The Virtue and Value of Baptism, Sermon (3 of 3)

The Virtue and Value of Baptism · Sermon (3 of 3)

p. 193Thus then I have noted the vanitie and vileneſs of thoſe, whoſe carriage contradicts the nature of Baptiſme, and beſpeaks them inſenſible of it, as an eſpecial qualification for confidence in acceſs to God in the aſſemblies of his people.

The third and laſt uſe of this Doctrine, is by way of exhortation p. 194unto two eſpecial duties.

Firſt, Acquaint we our ſelves with the holy nature of Baptiſme.

Secondly, Act we the courſe of our lives and carriage, as thoſe whoſe bodies are waſhed with pure water.

Of theſe give me leave to ſpeake a word in their order, and firſt of the firſt.

Acquaint we our ſelves with the holy nature of Baptiſme Underſtand its end, uſe, and effects: Labour we to know the holineſs it ſtamps on any, the priviledges it confers; and how it confers them, ſee the divine inſtitution enforcing the duty of ſubjection to it, and the dignitie received by it. Ignorance is the Nurſerie of Error, and Guard of all Prophaneneſs: All thoſe O…dinance degrading, and vilifying p. 195notions that are conceived in mens mindes, blaſphemies belched out of their mouthes, and contemptible carriage under and towards Baptiſme and the baptized, which we have before taxed, are no other than the miſts and filthie fogs of a blinde mind, to be diſperſed by a right apprehenſion of the holy nature thereof. Ignorance is noted in Scripture as the ground of Iſ…aels impiety: very often doth God complain, they know not me, and are a people who will not underſtand; my people periſh for lack of knowledge. Knowledge is the propounded cure of all prophaneneſs and contempt of holy things: it is the principle of Regeneration to be renewed in the ſpirit of the minde. Our Saviour corrects the prophanation of the Temple by an, it is written, p. 196my houſe ſhall be called, an houſe of prayer, and diſpels all rude traditions, which made the Law of God of none effect, by an expoſition of the Law: And the Apoſtle corrects the prophane uſe of the Lords Supper, by explaining the nature, form, and uſe thereof; telling them ſometime, this is not to eat the Lords Supper; and other times pointing to the Ordinance, by a, The Cup of bleſſing which we bleſs, is the Communion; and an, I received from the Lord, what I delivered unto you. The ſame is to be the cure of the prophaneneſs of every Ordinance of God, (viz.) the underſtanding of its uſe and nature. They that know not the benefit of a Deniſon of England, or a Freeman of London, muſt needs diſeſteem, diſregard, and deſpiſe the priviledges p. 197thereof. Is it any marvel to hear men ſpeak, and ſee men carry contemptibly towards a ſealed parchment, whoſe uſe and nature he doth not underſtand; but ſuch as know thereof the uſe and value, will purchaſe them at a dear rate, and priſe them above many things ſimply, and in themſelves more conſiderable. In a word, I muſt ſay, if men knew that Gods image and authority was ſet on Baptiſme, they would not dare to deſpiſe its ſimplicity and meanneſs: If they underſtood it to be the dore of admiſſion into the Church, incorporation into Chriſts body, and method of matriculation into the houſhold of faith, they could never ſcorn it, or ſit indifferent to it; but muſt ſee, as ever they will put on Chriſt Jeſus and be united to his body, they muſt be p. 198baptized; nay further, ſuch as are ſenſibly affected with it as a ſeal of the Covenant of Grace and ſo ground of faith, as a ſacred qualification of approach to God, without which we may not come nigh unto him; and as the ordained Ark of Salvation, wherby we ſtand ſeparated from the world unto ſo great advantages, he could not but ſet on it an high eſteem, rejoycing in his Baptiſme, bleſſing God for ſuch diſtinguiſhing grace, and thankfully improve the ſame to his encour…g…ment in, and ingagement unto duty. Let it therefore be your care with all diligence, to ſtudie the nature of the Ordinance, and underſtand its uſe, vertue and value; that by ignorance you loſe not its effects, or be led into erronious notions, luke-warm affections p. 199to, and prophane expreſſions towards ſo holy and neceſſary an Ordinance.

The ſecond exhortation is, To act our converſation, as ſenſible, that the body waſhed with pure water, muſt qualifie us with confidence in acceſs to God. Let your knowledge of the right uſe and nature of Baptiſme appear in your lives and carriage under and towards ſo holy an Ordinance: Take heed of prophaning holy things, diſeſteeming high priviledges, and contemning ſpecial grounds of faith and priviledges of grace: and more particularly,

1. Direct. Admit not men into communion with the Church in other Ordinances and acts of worſhip, that have not been baptized. Let them enter at the right dore, that receive Gods p. 200alms: Call not them the Lords people, who weare not the Lords livery: communicate not the priviledges of the Saints, with them who ſtand Aliens & Strangers to the Common-wealth of Iſrael: Let not them approach the preſence of an holy God, who were never ſanctified by the waſhing of water by the word: And in a word, take heed of running into the abhomination of bringing into Gods Sanctuary, the unbaptized in fleſh: Invert not Gods order and the Goſpel method of approach to God. Theſe might have ſeemed needleſs exhortations heretofore, but now doe not; for that many in the midſt of us doe not onelyonly diſown their own baptiſme, but bring up their Iſſue unbaptized: And great is the preſent, and greater will be the future danger p. 201of admitting to ſit at the Lords table, ſuch as never were baptized. I could heartily wiſh we could keep a Regiſter of the unbaptized, as we doe of the baptized: However, let the adminiſtrators of holy things, make it their firſt enquiry, Were you baptized? and take heed they pollute not Gods Sanctuarie, by admitting thereunto the men whoſe bodies were not waſhed with pure water. Be not deceived with a pretence of reall grace; for grace muſt needs be pretended, where any of Gods Ordinances are deſpiſed and Chriſts preſcribed order is neglected; but if it were reall, it is not the Churches guide, who cannot know it: Outward qualifications muſt be their direction, and Goſpel order in peoples approach to God, is their p. 202charge, and muſt be their care.

