t8 Book Jl. not life:] now 'Godgivu bit Sm b.y the Spirit, _and we receive bimby Faith: but Gnd can[up– ply the want of tbat hand t!l a Cbdd, by droppm~ zntobunmtth wb,n be can"ot receive witb hi1 band, a1 I may{ay. All this I have laid of Infant~dying in the womb, or in tHeir in-· fancy, but as for fuch, whofe life God prol?ngs till they come to years of ageand dif· C(etion, I have already delivered my.mmd m the former Sedions. SECT. IV. 0 f tltc Priviledges of EleEl lnfmt1living beymd that time, but fo,·prefent zmdt.r S#anJ puwer. WE fee it may be well with Elect Infants dying in their infancy ; but what fay wc ot thetn who may live longer, anJ are for prefcnt under Satans power? have thty no Priviled~e above thofe Cllildreu that are not Elect) I anfwer. Yes; and I may in/lance inthele parriculars. -- · 1.' TheyhaveGods love. Jacob bave I loved, fa id God of J •c.b before he was born: wlucn mull needs be as trut of Jacob when he was b-)rn ; There is iu God a love of benevolence, and that is afforded to Elect Infants whilrfr yet carnal, and dead in fin : as a \Vomat-tlately conceiving loves ~.er future fruit, fo the Lord love. thofe whom he pur– pofetlt for himfelf: lndecd, his love of complacency i>not till their change and conv<r· fion, but his love of benevolence is from etermty. _ 2· They haw a right to the Covenant of Fore-Fathers. This difference the Apollle Rem.rr. 7, >8. makes between Jew< and Jews, 1be Elec7ion have obt ,i.ted 1t, aud theEleEiwn a•·e b,•loved for the Fathertf•k.f:l fpe~k hert ofthe CovenaFtt of God with f:''" Fltlms,as it undergoes an abfiracted conhderatton from the perfonal Covenant Wtth us by Faith: JnfJntS of believers arc far from actual Fatth, and yet they l11ve this PrivikJge, that the an– cient Covenant betwixt God_and th eir Fore-fJthers hath run ( •s it were) down in a fme to them: and Ltpou this account , Godly Father< many times {peak for their render Babes, before they are able to fpeak for themldves; they plead a Covenant entailed, and put it iH fuit for them, whiles they are not yet but as afpan long; as ifevery fuch a one fhould fay, L.rd, bere is a Child coJtceived iJt fin ; and born infin ; tbt very guilt and pollutiott of his Nativity rwdcrJ him ob_noxiou1 to eternal fire ; aJtd yet thou haft Jaid, I wiU be thy G<d, ~ud tbe God ef thy Seed; aJtd thepromife iJ toYJH , and to yottr Childrm ; and tbm haft _fli/ed thy [elf a_ISad, fherr>ing mercy unto th111{rznds of Gen(rJtions of tbem tbat love thee; and tby Tf/ord i1 cl<ar, that the EleEiion is brlfiiJtd for the Fathm _fok.g : Now tbertfore be merciful tomyp1or Child thRt comet of focb and }i~eb a race, even ['r the Covenant fak.f. 3. They have a right to the inward part of baptifme, as to regeneration, renovation, remiOion of fins, &c. You will fay, ifinfaots werethen regenerated, they could not be under Satans power. I grant the improbability of their being actually regenerate until years of difcrctton, and yet by baptifine they have jrtJad rem, a remoteri5ht to thof~ ini• tial graces. Sacraments were never intended by God to exerr their vertue onely m, ot during the adminifiration. As in the Lords Supper, Chril\ions by their experiences can tellifie, that the benefit is malt-what after the receiving of it: fo in baptifme it may be many years after the receiving of it : For otherwife it would follow, that baptifine would be altogether a barren Sacrament all our lives long; except ontly during the little time _of its adminillr~tion. Oh , what a blelfed P_riviledge is this! the non-elect may mdee.:! be bapttzed , and have the woihmg ot water : but the Elect fooner or later are boptized alfu with the Holy GhoJt, and with fire: they ha vc that initial Sacrament for the beltowing cf init ill graces upon them in the Lords own time. 4· They have the tutelage of Angels . Arcthry not aUminif!rin~ SpiritJ, fln t forth Hob. 1 • q, to Minif!cr for them, wbofoa/1 be heirtof Salwtion? It is true , they are undcrSatans power; Devils move in th<m, dwell in them, reign in them; they ke=p _rhe houfe of poor Infants-fouls, a!Hl they are in quiet and peaceable poiTdlton; yet notwtth· /landing all this, the Holy Angels !uvea charge from God ro fee to tbof~ inf.1nts, and to prtfave them charily as chokn velfel; ( mau5re the Dominion of Satan ) aijlll1ft 1he time he tltall manilell himfelf unto them. But of this Priviledge more 1ully ma– !,lothcr difconrfe, SECT.
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