pledge of the working together of all these things for the good of them that love God.

§ 3. In their primary sense the Sacraments are the signs and seals of the New Covenant, by which Almighty God actually puts us into possession of a title to the benefits and privileges attached to that cove nant, as a deed of gift, and by which he renews that title; but they convey also a pledge and engagement on the part of man, that he will fulfil the conditions, on which alone he can be permitted to enjoy the advantages of the agreement. The grant is conditional. Inward and spiritual grace is freely given unto us by God; but faith, repentance, and obedience, are required from man.

Sacraments are memorials, both to God and mau, by which each signifies his adherence to his part of the covenant established, by the free grace of God, between them.

The sealing, then, which is effected by the Sacraments, is a mutual act, by which God, of his free mercy, binds himself to impart, and actually does impart salutary grace; and man promises to fulfil the terms on which it is conferred,-which terms God, it is evident, has full liberty to prescribe according to his righteous will. Thus are God and man united by a mutual pledge!

§ 4. Besides being seals of covenant between God and man, Sacraments are outward marks by which Christians are distinguished from all who are not members of Christ's mystical body-the universal Church. It is the will of God, that all who are chosen

in Christ out of mankind should be called to the profession of the Gospel; and he has ordained certain distinctive rites, in order that the Church, consisting of the called, should not only be visible, but manifest, -in order that the kingdom of his Son should be established with power and glory. By means of these sacred ordinances profession is publicly made of our faith and hope; the truth of the Gospel is confirmed; and the fundamental articles of the Christian creed, the death and passion of our Saviour Christ, are preserved from corruption and neglect by the constant commemoration of these wonderful events.

§ 5. It is necessary to a Christian Sacrament that it should be ordained by Christ himself; for God alonethe Holy Trinity-can supply that grace, or confirmation and pledge of his own promises through Christ, which constitutes the virtue of a Sacrament. Without this grace, of which God is the sole author and donor, sacramental rites would be but empty signs, and unbeneficial shadows. If they were merely of human institution, unaccompanied with promise, they could not be the vehicles of divine grace; and must therefore degenerate into mere figurative acts and ceremonies.

§ 6. Christ has not only appointed the Sacraments and the mode of their administration, but also the persons by whom they are to be administered. To the ministers of the Gospel-those who are duly called and ordained to preach the Word—the administration of the Sacraments is given by similar authority. To the same individuals the declaration of the covenant, and the charge of its seals, are officially committed.

The efficacy of the Sacraments depends not, how. ever, upon the private character or intention of the minister, but upon the power and word of God; their virtue is not, therefore, in the smallest degree affected by any unworthiness in the person at whose hands they are received; unless, indeed, he be an apostate from the Christian faith, or excommunicated from the Church. It is only essential to their integrity and efficacy, that they should be administered according to the form prescribed in their institution, and by a person duly qualified by proper ecclesiasti cal authority.

§7. The first of the two parts of which a Sacrament consists is the outward and visible sign.

The element, or outward sign, possesses some similitude to the thing signified, but this resemblance is not sufficient of itself to constitute it a sacramental sign. It is the word of institution which makes of the element a Sacrament, and annexes the promise of grace to the due reception of it; which signifies an invisible and heavenly gift by an earthly and visi ble substance, as its pledge and representative. The consecration of the elements, without which they would remain bare elements, consists in the declaration of the purpose of Christ in the institution, and his command that they should be received; together with prayer, that he will be pleased to annex, according to his promise, the spiritual benefit to the outward sign.

§ 8. The second part of a Sacrament is the spiritual grace, or the thing signified; and this is a benefit conveyed to us in the new covenant, originating espe

cially in the sacrifice, the death and passion, of our Saviour Christ; and wrought in us by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.

9. The inward grace bears, indeed, some analogy to its emblem, by which it is represented and transmitted; but the union between the sign and the thing signified is not physical or local, nor is in such sense spiritual as that the thing signified is inherent in the sign: it is only relative and sacramental; the sign being the object of the senses, and the thing signified, of faith and these are united by the word of institution.

§ 10. The outward sign, when rightly received, is accompanied by the inward grace, but it is not the efficient cause of it. All grace is given to man on account of the merits of Jesus, and is effectually imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. Sacramental grace cannot, therefore, be conveyed by the Sacrament itself, as it is called, ex opere operato, without reference to the qualifications of the recipient, which in adults are the notions and intentions with which they receive the Sacrament.

§ 11. The dispositions necessary to the due reception of the Sacraments are Faith and Repentance-in all who are capable of them. To those who do not rightly use them the Sacraments are vain and fruitless; but to those who do rightly use them,since their efficacy depends upon the institution of Christ, and is actually conveyed by the outward sign, as by a channel, to every one who receives it with

infallible; the remission of sins, and the communication of the Spirit-by whom the work of grace is begun, continued, and ended in us-are assuredly imparted.

§ 12. The Church of England acknowledges only two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as generally necessary to salvation, -as essential to our admission into the Christian Church, and to our continuance in the enjoyment of its benefits; by the first of which, regeneration, a spiritual new birth, is ef. fected; while by the second, our growth in Christ is cherished, our souls are strengthened and refreshed, that we may be enabled, through the divine assistance, to make our calling and election sure.