2. Direct. Attend with reverence and affection, the adminiſtration of Baptiſme unto others. Turn not your backs on ſo holy an Ordinance and eminent action; but conſider it is an act of worſhip, and Ordinance of God, as well as preaching or prayer; and our attendance on all acts of Religion, is duty; it is a ſolemn and ſacred action, ſeparating perſons unto God, ſanctifying them for God, ſtamping upon men holineſs to the Lord, ſetting them as members of Church, the body of Chriſt, and ſolemnly dedicating them to the ſervice of Father, Sonne, and holy Ghoſt. And doth not this call for the attendance of all the Lords people? Shall not the worth of union with Chriſts Church, and conſecration to p. 203God, be witneſſed to be of weight by the reverent attendance of the aſſemblie? Are not all concerned in, and to be edified by the Ordinance, and ſhall they ſleight it, and turn back on it? Conſider the reproof of the guilt of ſuch neglect: let it quicken you to duty: let your preſence at, and reverence in the adminiſtration of Baptiſme, beſpeak your ſenſe of its ſacred nature and ſanctifying uſe; making a Church Ordinance privat by confining it to your houſes, or running from its adminiſtration in the publique place, muſt needs be the reſult of low th…ughts Cland…ſtine Baptiſm, is the cloud of Baptiſme; and the rude out-…unning that Ordinance, runs it into cont…mpt; be witneſſes of their incorporation with whom you muſt live p. 204in communion in Gods Ordinances.

3. Direction. Argue your Baptiſme to your engagement to, and encouragement in drawing nigh to God. Your bodies are waſhed with pure water, provoke your ſpirits to draw nigh in the aſſurance of faith: Conſider that by your baptiſme, you are ſingled out of the world, and ſet in a capacity of Salvation: You are placed in the Ark; will you periſh in the common deluge of mankinde? You are ſanctified unto God by the waſhing of water; will you ſtand at a diſtance from God, as ſtrangers to him? You are in the order of his own appointment, ſuited for divine ſociety; will you live as without God, without hope in the world? You are the ſealed ſonnes and ſubjects p. 205of the covenant; and will you paſs away your time as Bankrupts, that poſſeſs nothing? You have put on Jeſus Chriſt his livery; will you not doe him homage with all cheerfull loyalty? You are entred into the houſhold of Faith and Church of God; ſhall not their communion be to you comfortable? Is not Baptiſme a ground of faith, and encouragement; why are you then ſo diſpondent in appearing before God? Is it not your ſolemn Bond unto divine ſervice; why are you then ſo dull and backward unto duty? Was your baptiſme a meer complement, that you doe not minde it or make uſe of it now it is paſt? Is it not a moral inſtrument to be improved by meditation, affording matter of counſel and comfort? Nay is it p. 206not Gods Ordinance, a ground of faith, pledge of love, badge of relation, to be argued into the awe and encouragem…nt of our acceſs to God? Is not Baptiſme an initiating ſeal, aſſuring us of i…tiating graces? hath it not planted us into the Olive, that we might extract …p and juyce to the bringing forth fruits of Righteouſneſs? In a word, Baptiſme is greatly advantagious to hope and holyneſs, if but duly improved by acts of Faith. We find no profit in it, becauſe we look for none from it. If right aſſured, be never claimed, how ſhall it be poſſeſſed? If ſinmortifying engines be never uſed, ſin muſt needs have dominion over the ſoul. I would to God, I cou…d but perſwade Ch…iſtians to ſit down, and ſeriouſly contemplate their Baptiſme p. 207in order to their holyneſs, and thus reflect it. I am baptized: Surely then I am under ſome more than ordinary engagement: Thereby I was waſhed from my old ſins; ſhall I then live in them, or ſo far forget my ſelf, as not to let vertue, knowledge, temperance brotherly kindneſs, patience, godlineſs, all the graces of God to abound in me? Is not Baptiſme the dew of Heaven, that waters the Garden of God? Hath it been diſtilled on me, and ſhall I be found idle and unfruitfull, 2 Pet. 1.5, 6, 7, 8, 9. I have been baptized into the death of Chriſt, buried with him in Baptiſme, planted into the ſimilitude of his death, that my old man might be crucified, and the body of ſin deſtroyed, that I ſhould not ſerve ſinne; but p. 208as he was raiſed up from the dead, I ſhould walk in newneſs of life: and ſhall ſin reign in my mortal body, that I ſhould obey the luſts thereof; or ſhall I give my members as weapons of unrighteouſneſs, unto ſinne, Rom. 6. I have by Baptiſme, been conſecrated unto God; and ſhall I not come nigh him in duty? I am incorporated into the Church; ought I not then, to be converſant in the aſſembly of the firſt born? I have ſtricken Covenant with God; will not my neglect of duty, and courſe of impiety be charged on me, as the breach of the oath of God? All the promiſes of grace are to me ſealed; ſhall not I then cleanſe my ſelf from all filthineſs of fleſh and ſpirit, and perfect holineſs? In a word, Baptiſme is the ſeal of the Covenant p. 209ſet in my fleſh, and the cauſing me to ſee the evil of my wayes and doings, and to be aſhamed and forſake them; the taking away the ſtony heart, and giving an heart of fleſh; the putting Gods ſpirit within me, that I may walk in his wayes, are the promiſes of the Covenant; why then doe not graceleſs I claim them, and by prayer plead my Baptiſme for the obtainment of them? For he is faithfull that hath promiſed, but will not perform, until they be asked in faith. And as our Baptiſme is thus a moral argument of holineſs to our ſelves, it is the more helpfull hereunto, becauſe it anſwers all temptations unto ſin. When we are ſaluted with the pollutions that are in the world through luſt, we may anſwer, we are waſhed in pure water, p. 210and may not be again defiled: The cogencie of cuſtome muſt give place to the Covenant we have made in Baptiſme: The violent temptations of Satan recoile upon the returns of B…ptiſme: I am bapt…z…d, ſilenceth all ſuggeſtions to ſinne: I am baptized into the Name of Fath…r, Sonne, and holy Gh…ſt, is the only Spel (to ſpeak with reverence) that charms the Devil. For it imports thus much: Shall the children of God co…verſe with his enemies? the confederates of God break his commands? the ſeparated out of the world, be ſubject to the Prince of the world? O… doth malicious Satan think the ſealed of the Lord, ſhall be ſo much ſleighted by their Lord, as to be taken captive at his will? Oh! play the man in a rational m…nagement p. 211of your Baptiſme, it will much advance your Chriſtianity all your dayes.

