Of Baptism, Chapter 18
CHAP. XVIII. Wherein by way of concluſion, is treated of the Miniſter of Baptiſme, and ſhewed where that power rests, which is to conveigh to us that bleſſed Ordinance, which hath bene all this while the ſubject of our diſcourſe.
WE have found out the ſubject of Baptiſme to be a beleever onelyonly, (that is) one profeſſing faith in Chriſt, and ſubjection to his ordinances; upon which conſideration wee have found cauſe to reject the Baptiſme of infants as a vanity of mens invention, and our owne received then, as voyde & null; we have alſo found in the order of Sacraments Baptiſme to be the firſt; the next thing we are to ſpeake of is the Miniſter of this Sacrament, that wee may know whence, and how to receive it. And here to omit many things which might be conſidered under this head more generally, & alſo not to trouble our ſelves with the handling of this controverſy, as it is ſtated betweene us and the Papiſts, who putting a more ſimple and abſolute neceſſity upon this ordinance then is its due, expoſe it in caſe of ſuch neceſſity, to the adminiſtration of all ſorts of people, of what condition or ſex ſoever they be, wee ſhall onelyonly take thoſe two things for graunted, or at leaſt deny them not; firſt, That the errour of the Miniſter doth not enter the eſſence of Baptiſme, nor is of thoſe things that can deſtroy it, and make it null: And ſecondly that by the opinion of antiquity, and learned men, there were certain neceſſitous & extraordinary caſes, wherein others might be uſed for Baptiſme, then ſuch as were the ordinary Miniſters of it.
But now becauſe it is one thing to be, and another thing to be rightly, or well, in relation to our ſelves, and the ordinary and orderly adminiſtration of Baptiſme, we ſhall conſider whether Baptiſme be a thing of publick or private cogniſance, and to what predicament it belongs, and whether it pretends, which will be the bounds of this diſcourſe, and ſhew us whence it is to be fetcht and derived.
That it is a thing of publicke cogniſance, appeares to me both by the primitive commiſſion, and primitive practiſe, the commiſſion lyes Matt. 28.19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the holy Ghost.
In the 18. verſe Chriſt tells his Diſciples, that all povver is given to him in heaven & earth, theſe were his letters patents, by which hee ſhewed hee did nothing without power and good warrant; now he goes into heaven as into one part of his kingdome, which was quiet and at peace, and ſitting there at the right hand of his Father, gives an Apoſtolicall commiſſion for all the earth, ſo Marke 16.15. Go into the vvhole vvorld, preach the Goſpell to every creature; here hee oppoſes the whole earth to the bounds and limits of Iudea (by which the Prophets of old were bounded in their adminiſtrations) That, he had by an hereditary right, hee ſent therefore to them, firſt with this caveat, that they ſhould not go into the vvay of the Gentiles, nor enter into any city of the Samaritans, Matth. 10.5. But now by his death & reſurrection, having acquired a right of reigning over all men, he gives a commiſſion for all the world, this is Apoſtolicall, for hee bids them go forth into all the world, which is properly the word of Apoſtolicall commiſſion, whoſe dioceſſe had no bounds, and if not here, where can any Apoſtolicall commiſſion be found? And he tells them their great workes, which was to preach and baptize, for although Paul ſayes 1. Cor. 1.17. that hee vvas ſent by Christ not to baptize, but to preach the Goſpell, that muſt be underſtood with a limitation, that he was not ſent eſpecially to baptize, becauſe the adminiſtration of the Sacraments, which are the appendixes and ſeales, though it need as much power, yet a leſſe gift then the preaching of the word.
And behold I am vvith you to the end of the vvorld. Here is a word of great incouragemēt & comfort, Chriſt had told them before, hee was Lord of heaven & earth; he ſends them to manage a great worke, but ſayes hee I will be with you, that is, who ever is publikely deputed for ſuch a ſervice, as they need more eſpecially aſſiſtāce, ſo they ſhall have it, and here he makes a playne difference betweene the makers of Diſciples, & Diſciples to be made; Hee vvill be vvith them eſpecially as they need it most, to vvhom the charge of teaching and baptizing is deputed; for the Apoſtles were not to continue alwayes, as the world was to be gone through but once, and inſtitutions to be ſet up but once, but a publike power was ſtill left, which ſucceeded this Apoſtolicall, which in the next place we come to conſider of, that ſo finding where the commiſſion reſts, wee may addreſſe our ſelves thither for ordinances, and expect the bleſſing of Chriſts being with it unto the end of the world, for this is a ſtate continuing to the end of the world, to the change of all things.
