[The axe laid to the root, or, One blow more at the foundation of…[The ax laid to the root, or, One blow more at the foundation of…

Answ. Such arguing I never met with before; doth if follow, that a Con•ession of sin was not necessary, because 'tis said, the Pharisees and Lawyers •ejected the Counsel of God, in not being baptized of John? was that their greatest Evil? or did not their horrid Evil rather lie in their Impenitency and Unbelief, which excluded them from having a Right to Baptism, or in •heir not receiving John's Doctrine of Repentance for the Remission of •ins and bringing forth Fruits worthy of amendment of Life? see our la•• ••notators on the place, They tell you in that lay their great Sin, and th••• not submitting to Baptism, as a Testimony of such a Repentance: […] say they, the Baptism of John in Scripture, signifieth his whole Administration, or the Doctrine he Preached, as well as the Ordinance of […] ⟨p. 52⟩by him Administered; and so must be interpreted, where our Saviour asked the Pharisees, whether the Baptism of John was from Heaven or of Men? and they durst not say from Heaven, lest Christ should have asked them, why then do ye believe him not? they were not baptized of him, is the same thing with they would be none of his Disciples; they did then, like as some ungodly Persons do now; reject the Counsel of God against themselves, in not partaking of the Ordinance of the Lord's Supper: yet their bare rejection of that, is not so much their Sin and Guilt, as their not believing, repenting, or embracing of Jesus Christ, or obtaining those previous and antecedent Qualifications required of all such who ought to come to that Sacred Ordinance.

Answ. Such arguing I never met with before; doth if follow, that a Con•ession of sin was not necessary, because 'tis said, the Pharisees and Lawyers •ejected the Counsel of God, in not being baptized of John? was that their great•st Evil? or did not their horrid Evil rather lie in their Impenitency and Unbelief, which excluded them from having a Right to Baptism, or in heir not receiving Iohn's Doctrine of Repentance for the Remission of ins and bringing forth Fruits worthy of amendment of Life? see our la notators on the place, They tell you in that lay their great Sin, and th not submitting to Baptism, as a Testimony of such a Repentance: say they, the Baptism of Iohn in Scripture, signifieth his whole Administration, or the Doctrine he Preached, as well as the Ordinance of