As Baptiſme is an help to holineſſe, ſo alſo to hope; to be improved by due acts of Faith, as it is an Ordinance of God, for our encouragement in acceſſe to him: many ſoules ſtand at a diſtance from divine Ordinances, or draw nigh with much trembling, which would be diſpelled by due apprehenſions of Baptiſme: Let ſuch therefore conſider, that under the want of ſpeciall, they ought to rejoyce in generall expreſſions of Gods love, and arguments of hope; and immediate aſſurances of divine favour are not to bee expected, whileſt we have mediate Ordinances on which to act our Faith. Our Hope muſt come into the Soule in the ſame p. 212way, with holyneſſe, by a morall improvement of Gods Grace, in his Ordinances to us extended; let therefore the deſponding Chriſtian, that trembles to converſe with Gods people, to come nigh Gods table, or claim any of Gods promiſes, ſit down and ſeriouſly diſcourſe his Baptiſme. I am Baptized; Was this an emptie Ordinance? Shall my unbeleeving heart imagine any divine Inſtitution to be emptie and in vain impoſed? No, All the wayes of God are Truth, hee never ſubjected Soules to any falacie, nor can doe: Why then art thou ſo ſad Oh my Soule? Trust ſtill in God, in him will I hope, for he hath eſtabliſhed a Covenant of peace extended to my Parents, and through them to mee, and ſet the Seale thereof Baptiſme p. 213in my fleſh; and is not Baptiſm a pledg of his affection to mee, a badge of my relation to him? Why then doe I ſay he knowes mee not, or I belong not to him? Doe all the Sons of Adam weare this liverie? Is there a ſpecialty in the application of water; and hath it extended to mee? ſhall I ſay I have received no favour peculiar to the Lords people, and diſtinct from the maſs of mankinde? Nay, I am by Baptiſm a matriculated Diſciple in Chriſt his Schole, an incorporated Member of the houſhold of Faith? Why then doe I feare to feede on childrens Bread? and to uſe thoſe priviledges that doe belong to the Citizens of the new-Jeruſalem? Why am I as an alien and ſtranger from the Commonwealth p. 214of Iſrael? I have by Baptiſme put on Jeſus Chriſt, and ſhall I feare to come before the Father? is not hee his beloved Sonne in whom hee is well pleaſed? Is not Baptiſme a Seale of Gods Covenant? Why then doe I not claime the promiſes? What though I ſee not Gods privie Seale, the Spirit of adoption, is the broad ſeal of the Covenant of no force and value; doth it in vain bear on it divine authority? why then i… it called th… A…k of Salvation? why hath God ſaid, he that beleeveth and is baptized, ſhall be ſaved? Shall I loſe my Salvation, for not joyning faith to my baptiſme? What though I finde many rude Chriſtians and p…ophane perſons in the Church, claiming priviledges p. 215by their Baptiſme; can I deny in ſome things their claim to be good, though they be wicked? And wherein it is not good to them, breaking the Covenant, may it not be good to me, poor me, that deſire to keep the Covenant of my God? In a word, hath not God ſanctified me to himſelf, by the waſhing of water; and doth he call men to draw nigh to him in aſſurance of faith, having the body waſhed with pure water, and ſhall I be diſmayed in acceſs to him? Oh! the wickedneſs of my doubting, that doth ſpring from ignorance of Gods holy O…inances, the ſin of my deſpondencie, that de…ers me from duty and expoſeth my baptiſme to contempt: I will ſure caſt off this eſtate, and hence forward continue p. 216with the Church in the Word, breaking of bread, and Prayer, and uſe of all other priviledges of grace, and compoſedly prize the benefit of Ordinances, that by rational acts of faith in them, I may at length arrive at the fulneſs of aſſurance. Thus then Chriſtians argue to your ſelves, the duty and dignity of your Baptiſme, enjoy with comfort the priviledges thereby conferred: Know and approve your ſelves as baptized: and thereby

Singled out of the world by Baptiſme, and ſet in a capacity of Salvation, as was Noahs family in the Arke, 1 Pet. 3.21.

Sanctified unto God, Baptiſme being the ſolemne form of conſecration, Epheſ. 5.26.

Sons and Subjects of the Covenant, inveſted with Chriſt, incorporated p. 217into his Church, the ſeal of which is in your fleſh by Baptiſme.

Suited for divine ſociety, by the expiation of guilt, extirpation of ſins power, and exact confederation with God; all which the Scriptures note, to be the effects of Baptiſme, or the waſhing of the body with pure water.

In the apprehenſion and argumentation of theſe priviledges, let me guide your judgements by propounding to your conſideration, theſe ſeveral rules.

1. Rule. Salvation and ſanctification, and the like priviledges, are naturally argued from Baptiſme, as it is an Ordinance of God ordained to that end. Therefore the effects are to it attributed: It in all things neceſſary p. 218bears an analogie with Circumciſion, and propounds moral conſiderations to that end, to the reaſonable ſoul of man, to be argued by contemplative acts of faith.

2. Rule. All that will be ſanctified, ſaved, and enjoy the before noted priviledges, muſt be baptized. All that will in an ordinary way poſſeſs them (for extraordinary providences are beyond the reach of our debate) muſt be baptized: not only on the neceſſity of a command from God, but the nature of the Ordinance, being the means appointed rightly conſtituted, and readily concluſive to ſuch an end: So that none unbaptized, can on any ground expect to enjoy, nor may warrantably be admitted to the priviledges of a ſanctified and ſaved people of the Lord.

p. 2193. Rule. Some baptized, enjoy theſe priviledges of ſalvation, ſanctification, and the like, viſibly and ſymbolically; others, really ſincerely, and ſavingly. Some are ſeemingly ſaved and ſanctified in the ſight of men and eſteem of the Church: Theſe enjoy the outward Ordinance only, and that is the guide and ground of humane cenſure, and the judgement of the Church: Hence the term Saint, Beleever, Diſciple, Brother, is in Scripture given, and muſt be by the Church yeilded to hypocrites; yea, to viſible prophane perſons, but baptized: but others are ſincerely and ſavingly poſſeſſed of theſe priviledges, not only in the judgement of the Church, but by the teſtimonie of their own conſcience and ſpirit of adoption. Theſe enjoy not only the outward p. 220ſigne, but alſo the inward grace of Baptiſme; have not only the body waſhed with pure water, but alſo the heart ſpri…kled from an evil conſcience. The outward Ordinance and inward grace are ſometimes divided, according to the viſible and inviſible miniſtration of the Covenant. Baptiſme is to all, the ſame in its nature, but not in its effects: it is in it ſelf efficacious to all, but in ſome, not meeting with due capacity, acts of faith, to improve it, it becomes not effectual. Many baptized, and by the Church called heirs of Glorie, loſe their hopes, holineſs, and heaven it ſelf; not becauſe Baptiſme did not ſeal it, and confer a ground or right, but becauſe the ſoul acted not faith in the right unto the claim of what was conferred: None ſo p. 221deſervedly loſe their inheritance as thoſe who improve not their ſealed evidence to a due claim. Take heed leſt there be among you a prophane Eſau, heir of his fathers bleſſing, who for a meſs of pottage ſold his birth right. Men in the Church contented with Creature-comforts, claim not the priviledges of the Covenant conferred by their Baptiſme, and ſo loſe their birth-right.

