Baxter - BV4253 B39 C78 1658

By the Crop of Chrifi, 25 as `we are engaged to the Paving Trinity, and Baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghofr, fo mull we foleinnly Renounce the damning Trinity , even the flefh, the world and the Devil For fo the Church hath ever done, and thenature of the thing dothmanifeffly require it : for the mauls mull have its Terminusà qua , as well as ad qu:m. Its a fad thing that fo many well meaning menibould deny our Infant-capacity of this eogfigement ; but much (adder that they fhouid do it with Inch violent Church dividing zeal as if the Kingdom of God lay in the exclufion, of the feed of Believers out of it ! If it be true that all our Infant-feed are excluded from the Church, I am Pure it is fo fad a truth , that me thinks men Ihould not fo eagerly lay -hold of it, before theyhave better evidence to evince it, It was once amercy for Infants to be in Covenant with God, and mem- bers of his Church ; and I do not think that it is now a mercy to beout; or that the Kingdom of the Devil is the more defirable flate ; ( and all men are in one of thefe. ) Sure I am, they were once members of theChurch by Gods appointment , and they that lay they are cart out muff prove it, and better then any that yet have attempted it, if they would have judicious, confiderate, impartial Menbelieve them. Whoever call themout, lure Chrift would not , that did fo much to enlarge the ( hurch and better its fiate, and manifeft more abundant mercy and chide his Dif ciples-that kept fach from him, and proclaimed that hisKingdom was of fuch. I am not eafily perfwaded to believe that the Head-andKing of the Church bath ac`luallygathered a Society of a falle Conffitution fo long, and that he that is fo tender of his Church, and hathbought it fo dearly, and ruled it fo faithful- ly , had never a true conllituted vifible Church till about two hundred years ago, among a few fach as I haveno mind to de- fcribe, and that we muff now have a new and true Church-frame to begin , when the world is almoíl at an end ; and that this glory referved for our lati daies confilleth in calling out our Infant-feed, and leaving them in the vifible Kingdoin of the De- vil till they come to age. I am more out of doubt then ever I was, that God would have our Infants renounce the world , and be Dedicated unto him, as the world did renounceChrift an In- fant. If an Infant-Chrift muff be the Head of the Church , I know not why an Infant-(inner may not be a member of it : E And

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