There is no first nor last for they are all three one in truth in power in goodness and mercy IX All this we know from the Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures as also from the Operations of them and chiefly by those which we feel in ourselves The Testimonies of the Holy Scriptures that teach us to believe this holy Trinity are held forth in many places of the Old Testament which is needless to sum up onely to select them distinctly and judicially In Genes 1 26. God saith Let us make man in our image after our likeness c. and vs. 27. So God created man in his own image male and female created he them And Gen. 3 22. Behold the man is become as one of us From thence it appeares that there is more then one Person in the Godhead when he saith Let US make Man in our Image and he points at the singleness when he saith God created It is very true he doth not say how many persones there are but that which seemes obscure unto us in the Old Testament is very plain in the New for when our Lord was baptised in Jordan the voice of the Father was heard saying This is my beloved Son the Son was seen in the water and the holy Ghost made himself manifest in the shape of a Dove Likewise in the Baptism of Believers this form is instituted by Christ Baptize all Nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost In the Gospel of St Luke the Angel Gabriel speakes to Mary the Mother of our Lord after this manner The holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall over shadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. At another place it is said The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one In all these places we are fully taught that there are three Persons in one sole Divine Beeing and thô this Doctrine farr surpasses the understanding of man we nevertheless now believe the same through the Word waiting untill we shall enjoy the compleat knowledge and the fruits thereof in Heaven Further more we must consider the particular Offices and operations of these three Persons towards us The Father is called our Creator by his Power the Son is our Saviour and Redeemer by his Blood the Holy Ghost is our Sanctifier by his dwelling in our hearts This Doctrine of the holy Trinity hath alwayes been assented and maintained by the true Church eversince the times of the Apostles hitherto against the Jewes Mahumetans and some false Christians and Hereticks as Marcion Manes Praxeas Sabellius Samosatenus Arrius and some others who have justly been condemned by the holy Fathers Therefore in this point we do willingly receive the three Symbols of the Faith viz that of the Apostles of Nicea and of Athanasius and also that which conformable there unto is agreed upon by the Ancients X. We beleeve that Jesus Christ according to his divine Nature is the onely begotten Son of God born from eternity not made nor created for then he should be a Creature but coessential with the Father also coeternall the express image of his Fathers substance and the brightness of his Glory equal with him in all things Who is the Son of God not onely from the time that he hath taken upon him our nature but from all eternity as these Testimonies teach us when compared together Moses saith that God hath created the World and St. John saith that all things are created by that Word which he calles God the Apostle saith that God has made the times by his Son also that God created all things through Jesus Christ then consequently he that is called God the Word the Son and Jesus Christ must needs have been before if so be that all things are created by him And therefore saith the Prophet Micah His goings forth have been from of old from everlasting and the Apostle That he hath neither beginning of dayes nor end of life Then he is the true everlasting God the omnipotent whom we adore worship and serve XI We believe and confess also that the holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son from everlasting not being made nor created nor born but onely proceeding from both who is in order the third Person of the Trinity coessential and equal in Majesty and glory with the Father and the Son being true and eternal God as the holy Scriptures do teach us XII We believe that the Father by his Word that is by his Son hath created out of nothing the Heaven the Earth and all Creatures when it seemed good unto him giving unto every Creature its beeing shape and form and severall offices to serve his Creator that he doth also up hold and govern them according to his eternal providence and infinite power for the service of mankind that so Man may serve his God. He hath also created the Angels good for to be his Messengers and Ministers unto his elected some of which are fallen from that Excellency in which God created them into everlasting destruction and others have kept steadfast by the Grace of God in their primitive state The Devils and evil spirits are so farr corrupted that they are become enemies unto God and every good thing laying in wait to the utmost off their power like robbers and murtherers for the Church and every member thereof for to spoil and destroy all by their deceit And so they are condemned by their own wickedness unto eternal damnation daily expecting their horrible torments Therefore we reject and abhor the error of the Sadducees who denied the existency of Spirits and Angels as also the error of the Manichees who affirm that the original of the Devils is out of them selves inasmuch that they are evil by their own nature without having been corrupted XIII We believe that the same good God after having created all things hath not dismist them nor given them up to Chance or Fortune but governs and rules them according to his holy will not suffering any thing to fall out in this World without his direction nevertheless God is neither Author nor guilty of any sin that is committed For his Power and goodness is so large and incomprehensible that he operates and acts all his works justly even then when the Devils and the wicked do act injustly And as to his acting of any thing which surpasses the understanding of men we will not be to nice in searching any further then our capacity will admit but we do humbly adore with all due respect and humility the righteous Judgements of God which are hid from us contenting our selves that we are Disciples of Christ onely for to learn those things which