Now this clearly is the Church, which is the ſubject of Eccleſiaſticall policy and power, as the common-wealth is of civill power, ſo as Eccleſiaſticall and Church power, is eſſentially and primarily in the Church as in the ſubject, Mat. 16. ver. 18.19. And I ſay unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I vvill build my church, and the gates of hell ſhall not prevaile againſt it: And I vvill give unto thee the keyes of the kingdome of heaven, &c. So as though the uſe of the keyes be divers, according to the variety of callings, and conditions in the Church, yet the power of the keyes originally and primarily is given to the Church, for Peter here beares but the perſon of the Church, as in other places in which hee anſwers for others, and Chriſt alſo ſpeakes to him as adreſſing himſelf to the Church by him. This is a thing ſo commonly avowed and defended by Proteſtāts againſt Papiſts, as I ſhall not need here to proove it. Alſo that other knowne place of Matth. 18.17. Tell the Church, where both Church ſtate, and Church power are clearely ſpokē of: Now where the power of admitting, receaving and caſting out is, there is the power of adminiſtring and communicating all ordinances to the edification of the ſame body; and they which have power of adminiſtring the kingly office of Chriſt, conſiſting in caſting out and receaving in, have alſo power of adminiſtring his Propheticall office, of which the Sacraments are a part, & therefore to the Chriſtian churches, as to the Iewes of old, pertaineth the publike diſpenſations and ſervices of God. Rom. 9.4.
And hence it followes, that ſuch as were deputed by the church for their Miniſters and officers, were called overſeers, made by the holy Ghoſt, and were to be imitators of the Apoſtles, to whom ordinarily in the executive part they ſucceeded, Acts 20.17.18.19.28.
Hence Peter calls himſelf a fellow Elder, with the ordinary Elders, 1. Pet. 5.1. The Elders vvhichwhich are among you I exhort, vvho am alſo an Elder, &c.
To conclude this head, a man becomes a Prophet and able to teach, by vertue of a gift, namely of knowledge and utterance, 1. Cor. 1.5. But no gift renders a Baptizer, but a call, as being a thing of publike cogniſance & commiſſiō. Teaching out of a gift hath its foundation in nature, which ariſeth from a perſonall gift and grace of the ſpirit. But Baptiſme, cenſures, ordination and the like, depend not upon a ſpeciall gift, but are acts of power, conferred authoritatively upon a ſpeciall perſon. And thus much for the primitive commiſſion for Baptiſme, which falls under a publike cogniſance, upō perſons qualified by publike authority for the adminiſtration of it.
Next we conſider in this diſcourſe, primitive practiſe and example, for according to this power & commiſſion, you will find it runne in the example.
The firſt Baptizer who introduced that ordinance, & from thence drew his name, Iohn the Baptist, to be ſure had commiſſion for that and all other parts of his miniſtry, according to the prophecies went on him in Eſay and Malachy, Hee came in the ſpirit and povver of Elias, vvas the great restorer of Iſrael, this no man will deny. Then Chriſt in the 4. of Iohn is ſaid to baptize (but by his Diſciples) who received commiſſion for that adminiſtration from his perſon & preſence, himſelf either intending to the greater workes of miracles, or teaching, or elſe might abſtaine purpoſely that thoſe baptized by him, might not vaunt of a greater priviledge then others. In like manner it is probable Peter the Apoſtle communicated of his authority to thoſe who were with him, for the baptizing of Cornelius and his family, for it is ſayd verſ. 48. of Acts 10. He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord; unles it were either that of thoſe brethrē there were inferiour officers, or that by commanding is ment, the warrant he gave to Cornelius, & his companie for Baptiſme, of which notwithſtanding hee himſelf might be the Miniſter.
Of the Apoſtles commiſſion you have heard already, you may find it in the execution in divers paſſages.
