2. At our confirmation —
[As at twelve years of age the Jewish children were pre- sented at the temple, that they might come more fully under the yoke of their Law ; so amongst us, at a somewhat later age, are young people called upon to present themselves unto the Lord, and to take upon themselves those engagements which were made for them at their baptism by their sponsors. You well know what the things are which were then promised in your name : first, " that you should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh ; next, that you should believe all the articles of the Christian faith; and, lastly, that you should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of your life." Now, in reference to these very en- gagements, it was distinctly asked of you by the Bishop, " Do ye here, in the presence of God and of this congregation^
e Gal. iii. 27. ^ 1 Cor. x. 1, 2. g Rom. vi. 3, 4.
VOL. v. F F
renew the solemn promise and vow that was made in your name at your baptism, ratifying and confirming the same in your own persons, and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things which your godfathers and godmothers then undertook for you ? " And then " every one of you audibly and distinctly answered, I do." Remember, then, that all these vows are upon you. They are not to be regarded as empty words, which might, at the close of the ceremony, be forgotten. No, indeed ; by them your souls are bound : and every one who does not labour to carry them into effect, contracts the heaviest guilt ; his whole life being one continued act of lying unto God.]
3. At the table of the Lord —
[Those of us who have attained to fuller age have, for the most part, been frequent communicants at the Lord's supper ; as it is to be hoped that many of you, my young friends, will ere long be : for I must say to you, that your confirmation is intended to be a preparation for that holy ordinance ; and is of no real utility to you, if it be not followed up by a total surrender of yourselves to God at the table of your Lord. Now, at the Lord's table we give up ourselves wholly to the Lord. The word " sacrament," by which that ordinance is often designated, refers to the oath which the Roman soldiers took to be faithful to their General : such an oath we all take, as it were, when we eat the body, and drink the blood, of our Lord and Saviour at his table. We engage to be " good soldiers of Jesus Christ," and never to forsake his standard, but to be faithful unto him even unto death. The difference between our engagements at the three different periods is this : at our baptism the promises were made for us by our sponsors ; at our confirmation we took upon ourselves all that had been engaged in our behalf; and at the Lord's table we carry it all, as it were, into effect ; and, by an open recognition of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and our Lord, we declare before all, that we are determined, through grace, to live and die in his sacred cause ; having no hope but in his atoning blood 5 no strength but in his grace ; no rule but his revealed will ; no end of life but the glory of his name.]
Such being the vows of God that are upon us, let us consider,
IL The obligations thereby entailed upon us —
These vows are to be performed : for " it were better never to vow at all, than to vow and not pay**."
^ Eccl. v. 4, 5.