Vindication of the Interest of Children of Believers, Text (2 of 3)

Vindication of the Interest of Children of Believers · Text (2 of 3)

p. 507. The Priviledge of a General Adoption a… pertains to thoſe that be in covenant; there is … Special, and there is a General Adoption; and … is a great Favour to have a Standing where ther… is a General Adoption: This is ſo reckon'd by th… Apoſtle, Rom. 9.14. Who are Iſraelites; to who… pertaineth the adoption, and the covenants. This is Bleſſing always attending the Covenant; hence … is that all ſuch have ſuch Names given to them that ſet out, and ſignifie their Adopting-relatio… unto God, their Great and Glorious Father. Le… us a little conſider what Terms of Filiation th… Scripture doth cloath and adorn them with, whic… doth demonſtrate that great Advancement that … confer'd upon them thereby. Nothing ought t… be of a ſlight and extenuated Eſtimation with us that is greatly magnify'd and advanc'd in Divin… Writ. The Body of thoſe, that be in covenan… with the Lord, though many, far remote and diſtant from any peculiar, Special and Internal Fruition, are called

(1.) The Sons of God. He is pleaſed to accept of the Title of a Father unto them, Gen. 6.1…. —the ſons of God ſaw the daughters of men, that they were fair. Thus we ſee how early (becauſe of Covenant-relation) they bore this Denomination▪

(2.) They be called the Children of the Lord, Deut. 14.1. Ye are the children of the Lord your p. 51God. They were brought forth in a Foederal Bond, therefore the whole Maſs and Body of them obtain'd this Appellation: The moſt Holy, and the moſt High God admitted them unto this tall Pinacle of Honour, of being his Children.

(3.) Hence it is that all Iſrael God doth call his Son, intimating how diſtinguiſhingly the Lord doth aſſume and appropriate him to himſelf in this near Relation, Exod. 4.22. And thou ſhalt ſay unto Pharaoh, Thus ſaith the Lord, Iſrael is my ſon, even my firſt-born. This was to be uſed as a powerful Motive to prevail upon Pharaoh, to ſet Iſrael free from his cruel Bondage, he was the Lords. Ver. 23. And I ſay unto thee, Let my ſon go, that he may ſerve me: Wilt thou be ſo bold, as to detain in bondage him, that I the Great and Terrible God do own, and declare to be my Son?

(4.) Hence Ephraim is called Gods dear Son. Covenant-relation is very near, and ſo very dear unto God: All thoſe that are in covenant with him, are very near, and very dear unto him. Jer. 31.20. Is Ephraim my dear ſon? is he a pleaſant child? for ſince I ſpake againſt him, I do earneſtly remember him ſtill: therefore my bowels are troubled for him. Here is not only Relation, but Bowels of Affections: Ephraim is not only the Lords dear Bon, but dearly and deeply beloved of God.

(5.) They be from hence called the Children of the Promiſe, viz. the Children of the Covenant. Thoſe that have ſuch an Intereſt and Title to the Promiſe, as to be called the Children of the Promiſe, being born within the Pale of the Covenant, they are the Heirs of the Promiſe deſcending of ſuch Parents, that do convey the precious Inheritance unto them.

(6.) They be alſo called the Children of the Kingdom, born within the Covenant, and ſo brought forth in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Chriſt in the World, where he as the p. 52great King and Mediatour rules, and ſwayes the Scepter, Mat. 8.12. We ſee that thoſe here tha… ſhall for want of ſpecial grace, be caſt out for ever, yet that doth not hinder their being in Covenant, they are the Children of the Kingdom I might add to all theſe particulars that have … toucht upon under this head, that becauſe of this Covenant-relation, we read of Childrens bread▪ Them that are in Covenant, and in the Kingdom of God, they are the Children, and all the proviſions of the Kingdom, in reſpect of the precious means of grace, are called Childrens bread; being moſt immediately and directly provided by their heavenly Father for them, Mat. 15.26. But he anſwered and ſaid, it is not meet to take the Children bread, and to caſt it to dogs. Theſe that were not in the Compaſs of the Covenant, were called dogs; the Jews were the Children, they being within; the Gentiles in compariſon of them, were like unto dogs being without.

(8.) Thoſe that be in Covenant are honoured with high and glorious Titles; and if we conſider what is the nature and dignity of them, we may ſee that they are not purely Titular, but are ſuch that do import ſome rare and renowned Priviledge; I ſhall name ſome of theſe Titles that be aſcribed unto them. (1.) Holy, thoſe that be in Covenant (although but externally ſo) are called holy, Deut. 14.2. For thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God, a people ſeparated to God from the reſt of the World, the Covenant is holy, and thoſe that are incloſed within it are a holy People, they are the Lords holy, ſeparated ones. This we have tranſlated into the new Teſtament upon the new Adminiſtration of the Covenant. 1 Cor. 7.14. For the unbelieving Husband is ſanctified by the Wife, and the unbelieving Wife is ſanctified by the Husband: elſe were your Children unclean, but now are they holy. Strange violence is p. 53offered to this Text, to deſtroy that federal holineſs that ſhines forth in it. The Anabaptiſts (one would think) are put greatly to their ſhifts, in ſhifting off the force of this Text from them; when all that they will allow Believers from this Text is, that if one Parent be but a Believer, then they will free their Children from the foul charge, and ſcandalous imputation of being Baſtards: Thus they comment upon the words elſe were your Children Baſtards, but now they be Legitimate, lawfully begotten; what muſt be the conſequence of this, but that the Children of thoſe Parents neither of which is a Believer muſt, tho' they be never ſo lawfully Married, and live never ſo chaſtly together, be Baſtards; what a multitude of the off-ſpring of this our Nation, muſt after this interpretation be illegitimate, and a ſpurious baſtardly Brood: This hath been ſo often confuted, that I will ſay no more to it, the very naming of it may be a ſufficient confutation of it. (2.) A peculiar people, a people ſet a part from others; the Covenant is for an encloſure, and ſo for a ſeparation of ſome from the reſt of the World, to be diſtinct, and peculiar from others, Deut. 14.2. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath choſen thee to be a peculiar people unto himſelf above all the nations that are upon the earth. The Lord hath a viſible people that are to him a peculiar people, they are his Church, thoſe that are in a peculiar Covenant-appropriation unto Him. We have this Title and that before of Holy aſcribed to thoſe that are under the Adminiſtration of the Covenant in new Teſtament times. 1 Pet. 2.9. But ye are a choſen generation, a royal Prieſthood, an holy Nation, a peculiar people. (3) They be called Gods Houſhold or Family: the worſhip of God, and the bleſſing of the Covenant firſt took place in Families, and thoſe were the Families of the Lord; ſince the more open, p. 54publick and diffuſive diſpencing of the Covenant, thoſe that are the Lords Covenant ones, retain ſtill the Title of a Family and Houſhold, and ſo this is brought down unto the time of the Goſpel, Gal. 6.10. As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men, eſpecially unto them who are of the houſhold of faith, Viz. Gods Covenant-houſhold, Eph. 2.19. Now therefore we are no more ſtrangers and foreiners, but fellow Citizens, and of the houſhold of God; thoſe Gentiles that were not in Covenant, and ſo not of the Houſhold of God. Now ſaith the Apoſtle, you are made partakers of the Covenant, which was the peculiar Bleſſing of the Jews, and ye are become now of the Houſhold of Faith, and of God, or of the Houſhold of Faith, and ſo of God; you are grafted into the Olive, and this is ſome of the ſweet and precious fat and juice of it. (4.) Such be called Gods Vineyard, or the garden of the Lords, ſurely it is a Singular Priviledge to be planted in the Lords Vineyard, and not to have a ſtanding without in the Wilderneſs of the World, which the Lord hath little regard for, or care of, Iſa. 5.1, 7. Now I will ſing to my well beloved, a ſong of my beloved touching his Vineyard: My well beloved hath a Vineyard in a very fruitful hill; For the Vineyard of the Lord of Hoſts is the houſe of Iſrael, and the men of Judah his pleaſant plant. The Church of God in Covenant with Him is by the Lord Jeſus, the Husband and Bridegroom of it delightfully called a garden, it being the ſweeteſt, the moſt pleaſant and fertileſt ſpot in all the World, Cant. 4.12, 16. A garden encloſed is my Siſter, my Spouſe; Awake, Oh northwind, and come thou ſouth, and blow upon my garden, that the ſpices thereof may flow out. Cant. 5.1. I am come into my garden, my Siſter, my Spouſe, Cant. 6.2. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of ſpices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather Lilies. Thus was the Church of the Jews that was the p. 55Lords Covenant-incloſure ſtiled, Zach. 2.5. There…ore particular Churches that make up the Church Catholick, are called golden Candleſticks, Rev. 1.20. The myſtery of the ſeven Stars which thou ſaweſt in my right hand, and the ſeven golden Candleſticks, are the ſeven Churches: The Lord Jeſus walks in the midſt of them, they are the place of his feet, and his delightful walks, Rev. 2.1. He walketh in the midſt of the ſeven golden Candleſticks, to ſhew his delight that he hath in them, the peculiar watch of his Providence about them, and his plentiful and his inexhauſtible ſupplying of them. Oh how good is it to dwell where Chriſt hath his continual reſidence, and his perpetual walks: 'tis a comfortable thing to have the Lord of infinite grace, to walk conſtantly to, and fro, by ones door; how ſoon may he open the door and come in, and bring his Bleſſed retinue of peace, mercy, grace, and love along with him. (6.) The Church of Chriſt involv'd in this Covenant, is called Heaven, this is Heaven upon Earth, where the Throne of the bleſſed God is fixt; when the Lord takes Believers and their Children into Covenant with himſelf, he takes them into Heaven; thoſe that be out of Covenant do inhabit ſuch darkneſs, as to repreſent thoſe that are even in Hell. I, but the Church of God that hath the light of the Word, and grace of God, ſhining upon it, is Gods heaven below, Rev. 12.1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman cloathed with the Sun. This wonder was ſeen in the Church of God below, I, but here called Heaven for her trampling upon the World, having the righteouſneſs of Chriſt begirt about her, and living in the Starry Region of Evangelical and Divine light.