For others who baptized (ſaving thoſe who drew their commiſſion from Church power, of whom wee ſhall ſpeake afterward) wee read of Philip and Ananias, the one, to wit Philip, was an Euangeliſt, an order as it is taken of a publike authority and commiſſion, as the Apoſtles were. Beſides he had an eſpeciall authority and provocation from the ſpirit at that time, for the miniſtry hee had to performe about the Eunuch, by which ſpirit alſo he was miraculouſly taken away after the worke done, as you may read Acts the 8. And for Ananias of whom wee read in the 9. of the Acts, that he baptized Paul, he was alſo deputed in an extraordinary manner to that miniſtery by the Lord, who ſpoke to him in a viſion; And ſuch extraordinary and peculiar manner of workings, where the miniſtery of converſion lay in a miracle, and the Miniſters were men acted to it, as appeares by divine revelation, muſt not be drawn into ordinary examples, and here we find alſo particular commiſſion: but thus farre in the example it makes cleare for what wee ſay, that the adminiſtration of Baptiſme is a thing of publike cogniſance & commiſſion.
That it hath bene ſince the Apoſtolicall times ſo, is as cleare out of all ſtory, of which the notion of the Catechuminiſts will give an aſſured witnes; Chriſtians in the Church were antiently diſtinguiſht by three degrees, Catechumini, Fideles and Poenitentes; the Catechumeni, or ſuch as were principled in the Chriſtian religion, the faithfull & the penitents; the faithfull were ſuch as being paſt the forme of Catechiſts, were admitted to all ordinances, & the penitents were ſuch as had fallen into ſome ſcandall, & were under cenſure.
The Catechumeni were ſuch (as Origen cont. Celſ. lib. 3. ſayes) vvho vvere nevvly admitted into ſome degree of communion, but not yet baptized; of theſe mention is made in the moſt ancient writers Ireneus, Clemens Alexand. Tertullian. Of theſe Clemens ſaith, Sine catechiſmo nulli datur credere; vvithout catechiſing no body can beleeve.
Of this number ſome (as I have formerly had occaſion to ſpeake) were called Audientes, ſome Competentes. The Audientes were ſuch as ſubmitted themſelves to teaching by the hearing of the word, and being inſtructed in the principles of religion, which by their ſubmiſſion and pretence to farther ordinances, got the name of Catechiſts, for otherwiſe neither Iew nor Gentile, nor any were excluded from hearing the word. Conc. 4. Carth. Can. 84.
The competentes, or competitors, were ſuch as being well inſtructed in the Chriſtian religion, deſired Baptiſme, and gave up their names, of theſe Auſtin ſayes, Post ſermonem fit miſſa Catechumenis, manebant fideles. Ser. de Temp. 137. After the ſermon the Catechumini were diſmiſt, the faithfull remayned, to partake of the Supper & other ordinances, which partained to full memberſhip.
Out of all this, beſides the purpoſe for which I eſpecially bring it, two things may be obſerved by the way.
Firſt that of old men were not lightly admitted to the communion and fellowſhip of the Church, but after due inſtruction and examination.
Secondly that it was uſuall of old to ſtand as competitor for Baptiſme, as a Candidate, as we call them, to ſeeke and deſire it before they had it.
But the end for which I eſpecially bring this here, is to ſhew that in all times of the Church Baptiſme hath bene a thing of publike cogniſance, and the commiſſion for the adminiſtration of it hath reſted, ſince the times of the Apoſtles, no where but in Church power, nor hath bene no where elſe ſought, nor never by any otherwiſe pretended to it I know, ſaving of late yeares by thoſe upon whom the name of Anabaptiſts was primitively and properly fixt, who erring greatly in many other things of as great conſequence, might eaſily be miſtaken in this.
Theſe two things in a word I ſuppoſe out of this diſcourſe is evinced, which will directly point out the Miniſter of Baptiſme.
Firſt that Baptiſme is a thing of publike cogniſance & commiſſion.
Secondly that as of old ſince the Apoſtles times, ſo now and alwayes till Chriſt come, the Church is the diſpenſer of ſuch commiſſions and adminiſtrations.
That which remaynes now therefore is to find out what a Church is, wherein I hope wee are not to ſeeke.
A Church in a word may be ſaid to be an aſſembly of ſaints, knit together to a fellowſhip with Chriſt their head.
