N00254:240
Practical truths tending to promote the power of godliness
Practical truths tending to promote the power of godliness: wherein several important duties, are urged, and the evil of divers common sins, is evinced; delivered in sundry sermons. / By Increase Mather, teacher of a church at Boston in New-England. ; [Ten lines of Scripture texts]
printed by Samuel Green upon assignment of Samuel Sewall, 1682
Baptised Persons are under Sacred and Awful Obligation to the Lord.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
2. Baptism should be improved unto thankfulness and admiration at the grace of God in Christ Jesus. How wonderful, is that Grace, that such as we are, should be of the Lords Family? That the mark appertaining to his sheep should be set upon us; and that out Children with us, have been solemnly owned as visibly belonging to God and to Jesus Christ, having the mark of his lambs on them! That Christ should put in for our Children in the first place, and by commanding his mark to be set upon them, bring them under engagement to be the Lords, before ever the Devil hath had any opportunity to tempt them unto sin. O we should admire this Grace of God.
2. Baptisme should be improved unto thankfulness and admiration at the grace of God in Christ Jesus. How wonderful, is that Grace, that such as we are, should be of the Lords Family? That the mark appertaining to his sheep should be set upon us; and that out Children with us, have been solemnly owned as visibly belonging to God and to Jesus Christ, having the mark of his lambs on them! That Christ should put in for our Children in the first place, and by commanding his mark to be set upon them, bring them under engagement to be the Lords, before ever the Devil hath had any opportunity to tempt them unto sin. O we should admire this Grace of God.
3. We should improve our baptism as an help against Temptation. If tempted unto any wickedness, we should remember that we are Baptised into Christ, and therefore may not sin against him. I have read of a godly person, that when tempted unto that which was evil in the fight of ⟨p. 115⟩God, would reply and repel the Temptation, by saying, Nay, Satan, I may not, I dare not do this thing, because I have been baptised into the Name of Christ. If we be at any time tempted to despair of Gods mercy; we should then think of our baptism. Luther saith, that when he was molested with temptations of that nature, he used to consider with himself Baptizatus sum & credo in crucifixum, I am baptised, and I believe in him that was crucified, so would the temptation vanish. In drowning times, when our souls are ready to sink under discouragements, we should remember and improve our baptism considering that thereby our rising from under the waters of affliction, (as well as the Resurrection of our bodies out of the grave) is signified and sealed,