our consent to Christ is the effect of his consent to us I must leave it to my Reader to judge Or the Substance of this Question is this whether the Soul is first Active or Passive They that affirm that the Soul comes to Christ in its Sins unrenewed make the Soul first Active they who say the Soul acts as a renewed Soul make it first Passive which is such an undoubted Truth that I dare venture my Salvation on it and I hope I have clear Scripture on my side John 5.25 Verily verily I say unto you the Hour is coming and now is when the Dead shall hear the Voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall Live Which cannot be meant only of the Resurrection of the Body because it is said the Hour now is but it hath respect to the quickening of the Soul from the Death in Sin And it clearly proves that Christ finds the Soul Dead when he comes to put forth this Quickening Voice for look as with Lazarus Christ calls him while Dead Lazarus come forth and by this Call infuses Life into him and so enables him to come forth Had another called he might have wasted his Lungs in calling before he would have stirred So Christ calls us when Dead in Sin and with the call puts Life into us and so enables us to hear and obey his Voice Ephes 2.1 You hath he quickened c. Then it seems Christ quickened them and indeed if he do not we cannot and as Gahazi could only lay the Staff on the Face of the Child but could not put Life into him till the Prophet came 2 Kings 4.31,32,33 so till Christ the great Prophet bring home the Word to the Heart we call and cry in vain we can but Prophecy over dry Bones but that Breath that quickens them is from the Lord Ezek. 37.5 Hence Christ the Second Adam is called a quickening Spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 And to prove yet further that the Soul is first Passive before it is Active We have another most clear Text Eph. 2.10 For we are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus c. Mind we are created Now you know that in Creation we were Passive as the Clay in the Hand of the Potter Man cannot be supposed to have any Hand in Creating of himself so that as Man was first purely Passive in the Hand of God and must receive a Natural Life before he could perform a Natural Action so is the Soul as purely passive while God infuses the first Grace whereby the Soul is enabled to put forth that vital Act of coming to Christ so Rom. 10.20 I was found of them that sought me not I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me I cannot but pity such deluded Souls as receive the Doctrine I am confuting for a Doctrine of Free-Grace who are ever Learning and never able to come to the Knowledge of the Truth It 's a sore Judgment to be given over to believe a Lie and to be left to feed on a Stone instead of Bread and not to be able to discern between a Fish to nourish us and a Scorpion to sting us I have observed one great difference in Doctrine among some Dissenters whereby Meeting is set up against Meeting in the same Town to the great dishonour of God and hindrance to Religion lyes in this Some affirm what I have proved and are therefore termed Dark Legal Muddy Preachers the others look upon themselves to be the only Gospel Preachers because they cry down all Qualifications in the Soul when it comes to Christ Gracious ones not excepted But who will be best able to defend their Doctrine at the Great Day I hope by what hath been spoken you will be able to Judge if they mean what they say or indeed know what they say The difference between us is this they own Christ to be the Purchaser of all our Benefits so do I but here we differ they say we must go to him in all our Sins for them I say he that purchased them doth enable us to come to him and so I attribute the Application to him also and now judge who Preaches Free Grace most clearly I make Christ the Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End they make him only the Beginning and affirm that if Sinners do not come as they are they must be Damned If Christ saves none but such as come to him thus in their Sins that is by their own power for if Sinners are acted by the Power of God then they do not come as they are what a Remnant will be saved A Remnant did I say Nay I dare affirm if that be true not one Soul shall be saved Man is naturally unwilling to come to Christ John 5.40 And ye will not come to me that ye might have Life Which Text only proves there is a Will in Man not to come to Christ though it be for Life they will Die rather and how hard a thing do Ministers find it to perswade Souls to come to Christ Now if this is the Nature of all then those whose Wills are not changed will never come and if their Wills are changed by a Divine Power and they so enabled to come then they do not come in their Sins in an unchanged State only God can change the Will as in Psal 110.3 They shall be a willing People in the Day of thy Power How little is Christ beholden to such who would frustrate his design in Dying He expected a Seed for to serve him as the effect of his Sufferings But at this rate he must have none unless they come to him upon the weak Legs of their own Free-Will They will give Christ the Honour to lay down his Life for the Sheep but deny that it is he which goes into the Wilderness to seek them or that it is he that brings the Lost Sheep home upon his Shoulders No say they the lost Sheep must come home of it self or Perish