Thus I have in ſome Particulars endeavoured, to diſcover ſomething of the Priviledges of thoſe, that be in Covenant with the Lord from this head.

p. 56I come to another Priviledge which is this, that many of them that are thus in Covenant ſhall be ſaved, a multitude of them are Elected, for here chiefly lyes the ſecret Mine of Election, where many ſhall be called, and Effectually brought home to God; the great Bulk and Maſs of the Elect are taken, and dug out of the Loins of Believers, that are brought under Covenant, many of thoſe that be in Covenant ſhall be ſure be to ſaved; therefore ſurely 'tis a great priviledge to have a ſtanding among thoſe that ſhall be ſaved; how is it the duty of thoſe that do enjoy this mercy to bleſs the Lord for it, and to improve it for their own Childrens advantage: 'Tis good to have a footing and dwelling in that Body, out of which the Lord doth call many to ſaving grace and glory, to be in the beſt capacity and the moſt hopeful diſpoſition as to Externals for life and Salvation. The Soveraign Grace of God calls whom he pleaſeth; but moſt frequently the lot of Salvation, falls upon the Children of Covenant Ones, they are the moſt hopeful to partake of that great bleſſing of the Covenant of effectual calling, and of having the Law of God to be ingraven upon their hearts, Iſa. 54.13. And all thy Children ſhall be taught of the Lord. Thoſe that are not in Covenant with the Lord, as they do not regard, ſo neither are they under ſuch a hopeful expectation of the accompliſhment of ſuch a promiſe, as thoſe are, that are themſelves the Children of the Promiſe, who have good right to approach unto the gracious Throne, and plead ſuch a promiſe with him that ſits there with the Rain-bow of the Covenant about his head.

10. This is the great ground, that is adminiſtred unto pious Parents, greatly concerned about the external good of the Souls of their little Ones, to build their hopes upon; godly Parents, would caſt out the Anchor of hope upon a p. 57firm ground, ſuch that may hold; and this is the great, if not the only one, thoſe the Lord is pleaſed to bereave them of, and demand out of their tender boſoms, this may quiet their hearts about their death, and their eternal State. So that upon this account, a Parent may ſay more then what one ſaid of a dead Child, Ego in illo puero nihil habeo praeter dilectum, he may compoſe, and ſedate his Spirit with David, who while his Child was ſick, did faſt, and weep, refuſing to eat; I, but when the pleaſure of the Lord was ſignified by his death, he could ariſe, waſh and eat, and go to the houſe of the Lord, and calmly pour out his ſincere devotions unto the moſt high, ſaying unto them that were ſtruck into ſtupendous admiration of his great change, I ſhall go to him, but he ſhall not return to me. Surely David had a further proſpect than the grave that prevailed upon him to this Sedate compoſure, and Serenity of mind, he did intimate that his heart was at reſt as to his felicity above; that his Soul (that he was moſt concerned about) had made its eſcape from the ſick and painful Body, into Abrahams boſom: the great Covenant Father, he having this heart-ſupporting promiſe, I will be thy God, and the God of thy ſeed: This is Goſpel and a man intereſted in this promiſe may, nay is bound to lay hold upon it, and to caſt himſelf upon the promiſe, as well for his little Ones, as for himſelf. Wherefore hath the Lord, as an Inſtance of his unſearchable grace, given ſuch a promiſe, if not in our great and cloſe afflictions to be choice, and ſuitable food, for our faith? … but this can ſupport Parents when they ſee their tender Infants in the bitter bonds of death, reclining their heads upon their diſſolving Pillows, and having their Bowels to be ſounding and yearning within them. Now this, I would humbly demand, what they can build their hopes upon, to make them readily p. 58to comply with Divine Pleaſure? When the Souls of their Little Ones ſit upon their Lips, to take their flight into an Eternal Ocean, that exclude… them out of that Covenant, they be confident they themſelves be in, and upon which they bottom and center all their truſt and confidence as to their own Salvation; for the ordinary way of Salvation is by and through the Covenant.

11. Thoſe that be in covenant thus have many great and temporal Bleſſings beſtow'd upon them, which others fall ſhort of; they ſhare in the peculiar Providential Care, and Watch of God; there is the general Providential Care of God, which as he is an Omnipreſent Majeſty, filling all Places, Perſons, and Things, with his Eſſential Preſence, out of which there can be no departing, or abſconding, he doth extend unto all, Pſal. 139.7, 8, 9, 10. But moreover there is the peculiar Tranſmiſſion of the Providential Care, Obſervation and Tuition of God, and this is that which every Moment doth environ and encircle the Church and Covenant-Ones round about, and all that are intereſted in the ſame ſtand poſſeſt with the free fruition of, they are the proper Objects of the peculiar and ſpecial Providential Watch of God, Pſal. 121.4. Behold, he that keepeth Iſrael, ſhall neither ſlumber nor ſleep. This denotes the careful and the diligent keeping of the Church, the Lord is ever in the exerciſe of, as one ſaith, Curam, ſolicitudinem & diligentiam connot at, nec dormit nec dormitat, He neither ſleeps nor ſlumbers. The Lord ſets a peculiar Fence about his Church, Iſa. 5.…2▪ And he fenced it,— After he planted it, he ſet the Fence of his peculiar Providence round about it, to preſerve it, Iſa. 27.3. I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; leſt any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Thus we ſee what a peculiar Vigilancy the Divine Eye doth exhibit unto the Covenant-People: p. 59This is no ſmall Priviledge, to have a Place with thoſe that are thus beautify'd. I might have added, that ſuch have many outward Favours of Peace, Plenty, and Proſperity, and that People, Places, and Nations, do enjoy many rare Mercies for their ſake; the Old World ſped the better for Noah's ſake, Sodom for Lot's, Pharaoh for Joſeph's, as Obed-edom for the Arks ſake, and Laban was greatly bleſſed for the ſake of Jacob. A Nation ſpeeds the better for the Goſpels ſake; moſt fare the better for the Elect, the greateſt Body of which deſcend from Covenant-Ones: Temporal Bleſſings are the Appendices of that Covenant made with Abraham, Gen. 17. where the Land of Promiſe was inſerted, though a far greater in that was intended, as hath been ſhewn. More Priviledges might have been convened unto theſe; but let what hath been ſaid ſuffice, and I think what hath been inſiſted upon may ſatisfie as to this Queſtion. We have ſeen that thoſe that are in covenant have advantage, and that much every way.

But before we diſmiſs this, let us a little diſtinctly apply the Matter ſuitable to the diſtinction that I have laid down concerning the way of being in covenant, as to thoſe that be Externally, and thoſe that be Internally in it.

Obſerve heedfully here, that the ſame Promiſes that are to the Parents, are to the Children, I will be their God, and the God of thy Seed. Thoſe that the Lord is pleaſed to take into covenant with himſelf, ſome are Elect, and ſome not Elect; ſo amongſt the Children, ſome are Elect, and ſome not Elect; and here I chiefly mean thoſe that arrive unto the Years of the Adult.

1. Thoſe that be the Elect of the Natural Seed, they do partake both of the external, and internal part of the Covenant; for they do partake of the Promiſe in the extent of it, ſuch peculiar p. 60ſalvificable Bleſſings, as Juſtification, Adoption, Sanctification, &c. and Eternal Glorification; in a Word, they do partake of Temporal, Spiritual, and External Priviledges.

2. The Non-elect they do partake of the external part of the Promiſes, and of the Covenant-Priviledges (as have been mentioned) which be exceeding great, though not ſaving; therefore not to be relied and reſted upon. I ſhall here lay down Two Poſitions, that ſhall conclude this preſent Matter in hand.

(1.) That as God by the Election of Grace doth make the diſtinction among the Natural Seed of Covenanters with God, accordingly is their Childrens participation of the Promiſe. The Elect have the Promiſe in the extent, the other in the external part only, which in it ſelf is a Priviledge and a great Advantage. There might have been given great Inſtances of this in Abraham's Family, and others, but I forbear, and ſhall not need to ſtand upon it. There is the Elect Iſaac, the Covenant was eſtabliſht with him in all its Spiritual and External parts; and Iſhmael the Son of a Bond-woman in covenant, and muſt be circumciſed too, and participate of the Seal, and become a great Nation, and have a Standing till his time come to be caſt out.

(2.) That there is great ground, and very good foundation, for a Parent in covenant with God, to pray, and to hope for the accompliſhment of the Covenant in the extent of it. Pious Parents in covenant with God, ſhould labour to lay hold upon the gracious Promiſes thereof, and put them daily in ſuit at the Throne of Grace, pleading of them for their poor Children with God; Ay, and this ſhould be done with a great deal of hope, and that partly, becauſe the Purpoſe of God is ſecret, and not to be the Rule of our Covenant-Duties, and the Promiſe is open in the full and p. 61ample Extent of it; and alſo becauſe Gods gracious Promiſe is ſo full, copious, and comprehenſive, as to be the God of the Seed of thoſe Parents he hath highly gratified, and graced, in taking them into covenant with himſelf; which Faith ought in the largeſt ſence to take hold upon, and ſwallow down, and to be warmly, and comfortably exerciſed about the inward, ſpiritual, and eternal Bleſſings of the Covenant for Children. But ſomewhat more of this, if the Lord pleaſe, in the Uſe of this Doctrine. Thus much for the firſt General Thing, Viz. The opening of this Point: Now we come unto the

II. General Head propoſed in my Method, which is to offer ſome Demonſtrations, to Evince the Truth of my Doctrine, and ſo we ſhall inſiſt upon the foreign of this Great Truth.