4. Rule. The outward priviledges of Baptiſme enjoyed viſibly and in the judgement of the Church, may be forfeited, and by the cenſures of the Church taken away. A brother may be made as a Publicane and Heathen; a member of Chriſts body may be cut off; and a ſervant of God may be delivered unto Satan; the Citizens of Jeruſalem may be disfranchiſed: private perſons p. 222may not at pleaſure diſown baptized ſouls; but the publique cenſure of the Church, if unworthy their received Baptiſme, may diſcharge them Church communion, and diveſt them of ſalvation, ſanctification, intereſt in the Covenant, which clave non errant. the Church: not Erring is ratified in Heaven as well as in the Church viſible upon earth.

5. Rule. Salvation, ſanctification, and the priviledges of the Covenant, may by Baptiſme be conferred on them who are not ſenſible of the Ordinance, or in a preſent capacity of uſing them. Right may be formally conferred, where it is not preſently acted. The King may be crowned in the cradle, the crown be ſet on his head, as a token of right, before his hand can hold the Scepter. Preſent incapacity p. 223of uſe is no barre to the laying the foundation of a future claim. Many men at years, muſt rev…ew the Decrees concerning their eſtates, which were ſealed in Infancie. Infants may have their Baptiſme as ſoon as born, whereby they muſt claim the Covenant, when they come to years of capacity.

6. Rule. The baptized, not arguing joy and duty from their Baptiſme, doe ſinne againſt the nature of the Ordinance: and either diſown its inſtitution to that end, or deny its efficacie thereunto, and diſeſteem its ſpecialty, as related to the Covenant and people of God. Therefore deliver we our ſelves from ſin, and let us carefully improve our Baptiſme, as the qualification that fits us for a confidence in approach to God.

p. 224The fourth exhortation, is to Parents, Chriſtian Parents. With ardent care and affection, preſent your Infants unto Baptiſme, and inſtruct them in their baptiſmal priviledge. Your children may, nay must, by your care, come nigh to God. Let them then be conſecrated; they are, as your natural iſſue, an holy ſeed begotten to the Lord: Holy in the eſteem of the Church, and extent of the Covenant; partakers of the fatneſs of the Olives; Heirs of the promiſe of Remiſſion and Salvation; Children of the Covenant; bearing Chriſt his Name, as his Diſciples to be received, not offended, as we have before proved. And ſhall not they come nigh to God, enter into his Sanctuary, be joyned to the aſſemblies of his people? Hath not Chriſt ſaid to the rebukers p. 225of ſuch approach, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for ſuch are of the kingdome of heaven, and capable of my bleſſing? and ſhall not then Infants be admitted members of Chriſt his body, and have the ſeal of the Covenant ſet in their fleſh, and holineſs ſtamped on them? Shall they not be conſecrated to the Lord: hath not the Lord appointed the ſame ſanctifying Ordinance to root and branches; and will you not with care and affection purſue it? Shall God give your children Covenant intereſt, and ſhall not your paternal care provide for the confirmation of it, by the ſeal of which they are capable? Would you not affectionately contend for their intereſt in a worldly eſtate; neglect it not in p. 226an heavenly: but when God gives you children, be carefull with all convenient ſpeed, to give them back again to God: When you have brought forth heirs of the Covenant, with due reverence bring them to Gods Church, to be inrolled, and have their intereſt ſealed by Baptiſme. Provoke not God to meet with you, as with Moſes, for your neglect of ſanctifying your ſeed by his holy Ordinances. Let not your children have cauſe to curſe and complain of your neglect of their baptiſme. Let not your affection to your Infants baptiſme be cooled, or care for it be checked by the fooliſh exceptions of their adverſaries, whileſt you ſee their intereſt is cleer. What if it be objected, that all the arguments for their Baptiſme is by way of inference p. 227and conſequence: Is not Scripture conſequence Gods word, binding conſcience, produced by our Saviour as a ground of faith, to prove the Reſurrection and his own ſufferings? Is it a ſufficient warrant of womens receiving the Lords Supper, and will it not prove Infants right to Baptiſme? and direct the ſubjects to whom a ſacred Ordinance muſt be applied? I have before evidenced Infants right to Baptiſme, and given ſufficient anſwer to the objections urged againſt it: I would now engage you Parents to make conſcience of your duty to baptize your children. Contract not on your ſelves the guilt of the ſacriledge before noted; and the more to encourage you hereunto, let me ſhew you ſome of thoſe many advantages that attend p. 228the infant ſeaſon of Baptiſm, wherein it is to be preferred before baptiſme at grown years. Reverend Mr. Forde, in his practicall uſe of Infant-Baptiſme, hath very affectionately enforced this argument, and ſhewed many benefits. I refer you ſeriouſly to read them: And for your preſent help, let me wiſh you to conſider, that Infant Baptiſme confers on us theſe ſeveral priviledges, which adult Baptiſme leaves us without.

1. Infant Baptiſme expreſſeth ſin nature.

2. Explaineth the benefit of Relation, and the method of the Covenant, and eminently dignifyeth the children of ſuch parents.

3. Enlargeth and eſtabliſheth the Church.

4. Exciteth Repentance.

p. 2295. Enforceth Faith.

6. Engageth duty.

7. Encourageth under death.

None of theſe doe ſo naturally flow from the baptiſme of men of grown yeeres, as wee ſhall plainly ſee by a particular conſideration of them.