THE CONFESSION of FAITH OF The Reformed CHURCHES in the NETHERLANDS WITH The FORMES which they use In The administration of the Sacraments The Exercise of Ecclesiasticall discipline The confirmation of Ecclesiasticall Officers Ministers Elders and Deacons The Celebration of Marriage before the Church Translated out of Dutch into English AMSTERDAM Printed by the Widow of STEVEN SWART 1689. THE CONFESSION of FAITH Revised in the Nationall Synod last held at Dordrecht in the year of our Lord 1618. and 1619. The I Article WE all do believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that there is one onely and single Spiritual Being which we call God everlasting incomprehensible invisible unchangeable infinite almighty perfectly wise just good and a super-abounding fountain of all good II. We know him by two means First by the Creation and maitaning and governing of the whole World seing it is before our eyes as a fair book in which all the Creatures both great and small are as characters showing unto us the invisible things of God viz. his eternal power and Godhead as St. Paul saith Rom. 1.20 All which things are sufficient to convince Mankind and to leave them without excuse Secondly he makes him self known unto us more plainly and fully by his Holy and Divine Word to wit as much as we stand in need of in this life to his Glory and the Salvation of his people III. We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor produced by the will of man but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost as St. Peter tells us God afterwards by a special care which he takes for us and our Salvation commanded his Servants the Prophets and Apostles to write down his manifested Word And he himself wrote with his own finger the two Tables of the Law. Therefore we call such Writings Holy and Divine Scriptures IV. We comprehend the Holy Scriptures in the two Volumnes of the Old and New Testament which are Canonical Books without all contradiction These are summed up in the Church of God after this manner The Books of the Old Testament are the five Books of Moses viz. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronome the Book of Joshua Judges Ruth two Books of Samuel and two Books of the Kings two Books of the Chronicles the first Book of Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job the Psalms of David the three Books of Solomon viz. the Proverbs Ecclesiastes and the Song the four great Prophets viz. Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel and Daniel and the other twelf lesser Prophets viz. Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah 〈◊〉 Micah Nahum Habbakuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Those of the New Testament are the four Evangelists viz. Mathew Mark Luke John the Acts of the Apostles the fourteen Epistles of the Apostle Paul viz. to the Romans two to the Corinthians to the Galatians to the Ephesians to the Philippians to the Colossians two to the Thessalonians two to Timothie to Titus to Philemon to the Hebrews the seven Epistles of the other Apostles viz. the Epistle of James the two Epistles of Peter the three Epistles of John the Epistle of Jude and the Revelation of the Apostle John. V. These Books onely we receive as holy and canonical to the regulating grounding and confirming of our Faith believing without any doubt all which is contained in them not so much because the Church doth receive and take them for such but more especially because the holy Ghost bears witness in our hearts that they are from God seeing they carry the evidence of it along with them for the very blind are able to perceive the fulfilling of those matters that are fore told in the same VI. We distinguish those holy Books from the Apocryphal viz. the third and fourth Book of Ezdras the Books of Tobie and Judith the Books of Wisdom Jesus Syrach Baruch the Appendix to the book of Esther the prayer of the three men in the fire the History of Susanne that of the Image of Bell and the Dragon the prayer of Manasse the Books of the Macchabees All which the Church may read and take instruction out of them in as much as they do agree with the Canonical Books But they have not such a power and efficacy as to confirm by any of their Testimonies any point of the Faith or Christian Religion much less to detract of the authority of those other Holy Books VII We believe that these Holy Scriptures doe fully contain the will of God and that every thing which a man ought to believe unto Salvation is sufficiently taught in the same For because the whole manner of service which God requires of us is writ down in them at large it is unlawfull for any one thô an Apostle to teach otherwise then we are taught by the Holy Scriptures nay though it was an Angel from heaven as St Paul saith For seeing it is forbidden to add unto or take away any