1. This hath ever been Gods way in covenanting with his People; this way God hath obſerved ever ſince the Fall, yea, this was the way that he took in the firſt Covenant that ever was concluded between him and Man, viz. The Covenant of Works that he made with Adam in innocency, in his perfect State; Adam and all his Poſterity were ſtrictly included in that Covenant; ſo that as it fared with him, it was to be with all, that were to deſcend from his Loyns, or all his Seed, he falling, all fell in him, and with him. Upon his Fall, the bleſſed Covenant of Grace (that was eternally provided through Chriſt the great Channel of the Grace of God) took place and was publiſhed with Gods own Lips, Gen. 3.15. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy ſeed and her ſeed: it ſhall bruiſe thy head, and thou ſhalt bruiſe his heel. Here we have the Seed immediately comprehended; this I take to be the very ſame Covenant for ſubſtance, that p. 62was made, and more fully explicated, confirmed, and eſtabliſhed with Abraham; where was the firſt emanation and ſpringing forth of the inexhauſtible Fountain of Grace, through a Covenant for apoſtate and trembling Adam; who was capable of no other Covenant in that his miſerable State: It was only naked, and pure Grace that could ſupport him from ſinking into eternal deſperation, and deſtruction. Ever ſince the Fall of Man, God hath been pleaſed to gather a Church and People to himſelf by covenant, and he evermore hath taken in the Children with the Parents; when ever he hath made a Covenant with a Family, with a People, and with a Nation, he never excluded, and ſhut out the Children, and Seed, accounting the Children to be of that Family, People, or Kingdom: This might be abundantly proved, were it needful. We have fully ſeen it in the Lords covenanting with Abraham, taking in all his Natural Seed with him; a famous and obvious Inſtance hereof we have in Deut. 29.9, 10, 11, 12. One would think, that this ſhould for ever ſilence the Oppoſers of this Truth. Here we have the Adult, and all their Little Ones, ſtanding before the Lord, to enter into covenant with him; the Little Ones were confederate with their Parents, and entered into covenant in, and with them; thus when the Covenant was carried over to the Gentiles, Children were ſtill involved, as in our Text, Acts 2.39. For the promiſe is to you, and your children: And ſo it ſhall be unto all that are afar off, when they ſhall be called, and brought home unto God, they ſhall come with their Children with them, and enter into covenant with the Lord, Rom. 11.17, 19. If here Children of the Gentiles be not taken into the Covenant with the Jews, in the place of thoſe that were broken off, then there would be no Analogy, or Proportion, between p. 63the rejection of one, and the acceptation of the other.

2. Demonſt. This hath been Gods way in his conveying all ſaving Good unto the Elect; this is Gods ordinary way of communicating unto the Salvation of the Infants of Believers, they being actually in the Viſible Church, and in covenant with God, out of which ordinarily no Salvation can be expected, and hoped for. All the Promiſes that be made to Infants of any Spiritual Bleſſing, conducting to their Eternal Happineſs, are lodged in the Covenant; and the Promiſes are the Inſtruments of the Spirit of God, in its great Covenant-work of diſtilling, and infuſing Grace into the Hearts of the Elect dying Infants. Even before the World began, God ordained and inſtituted all Good to be conveyed to us in a way, and by vertue of a Covenant; therefore 'tis called the everlaſting covenant, and the everlasting goſpel, Heb. 13.20. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jeſus, the great ſhepherd of the ſheep, through the blood of the everlaſting covenant. Rev. 14.6. And I ſaw another angel flie in the midſt of heaven, having the everlaſting goſpel to preach unto them that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. This everlaſting goſpel I think may here be (though not excluſively, yet eminently) meant the Everlaſting Covenant of Grace, through which in the preaching of it, is tranſmitted all ſaving Good to all the Elect, in all the Nations, Kingdoms, Kindreds, and Languages in the World. Nay, Chriſt himſelf, that unſpeakable Gift, is all the Elects, both Infants, and Adult, in a way of a Covenant, Iſa. 42.6. I the Lord have called thee in righteouſneſs, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the Gentiles. His Blood is p. 64the Blood of the everlaſting covenant, and there can be no Intereſt in it, nor in himſelf, but by way of Covenant; as there can be no Redemption, no Reconciliation, no Juſtification, no Sanctification, nor Salvation, but by and through his Blood; and that Blood is the Blood of the everlaſting covenant, Zech. 9.11. As for thee alſo, by the blood of thy covenant, I have ſent forth thy priſoners out of the pit, where there is no water. Some do underſtand this of a temporal deliverance out of ſome great and grievous Affliction, which the Lord did deliver his People; if ſo, then certainly it muſt be by the blood of the covenant; by and through which the Elect are delivered out of all their Pits, and Miſeries, into which their Sins have caſt them. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt is the Mediatour of the New Covenant, and if Infants be not in this Covenant, they can have no Intereſt in him, as Mediatour; for he is no Mediatour, but of ſuch a Covenant: His great Buſineſs is to confirm a Covenant, to all ſuch, to whom he is a Mediatour. Therefore to deny Infants being in covenant, is to ſhut them out of all hopes of partaking of one Drop of the Precious Blood of Chriſt, which is Covenant-Blood. And thus here is a dreadful Rock in the midſt of that Ocean of Miſery, that Sin hath brought them in, which poor Infants dying in their Infancy muſt unavoidably ſplit upon for ever; moreover here we may ſee them all to have ſuffered Shipwrack, without the leaſt part of a Wreck left them to ſwim to ſhore on. If it be ſo, that the Infints of Believers are excluded from Right in the Covenant, and the Promiſe of the Holy Ghoſt, and Remiſſion of Sin, unleſs they do perſonally profeſs their Faith and Repentance, as our Challenger would have it, then they are out of all the ordinary way of Salvation, and deſperately expoſed to be loſt for ever.

p. 653. Demonſt. This hath been the way, that a holy and juſt God hath obſerved in ejecting, and caſting out of the Covenant. When Parents by their ſin have been diſinherited, and caſt out; their Children alſo have been turned out with them, we read of the breaking and taking in, Rom. 11.17, 19. The one muſt expound the other, and one muſt be commenſurate and reſponſible to the other: otherwiſe the parallel, of the Holy Ghoſt, and the harmony of the matter will be broke. They which were broken off, were called natural branches; they and their natural Seed did grow upon this root, and both were broken off, not only the Parents, but the Children; God wrote upon them and their Children a Loammi. So when the Lord (thro' rich grace) did fill up their vacancy, and inſerted the Gentiles in their Room, in graffing them into the ſame Stock, making of them to partake of the root, and fatneſs of the Olive tree; it was they, the adult Parents that did believe, and all their Sprigs, their Children, that ſprang from them, that were graffed in. Here we muſt obſerve a meet Similitude in the rejection of the Jews, and the implantation of the Gentiles; look how the One was by unbelief broken off, ſo the others were taken in by Faith: but the one both Parents and Children were broken off thro' the ſtubborn rejection of the Covenant, not ſubmitting to the new Adminiſtration of it, when it was offered by the Apoſtles after the aſcenſion of the Meſſiah, which was expreſſed by the Parents only; therefore the Gentiles are inſerted with their Children, notwithſtanding the Parents only expreſs a Beleiving embracement of the Covenant, and the Promiſes thereof.

4. Demonſt. Children are Members of the viſible Church, where their Parents be in Covenant with p. 66God, they be initiated by Baptiſm, and admitted into viſible Memberſhip; the breaking off was the caſting out of a viſible Church, Mat. 19.14. But Jeſus ſaid, Suffer little Children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of ſuch is the Kingdom of Heaven. Our great Champion, will not have theſe to be little, in reſpect of the ſmalneſs of their growth, or littleneſs of their age, tho' it be never ſo ridiculous, and abſurd to deny it; what will not raſh men obtrude upon, to uphold their crude indigeſted notions. Obſerve a little here theſe be not only called Children, but little Children, Luke calls them Infants, Chap. 18.15. And they brought unto him alſo Infants that he would touch them, viz. that he would bleſs them; they were ſuch that were brought, or born to Chriſt, they could not come themſelves: then were there brought unto him little Children, nay, they were ſo ſmall, and little that the Diſciples that attended upon their Lord, thought that they could only be a trouble to him, therefore they rebuked them that brought them; yea, and further 'tis ſaid that Jeſus took them up into his arms, when he laid his hands upon them, and bleſſed them; he took them out of their Parents arms, or the arms of them that brought them, when he bleſſed them, Mar. 10.16. Yea one thing more fully to prove that Children are to be taken literally, and not allegorically, and that from the Greek word, that the Evangeliſt Luke makes uſe of, where 'tis ſaid, that they brought unto him foreign, the word foreign, ſignifies a very little child Infants, puer recens natus, 1 Pet. 2.2. As new born Babes deſire the ſincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby: The very ſame word we have for a Babe, yet unborn, and not injoying any habitation but the Womb, Luke. 1, 41. And it came to paſs, that when Elizabeth heard the Salutation of Mary, the Babe leaped in her womb, and ſo ver. 44. the Babe leaped for p. 67joy! Oh how did our Neighbour lately abuſe this precious Text, in his endeavouring to prove that which Chriſt will never thank him for, Viz. that Children are not capable of Habitual Faith: He would be thought a very great Scholar, tho' we well underſtand what Univerſity he was brought up in; but had he, or could he but have conſulted the Original text, he would ſcarce have been ſo bold with Chriſt, as to have attempted to deſtroy his Love to Infants, and to have vented his cruelty to thoſe, that he took up into his arms, to bleſs thoſe that did hang upon the Breſt, and were alſo brought in the arms of godly Mothers, that brought them forth unto Chriſt, to receive ſome Spiritual bleſſing. I do prefer the judgment of Learned and Critical Beza, before a thouſand ſuch Doctors as ours is: I will give you his ſenſe of the words in Luke ch. 18.5. and how he opens the words. There he tells us what theſe Infants are, theſe are his words, Teneri nimirum et adhuc ab uberibus pendentes pueruli, very little Children that hang upon the Breſt, ſucking Babes, which are carried in the arms. Beza adds ſomething more and ſaith thus, Eſt enim adverſus hoſtes Paedo-baptiſmi ſervanda propria ſignificatio verbi foreign et nominis foreign, the proper ſignification of the words Infants, and that they were carried to Chriſt, and alſo that he took them into his arms, when he bleſſed them, muſt be kept. But I may have an opportunity to meet with my Adverſary in a more ſuitable place: Thus we ſee what little things the Seed of Believers be, that are Members of the Church viſible; for by Kingdom of Heaven is (by all judicious Divines) taken to be the viſible Church: Now becauſe they be declared by Chriſt himſelf to be ſuch Members with their Parents, they muſt alſo with them be in Covenant with God.

