's now consider the concern of Children in this Transaction of their Parents on their behalf of which you may take an Account in the following Particulars 1. THEY are hereby bound to lead a life of Holy Devotedness to God the Father Son and Spirit To this they henceforth stand bound not only by that DivineLaw that requires it of them but also by their Parents Engagement and Stipulation which in matters of plain Duty to be sure is binding whatever it may be in things that are indifferent We find Samuel under the Law thought himself oblig'd by his Mothers Vow and therefore gives himself freely to serve the Lord in his Tabernacle according to the dedication she had made of him Yea Iepthath's Daughter complies with her Fathers Vow tho' as most think it was to be offer'd up in Sacrifice My Father saith she if thou hast open'd thy mouth to the Lord do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy Mouth How much more then must those Children who were in Infancy enter'd into the Christian Covenant by their Parents be oblig'd to stand to it when it engages them to nothing but what was of it self antecedently their Duty It 's a part of the Honour Nature hath made due to Parents from their Children that they own themselves bound by their engagements for them and interest in this case falls in with Duty the advantages of a compliance with their Parental Dedication being very great and the mischiefs of a Refusal evident and notorious Withal they are bound to conform to the Rules of that Family in which they were born and to the Master whereof their Parents brought them to pay so early an Homage And to continue in the service of that Lord whose Badge they so soon receiv'd till they can find a better and if they stay till then without all question they 'll never quit him The Obligation Infants by vertue of their Baptism come under to an Holy Devotedness is of a mixt Nature 'T is partly Natural and partly Positive 'T is Natural so far as it is an effect of the Parental power duly exercis'd 'T is Positive so far as there is any force in the Rites then us'd which are of Divine Institution and the case was in this respect the same as to Circumcision of old St. Paul observes That every man that is Circumcis'd is a debtor to do the whole Law Circumcision oblig'd all that receiv'd it to a subjection to the whole Mosaick Law and that altho' t' was administred to all of Jewish Extraction in their Infancy and on their Parents Account and at their desire they were bound by it without staying for their consent So also are all Baptiz'd Persons tho' Infants bound to asubjection to the whole Gospel And the denial hereof by any so Baptiz'd is a spitting in their Parents face nay a pouring contempt on God's Sacred Institutions 2. THEY are bound to own their Baptismal Obligation as soon as capable If they are bound to stand to it there 's certainly all the reason in the World they should own they do so They are bound to own it in Duty to their Parents who by giving them up to God more effectully consulted their Happiness and Welfare than they could have done any other way They are bound also to do it in Gratitude to God for so Inestimable a Priviledge as is so early an admission into his Family and coming under his Covenant It 's necessary they should do it in order to the securing the entail of Covenant Blessings to which their own personal taking upon them that Vow which they first came under in Baptism is necessary For they are no longer to be consider'd as part of their Parents than till they arrive at a Capacity of acting for themselves at which time God expects both that they should own their Baptismal Dedication to have been a signal Mercy declare their readiness to stand to the Vow they were then enter'd under and personally make it for themselves and in their own Names as ever they expect to reap the Blessed Benefits that depend thereon And tho' this Vow was really binding when it was meerly Parental yet is it more firmly binding when it thus becomes Personal And those must look upon the power of Parents over Children to be very small that question whether they may rightfully exert their Authority in bringing their Children under a Bond to do that when they come to Age which is their unquestionable Duty then to do whether there be such a Prior Engagement or not But however we may hence observe another notion of the Baptismal Vow that is proper enough viz. That it is that Vow which we by vertue of Infant Baptism are oblig'd to make explicitly when we come to Age in which case the Form drawn up in the foregoing Chapter is as suitable as 't is with reference to those who are not Baptiz'd till they are Adult 3. THOSE who stand not to their Infant Baptismal Obligation when they grow up are liable to be treated as obstinate contemners of the Divine Favour as Sacrilegious Alienators of what was peculiarly devoted and as perjur'd Violators of Gods Covenant Their case is not the same with that of the rest of the World who remain Undedicated and Unconsecrated to God But as their Advantages would be great if they were Faithful so will their Miseries be great if they are false to the Vow they came under in their Baptism That very Bond that should have kept them close to God will consign them over to the more aggravated Woes when put in suit against them For tho' Parents were the main Agents yet are they mainly concern'd and bound and on them therefore will the Penalty annex'd take place 4. THE Minister that Baptiz'd them their Parents that Devoted