BAPTISM.

FORM I.

PRAYER.

O ALMIGHTY and moft merciful Father! Thou art holy in all thy ways, and righteous in all thy works; a God of truth and without iniquity, juft and right art thou. We would adore thee as the true and the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that fear thee, and obferve thy commandments. We bless thee O Lord, that we were early baptized into the chriftian faith, and inftructed in the duties of the chriftian life. We efteem it our highest honour, and ineftimable privilege, that we are called by the facred name of Chrift Jefus our Lord, through whom we have accefs by one Spirit unto the Father, and we are perfuaded that there is no other name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we can be faved.

Encouraged by thy gracious promise, that thou wilt be a God not only unto us, but to our children after us, we desire to dedicate this infant to thy fervice whom we now present before thee. Pour down, we beseech thee O heavenly Father, thy Spirit upon our feed, and thy bleffing upon our offspring, that they may fpring up as Willows by the water courses, that they may become trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, in whom he will be glorified. Hear these our prayers O Lord, and accept of our perfons and fervices through the merits of our Redeemer, who is God over all, bleffed for ever more. AMEN.

(The Minifter fhall now call upon the parent or fponfor to prefent the infant that is to be baptized, faying as follows.)

Do you present this child to be baptized, profeffing it to be your earnest defire that he (or fhe) may be admitted a member of the vifible church?

(The parent or fponfor having declared the above to be his request, the Minifter proceeds

to give a fhort difcourfe on the nature of Bap

tifm, as follows.)

DISCOURSE.

THE holy facrament of Baptism was instituted by our bleffed Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift himself in these words, " Go ye and "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name "of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Such is the gracious condescension of the most high God towards us, that he not only vouchsafes to regard mankind, and to give us promises of good things, but moreover, for the ratifying and confirming of these his promises, to enter into a covenant tranfaction; a method which tends to convey to the heirs of promise strong confolation, at the fame time laying them under the strongest ties and most binding obligations.

When the first covenant was broken and violated by the difobedience and apoftacy of our first parents, God was mercifully pleased to enter into another and a better one, established upon better promises, whereof Jefus

Chrift is the furety and mediator. By this new and gracious covenant, the Almighty promifes to be a God to his people and to their feed after them, to beftow pardon and remiffion of fin, regeneration and fanctification, the aids and affiftances, the confolation and fupport of his holy Spirit, with a right and title to eternal life, happiness and glory.

God, knowing how flow mankind are naturally in apprehending fpiritual things and how apt to forget them, hath thought fit to appoint certain outward visible signs and fymbols to represent the bleffings of his covenant, to be received as figns and pledges of those bleffings, and to remind the receivers of their own duty and obligations. Such is the element of water used in the facrament of Baptifm, which points out and leads us to reflect upon our guilty and polluted state by nature; the neceffity of washing implying uncleannefs, for that which is already clean needeth not to be washed. But it denotes the means devised

by the wisdom of God for our recovery and their efficacy, even the blood of Jesus Christ,

who was holy, harmlefs, undefiled, a Lamb without fpot and without blemish, which cleanfeth from all fin; and the purifying influences of the Holy Ghoft the fanctifier. It further represents the freeness of these blessings, being obtainable like water, without money and without price. "Ho! every one that "thirfteth, come ye to the waters of life and "drink freely!"

The being sprinkled with water, is intended to teach the baptized perfon, to fhun and avoid all filthiness and pollution both of flesh and fpirit, and to maintain purity of heart and holinefs of life and converfation. Perfons are washed with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, not that they should be at liberty to defile themselves with fin at pleasure, but that as this action is a profession of dedication to the holy Trinity, fo they might be careful to serve these adorable persons in righteousness and true holiness throughout the whole of life.

As God promifes to be for his people, fo he requires that they fhould be for him; that