5. Demonſt. The Parents by Covenant do ingage themſelves, and their Children unto God. When p. 68Parents do enter into Covenant with the Lord, they do by the Bonds of the ſame, oblige themſelves, and theirs unto the Lord, and to be the Lords for ever. Every Covenant-Parent does oblige himſelf, and his Seed to God, to walk according to the Covenant of Grace, to which the Initiating Seal of the Covenant is annext; and God doth promiſe to be his God, and the God of his Seed, Gen. 17.7. Parents when they do dedicate their Children to God, by the Seal of the Covenant, then they do ingage to the utmoſt of their power, that they ſhall obſerve the Duties of the ſame: So Children when they are Adult, ought by Faith to lay a firm hold upon the Covenant, and anſwer the Obligation of their Parents. In a Federal Conſideration, when Parents do ingage for their Children; this (as it hath always been) is accounted among the Judicious the Act of the Children, in, and by their Parents, and they are obliged ſtrictly to the performance of the ſame. That Parents have thus ingaged for their Children in covenant with God, might be eaſily proved, Deut. 26.17, 18. In which place Parents and their children are comprehended, as is more fully and ſpecifically expreſſed in Chap. 29.10, 11, 12, 13, 14. There we have the little ones expreſſed, which are involved with their Parents in the former place. Some that are Adverſaries herein, pretend to wonder how this can be; but what is more common among Men? In a Mans Covenant, do not Men put their Childrens Names in their Writings Obligatory? And their Little Ones, and thoſe unborn, ſhall ſtand firmly obliged thereby; and the Law doth take it as firm, as if the Child had actually bound himſelf. A little to Illuſtrate and Invigorate this; We are to conſider that the Children when grown up, and prove ſinful, walking contrary to the Covenant, yea, and thoſe that p. 69never did receive the Token of the Covenant by Circumciſion, ſtand accuſed of the high Charge of breaking the Covenant, which is an Evident Proof of their being (when but Infants) in covenant; otherwiſe this Charge could not be ſo clearly exhibited againſt them, Deut. 29.25. The men ſhall ſay, Becauſe they have forſaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers; Viz. the Covenant which the Lord God made with their Fathers. This you have but a few Verſes before, to demonſtrate that it was that Covenant the Lord made with the Parents and their Little Ones that ſtood before him, to covenant with him, 1 Kings 19.10, 14. You may ſee what Covenant this was, 2 Kings 13.23. And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compaſſion on them, and had reſpect unto them, becauſe of his covenant with Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, and would not deſtroy them, neither caſt he them from his preſence: Yet they had broken this Covenant, and for the Covenant's ſake, they deſcending from the Fathers, and being the Seed of thoſe, with whom he had made this Covenant, he would not enter upon them for the breach they made upon it, to extinguiſh or to deſtroy them, as yet. It was the Covenant that did bind up and reſtrain the Hands of Juſtice from caſting off the Jews, the Children of the Fathers, and of the Covenant; therefore the Lord is ſaid, Pſal. 111.5. — He will ever be mindful of his covenant. Gen. 17.14. And the uncircumciſed manchild whoſe fleſh of his fore-skin is not circumciſed, that ſoul ſhall be cut off from his people: he hath broken my covenant. Surely if the Seed of Parents in covenant are accuſed for the breaking of the Covenant, they themſelves muſt be in covenant, and obliged by their Parents to keep it.

6. Demonſt. Such as God is pleaſed to account and accept as holy, are in covenant. Thoſe that have a Foederal Holineſs muſt be Foederates, and p. 70ſuch that be in covenant with the Lord; but this is the great Bleſſing of thoſe that are the Children of believing Parents; there is a Holineſs attributed to them, that is not to the Seed of Pagans, and Infidels, and it is a Covenant-Holineſs; therefore it muſt follow by undeniable conſequence, That they are in covenant with their Parents. What makes Iſrael, and his Seed, more holy than the Egyptians, or Canaanites, and their Seed, but God's taking one into covenant, and not the other? Thus Iſrael and his Seed are ſaid to be holy, Deut. 14.2. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. If but one Parent be in covenant, the Children be accepted as holy with the Lord, 1 Cor. 7.14. Becauſe of this, the Children are not unclean as the Canaanites, but holy like the Iſraelites. I have ſpoke ſomething to this in the Explication of this Point, therefore ſhall haſten over it; it would be to ſmall purpoſe to enter into the Miry Labyrinth, wherein ſome have lodg'd this precious Scripture: I ſhall only ſay this (with an Acute Perſon,) That commonly Reaſons of Poſitions are brought à notiori, to prove a thing doubtful by a thing known, yeilded, or confeſt; this I judge to be a granted and a well-known Truth, as one of the Jews Divine Axioms: But that none but Believers Children are Legitimate, and that none but Believers have a lawful uſe of their Children, which are the two uſual Expoſitions of the Adverſaries on that Text, which to me ſeems very jeiune, and ſpurious; thoſe will hardly paſs for unqueſtionable Truths among the wiſeſt of Men: And to make the Apoſtle argue thence to prove the lawful continuance of the Believer, in conjugal Society with the Unbeliever, would make the Apoſtle guilty of proving obſcurum per obſcurius, an obſcure thing by that which is more dark and obſcure: But to take Holineſs there, for that which is Foederal, that is a clear p. 71Medium to prove that; and whoſoever ſhall ſtand up and oppoſe it, there is the Diſpenſation of the Covenant with Iſaac all along, and that continued in the Chriſtian Churches to prove it. Your Children are holy, Viz. Heirs to the Covenant, a known Truth, then granted and allow'd by all, even like unto our Text, That the Covenant was to the Parents, and their Children. How can the Children of Believers be ſaid to be holy, if they be not in covenant with their Parents? From whence all the Seed of Believers do receive the denomination, Rom. 11.16. For if the firſt-fruit be holy, the lump is alſo holy: and if the root be holy, ſo are the branches. The Root is Abraham, and the Fathers, and they may be ſaid to be the Firſt-fruits, becauſe they were firſt conſecrated to God; and the Branches are denominated from the Root, Exod. 19.6. And ye ſhall be unto me a kingdom of prieſts, and an holy nation. Here the whole Nation was called holy: How could it be called ſo? Not becauſe all the Individuals of the Nation were perſonally holy, partaking of a ſaving Work of Holineſs upon their Hearts: There were but a few ſuch: But becauſe as a Nation the Adult, and Children were in covenant with the Lord; for the Children were no ſmall part of the Nation. We have this very Phraſe conferred upon the Chriſtian Church, in the Times of the Goſpel, 1 Pet. 2.9. But ye are a choſen generation, a royal prieſthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. Believing Gentiles, with their Seed, were ingrafted into the ſame Place from whence the Jews were broken off, and are become a holy nation unto God.

7. Demonſt. Thoſe unto whom the Promiſes of the Covenant are made, and do appertain; they are in Covenant with the Lord: Some time the Covenant is expreſt by the Promiſe as in our Text, p. 72and the Covenant of Promiſe, the gracious promiſes of the word are the branches of the Covenant of grace: Some do ſtile the Covenant a Collection or bundle of Promiſes which God hath bound up, and conferred (through Chriſt) upon his People, unto which there are annext the duties of the Covenant, unto the performance: Of which there is proviſion made in the ſame Covenant of grace, and divine aſſiſtance: But the promiſes of the Covenant are made to the Children of thoſe, that are themſelves in Covenant, as well as to the parents; it ſeems to be very cruel and irrational to turn thoſe out of the Covenant, unto whom are aſſured the gracious promiſes of it, not only Temporal and external, but Spiritual and eternal bleſſings are promiſed unto the Children of Believers. Thoſe that are the oppoſers of this truth, muſt firſt Obliterate all the Promiſes that are comprehended in the Covenant, as the inheritance of the Seed of the Parents that themſelves are in Covenant with the Lord. As to any common ordinary rule appointed to us, belonging to our duties and hopes concerning our off-ſpring; we have nothing (as I know) to build upon, but Covenant promiſes: What an) excellent one is our Text unto pious Parents, as to their Children; and in this it is founded, for the Promiſe is to you, and your Children. To illuſtrate and amplifie this, I ſhall in ſeveral particulars ſhew you ſome of the Ranks of Covenant-Promiſes, that are extended unto ſuch little Ones, that are the undoubted Proprietors of them.