thing from the word of God it doth evidently appear that the Doctrine of it is very perfect and compleat in all respects Neither ought we to compare the writings of any men thô never so holy unto those divine Scriptures nor the customs with the truth of God for the truth is above all nor the great multitude nor Antiquity nor Succession of times or Persones nor Councels or Decrees For all men are naturally Lyars and more vain then Vanity it self Therefore we reject with our very heart every thing which doth not agree with this infallible Rule as the Apostles have taught us saying Try the Spirits whether they are of God. And If there come any unto you and bring not this Doctrine receive him not into your house VIII According to this truth and this Word of God we believe in one onely God who is one single Being which are three persons in deed and in truth and from everlasting distinguished according to their incommunicable Attributes viz. the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost The Father is the cause the original and the beginning of all things both visible and invisible the Son is the Word the Wisdom and the Image of the Father the Holy Ghost is the eternal strength and power proceeding from the Father and the Son. Nevertheless God is not by this distinction divided into three since the Holy Scriptures doe teach us That the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost each of them hath his substance distinguished by their Attributes but thus that these three persons are but one onely God Hence it is plain that the Father is not the Son and that the Son is not the Father and that neither the Holy Ghost is the Father nor the Son. Howbeit these persons thus distinguished are not divided nor mixed together For the Father has not taken upon him the Flesh neither hath the Holy Ghost done it but onely the Son the Father hath never been without his Son or without his Holy Ghost for they are all three coeternall and coessential
suffered his blessed body to be nayled to the Crosse that hee might fasten upon it the handwriting of our sinnes and hath also taken upon himselfe the cursse due to us that hee might fill us with his blessing and hath humbled himselfe into the deepest pangs of Hell with soule and body on the tree of the Crosse where hee cryed out with a loud voyce My God my God Why hast thou forsaken mee that wee might bee received of God and never forsaken of him and finally confirmed with his death and bloodshedding the new and everlasting Covenant of grace and reconciliation when hee sayd It is finished And that wee might firmly believe that wee belong to this Covenant of grace the Lord Jesus Christ in his last Supper tooke Bread gave thankes brake it and gave it to his Disciples and sayd Take eate this is my Body which is given for you do this in remembrance of mee In like maner also after Supper hee tooke the Cup gave thankes and sayd Drinke yee all of this This Cup is the new Testament in my blood which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sinnes do this so often as yee drincke of it in remembrance of mee That is as often as yee eate of this Bread and drincke of this Cup yee shall thereby as by a certaine pledge and remembrance bee admonished and assured of this my hearty love and faithfulnesse towards you that whereas yee should have suffered eternall death I have given my body into the death of the Crosse and shed my blood for you and as certainely as you see this Bread broken before your eyes and this Cup given to you and yee with your mouth do eate and drincke the same to my remembrance so do I feed and refresh your hungry and thirsty soules with my body and blood to everlasting life Out of this Institution of the Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ wee do see that hee directs our faith and confidence to his perfect sacrifice which was once offered on the Crosse as to the onely ground and foundation of our soules that hee is become to our hungry and thirsty soules the true food to eternall life For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our everlasting death and miseries namely sinne and hath merited for us the quickening spirit that wee by the same which dwelleth in Christ as the head and in us as his members might have true Communion and fellowship and be made partakers of all his blessings to everlasting life and glory Besides that wee by the same spirit may also be united together into brotherly love as members of the same mystecall body as the Scripture saith One Bread is it so are wee one Body because wee are all made partakers of one Bread For as out of many graines being grinded one Bread is made and out of many Berries being prest together one drincke floweth so shall wee all who by a true Faith are ingrafted into Christ bee one body through brotherly love for Christ his sake who hath so exceedingly loved us and manifested the same one towards another not onely in words but also in workes and deeds Heereto assist us the Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit Amen And that wee may obtaine this let us humble our selves before God and in true Faith call upon him for his grace O Most mercifull God and Father wee beseech thee that in this ordinance in which wee celebrate the blessed memory of the most bitter death and passion of thy Son Jesus Christ thou wilt bee pleased to worke in our hearts through the Holy Ghost that wee may give our selves more and more with true confidence to thy Son Jesus Christ that so our broken and burdened hearts may bee fed and comforted through the power of the Holy Spirit with his body and blood yea