Now therefore if you neglect the study of the Scriptures seeking after and expecting revelations extraordinary by the spirit you are besides your work and lose the advantage of the season The Spirit will never that way lead you into any truth It will take of the things of Christ and shew them to you communion with Christ by faith pardon of sinne the blessed priviledge of adoption the infinite satisfaction which the father takes in his beloved sonnes obedience the admirable healing vertue in his blood the life and blessednesse to be enjoyed in fellowship with the father and his sonne such things as these of Christ the spirit will take and shew them to you it will ravish your soules by what it makes you see in each particular it will cause you to comprehend with all Saints what is the height and depth and length and breadth to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge Eph. 3. 18 19. it will fill you with all the fulnesse of God but as for any immediate revelations of himselfe without the things of Christ and without the Word so he will do nothing for you Satan may come and make strong and powerful impressions upon your spirits without taking any of the things of Christ but not the spirit of God which impressions if you listen or give heed unto your thoughts and labours are diverted from your
here made the ground of a Christians confidence So Rom. 4. 12. Beleevers are said to walk in the steps of Abrahams faith Thus David comforted himself Psal 22. 4 5. Our Fathers trusted in thee and they were not confounded Faith is a great work but this incouragement we have the things to be believed are things of a common salvation Jude 3. A duty to which others are obliged as well as we and that which many thousands have done before us 1 Pet. 5. 9. Whom resist stedfastly in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren which are in the world So Col. 1. 23. If ye continue in the faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven As if he had said Had it been a Gospel devised onely for you and so you put upon a way of believing by your selves you might then have disputed the case and have been unsetled but it is not so Fourthly That Oaths are lawful and in some cases a duty among Christians God himselfe sweareth and his swearing is set forth by what is in use amongst men namely for confirmation to put an end to all strife When he swears he acts after the manner of man now if he acts as a man it shall not be in that which is sinful He was made like us in all things yet without sin Heb. 4. 25. Leut. 6. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him and shalt swear by his name So Jer. 4. 2. whereby we see how to understand those other places Math. 5. 33. James 5. 12. namely that we swear not profanely or commonly but religiously and as a sacred work so saith our Saviour let your communication be yea yea nay nay And that we swear not by any creature but by his name such instances are given in both places Fifthly That those who are Beleevers have not onely the Promise but also the Oath of God to rest their confidence upon He loveth to do like himselfe and therefore to do the utmost for his people In working his right hand teacheth him Psal 45. 4. and in promising and making sure his promise he doth what may be done for us Because he could swear by no greater he sware by himself What cause have we to be convinced of sin because of unbelief as our Saviour speaketh John 16. 9. since God hath done and said so much if we are unbelieving notwithstanding Sixthly That there is a strife or controversie between God and each uncomfortable soul among his people Full of disputes and jealous thoughts we are which are the cause of our discomforts therefore God gives to us his promise and his oath to be an end of all such strife between himself and us That by two immutable things wherein it was impossible for God to Lye we might have strong consolation Other things might be observed I shall name but one observation more and that I shall insist upon and for which I made choice of this Scripture upon this occasion It is this Seventhly That what the Lord confirmed by Oath to Abraham he confirmed it to us even to all beleevers after Christ to the worlds end Abraham is here brought in as a pattern and all beleevers are here supposed to inherit the promise made to him in common with him in as much as he saith that what God did for Abraham when by Oath he confirmed to him the promise of blessing him and multiplying his seed he did it that he might shew the immutability of his counsel to the Heirs of promise and that we that is the beleevers of the New Testament might have strong consolation If the promise so confirmed unto him had not been intended and belonged also unto us that confirmation of it so to him had conduced nothing to our comfort nor had we been Heirs of that promise For a further proofe of this point take Gal. 3. 29. If ye be Christs then are ye Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise Where we see that what we have in Christ we have it all as Abrahams seed and as heirs with him of the same promise and what we have as Abrahams seed we have it all in Christ so as the promise made to Abraham is an Epitome or the summe of the Gospel So Luke 1. 55. 72 73. wee finde that when Christ was sent into the world and what was done by him it was to perform the Oath of God to Abraham He hath holpen his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our Fathers to Abraham and his seed for ever To perform the mercy promised to remember his holy Covenant the Oath which he sware to our Father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without feare in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life A further proofe hereof we have in all those places where beleevers of the New Testament both Jews and Gentiles are called Abrahams seed because thereby they are all intitled to his promise made as you see to him and his seed As for instance Gal. 3. 