I intend not here a diſcourſe of this ſubject, it is enough to my purpoſe that this be conſidered and allowed, that beleeving and ſaintſhip, gives a qualification for Church fellowſhip, and Church fellowſhip for acts of power, & that Baptiſme doth no more enter the definition of a church, as if a church ſtate could not be without Baptiſme, then the communion of the Lords Supper doth, or officers, Paſtors, Elders and Deacons. All theſe are but certain acts, by which they make good their fellowſhip with Chriſt, and one another, & are church ordinances, and church dues, thinges they have power for, & may juſtly pretend to. Though it will ordinarily be, that a church will conſiſt of baptized perſons, for what ſhould hinder them who have aſſembled for the injoying of ordinances, and who have power for all ordinances, from adminiſtring to themſelves in a way of order that ordinance, which is as it were the gate of the reſt, and as wee may call it (for ought I know according to the old name) the ordinance of initiation, ſince it is the firſt of church ordinances, the Church covenant & aſſembling being more properly called the ſtate for injoying of ordinances, and the ſubject of all ordinances; ſo as ordinarily a church will be an aſſembly of baptized Saints, though the word Baptiſme be no part of the definition, nor doth Baptiſme contribute more to the being of a church, then other ordinances, which for a time they may want. So as yee ſee clearly where to fetch Baptiſme, namely where a companie of Saints are gathered together in Chriſts name, that is, in his power, there is authority amongſt them for all commiſſions, for acts of church fellowſhip, for the deputing and ordaining of officers, and for the adminiſtration of all ordinances.
But here it may be parhaps objected, to which I will ſpeake a word, that Baptiſme not being the ordinance of admiſſion into the Church, nor parhaps neceſſarily to follow after, but may be before it, how appartaynes it to the Church? Anſw. The rule will hold univerſally true, that all inſtituted ordinances (of which Baptiſme is one) will fall under the cogniſance and power of an inſtituted body, whether therefore Baptiſme be adminiſtred after admittāce, which in an ordinary way ſeemes better, or whether it may precede it, it will be all one in the iſſue, ſince it is in order to church fellowſhip, and a full church communion; Now what ever is in order to it, as well as that which follows it, falls under church cogniſance and power, and therefore catechiſing, taking account of faith, yea and preaching the word by way of power in order to the converſion of others, eſpecially if they offer and ſubmit themſelves, falls under Church power; now no man is baptized with a priviledge to go about the world at large, but to live in all the ordinances of Chriſt, and to receive nouriſhment as well as birth, and the ſeales of both from the church: And therefore as before, I like well for Baptiſme the title of the ordinance of initiation, as which in the order of ordinances is the firſt, & pretends to further.
Laſtly this rightly ſtated & conſidered, it cannot reaſonably be objected, that hee that baptizeth ſhould neceſſarily be himſelf a baptized perſon, for though ordinarily it will be ſo, yet it is not neceſſary to the ordinance, no more then it is ſimply neceſſary to a church ſtate, that the members be baptized, for not the perſonall Baptiſme of him that adminiſters, but the due commiſſion hee hath for baptizing, is alone conſiderable to make him a true Miniſter of Baptiſme; And here that expreſſion holds not, one cannot give what hee hath not, as a man cannot teach me that wants knowledge himſelf, becauſe no man gives his owne Baptiſme, but conveyes as a publike perſon, that which is givē us by Chriſt: A poore man that hath nothing of his owne, may give me gold, that is the money of another man, by vertue of being ſent for that purpoſe; ſo if any man can ſhew his commiſſion, the writing & ſeale of him that ſent him, it is enough here, elſe what would become of the great Baptizer Iohn the Baptiſt, who had a fayer commiſſion to baptize, but was not himſelf baptized that we read of, or if hee ſhould be, which cannot be affirmed, yet the firſt Baptizer, who ever hee was, muſt at the time of his firſt adminiſtration of that ordinance be unbaptized.
To conclude, in this diſcourſe of the Miniſter of Baptiſme, we have ſhewed eſpecially theſe particulars.
1 That the due adminiſtration of Baptiſme hath bene alwayes, and is an act of power and commiſſion.
2 That the Churches of Chriſt are now the onelyonly ſubject of this power, and are betruſted with diſpēſing all commiſſions for the adminiſtrations of ordinances, of which Baptiſme is one, whether it be adminiſtred after admiſſion into Church fellowſhip, (which parhaps will be the uſuall way) or before, (but as other things) in order to it.
3 That Baptiſme doth not enter the definitiō of a church, as Saintſhip profeſt and manifeſted doth, nor is it ſimply neceſſary to the Miniſter of Baptiſme that he be himſelf baptized, ſince his qualification for that worke, ariſeth from his commiſſion, not from his Baptiſme.
FINIS.