2. He was sent, or was God's messenger, to perform and accom- plish the covenant and oath made with Abraliam, Luke i. 72, 73.
3. The end of his message and of his coming was, that those to whom he was sent might be " blessed with faithful Abraham," or that
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" the blessing of Abraham," promised in the covenant, " might come upon them/' Gal. iii. 9, 14.
To deny this, overthrows the whole relation between the old tes- tament and the new, the veracity of God in his promises, and all the properties of the covenant of grace, mentioned 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
It was not the covenant of works, neither originally nor essen- tially, nor the covenant in its legal administration; for he confirmed and sealed that covenant whereof he was the messenger, but these he abolished.
Let it be named what covenant he v/as the messenger of, if not of this. Occasional additions of temporal promises do not in the least alter the nature of the covenant.
Herein he was the " minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers," Rom. xv. 8 ; that is, undeniably, the covenant made with Abraham, enlarged and ex- plained by following promises. This covenant was, that God would be " a God unto Abraham and to his seed;" which God himself ex- plains to be his infant seed, Gen. xvii. 12, — that is, the infant seed of every one of his posterity who should lay hold on and avouch that covenant as Abraham did, and not else. This the whole church did solemnly for themselves and their posterity; whereon the covenant was confirmed and sealed to them all, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8. And every one was bound to do the same in his own person ; which if he did not, he was to be cut off from the congregation, whereby he forfeited all privileges unto himself and his seed.
The covenant, therefore, was not granted in its administrations unto the carnal seed of Abraham as such, but unto his covenanted seed, those who entered into it and professedly stood to its terras.
And the promises made unto the fathers were, that their infant seed, their buds and offspring, should have an equal share in the covenant with them, Isa. xxii. 24, xliv. 3, Ixi. 9. "They are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them," chap. Ixv. 23. !Not only themselves, who are the believing, professing seed of those who were blessed of the Lord, by a participation of the covenant, Gal. iii. 9, but their offspring also, their buds, their tender little ones, are in the same covenant with them.
To deny, therefore, that the children of believing, professing parents, who have avouched God's covenant, as the church of Israel did, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8, have the same right and interest with their parents in the covenant, is plainly to deny the fidelity of Christ in the discharge of his office.
It may be it will be said, that although children have a right to the covenant, or do belong unto it, yet they have no right to the initial seal of it. This will not suffice ; for, —
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1. If they have any interest in it, it is either in its grace or in its administration. If they have the former, they have the latter also, as shall be proved at any time. If they have neither, they have no interest in it ; — then the truth of the promises of God made unto the fathers was not confirmed by Christ.
2. That unto whom the covenant or promise doth belong, to them belongs the administration of the initial seal of it, is expressly declared by the apostle. Acts ii. 38, 39, be they who they will.
3. The truth of God's promises is not confirmed if the sign and seal of them be denied ; for that whereon they believed that God was a God unto their seed as well as unto themselves was this, that he granted the token of the covenant unto their seed as well as unto themselves. If this be taken away by Christ, their faith is over- thrown, and the promise itself is not confirmed but weakened, as to the virtue it hath to beget faith and obedience.
Eighthly, Particular testimonies may be pleaded and vindicated, if need be, and the practice of the primitive church.^
A VINDICATION OF TWO PASSAGES IN IREN^US AGAINST THE EXCEPTIONS OF MR TOMBS,
The passages are these: —
Adversus Hsereses, lib. ii. cap. xxiL sect. 4: "Magister ergo existens, magistri quoque habebat setatem, non reprobans nee supergrediens hominem, neque solvens suam legem in se humani generis, sed om- nem aetatem sanctificans per illam quas ad ipsum erat similitudinem. Omnes enim venit per semetipsum salvare, omnes, inquam, qui per eumrenascunturin Deum, infantes, et parvulos, et pueros, et juvenes, et seniores. Ideo per omnem venit aetatem; et infantibus infans factus, sanctificans infantes; in parvulis, parvulus, sanctificans banc ipsam habentes setatem, simul et exemplum illis pietatis effectus, et justitise et subjectionis; in juvenibus juvenis, exemplum juvenibus fiens, et sanctificans Domino; sic et senior in senioribus, ut sit perfec- tus magister in omnibus, non solum secundum expositionem veritatis, sed et secundum aetatem sanctificans simul et seniores, exemplum ipsis quoque fiens; deinde et usque ad mortem pervenit, ut sit primo- genitus ex mortuis, ipse primatum tenens in omnibus, princeps vitse, prior omnium, et praecedens omnes."