(1.) That great and Capital promiſe, of the Lords being their God, this comprehends all the reſt, and is inſtar omnium. Is not this Promiſe, made to the Seed, of Believers, wrote in Capital Letters in many places, in the word of God? This is Gods great record in the Covenant of grace; and the great foundation the Church of p. 73God is built upon, (viz.) this of Gods promiſing to be the God of his people, and of their Seed in every age, and generation of time, yea, to the end of the World, uſ que ad conſummationem omnium, unto the compleating and fulfilling of all things. Thus the bleſſed conſtitution, and promulgation of the Covenant hath alwayes run; this is wrote with a Noverint univerſi. That which every one under the ſound of the Goſpel ſhould know and underſtand; yea, even thoſe that are but raw, and rudely inſtructed in the very Principles and Rudiments of Religion. This gracious promiſe, is the golden Frontis-piece of this Covenant. The heart of God was ſo full of grace and love, to the Seed of the faithful, that when he called Abraham to eſtabliſh his Covenant, the fountain of his grace, did immediately emit this ſacred, ſweet, and moſt refreſhing Stream, Viz. That I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed; and that in all Succeſſions and periods of time, unto the utmoſt bound and period of all, read the Scriptures following, Gen. 17.7. Jer. 24.7. and 31.33. and 32.38. Ezek. 11.20. and 34.24, 31. Chap. 36.28. Chap. 37.27. Mat. 22.27. 2 Cor. 6.17, 18. Theſe rare promiſes muſt be expung'd out of the Book of God, before I can, (unleſs left by God to fall into error;) put this Article out of my Creed, that the Children of Believers naturally Springing from their Loins are in the Covenant with them. I have ſpoke much already to prove that the Covenant in Gen. 17.7. made unto Abraham, did referre to the Covenant of Grace. Some may be making of ſome Query, about that; becauſe they ſee, what muſt be the Conſequence of granting of it. Wherefore I would deſire them to return back unto what hath been ſaid upon that Point: Only I will add one or two things here. (1.) In this form run the promiſes (which are acknowledged by all, that know any thing) of the p. 74Goſpel-Covenant, or Covenant of grace; let all the places of Scripture, immediately here before mentioned, be examined as to the Phraſe of them, I will be a God to you, or your God; and you my people, which includes Believers and their Seed: Now in as much as this in the 17. of Gen. runs in the ſame Phraſe of the Covenant of grace that we ſee in other places that are allowed to be ſuch, we may conclude, that ſuch is this alſo. Doctor Ames ſaith thus againſt Bellar. Omnia illa quae ſpectant ad novum foedus eadem phraſi ſummatim explicantur. So that when we are challenged to prove the Covenant with Abraham, to be a Covenant of grace, and Circumciſion to be a Seal of the Covenant of grace; Note that in this Point we have to do with our old Adverſaries the Papiſts, tho' marching forth under the banner of a People of another Denomination; for their Doctrine as to the Covenant made with Abraham, in the place mentioned, is thus, that it was a Covenant of outward bleſſings, this is indeed the Doctrine of the worſt of them, thus ſaith Bellar. Legimus Deum promiſiſſe Abrahamo, quando illi injunxit Circumciſionem, terrena tantùm ad literam, i. e. propagationem poſteritatis, & terram paleſtinae. Again, Illis verbis, ero Deus tuus, ſignificat totum promiſſum peculiaris protectionis. Thus we may ſee, that our great diſputant doth ſweetly lick up the Doctrine of this great Doctor of the Church of Rome, tho' to give him his due, I believe he is not overmuch verſed in him; to which Doctor Ames anſwers, Legimus benedictionem illam Abrahamo promiſſionem fuiſſe plane eandem cum illâ, quâ jam fideles ex gentibus juſtificabantur. Gal. 3. Now when the Holy Ghoſt teſtifies in Scripture every where, that the Goſpel-Covenant runs in that form; why ſhould we fall in with the Papiſts, and take their word for it, that that is no Goſpel Covenant? But let us hearken to Chriſt, the beſt Expoſitor and applyer p. 75of Scripture, who is the Subſtance and infallible Oracle of all divine truths, Mat. 22.31, 32. But (ſaith he) touching the Reſurrection of the dead, have ye not read, what was ſpoken unto you by God, ſaying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Iſaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; where our Saviour affirms, that the preſent glorification of Abraham's, Iſaac's and Jacob's Spirits and the future Reſurrection of their bodies, to live with God, both Soul and body for ever, to be included in that Promiſe, and the very accompliſhment of that promiſe, I am the God of Abraham, &c. Hence this clearly appears to be a Covenant of grace, of Spiritual and eternal Bleſſings.

(2.) The promiſe of the Spirit is made to the Children of thoſe Parents, that be in Covenant; therefore they muſt be alſo in Covenant. Such unto whom God promiſeth his own Spirit, their's is the promiſe and Covenant of grace; for that is a Covenant of promiſe, Ezek. 36.26. A new heart will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you, ver. 27. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cauſe you to walk in my ways. The promiſe of the Spirit is one of the moſt gracious promiſes that the Covenant of grace is inriched withall. Chriſt and the Spirit are the two Emphatical promiſes. When Chriſt was upon the earth, and haſtning towards his aſcenſion, this was the great promiſe that he made to be left behind him; and this is the promiſe that by the gracious gift of God doth appertain to the Children of thoſe that are in Covenant with the Lord, Iſa. 44.3. For I will pour water upon him that is thirſty, and flouds upon the dry ground, I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed, and my bleſſing upon thy offſpring; Little Children that ſpring like little twigs from their parents, that be graffed into the Covenant: Chap. 59.21. As for me, this is my p. 76Covenant with them, ſaith the Lord, My ſpirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put into thy mouth, ſhall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy ſeed, nor out of the mouth of thy ſeeds ſeed, ſaith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. Here is a bleſſed Promiſe to the Parents, and the Children, of this rare Priviledge of the Spirit, with a perpetual Entail, Acts. 2.38, 39. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jeſus, for the remiſſion of ſins, and ye ſhall receive the gift of the holy Ghoſt. For the promiſe is unto you, and to your children; Viz. The Promiſe of Remiſſion of Sin, and of the Holy Ghoſt. The Truth is, Dying Infants without this promiſe could never be ſaved.

(3.) The Promiſe of Regeneration belongs to ſuch Children. Such to whom the Lord promiſeth Regeneration, and Renovation, muſt needs be in covenant, to them doth belong the Promiſe and Covenant of Grace, for that is a Bleſſing of the Covenant of Grace, Ezek. 36.26. A new heart alſo will I give unto you, and a new ſpirit will I put within you, and I will take away the ſtony heart out of your fleſh, and I will give you an heart of fleſh. This doth expreſly ſet forth the Work of the Holy Spirit, in renewing, and ſanctifying, and regenerating the Hearts of the Elect; this is that which is promiſed to the Off-ſpring of thoſe in covenant with the Lord; therefore they themſelves muſt alſo be in covenant, Deut. 30.6. And the Lord thy God will circumciſe thy heart, and the heart of thy ſeed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy ſoul. The Seal of Circumciſion, the Token of the Covenant, did eminently ſignifie, and Aſſure this to all the Elect Infants that were in covenant; therefore Regeneration and Sanctification are oftentimes ſet forth by Circumciſion, and when the Lord calls for them, he doth it under the Name and Notion of Circumciſion: p. 77This might have been evidenced by many place… Without this Promiſe, and the accompliſhment of it in the Hearts of dying Infants, they can never be ſaved; for thoſe Scriptures that exclude all unſanctified Perſons out of the Kingdo… of Heaven, are as applicable to the young Children, as to thoſe that are the moſt Adult. I need not ſtand to call in here any of thoſe many Scriptures that have ſet an unmovable Barre before the Gate of Heaven, againſt all unſanctified Sinners.

(4.) The Promiſe of being taught of God is an Excellent Promiſe of the Covenant of Grace; thoſe that do partake of a Standing in this Covenant, this is one of the Evangelical Promiſes that they are entituled unto, thoſe ſhall have a greater Teacher than Man, viz. they ſhall be taught of God, and by his Spirit. This is the Promiſe that is made with ſuch Infants, that are in covenant with their Parents, though ſome do ſcornfully ſay, What can they learn? Or what are they capable to be taught? Let ſuch know, that they have reaſonable Souls; and God by his Spirit can eaſily teach them, and they be under the promiſe of being taught of God, Jer. 31.34. And they ſhall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, ſaying, Know the Lord: for they ſhall all know me, from the leaſt of them unto the greateſt. God can teach the leaſt Infant to know him, Iſa. 54.13. And all thy children ſhall be taught of the Lord. Let us conſider can any but thoſe that be taught of God be admitted unto the Eternal Injoyment of God: He will take no ignorant Sinner into the company of the Glorifi'd. It is ſaid of Timothy, that from a Child he knew the holy Scriptures, 2 Tim. 3.15. Every one of you (I preſume) will readily grant, that his Knowledge was ſaving, and that he was effectually taught of God; and I muſt tell you, that he was very little when firſt he was p. 78taught, and this will appear, if we conſider the Word in the Text, And that from a child thou haſt known the holy ſcriptures foreign — from his infancy. Some that be learned and critical do tell us … the Word doth ſignifie the very Embryo … the Womb. God is able to teach and to ſanctifie there — propriè dicitur de partu recèns edito, a Child ſo ſoon as brought forth of the Womb. It is an eaſie matter for God to fulfil the Excellent Promiſes of the Covenant, and to cauſe the Babe that falls out of the Womb, to fall into the Arms of Grace, and he that ſucks on the Breaſt to draw in the Heavenly Knowledge of Chriſt; otherwiſe how can many be taken from the Breaſt and the Womb to Heaven, as doubtleſs a Multitude of Coverant-Babes are?

(5.) The Promiſe of Juſtification, and the Remiſſion of Sin, is an Excellent Promiſe of the Covenant of Grace: The Blood of Chriſt is aſſured in this Foederal Mercy, not only to waſh away the Filth, but alſo to remove the guilt of Sin. Pardon of Sin is one of the moſt deſirable Branches of this Covenant, there can be no obtaining the pardon of one Sin without it; all the Promiſes of pardon are founded upon the Grace of God, and ſatisfaction made to Divine Juſtice by the Blood of the Son of God, whoſe Blood is the Blood of the Everlaſting Covenant. I ſhall not ſtand to mind you of the many Promiſes that we have of Remiſſion; the Word of God doth abound with them, and whereſoever you find any of them, you may conclude, that they do relate to the Covenant of Grace. Now the Covenant-Seed of thoſe that be Believing Parents, have a ſhare in thoſe Promiſes that hold out a Free and Full pardon of Sin, Acts 2.38, 39. Repent, and be baptized every one, &c. for the remiſſion of ſins, For the promiſe is to you, and your Seed, Viz. That Promiſe and Covenant that hath made proviſion p. 79for the Remiſſion of your Sin, and the Sin of your Children; for they had involved their Children into the guilt of their Sin, but in the Covenant there is pardon for both, Iſa. 45.24, 25. Surely, ſhall one ſay, In the Lord have I righteouſneſs and ſtrength. In the Lord ſhall all the ſeed of Iſrael be juſtified, and glory. The rich Proviſions of the Covenant of Grace have laid up for the Juſtification and Remiſſion for the Seed of Iſrael.