The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Luke 19.10 And they who own him to be a Saviour and deny him to be a Seeker do virtually deny him to be a Saviour For as it is observed of Sheep when once they stray from the Fold they never return again of themselves so now we are gone astray from God if he will Save us he must Seek us hence Jeremiah 2.24 Man is compared to the Wild Ass to denote I conceive thus much that as that Creature will never come to Hand till such time as she is in Pain to bring forth so Man will never return from his Wilderness State till he feel the Pangs of the New Birth in his Soul Now though I cannot but hope many that differ from me in this Point are dear to God holding this Notion out of Ignorance or Blind Zeal and that they are upon a good Foundation yet I am verily perswaded this Doctrine they defend will
is like to infect the more But I shall not stay you any longer at the Threshold but lead you into the Point before us But that our Differences may not seem greater than they really are I shall lay down some things as Cautious to prevent mistakes for I am perswaded that most of our unhappy Differences do arise from a want of a right Understanding of each others Terms and therefore observe carefully 1. The Enquiry is not concerning the State and Condition which Christ finds the Soul in when he first comes to take hold on us by his Spirit in order to Regenerating of us if it was I would readily grant he then finds the Soul wreeking in Sin indeed without the least propensity or inclination to do Good yea to every Good Word and Work Reprobate with a strong inclination to Evil in a Dead Blind Ignorant Senseless and Stupid Condition in the Snere of the Devil In this State we all are by Nature and consequently in this State he must find all when he comes to Change their Nature our Natures being all the same as derived from one Common Root though our Actions may differ according to the various Temptations we may meet with But 't is about the Souls coming to Christ between which a clear distinction must be made for though Christ enable us to come to him or believe in him yet he doth not Believe for us to excuse us The Act of coming is ours and till the Soul thus come the union is incompleat I grant when Christ comes thus to the Soul that Soul shall come to Christ yet his coming to us is not our coming to him though the Cause of our coming Things that are inseparable must not be confounded the Humane and Divine Nature are inseparable in Christ yet the Divine is not the Humane nor the Humane the Divine So in Marriage the Man consents to the Woman and the Woman to the Man but yet the consent of the Woman is not the consent of the Man So in this Case Christ is first willing and he makes us willing yet his Will and our Will are distinct 2. Nor are we Enquiring by what Power the Soul is enabled to come to Christ for tho' I have just cause to question whether those that differ from me in the other will agree with me in this yet for my own part tho' I plead for a mighty Change wrought in order to our coming to Christ yet I freely acknowledge this Change to be of God and that the very Seeds of our Life of Sanctification are from Christ working as a most free Agent in us and that it is a mighty and irresistible Power by which he works 3. Nor are we Enquiring what Virtue there is in this Act of coming in order to our Justification or Glorification For though I believe and the Scripture affirms that unless we Believe we shall never be Justified nor Glorified yet I believe both are according to the Riches of God's Free-Grace It is Free-Grace that works this Change enabling of us to come and it is Free-Grace that we are accepted when we do come But positively the Enquiry is whether there is such a thing as a Change wrought in the Soul in order to our coming to Christ Or whether we must come as we are in a Natural and Unregenerate State wreeking in the Filth of Sin and Power and Dominion of our Lusts Or whether the Drunkard Swearer c. can or ought without any Change to come in those Lusts to Christ So that the Question is whether a Sinner can or ought to come to Christ in his Sins But before I affirm or deny I must further explain if possible what we mean by coming and what by coming in our Sins lest my Opposers when not able to stand their Ground should slip out at some Back-door Now by coming to Christ I understand believing in Christ according to Scripture Dialect Isa 55.1 Mat. 11.28 and to put all out of doubt I have been assured again and again from the Mouths of those that differ from me in this Point that they mean nothing else and by coming in Sin I understand it for one utterly devoid of any Principle of Grace one in the Gall of Bitterness and Bonds of Iniquity and not one that only falls into Sin And so I have also been assured by my Opposers they mean and indeed we cannot understand it otherwise for tho' the best of Saints have Sin yet the least of Saints is not a Sinner I distinguish between Actions and a State a Sinner in this Sense is not opposed to Perfection but to Sincerity So that in the most plain Terms the Question lyes thus Whether a Person utterly devoid of all Grace and under the Power and Dominion of Sin can or ought to believe in Christ in that State before any Change be wrought in him This some affirm and I deny And in speaking to this Point I shall prove none can come thus in their Sins to Christ and then that none