THE SEALED FOUNTAIN opened to the Faithful, and their Seed. OR, A short Treatise, showing, that some Infants are in the state of Grace, and capable of the seals, and others not. Being the chief point, wherein the Separatists do blame the Anabaptists. By JOHN WILKINSON, Prisoner at Colchester, against John Morton Prisoner at London. Satis est cui contingit nitil am●lius opiat. ISA. 59 21. As for me, this is my Covenant with them saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not departed out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy seed; nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth, and for ever. ISA. 65. 23. They shall not labour in vain nor bring forth for trouble: for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their off spring with them. ACT. 2. 38. The promise is unto you, and to your Children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. To all that love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity, and fervently desire a further revealing of the mysteries of his Kingdom, Grace, Mercy and Peace be multiplied, etc. BEloved Brothers and Sisters in our only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: This little Treatise being composed by one of my ancient Brethren departed in the Faith, was left in my custody for the public good: and therefore considering how needful it would be to be published rather then obscured, I thought none was more fit to have the special use thereof then those who have the spirit of discerning, through the knowledge of the Word of Truth, whereby to perceive the manifest difference between Babel's Brats, and ZIONS Babes; for the which respect I have presented it chief unto you, entreating you to peruse it with understanding, and weigh it with discretion; and as the Noble Men of Berea did, so do ye, search and examine whether the scope thereof be agreeable to the Scriptures or no. There are many which strive to enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but are not able, a Luke 13, 24. because they want Faith b Heb, 18, ●9. which is the gift of GOD c Ephe, 2, 8. GOD can give his gifts to whom he pleaseth, d Luk, 12, 2. but he will not do all which he can do e Exo, 19, 19 though he can do all that he will do. f Mat, 19, ●6 To think it any deficiency in GOD, because he doth not, or unbountifullnesse, because he will not, argues a carnal and sensual disposition. GOD could have spared the infants of the flood from dr●wning, g Gen, 7, 4. and Sodoms seed from burning. h Gen. 18. 24, He could have spared the first borne of the Egyptians, i Ex, 12, 29 and might have left out that Commandment where the Children of Idolaters were commanded to be slain with their Idolatrous Parents: k 1 Sam. 1 3. but he would not, because it stood not with his Justice; it was his will and pleasure so to do, who doth what he will in heaven and in earth, etc. and who dare control him? l Dan. 4, Psal, 135, GOD is as good as his word, who hath in all ages from the beginning visited the sins of the Fathers upon the Children, unto the third and fourth generation, and will do so to the end, m Exo, 10 GOD'S two witnesses * Isa, 29, Psal, 119 105, can produce many examples hereof: we have the Law Prophecies and Gospel, whose testimony none ought to refuse under pain of damnation. But it is the property of those who are unlearned (in God's Law) and unstable (in their ways * jam. 1. 8 ) to wrest the Scripture to their own destruction: n 2 Pet, 3, ●6 or else seek to restrain the power and efficacy thereof, much like to the four Angels which John saw stand upon the four corners of the Earth to hold the four winds of the Earth that they should not blow, Rev. 7. 1. Of this sort are those which would seek to withhold the Covenant of the Gospel from Ezra 9, 2. Psal, 128, holy Infants, ᵒ the young ●live plants * of believing Parents; it is apparent that to pluck up these plants is to pluck up the plants which the right hand of our heavenly Father hath planted, p Mat 19, 13, 14, 15. which are the Children of those Parents upon whom GOD hath promised to write his own name, and the name of his holy City. That just God which did break off the natural branches, the jews for unbeliefes sake, together with Exod, 15, 25, their seed, the same God hath by his own right hand graffed us in their stead, q Rom, 11, 19, 20, and shall we presume to imagine that he forgot our seed? Mose's who was guided by the Spirit of God forgot not the seed of the faithful: r Deut, 32, sure I am (Christ being more faithful in his House then ever Moses was, s Heb, 3, 2, 3. hath not made a separation between the faithful and their seed: but remembreth his Covenant (saying) I will be a GOD unto thee, and unto thy Seed, etc. t Gen, 17, 7 seeing that God is their God, they are his People; and such are visible members of Christ's Church, which is his Body, and Mount Zion, in which place GOD hath promised the blessing, even life unto eternity u Psa, 133, 3 . Therefore in what a woeful condition are those who say all Infants are in one * ja, 2, 13, condition, and that no Infants are under the Covenant of Grace: herein