The firſt benefit by Infant-Baptiſme is, That it expreſſeth the ſin of nature, and engageth againſt it: Baptiſme doth it ſelf declare ſinne to bee defiling, but the ſpreading propertie thereof is evidenced by Infant-Baptiſme. They are waſhed, muſt needs witneſs they are uncleane; but their early Baptiſme, muſt needs note their uncleanneſſe is in their nature, not in their perſons; for poor Babes, they have acted neyther good nor evill: That Babes muſt beare the paine of Circumciſion beſpeaks a foreskin upon their p. 230heart, that makes them prophane to God. The Baptiſme of men at yeeres, doth indeed minde them that they are filthy, but that is a filthineſs of their perſon, evidencing that they having committed many actual corruptions, that appears to them: but that they are tranſgreſſors from the womb, conceived in ſin, and brought forth in iniquiry, of a prophane lump, and polluted in their very being; it no way at all convinceth, no, that is the language of the baptized before actuall ſin. The baptiſme and burial of our babes, hath ever been in the Church of God, two unanſwerable arguments againſt the Pelagian fancie, that children have no imbred corruption, but ſin by imitation: If we give away the firſt, it is juſt God ſhould take away the ſecond, by giving us p. 231barren wombs. Infants Baptiſme was urged by Auſtin againſt Pelagius, to the puzling of him in his denyal of original ſinne: yet he never denyed them to be baptized, which had been a ready anſwer; nor was he ever able to withſtand the conſequence: For if baptized before polluted in perſon, they muſt needs be unclean in nature; before actual ſin paſs from them, original ſin muſt needs be upon them, before they are capable of any imitation, then they muſt needs be the ſubjects of imbred corruption: For Baptiſm cannot be denyed to be Gods Ordinance of Remiſſion and Regeneration; and further, this evidence of hereditarie ſin muſt needs engage hereditarie enmity, and ſo irreconcileable hatred, much more violent and implacable, p. 230duplicate page p. 231duplicate page p. 232than that which is perſonal, being inforced by the antiquity of the quarrel: it runs in a blood, and paſſeth from parents to children. I have obſerved a great aptitude in the enemies of Infants Baptiſme, to embrace the Arminian fancies, and deny all original ſinne: And it is no marvel, whileſt their principles are ſo neer of kin; one Error will eaſily ingender another. As ever you will make viſible the ſin of nature, baptize your babes before they be ſtained with actual guilt.

The ſecond Benefit of Infant Baptiſme is, That it explaineth the benefit of Relation and the method of tranſmitting the Covenant of Grace. Baptiſme, as a ſeal of the Covenant, ſheweth intereſt in the Covenant, and the benefit of perſonall qualification, p. 233that fits for it; but it is the Infant ſeaſon, that ſh…weth that God hath wiſely ordered Grace to run in natures channel, and parental relation, under ſuch a qualification as beleeving, to engender a propriety to Baptiſme. He that firſt receives the Patent of honour can diſcern no benefit of relation, ſave what is future; but if his Patent be only perſonal, he ſeeth none at all: but hereditarie honours are demonſtrations of relation and its advantage; hereby a man knows what his benefit is, in being the childe of a Baron or Earle, rather than of a common Knight or Gentleman. Baptiſme applied to men of years, doth indeed demonſtrate a Covenant of Grace granted on good behaviour, unto every individual perſon; but wholly obliterateth the ſeeds intereſt p. 234and extent of the Covenant unto natural Iſſue, in order to their good behaviour. It declareth expreſly, that as to the ſpecialtie of Gods Grace, relation to beleeving Parents, is no priviledge: As good be the childe of Ammon, as of Abraham; of a Pagan, as a Chriſtian: which is cleerly contrarie to the tenure of the Covenant, I will be thy God, and the God of thy ſeed: The promiſe is to you and your children: and the ground of applying the initiating ſeal, is relation to ſuch Parents. Therefore every man-child at eight dayes old, ſhall be circumciſed, that thereby it may appear, the order of my Covenant is, to Parents beleeving and their ſeed, and the benefit of relation to ſuch Children, ſhall be, that I will be their God. Relation to the Olive, p. 235is the reaſon of the branches fatneſs: The Jews relation to their pious progenitors, is the only remaining hope of their converſion, They are beloved of God, according to election, for the fathers ſake, Rom. 11.28. If we will maintain the knowledge of relative advantages in the Covenant of Grace, carefully baptize we our Babes in their infancie, as the plaineſt comment thereon: ſo when they ſhall conſider themſelves to have been ſealed and ſanctified to God, before they had in themſelves the leaſt of perſonal qualification, they will bleſs God for the Covenant of their fathers, and the extent of it to the ſeed of beleevers, and giving them to be born of ſuch favorites to heaven. The great aſſertors of the Baptiſme of grown perſons, to defend their p. 236notion, doe in the miniſtration of Grace, darken all relation, and disfranchiſe all Poſterity, interpreting the cleer text of Scripture, The promiſe is to you and your children, by a perſonal qualification, when God ſhall call them; as if the Holy Ghoſt had ſpoken nonſence, and uſed a term of relation in vain, and to no purpoſe: But certainly when God eſtabliſhed a Covenant of Grace, he did not invert natures courſe, but provided relation to derive the priviledges thereof in his Church, as well as other advantages in the world; nor did he in the leaſt, intend Religion to be an abridgement of parental right, and power of dedication of their ſeed to the ſervice of their God, as well as deſignation to any worldly trade: and therefore he appointed a ſeal of p. 237his Covenant and ſacred Bond to his own ſervice, whereby ſubjects meerly paſſive (as was before noted) might be at the pleaſure of Parents to him preſented. And hereof Infant-Baptiſme, is the only viſible evidence in the whole world: Root and branches, Parents and Children, are alwaies homogeneal: Nature makes all relations to be of the ſame kinde; and Grace, not inverting Natures order, will have the children, by the dignity of a ſacred Ordinance, to be declared of the holy kinde, with their Parents; and by this religious badge of Baptiſme, be diſtinguiſhed from other Children of Turks, Jews, and Pagans, who like their Parents, remain prophane and eſtranged unto God. And thus Infant-Baptiſme, doth not only evidence relation and p. 238its benefit, the method and order of the Covenant to men within, but alſo to men without the Church, that it may be to them an encouragement, to lay hold on the Covenant of God, for that they doe not only provide for their own perſonal term, but ſee Grace alſo extended to their iſſue, on the very ground of relation natural unto them, under a Chriſtian qualification. And this is eſpecially profitable to the Jew, who having had the Covenant of God to themſelves and ſeed natural, as their ſeed, and that witneſſed by the initiating ſeal of Circumciſion, ſet in the fleſh of their children, muſt needs ſtumble at the new Covenant, if it exclude their iſſue, as hath been before noted: So that the Infant-Baptiſme, ſo cleerly witneſſing the p. 239order of the Covenant and benefit of relation to beleeving Parents, to the comfort of men within the Church, and encouragement of men without the Church, it muſt needs be more profitable than the Baptiſme at grown years, which curtails the Covenant, cuts off Poſterity, caſts out of the Church, all relation natural, and maketh all miniſtrations of Grace to be meerly perſonal.