16. To Abraham and his seed were the promises made he saith not and to seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. And this I say that the Covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ the Law which was four hundred and thirty years after could not disanull This one seed which is Christ is not meant of Christ in his own person onely for then no beleever should be accounted the seed of Abraham but onely Christ but of Christ in his mystical body as 1 Cor. 12. 12. All the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ Which body saith the Apostle here is not made up of two seeds Jews and Gentiles but of one seed though made up of both And that he meaneth Christ in that sense is evident by that passage The covenant which was confirmed in Christ 430. years before c. What before he called a promise made to Christ the one seed he afterward calleth a covenant confirmed in Christ namely to us in him as members of his body both Jews and Gentiles therefore this one seed which is Christ is meant of Christ in his mystical body By which it appeareth that the promise made to Abraham was confirmed to beleevers both Jews and Gentiles as his seed So Rom. 4. 16. Therefore is it of faith that it might be of grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed not to that only which is of the Law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all Another proofe is that in Psal 105. 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant ye children of Jacob his chosen he hath remembred
Abrahams seed we have it all in Christ as was shewed before therefore he is said to come to blesse the children of the covenant the Jews first and afterwards the Gentiles And this blessing as it is first laid down Gen. 12. and here repeated by the Apostle wee see is a blessing both upon the people of God themselves and upon their families Nor is this promise to be restrained only unto this that of Abraham and his seed the Lord Christ should come although that also be included because what we receive from Abraham we have it all in Christ for so all those of the line of Christ were blessings to the world as well as he And because here is something intended applicable to all beleevers namely that they also shall be blessings in their generations And because a blessing upon families is intended also for so the words run thou shalt be a blessing and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed therefore I say it must not be so restrained But the meaning is whereas the Lord in bestowing mercy and salvation upon the sons of men proceedeth not according to their merit either in being or foreseen but according to his own free-choice that in his covenant with Abraham he hath thus far limited himselfe and discovered his mind and purpose that his choice shall not be proportionably all over the world alike but that it shall be by families and nations so as he will ordinarily cast elect children upon elect parents and the lot of the Saints in neighbourhoods and places together and not by equal numbers in each part of the world alike Had not his election been so limited to families and nations neither Abraham nor beleevers could have been said to be blessings in spiritual things either to their families or to any other where they live as now they are because God so blesseth only his Elect Ephes 1. 3 4. Hee hath blessed us according as he hath chosen us And for a further proof that this also is one part of Gods promise unto Abraham and in him confirmed unto all beleevers it is not to be omitted that de facto in experience we have found it so In all ages God hath cast it so in his providence that his people are not to be found in all places alike but we find them together in some families and nations Now this is not fallen out by chance but because God hath so made his choice hath been a God to beleevers and to their seed in their Generations and hath made them blessings for the conversion and edification of their children neighbours and acquaintance and that not onely by a common providence as he blesseth the corn and grasse of the field although it must be granted that in an ordinary way of causes good education and example is a great advantage towards the seasoning of the hearts of little ones with the knowledge and love of Christ but it is by vertue of a special word of blessing a creating word of promise which giveth a being to the things promised even this promise made to Abraham and in him to all believers Blessing I will blesse thee and thou shalt be a blessing and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed without which such examples and other means of education and conversion had not had such efficacy and power in turning sinners unto God But in the next place let us see what the Scripture faith further for a proofe hereof That in Psal 105. mentioned before speaketh something to it where it is said that Gods covenant with Abraham was a word which he hath commanded to a thousand generations which phrase implyeth that it should be a blessing conferred upon posterity from generation to generation according to that in Gen. 17. 7. I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations to be a God to thee and thy seed after thee That which maketh it more clear is that of our Saviour upon the conversion of Zacheus Luke 19. 9. Now is salvation come into this house for as much as he also is become a son of Abraham Salvation was not onely come into his soul but also into his house and upon that account And for the same reason it was that Paul could use that argument to the jaylour Act. 16. 