WORD IN SEASON 
 
 CANDIDATES FOR CONFIRMATION; 
 
 BT 
 
 y 
 
 CHARLES PETTIT M'lLVAINE, D. D. 
 
 BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN 
 THE DIOCESE OF OHIO. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 DANIELS & SMITH. 
 
 1852. 
 
COLLINS, PRINTERS, 
 
A WOED IN SEASON 
 
 TO 
 
 CANDDATES FOR CONFIRMATION. 
 
 When a serious minded person has 
 it in contemplation to offer himself to 
 his Pastor, as a candidate for the Rite 
 of Confirmation, or Laying on of Hands, 
 as practised in the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church, there are three points on 
 which he may feel his need of instruc- 
 tion; namely, the Apostolical Origin 
 of Confirmation ; its Nature and Spiri- 
 tual Signijication, and the Qualifica- 
 tions of a worthy Receiver thereof. 
 
 On these three points, in the order in 
 which they are here stated, the author 
 
 ^3) 
 
4 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 proposes now to write. And lie will do 
 so, as if he had before him a company 
 of persons desirous of instruction with 
 a view to the presenting themselves for 
 admission to the ordinance in view. 
 The first thing to be attended to is — , 
 
 I. The Apostolical Origin op 
 Confirmation. 
 
 For the better understanding of 
 what will be said on this head, observe 
 that the ordinance is called, in our 
 Prayer Book, by two names. The ser- 
 vice for its administration has this title. 
 — viz : " The Order of Confirmation, 
 or Laying on of Ha7ids upon those who 
 are baptized," &c. The more modern 
 name of the two is Confirmation, which 
 comes from the ordinance, being, on 
 the part of the recipient, a ratification 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 5 
 
 or confirmation of his baptismal vows ; 
 and from its being also accompanied 
 with prayer, on the part of the admin- 
 istrator, for the increase of the Holy 
 Spirit, to confirm and strengthen the 
 person confirmed in all grace, until he 
 attain eternal life in heaven. But the 
 earliest name, and that under which we 
 read of it in the Scriptures, is " ilm 
 laying on of hands ;^^ a name taken 
 from the outward gesture by which the 
 administrator, who lays his hands on 
 each recipient, with solemn prayer, in- 
 dicates that the latter is solemnly con- 
 secrated, or set apart, to the service of 
 Grod, and that for him, individually, the 
 sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost 
 are prayed for by the Church. With 
 this introduction, let us see how this 
 laying on of hands originated. 
 
6 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 Until that storm of persecution, under 
 which Stephen was the first Martyr, 
 had burst upon the Church of Christ, 
 the Apostles had, since the Ascension 
 of the Lord, confined their ministry to 
 Jerusalem and its vicinity. No mes- 
 senger of the gospel seems to have gone 
 from that metropolis of Christianity, to 
 carry the terms of salvation to any 
 village in Judea or Samaria. But now 
 that Saul made havoc of the Church, 
 and the Christian disciples " were all 
 scattered abroad, except the Apostles ;" 
 the heralds of glad tidings " went everj" 
 where, preaching the word." Among 
 them was Philip, one of the seven 
 Deacons. He " went to the city of 
 Samaria, and preached Christ unto 
 them.'*' His word was blessed of God. 
 The Samaritans believed, and " were 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 7 
 
 baptized^ both men andwo?nen," When 
 the Apostles, at Jerusalem, had heard 
 of this, they sent two of their own num- 
 ber, Peter and John, to confirm and 
 carry on the work which Philip had so 
 auspiciously commenced ; who, when 
 they had reached Samaria, and had 
 prayed for the baptized believers, " laid 
 their hands on them and they received 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 In this historical notice, taken from 
 the 8th chapter of the Acts of the ^ 
 Apostles, we learn, that in the very 
 beginning of the propagation of the 
 Gospel, by the Apostles, they layed 
 tlwir hands on tlwse who luid 'previously 
 been baptized. 
 
 We find another instance of the same 
 thing in the 19th chapter of the Acts, 
 where it is written that when Paul 
 
8 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 came to Ephesus, lie found certain dis- 
 ciples to whom lie said, " have ye re- 
 ceived the Holy Ghost since ye be- 
 lieved ?" These disciples had received 
 no baptism but that of John the Baptist. 
 On hearing Paul speak of Christ, (it is 
 written,) " they were baptized in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus." And what 
 followed their baptism? The laying 
 on of hands. The next verse says, 
 " And ivhen Paul had laid his hands 
 iqjon them, the Holy Ghost came on 
 them," &c. 
 