The third benefit of Infant Baptiſme is, That it enlargeth the bounds, and eſtabliſheth the being of the Church of God; but the baptiſme of grown men doth much confine the borders, and hazard the being of the Church. Infant Baptiſme doth enlarge the Church by the ſpreading of it through whole Families, Countries and Nations; p. 240perſons are private and periſhing but poſterity is publique and flouriſhing; holy ſeede is the Churches nurſerie, whileſt grown trees are fading; Lambs are the increaſe of Chriſts Fold, when old-ſheep are few and dying, and ſucceſſion is the ſureſt title and ſtrongeſt ground of claime: when from generation to generation the Church of God is continued in a conſtant Race, from Father to Son, it is much eſtabliſhed againſt helliſh oppoſition. Nature hath made all living Creatures ſeminall that they might multiply and continue: the courſe of providence is the ſame to the Church that it is to the World: certainly the only wiſe God well knew the beſt way to enlarge and eſtabliſh his owne kingdome upon Earth; and hee, though p. 241hee founded his Church in an old ſtock, yet order'd the ſpreading of it by naturall branches, and preſervation of it by poſteritie: The method of God muſt needs bee the ſame in the maintenance of his Church under the new, as it was under the old Teſtament, and hee that takes up his Church from one Nation, on deſigne to extend it through all the nations of the World, would never plant it only in perſonall periſhing plants, but provide for their ſcattering an holy-ſeede for its increaſe and ſucceſſion. The promiſe of the Churches increaſe in Goſpell times, is noted to be by Children; the promiſe is expreſſe, I will lift up my Standard to the Gentiles, and they ſhall bring thy ſonnes in their armes, and thy daughters on their p. 242ſhoulders, Iſa. 49.22. Our own obſervation muſt needs witneſſe the bounds of the Church is much enlarged by Infant Baptiſme; more are ingaged to God by an early incorporation to his Church, then their owne perſonall choice, for where wee ſee one man take up Chriſtianity ſo much as to the profeſſion of it, on terms of choyce, wee ſee hundreds engaged therein by parental profeſſion, and baptiſmall obligation in their infancy; if an eſſay hereof were made in America, how ſmall would bee the number of them that ſhould own God and Chriſt, by being baptized in grown yeeres, and how numerous would they bee, by a timely dedication to God, and incorporation to the Church by Infant Baptiſme? And again, p. 243how many generations, each after other, hath ſucceeded in the Churches of God in our Nation; but how ſoon will they be extinct, this Orchard be overſpread with the weeds of Atheiſme and Heatheniſme, if Anabaptiſts Parents doe proceede to breake off their branches from the Olive, and the line of the Covenant from their Poſteritie?

The fourth benefit of Infant Baptiſme, It exciteth Repentance. Baptiſme in it ſelfe is hereunto an argument, but it is more enforced from the ſeaſon of infancy than grown age; humiliatiation for paſt guilt, and future caution againſt ſin are much enforced by the ſeaſon of our Baptiſme, and that by pointing out unto us the inclination of our nature, and the kindneſſe of our God, both which, meeting with p. 244an ingenuous ſpirit, are very moving and melting conſiderations; That wee are waſhed in water, doth witneſſe wee are uncleane; but in that we are waſhed in this Infant ſeaſon, before ſtained with the leaſt actual ſin and perſonal corruption, muſt needs witneſs, that in the day of our nativity our father was an Amorite, our mother an Hittite: we were polluted in our blood, our navel not cut; we were not waſhed, nor ſalted; no eye pitied us, but we were caſt out to the loathing of our perſons. If Baptiſme be an Ordinance of Remiſſion and Regeneration, it muſt needs remember its infant ſubjects, that in their nature there is guilt to be bewailed and pardoned, a foreskin to be violently cut off; a pravity unto evil, to be ſlain; an old man, to be crucified with p. 245Chriſt; a corrupt nature, to be watched againſt with all care and caution, and that not acquired by any perſonal act or cuſtome of our own, as Baptiſme at age imports; but (the more cutting it is to conſider) it is imbred in nature, hereditarie to our being & therefore will more eaſily act in us, more cloſely adhere to us, and doth call for more care to keep it under: true repentance alwayes reflects on the root of ſin, in iniquity was I conceived, and in ſin did my mother bring me forth, is the firſt complaint of penſive David, and hereunto Infant-Baptiſme doth plainly point us.