31. Believe and thou shalt be saved and thy house namely because of this promise unto Abraham that God would blesse Abraham and with him beleevers as his seed and make them blessings to their families so as the conversion of the father of the family would bring salvation into his house To this purpose also is that in Rom. 11. 16. If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead For if the first fruits be holy the lump also is holy and if the root be holy so are the branches He speaks it of the calling of the Jews and putteth it upon this He maketh Abraham and the Fathers to be an holy root as we see verse 28. As concerning the Gospel they are enemies for your sake but as touching the election they are beloved for the Fathers sake for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance The Jews are broken off from this holy root and the Gentiles are graffed into the same root and the time is comming when the Jews shall be graffed in again and that for the Fathers sake and because the gift once given to them God will not repent of If it be said that graffiing into the holy root is to be understood of the Gentiles being brought into the Church I answer it comes all to one for the church bringeth fourth children unto Abraham Gal. 4. Jerusalem which then was is said to have her Children who adhering to the letter of the Law in opposition to the Gospel which was typified and shadowed therein sought to be justified by the works of the Law born therefore as Ishamel was by Agar onely after the flesh And Jerusalem which is above which is the mother of us all hath her children also who being justified by faith are brought forth as Isaac was by Sarah by promise But whether it be the one or the other we see that both sorts of children are brought forth to Abraham All the children of the Church are Abrahams seed Therefore I say it cometh all to one Nor may we say that Christ only is this holy root into which the Gentiles are graffed because it had been no argument to say Because Christ is holy therefore the Jews are or shall be holy and therefore shall be converted But make Abraham that holy root and the argument is good And because the Jewes which are to be converted cannot be said to be natural branches to Christ as to their own root as they are said to be to that root of which the Apostle speaks namely by reason
forbid the application of the seal to Infants it behoveth them to shew by what warrant from God they make that alteration And whereas they of that opinion against Infant-Baptisme think that they are onely upon the negative part and therefore call for a precept or example to prove the lawfulnesse thereof thinking it sufficient because as they suppose neither precept nor example can be found thereupon to refuse the practice of it in this they are mistaken As for a command there it is Gen. 17. 9. Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore that is shalt perform the token of it thou and thy seed after thee in their Generations which as hath been shewed is a command which lieth upon Abrahams spiritual seed now in the times of the New Testament and it behoveth such as deny Infant-Baptisme to shew that God hath made such an alteration in the token or seal of his covenant as that it is now not to be applyed unto Infants and whereas the application of it unto them was a part of the token or seal thereof before Christ that since Christ it hath by a word of institution from God ceased so to be Thirdly This application of the token of the covenant unto Infants cometh not onely under the notion of a duty but also of a priviledge therefore is it said Acts. 7. 8. he gave to Abraham the covenant of circumcision and so he begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day It was therefore a gift conferred upon him and his which being given to Abraham and to his spiritual seed in their generations to him as the father of all them that believe to all beleevers as his seed a priviledge both to parents and to children which I say being once given by God who may presume to take it away without a word and warrant from himselfe and we know the gifts of God are without repentance Rom. 11. 29. therefore is it not to be imagined that by him it should be taken from his people least of all that now in the times of the new Testament his bounty to them should be short of what it was before Obj. It will be objected yet further that this command thus urged is onely from the Old Testament but if the application of the token of Abrahams covenant to Infants now had been intended the New Testament had not been so silent in it as not to leave us one precept or example for it To this I answer Answ First that the New Testament is not altogether silent in this matter as for instance Acts. 2. 38. where Peter said unto the people Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus for the demission of sinnes and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off that is even to the Gentiles also even as many as the Lord our God shall call Namely the promise of receiving the Holy Ghost which he saith they should receive upon their repentance and baptisme according to that in Joel mentioned vers 17. that in the last days God would poure out of his spirit upon all flesh as well upon Gentiles as Jewes and not onely so but also according to Gods promise unto Abraham therefore he saith it was not onely unto them but also to their children for as we may grant that in Joel to be here meant so we must not exclude that of Abraham for they are both as one in this matter The gift of the Holy Ghost and that also to the Gentiles is a main branch of Abrahams covenant as we see Gal. 3. 