Household Prayers, Prayer 9
The ninth Prayer, For the obtaining of the efficacie of holy Baptiſme.
Ieſus comming to his Diſciples, ſpake vntounto them ſaying: All power is giuen vntounto me both in heauen & in earth. Goe yee therefore, and teach all nations, Baptizing them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy-ghoſt, and teaching them to obſerue all that I hauehave commaunded you.
Mat. 28.
O Eternall God, only good, & wiſe, thou haſt vouchſafed by thy Sonne, that great prophet, to teach vsus, that whoſoeuer is not borne of water and the ſpirite, cannot enter into thy kingdome; and that fleſh and blood are not capable of the ſight of thy glorie. Thou, O Lord, art eſſentially holineſſe and righteouſnes. How then can vncleaneneſſe, and iniuſtice approach neere vntounto thee? So it is that wee are by our nature corrupted, and by ſinne polluted, wherby the Sentence of death, both firſt and ſecond, hath ouertaken all men; howbeit, of thy infinite mercy, thou haſt vouchſafed to ſaue from a gulph of miſeries, thoſe that in thy vnſearchable counſaile are predeſtinate to life, redeeming them from hell, and making them to bee borne againe in Ieſus Chriſt, thy eternall woorde, by the which thou haddeſt firſt giuen them beeing. And theſe are they that are borne of water and the ſpirit into thy church through the efficacie of the ſacred myſteries of thy grace, & ſpecially of holie Baptiſme; that being clothed anew in the nature and righteouſnes of Chriſt their Sauiour, they may become new creatures, pure and pretious before thee. Nowe through thy great mercy (O my God) I hauehave, in thy holy Temple, receiued this ſacred pledge of thy couenant, and of our new birth in thy name, and in the name of thy Sonne, and of the Holy-ghoſt, according to thy ordinance, as it hath pleaſed thee in the renewing of thy Church, by the preaching of the Goſpel, to manifeſt thy ſelfe farre more cleerely in three perſons of thy deitie, then vnderunder the figures and ſhadowes of the Law. For in Chriſt, repleniſhed with grace and trueth, thou haſt made thy ſelfe viſible, who hath reuealed himſelfe, and the Holy Ghoſt alſo, by plentifully ſpreading the beames of his glory vponupon vsus, through the brightneſſe of his works, altogether diuine and miraculous. Wee cannot ſo much as apprehend the vertue and efficacy of the ſacrament of baptiſme, vnleſſe wee begin by the meditation of thy free merciemercy in thy Sonne, and ſo doe proceede in the contemplation of him, performing his office, euen ſo farre forth, as to die for vsus: and with him wee doe conioyne the Holy-Ghoſt, through whome Chriſt dooth waſh vsus in his blood, regenerateth vsus, and maketh vsus partakers of all his benefits. This, O Lord, I knowe by thy word, that like as the ſacrament of baptiſme is vntounto mee a certaine earneſt penie of my ſaluation: ſo muſt it in my own conſcience, and before men, be vntounto mee a perpetuall teſtimonie of my faith and of my hope. So onelyonly dooth this ſacrament obtaine his perfection and fulnes, namely, when that ſhadowed in the waſhing of my body with the ſigne of water, is effectually wrought within my ſoule, throughout the whole courſe of my life. For in like manner was the ſhadow of the couenant fulfilled, in cutting awaie the fore-skinne from the Children of Iſrael, when by the circumciſion of their harts, they became carefull to walke in the ſtatutes of Gods Lawe. I beſeech thee therefore, O my God, as I carrie in my forehead the holy marke of Chriſtians, ſo vouchſafe, with thy finger, to graue in my hart this diuine Character, to the ende that I may euermore beare and bring forth ſuch fruite and effects, as may be acceptable in thy ſight, and profitable to my ſelfe; that as my Lord Ieſus, by his ſpirite working in mee, waſheth away my ſinnes and regenerateth my ſoule, ſo I may likewiſe, by the efficacie of his owne vertue, and receiuing from him, grace, perſeuere in the faith of my Baptiſme, readie to eueryevery good worke. And that as I was baptiſed into his death, ſo likewiſe to be buried with him, by being dead vntounto ſin, ſo that I may bee grafted with him to the ſimilitude of his reſurrection in glory, liuing no longer to ſinne, but to righteouſnes, whereby thy name, O eternall God, may be ſanctified, and I crowned in my latter day with the crowne of immortalitie amongeſt the company of thy bleſſed ones. So be it.