they seek to bind that which God never bound, and to lose that which God never loosed: v He, 13, 8, for Jesus Christ is yesterday, to day, and the same for ever. Thus when they have brought forth in outward action, that which they had in conception, it tends to the destruction of the Covenant of the Lord of glory, which is the bond of all Christian communion and fellowship. And those which say that the Infants of Believers have no part in this Covenant, let them tell us in what estate they be; if they say they are to be accounted in the state of salvation, than they must needs grant that they are to be accounted within the Covenant of grace, to whom the outward privileges of the Covenant do belong w Rev, 22, 14. If they say they are in the state of damnation; and have no promise at all; but are as the Children whom GOD 2 Pet, 3, 20, 21, Isa, 34, 9, 10. destroyed with their wicked Parents, some with water, others with fire and brimstone, etc. I say and will affirm, that this their Doctrine hath sprung from a bitter root: it tends to make the lives of all Infants bitter, because thereby they make bitter means of the preservation of the life of their souls. In this they are like to the fallen Star whose name was wormwood, which fell into the third part of the Rivers and Fountains of waters, and made them bitter. x Rev, 8, 10 11, But there is a River (which always runneth, and a Fountain which always floweth) the streams thereof maketh glad the City of GOD, y Psal, 46, 5 by watering the Olive trees, upon which do grow the Olive branches, which branches are the Infants of Believers, in whose life the Parents have joy, in whose death they have comfort; because their mourning for them is mixed with hope, * 1 Thes, 4, 13, and this their hope is grounded upon God's everlasting and unchangeable promises z Acts 2, 39 made unto them in Christ, which is a motive to move them to love their heavenly Father, because as he hath made them holy, so also hath he made their Children holy * 1 Cor, 7, 14, which are reconciled to God with their Parents: who are by the will of our heavenly Father sanctified in their life, blessed in their death, and shall also be glorified at their resurrection: for the second death shall have no power over them, Deut, 33, 29 because they are blessed, and holy, a Rev. 20, 6 having part in Christ who is the resurrection and the life, b john 11, 25, to whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit be all glory, throughout all generations. Amen. Your affectioned Brother in the Patience and Faith of the Saints, William Arthurbury. Psal. 37. 25 I have been young, also I am waxed old: and I have not seen the Just-man forsaken, and his seed seeking bread. 26. All the day, he showeth grace and dareth: and his seed, are in the blessing. A reproof of some things written by John Morton, and others of his Company and followers, to prove That Infants are not in the state of Condemnation; And that therefore they are not to be Baptised. By John Wilkinson, a Prisoner in Colchester, for the Patience and Faith of the Saints. 1613. FIRST, they writ of Infants, as if concerning salvation and damnation the estate of all Infants were alike, which is not true, but very erroneous: for some Infants are in the estate of salvation; and those so fare as they may be discerned, are to be baptised, for a testimony thereof. And others are in the estate of damnation; and these so fare as may be discerned, are not to be baptised. That some Infants are of the seed of the Serpent, a● some of the seed of the Woman, I presume no reasonable man will deny. That God hath put enmity between those two seeds from the beginning, is manifest Gen. 3. 15. & 4. 8. & 25. 22. The seed of the Woman was adopted in Christ before the world was, Ephes. 1. 5. and were given him of his Father for an heritage, joh. 17. 6, 10. and that to this end that he should give unto them eternal life, joh. 17. 2. and that he should not lose one of them, ver. 12. but that he should raise them up in the last day, joh. 6. 44, 54. Now therefore it is a sure truth, that not any that be of the seed of the Woman are at any time in the state of damnation; and that some Infants are of the seed of the Woman, no man that hath any illumination will deny. Concerning such therefore, their saying is true, that Infants are not under the state of damnation; to wit, those that be of the seed of the Woman. Again, it is not to be doubted, but that some Infants are or the seed of the Serpent, and such are even enemies to the seed of the Woman, and those were known to God before the world was; and for all such condemnation was prepared from the beginning; and they are reserved of God unto the day of vengeance; and such are never but in the state of damnation. Thus therefore it may appear, that to say that Infants are not in the state of condemnation, in respect of some Infants is true, and in respect of other Infants, is false. In that therefore they speak of Infants indefinitely, without noting whether they speak of all Infants, or but of some, they deal loosely; for if they speak of all, they speak untruth; if they speak but of some, they do but trifle But in that they speak of Instants, as though they were all of one condition, they bewray manifest ignorance concerning the truth, which is that some Infants are in the state of condemnation, and some are not: and therefore they which speak of Infants in this case, should not speak indefinitely, but by distinction. Secondly, to free Infants from being under the state of condemnation, they imagine them to be without sin. But if Infants were without sin, than should death have no power over them; for death is the reward of sin, Rom 6. 