ought to come thus in his Sins to Christ I prove the former from most express Scripture Eph. 1.19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who Believe and if we cannot believe without this Power then not as we are for all are not acted by this Power John 6.44 No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him Now I would ask if all Men are thus drawn If not you give away the Cause if you say they are then it follows that all must actually be Saved or else some are able to resist those drawings the latter of which is Grand Arminianism the former many degrees worse So John 15.5 For without me ye can do nothing Now I would ask if coming to Christ is not something Nay is it not the most noble act the Soul can put forth and that which is most pleasing and acceptable to God And if so the Text says without Christ we cannot do it Now I would ask if every Man hath Christ in him as the Quakers affirm If you say he hath you shew what you are if not then when assisted by Christ we do not come as we were Thus you see how expresly the Scripture is on my side and whether we may most safely trust that Word of God or the Deluded Fancies of Men judge ye And as I have proved it from most express Scripture so I shall further prove it from those Metaphors the Scripture uses to express it As first It is frequently stiled a Coming a Metaphor or borrowed Expression from a Man walking from one place to another And from this two Considerations offer themselves for the confirming and illustrating the Truth I have affirmed for as no Man can act corporally till he is first alive so no Man can put forth such a vital Act as believing in Christ till Christ hath first infused into him a vital Principle and till then a Dead Man
be found in the Great Day to be but as Hay Wood Stubble or if possible some more Cumbustible Matter Notwithstanding I have thus clearly stated and proved this to be a Truth from Scripture that none can or ought to come to Christ in their Sins yet I doubt not but many who never were led into the Knowledge of their own Hearts to see their Natural Enmity against Christ and Utter Inability to perform any Duty Spiritually will be so far from setting to their Seal that this is true that they will be but the more exasperated We read in Acts 7.54 that when the Apostle had reproved those Jews for their Sin in Crucifying Christ to the end it might not be their ruin they were cut to the Heart but instead of Blessing God for such a Faithful Reprover 't is said they gnashed on him with their Teeth Man is Naturally prone to set up himself and when he cannot make himself the Purchaser of his Salvation he would have a Hand in the Application and how unwelcome shall a Faithful Minister be to such when they come to beat down their Carnal Confidence and to spoil their Glorying in the Flesh And how hard for a Minister who shuns not to declare the whole Counsel of God and whose design is that Christ alone may be exalted to Preach such Doctrine as this but by and by some will be offended Such Doctrine as this would not be received from Christ himself by some was he now on Earth John 6.65,66 And he said Therefore said I unto you that no Man can come unto me except it were given him of my Father From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him Mind no sooner had he told them in plain words what I have been proving but from that time many went back and walked no more with him Now if I am judged Erroneous yet I hope such as differ from me in this Point will not judge Christ so yet why Christ should be judged a true Witness and I a false Witness for relating his very Words I see not but if I am yet it more encourages me that Christ is on my side than it shall discourage me though all the Devils in Hell wore against me being fully satisfied that he will be the Judge at the Great Day not only of our Lives but of our Doctrines nor will any Doctrines pass for Truth then if they have not a Divine Stamp upon them and sure I am this Doctrine I oppose hath none I am satisfied if those search the Scripture from Genesis to the Revelation they can find no Text written to prove that Sinners can or ought to come to Christ in their Sins though many Texts prove it the Duty of Sinners to come But to take a review of the forecited Text and to see who they were that forsook Christ for delivering such Doctrine you may see Verse 64. Such as believed not none else Christ turns him to the Twelve Will ye also go away Peter on the behalf of the rest replies Lord to whom shall we go Thou hast the Words of Eternal Life As if he had said Lord dost thou think we are so unacquainted with our own Hearts as to go from thee for delivering that Truth that 〈◊〉 who have but tasted thou art Gracious have experienced These are the Words of Eternal Life and therefore thou mayest as well ask us whether we are willing to miss of Life as forsake thee for these Truths sake Thus you see however contemptible this Doctrine was then to those that believed not or may be to such whose Eyes are not yet opened or at least who see no clearer into Divine Mysteries than he who saw Men as Trees yet this was judged such a Fundamental Truth to the Twelve that it behoved them as they tendred the Salvation of their Souls to receive it In a word and I shall close Tho' those that differ from me in this Point may for my good-will become my Enemies because I tell them the Truth yet in love to their Souls I would