13 14. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith Nor may we confine that promise in Joel to extraordinary gifts of tongues and miracles because it is a promise that was not to expire with the Apostles times Acts 2. 17. but extendeth to all the latter days and unto all those whom the Lord calleth among the Gentiles and is yet in fulfilling when all those gifts are ceased for that phrase the last dayes in Scripture signifieth all that space of time from the comming of Christ in the flesh to the end of the world 1. Tim. 4. 1. 2. Tim. 3. 1. Heb. 1. 2. 9. 26. And if the words be considered it will appear that the ordinary gifts of the spirit are also included therein Mark the words In the last days saith God I will poure out of my spirit upon all flesh This in the general In particular it followeth First your Sons and your Daughters shall prophesie and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams This we may understand of extraordinary gifts and prophesying fulfilled in the Apostles Prophets extraordinarily inspired in the Primitive times of use then in laying the foundations of the Church of the New Testament being of the seed of the Jews Secondly and on my servants and my handmaids will I pour out of my spirit in those days and they shall prophesie This must be meant of ordinary gifts because it is made a distinct thing to the former as that which God would do for all his servants he would give them the spirit of prophesie as we see Rev. 19. 10. when John would have worshiped the Angel because he had revealed such prophesies unto him the Angel forbids him saying See thou do it not and for this reason for saith he I am thy fellow servant namely in this thing and not onely his but also of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesie Now every beleever hath the testimony of Jesus so is it said Rev. 12. 17. The Dragon made Warre with the Church which keep the commandements of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ So chap. 1. 9. Therefore every beleever hath the spirit of prophesie although not so as to preach in the Church a priviledge forbidden unto Women 1 Cor. 14. 34. 35. yet to understand the prophesies which the Saints of the Old Testament ordinarily had not the prophesies were as things sealed up in those dayes but Christ hath opened the seales of that book to us of the New Testament 1 Pet. 1. 10. 11. Dan. 12. 9. Rev. 5. A promise to this effect we have also to all beleevers Joh. 16. 13. when the spirit of truth is come he shall lead you into all truth and he shall shew you things to come So Joh. 2. 13 20 27. he saith not onely to fathers and young men but also unto little children in religion that they had received the unction of the holy one and they knew all things being taught by that anointing As these places must be understood of what is common to all beleevers
utter dark sayings of old Who is it that speaketh thus It is Christ of whom this was a prophesie as we see Matth. 13. 35. All these things spake Iesus in parables that it might be fulfilled that was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world And as in the Psalme he saith Give eare O my people to my Law so when he had spoken his parable Matth. 13. 9. he addeth He that hath an eare to hear let him hear Well what is this Law that Christ will teach his people For we see the Psalme is a prophesie wherein Christ is brought in teaching his Disciples Law The Law that he teacheth is this He relateth the history of the Israelits how they provoked and tempted God and how he punished them in the Wildernesse and in Canaan how they being afflicted did repent and then sinned yet more and were not stedfast in his Covenant and what the carriage of the Lord was towards them all along in his dispensing punishments or mercy to them This he calleth his teaching his people his Law and this he saith he would declare to them that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandements and might not be as their Fathers a stubborn and rebellious generation that set not their heart aright v. 6 7 8. And this is the scope of Christ in the parable of the sower where he sheweth what befalls unfruitfull hearers some as the High-way some as the Stony some as the Thorny ground which the Holy Ghost makes parallel with that Psalm 78. in Matth. 13. 3. So as by that Psalme it is supposed that when he instructed and tutoured his people in the Wildernesse and in Canaan under the administrations of the Old Testament dispensing punishments and favours as a Father to his Children as occasion served he then taught his people his law and so as should serve for the ages after Christ as he saith vers 5. of that Psalm He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which he commanded our Fathers that they should make them known to their Children that the Generation to come might know them even the children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their Children even in the ages after Christ for you see the Psalme is a prophesie to be then fulfilled The reason of this is because however the Law of the Old and that of the New Testament in circumstances and in the particular duties required do differ yet as to the substance or general nature of the Law they are one and the same As for instance the generall nature of the Law in both we have in the words of our Saviour Luke 10. 28. This doe and thou shalt live And of the Apostle Rom. 10. 5. The man that doth those things shall live by them So Nehem. 9. 29. and Ezek. 20. 