23. And the same soul that sinneth shall die, Ezek. 18. 4. 20. Seeing therefore death hath power over Infants, it is a plain case, that Infants are not without sin as they may imagine. Thirdly, the ground from which they gather Infants to be without sin is this, that Infants have transgressed no Law of God, because they are uncapable of any. In this they shoot short, for it doth not follow, that because Infants have not transgressed as they are Infants therefore they have not transgressed at all. They transgressed before they were Infants, that is to say, in the loins of Adam, even as Levi paid Tithes in the loins of Abraham, Heb. 17. 9, 10. And if Infants be without sin, then let them tell me how sin by one man entered into the world, as the Apostle testifieth, Rom. 5. 12. 19 Till then let this be the conclusion, That as that which is bred of a Serpent, is not without venom, so that which is bred of a sinner is not without sin. And thus is diminished all that which they have said, to prove, that God hath given no Law to Infants, for all Infants were in the loins of Adam when the Law was given unto him, and when he transgressed the same; sundry broken dreams they have whereby they are strengthened in their errors. First, they conceive that because Infants were not alive in their own persons apart from Adam when the Law was given him, that therefore the Law given to Adam doth nothing at all concern Infants, but was only given to Adam, and Hevah. But they should consider, First, that Adam and Hevah were such public persons, as they not only repreented all mankind; but were all mankind both when the Law was given unto them, & when they transgressed the same and that therefore the Law given to them was given to all mankind in them; and they transgressing that Law, all mankind transgressed the same in them, as before I have said. Again, they should consider, that if Infants had been alive in their own persons distinct from Adam when the Law was given, and he trangressed it, than could not Adam sin have hurt them, for the son shall not die for the Father: but when a man is a sinner against God, as Adam was, God may justly when he makes him a Father, make him the Father of a sinner, as he did Adam, and so visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation, Exod. 20. 5. Another conceit they have, out of which the former ariseth, and that is this, that forasmuch as the Law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth, therefore the Law given to Adam concerneth not Infants, because they were not then alive. But if this be a sound collection, let them tell me how sin came into the world? and how God visits the sinners of the Fathers upon the Children? As for the dominion which the Law hath over a man so long as he liveth, it is like the dominion which a man hath over his Wife; which is, that she may not be unto another Man so long as her Husband liveth: but if her Husband be dead, then may she lawfully be unto another man. So man is under the dominion of the Law until in the body of Christ ' he be dead unto the Law, and so freed from the Law to be unto another, to wit Christ. This is that which the Apostle saith, Rom. 7. 1. 6. And now I pray you, who being of good understanding, would have gathered from this place, that because Infants were not alive when the Law was given to Adam; therefore that Law had no power over them? Another nice conceit they have, that because the soul is given of God, that therefore the body and soul in every Infant is first created apart, and afterwards joined together in one. And out of this they gather again, that the soul coming from God must needs be good, and therefore without sin until it be joined with the body, and then have a Law given, and finally transgress that Law. Out of these principles it seemeth to them, that they may undeniably conclude, that Infants are without sin. How the body and soul come together in Infants, I dare not dispute, that passeth my capacity; But if this be true which they imagine, that Infants are without sin, how comes it to pass that all Infants as they grow up to discern things, do bring forth the fruits of sin? Whence comes it that they lust after evil, and transgress the Law? It is a sure truth, that if Infants were without sin, they could not bring forth the fruits thereof. Seeing therefore all Infants which live and grow up do bring forth the fruits of sin, it may not with truth be denied, but that Infants have the seed and root of Sin cleaving to their nature, which maketh them by neture the Children of wrath, Eph. 2. 