have them consider whether this Doctrine they defend doth not exclude the Spirit of God from having any hand in the Application of the Benefits purchased by Christ to the Soul And if it doth I hope you will see it to be an Error indeed Now I think none dare deny but that upon our coming to Christ his Benefits are applied to all Now the Question is how or by what power the Soul is enabled to come Say I as renewed and born of the Spirit Tit. 3.3,5 say they though without one Syllable in Scripture to prove it no the Soul comes wreeking in all his Sins unchanged unrenewed and if so then judge if this is not to exclude the Spirit wholly from having any hand in this Work For if such as come to Christ have the Spirit then they do not come as they are in their Sins Let me close all with a Word to you my Auditors and especially to you my Brethren I chiefly designed what is contained in this Book for you that you may be established in the Truth as it is in Jesus Take you heed of rejecting Sound Doctrine lest God give you over to believe a Lie 'T is the Truth must make you free Stand you therefore and Enquire for the good Old Way and walk therein and you shall find rest to your Souls Contend you earnestly for the Faith once delivered to the Saints Beware of such pretended Lights as do not shine forth in God's Word In a word if I have delivered nothing in this Book but what I have proved from Scripture then I hope you will see it your Duty to receive these Truths 'T is sad when any Love Darkness rather than Light But if any of you after all my Labour for your sakes should reject these Truths I leave this Book not as a Legacy but as a Witness against you at the Great Day FINIS
by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them An Answer no doubt pleasing to the Ignorant sort that will Swallow down any thing true or false that hath but the Name of Christ or the Righteousness of Christ annexed to it But sure this bold Asserter had forgotten that Text Isa 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony if any Man an Anabaptist not excepted walk not according to this Rule 't is because there is no Light in him or rather I have reason to judge he was resolved his own Fancy should guide him in this Matter Now I would fain know where this Author can prove from Scripture any imputation of Christ's Righteousness to any but Believers I am sure he cannot and till he can however fond he or his Brethren may be of his Notion it not agreeing with the Rule in God's Word we are bound to look upon it as arising from the Darkness his own deluded Fancy Since I have been a Student in Divinity I have been taught both out of God's Word and from our most Worthy Authors that the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ had respect to the removal of our Guilt and that it was the Work of the Spirit within us to remove the Filth and destroy the Power of Sin Tit. 3.5 By the washing of Regeneration and renewings of the Hely Ghost Hence we are said to be born of the Spirit Justification and Sanctification though inseparable yet are widely distinguished by all but Papists and such as do adhere to them Sure this Gentleman had strangely forgot the great difference between our Title to Heaven and our Meetness for Heaven unless he looks upon our Claim to rise from our Meetness The Righteousness of Christ though it gives us a Title to Heaven as we do apprehend the Person of Christ by Faith yet it doth not take away our Filth any other way than by way of Purchase 'T is the Spirit of God in us that is the Efficient and that is the thing we are enquiring into VVhy then doth this Author thus beguile his unwary Reader when he is enquiring how Sin comes to be subdued he tells him how Sin comes to be pardoned As if a Pardon to a Malefactor would change his Heart or as if that Promise of a new Heart added to Forgiveness was a Promise of little worth I know not what it is to him I am sure 't is precious to all Saints what doth this imply but that the Righteousness of Christ was imputed to Infants to the end they may go to Heaven reeking in Sin and that they might be exempted from Regeneration But to put all out of doubt I come now to prove there is a Necessity for Infants to have Faith in the Sence aforesaid if ever they get to Heaven whatever such bold Men may say to the contrary who care not how much they say and how little they prove Let God be true tho' all such are found Liars Now there is a twofold Necessity for Infants to have Faith in order to their getting to Heaven one arising from God's Ordination and Appointment the other from the Corruption of our Natures as we come into the VVorld First From God's Appointment and Ordination he hath made this the way and the only way to Heaven Mark 16.16 He that believes not shall be damned I think that is plain Scripture since 't is so defired by the Anabaptists and the Expression being Indefinite is equivolent to a Universe He that is any he High or Low Rich or Poor Adult or Infant So John 3.3,5 Verily verily I say unto thee except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God And then adds by way of Explanation Except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God Now Regeneration is an Infusing the Principles of all Grace into the Soul as the Learned Pemble observes one Grace not being the Cause of another and if of all Grace then of Faith for that is a Grace But perhaps the Anabaptists may object that by