(6.) Such to whom God is pleaſed to promiſe Bleſſedneſs, theirs is the Promiſe, and the Covenant of Grace: But the Children of thoſe that are in covenant, are promiſed Bleſſedneſs. Such that be under ſuch a Promiſe as this is, have right to be lookt upon to be in the Covenant of Grace. In the Covenant of Works, there are the terrible Curſings of a Juſt and Righteouſly angry God: But in the Covenant of Grace, there you may hear the Soul-comforting Voice, that pronounceth all Bleſſings, yea Bleſſedneſs it ſelf; and this Bleſſed Voice is ſounded out to the Little Ones of thoſe Parents that are in covenant, Pſal. 37.25, 26. I have been young and now am old: yet have I not ſeen the righteous forſaken, nor his ſeed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth: and his ſeed ſhall be bleſſed. What Bleſſedneſs is there which is not in, and from that Covenant, Pſal. 3.8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy bleſſing is upon thy people. Thus I have done with this Demonſtration of the Doctrine, by which I have endeavoured to ſhew that the Seed of thoſe that are in covenant muſt be ſo, becauſe the precious Promiſes do belong unto them.

8. Demonſt. To Evidence the Truth of this Point, thoſe from whom God demands Covenant-Duty, and doth challenge the ſame from them; to them the Promiſe, and the Covenant doth appertain: The ſame Covenant that ſaith, You ſhall p. 80be my people, ſaith, I will be your God. Now the Covenant requires of the Children of Gods People, that they be Gods People too, therefore they be in covenant. Look as the Parents do covenant for their Children, in their Infancy, ſo 'tis their Duty (ſo ſoon as may be) to counſel, and to inſtruct them, as Covenant-children to know, to love, to fear, to ſerve and obey God. Theſe are Covenant-Obligations: Thoſe that the Lord is pleaſed to take into Foederal-relation with himſelf, to be his People; it is that they may be found in the conſtant and perſevering diſcharge of Relative Duties: Thou ſhalt be my people, What only to partake of Priviledge? No; but alſo to perform Duty. Abraham was very ſenſible of this, and therefore did command and oblige all of his, what he could, to be converſant in all neceſſary and incumbent Covenant Duties. See what obſervation the Lord did make of him, and what a Commendation he faſtens upon him, Gen. 18.19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his houſhold after him, and they ſhall keep the way of the Lord, to do juſtice and judgment. All Parents in covenant ought to ſee to this; they are ingag'd in covenant with, and for their Children, and are under an indiſpenſable Obligation to ſee that their Children walk and act ſuitably to the Priviledges, and Duties of it. God expects a Revenue of Honour from covenant Children, therefore he doth command their Parents to bring them up in the Fear and Admonition of the Lord, Eph. 6.4. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thus Timothy was educated and brought up from a little child. Children are to be dedicated unto God by the Seal of the Covenant, by which they be bound to fear God, to ſerve, to obey him, to keep his Word, and to walk in his Way; as p. 81Abraham did inſtruct and command his to do. Believers Children muſt be under Gods diſcipline, bound to Gods Worſhip, kept in Gods Way; they be the Lords People. Muſt this be, and no Covenant-priviledge belong unto them, and be what Pagans and Heathens only be? This is the Covenant-Diſpenſation, firſt Priviledge, and then Duty; therefore Children that are in covenant with the Lord are called Diſciples, Acts 15.10. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the diſciples, — They are in a peculiar manner to be inſtructed, and taught as thoſe from whom God expects early Service.

9. Demonſt. The ſame Covenant is transferr'd unto the Times of the Goſpel, ſince the Actual Exhibition and Aſcenſion of the Meſſiah; the ſame for Eſſence, and Subſtance, though in the Adminiſtration of it, it may vary in ſome circumſtances; the believing; and the covenanted Gentiles, ſtand in the very ſame Condition by Faith, and in the very ſame Kingdom-ſtate for the Eſſentials of it, out of which the Jews, through unbelief, were broken and caſt off; for they were graffed, foreign, in the place and room of thoſe broken Branches, as Beza hath it, Rom. 11.17. And it hath its firſt riſe from that ſeaſonable and never-failing Promiſe, Gen. 3.15. which will run through all the Ages of the World, whereſoever God hath his Elect, by the preaching of the Goſpel to call into, and to incloſe within the limits of the Covenant. It was the Saying of a great Man, that Adam and Eve, when they entred upon a new Covenant bottom, were ſeminally a Viſible Church; for by them, the World, as well as the Church, as to be built. Here when the Lord did reveal his Grace, and gracious Covenant, he took in the Seed alſo, in the very downing and firſt day-ſpring of the Goſpel, God p. 82takes in the Seed of the Woman, ſo afterwards to Abraham, and ſo all along until the Time of the calling of the Gentiles. Now in the Times of the Goſpel, thoſe that be called, be the Children of Abraham, they, and their Seed, have a happy admittance into the Covenant of Abraham, and are Heirs according to promiſe, and bleſſed with that ever-living Father. The New Teſtament doth abundantly teſtifie of this; in many Scriptures we have the Old Teſtament Phraſe and Way, Mat. 8.11. Many ſhall come from the eaſt and from the weſt, and ſhall ſit down with Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. By the Faith of the Centurion Chriſt takes an occaſion to touch by way of prediction of the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews, and the bringing of the Gentiles into the Covenant made with thoſe Fathers, and Patriarchs. I do not know how to forbear the inſerting of an excellent Obſervation that a Judicious Man makes upon this Text, thus, Quare non ſine admiratione hoc additum fuit domeſticos regni Dei, & haeredes fore, qui tunc extranei erant, neque id ſolum, ſed foedus ſalutis mox publicandum eſſe, ut totus orbis in unum Eccleſiae corpus coaleſceret, dum Gentiles qui ad fidem accedunt ejuſdem cum Abram, Iſaac, & Jacob, ſalutis participes fore dicit. Luke 19.9. And Jeſus ſaid unto him, This day is ſalvation come to this houſe, foraſmuch as he alſo is the ſon of Abraham. Here our Lord Jeſus did preach the Covenant, and upon the Faith of this good Man, Abraham's Covenant entred into his Houſe, himſelf, and whole Family were taken into covenant, Exod. 16.31, 32, 33. This was the happy State of this Man, ſo ſoon as he did believe, God took him into covenant and his whole Houſe, and all of them in the ſame Hour of the Night, did partake of the Seal of the Covenant, after this Example we practice, v. 14, 15. This was the caſe of Lydia, upon her p. 83believing, ſhe, and all her Houſe were Baptized, 'Tis ſtrange if that in all theſe houſes, there might not be one Child, there might be children in ſeveral of them; however children be a part, and a choice part of houſholds. So that here is a Rule for us to walk by, that when the Maſter or head of the houſe doth imbrace the Faith, that was never Baptized before, both he, and his, are to receive the token of the Covenant, as upon their believing, they do enter into it with God. This is the right way to be obſerved, that Parents entertaining the Goſpel, that were never under the bond of the Covenant, neither partakers of the Seal of it, muſt be baptized; and their Children, that are Foederally received with them by God, muſt be alſo with them, Rom. 4.16. Therefore 'tis of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promiſe or the Covenant 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, Viz. He is the Father of all that do believe, both Jew and Gentile, Eph. 2.13, 14. But now in Chriſt Jeſus, ye who ſometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Chriſt: For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition. Now by the blood of Chriſt the parting Wall that was between the Jew and the Gentile is taken away, and both of them that believe are incloſed in one Covenant. The Gentile that was afar off being out of Covenant, and the Jew that was nigh being in Covenant. Now in the New Covenant all our Spiritual and Eternal bleſſings come ſwimming to us upon the blood of Chriſt, which blood for ever runs thro' the Covenant. We have no other way of remiſſion of Sin, of renovation and Regeneration, or of Eternal life, then Abraham had in the Old Teſtament, John 8.56. Neither doth the Lord require p. 84any other obedience from us, then he did from Abraham, therefore we are to walk in the ſteps of our Father Abraham.

10. Demonſt. God doth challenge the Children of his people, that be in Covenant with him, to be his Children. There is a ſpecial Intereſt and propriety, that God layes claim to have in the Seed of his, they be more his children, then their's; they are brought forth for him, and by the Seal of the Covenant are, and ought to be devoted and dedicated to God, Ezek. 16.20, 21. Moreover thou haſt taken thy Sons, and thy Daughters, whom thou haſt born unto me, and theſe haſt thou ſacrificed unto them to be devoured: That thou haſt ſlain my children. This is brought in, as a great aggravation of their ſin, in their cruel and wicked Idolatry; becauſe their Children were thoſe that God had a propriety in, tho' they were their Parents children by generation; yet they were his by Adoption, and Federal aſſumption. To offer any Creature to an Idol, is a great ſin, but to offer Children is far worſe, and to offer Gods Children, that is worſt of all. What greater Sacriledge can there be, than this, to rob God of his Covenant-Seed, brought forth unto him, and to caſt them away upon Idols? May not they be ſaid to rob God that endeavour to rend, and tear his Children out of the Covenant, and refuſe by the Adminiſtration of the Seal to give them up unto God?