them and as many as were Spectators of their Infant Consecration are so many Witnesses for God against them if in their after Life they break Gods bands in sunder and cast away his cords from them They are Witnesses I say for God against them and as such will be ready to appear at the last day Ministers will then be ready to say Lord here are such and such that we Baptiz'd in thy Name and introduc'd into the visible Church in the method which thou Institutedst and thine Apostles practis'd But before we did so we thought we bound them fast unto thee we exacted of their Parents on their behalf a Renunciation of the Flesh the World and the Devil and a free consent to all thy claims and demands that they were engag'd to this we are Witnesses If they have broken therefore the Vow they then came under and persisted so doing we can testify they are perfidious Traytors and Faithless Rebels and deserve the Severest Treatment Pious Parents will also be ready to say Behold O Lord we gave these Children of ours to thee from whom we receiv'd them in thy Service we Listed them and under
to come unto his Table when I am invited and call'd And to joyn in that Sacred Solemnity that I may thereby testifie my Union with the Church my Charity for all and my Thankfulness to Christ And will never forget his Unspeakable Love to my poor Soul manifested in his Sacrifice of Everlasting Vertue and will hope according to the Integrity of my Heart that tho' my Failings be many yet he will encrease my Graces and Heavenly Comforts upon my waiting upon him therein AND in the keeping of this my Vow and acting agreeably thereunto I Resolve by the Assistance of that Grace which God hath promis'd to Persevere and hold on to the end of my days Living in the constant expectation of Death Judgment and Eternity and my Lords Return THIS is the Nature and Purport of that Vow or Engagement which Christianity obliges all its Adult Votaries freely to come under And this is the substance of all our Religion I Appeal to all that will take the pains to read and review it Whether this Vow thus drawn up contains any thing unreasonable Whether there is not the highest Reason running thro' it Whether any Branch of it is liable to any just Exceptions Whether those who refuse to come under it or being under it to obey it are not Enemies to themselves as well as to God Whether it contains any thing impossible to a willing Mind And whether it would not be happy for the World and reflect a great Lustre upon Religion if it were faithfully and punctually kept by all that are under it HERE I desire it may be Observ'd 1. THAT it was much more usual for Persons first to come under this Vow in Baptism in an Adult State in the Primitive Church than in after times For when Christianity first made its entrance it found the World in possession of sundry Religions in which those of that Age were bred up and in the practice whereof they persisted till they were better inform'd by Gospel Light which spreading and diffusing it self far and wide insinuating it self into Mens minds and carrying its own convictive evidence along with it which was back'd by the Miraculous Power then resident in the Church brought in Proselites in abundance from Iudaism and Gentilism in all its Forms to Christianity in a full age till which time therefore they were incapable of being Baptiz'd and coming under the Vow foregoing But when Christianity having justled out its Rival Religions came to be fixt and setled Parents generally thought it their Duty to get their Childrens Names inscrib'd in the Christian Roll from their Infancy and to enter them into a Sacred Bond to be the Lords in Baptism and actually did so So that afterwards none remain'd to be Baptiz'd when Adult but either those whose Parents neglected to devote them to the Lord by that Sacred Rite in their Infant state or those who were themselves Proselyted to Christianity after they came to Maturity which after the three or four first Ages of the Church were all along comparatively few 2. THAT the more publickly this Vow is made by those who are Baptiz'd when Adult 't is so much the better In the Primitive Church 't was generally in the face of a Christian Assembly that this Affair was transacted and tho' it cannot be justly pretended that its validity at all depends upon the publickness of it yet is it unquestionable that its ends will be thereby the better answer'd It makes it much more Solemn there will be the more Witnesses who may be afterwards Monitors if there be occasion and the greater Force will it probably have and the greater is the Awe that is likely to be thereby imprest 3. THAT this Vow is by no means to be confin'd to the Adult But even those who are Baptiz'd when Infants areas much concern'd in it For 1. their Infant Dedication to God in Covenant obliges them to stand to and keep this Vow as much as if'twere Personally made in their first Consecration And 2. Their Infant Baptism obliges them actually to make a Vow of this Nature when they come to Age and so are capable of Personal Covenanting for themselves Which matters will receive no small light from the following Chapter CHAP. V. Of the Baptismal Vow as to those Baptiz'd in Infancy An Account of the distinct concern of Parents and Children in it and a distinct Address to each concerning the Duty thence resulting THO' the case of Persons Baptiz'd when Adult be more clear yet is that of those Baptiz'd in Infancy much more common in the days we live in and so it hath been in the