The Covenant of God Entered with Mankind, Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV.
The Old covenant was not made up of meer carnal and temporal Promiſes, but contained New covenant-promiſes that were ſpiritual and ſaving.
THeſe Poſitions premiſed, to clear our way in a farther progreſſe in this thing: I ſhould now look into thoſe differences; which ſeveral parties; have not found, but made between theſe covenants; and to reckon up all, which ſome have at leaſt hinted and touched upon, I ſhould weary both my ſelf and the Reader. He that pleaſes may finde them numerouſly reckoned up, by Maſter Ball in his Treatiſe of the Covenant, page 94, 95, 96. with his general cenſure and diſlike of the moſt of them, though ſparing a particular refutation which I alſo ſhall forbear. So many of them as are differences indeed, will fall in with thoſe before delivered, and the other will fall before that which hath, and (God willing) may be ſpoken. There are only foure, of which I ſhall (by Gods aſſiſtance) take notice, upon which much controverſie depends. The two former being injurious to the Old covenant laying it too low; The two latter putting too great a limit to the New covenant in reſpect of its latitude and extent.
Firſt, The firſt imaginary difference between the Old and New Covenant.The Old covenant, under which the fathers lived, and which circumciſion ſealed (ſay ſome) was a carnal covenant, and contained only earthly promiſes, the mercies of the land of Canaan, ſuch as were in this life to be enjoyed: But the New covenant under which we live in Goſpel-times, and which Baptiſme ſeales, contains ſpiritual mercies and priviledges,Ad literam non fuiſſe promiſſionem remiſſionis peccatorum, ſed peculiaris protectionis & gubernationis & terrenae foelicitatis. hath promiſes of everlaſting ſalvation. In the device of this difference Papiſts have led the way, and Socinians and Anabaptiſts follow. Bellar. 1. l. 1. De Baptiſmo, cap. 4. ſaith, and referres to what he had ſaid before upon the queſtion of the difference of the Sacraments of the Old and New covenant, that the promiſe of God to Abraham, I will be thy God, and the God of thy ſeed, was not in the letter of it, any promiſe of forgiveneſſe of ſinnes, but of ſpecial protection, providence, and worldly happineſſe, with whom Stapleton and Becan the Jeſuits joyne hands, Promiſſio terr…na erat annexa carnali Circumciſſioni, & hac ſola ad vetus Teſtamentum pertinebat; & contrarium aſſerere, quod facit Calvinus, nihil eſt aliud, quam ex lege Evangelium facere, & omnia confundere Bellar, lib. 2. de eſ…ec. Sac. Cap. 17.as they are quoted by Chamier, lib. 5. de Baptiſmo, cap. 11. ſec. 11. though Vaſquez one of their fraternity diſſents; And Maſter Blackwood in his Storme of Antichriſts Garriſon, ſaith, That theſe are two covenants eſſentially differing. The firſt was carnal, typical; and ſhewing the difference between Baptiſme and circumciſion, he ſaith, circumciſion ſigned a right to Canaan, The ſeveral intereſts for which the aſſignation of this difference ſerves.Baptiſm ſignes a right to the death and ſatisfaction of Chriſt. page 32.
This difference of the covenants (however the reality of it will appeare in the Scriptures) ſerves for ſeverall intereſts.
1. It is this high way to bring down all the honour and eſteeme of Old Teſtament-Scriptures,1. To decry all Old Teſtament-Scriptures. If the promiſes there mentioned be (as thoſe of the Turkiſh Alcoran) ſenſual and carnal, yea, inferiour to them, and determine with this life; who can put ſuch an eſtimate upon them? eſpecially having at hand by them, in the New Covenant, Promiſes laſting to eternity. This doctrine hath produced thoſe Atheiſtical jeers and blaſphemies, Old Teſtament-men, Old Teſtament-ſpirits; yea, by inevitable conſequence, if it may ſtand, it will bring the bane and ruine of New Teſtament-Scriptures along with it. The Old and New Teſtament-Scriptures, as couples in ancient buildings, ſo anſwer one the other, that, neither can ſtand, if either fall; It is the Goſpel of Jeſus Chriſt that we ſeek in New Teſtament-Scriptures. Now that is defined to be, that which God before promiſed by his Prophets concerning his Son Chriſt Jeſus, Rom. 1. 2. In the promiſe of the Prophets then, this muſt be found. A righteouſneſs of faith we there ſeek; now this righteouſneſſe is witneſſed by the Law and the Prophets, Rom. 3. 21. They muſt then be heard witneſſing, Chriſt is the All that in the Goſpel we look after; he muſt be an Old Teſtament-Chriſt, whom the Law and Prophets hold out to us or elſe he is not the Chriſt of God; All the vilifying reproaches which are faſtened on the Old Teſtament, fall upon the head of the New Teſtament; yea, upon Chriſt Jeſus.
2. It wholly takes Infants out of all Covenant with God;2. To take all Infants out of Covenant. If that great Charter, I will be thy God, and the God of thy ſeed, contain only carnal promiſes, and thoſe proper to that people, it is determined, and now no covenant for the ſeed remains. Hence Papiſts and Antipaedobaptiſts have their reſpective advantages, The Papiſts hence conclude Infants damnation, dying before they are taken of God into covenant by Baptiſme, and Antipaedobaptiſts joyning with them in the premiſſes; will they, nill they, they muſt be enforced to yield the Concluſion. They may fret and ſtorme about the charge of it, and dip their pen as deep in gall as it can reach, yet they ſhall never wipe it off. That all out of Covenant with God, being no Church-Members, having no title to Church-Memberſhip, are in a periſhing condition, is a Scripture-Poſition above all exceptions. In caſe they will ſubſcribe, as they do, to the Popiſh Tenent, that Infants in their firſt birth ſtate, are out of covenant, and in no better condition than the children of Heathens, except the hope of better education, then they muſt agree, in Infants condemnation.