with him true God and Man the onely Bread of Heaven and that henceforth wee may not live any longer in our sinnes but hee in us and wee in him and bee also really partakers of that new and everlasting Covenant of Grace no wayes doubting but that thou wilt bee our eternall and Gracious God not imputing our sinnes unto us but filling us with all good things for body and soule as thy beloved Children and Heyres Graunt also unto us thy grace that wee may take upon us our crosse cheerefully deny our selves confesse our Saviour and in all tribulations expect our Lord Jesus Christ out of Heaven where hee will make our mortall bodies conformable to his most glorious body and take us to himselfe to bee with him in all eternity Ans OUr Father which art in heaven 1. Hallowed be thy Name 2. Thy Kingdome come 3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven 4. Give us this day our daily bread 5. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespasse against us 6. And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glorie for ever and ever Amen Strengthen us also by this Holy Sacrament in the Articles of our Christian Faith of which wee make Confession saying with heart and mouth I Beleeve in God the Father almightie maker of heaven and earth ij And in Jesus Christ his onely begotten Sonne our Lord. iij. Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the virgine Marie iv Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hel v. The third day he rose again from the dead vj. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almightie vij From thence shall he come to judge the quick and the dead viij I beleeve in the Holy Ghost ix I beleeve an Holy Catholike church the Communion of Saints x. The forgivenes of sinnes xj The resurrection of the body xij And life everlasting Amen That wee may now bee fed with the true heavenly Bread the Lord Jesus Christ so let not our hearts cleave to the outward elements of Bread and Wine but let us lift up the same into Heaven where Christ our Advocate is sitting on the right hand of his heavenly Father whether also wee are directed by the Articles of our Christian faith nothing doubting but wee shall bee fed and refreshed with his Body and Blood by the power of the Spirit so certainly as wee receive this holy Bread and Wine to his remembrance In breaking and distributing of the Bread the Minister shall say The Bread which wee breake is the Communion of the body of Christ. And when hee gives the Cup The Cup of blessing wherewith wee blesse is the Communion of the Blood of Christ. During the Communion there shall eyther bee sung some Psalm or some Chapter read which may serve to the remembring of the Passion of Christ as Esa Chap. 53. Joh. 13. and 14. and 15. and 16. and 18. or the like After the Communion the Minister shall
he makes manifest in his word without passing beyond those Limits This Doctrine affords us unspeakable consolation since we are taught thereby that nothing can befall us by chance but all is by the direction of our bountifull heavenly Father who watches over us with a Fatherly care keeping all Creatures under his Power so that not a hair of our head for they are all numbred nor a Bird can fall upon the ground without the will of our Father on whom we do rely wel knowing that he refrains the Devils and all our Enemies who are not able without his will and permission to hurt us And thus we reject that damnable Error of the Epicureans who say that God doth not trouble him self with any thing but permits all to be acted by Chance XIV We believe that God hath created Man out of the dust of the Earth and has made and formed him after his own image and likeness good righteous and holy being able to make his will agree in all things with the will of God. But being stated in honour he him self did not understand it neither knew he his Excellency but subjected himself wilfully unto sin and consequently unto Death and the Curse giving ear unto the word of the Devil For he transgressed the command of Life which he had received and by sin separated him self from God his true life having corrupted his whole nature whereby he hath brought upon him corporal and Spirituall death Being thus become wicked perverted and corrupted in all his wayes he has lost all excellent gifts which he had received from God having nothing left him but some small remnants thereof which are sufficient to leave man without excuse for all the Light which is in us is changed into Darkness as the Scriptures do teach us saing The Light shineth in Darkness and the Darkness comprehended it not Where St. John calls men Darkness Therefore we reject all which is taught contrary to this of the Free-will of men seeing Man is but a Slave to sin and can receive nothing but what is given him from Heaven For who can glory of any good which he is able to do out of him self since Christ saith No man can come unto me except the Father who has sent me drawes him Who can rely upon his own will if he understands that to be carnally minded is Enmity against God Who can speak of his knowledge seeing the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God In a word who shall propound any thought since he knowes that we are not able out of our selves to think any thing as from our selves but that our ability is from God and therefore what the Apostle saith ought with right to be kept sure and firme That God worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure for there is no understanding nor will conformable unto the understanding of God but what Christ has wrought in man which he teacheth us saying Without me yee can do