the Word Man we are to understand Adult only yet at best this is but a bare Conjecture which in others Cases is contemned by them and therefore with their Leave or without it I shall tye them up to the same Measures For it seems unreasonable to contemn this in others which we allow in our selves especially in Matters of Religion may we not by the same Rule exclude Women And then I know no Scripture to prove a Necessity for them to be regenerated But lest this should not suffice for by this time I may suppose the Anabaptists to be like a Man drowning that catches hold of every Straw to keep him from sinking I shall therefore prove from Scripture that the Word Man oft takes in Women and Children without Distinction of Age or Sex and to this end I might multiply Texts but I shall only give you Two for many The first is Gen. 6.7 I will destroy Man Now it is well known that all the old World was destroyed both Men Women and Children excepting those few in the Ark and yet only Man is mentioned So John 16.21 A Woman when she is in Travail hath Sorrow because her Hour is come but as soon as she is delivered of the Child she remembreth no more her Anguish for Joy that a Man is born Mind that which in the beginning was called a Child is after called a Man nor can we once suppose that we come grown Men immediately out of the Womb and yet this may be as easily proved as the former And as the Word Man sometimes is of this extent so 't is most evident it is so here For the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek signifies any one Beza renders it Aliquis any Body or any one But notwithstandstanding all that hath been said I lately saw a Piece put out by one of the Ablest of the Anabaptists in which he will prove that Christ in that Place meant Adult only and he proves it thus It must be so because Nicodemus understood him so but to me it seems strange that any unless one as ignorant as Nicodemus of the new Birth should think such a blind Idiot as he a meet Judge of Christ's Meaning and infallibly to conclude it must be so because he understood him so as if Nicedomus was an infallible Judge of this Matter That Nicedomus understood him so I cannot deny but if that must be his meaning because he understood him so then we must conclude Christ meant a natural Birth also for so Nicodemus understood him Verse 4. Can he enter the second time into his Mother's Womb and be born which was a gross Mistake as is clear from Verse 5. Which Words are a Reproof of his Ignorance and Carnal Conceptions and an Interpretation of Christ's own Words and might he not mistake as to the Subject as well as concerning the Nature of the thing Sure I am that Cause
is like to be lost that hath no better Witness than an ignorant Nicodemus and we may suppose the Anabaptists at a Loss when the ablest and most learned among them are forced to summons in Nicodemus as a Witness for tho' they must own him to be a poor Evidence if they will believe Christ Verse 10. Art thou a Master in Israel and knowest not these things and they that do not know things are unmeet to prove them But either this Person put more Confidence in Nicodemus than Christ or else knowing his Cause was almost gone would rather cite Nicodemus concerning which he knew neither what he said nor whereof he affirmed rather than have no Witness but 't is no wonder to see the most Learned of the Anabaptists run into such gross Absurdities and to be at such a Loss in such Mysteries for if Learning could teach a Man the Mysteries of the Gospel Nicodemus had not been so grosly ignorant of Christ's meaning and I leave it to any Judicious Person to determine whether we have not as good Ground and better to judge that this Objecter was of the same Mind of Nicodemus in understanding it to be a natural Birth then to conclude that because he understood it as spoken of Adult only therefore it must be so for we may suppose had not this Doctor had great Confidence in the Infallibility of Nicodemus he would never have ventured that Cause which was as dear to him as his Life upon his single Evidence and especially in such a Cause wherein he had so many Hundreds opposed him and sure had he judged him in a gross Mistake as to the Nature of that new Birth he would never have put such Confidence in what he said with the same Breath as to the Subject and as we have infallible Ground to conclude from his own Words that this Objecter is far from believing any Necessity or Possibility for Infants to be regenerated so I think I do him no Wrong if I suppose 't is his Judgment that there is no more Necessity for grown Persons to be regenerated for of this Judgment was his trusty and well-beloved Friend Nicodemus for had Nicodemus once supposed that grown Persons any more than Infants must be born again Spiritually he would never have mentioned such a gross Absurdity as to be born again Carnally but taking it for granted that Adult to give the Objecter his Sence could not be born again Spiritually absurdly supposes it to be meant a Carnal Birth and why we may not suppose the Objecter to be of his Judgment in the one as well as the other especially since he puts such Confidence in him I see not and now I leave it to my understanding Reader to judge whether we have not better Ground to believe that under the Word Men Children are comprehended because the Word signifies both than to conclude Christ only meant grown Men because Nicodemus understood him