11. The Law prescribes that rule and method of service which God hath set and sanctified in order to our enjoyment of life and blessednesse in and from himselfe More particularly three things there are in the generall nature of the Law and in respect of each of them it is one and the same to us as it was to them 1. A commanded rule or method of service to God Heb. 9. Then verily the first Covenant or Testament had also Ordinances of Divine Worship This word also supposeth both the one and the other to have such Ordinances of Divine Worship 2. That this rule or method of service so commanded is holy consisting of such things as have in their use a spiritual efficacy above the common course of nature Such were theirs to them and such are ours to us The Law is holy the Commandement holy Rom. 7. 12. and the Law is spiritual v. 14. Even those duties which are naturaly moral being now to be performed to a spiritual and supernatural end together with other institutions namely in order to enjoy communion with and life in God are spirituall and holy 3. These Ordinances or Commandements to be observed under penalties both corporal and spiritual the word life comprehends both which is our case as well as theirs 1 Cor. 10. 1. They were all baptized and did all eat the same spiritual meat and did all drink the same spiritual drink yet fell in the Wilderness for their lusting for their Idolatry Fornication tempting God and murmuring Now says the Apostle all these things happened unto them for examples and were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed least he fall namely as they fell So Psal 95. applied by the Apostle to us of the New Testament Heb. 3. 4. Tempt not God nor provoke him as they did in the Wilderness least he swear against you in his wrath as he did against them And this he speaketh to beleevers as hath been shewed whom he calls the people of his pasture and sheep of his hand Psal 95. Holy brethren pertakers of the Heavenly calling Heb. 3. 1. whom also he supposeth to be in Christian Churches Heb. 13. 7. And we find that the profanation of the Sacrament by the Corinthians was punished also by corporall sicknesse and death 1 Cor. 11. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many are fallen a sleep Therefore I say the Law is a command to be observed upon penalties and rewards Psal 2. 12. Heb. 6. 10. onely to us his rewards and punishments are more in that which is spiritual and less in things corporal then they were to them Nor is this to be under a covenant of works It is true the Law to man in the state of Innocency before the Gospel was added was a covenant of works but ever since both to them before and to us after Christ the Law hath been as it were incorporated with the Gospel as thereby become part of the Covenant of grace Therefore the Law given by Moses is called the Testament of Christ as well as the Law given to us by Christ himself that the Old Testament this the New and both confirmed by his blood that in the type by the blood of Bulls and Goats this in the answer-type by his owne blood Heb. 9. 16. Where a Testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the Testatour whereupon nether the first Testament was dedicated without blood Now the Testament of Christ so confirmed must needs be of the covenant of grace not of works Therefore also what Moses saith of the Law given by him Deut. 30. 12. 14. It is not in Heaven that thou shouldst say who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it but the word is very nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart c. This
blessing which these are not yea though we cannot with certainty affirm of this or that Infant of a beleever that it is inherently holy yet holy as thus separated and differenced from those who are common by that word of blessing from God under which they are As we cannot upon certainty affirm of any particular person in the Church that he is inherently holy because he may make a lye in his confession yet of every such person we can say he is in that sense holy namely as separated unto God in that relation and thereby differenced from those who are common or uncleane To this I adde that as it is a necessary qualification in the confession of one who is received into Church relation that therein be held forth in words and actions that which giveth a positive ground of hope that he is inherently holy so in this promise of God to Abraham concerning his purpose of election so by families as hath been shewed we have no less ground of hope concerning Infants of beleevers In the one we have a persons own profession concerning his spiritual state and interest in Christ 1 Cor. 7. 14. Matth. 10. 14. in the other we have what God himself professeth how he hath separated them unto himself and made them part of his kingdom and partakers of the blessing of his covenant And as a person of ripe years is received to baptisme not because he is certainly known to be inherently holy but upon his profession to be such wherein both himself and the Church may be deceived so upon that which God hath said concerning Infants are they to be received also Nor let it seem strange that those who are made holy from a word of blessing from the Lord are by him appointed to have the seale of that word and covenant by which they are so made holy as in the former use was proved that he hath so commanded and appointed Which also is another reason why such children are by the Apostle called holy namely because they are not onely within the covenant of Abraham but also are appointed of God to be a subject recipient of the seale of that covenant The seale is holy and those to whom it is applyed must be so or else it is profaned and made common As for that interpretation given of that place by some els were your children unclean but now are they holy to be meant that else their