which, by nature, we cannot have;' a baptism, not only outward, but inward; a grace, which God only, in his bounteous mercy, can bestow; or, in the concluding words of the introductory address, that we may be baptized with water, and the Holy Ghost; and received into Christ's holy Church, and be made lively members of the same.' What it is to be received into Christ's holy Church, the succeeding Collect most instructively unfolds. The rite of Baptism confessedly finds us, by nature, the prey of sin and death; compassed about, on every side, with overwhelming perils and temptations. When first rescued, then, from such a depth of misery; when newly admitted within the bosom of Christ's Church, and, there, shielded alike from surrounding, and from indwelling evils,-how touchingly, and how truly, does the baptismal service liken our condition, to that of Noah and his family, entering the ark, amidst the horrors of the deluge? For, as the waters of the great abyss encompassed the righteous patriarch, and his little flock, even so, the abounding flood of iniquity assails, on all sides, the infant, struggling Christian; and, as Noah was borne onward still, by the divine vessel, in peace and security, above the wreck of a perishing world, so, the faithful Christian, who has been received into the Church

by Baptism, will, if only he maintain his faith firm unto the end, be carried, in perfect safety, through all the changes and chances of this mortal life, to rest, finally, and for ever, upon the heavenly mount of God.

With what emotions, then, of love, of gratitude, of trembling hope, and of holy fear, should not we be animated, whenever we read, and reflect on, the words of this baptismal prayer:

'Almighty, and everlasting God, who, of thy great mercy, didst save Noah and his family, in the ark, from perishing by water; and, also, didst safely lead the children of Israel, thy people, through the Red Sea, figuring, thereby, thy holy Baptism; and, by the baptism of thy wellbeloved Son, Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst sanctify water, to the mystical washing away of sin; We beseech thee, for thine infinite mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon this child; wash him, and sanctify him, with the Holy Ghost, that he, being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ's Church; and, being steadfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that, finally, he may come to the land of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

My brethren, season after season, and year after year, we hear and read the words of this inimitable petition. But, do we so hear or read them, as to imbibe their spirit? Do they touch our consciences? Do they reach, and dwell in, our hearts? Again and again, we witness, we unite in, the celebration of the Baptismal Sacrament. But, while we attend the new-born infant to his second birth; while we join with the congregation, in offering him up unto the Lord; while we ourselves pronounce his baptismal vows, and solemnly promise, in his behalf, renunciation of the devil, and all his works; relinquishment of the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same;' and crucifixion of the carnal desires of the flesh;' while we thus pray, or promise, in the name of infant innocence, do we always remember, do we ever duly recollect, that the case is our own? That, by the same so lemn vow, promise, and profession, we also have been dedicated to the service of God? That this vow, promise, and profession, has, or has not, been accomplished in us? And that, according to its accomplishment, or its violation, we must be happy, or miserable, for ever?

But, whether we think, or do not think, on these things, our Church, assuredly, has not

failed, to remind us of their application to us, and of our individual concern in them. After the Gospel has been read, we are made publicly to offer this solemn petition for ourselves :'Almighty and everlasting God, heavenly Father, we give thee humble thanks, that thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the knowledge of thy grace, and faith in thee: increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith in us, evermore.' That is, in other words, we pray, that the inceptive grace, by which we were regenerated in Baptism, may be so cherished, in our hearts and minds, that it may ripen into that perfective Grace of God, which bringeth forth the choicest fruits of the Spirit.

In the certain assurance, therefore, that our interest in the Baptismal Office, commencing in earliest infancy, must continue through the whole of life; that the responsibility then incurred, and the duties then enjoined, must grow with our growth and strengthen with our strength;-let us faithfully compare the testimony of our own hearts, with the language of our venerable Church. We, elsewhere, profess to believe of Baptism, that, being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace.' And are we not, indeed, conscious, that this imparted

grace is needful for us? If not, we must have been careless observers of human nature, and still more careless inspectors of our own consciences. For every one of us, who thinks at all, must feel, that man, in his natural state, has deep ground of uneasiness, of a moral and practical kind, which arises from a sense of sin; an uneasiness, which can be allayed, by nothing short of a moral, and rational relief; which no visionary persuasion, no voice from heaven, could effectually dispel; which leads the sufferer to exclaim, with the Psalmist, "Create in

a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me:" or, in the language of Saint Paul, "Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" An uneasiness, which, consequently, can be removed by nothing less, than a real change of nature; than a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness.'

For this inborn tendency, this instinctive effort, of fallen nature, to arise; of the spirit of man, to awake, from the death of sin, to the life of righteousness,-provision is fully made, in our Baptismal Service. In the first Collect, we implore 'deliverance from God's wrath.' But, in what is this deliverance made to consist? Not in the reversal of a sentence, not in the