MARVEL not, that I faid unto thee, ye must be born again;

THE Wind bloweth where it lifteth, and thou heareft the Sound thereof, but canft not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; fo is every one that is born of the Spirit. V. 6, 7, 8.

FORASMUCH then as all Men are conceived and born in Sin, and that our Saviour Chrift faith, none can enter into, nor even fee the Kingdom of God, except he be regenerate and born anew of Water and the Holy Ghoft, let me call upon God the Father, thro' our Lord Jefus Chrift, that of his bounteous Mercy he will grant to me that thing which by Nature I cannot have; that To being baptized with Water and the Holy Spirit, and received into Chrift's Holy Church, I may become a lively Member of the fame, and finally inherit that glorious Kingdom, which he has prepared for us from the Beginning of the World,. and in Baptism engages and promises to bestow on all that believe on his Son our blessed Lord nd aviourSa Jefus Chrift.

A PRAYER.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who of thy great Mercy didft fave Noah and his Family in the Ark from perishing by Water;

and

and didft alfo fafely lead the Children of Ifrael thy People thro' the Red-Sea, figuring thereby thy holy Baptifm; and by the Baptifm of thy wellbeloved Son Jefus Chrift in the River Jordan didft fanctify Water to the washing away of Sin; I beseech thee for thine infinite Mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon me thy Servant, wash me and fanctify me with the Holy Ghoft, that I being delivered from thy Wrath, may continue in the Ark of thy Church; and being Stedfaft in Faith, Joyful thro' Hope, and rooted in Charity, may so pafs the Waves of this troublefome World, that finally I may come to the Land of everlasting Life, there to reign with Thee World without End, thro' Jefus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The Proper Pfalms on this Occafion.

THEY

The xxvth and the cxith.

The Gospel.

Mark the x. ver. 13.

HEY brought young Children to Christ, that he fhould touch them, and his Difciples rebuked those that brought them; But when Jefus faw it, he was much difpleased, and faid unto them, Suffer little Children to come unto

me, and forbid them not, for of fuch is the Kingdom of God. Verily I fay unto you, whofoever fhall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little Child, he fhall not enter therein. And he took them up in his Arms, put his Hands upon them, and bleffed them.

AFTER this Gospel, the Adult Person, who is preparing for Baptism, may fay;

HE

EAR, O my Soul, in this Gospel, the Words of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, that He commanded the little Children to be brought unto him; how he blamed thofe that would have kept them from him; how he exhorteth all Men to follow their Innocency. I perceive how, by his outward Gesture and Deed, he declared his Good-will toward them, for he embraced them in his Arms, he laid his Hands upon them, and bleffed them; figuring to us thereby, his kind Reception of us in Baptifm; and afterwards, his gracious Benediction by the Impofition of Hands in Confirmation. Doubt not therefore, O my Soul, but earnestly believe, that he will favoura bly receive me alfo, his poor Servant, now coming to him in Baptifm; that he will embrace me with the Arms of his Mercy; that he will give unto me the Bleffing of Eternal Life, and make me Partaker of his everlasting Kingdom, Where

fore

1

fore being thus perfuaded of the Good-will of our Heavenly Father towards me, declared by his Son Jefus Chrift, and nothing doubting, but that he favourably receiveth all that come unto him in Holy Baptism, let me faithfully and devoutly give Thanks unto him, and say,

ALMIGHTY and Everlasting God, Heavenly Father, I give thee humble Thanks, that thou haft vouchfafed to call me to the Knowledge of thy Grace, and Faith in Thee: Increate this Knowledge, and confirm this Faith in me Evermore. Give thy Holy Spirit to me, that being Born again, I may be made an Heir of everlasting Salvation, thro' our Lord Jefus Chrift, who liveth and reigneth with the Holy Spirit, now and ever.

Amen.

An Examination for an adult Perfon according to the Tenor of the Covenant, or Baptifinal Vow.

Do I renounce the Devil, and all his Works, the vain Pomps and Glory of the World, with all covetous Defires of the fame, and the carnal Defires of the Flesh, fo as not to follow, nor be led by them?

The

The Answer.

(WHICH, if Sincere, is called by St. Peter, The Anfwer of a good Confcience towards God. 1 Pet. iii. 21.)

Lord, I Renounce them all.

DO I Believe in God, the FATHER Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth; and in JESUS CHRIST his only Son, our Lord; that he was Conceived by the Holy Ghoft, Born of the Virgin Mary, that he fuffered under Pontius Pilate, was Crucified, Dead and Buried; that he went down into Hell, and also did rise again the third Day, that he afcended into Heaven, and fitteth at the right Hand of God the Father Almighty; and from thence shall come again at the End of the World, to judge the Quick and the Dead?

AND do I believe in the HOLY GHOST, the Holy Catholick Church, the Communion of Saints, the Forgiveness of Sins, the Refurrection of the Flesh, and Everlasting Life after Death? The Answer.

(WHICH, if True, may be called The Answer of Faith. James v. 15.)

All this I ftedfaftly Believe.

AM