children were bastards but now they were legitimate It cannot be the meaning of the Apostle because so the Apostle had answered nothing to the satisfaction of those who had put the Question to him about putting away an unbeleeving Wife For it seems the Corinthians had written to him and had put certain questions to be answered by him as we see vers 1. whereof that was one Now for him to say that a beleeving Husband might lawfully keep his Wife still though an unbeleever else were their children bastards had been to leave them as dark and unsatisfied as before for that had been but idem per idem or barely to affirm the thing But it is evident the Apostle bringeth that of the childrens being holy as an argument to prove their lawful continuance in that relation notwithstanding one of them was an unbeleever Nor can we suppose the Apostle would so reason that except one of the married couple be a beleever their children are bastards Moreover the holinesse here mentioned is supposed to be such as the unbeleever contributeth nothing to it he is sanctified he doth not sanctifie therefore cannot be meant of legitimacy of birth which must be as well from the one as from the other since marriage is an ordinance not peculiar to the Church of God but common unto all mankind By this answer of his it appears that it was a Jewish scruple that did trouble them namely whereas under the Law it was a sinne for one of the Church of the Jewes to marry a strange Wife that is one who was not of the Church and in such case they were commanded to put away their Wives and to separate themselves from them as being polluted by them as we see in Ezra 10. 11. 9. 12. as it was also the sinne of the old world that the sons of God that is they of the Church did take in marriage the Daughters of men that is of the posterity of Caine Such was the Law of the communion of Saints also in the Church even in those dayes Therefore the Corinthians put the Question to the Apostle whether now also in the times of the New Testament one of the Church might continue in Wedlock with one not of the Church but an infidell To this the Apostle answereth that if the unbelieving Wife was not sanctified in or by the believing Husband that is if any church-Church-Law was thereby broken so as their continuance in that relation was not lawful but did cause pollution to the beleever that then their Children must not be reputed holy but unclean or common so as if they would deny the Wife mariage communion upon that account they must deny their children all spiritual communion in the Church For such was the Law to the Jewes Ezra 10. 3. They put away their Wives and such as were born of them also and that according to the command of Ezra and according to the Law By that which they granted he proves that which they did question Obj. If it be objected that upon this account not onely children of beleevers but also Nations must be reputed holy because the promise is that beleevers shall be blessings also unto Nations To this I answer Answ The case is not the same for children are immediately under this word of blessing in the familie relation as the people of God in the Church are immediately under that blessing which the Lord commandeth out of Sion But as for Nations they are under it in a more remote capacity by means of what the Saints are in their families and in the Church Therefore although such as are of the Church and the children also of such families are holy yet it followeth not that therefore the Nation should be holy To this I adde that children are in the power of parents and at their disposing and so as when they in their sanctification or being made holy give up themselves to God by faith and obedience to his ordinances their children are therein vertually given up also in as much as a beleever in some respect giveth up to God together with himself all in his power Now this cannot be said of any nation whatsoever Obj. It will be objected yet further That the Jews are said to be holy even the whole people of the Jews who now are unbeleevers Rom. 11. 16. If the first fruit be holy the lump is also holy and if the root be holy so are the branches yet have they no right to baptisme and therefore that this holiness of the children of
proper work where your advantage is and though your desires and intentions in the main are good yet you 'l mscarry and come short of what you seek in stead of advancing forward you 'l go backward in Religion and the work of God in stead of getting higher you will be low and poor and beggarly even in the dust and as Children caried about with every wind of Doctrine by the craftynesse of men whereby they lie in wait cunningly to deceive This hath always been the policy of Satan he passes not how strong or fervent your affections are about the matters of the soule so as you are besides your work for so the work of God is hindered and his work goes on Vse 3. Hence also learne how to study and to heare the word with profit There are mistakes as in the matter or the Object so in the manner of our study Now from the point which hath been opened this is the rule that we hear and study as those who are spoken to by the Son and that in three particulars especially First you must give the more earnest heed to the things which are spoken This is the Use made of this point by the Apostle Heb. 2. 1. having in the former chapter proved this Doctrine that God hath spoken to us by his Sonne and withall set forth his dignity above the Angels that is his conclusion Therefore saith he let us give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard least at any time we let them slip This is the great impediment whereby the saving vertue of the Gospel is obstructed and it becomes so fruitlesse in the soules of men because other things are heeded so so much and that so little Dogges and Horses are regarded by us but when God hath written to us the great things of his Law they are accounted as a strange thing Hose 8. 