SECTION V. A New and brief Service for the Baptism of Adults. The candidates standing before the altar, the minister shall ad. dress them, saying: D EARLY beloved : It has pleased God, in his infinite mercy, to awaken you to a sense of your guilt and danger, and to lead you, as we humbly trust, to true repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Of the sincerity of your purpose to lead a new life, and to seek an inheritance with the righteous beyond the grave, we have so far become satisfied as to accord to you our confidence and fellowship, as Christian believers entitled to a place with us in the flock of Christ, and to all the ordinances of the house of God. Among these ordinances is Christian baptism, to receive which you have now presented yourselves before this altar. For the administration and reception of this sacrament, we have the most ample warrant in the Holy Scriptures. UR Lord commanded his apostles to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. ON N the day of pentecost, when the multitude, being pricked in their hearts, inquired what they should do, Peter answered, "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. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."-Acts ii. 38, 41. PHILIP, the Evangelist, went down to the Samaria, and preached Christ to the people. And when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were at once baptized, both men and women.-Acts viii. 12. W HEN Cornelius and others, at Cesarea, had received the gospel at the mouth of Peter, and believed on Christ, Peter said to the audience: "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." -Acts x. 47, 48. AS Philip and the eunuch went on their way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.-Acts viii. 36-38. WH at Philippi, city upon the river-side to the HEN Paul and Silas were they went out of the Sabbath, and preached by the women that resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard them, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul; whereupon she was immediately baptized, and her household. - Acts xvi. 14, 15. A FEW days afterward, Paul and Silas were in prison, in the same city, and the Lord delivered them by an earthquake, and convinced the jailor of his guilt and danger. And when he asked Paul what he should do to be saved, the Apostle answered, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. -Acts xvi. 31-33. W HEN St. Paul was preaching at Corinth, it is said that "Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house: and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized."-Acts xviii. 8. A ND even the disciples of John, who had been baptized unto repentance, were subsequently re-baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts xix. 5. UCH was the practice of the holy apostles, been the practice in the church of Christ in all ages. And now, following the example of the early saints, you stand here in the presence of God, and of this assembly, to receive the ordinance of Christian baptism. Q. D O you then, in the presence of God and of this assembly, solemnly re nounce the devil and all his works, and declare the Lord Jehovah to be your God? Ans. I do. Q. Do yout O you here confess the Lord Jesus as your Redeemer and hope; trusting alone to the merits of his death for the forgiveness of your sins; the sanctification of your fallen natures; the resurrection of your bodies from the grave; and the everlasting salvation of both soul and body in heaven ? Q. Ans. I do. DO O you then solemnly consecrate yourselves to Christ, and to his service for ever; and will you endeavor henceforth to keep God's holy will and commandments, and to walk in the same all the days of thy life? Ans. I will endeavor so to do, the Lord being my helper. N., I The minister shall then baptize the candidate, saying: BAPTIZE thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Let us pray. CHAPTER III. SERVICE FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF PERSONS BAPTIZED IN INFANCY.* The candidates being called before the altar, the minister shall address the church as follows : D EARLY beloved: The rite of confirmation is neither a sacrament nor an ordinance of the Gospel; but is a prudential regulation and ceremony, like those for the solemnization of marriage, and the burial of the dead; and is instituted to the end that persons baptized in childhood, and living to years of discretion and knowledge, may themselves, with their own mouth and consent, openly before the church, ratify and confirm their baptismal covenant; and may promise that, by the grace of God, they will evermore endeavor faithfully to observe all those things which they, by their own confession, have assented to. We beseech you, therefore, with one accord, to unite in supplication to Almighty God, that he will accept and confirm the covenant into which these persons come now for themselves * The General Conference of the M. E. Church, for 1856, provided that adults baptized in infancy might be admitted into the church upon their "publicly assenting before the church to the baptismal covenant." See Discipline, p. 35. And yet, so far as we have knowledge, no formula has been prescribed for this " public assent" before the church. |