 Were these passages unattended by 
 any subsequent portion of Scripture, to 
 indicate that the " laying on of hands" 
 upon the baptized was intended to be 
 practised generally in the Church, in 
 subsequent, as well as Apostolic times, 
 nothing very material perhaps could be 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 9 
 
 inferred from them in regard to the 
 duty of the Universal Church. 
 
 But we are not left without a more 
 decisive evidence of the station occupied 
 by it in the primitive Church, nor of 
 that which it was intended to hold in 
 all succeeding times. 
 
 In the sixth chapter of the Epist^ 
 to the Hebrews, first and second verses,'^ 
 we have an enumeration of what St. 
 Paul called " tJie principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ.^^ Among these, is 
 the rite we are speaking of. The pas- 
 sage is thus : " Therefore leaving the 
 'principles of the doctrine of Christ, let 
 us go on unto perfection, not laying 
 again the foundation of repentance from 
 dead works, and of faith towards God, 
 of the doctrine of baptisms, and laying 
 on of hands, and of resurrection of the 
 
10 BISHOP M'ILVAINE 
 
 dead, and of eternal judgment." Now 
 what St. Paul here calls " principles 
 of the doctrine of Christ," are in the 
 proceeding chapter, called " the first 
 principles of the oracles of God ;" — 
 those parts in which men were usually 
 and properly first instructed ; — the 
 rudiments of Christianity, as the letters 
 of the alphabet are the elements of 
 reading. But among these rudiments, 
 we find not only repentance^ and faith, 
 and tlw resurrection, and the judgment, 
 but we find baptisms, also, and the lay. 
 ing on of Jiands. 
 
 But what was that "laying on of 
 hands," of which the Apostle so em- 
 phatically speaks 1 Could he have re- 
 ferred to that practised in the ordination 
 of ministers ? Certainly not ; for ordina- 
 tion being confined to a small portion of 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 
 
 the Church, could not be ranked with 
 baptism and repentance, &c., as a first 
 principle of the doctrine of Christ. For 
 the same reason, could he not have re- 
 ferred to the imposition of hands then 
 used in the healing of the sick. But 
 these are the only applications of that 
 outward sign recorded in the New 
 Testament, as connected with the min- 
 istry of the Apostles, except that of 
 which we are speaking — the " laying on 
 of hands," as spoken of in the historical 
 passages before quoted. We have there- 
 fore, no alternative, unless we suppose 
 the passage in Hebrews to be unintel- 
 ligible, but to conclude that it was that 
 to which the Apostle there referred. 
 Now let it be distinctly observed that 
 the laying on of hands is here called a 
 " first principle," or, a rudiment of, the 
 
12 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 doctrine of Christ ; that it is placed in 
 company with an ordinance and with 
 doctrines so elementary, so universal, 
 so certainly intended for all places and 
 all ages of the Church, as Baptism, Re- 
 pentance, Faith, &c.; that in the order 
 in which these are mentioned, repent- 
 ance and faith precede baptism, as its 
 essential preparation, and baptism pre- 
 cedes the " laying on of hands," as if 
 the latter were then, as it is now, the 
 supplement of the former ; that in this 
 Apostolic enumeration, not a word is 
 said to indicate that any difference was 
 intended, in point of permanence and 
 universality in the Church, between 
 baptism and the laying on of hands, but 
 both are spoken of as alike elementary, 
 and are ranked alike with doctrines 
 which we are sure must continue as 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 13 
 
 long as the sun and moon endure. 
 What can be more satisfactory evidence 
 that "the laying on of hands" was 
 intended, like baptism, for the Church 
 in all ages, and among all people ? 
 
 It is of no force to object, that in the 
 case of the Samaritan converts, this im- 
 position of hands was accompanied by 
 the conferring of the "miraculous gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost." For even suppos- 
 ing that all those converts received 
 those gifts, of which there is no assur- 
 ance, yet as such gifts were not inten- 
 ded for all times and all Christians, the 
 «' laying on of hands" as a " principle'' 
 or elementary part " of the doctrine of 
 Christ" could not have been inseparable 
 from them ; but must have been inten- 
 ded, just as much as repentance, and 
 
14 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 faith, and baptism, to be continued 
 without them. 
 