3. Thirdly, they conceive because Infants have not understanding, to discern between good and evil; Therefore the Law and sin concerneth them no more than it doth the unreasonable creatures. This is a very unreasonable collection to imagine Infants which are a part of mankind, and are sprung out of Adam's loins, to be free from the taint and pollution of Adam's sin; as the bruit creatures of other kinds be; doth any creature but mankind only grow up tobe an idolater, blasphemer, adulterer, etc. If Infants were without sin as other creatures be, mankind would no more become such, than other creatures do; Seeing therefore Infants grow up to be such, it is manifest the root of Sin is in their nature. Lastly, they gather, that if Infants we●e not without sin Christ would not have said to his Disciples, That except they should convert, and become as a iittle Child, they should not enter into the Kingdom of heaven, Neither have put his hands on them and blessed them, if they had not been always without sin. If this collection be good, than none can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, except they have been always without sin, and such as never transgressed any Law; for first they imagine Infants to be without sin, as being such as have transgressed not Law. And Secondly, that in this respect, Christ said to his Disciples, that except they be converted and become as a little child (that is, without sin, and such as have transgressed no Law, they could not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Thus, thick is the darkness wherewith these men are overwhelmed, and yet they imagine that they only are in the true light, and all that are not of their mind are in darkness. But that which our Saviour teacheth concerning converting and becoming like little children, that his Disciples should not be proud, nor highminded to exalt themselves, and desire to be great and of high degree: but that they should submit themselves in all things unto God, as Children do to those whom they stand in awe of; This is that which Christ taught his Disciples, and this is that which all must do which enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, even submit themselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exall them. Against this conceit of Infants, being without sin, it hath been objected, that Adam was a common root to all mankind, and that therefore the Law given to him (all mankind being in him) was given to all mankind, and likewise in him transgressed by all mankind, by means whereof, all Infants come from their Parents polluted with sin, according as David confessed of himself that (as he was conceived in sin, so) he was borne in iniquity. To this they Answer, that Adam was a common root, but not to bring any soul to die for his breaking of the Commandment. This answer is not to the purpose; the objection is, that all mankind sinned in Adam, and come from his loins tainted with sin, and so die, not for a sin that Adam committed apartby himself, without them, but for the sin wherewith they were polluted in him. To remove therefore this objection, they must deny that Adam's sin did pollute him, and also asfirme, that mankind proceeded from him as sree and clean from sin as if he had not sinned at all. But this they cannot do, and therefore cannot remove this Objection. There is none of good and sound understanding, that will affirm that where there is Father and Son, and the Father sinneth, and the Son sinneth not, or the Son sinneth, but the Father sinneth not, that in this cause the Son shall die for the Father's iniquity, or the Father for the Son's iniquity, their answer therefore proceeds either of ignorance or perverseness. But concerning this point, they have another strange conceit, which is, that Adam should have been consumed if Christ had not been provided: but Christ being provided, his judgement of being consumed was changed into this judgement, Cursed is the earth for thy sake, etc. Gen. 3. 17 19 This is a pretty dream, and it comes of this, that Adam d●ed not a bodily death the same day that he eat of the forbidden fru●t. But they should know that there are more sorts of death than one; which if they did, then would they not gather, that because Adam died not a bodily death, therefore he died not at all, this is too Childish for those which would be teachers. But let God be true and every man a liar: Adam by dying, died the same day that he sinned, not a bodily, but a spiritual death, under which death he lay until the promise that the Woman's seed should destroy the Serpent's power, quickened and revived him again. That Curse which is laid upon the earth, and the labour which is laid upon Adam, was to bring man to a further knowledge of his own misery, and God's mercy and justice. Bodily death is appointed to dissolve man into dust and ashes, that from thence he may rise unto an immortal and unchangeable estate either of glory or confusion. Their imagination therefore that Adam should have been consumed, if Christ had not been provided, is but a dream which will not stand with