This ſeaſon of our Baptiſme, doth not only acquaint us with our own vile nature, but alſo affect us with Gods kindneſs, that will melt the ingenuous ſoul into p. 246mourning and much care, not to offend; for the ſeaſon of our Baptiſme doth ſhew us Gods love to us, as he was the God of our fathers and the God of our youth, and both of them are exceeding aggravations of guilt. God often doth charge the ſin of Iſrael under the notion of forſaking the God of their fathers, and the pious in Scripture, did much enforce their humiliation, by the kindneſſes God did ſhew their fathers: And if we conſider our ſelves ſealed in infancie by Baptiſme, we muſt needs ſee God was the God of our fathers, and ſtruck Covenant with them, and was unto them gracious, otherwiſe we could not have been owned, as begotten to the Lord, and to be baptized; and therefore the ſins we commit, is againſt our fathers, p. 247friend, and God; nay they are againſt the God of our youth, that owned us in the day of our nativity, and in the loathing of our perſons, and ſaid unto us, Live; that took us as his own, ſware unto us, and entred into Covenant with us in our very cradle, when we could not chooſe for our ſelves, and ſet the ſeale of his Covenant in our fleſh, and placed us on the knees of his Church, brought us up at his own coſts, and nouriſhed us by his Ordinances, and hath been our God all our dayes. Oh! what aggravations of ſinne doth this kindneſs of God afford? How may the Miniſters of God ſpeak bitter things againſt them that daily break the Covenant of their youth, and deal unfaithfully with the God of their fathers? Me thinks I ſhould heare ſome p. 248penſive ſoul ſitting on its ſtool of repentance, thus ſoaking its hard heart in its Infant-baptiſme, by ſuch ſerious contemplations as theſe. I am baptized: then ſurely unclean guilt is on my ſoul; the body of corruption poſſeſſeth me; if I be not pardoned, I periſh: If this old man be not buried with Chriſt in Baptiſme, I am undone. Muſt not the water of my baptiſme, ſet the pump of my dry heart on running tears of contrition for this defiled eſtate of my perſon: of my perſon; that is not all; I was baptized in infancie, before I was in the leaſt capable of ſtaining my perſon. Oh wretched man! my very nature is defiled: how can I dream of drawing nigh to God, that am the pudled ſtream of a polluted fountain? p. 249Sinne is my natural temper, and guilt the very image of my father: In iniquity I was conceived, and in ſinne brought forth, how ſhall I be purged from this natural blemiſh, or withſtand this imbred corruption? How am I neceſſitated to live in ſinne, for that it is naturalized to my very being? How eaſily muſt I needs be drawn to ſinfull action, whoſe very nature is ſinfull corruption? If ever I obtain pardon for, or power over my ſinne, it muſt needs be an act of eſpecial Grace, the benefit of a peculiar Covenant: Sure I am, I can never ſufficienly lament this ſad eſtate of my nature. Many are the ſinfull actions which daily flow from this bitter root, and they ſink my ſoul into the depth of ſorrows, p. 250when I ſeriouſly conſider my ſelf baptized: For hereby I ſee God, the God of my fathers, and the God of my youth, to have been the object of my offences, againſt thee, thee only have I offended; thee, the God of my father, to whom thou ſhewedſt favour, and called him out of darkneſs into thy marvellous light, with whom thou didſt eſtabliſh thy Covenant of Grace, and didſt extend it to his ſeed; and madeſt me, miſerable me, partakers of it, and ſo becameſt my God from my very being; thou ſaweſt me in the day of my nativity; when I lay in my blood in the loathing of my perſon, thy eye pitied me, thou ſaid'ſt unto me, Live; thou ſpakeſt kindly unto me, ſwareſt to me, and entred'ſt into Covenant p. 251with me, and madeſt me thine own; layedſt me in the lap of thy Church, nouriſhedſt me by thine Ordinances: Thou by timely engaging me to thy ſelf, did'ſt prevent my wicked choice and Satan his malicious purpoſe of poſſeſſing me as a vaſſal of his kingdome; all my dayes thou haſt done me good, yet wretched I, have ſinned againſt ſuch a God; ungratefull I, have been ready to forſake thee my God, and my fathers God, and have dealt falſly in thy Covenant. It might be juſt with thee, to deal with me as I have dealt with thee, when I deſpiſed the oath in breaking the Covenant; but in thy mercy, Lord, I pray thee, Remember thy Covenant thou madeſt to me in the dayes of my youth, and eſtabliſh it for an everlaſting p. 252Covenant, that I may know the Lord, that I may remember and be aſhamed, and never open my mouth any more, becauſe of my ſhame, when thou art pacified towards me, for all that I have done againſt the God of my father, and the God of my youth: Now will I live in loyalty to ſo good a God, if thou wilt give me to be ſanctified by the blood of ſprinkling, and my old man to be crucified by Baptiſme, which by thy Grace ſhall be the awe of my ſoul and anſwer of my heart unto every temptation to ſin againſt thee.

This benefit cannot be effected by adult Baptiſme, which affords no ſuch matter of meditation, apprehending the diſpenſations of God to be only perſonal, and therefore to be p. 253perſonally improved.

The fifth Benefit of Infant-Baptiſme is, that it enforceth faith towards God. Baptiſme, as a ſeal of the promiſe, pledge of love, and ſanctifying Ordinance of God, is a ground of faith pleadable in prayer by all its ſubjects, but receiveth not a little force from the ſeaſon of its application in infancie; whileſt it ſelf witneſſeth the Covenant it ſeals, the ſeaſon of its uſe witneſſeth the extent of the Covenant to beleevers and their ſeed, and creates a ground, on which to claim protection, as well by early ſeizure, as covenant proprietie, not to note how all the Graces of God, in order to ſalvation and good things of this life, even all things pertaining to life and godlineſs, are aſſured to the ſoul by Baptiſme, as the ſeal of p. 254the Covenant. The Parent can with faith thus plead from the ſeaſon. Lord, my childe is thine in Covenant, to thee begotten, to thee dedicated, by thy ſeal on his fleſh: Oh! wilt thou own him: Remember him; take care of him; eſtabliſh thy Covenant with him; let all the graces of thy promiſe be performed to him; let not Satan ſeduce him from thy ſervice, to which he is ſo ſoon ſealed. How much doe I owe to thee, that makeſt Grace to run through Natures channel, my loins? Lord, let him in time know, and have faith to claim his intereſt: keep him from the property of prophane Eſau, that he deſpiſe not his birth-right in thy Covenant, which thou haſt ſealed to him in the ſight of thy people, by his baptiſme. p. 255And as the Parent ſo the perſon baptized, acting faith in the Ordinance, doth thus enforce it from his Infant ſeaſon of enjoyment of it. God is a gracious God, in calling my parents; he had reſpect unto my good, before I had a being; he graciouſly eſtabliſhed w^th them a Covenant, which he extended to their ſeed; I no ſooner ſprang from the womb, but he owned me as his own, and called me by his name, and ſet the ſeal of his Covenant in my fleſh: as ſtudious to foreſtall the choice of my corrupt will (which would never have choſen him) he challenged me, and cauſed me to be dedicated to his ſervice, as ſenſible of Satans malice; he made an early ſeizure of me, and ſet his mark upon me, and before there was p. 256in me the leaſt of act or qualification; he ſanctified me to himſelf by the waſhing of water. What ever doubts may deter me, I will now draw nigh unto him, and depend upon him; for he that was ſo ſoon gracious in extending and ſealing to me the Covenant, will faithfully perform it: My condemnation will be moſt juſt, if I, having ſuch grounds of faith, ſhould be cut off by reaſon of unbelief: now I will walk before, and wait upon him; for he will not now forſake me, or ſuffer Satan to repoſſeſs me, and take me out of his houſe and family.

