This covenant is to be solemnly entered into by baptism, which is a holy sacrament instituted by Christ, in which a person professing the christian faith (or the infant of such) is baptized in water into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in signification and solemnization of the holy covenant; in which, as a penitent believer, (or the seed of such,) he giveth up himself (or is by the parent given up) to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, from henceforth (or from the time of natural capacity) to believe in, love, and fear this blessed Trinity, against the flesh, the devil, and the world; and this especially on the account of redemption; and is solemnly entered a visible member of Christ and his church, a child of God, and an heir of heaven. How great now is the mercy, and how great the duty that is before you! Is it a small mercy for this child to be accepted into the covenant of God, and washed from its original sin in the blood of Christ, which is signified and sealed by this sacramental washing in water, to be accepted as a member of Christ and of his church, where he vouchsafeth his protection and provision, and the means and Spirit of grace, and the renewed pardon of sin upon repentance, and for you to see this happiness of your child? The duty on your part is, first to see that you are stedfast in the faith and covenant of Christ, that you perish not yourself, and that your child is indeed the child of a believer; and then you are believingly and thankfully to dedicate your child to God, and to enter it into the covenant in which you stand. And you must know, that your faith, and consent, and dedication will suffice for your children no longer than till they come to age themselves; and then they must own their baptismal covenant, and personally renew it, and consent, and give up themselves to God, or else they will not be owned by Christ. You must therefore acquaint them with the doctrine of the gospel, as they grow up, and with the covenant now made, and bring them up in the fear of the Lord. And when they are actually penitent believers, they must present themselves to the pastors of the church, to be approved and received into the communion of the adult believers.
If the persons be before well instructed in the nature of Baptism, and time require brevity, the Minister may omit the first part of this Speech, and begin at the description of Baptism, or after it. If there be need of satisfying the people of the duty of baptizing infants, the Minister may here do it; otherwise let the questions here immediately follow.
_The Minister shall here say to the Parent, and the Parent answer as followeth._
It being the faithful and their seed to whom the promises are made; and no man will sincerely dedicate his child to that God that he believeth not in himself; I therefore require you to make profession of your own faith.
_Quest._ Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, &c.?
_Answ._ All this I do unfeignedly believe.
_Quest._ Do you repent of your sins, and renounce the flesh, the devil, and the world, and consent to the covenant of grace, giving up yourself to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as your Creator and reconciled Father, your Redeemer and your Sanctifier?
_Answ._ I do.
[Or thus rather, if the parent be fit to utter his own faith.]
_Quest._ Do you remain stedfast in the covenant which you made in baptism yourself?
_Answ._ Repenting of my sins, I do renounce the flesh, the devil, and the world, and I give up myself to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, my Creator and reconciled Father, my Redeemer and my Sanctifier.
_Quest._ Do you present and dedicate this child unto God, to be baptized into this faith, and solemnly engaged in this covenant unto God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, against the flesh, the devil, and the world?
_Answ._ It is my desire, (or,) I do present and dedicate him for this end.
_Quest._ Do you here solemnly promise, that if God continue it with you till it be capable of instructions, you will faithfully endeavour to acquaint this child with the covenant in which he was here by you engaged, and to instruct and exhort him to perform this covenant, as ever he looks for the blessings of it, or to escape the curses and wrath of God; that is, that he renounce the flesh, the world, and the devil; and live not after them: and that he believe in this one God, in three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, his Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. That he resign himself to him as his absolute Owner, and obey him as his supreme Governor, and love him as his most gracious Father, hoping to enjoy him as his felicity in endless glory?
_Answ._ I will faithfully endeavour it.