12 This is the cause why after so much meanes enjoyed so little good is done when after many Messengers the Lord hath sent his Sonne in stead of yielding him the fruits of his Vineyard the sons of men conspire to kill the Son that so the Vineyard may be theirs Christ hath said enough to overcome the hardest heart he shews the plenty of his Fathers house the priviledge and blessed state of the sonnes of God the sweetnesse of a pardon the glory of the life to come but alas it is not a carelesse slothful or bare hearing that will doe the work Hearken diligently unto me says God so hear and your souls shall live Isai 55. 1 2. Stirre up your selves then when ever you engage in this work think who it is that speaks and what he sayes and know that if you slight him now you shall not do it long the time is near at hand when you must stand before his seat of judgement and receive your sentence from his mouth for life or death eternal Secondly you must continue in his word and not be tossed to and fro with every wind of Doctrine as clouds without water as the Apostle speaks Jude 12. If ye continue in my word saith Christ then are ye my Disciples indeed and ye shall know the truth Joh. 8. 31. Such therefore as are ever wavering and flitting to and fro without establishment so far at least as they are so unconstant and unsetled they are not taught by him but by their own corrupt and sinful ends or they take up things on trust from men and so as the tide turnes they turn and float about according to the stream and current of the times or as they are biased from their own corruptions Two things must be in this continuing in the word of Christ First the understanding must be established in the truth and you in some measureable with your own eyes to see it and to charge it home upon your souls as the truth of God Secondly your practice must be answerable he that is not a doer of the Word is a forgetful hearer James 1. 25. The seed sown is not preserved in the earth except it grow Thirdly The truth must make you free Joh. 8. 32. Then are ye my Disciples indeed saith Christ and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free if ihe son makes you free then are ye free indeed Two things there are in this freedome First a freedome from the raigning power of sinne Secondly an establishment with a free spirit in the service of the Lord. It is not enough that you continue in the word unlesse it hath this powerfull saving work upon you to change the heart to sanctifie it and to subdue the soule to the power of the truth and grace of Christ Fourthly you must labour to receive the Word not in the letter only but the spirit also with the word The Spirit is received sayes the Apostle by the hearing of faith Gal. 3. 2. And beleeving ye were sealed by the holy Spirit of promise Ephes 1. 13. which being a peculiar blessing upon and effect of the Sons speaking as we have heard therefore that you may hear as those who are spoken to by the Sonne this also must be added These are the revelations to be expected and which you are to labour for and this is the onely way to be above external formes and outsides not to lay formes aside for so you are besides them not above them but by a right use of them to labour after higher things for which they are designed I through the law am dead to the law sayes the Apostle Gal. 2. 19. that is by a right use of the Law he was dead to the Law so by a right use of formes which is whether it be the preaching of the Word or any other Ordinances to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost in the use of them in a right sense understood wee are above them It is most true to rest in any formes even in the Letter of the Word it selfe that is in the meer notion or understanding of it without the Spirit is low and poor and beggarly but by way of prevention or redresse hereof to seek and wait for extraordinary revelations is out of one extreame into another and in striving to be above formes to neglect and lay aside the ordinances and wayes of God which he hath sanctified and set apart to be the way and method of a blessed enjoyment of himselfe Nor will this do the work pretended this seeking after extraordinary revelations is as low and poor a matter as the other Those were usefull onely in the time of the Churches infancie or when foundations were in laying as was shewed before therefore whilst men seek that way to be above they are below even in the dust The fruit of every ordinance in the worship is an anointing with fresh oyle even a further participation of the Spirit of God so the comfort of a Sabbath is exprest in that Psal 92. 10. entitled A Psalm or Song