11. Demonſt. Shall be taken from many groſs, (I wiſh I might not ſay wicked) abſurdities, that follow the denying Infants intereſt in the Covenant of grace with their Parents. That Doctrine cannot be of God, that is cloathed with, or attended upon with many abſurdities. I do find that thoſe that are great zealots in caſting Children out of their hold, which the great p. 85Lord Proprietor hath given them in the Covenant, are not apprehenſive what abſurd things do attend them. The Livery of this Doctrine diſcovers it to be of no good Family; its retinue may render it very queſtionable, yea, very unſound. The truths of Chriſt admit of no abſurdities, of no groſs Inferences; you can infer nothing from any Doctrine of the Goſpel, but what is pure, and precious: Men to ſupport their Errors, may endeavour to extort, and wreſt the holy Scriptures, to ſpeak their filthy Language, and to give countenance to their odious Tenents. This is one of the Worſt abuſes and helliſh Rapes that can be offered to the word of God. Satan himſelf hath an exquiſite skill herein, and he hath taught many of his Diſciples a dextrous knack in this black Art. Did but the Adverſaries of this my Doctrine conſider into what abſurdities they chaſe their Game; and how the pretended beautiful face of their opinion is ſcratcht and torn, it would make them a little more modeſt and moderate in their aſſertions and concluſions. I ſhall touch upon ſome few of that multitude of abſurdities that do inevitably follow ſhutting Infants out of the Covenant of grace, they are included in with their Parents.

1. This doth impoſe a great reſtraint upon the bleſſed Covenant, contracting the large and copious grace of God, that is involv'd in it. This clips the wings of the love, grace and mercy of God, that doth dilate and amplifie themſelves in a Covenant way. Men may boaſt and vaunt that they are the great admirers, and promoters of the riches of Divine grace, but ſo long as they do Eclipſe, and obſcure the glory, and the brightneſs of it in the Covenant; ſo long they are but empty Pretenders, like unto ſounding Braſs, and a tinkling Cymbal. The great way that the fountain of Grace hath alwayes taken to diffuſe and to convey p. 86it ſelf, ever ſince the miſerable ſtate of Man ſtood in need of it, hath been thro' the Covenant of grace; out of which to exclude Infants, is the ready way to contract, abbreviate and to confine it in ſtraighter Channels then ever God intended it for. What a wonderful reſtraint is here fixt upon the grace of God, when Parents muſt only be taken in, and all their Infants muſt be thruſt out; when Parents muſt be the Children of the Covenant and of the Promiſe, and their Seed muſt be the Children of the Pagans and Heathens, and in no better a capacity as to any Spiritual priviledges then they; when much of the Luſtration and admired beauty of it is (by every unprejudiced Eye) clearly to be ſeen from the gracious extent of it, to the Seed of thoſe that are taken into it. Thus with Abraham, and all along, and thus in our Text, the Promiſe is to you, and your Seed. Nay, this is to make an eſſential violation upon, and alteration of the Covenant, without any colour of pretence, or ſhadow of reaſon in the leaſt: For we never read ſince the inſtitution of it, that ever Children were ſhut out.

2. This makes the caſe and condition of Children far worſe than they were before the Incarnation and aſcenſion of Chriſt; and it makes the Covenant-State of believing Parents to be worſe: for before they were not only themſelves in the happy compaſs of the Covenant, but they had their Children with them alſo, [to thee, and to thy ſeed.] Here ran the Glory, the Grace, and the Promiſes of the Covenant, to incourage the convinced Jews to believe, and repent. The Apoſtle in my Text doth aſſure them, that the Promiſe is not only to them, but to their Children likewiſe. Methinks what a bloody Knife is here at the Throat of all the gracious Covenant-promiſes made to Infants, or poor Children. By this opinion they have ſmall ground p. 87of rejoycing at the appearance of Chriſt in the fleſh, that did immediately abandon them out of the Covenant. We read Mat. 21.15. of Children crying in the Temple, and ſaying, Hoſanna to the ſon of David: But this Doctrine of ſhutting them out of the Covenant gives them but little ground of thoſe acclamations. But their ſounding out of the praiſes of the Redeemer, is a clear Indication that it was for their ſake, that he was come to impart unto, and to inrich them with all the redemption-bleſſings wrapt up in the Covenant. Doubtleſs their amazing Hoſannah's they poured out to their Mediatour of that Covenant they did partake of, were by a Supernatural inſtinct and influence, Mat. 21.16. Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes, and ſucklings thou haſt perfected praiſe? The Lord Jeſus never came into the World to contract, but to inlarge the Covenant; he was ſo far from turning Children out of the Covenant, as that he hath extended it unto the Gentiles, and all the nations of the World, and their Seed, upon their believing.

3. This ſhuts out, and deprives them of the ordinary way of Salvation; as to extraordinary wayes, we have no Rule to walk by, what a prejudice is here offered to Infants? And what a Soul-deſtructive Tenent is that, which deprives little ones of all ordinary wayes and means of eternal Salvation? They have as precious Souls as any; and by nature (thro' the guilt and filth of ſin) as miſerable and obnoxious to Divine wrath as others. They have equal neceſſity of the grace of God, and the blood of Chriſt with their firſt Parents they deſcended from: And I know no ordinary appointed way for their help, relief and recovery, but by and thro' the Covenant of grace. How ſlenderly do many conſider of this cruel abſurdity, that they cannot free their opinion from? How helpleſs doth this reader all children of pious p. 88Parents to be? I might illuſtrate and amplifie this by many particulars, ſome of which I ſhall juſt propound.

(1.) This doth deprive them of being Members of the viſible Church of Chriſt; for this Church is incloſed within the Covenant; to ſhut them out of this incloſure, is directly oppoſite to Chriſts own and open aſſertion, Mat. 19.14. Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of ſuch is the Kingdom of Heaven. So that to exclude Believers Infants, being part of th viſible Church in general, is to exclude them from any ordinary State and way of Salvation; this hath been a long received ſaying, that extra Eccleſiam non eſt ſalus, no Salvation in an ordinary way. To exclude all Infants of Believers from a notion of Abrahams Spiritual Seed, from a Covenant and Church State, is to put them into the ſame State of the Children of Infidels and Pagan Gentiles, who are ſtrangers from the Promiſe and Covenants, and in a godleſs, Chriſtleſs and hopeleſs State, Eph. 2.11, 12. This the Apoſtle ſets out to be the deplorable condition of all ſuch, making no diſtinction of potentia remota, aut propinqua, let this be well conſidered.

(2.) They cannot be judged to be the Elect of God to Eternal life; all that ſhall ſaved, are the choſen to Salvation before all time, Eph. 1.4, 5. According as he hath choſen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we ſhould be holy, and without blame before him in love: Having predeſtinated us to the adoption of children by Jeſus Chriſt to himſelf. 2 Theſſ. 2.13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord; becauſe God hath from the beginning, choſen you to ſalvation, through ſanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the truth. The line of Election doth uſually, and for the moſt part runs thro' the Lines of the inchurched incovenanted Parents; there the greateſt part of the golden Veins are plac'd. So it was amongſt the Jews in the duration of p. 89their Church and Covenant-State, Rom. 11.5. Even ſo then at this preſent time alſo, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Now for men to turn them out of the Covenant of Grace, is to render them in a very unpromiſing Station of the Election of God, to appertain unto them. This is as to Gods eternal choice to make them altogether as hopeleſs as the Seed of Pagans and Infidels. Tho' I readly grant that ſecret things belong unto God; yet from what is revealed, we have little ground to judge that any conſiderable quantity of the Elect are to be concluded to be amongſt the Heathen world; where the Covenant is not on foot, where Chriſt is neither preached or known, where Souls be not converted nor called, nor any ſaving ſignes by the fruits and effects of Election diſcovered nor Demonſtrated.

(3.) Such cannot be ſuppoſed (by any ordinary proſpect) to be any of them, that God hath eternally given to Chriſt to Save; thoſe that are ſaved in time, are ſuch that are given to Chriſt before all time: When Chriſt came into the World, to ſuffer, to lay down his precious life, he openly declared, that it was for his ſheep, for thoſe the Father had given him, and for none beſide, John 10.11, 15, 17. and 17.6, 9. There was an eternal Covenant of Redemption concluded between the Father and the Son; in the which the Son did ingage to ſatisfie Divine juſtice, by being a Propitiation in his blood, for the Redemption of thoſe that were given him: And the Father promiſed all grace here, and everlaſting glory hereafter unto them as the fruit of his own grace, and the purchaſe of their Mediatour that offered up himſelf as an offering, and Oblation of a ſweet-ſmelling ſavour, 2 Tim. 1.9. Tit. 1.2. And all this is conveyed and tranſmitted to them by, and thro' an Evangelical Covenant of grace made unto believing Parents and their Elect Seed: For p. 90this is the great Sluce, thro' which all the bleſſings of the Covenant of Redemption do run. Now to baniſh Infants out of this Covenant, what foundation can we deſcry to build any hopes upon, that they be any of thoſe, that be eternally given by the Father, to the Son to bring into a State of grace here, and manſions of glory hereafter, Pſal. 89.28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant ſhall ſtand faſt with him, Viz. with Jeſus Chriſt.

(4.) We cannot look upon any of the Seed of Believers to be loved by God from the beginning, (if they be excluded that gracious compact they be in with their Parents,) Gods love to his Elect before all time is manifeſted to them in time; the eſtabliſhing of a Covenant of Grace, is the great effort and emanation of the love of God to the eternally, deſigned and determinated Subjects of the ſame God did ſingle out Abraham, and his Seed, from the reſt of the World, to make an open patefaction, and diſcovery of the hidden, and ſecret purpoſes, and intentions of his grace, and love to them; therefore he entered into a Covenant of Grace with them, not only with Abraham, but alſo with his Seed, that being the great conveyance of all unto them. Eternal grace, and love ſtreams thro' it from the fountain of grace and love: So that if they be thruſt out of this, they be diverted from the uſual current of all gracious deſigns and purpoſes; and this muſt of neceſſity render their condition to be very dangerous and deſperate.