Church now for several Ages Tho' the Obligation of the former by the Baptismal Vow be more immediate and therefore more obvious and sensibly discernable yet is that of the latter as fully and sufficiently evident if rightly stated I design not to run out into Disputes and shall therefore take that for granted which so many Eminent Persons of all Professions have so Laboriously and Clearly Prov'd viz. That it is the Duty of all Christian Parents to enter their Children while Infants into the Visible Church and the Christian Covenant by Baptism and so from the first to bring them under the Vow fore going I lay that down here as a Postulatum and take it to be but a reasonable one And supposing it evident shall set my self to show what Apprehensious we are to form of the Engagement which such Baptiz'd Infants come under and of the manner of their coming under it And here I think it undeniable That as 't is in the Parents right that Infants are admitted to Baptism so 't is by their engagement that they are brought under the Vow which that Solemnity carrys in it That we may be clear in this matter therefore it is needful distinctly to consider 1. THE part and work of Parents in Devoting their Children to God and bringing them under the Baptismal Vow 2. THE concern of Children in what upon that occasion is done by their Parents for them and on their hehalf And 3. THE Parents Power to bring them and the Childrens Capacity of being brought under such an Obligation as the Baptismal Vow 1. AS for the part and work of Parents in Devoting their Children to God and bringing them under the Baptismal Vow that is compriz'd under the following Particulars 1. THEY disclaim all Right to their Children that is inconsistent with Gods Absolute Propriety and Resign them as a part of themselves entirely to his Management and Disposal From him they receiv'd them and to him they return them begging his acceptance of them for his own 2. THEY bring them to God for his Blessing and hold them up before him with earnest desires that these little parts of themselves may be not only under his Providential Care but under the entail of his Covenant Love As they embrace that Covenant which the Gospel offers for themselves so is it also their earnest request
that their Children may partake of the Inestimable Blessings of it in order whereto they bring them to receive the Instituted Seal of the Covenant that so that Promise of Pardon Favour Grace and Mercy which is to their Children as well as them may actually reach them 3. THEY consent for their Children to all Gods claims and demands and bind them if they live to all the Duties of the Covenant as ever they expect or desire they should share in the Blessings of it That their Children shall eventually live in Gods Fear and walk in his ways and carry it as his Devoted Servants is not in the power of the best of Parents to promise that can only be brought about by the aid of Divine Grace which is not at their dispose But having a natural power and right to judge for them and act for them till they become capable of judging and acting for themselves they consent on their behalf to the Justness and Equity of the Covenant's demands and engage for them to a compliance therewith and so bring them under a Vow of the same nature with that before recited with reference to the Adult its Personality only excepted 4. THESE Children being born in Christ's Family to which their Parents belong they bring them to his Authoriz'd Representative that they may be Enroll'd in the list of his Servants and receive his Badge and put on his Livery in order to their sharing in all the blessed Priviledges of his Domesticks It was ordain'd in the Levitical Law That if any one had Children during his Servitude they should be his Masters for they were Born in his Family So all the Children of Christians may be said to be born in Christs Family and to be a part of his peculiar Propriety which Propriety of his is own'd in their Infant Dedication For Parents in that Solemnity acknowlege our Blessed Redeemer to be the Rightful Lord and Master both of them and theirs to the Rules and Orders of whose Family they bind both themselves and their Children to keep close And he on the other side is Graciously pleas'd to testify his acceptance of theirs as well as them by certain Solemn Rites he hath appointed to be us'd by his Ministers 5. Christian Parents do as it were enter a Protest against the fruit of their own Bowels and Solemnly lay them under the Curse of God if they live to cast off his Yoke and lay aside his Fear and revolt from his Covenant I believe this is but rarely so much as the matter of an actual thought of a Parent upon such an occasion But it is the language of the Solemnity it self A Vow can't be made without a Penalty either suppos'd or exprest And all Sacramental Vows in their own nature carry Imprecations in them The Baptismal Vow made personally by any one hath this Imprecation imply'd in it if not expresly intimated The Lord do so to me â—…nd more also if I â—…erfidiously break it the Lord shut me for ever out of the number of the Blessed and verify all his Threatnings in my Exemplary Punishment if I wickedly revolt from him So also when Parents come to devote a little one of theirs to God in Baptism such is the nature of their Transaction on its behalf that they do as 't were say The Lord renounce thee my Child if ever thou livest to renounce this Vow I am entring thee under to be his the Curse of God be upon thee if thou