the stability of the Eternal, whose decree is immutable, neither altereth he the thing that proceedeth out of his mouth. Concerning Infants they have found at the last, that by Adam's sin they have upon them the Corruption thereof, and that in such sort, as that thereby they are made Subject to death: here meeting the truth in their way (unsought for) and seeing glimpse of it, so dazzleth their eyes, that a increaseth their blindness: for first their imagine that Infants are not otherwise cory rupted with Adam's sin, nor made subject to death then other creatures are and that though Infants be subject to death, yet not to be cast into hell fire. For the first, they should know that there is as much difference between the Corruption that is in Infants by the means of Adam's sin, and the corruption that other creatures are subject unto, as there is between a young Serpent venomous by nature, and that which is stung or invenomed by the ●iting of a Serpent. The posterity of Adam have a lust to sin, the creature is subject to the vanity of man's abuse unto evil, not of its own accord, Rom. 8. 20. In this therefore their apprehension is too gross to conceive that Infants are no otherwise corrupted with Adam's sin then other creatures are, For the Second, they should know that out of Adam a●e sprung two contrary seeds, fo● which the●e was prepared two contrary conditions before the world was; and therefore all Infants are not under one and the same. state & condition, but some are u●der the state of damnation in hell, and some are under the state of salvation in heaven, and t●at from the womb: though they cannot tell how to deny this, yet will they not rest, but imagine still that condemnation comes by some other means then by Adam's salt, for else think they God could not be just. Converning the point of Adam's fault, their resolution is, that it came on all men to condemnation, ●ut how so to corrupt their natures, that when the Commandment comes, they cannot obey and live, but sin and die. Here the truth hath met them again, and they have looked upon her, but have loosed her again, and themselves also: for at the First, Infants were not without sin; but now their nature is so corrupt, that when the Commandment comes, they cannot obey and live, but sin and die. And whersore? that let the Apostle answer, it is because sin dwells in them Rom. 7. 17. 20. If sin dwell in them, how then are they without sin? Thus by wand'ring they have lost themselves. The truth they have loosed, by mistaking Paul where he saith that once he was alive without the Law; for out of this they gather, that Paul was no sinner, till the Commandment came, and they confirm themselves in this error, by misunderstanding another Scripture; namely that whatsoever the Law saith, it saith to them that are under the Law. And they are further confirmed in this by the mistaking of a third Scripture, which saith, That sin is not imputed whilst there is no Law. Out of these they gather, that Infants are without sin until they know the Law, and break it. But Paul ●s no Patron of this opinion, it was no part of his Doctrine, that whilst he was without Law, he was without sin: but this is that which he teacheth, that when he was without Law, he was without the knowledge of sin, because the knowledge of sin comes by the Law: and the reason of this is, because without the Law sin is dead, that is, hath no power to wound and kill the Conscience: but the Conscience is quiet and at peace, notwithstanding sin until the Law come, for as the sting of sin is death, so the strength of sin is the Law. This is that which Paul teacheth. And it doth not follow that because sin is dead in a man, until the Law come that therefore there is no sin in him: for if sin were not in him, how should he find it by the coming of the Law; in this therefore they understand the Apostle very childishly and against all reason: for where he saith, That he found by the Law that sin dwelled in him, they understand him to the clean contrary, that sin was not in him. And as in this, they misunderstand, so do they in this, that the Law speaketh to those which be under the Law. Out of this they gather, that a man must know the Law before he be under it, and he must be under the Law and transgress it before he have sin: so that until a man know the Law and transgress it, he is without sin: whereas indeed, the transgression of the Law is but the finishing and bringing forth of sin, conceived before of lust, which as an harlot consenteth to the tempter, and bringeth forth transgression, I am. 1. 