so since it is past all dispute the Word signifies so but whether Nicodemus did rightly understand Christ's meaning may justly admit of a Debate nay it seems almost past all Dispute he did not by his gross Mistake about other Passages relating hereunto Thus I have I hope sufficiently proved a Necessity for Infants to have Faith if they get to Heaven from God's Appointment and what can be more cogent to confirm any Point than the express Mind of God And I am certain had the Anabaptists such-clear Proof that no Infants ought to be Baptized as I have given to prove that all Infants that get to Heaven must have Faith they would soon cry Victory nor should I ever hold up my Weapons against them was it so lest haply by so doing I was found fighting against God himself Secondly There is a Necessity for Faith in Infants if they get to Heaven arising from the Corruption of their Natures Which tho' the Anabaptist may probably deny yet I doubt not but to confirm this also from Scripture When Adam had sinned by eating the Forbidden Fruit he was immediately seized with a Spiritual Death according to the Commination in the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die And Adam being a publick Head and Representative of all Mankind this Spiritual Death is intailed on all his Posterity Hence we are said to bear the Image of the Earthly nor is this true of Adult only but of all his Posterity 1 Cor. 15.22 As in Adam all die Mind all die Infants as well as grown Persons and this I shall further prove from most express Scripture Eph. 2.3 And were by Nature the Children of Wrath even as others Gen. 8.21 For the Imagination of Man's Heart is evil from his Youth The Evil in our Hearts is the Cause of all the Evil in our Lives Hence Foolishness is said to be bound up in the Heart of a Child Prov. 22.15 It is so bound up that for a while it may not discover it self yet is in his Heart See Psal 58.3 The Wicked are estranged from the Womb they go astray as soon as they be born speaking Lies That is they have a straying Principle as soon as born Once more Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me So that by Nature we not only want a Title to Heaven but a Meetness also Col. 1.12 Giving Thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet to be Partakers of that Inheritance of the Saints in Light Implying that by Nature they were unmeet and if Children are not thus corrupt by Nature how came they to die since the Wages of Sin is Death Now if Death reigned as the Apostle saith from Adam to Moses even over them that had not sinned after the Similitude of Adam's Transgression that is Infants that had not sinned actually then it must be because they were Sinners in Adam and had the Seed of Sin in themselves habitually for the Guilt of Adam's Act is not transferred to any of the meer Sons of Men but such as partake of his Image also and I dare be bold to say and can abundantly from Scripture prove that the Seed and Spawn of all our Actual Sins are in our Hearts before we commit one of them for as in Grace there must first be the Habit and then the Act so in Sin the Heart is first Wicked then the Life The Tree is first evil before the Fruit is so Mat. 12.33,35 Now if the Nature of all is so corrupt as I have proved then 't is impossible for any thus corrupt to get to Heaven without an inward Change for what would Heaven be to an unregenerate Soul What would the Works of praising God be to one that hates God Or what would Holy Company be to such as are dead in Trespasses and Sins and to every good Word and Work reprobate But least this should not suffice I shall prove from Scripture that such cannot get to Heaven in an unchanged State 1 Cor. 15.50 Now this I
belongs to all the Children of the same a Parent But it may be some may say this Houshold were all Servants but if they were yet here is not a Word of their Faith or Profession And then I conclude that if Lydia's Servants were Baptized by Vertue of that Relation to Lydia much more should her Children be Baptized standing in a nearer Relation to her Thus I have shown you there are some Texts that afford us good ground to think some Infants or little Children were Baptized but yet if there were not any such therein contained yet the same Scriptures do afford undeniable Consequences that some Infants have a Right to Baptism as I have proved at large But suppose no Instance in Scripture could be given of an Infant Baptized or any thing like it yet if I prove from Scripture they ought to be it is a sufficient Warrant for us so to do and I conceive I shall extort a Consent to this from my Brethren from this following Consideration That there was a time when no Instance could be produced of any Adult that had been Baptized I mean in its first Institution as Abraham could produce no Instance of any that had been Circumcised Now then according to this Rule none must be Circumcised or Baptized because no Instance could then be produced of any that had but you must say Tho' no Instance could be given of any Adult that had been Baptized yet when God made it known to be his Will that so it should be it was sufficient to justifie their Practice in so doing So say I as to Infants tho' no Instance could be given of any Infant that had been Baptized yet if God hath made it known to us in his Word such ought to be it is a sufficient Warrant to us so to do and whether I have proved some Infants Right to Baptism from Scripture