breakest his Bonds and irreclaimably persistest in Rebellion against him 6. PARENTS Solemnly Vow and Promise to do all that in them lies as their Children grow up to make them sensible of their engagement and obligation to be the Lords to whom they were so early Consecrated and Devoted They oblige themselves if they and their Children live to Instruct them in the great Principles of Religion to help them to understand what their Baptism obliges them to and to engage them to live answerably to that Sacred Vow they then enter'd them under and to bring them understandingly seriously and personally to renew it themselves that so its binding and obliging force may be the stronger upon them and the entail of Covenant Blessings may be the more firmly secur'd to them THIS in short is Parents work in the Baptismal Consecration of their little Ones Whence it appears That they in that Solemnity not only bring their Children under a Sacred Vow but also come under one themselves YOU may take the Sum of their Vow in Form briefly thus BEHOLD O Lord we who have devoted our selves and all that we are and have to thee do according to thine injunction and expectation particularly now Consecrate a little one of ours to thee from whom we have receiv'd it We own it to be more thine than ours by Right and we desire that thy Right may take place It was born in thy Family we therefore bring it to be enroll'd in the List of thy Servants and to receive thy Badge and put on thy Livery in order to its sharing in all the Blessed Priviledges of thy Domesticks We have handed it into a Miserable World and been instrumental to convey a a corrupt nature to it but thou alone by giving it thy Grace canst make it Happy We present it to thee for thy Blessing We now enter it into thy Covenant the Blessings whereof thou hast in thy word been Graciously pleas'd to declare do descend from Believers to their Infant Seed We offer it to receive the outward Seal and beg that thou wouldst convey and assure the great things thereby betoken'd and intimated We humbly lay hold of thy Covenant for our selves and this little one on whose behalf we freely consent to all thy claims and demands Hoping that if it shall please thee to to remove it out of this sinful and troublesome World before it shall become capable of Transacting with thee Personally for it self thou wilt take it to thy self and make it happy in thy self and firmly binding and engaging it if thou shalt please to spare its life to live in thy Fear and walk in thy Ways and sincerely keep all thy Holy Commandments as ever we desire or expect it should share in the Invaluable Blessings which thou hast promis'd to thy Servants And if which we humbly beseech thee Mercifully to prevent it should live perfidiously to break thy Bonds and wickedly to Revolt from thee and persist so doing without being reclaim'd we can desire no other than that it may be treated as an Insolent contemner of thy Covenant and a perfidious Revolter from it To prevent which nevertheless we Solemnly Promise as in thine especial presence to do all that lies in our power by Wholsome Instructions and Serious Admonitions Parental Counsels Seasonable Reproofs and Suitable Corrections as we can discern occasion Which endeavours of ours we humbly and earnestly beseech thee to accompany with thy Heavenly Blessing that they may be Effectual LET
thy Bonds we brought them with the Instituted Solemnity even in their very Infancy and we did all that in us lay to bring them under as strong and firm engagements as was possible and often did we as they grew up endeavour to make them sensible how much they were oblig'd to live to thee to whom they were Devoted their Blood therefore be upon themselves If they have wickedly and obstinately Revolted from thee their Ruin will lye at their own doors whereof we are Witnesses All others also who were present at the Solemnity of their Baptism will be ready to bear Witness that they came early under Gods Gracious Covenant and were enter'd in a Bond to be faithful in all the Duties of it which if they have wickedly neglected and liv'd to themselves instead of living to God they can attest they have broken a Divine Vow that was upon them which implies an highly aggravated Guilt And Oh! How sad a thing will it be for Persons to have Ministers Parents and Christian Friends Rising up in Judgment against them at last for their Revolting from that God to whom they in their Infancy were Consecrated and breaking those Bands that should have fastned them to him BUT after all because there are some to be met with that Question Parents power to bring their Children while Infants under such an Obligation as that of the Baptismal Vow and make their Incapacity Personally to consent a Grand Objection against this Practice I shall now 5thly A little distinctly consider the Power of Parents to bring them and the Childrens Capacity of being brought under such an Obligation as the Baptismal Vow 1. AS for the Parental Power it s the greatest that Nature gives The Interest of Parents in their Children is great and such also must their Power over them needs consequently be Children have no use of their Understandings to deliberate or wills to choose they have no Power to act Nature invests Parents therefore with a right of Deliberating Choosing and Acting for them during their own Incapacity Children are the product even of their own Bowels and therefore it may be well suppos'd they 'll do their best for them And they can never make their