3. Antipaedobaptiſts,3. To keep Infants from Baptiſme. hence finde a way to keep Infants from Baptiſme; Being out of Covenant, they have no right to any ſeale of the Covenant. Theſe ſeveral intereſts make them all to joyne in one, to conclude that the firſt was a Covenant carnal, and raiſing the men in Covenant, no higher than earthly expectations. But if truth may be heard, none of theſe intereſts will hold;Teſtimonies evincing the ſpirituality of Old Teſt… ment-promiſes. certain it is, that thoſe that were in the Old Covenant had better thoughts of it. The Apoſtle, ſpeaking of the Patriarchs confeſſion, that they were ſtrangers and pilgrims on earth; makes his obſervation upon it; They that ſay theſe things, plainly declare that they ſeek a Countrey. A ſtranger, or pilgrim, is a man not at his home, but ſeeks a countrey. Now this countrey muſt either be Earthly, or Heavenly, there is not a third which men could have in deſire. That it was not an earthly countrey that they ſought; he makes good, in that they had opportunity of return, they might have gone back to Ur of the Chaldees at pleaſure. Then it follows, as he inferres, that they ſought a better countrey, that is, an Heavenly, Heb. 11. 16. Men of this opinion have not only the Apoſtles authority againſt them, but (putting himſelf on in a Logical diſpute with them) his reaſons likewiſe, yea, thoſe that were moſt carnal, and earthly-minded among them, were taught to judge better of the Promiſes, that they lived under; Chriſt gives that teſtimony of the Jewes, with whom he had conteſt, that in the Scriptures they thought to have everlaſting life, John 5. 39. They had no Scriptures but Old Covenant-Scriptures, and of them, they had this opinion, which was no errour of theirs corrected by Chriſt, but were by him confirmed in it, Chriſt juſtifies them in their opinion, that in Scripture they thought to have everlaſting life, and rectifies them in the way of finding everlaſting life in it. A great part of the diſpute is about thoſe words of God to Abraham, in which the foundation of the Covenant ſtands, I will be thy God, and the God of thy ſeed, whether in them there be promiſes, only of earth, or of heaven likewiſe? And this Chriſt himſelf determines in his anſwer to the Sadduces about the Reſurrection, where he applies that ſpeech of God to Moſes at the buſh: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Iſaac, and the God of Jacob; for proof that Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob live for ever, Mat. 22. 33. How injurious are they to the Covenant of God with his people, that put ſuch unworthy limits upon it: Other people that were without Covenant had temporal mercies from God, they were protected, and provided for by him; Leave thy fatherleſſe children unto me, and let thy widows truſt in me (ſaith the Lord to the people of Edom,) I will keep them alive, Jer. 49. 11. The woman of Canaan thought it a priviledge for dogs to eat of the crumbs that fall from the childrens table; for Gentiles, who were without Covenant, to partake of any little of the mercy that the people of God in Covenant did enjoy; But if this gloſſe of the Covenant may ſtand, the dogs crumbs, are beyond all the childrens proviſion. They will not leave their crumbs, for all that is ſet on the childrens table. It may ſeem a high ſpeech of Luther after his manner,Imperium Turcicum quantum quantum eſt, mica eſt quam pater familias projicit canibus that the Turkiſh Empire how great ſoever, is but a crumb that the great Maſter of the family caſts to the dogs; yet this is above all that Iſrael had in Canaan, if we look at no more, than a temporal poſſeſſion. Iſhmael the ſon of the bond-woman muſt be caſt out, not to be heire with the ſon of the free-woman, Gen. 21. 10. he and his poſterity muſt be caſt out of Covenant, and in Iſaac the ſeed muſt be called. But if there were no more in Iſaacs grant than the poſſeſſion of Canaan, the ſon of the bond-woman had had the better of the bargain: Iſhmaelites in earthly poſſeſſions exceeded Iſraelites; And Eſau had not need to have complained ſo much of the loſſe of his birth right, and his brothers ſupplantation of him; if Jacob had gained no more than a poſſeſſion for his poſterity in Canaan, having that bleſſing both promiſed and performed; That his dwelling ſhould be the fatneſſe of the earth, and the dew of Heaven from above, Gen. 27. 39. he had ſmall cauſe of envie of his brothers felicity. How did the Saints of thoſe times boaſt of God, exult and triumph in him, proclaiming his goodneſſe, That there was no Rock … their God? If their portion did reach (with the men of this world) only to this life, none can be able to give a reaſon of ſuch triumphant exultations. And the Pſalmiſt had never ſpoken of it as the worlds portion, in caſe himſelf had looked for no better an inheritance. Providence was, indeed, ſingularly eminent over that people, yet conſidering their great afflictions which they ſtill bore, and heavy chaſtiſements wherewith they were exerciſed; if that ſpecial care of God, had not had an influence upon eternity, that blaſphemous concluſion of the Oratour, that a man might ſee how much the gods eſteemed the Nation of the Iewes, in that they were ſo often carried into captivity, would hardly receive a ſatisfying refutation. Certainly their ſufferings were above any other Nation, Amos 3. 2. You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will puniſh you for all your iniquities, if then they had their hope only in this life, and were not chaſtened in the world, that they might not be condemned with the world; as the Apoſtle ſpeaks of Chriſtians, ſo we might ſay of the Nation of the Jewes; Of all Nations in the world they were the moſt miſerable. See Chamier, lib. 5. de Baptiſm, cap. 11. ſect. 11. Whitakers praelectiones de Sacramentis contra Bellar. pag. 125. Rivet. in Gen. 17. Exercitat. 87.