The ſixth Benefit of Infant-Baptiſme is, That it engageth more to duty, than adult Baptiſme. Herein it is of uſe to the Parent and baptized child. How p. 257much of argument doth Infant-Baptiſme preſs upon the Parent, to the due inſtruction and education of his baptized child. Not to ſpeak any thing of the benefit of catechiſing it ſelf, the Parent hath reaſon to refl…ct the Baptiſme of his child in its infant eſtate, to convince him, That if God hath been ſo gracious to extend a Covenant of Salvation to his ſeed; he muſt have ſo much grace as to make them know Gods goodneſs, and underſtand the extent of the Covenant: If God hath cauſed their loins to convey grace as well as ſinne, their care muſt be that the grace of God be not received in vain. The childs ignorance of intereſt in conceded honours and priviledges, is the baſeneſs of education, and blot of natural affection: If by p. 258their Parental power they have dedicated them to Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt, it is their part to make them know to what they are devoted. And as it bindes the Parents to the duty of education, ſo the child to carefull obſervation: Early adoption is the greateſt argument of filial obſervation that can be: the child taken off the Stall, is more bound to the will of Parents, than the man at years adopted to inherit; the one is the object of more pitie, ſubject of more care, coſt and charge, but of leſſe ſervice and obedience; therefore bound more to duty than the other. Infant-Baptiſm giveth cauſe to ſing with Iſrael, He is our God and our fathers God, we will exalt him, Exod. 15.2. and with David I am thy ſervant, the ſon of thy handmaid; I will offer ſacrifice, p. 259and call upon thy name, Pſal. 116.16.17. We muſt not think as heirs of dignity to wear Gods livery in our cradles, but muſt know, it makes us alſo heirs of duty, to yeeld loyalty to him all our dayes. Parental dedication to God, layeth on us the duty of obſervation: Shall Parents proclaim dayes of purim to be obſerved in all generations, and poſterity dare to pretermit them? Whether we conſider Gods pitie or our Parents power ſparkling in our Infant-Baptiſm, both impoſe on us duty; & the nature of our Baptiſm (the effect of both) binds us to fight at Gods command under Chriſt his Banner againſt every iniquity and vice, to the diſcharge of every duty of Religion; but neither faith nor obedience can be ſo enforced by the Baptiſme of grown perſons, p. 260which deny relations natural to be of any uſe in things of Salvation, and doth greatly darken the method and order of the Covenant of Grace and Salvation.

The ſeventh and laſt Benefit of Infant-Baptiſme is, That it encourageth under death; and that either the Child or Parents. We read in primitive times of Infant Martyrs, certainly they were thereunto prepared by a knowledge of their intereſt in the Covenant. In vain ſhould the miſerable mother encourage the ſcourged thirſty child, to remember the cup of which Iſaac drank, and patiently to bear its preſent torments, for that it ſhould be ſhortly crowned with eternal glory, if the child at eight years of age had not underſtood the Covenant of God, and been catechiſed in its baptiſme. Our Anabaptiſts p. 261will never afford us babie Martyrs, that will not allow us babie Chriſtians. And as for Parents, if their childrens intereſt in the Covenant and right to Baptiſme, doe not ſupport them under the death of their babes, I (a parent of dead children) doe demand, what can? That they are by nature children of wrath, muſt not be denyed; that they fall into a limbus Infantum, muſt be denyed by all that abhor Poperie: that they are ſaved there remains no hope, whileſt we ſee them out of the Ark of ſalvation. What unuſual way the Anabaptiſts run upon for their own comfort, they have not yet declared, nor will Scripture warrant any. Were it not for Infants intereſt in the Covenant, ſealed in their Baptiſm, I ſhould mourn over my dead children, as without hope.

You ſee now, that there is not only warrant in Scripture for the Baptiſme of your Infants, but there is much of profit by it. Whileſt others are beating the p. 262controverſie, doe you ſtudy the practice of Infant-Baptiſme. Let not ſeducers beguile your ſimple ſouls, by pretending Infant-Baptiſme is unlawfull, becauſe unuſefull: But ſeeing there is ſo much profit in the Ordinance, and ſo much in the ſeaſon of its application, prize it, purſue it, and preſerve it to the Church: Let your children be baptized in their Infancie, and catechiſed according to their growing capacitie, that through ignorance they may not throw away their birth-right, but may duly know the duty and dignity thereof, and d…mean themſelves as baptized ſouls.

The fifth and laſt exhortation is to Church-gathering ſaints, To admit the baptized into the approaches to God, in the aſſemblies of his people. Make no bar of diviſion to ſuch as we are the badge of union. If Baptiſme doe incorporate into the Church, and conſecrate unto God, why doe you deny the relation of the baptized, or their fitneſs p. 263for divine ſervice? either deny Baptiſme to be the dore of admiſſion into the Church of Chriſt, or throw down your Church Covenant agreement or experiences of graces, as to entrance into a Church ſtate. Deny Baptiſme to be the Church conſtituting Bond, or talk not of gathering Churches from among baptized ſouls: Affect not to your ſelves the terms and titles of ſaints, brethren, beleevers, Church, and the like, whil…ſt thoſe you deſpiſe have as good, na… (by reaſon of your ſinfull ſchiſme) a better title thereunto than your ſelves. If Baptiſme be the ground of confidence in acceſs to God, who are you that make it void? Is not the ſtraitning of the Church dore as dangerous as ſetting it wide open? Will it not be equally provoking to God to let doggs into his houſe, and to keep children out; to pollute his holy things by the unbaptized, and bar the baptized from his worſhip? If men baptized walk diſorderly, endeavor by diſcipline to reduce them: p. 264deny not their intereſt: drive them not from God: make it not your deſigne to paganize the Chriſtians among whom you dwel, that ſome few of them may be brought into your Church-way. Weigh well the nature of Baptiſm, if it do not charge your way with wickedneſs, I know not how to judge. If Baptiſm rightly apprehended, be not the engine to batter Independencie, I dare renounce my skil in militaries. Let not God ſay, draw neer in full aſſurance, having your bodies waſhed with pure water; and you ſay to your baptized Brethren, ſtand thou further from me, I am holier than thou.

Thus then I have noted to you the nature of Baptiſme, the outward Ordinance, and the duties that flow from its conſecrating nature; which rightly underſtood, will convince much error, and correct many ſinfull practiſes: Which that it may doe, God, Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt, in whoſe holy Name we are baptized, follow it with his bleſſing. Amen.

FINIS.

End of the text · Zachary Crofton, The Virtue and Value of Baptism (1658)