Parents a return for what they have receiv'd from them can never pay them the Debt that is naturally owing them and therefore may well be suppos'd ready to hearken to them and comply with them in any thing that is reasonable Nature puts Parents in the place of God to Children During their Infant State they have as great a power of Command over them even as over their own Hands or Feet or any other Members of their Body where provided they keep within the limits and inclinations of Nature i. e. Love and Cherish and are tender of them they can't overdo All Civil Laws have allow'd great scope to the Parental Power because it s presum'd 't would be us'd for their Childrens Good In no Countreys hath it been so straitned by any particular Laws as that Parents have not had a free liberty of disposing of their Children and entring into Contracts for them which shall be binding upon them and of laying Charges and Commands on them which shall be Obligatory We have a known instance of this latter sort in the case of the Rechabites who were char'd by Ionadab their Fore-father that none of them their Wives their Sons or their Daughters should Drink any Wine that they should neither Build House nor Sow Seed nor Plant Vineyard nor have any but all their days dwell in Tents Which charge they punctually Obey'd And there is a Solemn Blessing given them by God for this their Obedience And can it be suppos'd Parents should have great Power over their Children in Natural Matters and Civil Affairs and none in Religious Concerns God takes care of the Infant Seed of Pious Parents hath made great Promises and extends his Covenant to them and offers to entail the Blessings of it on them And have Parents no Power to give up their Children to him and enter them into his Covenant and bind them to the Duties of it Children are bound to stand to any Engagements their Parents come under for them unless in any thing Sinful and of dangerous consequence And can they safely reject the force of the Vow they bring them under in Baptism to be the Lords and plead that it was a stretch of the Parental Power Why if Parents have power to choose a Physician for their Bodies an Instructor for their Minds a Master for their Calling c. What should hinder their Power from exteâ—…ing to the choosing of God for the Portion of their Souls and binding them to discharge the Duties owing to him It may perhaps be pleaded That Parents would not want Power in the case were but their Children capable of such an obligation in their Infant State but they are unmeet subjects for the exercise of such a Power and therefore it is Insignificant Le ts therefore 2. A little consider Childrens Capacity of coming under such a Bond as the Baptismal Vow i. e. their Passive not their Active Capacity which is not pretended or pleaded for And here I desire it may be consider'd 1. That they are capable of being bound in Civils Why not in Spirituals To Man Why not to God An Infant may have an Estate made over and secur'd to him by Law he is capable of becoming a Tennant and being oblig'd to pay a certain Rent and Homage when he comes to Age and in the mean time of having Provisions from the Estate he hath a Title to In such a case none will deny but a Parent or even a Guardian may act for him and that so as that he shall stand Engag'd If so Why is he not as capable of being oblig'd by a Sacred Vow whereby his Parents would bind him to God in order to the securing the Everlasting Inheritance which He by Gospel-grant hath setled on all his Children Let it therefore here be observ'd That whatever is pleaded in proof of the Incapacity of Infants to come under a Vow to God in Baptism by vertue of their Parents transacting on their behalf proves them equally incapable of coming under any obligation whatsoever till they are able to transact for themselves Which is contrary to the sense of all the Wise and Prudent that have liv'd in all Ages of the World 2. LET it be further observ'd That Infants even while such are capable of sharing in the Blessings of Gods Covenant And if so Why not of coming under an Obligation to the Duties of it They are capable of sharing in the Merits of Christs Blood and the Influences of his Spirit and other marks of Divine Favour and of being treated by God as his Children and that by their Parents means whose Covenant Interest is Available for their Good in their Infant State Why may they not then by their means also come under an Engagement and
all these words They having first by a Solemn Vow bound themselves to God and to Obedience to him Moses by Gods command uses the External Sign of Sprinkling Blood to show that God lookt on his Promises as binding upon him Now under the New Testament there are two Foederal Transactions between God and us Instituted as Ordinances in the Christian Church to which we commonly give the Name of Sacraments in both which we may observe the same Procedure Both are on Gods part seals of the Blessings of the Covenant of Grace and on Man's part Engagements to all the Duties of that Covenant As Gods part lies in Promises and their Ratifications and Assuring Pledges so doth Man's in Vows and their Confirming Rites God engages to be our God and to carry it to us like a God We Vow to be his People and to carry it to him like his People God engages to make good his Promises not only in the general but to those Persons in Particular who seriously enter into Covenant with him Man is thereby bound and engag'd to all Prescribed Duty not only in general and