nothing XV. We believe that through the disobedience of Adam the Originall Sinn has spread it self over all Mankind which is a Corruption of the whole Nature and an hereditary disease where with all Infants are infected even in their mothers womb and which produceth in man all sorts of sinn being in him as a root thereof and is therefore so vile and abominable in the sight of God that it is sufficient to condemn all mankind neither is it quite put away or destroyed by the Baptism but sin doth always proceed from this unhappy fountain as water out of a well yet it is not imputed the Children of God unto damnation but by his grace and Mercy it is forgiven them not for to rest quiet in sin but because the Believers should often groan under the sence of this corruption desiring to be dissolved from this body of death And therefore we reject the doctrine of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else but from imitation XVI Wee believe that the whole generation of Adam being fallen into corruption and ruine by the sin of the first man God hath shewed him self such as he is viz. Mercifull and just Mercifull because he draweth out of this Corruption and delivers those whom he hath elected in his eternal and unchangeable council of his meer mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord without any regard unto their works Just because he leaves others in their fall and destruction wherein they have cast themselves XVII Wee believe that our gracious God by his wonderful wisdom and goodnes seeing that man had cast him self into a corporal and spiritual Death and so was become a most miserable creature hath even sought for him when he fled away from him with trembling and comforted him promising him to give his son who should be born of a woman and bruise the head of the Serpent to make him everlasting happy XVIII Wee confess that God hath fullfilled the promises which he hath made unto the Fathers by the mouth of his holy Prophets sending his own onely begotten eternal son in the world in due time who took upon him the form of a servant and is become like unto man taking indeed upon him a real humane nature with all its infirmities sin onely excepted being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the virtue of the Holy Ghost without the means of man. And he hath not onely taken upon him the humane nature as to the Body but also a real human soule that so he might be a real man. For seeing that both the Soul and the body were lost it was needfull that he should take them both upon him that so they might both be saved Therefore in opposition to the Heresy of the Anabaptists who deny that Christ took humane flesh from his Mother wee confess that Christ is become partaker of the flesh and blood of Children that he is a fruit of the Loins of David after the flesh proceeded from the seed of David after the Flesh a fruit of Mary's Womb begotten by a Woman a branch of David a Shoot from the root Jesse descended from the Tribe of Juda proceeded from the Jews after the flesh of the seed of Abraham since he took upon him the seed of Abraham and is become like unto his Brethren in all things sin excepted so that of a truth he is our Immanuel that is God with us XIX Wee believe that the Person of the Son through this conception is united and joined inseparably with the humane nature so that there are not two Sons of God nor two Persons but two natures in one single Person united yet every nature keeping its distinct attribute As the divine Nature hath alwayes been uncreated without beginning of dayes or end of life filling heaven and earth also the humane nature hath not lost its qualities but remained a Creature having beginning of dayes being a small nature and keeping all that which belongs to a true
unto God for those good works which we do do and not he unto us since it is he that worketh in us both to will and to do according to his own good pleasure Let us therefore take notice of this saying which is left upon record When ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you say wee are unprofitable servants wee have done that which was our duty to do Yet wee do not deny that God rewards the good works but it is through his grace that he crownes his Gifts Moreover though wee act good works yet wee do not build our salvation thereon for wee can do nothing which is not defiled by our flesh and worthy of punishment and though it were otherwise yet the remembrance of one sin is sufficient to make God reject it So wee should always be doubtfull and floating to and fro without any certainty and our poor consciences be vexed continually if they did not rely on the merits of the sufferings and dying of our Saviour XXV Wee believe that the Ceremonies and Figures of the Law are ceased at the coming of Christ and that all shadows are finished wherefore the use and practise of them ought to be abrogated among the Christians yet the truth and substance of the same remaines with us in Christ Jesus in whom they are fulfilled in the mean while wee make use of the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets to confirm us in the Gospel and to order our life and conversation in all honesty to the Glory of God according to his will. XXVI Wee believe that wee have no acces unto God but by the onely Mediator and Advocate Christ Jesus the righteous who for this cause is become man uniting together the divine and humane nature that so wee might have acces unto the divine Majesty for otherwise our acces would be barred up But this Mediator whom the Father hath given us to interceed between him and us must not deter us