whole world without it: truth is not to be judged by multitudes, or an unity, but by the word.

Object. 4. But Christ himself was baptised with water, and surely that perpetuates it in the church.

Answ. Christ's being baptised with water under John, no more perpetuates water-baptism in the Christian church, than his being circumcised under Moses, perpetuates circumcision in the Christian church; or his submitting to other Mosaical ceremonies, perpetuates thein: Christ brings no temporal or carnal thing into his everlasting or spiritual kingdom, though himself submitted to them under their several dispensations in the season of them.

Object. 5. But Christ justifies and commands water-baptism in John iii. "Except a Except a man be born of water, &c." And Mat. xxviii. "Teach and baptise."

ματος,

Answ. I confess these are places that many have mistaken, to justify the practice of waterbaptism; but I shall shew you that they do indeed misunderstand them. For that first place, John iii. 5. "Except a man be born ε vdaros kaι Trevparos, of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;" I confess many of the ancients have by water here understood material water, and have interpreted the place of external baptism, which was John's only and hereupon divers of them have exceedingly magnified water, and ascribed to it the washing of souls, and the regeneration of Christians in some measure; they not considering in the mean time, what Christ saith in the very next verse," That

which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit;" by which they might have learned, that outward and corporeal water can do nothing but outward and corporeal things, and can contribute nothing to the cleansing of souls and consciences from sin.

So that this place cannot be understood of corporeal water; and I could produce the testimonies of many godly men, of good note, to this purpose, but do forbear, because I would not have our faith built upon the authorities of men; but the thing is evident from the text itself, for it saith," Except a man be born of water," which shews the water he speaks of, must be such as is able to give a new birth, and to make a man anew, that is, a spiritual, holy, heavenly creature; and no water can do this, but the Spirit ; and therefore Christ adds to water, the Spirit, by way of explication, as if he had said, "No man can enter into the kingdom of God, except he be born again of water;" but the water I speak of is no material water, but the Spirit, which is able to produce in you a heavenly nature, through which only we can have an entrance into an heavenly kingdom, seeing flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; so that the water, Christ means in this place, is the Spirit. And many other places give witness to this, John iv. 10. "If thou didst know who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water:" and verses 13. 14. "Jesus said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water;" (meaning the water of the well called

Jacob's well) shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life;" and John vii. 37, 38, 39. "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink; he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;" but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him should receive.

Now by water, in all these places, is not meant material water, but the Spirit, as Christ himself explicates, and sure his testimony alone is sufficient.

But again, if in this place, "Except a man be born of water and the Spirit," you will needs understand material water, why then, upon the same ground, you must needs understand that place in Matthew of material fire, where it is said, Mat. iii. 11. "He shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire; which is absurd to very reason to think: but water and fire in each place, added to the Spirit, shew only the efficacy of the Spirit; and so you may as well bring in the use of material fire in baptism, from the text in Matthew, as of material water from the text in John. So that this place in John, proves no authority of Christ for water-baptism in his kingdom, which is the church of the New Testament.

Now the other place, Mat. xxviii. 19, “Go ye and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Spirit," is also of as little force as the former, to prove water-baptism to be an institution of Christ. Indeed I find, that wherever men have met with the words baptism, or baptise in the Scriptures, presently their thoughts have descended to material water; they not so well considering or understanding that water which is the Spirit, which is the only water that performs all the baptism in the kingdom of God.

Now for that place, "Go teach all nations, baptising them," they understand it thus: teach them and baptise them with material water, using this form of words, "I baptise thee in the name of the Father," &c. But herein they err from the mind of Christ: for by these words Christ leads his disciples from John's baptism to his own; as if he had said, John indeed baptised with water, and ye have hitherto used his baptism, but I shall now shortly baptise you with my own baptism of the Spirit; and from that time I would have you go teach all nations, and by the ministration of the Spirit, not baptise them, or dip them in cold water (as John did in his own baptism, and you in his) but baptise them, or dip them into the name of God the Father, Son and Spirit; and note, that he saith not here Βαπτιζοντες αυτές εν τω ονοματι, in the name, but εις το όνομα, into the name of the Father, &c. and by the name of God, is meant the power and virtue of God, or God himself, as Mark xvi. Christ saith, "In my name they shall cast out devils ;" that is, in my power and virtue; so that the sense lies thus, Teach the nations, and baptise them into the name, &c. that is, by your ministry, which

shall be of the Spirit, and not of the letter, you shall baptise them, or dip them, or interest them, into the name of God, who is the Father, Son, and Spirit, as he hath discovered himself in his last and most glorious discovery of himself, in the gospel; you shall, I say, dip them into his name, or sprinkle his name upon them, that they may be holy, just, true, merciful, righteous, good, &c. that is, your ministry, after you have received the Spirit, shall have such efficacy that it shall clothe men with the name of God, and transform them into his very nature.

So that this place cannot be understood of water, but instead of baptising in material water, as John, he tells them, they should baptise into the name of God, in such sort, that they that were before sinful, corrupt, and evil men, should now be taken up into the glory of the name of God. Neither can this place be understood of a form of words, which the apostles and their successors should use in baptising, as most men have thought and taught, seeing no place of Scripture can be named, wherein the apostles, in baptising used this form of words, saying, "I baptise thee in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit," which they had undoubtedly done, if Christ had commanded it as an absolute form. And because many will presently be ready to be enraged at this assertion, I will a little cool their heat with what Zuinglius saith of this place, who was one of the greatest enemies to the Anabaptists that was in his time; "Christus Iesus (saith he) baptismi formulam, quo uteremur, his verbis non instituit, quemadmodum theoligi hactenus falsa tradiderunt," Zuin. lib.