I leave it unto any Understanding Impartial and Unprejudiced Reader to judge and I must tell you if I have proved their Right to this Ordinance it is far more than if I could produce an Instance or many Instances of such as had for Right will be Right but 't is possible the best of Men being imperfect may fail as to some particular Fact Hence we say a facto ad jus non valet Argumentum that is we cannot from the Fact conclude the Right of the thing We are not to imitate David in his Adultery nor Peter in his denying Christ tho' the one was a Prophet and the other an Apostle For tho' it cannot be denied that they did so yet the Scripture proves they ought not to have done so and if the Apostles in Baptizing of Adult and not Baptizing Infants suppose it to be so did not do the former and omit doing the latter upon the Account of the Right the one had and want of a Right to the other tho' you could produce a Thousand Instances we are no more bound to imitate them than to imitate David in his Adultery or Peter in Cursing and Swearing because we are not to live by Examples but Laws nay as notwithstanding such sad Instances in Scripture we have Liberty and are bound not only not to imitate them but to act contrary thereunto so could you prove that the Apostles never Baptized one Infant yet if I can prove from Scripture as I hope I have they ought to be Baptized we ought in this to act contrary to their Practice and not make one Sin an Inlet into another since the Right of the thing is more than if you could produce as many Instances as there are Stars in the Firmament without this Right Let not any think I do this to reflect on the Practice of the Blessed Apostles God forbid for I am confident they were not wanting in the due Administration of any Ordinance in God's House but I do it to shew that the Right of this Ordinance is more than barely the Action and that you may see how unreasonable it seems in the Anabaptists to make such a noise about one Infant Baptized when we can produce that which is more than a Thousand Instances simply considered the Apostles did first consider their Right before they Baptized any Obj. 6. But we find no Command in Scripture to Baptize such and so have good ground to believe it is not the Mind of God such should be Baptized A. There is no need of a Positive Command or an Express Scripture in so many plain Words to affirm a thing in order to the proving a Duty or Truth We have a Matter of as great Concern as the Baptism of Old or Young proved by Christ himself by a bare Consequence and that is the Resurrection Mat. 22.31,32 But as touching the Resurrection of the Dead have ye not read that which was spoken to you of God saying I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the Living This Scripture he cites from Ex. 3.6 to prove the Resurrection and yet not one Word of the Resurrection mentioned in it but proves it by Consequence thus That because God is the God of Abraham but not the God of the Dead therefore Abraham must live not only in his Soul but the Body they both making up but the whole of Abraham And if nothing must be received as a Truth but what we have a plain Scripture for in so many Words how will my Friends the Anabaptists prove That the Righteousness of Christ is imputed to any of us since tho' we have Scriptures that will prove it as to the Substance of it yet I know no Scripture which in so many plain Words doth affirm it but perhaps some of the Anabaptists will rather reject this as a Truth than admit of Infant Baptism and as to Doctrines so in Point of Duty There is no Necessity of an express Command to make it a Duty to illustrate this if God command us to be Charitable to poor Saints tho' the Command makes no mention of any expresly by Name yet when we see such in Wants we are bound to relieve them and cannot omit it if able without Sin it will not excuse us to say I am not commanded to relieve such by Name so tho' Sinners are not called by Name to come to Christ 't is their Duty to come so when God commands us to Baptize all such as we have good ground to hope are Believers if some Infants are found in that number we are as much bound to Baptize them as any others as if mentioned by Name God once commanded Circumcision to the Jews and their Infant Seed but if in the New Testament he hath declared as I have shown that we come in the Jews room and that Baptism comes in the room of Circumcision that Command of Circumcising Infants doth as much enjoin the Baptizing of Infants And no wonder Infants are not mentioned expresly in the New Testament as the Subjects
may as well walk as a Man Spiritually Dead come to Christ Now then I ask have all Men such a vital Principle If you affirm it you oppose the Scripture Ephes 2.1 if you deny it then you either give me the Cause or affirm a Dead Man can walk And further in all Corporal Motion there is the Term from which and to which so in the Spiritual Motion of the Soul to Christ we come from Sin to Christ And now I have proved this from Scripture I shall cite some Authors of my Judgment that so my Reader may see it is not only my Opinion And I shall only cite such as the Patrons of this Opinion seem to admire as well as I that so you may see how they not only oppose the Scripture and me but also those Authors which they seem to confide in more than either that so you may see how these like Mad-Men even tear themselves The Learned Pemble is of my Mind in