through his goodness and cause us to seek for another according to our fancy For there is none in heaven nor in earth among the Creatures who loveth us more then Jesus Christ who thô he was in the form of God yet made him self of no reputation and took upon him the form of a man and a servant for our sakes and is made like unto his Brethren in all things Now if wee were to seek for another Mediator that might be favourable unto us whom could wee find that would love us more then he who laid down his life for us even whilst wee were his Enemies And if wee look for one that is mighty and majestious who is more conspicuous then he that sits at the right hand of his Father having all power in heaven and earth Who shall bee sooner heard then the welbeloved Son of God Therefore it is onely by a mistrusting that this practice was introduced of dishonouring the Saints instead of honouring them doing that which they never have done nor required but constantly and according to their duty rejected as appeares from their writings And it ought not to be objected here that wee are not worthy for it is not intended that wee should offer up our prayers on the account of our worthiness but onely because of the Excellency and worthiness of our Lord Jesus Christ whose righteousness is become ours by Faith. The Apostle therefore to take away from us this foolish fear or rather mistrust tells us that Jesus Christ is made like unto his Bretheren in all things that he might be a Mercifull and faithfull High Priest to purify the sins of the people For in that he him self hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted And to give us more encouragement to go to him he tells us Seeing then that wee have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our profession For wee have not an High-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like wee are yet without sin Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of grace that wee may obtaine Mercy and find grace to help in time of need The same Apostle saith that wee have liberty to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus Let us draw near saith he in full assurance of saith c. Item Christ hath an unchangeable Priesthood wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them What do wee then want more since Christ him self sayes I am the way and the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Why should wee look for another Advocate seeing it hath pleased God to give us his Son for an Advocate Let us not leave him for to take another or rather to seek for another without ever sinding him for when God did give him unto us he knew very well that wee were Sinners Therefore according to Christs commandment wee call upon our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our onely Mediator as wee are taught in the Lords prayer being assured that what ever wee pray for to the Father in his name it shall be given us XXVII Wee believe and profess one onely Catholick or universal Church which is a holy Congregation of true Christian believers who expect their salvation altogether in Christ Jesus being washed by his blood and Sanctifyed and sealed by the holy Ghost This Church hath been from the beginning of the World and will continue to the end of it as doth appear by Christ his being an everlasting King who cannot be without subjects And this holy Church is kept and preserved by God against the rage of the whole World although somtimes she may become very small and almost vanished in the eyes of men as when the Lord during the dangerous Reign of Achab had kept seven thousand men who had not bowed their knees before Baal Moreover this Holy Church is not situated in or bound or limited to a certain place or to certain persons but she is spread and seattered through the whole World being neve theless joined together and united with heart will and the same Spirit by the power of Faith. XXVIII Wee believe seeing this holy Congregation is an Assembly of those that are saved and that without it there is no salvation that none of what condition or quality soever ought to keep him self separate or to rely upon his own person but that it is the duty of all men to join and comply with it preserving the unity of the Church submitting them selves to the Instruction and Censure thereof bowing their neeks under the yoke of Christ Jesus and serving to the edification of the Brethren according to the gift which God hath assorded them as mutual members of the same body and to the better compassing of these ends it is a duty
the Apostle Peter testifieth Act. 2. in these words For the promise belongs to you and to your children and to as many as are afarre off even as many as the Lord our God shall call Hence it is that God hath of ould commanded that Infants should bee circumcised which circumcision was a seale of this Covenant and the righteousnesse of faith and therefore also Christ received the little Children layd his hands upon them and blessed them Marc. 10. Seeing then Baptisme is put in the place of circumcision therefore Infants are to bee Baptized as heyrs of the Kingdome of God and of the Covenant and Parents are admonished to instruct their Children in these things when they are come to yeares of discretion That therefore this holy ordinance of God may at this time bee administred to the glory of God to our comfort and the edification of his Church let us call upon the name of our God. O Almighty and Eternall God who according to thy severe judgment didst punish with the Flood the impenitent and unbeleeving World and according to thine infinite mercy didst save Noah with