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are presented to baptism, when we find, that she requires sponsors to undertake the charge of conveying to the baptized child, those principles of faith and piety which, according to the divine appointment, are to operate in concurrence with the grace of baptism. I need only add, that the mere mention of this subject, carries with it an implied censure of the strongest kind, with regard to the levity of too many persons in undertaking the sponsorial office, and to the subsequent neglect of its obligations.

CHAPTER V.

AN EXHORTATION TO THOSE WHO DESIRE CONFIR

MATION.

As the duty of parents, with regard to the qualifications of those who now come to be Confirmed, is first in order of time, I have judged it proper to advert to it before I proceed to the admonitions, which the occasion suggests as proper to be addressed to those persons themselves. With these admonitions I shall now proceed to the conclusion of my discourse.

To you then who desire to offer yourselves to the Bishop for Confirmation, I now particularly address myself, with an earnest and anxious claim for your devout and fixed attention.

You are to consider, that the profession of the Gospel is a reasonable service, and that those who undertake it must do it upon reasonable grounds: this could not be done at the reception of baptism in your infant years: you are therefore called upon to do it now. You are also to remember,

that it is the covenant of baptism which admits you to a state of salvation; but that the grace and mercy conveyed by baptism can be available to eternal life, only in those, whose sincere and serious purpose it is to fulfil the obligation of the cove

nant.

Remember then I pray you, that this is a matter between God and yourselves: and that all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom you have to do. If there be any thing false and hollow in your profession, shall not God find it out? There is no darkness which can hide a wicked purpose from his view: he has denounced the most awful severity on all hypocrites and on every one that maketh a lie: and you cannot doubt, that the blackest guilt of hypocrisy is theirs, who, while they thus act a deceitful part towards the Searcher of hearts, convert into a mockery that gracious covenant, which he, in the death of his Son, has provided for their salvation.

Reflect most seriously on the nature of that covenant to which you are about to dedicate yourselves: consider the awful interest which depends on your behaviour relating to it. Your calling is holiness, and the end of it everlasting life. Should you maintain the obligation of this calling; you will

reap, in a state of endless joy, the benefit of Christ's precious death and all-prevailing merit. Should you, by a profane or reckless life, fall away from it; you are to consider beforehand, what your danger will be. You are to remember, that the Spirit of God will not always strive with evil men: that lesser sins prepare the mind for greater: that wilful transgression frequently leads to hardness of heart and blindness of judgment: and that these are the common forerunners of destruction. So little hope is there in regard to those who wilfully go astray, that any available means can ever be employed for building up the ruins of their former innocence and peace!

No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. The Gospel calls upon us, not only to enter on a holy life, but to continue in it: its promises are only to them that persevere. Therefore count well the cost of your undertaking, now that you are entering on it. Have a full view of all the struggles of a Christian life. Contemplate the power of that evil nature which adheres to us; which is continually prompting to the resistance of God's will; which is ever diverting the mind from heaven and holiness, from grace and glory, and bending it to the pursuit

of vain objects and sensual delight; which will ever fight against us while this life shall last; and of which the genuine fruits are impurity, wickedness, and death. Contemplate the many incidents of life, which, in your future commerce with the world, will throw fuel on this unholy fire; the many temptations which are likely to occur, both of forbidden pleasure and of forbidden profit; the captivation of worldly pride, the witchcraft of loose and debauched company; especially contemplate, before you encounter them, those wicked and seducing arts, so unhappily employed by the wantonness and depravity of each sex for the corruption of. the other; reflect on the house which is the way of hell, which goeth down to the chambers of death, and on the paths which they who follow take not hold of the paths of life. Reflect on all the arduous duties, the painful conflicts, the selfdenial, and the bearing of the cross, which are essential to a Christian life. Reflect, that our fidelity to Christ is to be maintained under all circumstances; that it must not be seduced by any invitations of pleasure, or shaken by any extremity of suffering, or by the most terrific aspect of danger.

What shall we say then? Shall we decline a Christian life by reason of the self-denial to which

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