in common with others but Particularly and by Name 2. The Christian Vow in both the Sacraments of the New Testament hath a particular Relation to God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost according to their distinct Agency in the great Work of our Redemption and Salvation Each Person in the Sacred Trinity hath an hand in Saving Man The work of each is distinct and therefore the Duty to each is distinct and consequently the Christian Vow must besides what is owing to the Great God in common contain an Engagement to the special Duties owing to each Person TO the Father we find in Scripture the Honour is peculiarly Ascrib'd of being the Contriver of the Method of our Salvation 'T was He whose Love to us was such as to move him to send his Son to Redeem us and his Spirit to Sanctify us 'T was He that sent his Son in our Nature to Dye a Sacrifice and make Expiation for Sin and 't is He that sends his Spirit to apply and convey the Benefits Merited by the Oblation of that Sacrifice 'T was the Father that Invested Christ the Mediator with his Authority and Power 'T is on the Father as maintaining the Rights of the whole Deity Man's Apostacy is Represented as peculiarly Reflecting And 't is He who thro' his Son offers to be Reconcil'd to a Rebellious World He is the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and in and thro' him Ready to be our Father 'T is back again to him that Christ Dy'd to bring us He is therefore to be regarded as our Ultimate End ACCORDINGLY that part of the Christian Vow which relates to God the Father is this Admiring his Matehless Wisdom and Adoring his Unfathomable Love to give up our selves to him anew with hearty Sorrow that ever we should have Revolted from him To take him for our Father thro' Christ engaging to carry it like Children to him with a Child-like Love to him Reverential Fear and Worship of him Delight Trust and Confidence in him Hearty Dâ—…dence on him and Obedience to â—…im to make his Glory our utmost Aim and expect our Final Happiness in him alone AS for the Son He is represented as the Worker out of our Redemption 'T was he who Purchas'd our Pardon and paid the price of our Peace He is the Fathers Prime Messenger to this Lower World the Great Prophet of the Church sent on purpose to Reveal Gods Mind and Will to Men and instruct them in the way to Heaven He was constituted the Great High Priest to make Atonement Satisfie Offended Justice and Salve the Injur'd Rights of the Divine Government to Expiate Sin by Offering an Acceptable Sacrifice and to Interceed with the Blood of it within the Veil in the Holy of Holies in the Heavenly Tabernacle Him hath God set as his King on Zion and to him is every knee to Bow and him are all to Honour even as they do the Father For he hath put all Power in Heaven and Earth into his Hands 'T is on his Shoulders the Divine Government lies and to him it belongs to give Laws to his Church He was a walking Mirrour of Divinity in this Lower World being Emanuel God with us a compleat Pattern of the Perfection of Holyness He is the Captain of our Salvation the Skilful Physician of Souls the Light of the World the way to the Father and the Lord of Life And he will come again at last to raise us from Death and Judge the World and Justifie his Saints and bring them to Eternal Glory and cast the Wicked into utter Misery AND accordingly that part of the Christians Sacramental Vows that relates to God the Son is this Admiring his Amazing Condescention and Matchless Love in taking our Nature upon him with its many Infirmities and therein doing undergoing and Suffering so much for our sakes to Consecrate our selves to him firmly Resolving with Divine Assistance that we will not live unto our selves but to him who Dy'd for us and Rose again 'T is an hearty taking him for our Saviour closing in with all the parts of his Saving Office An engagement readily to hearken to his Voice by whom God who in times past spake to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us To Credit all his Reports and Trust in all his Promises to depend solely on his Atonement for Pardon and Divine Acceptance Justification and Life to use him upon all occasions as our Advocate who sits in our Nature at the Right hand of the Throne of the Majesty on high It is a swearing Fealty to him as our Soveraign engaging to yield Submission to his Authority and Governing Power to stand in awe of all his Threatnings and sincerely obey all his Commands To Immitate his Example and endeavour to copy out in ours the Excellencies and Perfections of his Temper and of his Life To follow him as our Captain whither soever he shall lead us To Fight under his Banner against all his Enemies and to bear all his Discipline To use him as our Physician Trusting in his Skill following all his Prescriptions and chearfully taking all his Saving Medicines how bitter and distastful soever to Flesh and Blood To wait in expectation of his return in Glory and live in the comfortable hope of his coming to Judgment and owning us before his Father and all his Holy Angels and taking us to himself to be for ever with him beholding his Glory AS for the Holy Ghost his work is to supply our Saviours Place here on Earth to be the Guide and the Inmate the Helper and Asistant the Comforter and Support of all the Faithful To apply all the Benefits that our Lord hath Purchas'd 'T was he that Inspir'd all the Penmen of Holy Writ and 't was under his peculiar conduct that they committed the Sacred Records to