his family who didst drowne hard-hearted Pharao with all his people in the Red Sea and didst safely leade thy people Israell through the same by which Baptisme was signified unto us wee beseech thee that thou wilt bee pleased out of thy infinite mercy graciously to looke upon these Infants this Infant and incorporate them it by thy holy spirit into thy Son Jesus Christ that so they it may bee buryed with him into his death and also rise with him to newenesse of life that they it may take upon them it daily their his Crosse follow him and cleave unto him with a true faith firme hope and fervent love and willingly leave this life which is nothing else but a continuall death and at the last day may appeare without feare before the tribunall seat of Christ thy Son through Jesus Christ our Lord who with thee and the Holy Ghost one God lives and reigns for ever An Exhortation to the Parents and those that come with them to Baptisme Beloved in the Lord yee have heard that Baptisme is an ordinance of God to seale unto us and unto our seed his Covenant therefore wee must use the same to this end and not out of custome or superstition That it may then bee manifest that ye are thus minded you are to answer sincerely upon these questions First Whether you doe not acknowledge that however our children are conceived and borne in sinne and therefore are subject to all manner of miseries yea to condemnation it selfe yet that they are sanctified in Christ and therefore as members of his Church ought to bee baptized Secondly Whether you do not acknowledge the Doctrine contained in the Ould and Newe Testament and in the Articles of the Christian Faith which is also taught in these Christian Churches here to bee the true and perfect Doctrine of Salvation Thirdly Whether you do not promise and intend to see your children when they come to yeares of discretion every one whereof hee is either Father or Witnesse to bee brought up in the foresaid Doctrine to the uttermost of your power Answer Yea. After in baptizing the Minister of the Word of God shall say N. I baptize thee in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost A Thankesgiving O Almighty and most mercifull God and Father wee blesse and praise thee that thou hast forgiven all our sinnes to us and our children through the blood of thy beloved Sonne Jesus Christ and through thy Spirit received us as members of thy Son and adopted us to bee thy children and confirmed the same by this holy Baptisme wee beseech thee through the same Son of thy love to rule alwayes these baptized Infants Infant that they it may bee educated in true piety and Christianity and growe up in the Lord Jesus Christ acknowledging thy Fatherly goodnesse and loving kindnesse shewen to them it and to us and live in all righteousnesse under our Onely Teacher King and Priest Jesus Christ fighting manfully against sinne Satan and his whole Kingdome to land and praise thee and thy Son Jesus Christ with the Holy Ghost the one and eternall God to all eternity Amen FORME For the administration of Holy Baptisme to persons of yeares HOwever children of Christian Parents notwithstanding they understand not this mystery must be baptized by vertue of the Covenant yet it is not lawfull to baptize those who are come to yeares of discretion except they first bee sensible of their sinnes and make confession both of their repentance and faith in Christ For for this cause hath not onely John the Baptist preached according to the Commandement of God the baptisme of Repentance for the remission of sins to those who confessed their sinnes Marc. 1. Luc. 3. But our Lord Jesus Christ hath also commanded his Disciples to teach all Nations and then to baptize them in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Math. 28. Marc. 16. adding this promise Hee that beleeveth and is baptized shall bee saved According to which rule the Apostles as appeareth out of Act. 2. 10. 16. have baptized none who were of yeares of discretion but such who made confession of their Faith and Repentance therefore is it not lawfull now a dayes to baptize those of yeares except they have learned out of the preaching of the Gospell the mysteries of holy Baptisme and are able to give an account of their Faith by a confession of the mouth Seeing therefore you are also desirous of holy Baptisme to the end it may be to you a seale of your ingrafting into the Church of God that it may appeare that you do not onely receive the Christian Religion in which you have beene privately examined by us and of which also you have made Confession before us but that you through the grace of God intend and purpose to lead a life according to the same you are sincerely to give answer before God and his Church First Whether you beleeve in the true God distinct in three Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost who hath made Heaven and Earth and all that is therein and that hee sustaineth and governeth the same in so much that nothing can come to passe in Heaven or in Earth without his will Answer Yea. Secondly Whether you beleeve that you are conceived and borne in sinne consequently that you are a child of wrath by nature unfit to any thing that is good and prone to all evill and that you in thoughts words and deeds have many times transgressed the Commandements of God and whether you bee heartily forry for your sinnes Answer Yea. Thirdly Whether you beleeve that Christ who is the true and eternall God and a true Man who hath taken his humane nature out of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary bee also given of God to you as your Saviour and that you