his Treatise of Grace and Faith and there spends many Pages to prove that the habits of all Grace are infused into the Soul in Regeneration before an Act of Faith can be put forth by that Soul and why these Men should not as well believe him in this as well as in his Notion of Eternal Justification especially since he hath clear Scripture on his side for the former but not a word for the latter seems strange to me But indeed I need not wonder since they that thus pick and cull this Author taking what suits with their Opinion and rejecting the rest do serve the unerring Word of God no better And if they dare serve Paul so 't is no wonder if they deal so with Pemble Dr. Goodwin is on my side in his Treatise on the Ephesians he hath these words 'T is affirmed saith he by Sound and Able Divines and that on good Ground that the Principles of all Grace are infused into the Soul before the Soul can put forth an Act of Faith with several passages to the same purpose which for brevity sake I omit Dr. Owen gives abundant Testimony to the same Truth in his Treatise on Justification he saith thus Justifying Faith is not to be found in any but those whose Natures are renewed and in whom there is a Principle of all Grace Thus you may see in a little how far these Divines were from this Error But because I have not to do with professed Arminians but with such as privily bring in this Erroneous Doctrine I shall therefore come to consider what their Pleas are and in Answering of them I shall further clear the Point I am upon and then I shall answer some Questions 1. Some I have heard say by coming in Sin we mean such must be sensible of Sin and so come Ans If such mean as they say why do they not always explain their meanings And sure I am if this is all such mean such Preachers are miserably mistaken by their Hearers who hereupon conclude they must come without any Change 'T is well known how with some Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion and I am well satisfied this is but a Jesuitical Shift that when they cannot justifie that rotten Notion of coming to Christ in their Sin then they tell us if we will believe them they mean only sensible of Sin but this Notion shall never be heard of till no other Answer will serve But what Soul-cousening is it to say one thing and mean another suppose they do mean so Pulpits should be places to to Explain things in But that this Cobweb may not cover such Deceit consider when they say we must be sensible of Sin they mean either that they have some Sin adhering to them or else that they are sensible they are in that Moment in a Sinful Unchanged State If they mean the former only they give away the Cause for we are enquiring into the State and certainly if not in a Sinful State 't is because in a Changed State unless some do not come into the World in such a State and so need no Change but if by being sensible of their Sin they mean a Sinful State then they are sensible of that which is or is not if sensible of that which is then they openly declare such are in an Unchanged State only add a Sence to the thing it self if they say they are sensible of a sinful State when their State is not so then this is no less than to affirm that a Delusion is the only Qualification prerequisite in order to our coming to Christ 2. But some may say we own 't is Christ that brings us and so we do not rob Christ of his Honour or Arrogate any thing to our selves as you suppose but we affirm he brings us unto himself in our Sins To which I answer 't is not enough to honour Christ to say he doth a thing unless the thing done be well done 't is far from being an Honour to Christ to make him the Author of Sin But to come to a more direct Answer I lay down this Proposition That some things are impossible to be done by God himself the Scripture affirms 't is impossible to God to Lie and that he cannot deny himself whatever is sinful cannot be done by that God that is Goodness it self nor doth this inability arise from weakness but strength Some things are contrary in Nature and so cannot be done as to make it Dark and Light at the same time and in the same place to make a Man Dead and Alive at the same time and in the same respect Now I shall enquire whether 't is not impossible under one or both of these Considerations for a Soul to be brought to Christ though by the power of Christ in his Sins as aforesaid I shall not now insist on the former how far such a Work would savour of Sin but sure I am in the latter Sence it is impossible and for the clearing this Consider our coming to Christ is an Act of the Will we are willing to renounce all confidence in the Flesh and to rely alone on Christ Now I would ask whether this Will is in all Men by Nature if such deny it then where this Will is there is a change wrought in that Soul and a great change too Psal 110.3 A willing People in the Day c. If such say this Will is in Men by Nature then they not only prove themselves Arminians but virtually deny what before they affirmed that they come by the power of Christ But if they say tho' unwilling by Nature yet they are made willing by the Power of Christ to come yet without a Change in the Will this is a grand contradiction in Nature to say that a Person who is unwilling should be made willing and yet no change made in his Will and yet this gross absurdity my Opposers will unavoidably hereby pluck down upon their own Heads I think it is safest to