when we meet with objects to excite them, and very hard to refrain from sinful actions when once sinful desires have been awakened. Keep your hearts therefore with all diligence; for out of them are the issues of life. Let every avenue be closed, that when Satan assaults them he may find no entrance there; for if we sin, the force of the temptation will be no excuse; we have only ourselves to blame. Though Satan suggest impure and sinful thoughts, yet the yielding to temptation is our own free act, and the sin lies at our own door.

Collect, 4th Sunday after Epiphany-O God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature, we cannot always stand upright; grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

ON THE DOXOLOGY.

WHAT is the Doxology with which the Lord's Prayer concludes ?

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.

This Doxology is not mentioned in Luke xi. 4. In the services of the Church it is used when the subject is thanksgiving; at other times it is omitted.

What do we here ascribe to God?

Sovereignty, omnipotence, excellency, and eternity. Similar doxologies occur in other parts of Scripture. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty. 1 Chron. xxix. 11. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Ps. lxxii. 18, 19.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory, for ever and ever. 1 Tim. i. 17. Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. Rev. v. 13, 14.

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.

Rev. vii. 12.

He can answer all our prayers, supply all our need, pardon all our sins, deliver us from all evil, and preserve us from all enemies. The kingdom is his, and all is at his disposal; the power is his, and he is both able and willing

to do for us more than we can ask or think. We trust he will hear our prayers, and desire that his may be the glory: for if we are disposed to give him the glory of what he does for us, we may hope that our petitions will be granted.

In what sense do you say, Amen ?

To express my trust that God will, of his mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jesus Christ, hear and answer my prayers. Therefore, I say, Amen, so be it.

All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matt. xxi. 22.

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, in my name, he will give it you. John xvi. 23.

Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. Rom. xi. 36.

All the promises of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Cor. i. 20.

[Unto him that] is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, &c. Eph. iii. 20.

While you repeat this prayer, endeavour to have your hearts as well as your lips engaged. Do not imagine that you honour Christ by a mere repetition of the words used by his disciples, while you lead the life of rebels and enemies. The most excellent form of prayer will avail you nothing, unless your heart be affected by it.

CHAPTER X.

ON THE SACRAMENT'S.

How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church? "Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord." What meanest thou by this word Sacrament?

"I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof."

The word was originally used to express the oath by which the Roman soldiers bound themselves to be faithful to their general. It is, therefore, very appropriately used to show the fidelity and zeal which the followers of Jesus

profess and promise to him as the captain of their salvation. They engage to fight manfully under his banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Is the receiving of these Sacraments absolutely necessary to salvation?

No: they are only generally necessary to salvation; because when there is not a wilful neglect of them, God may, in particular cases, convey the benefit without the ordinance; but as they are ordained by Christ himself, they ought not to be neglected, because we thereby disobey his commands, and because they are a means whereby we receive his grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof. How many parts are there in a Sacrament?

"Two: the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace."

By the former of these we are to understand "the solemn application of some bodily thing or action to a meaning and purpose which in its own nature it has not." Thus, for instance, the blood of the Paschal Lamb upon the door-posts of the Israelites was an outward sign of the blessings promised to them on the appointment of the passover. "The inward spiritual grace," which the outward signs of the sacraments represent, and of which they are pledges, is "some favour freely bestowed" upon us, by which the soul receives spiritual benefit.

ON BAPTISM.

WHAT is the outward visible sign or form in baptism? "Water: wherein the person is baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Water is spoken of in Scripture as an emblem of that purity which is produced in the heart by the Holy Spirit. As water puts away from us "the filth of the flesh," so does the Spirit cleanse us within by giving "the answer of a good conscience towards God."

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. Ezek. xxxvi. 25—27.

Do the Scriptures prescribe any particular mode in which water must be used in this Sacrament?

No: the words baptize and baptism, in their original signification, although necessarily implying the use of water in some way, do not limit us to any one mode in which it is to be applied. They are sometimes used where water could be used only by pouring, which instances of course prove that this mode is in accordance with the commandment. "These words," says a learned writer who had paid much attention to their use in the original Scriptures, "although often capable of denoting any mode of washing, whether by affusion, sprinkling, or immersion, (since cleansing was familiarly accomplished by the Jews in all these ways,) yet in many instances cannot without obvious impropriety be made to signify immersion; and in others cannot signify it at all."

The Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, [baptize, in the Greek,] they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing [baptisms, in the Greek] of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and of tables. Mark vii. 3, 4.

Here the application of a small quantity of water to a part of the body, is called baptizing, and the washing of tables, (or perhaps couches,) is called baptism, which of course could only be by pouring water upon them. And if these words have in a single, undoubted instance this signification, it is a proof that such was the meaning commonly attached to them. The sacred writers used language as it was used and understood by those for whom they wrote.

Our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 1 Cor. x. 1, 2.

If any explanation be needed of the manner in which they were baptized "in the clond," it may be found in the 77th Psalm, which describes the passage of the Israelites through the Red sea.

The waters saw thee, O God; the waters saw thee; they were afraid the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured

out water. Ps. lxxvii. 16, 17.

This is a figurative representation, it is true, but the apostle would not depart from the proper use of words

when speaking figuratively, any more than when speaking literally.

In the account given of baptisms in the New Testament, there do not appear to be any instances in which it can be positively affirmed that immersion was practised, while there are some in which we may with much reason believe that it was not.

They that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts ii. 41.

These three thousand were added to the Church by baptism in one day, after the exercises of the morning were over. Supposing that there was a sufficiency of deep water in Jerusalem for their immersion, (which is altogether improbable,) would it have been possible during the remaining hours of the day to immerse so many?

Again we have the instance of the jailer at Philippi, who, with his family, was baptized after midnight, and within the precincts of a jail; circumstances in which baptism could only be supposed to have been by affusion. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway, Acts xvi. 33.

There is no account of Paul and Silas going away from the prison until after "it was day.”.

What is the inward spiritual grace of baptism?

"A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness: for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace."

What is required of persons to be baptized?

"Repentance, whereby they forsake sin; and faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the promises of God, made to them in that Sacrament.""

Why then are infants baptized, when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them?

"Because they promise them both by their sureties; which promise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to perform."*

*The questions on Baptism having been considered in the secona chapter, the author refers to it instead of introducing any thing upon the subject here. The American editor has added what is said of it in this section, and refers for further instruction to the preceding part of the book.