his covenant for ever the word which he commanded to a thousand Generations saying unto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of thine inheritance If any branch of Gods promise unto Abraham may seem to be meant onely of the Old Testament and not of the New it is this of the Land of Canaan Gen. 17. 8. I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the Land wherein thou art a stranger all the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I wil be their God Yet is it expresly said that this promise was a Covenant for ever a word commanded for a thousand Generations and for an everlasting possession which needs must extend to the times of the Gospel because else it had been only for thrice fourteen Generations Matth. 1. 17. And we know that Canaan hatâ— long since ceased to be the possession of Abrahamâ— natural seed Thus also the Apostle sayth here That the promise and oath which we have Gen. 22. 16. By my selfe have I sworne that blessing I will blesâ— thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as thâ— stars of heaven and as the sand which is by the Sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies which cannot but refer to the conquest of that land of Canaan is made and so confirmed unto us that we might have strong consolation If the Question be what that is which is contained in that promise concerning Canaan to be an everlasting possession to Abrahams seed and the Lord to be their God which is to be fulfilled in the times of the New Testament I answer It is all that of which Canaan and the good things thereof was a type namely the spirituall blessings of the heavenly Canaan the Church of the New Testament yea of Heaven it selfe And for the proofe hereof First something we have in that of Ezek. 47. where the Prophet speaketh of the Church of the New Testament under the type of Canaan and saith The Strangers are appointed the lot of their inheritance with the children of Israel Verse 22. They shall have inheritance with you among the Tribes of Israel Not in the Earthly Canaan but the Heavenly represented by it So Esai 65. 9. Mine Elect shall inherit it and my Servants shall dwell there and Sharon shall be a field of Flocks Speaking of the Church of the New Testament Secondly Observe that Abraham accordingly did by faith embrace that promise of Canaan to be an everlasting possession to him and his seed as a promise referring to and including not onely an earthly but also an heavenly inheritance Heb. 11. 8. 9. 10. The reason there rendred by the Apostle why by faith he left his own country went into the Land of promise and lived there with Isaac and Jacob in Tents as strangers is given v. 10. because he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God So v. 13. 14. 15. 16. in what they did and said when they counted themselves strangers and pilgrims upon earth saith the Apostle they declared that they did seek a better country that is to say an heavenly Then mark what followeth Wherefore he is not ashamed to be called their God namely in that which he did in fullfilling of his promise implying that if it had been onely an earthly Canaan which by promise they received from him it had not been worthy of him to give as their God In this the Apostle interprets that promise to Abraham Gen. 17. 8. To thee and to thy seed will I give the Land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and I will be their God That is by the Apostles interpretation he would be so in giving them not onely an earthly but also an heavenly Canaan so as together with those earthly blessings he would bestow himselfe upon them Therefore also when the Israelites brought their first fruits to the place which God did chuse to place his name there and were there to make their acknowledgment before the Priest of the fulfilling of that promise and were required to rejoyce there before the Lord their God for every good thing which the Lord their God had given them Deut. 26. 1. to 11. Interpreters do well refer it not onely to temporal but also to the spiritual good things whereof they were a type because the good things were such as God is there supposed to give them as their God And because not onely their first fruits thus given to God but also the whole lump was holy Rom. 11. 16. which implyeth that they had not onely a natural but also a sacred and religious use of their estates in Canaan And because this whole action was an act of solemne worship in which the type and the thing typified always go together Hence also is it that Esau is branded for a profane person for selling his birthright to this promise Had it been onely of a temporal and not of a spiritual Canaan also there had been nothing of profanesse in it which alwayes is a contempt or neglect of something spiritual And his sin is made the same with theirs who sell their birthright now for a morsel of meat Heb. 12. 16. which those beleevers do who for worldly advantages forgo their priviledges in the Church and house of God and of such the Apostle meaneth it as is evident by the scope of the place and of the whole Epistle as was shewed before and not of wicked men for their birthright is nothing else but death and hell To this I may add what the Apostle saith Heb. 3. 4. chapters namely that the Lords offer to the children of Israel in the Wildernesse to carry them into Canaan and to destroy the inhabitants before them and that in performance of his promise unto Abraham Exod. 2. 24. with 3. 6. 8. 6. 8. Numb 14. 23. Matth. 11 29. was a preaching of the Gospel to them chap. 4. 2. 3. And whereas the Gospel is a promise of rest in God through Christ to every beleever he saith also that it was an offer to them of an entrance into Gods own rest And when he sware that they should not see the good Land concerning which he sware unto their Fathers and that their carcases should fall in the wildernesse this by the Prophet David Psal 95. and by the Apostle in that place is called a swearing against them in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest Which could not have beene said unlesse in that promise the spiritual blessings of the heavenly Canaan also had been comprehended Which albeit I suppose by that which hath been said is evident to an impartial mind yet because so many stumble at this mistake that this promise concerning Canaan was no Gospel promise nor to be in any part fulfilled in the times of the New Testament and because the vindication of this truth is of concernment to our work in hand I shal stay a little in opening this