We 11, 12. Matt. xix. 13,14. Rev. i. 5. Eph. ii. 19; of it, which thou extendest to the faith- Deut. xxx. 10, ful, and their seed. We dedicate and offer this child to thee, to be received 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. into thy covenant and church. beseech thee to accept him as a member John xi. 52. of thy Son, and wash him in his blood Heb. ii. 13. from the guilt of sin, as the flesh is iii. 15. washed by this water. Be reconciled Zech. ix. 11, to him, and take him for thy child. 1 Pet. v. 7. Renew him to the image of thy Son; 2 Tim. iv. 18. make him a fellow-citizen with the saints, and one of thy household. Protect him and provide for him as thy own, and finally preserve him to thy heavenly kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 15, 16. Then the Minister shall ask of the parent the name of the child to be baptized; and, naming him, shall either dip him under the water, or else pour water upon his face, if he cannot be safely or conveniently dipped; and shall use these words without alteration: I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And he shall thus declare: THIS child is now received by Christ's appointment into his Church, and solemnly entered into the holy covenant; and engaged, if he lives to the use of reason, to rise with Christ to newness of life, as being buried with him by baptism, and to bear his cross, and confess Christ crucified, and faithfully to fight under his banner against the flesh, the devil, and the world, and to continue his faithful soldier and servant to the death, that he may receive the crown of life. Then he shall give thanks, and pray. Rom. v. 12, 18. WE thank thee, most merciful Father, that when we had broken thy law, and Gal. iii. 13. 1 John v. 11. Acts ii. 39. 1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. Psal. xliv. 3, 4. 2 Cor. viii. 5. Eph. v. 24. Matt. xxii. 37. were condemned by it, thou hast given us a Saviour, and life in him; and hast extended thy covenant of grace to Psal. exix. 94. believers, and to their seed; and hast now received this child into thy coveDeut. x. 20, 21; nant and church, as a member of Christ by this sacrament of regeneration. We beseech thee, let him grow up in holiTit. i. 2; ii. 13; ness; and when he comes to years of discretion, let thy Spirit reveal unto him the mysteries of the Gospel, and the riches of thy love in Jesus Christ: and xi. 22, 30. Psal. xvi. 5; xxvii. 4. iii. 7. 1 John ii. 5, 6, 17. Gal. v. 24. cause him to renew and perform the Matt. vi. 13. covenant that he hath now made, and to Psal. lxxxi. 12. Jas. i. 14. 1 John i. 7. resign himself, and all that he hath, Luke i. 71. entirely unto thee his Lord, to be sub- 1 Cor. x. 16. ject and obedient to thee his Governor, 2 and to love thee, his Father, with all his heart, and soul, and might; and adhere Cor. vi. 14. Psal. i. 1, 2. 1 Pet. i. 2. John ix. 31. Luke ix. 23. Heb. ii. 10. unto thee, and delight in thee as the por- from the lusts and allurements of the flesh, the temptations of the devil, and the baits of the pleasure, profit, and honour of the world; and from all the corruptions of his own heart, and all the hurtful violence of his enemies. Keep him in communion with the saints, in the love and use of thy word and worship. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Christ, the Captain of his salvation, and be faithful unto the death, and then receive the crown of life through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. Then use this exhortation, or the like, to the Parents. You that have devoted this child to God, and engaged it in covenant to him, must be thankful for so great a mercy to the child, and must be faithful in performing what you have promised on your parts, in instructing and educating this child in the faith and fear of God, that he may own and perform the covenant now made, and receive all the blessings which God hath promised. Hear what God hath Eph. vi. 4. made your duty: Fathers, provoke not go, and when The rod and your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Train up a Prov. xxii. 6. child in the way he should he is old he will not depart from it. Prov. xxix. 15. reproof give wisdom; but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Thou Deut. vi. 5, 6, 7. shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might; and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children; and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in the house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and Josh. xxiv. 15. when thou risest up. Joshua saith, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And 2 Tim. iii. 15. Paul saith of Timothy, From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Then say to the people thus, or to this sense : * You have heard, beloved, how great a dignity we were advanced to in our baptism, to how great duty we are all engaged. O search and try, whether you have kept or broken the covenant which you made, and have lived according to the dignity of your calling. And if any of you be atheists, unbelievers, or ungodly, and love not God above all, and neglect Christ and his salvation, and are yet unsanctified, and live after the flesh, the devil, and the world, which you here renounced; as you love your souls, bewail your perfidious covenant-breaking with God. Trust not the water of baptism alone if you are not born again of John iii. 5, 6. the Spirit also, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Baptism will not save you, if 1 Pet. iii. 21. you have not the answer of a good conscience unto God. If any man have not the Spirit Rom. viii. 9. of Christ, the same is none of his much less those wretches that hate sanctification, and despise and scorn a holy life, when they were by baptism engaged to the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier. Can you think to be saved by the covenant which you keep * The original reads, unsatisfied; which is corrected in Calamy.-P. H. |