19

of one or both believing parents are to be baptized".

V. Although it be a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance", yet grace and salvation

all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved. Acts viii. 37. And Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

m Gen. xvii. 7, 9. with Gal. iii. 9, 14. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.-And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee, in their generations. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.-That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Rom. iv. 11, 12. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. Acts ii. 38, 39. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts xvi. 14, 15, 33. Lydia-whose heart the Lord opened-was baptized, and her household-was baptized, he (viz. the jailer) and all his. Col. ii. 11, 12. 1 Cor. vii. 14. Mat. xxviii. 19. Mark x. 13, 14, 15, 16. Luke xviii. 15.

V. n Luke vii. 30. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. Exod. iv. 24, 25, 26. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said. A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

•

Of

d

are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized, are undoubtedly regenerated".

VI. The efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is administered"; ye notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance the grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God's ம own will, in his appointed time".

VII. The sacrament of baptism, is but once to be administered to any person3.

S • Rom. iv. 11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Acts x. 2, 4, 22, 31, 45, 47.

P Acts viii. 13, 23. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

VI. 9 John iii. 5, 8. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Gal. iii. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Eph. v. 25, 26. Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. Acts ii. 38, 41.

VII. Tit. iii. 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.

N. B. There is no command, and no adequate example, for the repetition of baptism.

11*

CHAPTER XXIX.

Of the Lord's Supper.

OUR Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, to be observed in his church, unto the end of the world; for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe unto him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his mystical bodya.

II. In this sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick or dead", but only a

I, a 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25, 26. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Je sus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testa ment in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 1 Cor. x. 16, 17, 21. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.-Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 1 Cor. xii. 13. For by one Spirit are we ali baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gen tiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

b

II. Heb. ix. 22, 25, 26, 28. And almost all things are by

commemoration of that once offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same; so that the Popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominably injurious to Christ's one only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect".

III. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people, to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves,) to give both to

the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.-Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.-Sc Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for him, shall he appear the second time, with out sin unto salvation.

• Mat. xxvi. 26, 27. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it. Luke xxii. 19, 20. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

d Heb. vii. 23, 24, 27. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchange. able priesthood.-Who needeth not daily, as those high priests. to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. Heb. x 11, 12, 14, 18. And every priest standeth daily ministering

the communicantse; but to none who are not then present in the congregation'.

IV. Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest or any other, alone; as likewise the denial of the cup to the people; worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christi.

V. The outward elements in this sacrament, duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, yet sacramentally only, they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the body and blood of Christ; albeit, in substance and and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacri❤ fice for sins, for ever sat down on the right-hand of God.-For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.-Now, where remission of these is, there is no more offer. ing for sin.

III. See the institution. Mat. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. Mark xiv. 22, 23, 24, Luke xxii. 19, 20. and 1 Cor. xi. 23 to 27.

f Acts xx. 7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, (ready to depart on the morrow) and continued his speech until midnight. 1 Cor. xi. 20. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

IV. Because there is not the least appearance of a warrant for any of these things, either in precept or example, in any part of the word of God. See all the places in which the ordinance is mentioned-the most important of which are cited above.

i Mat. xv. 9. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

V. Mat. xxvi. 26, 27, 28. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the