Baxter - BX5207 B3 A2 1696

I2ó The L I F E of the Part III. z. As to your Defcription of a Sacrament, the Church taketh the word from the old Common ufe, where ( as Martinius noteth ) Sacramentum was an Oath or .Covenant, Quod eo Sacratur homo ad rem certam, ut ad Militiam : ut Fefl. $çe.c 5P9e- 11WriO t : He is bound by a Sacrament, Qui Sacratur fide interpof:ta ; ac tam Sa- cramento dicitur interrogari quidam: See the Military Sacrament there defcribed. And the Soldiers had their Stigmata, which our Crofs doth imitate ; though tran- fientiy. Without this Sacramentthey wereno Soldiers, and might not fight against theEnemy : And Tertulian diffwadeth Ne humanum SacramentumDivino Super- indurant opening theAnalogie of one to the other. In the laser and more bor- rowed Senfes it concerneth us not ( as Sacramenmum is ipfa res Sacrata, vel ipfe Mi- les vel perfona, nor as it is Quodvis juramentum, or Sanea (obligatio) nor yet in the largeft Ecclefiaftical Senfe, as it is the Tranflation of must'elov, and fignifietha Sacred Myfterious Dockrine, of Aelion. But in the Special Church-ufe, it fignifi- eth either more largely a Solemn Signal Inveftiture in any Sacred Relation , and fo we may grant the Romanifls that Ordination is a Sacrament, and Matrimony, as San&ified, eerc. Or moll ftrielly for the Sacramental Solemnizing of the Cove- nant of God, which is our prefent Senfe. And to this it is neceffary That T. it be a fign ufed for the folemn fignificationof Mutual Confent ; that is, of Man's profeffed Confine, as dedicated to Chrift, and of Chrift's acceptance, andCollation of the Covenant-benefits ; z. And that hereupon it be the Teffera, or Symbol of our Cbrifli- anity. But that itoperate a qualitative change on the Receiver's mind or heart, is not neceffäry to the beingof a Sacrament, nor yet that it be Militated to do fo, by Contact, or Phylical Operation, per madamNature, without Intellectual Confederation, andMoradOperatiän. The Fink will be granted ( that the effeitingof fuch Qualities is not neceffary to it.) And as to the ad, Obferve that we grant as followeth; i. That Sacra- ments, by Inveftiture, or Delivery'of Right, as Initruments, convey all that Re- lativeGrace, whichthe Covenant ofGod dothgive immediatelyto Confenters. z. That it A/orally worketh alto Holy Qualifications by Man's Confidering-Improvement. 3. And that with the ufe of it, though not by the Iúflrumentality of it, God may Phyfically, or .Miraculoufly,without any fecond taure, give qualitativegrace to Infants, or whom he pleafe, in a way tous unknown. But that this lait is not Effential to a Sacrament, I am now to prove. 1. All that is effential to a Sacrament is found in the Sacrament as ufed by the Adult. ( Yea, they are the more notable, and Excellent Subjects, to whom it was firft adminiftred ; andtheCafe of Infants is moreobfcure and non flotsam per ignoti- us feel i{notius per nacho probandum eft.) But the Sacramentas adminiftred to (or ufed by) the cdult, dada neceffarilycontain no more than, 1. mutual covenanting, a. The Initrumental Conveyance or Confirmation of the Relative Grace of the Covenant (or Nis) 3. Moral Aptitude towork holy Qualities. 4. And that it be SymbolumOrdinis, id eft, Chtiftianifmi, r. This is proved as to the Baptifmof theAdult. i. They make their fo- lemn fignal Profellion of Federation, Confent, Reception, ere. z. God by his Minifter Both invoft the Receiver in his Right of fpecial relation toGod the Father, Son, andHoly Ghoft ; and in his right toPardon, Reconciliation, juftification and Adoption, -nd Right to Glory : 3. It is a Means adapted to work Morally on the Will, by the juft Confiderations of theUnderftanding. 4. It is theSymbol of Chriftianity, called, Our Chriftening. z. The fame I fay of the Lord's Supper; and therefore crave leave not to re- peal them. , 1. That Sacraments are was of Solemn, Mutual Covenanting, none deny, that know what Chriftianity is : The Uninterrupted Formof Baptizing, in all Ages proveth it. z. That God, by their Inftrumentality, delivereth the Adult, their 7us, or Rela- tive Grace, or right to prefent Pardon, &c. is not denyed. 3. Thatthey areMoral Inftruments of Holy Aits, and fo of Habits in the A- dult, neither Papift, Arminian, Lutherans or Calvinifls deny. And, above all, the Arminian lhould not denyit, who, I think, acknowledge no means but Moral, ifa- ny other Operationson Man's foul. 4. And that they are Teffere vel Symbela Chriffiane Religions,none, that Iknow of, do deny. But

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