(5.) Neither can they be hopefully lookt upon to be redeemed, and purchaſed by Chriſt and his meritorious blood: That which gives believing Parents any good aſſurance of hopes, that Chriſt extended his mediatory undertakings and ſufferings for their Children, is the Covenant-intereſt their Children have obtained with them. Take p. 91away this Anchor-hold, and the Anchor that is caſt out, will come home, and Hope will languiſh, and quickly grow very faint. But here in my Doctrine is a good bottom for Faith and Hope, in our wreſtling with God by Faith in Prayer, for the glorious Fruits and gracious Effects of the Effuſion of the Blood of the Lamb of God, that gave up himſelf unto death for us. The Lord Jeſus Chriſt himſelf came through the Covenant, and was the great Seed of the Promiſe; therefore he hath this Attribute given to him, That he is the Mediatour of the Covenant, Heb. 8.6. All his Mediation is promoted and tranſacted through this gracious Covenant, therefore alſo he is called Jeſus, the Mediatour of the new Covenant, Heb. 12.24. And alſo his Blood is called the blood of the Everlaſting Covenant; it cometh ſwimming unto us through the Everlaſting Covenant: So that to ſhut the Seed of the Faithful forth of this Covenant, you do (as much as you can) carry them beſides the uſual paſſage of this Covenant-Blood.

(6.) Neither can they be capable of Remiſſion and pardon of Sin. Infants as well all others be Sinners, guilty Sinners, and have an indiſpenfable neceſſity of the pardon of Sin, as well as the Adult; they be born with the guilt of Adam, Sin lying at their door, which is a ſtrong Bar to keep them out of Heaven, unleſs it be by pardoning Grace removed: They come into the World, and can never go to Heaven, though they be never ſo few Moments in it, without pardoning Mercy. But where is Forgiveneſs ſeal'd? Is it not in the Covenant of Grace? Are not the Free and Gracious Promiſes great Branches of, yea Eſſential Parts of the Covenant? And are not the Promiſes of Remiſſion, ſome of the Promiſes of it? Therefore we may ſee that all thoſe that are or ſhall be pardoned, it muſt be by and through this Covenant; and if ſo, where are the p. 92Hopes placed for the pardon of the Sins of our dying Infants, that are ſhut out of it? I need not (I hope) ſtand to prove by ſeveral Scriptures; that pardoning Mercy is Covenant Mercy, and is aſſured by the Promiſes of it; indeed there is not one Promiſe of this, but what is a Covenant one. Oh! then let us have a care what we do, that we do not dare to diſinherit the Children of Believers, in that which gives the greateſt hopes of their pardon of ſin.

(7.) They cannot be the Lords Adopted Children, without this Covenant of Grace: Adoption is a Covenant Bleſſing, take it in a general and in an eſpecial acceptation; there cannot be ſo much as a general Adoption without this Covenant, as I have ſhewn you, becauſe of this all Iſrael was called Gods Son and his Children; this I have proved by many Scriptures which do abound with it: much leſs can there be any ſpecial and peculiar Adoption without a Covenant of Grace, this being one of the prime bleſſings of it. Gracious Parents are greatly concern'd that their Children ſhould be the Lords, that they ſhould be the Adopted Children of the Heavenly Father, and Heirs according to promiſe: but this is the peculiar favour and priviledge of ſuch, that are concluded within the compaſs and bounds of the Covenant, Act. 3.25. Ye are the children of the Prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our Fathers, &c. It is by Covenant that ye become Children, and do partake of the Adoption; for unto Covenant-ones doth the Adoption appertain, Rom. 9.4. Who are Iſraelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the Covenants. Here we ſee that the Adoption, and the Covenant go together; he that is ſhut out of one, cannot be a Partaker of the other.

(8.) They cannot be ſanctified nor waſht from their Sins; turn them out of the Covenant, and p. 93you drive them from the Laver of Regeneration and Sanctification; nay, you ſend them away from the very Fountain of Grace, that is open'd for Sin and for Uncleanneſs, Zech. 12.10. Infants, yea thoſe of the moſt pious and ſanctified Parents, were ſhapen in iniquity, and conceived in ſin, Pſal. 51.5. Thoſe that ſpring from corrupt Parents cannot be clean, Job 14.4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. and 15.14. What is man, that he ſhould be clean? and he that is born of a woman, that he ſhould be righteous? It is impoſſible that he ſhould; Parents by propagation can only convey Sin to their Poſterity, not Grace; but all the hope that they can have of their Sanctification is lodg'd in a Covenant of Grace, where there are Proviſions of cleanſing and Sanctification treaſur'd up; and unleſs Infants be ſanctified, they cannot be ſaved, nor inherit the Kingdom of God, Eph. 5.5. But the Covenant of Grace is eminently adorned with excellent Promiſes of cleanſing and Purification. And for this our Lord Jeſus poured out his Immaculate Blood, which is the Blood of the Everlaſting Covenant; this he did for his Church, which Children are a numerous part of, Eph. 5.25, 26, 27. And all the waſhing and cleanſing of Souls is promiſed in, and tranſmitted through the Covenant; ſo that for Children to be excluded from it, they muſt be bereav'd and depriv'd of all this great Covenant bleſſing, without which they muſt be loſt eternally, and be concluded with the abominable and filthy, to be the Fuel of inextinguiſhable Flames of Revenging Wrath. But Parents may encourage themſelves, from the good Inducements that are adminiſtred to them, in reference to their little Children, from this Heart-ſupporting, and Soul-reviving Covenant, Jer. 31.33. Viz. This is one great Branch and Bleſſing of my Covenant: Ezek. 36.25. Then will I p. 94ſprinkle clean water upon you, and ye ſhall be clean … from all your filthineſs, and from all your idols will I cleanſe you. Infants muſt be included in theſe Promiſes, Deut. 30.6. And the Lord thy God will circumciſe thy heart, and the heart of thy ſeed to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy ſoul. This is a bleſſed Encouragement vouchſaft by the Covenant of Grace, but deny Infants a Title to this, and then you have no room left to expect (in an ordinary way) their Purification and Holineſs. So that ſtill it appears to be dangerous to exclude them this Covenant.

(9.) They cannot enjoy the Lords gracious Preſence without partaking of the Covenant; it is his Covenant-Preſence that is his peculiar and gracious Preſence, that he doth enrich his People withal. The Church, and the Covenant-People of the Lord, did partake of this Preſence, before Chriſt came it was with them, and with their Children, 2 Cor. 6.16. I will dwell with them, and walk with them; and I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people: Viz. My peculiar, and my Covenant-People; for unto ſuch doth this Special Preſence appertain; God pitcheth his Tabernacle, and fixeth his Preſence, and Reſidence, among his that are in this Happy Compact with him, Lev. 26.11, 12. And I will ſet my tabernacle amongſt you: and I will walk among you, and ye ſhall be my people. To turn Children out of this Covenant, is the next way to ſend them from all the Beatifical Shines of this Mercy, and to diſmiſs them from the gracious Preſence of the Lord, and to make them wandring and perpetually expos'd Vagabonds, like unto Cain; yea, this is the way to bring the Children of Believers under that direful Imprecation, Pſal. 109.10. Let his children be continually vagabonds,— The worſt Vagabonds in the World are thoſe that be ſtigmatiz'd with the infamous Brand of being Excluded p. 95the Covenant, and the gracious Preſence of the Lord. We ſee then, that Men had need be careful how (in reſpect of the Covenant) they deal with poor Infants.

(10.) They cannot be gathered to Chriſt, nor brought under the Wings of his Mercy. It is an Excellent Promiſe of Chriſt, That the gathering of the People, viz. of all the Elect, ſhall be unto him, Gen. 49.10. The ſcepter ſhall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, viz. Chriſt, and unto him ſhall the gathering of the people be. But ſtill the gathering of Chriſt is a Covenant-gathering, Pſal. 50.5. Gather my ſaints together, that have made a covenant with me by ſacrifice. The Wings of Chriſt, underneath which the gathering muſt be, are lifted up in this Covenant; though his gracious Wings be never ſo receptive, and large, yet the only way to creep under them, is by getting within the Bond of the Covenant. Thoſe that be not within the Incloſure of it, are not ſaid to be gathered, but to be remote, and diſtant from Chriſt, Eph. 2.12, 13. That at that time ye were without Chriſt, being aliens from the common-wealth of Iſrael, and ſtrangers from the covenant of promiſe, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Chriſt Jeſus, ye that were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Chriſt. You be called and brought into the Covenant, though you were afar off, yet now are brought nigh by the Blood of the Covenant; ſo that all that are not in the Covenant, are ſtill afar off, and remote from Chriſt. This is the condition that Children of pious Parents muſt be unavoidably caſt into, that are baniſhed the Covenant of grace, by which a people are brought nigh and gathered into and unto Chriſt.

(11.) They be by this way of dealing ſhut out of (in a word) all Covenant-Bleſſings, and Priviledges; p. 96and ſo are repreſented to be in a moſt deplorable and miſerable condition, this ſtrips them naked of all the covenant-bleſſings, they be cloathed and inveſted with. It is the promiſe of the Lord, and it is a promiſe full of grace, that he will ſhew mercy to thouſands of them that love him, and keep his Commandments, Viz. To many generations of their Seed, and poſterity. I ſhall here inlarge no further. Thus, by what hath been ſaid, you may ſee that by excluding Infants out of the Covenant of grace, they be ſhut out of all the ordinary ways and means of Salvation. For a full confirmation of all theſe particulars, we ſee our friends, the Anabaptiſts deny to the Infant-Seed of Believers, the token of the Covenant, which Seals up all the Covenant-mercys that God hath promiſed and graciouſly provided: For it is to be obſerved, that when the Lord did eſtabliſh his Covenant with Abraham, and his Seed, Gen. 17.7. in the 10. ver. He inſtituted and appointed Circumciſion the Seal of the Covenant to aſſure Abraham of the performance of all the gracious promiſes of it is. To deny the Seal then, is to break the Covenant, and (as far as man can) to deprive the Seed of all priviledges, and benefits of it.