15 The Apostle in saying, that whatsoever the Law saith, it ●aith it to those that be under the Law: doth it to prove that ●hose things which are rehearsed from the tenth verse of the ●hird Chapter to the Romans unto the eighteenth verse, are ●rue concerning the jews, and that therefore the jews were ●nder sin, together with the Gentiles; and that all the world ●re under condemnation, verse 19: Now therefore if Infants be a part of the world, then are ●hey under condemnation. The Apostle saith, not that a man is without sin till he be under the Law, but he saith that the L●w convinceth all that be under it of sin, which could not be, if sin were not in them. Here therefore they shoot fare short of the Apostles mark, he concludes the whole world to be under condemnation, and proves it by the Law. And they imagine that when the Law comes, it finds those to whom it comes to be without sin and free from condemnation. So that still, where th' Apostle saith one thing, they understand him of another thing; yea to the clean contrary. The Lord open their eyes that they may see it. The third Scripture which they pervert is this, That sin is not imputed whilst there is no Law, Rom. 5. 13. Out of this they gather, that until the Law be known and transgressed, there is no sin. But the Apostle saith to the contrary, That sin was in the world even unto the Law, though sin was reckoned no sin so long as there was no Law: Yet that sin was in the world though not reckoned of, as may appear by this, That death Reigned from Adam unto Moses, which it could not have done, if sin had not been in the world: for death is the reward of sin, and therefore reigneth over none, but those which sin hath dominion over, though not transgressors after the same manner that Adam transgressed. Thus the Apostle teacheth, and by this we may learn, that no Infants are without sin. Now if this will not be yielded them, that Infants are without sin, than would they know how they can be reconciled unto God? Unto this I answer; That unto those which are the seed o● the Woman, God was reconciled in Christ, and in him adopte● them to be his Children before the world was. And unto such the corruption of their nature shall not b● imputed, God hath made them accepted in his beloved. But they presume, that it must be yielded that Infant's a● without sin, and being so, they would know what need they have to be Baptised? To this I answer, That Baptism is the ordinance of God and therefore is to be used of all his people, to that end fo● which it was ordained. It was given of God to set forth and declare what benefit those which be members of Christ have by his death and resurrection. That Infants have benefit by the death and resurrection of Christ, these men will confess, though not aright: God's people therefore must Baptism their Infants, to declare their faith concerning the benefit that they have by Christ. They give us a needless caution or warning that we should not conclude that because Infants are subject to bodily death with their Fathers, that therefore they perish i● hell. No, we will neither mount so high, nor dive so deep, as so to determine. But this we do affirm, that if Infants were without sin, bodily death should have no power over them. But they will say that bodily death hath power over other creatures which be unreasonable, I grant it: But may a man as lawfully kill an Infant, as he may a Sheep or a Bullock? Surely no; he which sheddeth man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed. These men therefore are very unreasonable to match Infants and other unreasonable creatures together. But this is monstrous, that they imagine that unreasonable creatures that are dead and have perished, have prepaed for them the glorious liberty of the Sons of GOD, and ●hall be freed from the bondage of corruption when the Sons of GOD shall be revealed? And that this is the glory and liberty whereof Infants shallbe partakers; yea, and that all other creatures shall have story after death for th' afflictions of this life, and not the members of Christ only? unto this vanity of mind are these ●en given up. The Lord give them better understanding, if it he his will. From 2 Cor. 4. 10. and Rev. 20. 12, 13. they conclude that Infants shall not appear before Christ to receive judgement, because they have done no works in the flesh, good or evil. What works Infants do, GOD knoweth, I know not; john the Baptist sprung in his Mother's womb; jeremy was sanctified in the Womb; jacob and Esau strove in the womb; God is wonderful in his works. Therefore I dare not determine of the do of Infants: But john in his vision saw all the dead both small and great stand before God, and therefore Infants as I understand. And Paul saith, we must all be made manifest before the judgement seat of Christ. I understand him to speak of all mankind, and so of Infants. And it is too much boldness for any to say none where the Apostle saith all. But what dare not ignorant zeal do? Their conclusion is, that Infants have not sinned, And therefore need no Baptism for the remission of sins. And I answer, that in Adam all mankind sinned, and that by means thereof all Infants come tainted with sin, from the womb: And that therefore there is no hope of salvation for any Infants further than they may be reckoned to belong un●o Christ, as ●eing the fruit of such branches as are ingraffed in him by Faith: And thos● which be such are to be Baptised, thereby to declare wha● benefit all have by Christ that are partakers with him; whos● holiness is such, that he sanctifyeth all that have fellowship with him: To whom be glory for ever, Amen: JOHN WILKINSON FINIS.