 Again. We have no reason to sup- 
 pose that miraculous gifts were a more 
 universal accompaniment of the imposi- 
 tion of hands upon Christians generally, 
 than they were of the same outward 
 gesture when used in ordaining to the 
 ministry. But we have not ceased to 
 imitate the apostolic practice of the 
 laying on of hands, with prayer for the 
 Holy Ghost, when persons are set apart 
 for the ministry, because we cannot, 
 like the Apostles, confer the miraculous 
 gifts of the Spirit. And we see not 
 why, in the same circumstances, we 
 should not as well continue to follow 
 their example in reference to Christians 
 in general, and thus when sinners pro- 
 fess "repentance from dead works," 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 15 
 
 and " faith towards God," and have 
 obeyed " the doctrine of Baptisms," 
 confer upon them that which is next in 
 the Apostle's Catalogue of "principles 
 of the doctrine of Christ," " the laying 
 on of hands^^ with solemn prayer that 
 they " may increase in the Holy Spirit 
 more and more," and so be prepared 
 for the two last of those principles, 
 " resurrection of the dead, and eternal 
 judgment." 
 
 As to how the above passages of 
 scripture should be applied, we have 
 the undivided testimony of the earliest 
 centuries of the church. The earliest 
 writers refer to the narrative concern- 
 ing the Samaritan converts as one of 
 the grounds on which the rite was ob- 
 served in their days ; — they uniformly 
 ascribe the origin of Confirmation to 
 
16 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 the Apostles, declaring that it was 
 • practised, in subsequent times, because 
 of apostolic example, and because the 
 church believed that the Apostles ex- 
 pected it to be an ordinance of the 
 church for all times and places. We 
 might as well doubt whether the sacra- 
 ment of baptism and the Lord's supper 
 were practised in the church during 
 the earliest centuries, as whether the 
 rite of laying on of hands upon the 
 baptized was in universal use. /The 
 same books, the same legislation, the 
 same councils, that speak of either, 
 speak of all — and of all, as alike noto- 
 ^ rious and universal. Tertullian, in 
 the 2d century, speaks of it as univer- 
 sally practised in his time. "Hands 
 (he says) were laid upon them, {baptized 
 persons,) by benediction, calling for, 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 17 
 
 and inYoking, the Holy Gliost." Cy- 
 prian, in the third century, speaking 
 of the laying on of hands by the Apos- 
 tles, upon the converts \^•hom Philip 
 baptized in Samaria, adds : " Which is 
 still practised among z'S." Jerome, of 
 the fourth century, speaking of the 
 rite, says : " Dost thou ?.sk me where 
 this is written? In the Acts of the 
 Apostles. But if there were no au- 
 thority of scripture, at all, for it, the 
 consent ofiJie ivhok icorld, to this point, 
 might well challenge the force of a 
 precept." Again, the same Father, 
 says: "The Bishop is to impose his 
 hands on those who are baptized by 
 Presbyters and Deacon?, for the invo- 
 cation of the Holy Spirit." Another 
 Father of the same century, Augustine, 
 says : " We acknowledge imposition of 
 
18 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 hands with prayer, that they which are 
 so taught might receive strength of 
 God's Spirit, so to continue." It is 
 impossible to suppose that this rite 
 could have been at so early a period, 
 universal among Christians, and traced 
 without a question, to the example and 
 sanction of the Apostles, had it not 
 been of such high origin, and intended 
 originally to be thus perpetuated in the 
 church. — Perpetuated it was without 
 exception, until the sixteenth century. 
 Confounded, then, with the corruptions 
 with which it had been encumbered 
 under the deforming hand of Popery, 
 some leaders of the Reformation des- 
 pairing of a separation between the 
 primitive institution and its modern 
 abuses, abandoned both together. 
 The Lutheran Churches were among 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 19 
 
 those which did not lay aside Confirma- 
 tion, in cleansing Christianity from Po- 
 pery. The Presbyterian Church of 
 Geneva was among those which did. 
 But that, in doing so, the primitive 
 origin of the ordinance and its spiritual 
 value, when preserved in its native 
 simplicity, were not denied or ques- 
 tioned by the great Reformer of that 
 Church, is manifest from his writings. 
 In the -Ith Book of his Institutes, un- 
 der the head of Confirmation, Calvin 
 says : " It was an ancient custom in the 
 church for the children of Christians, 
 after they were come to years of dis- 
 cretion, to be presented to the bishop 
 in order to fulfil that duty which was 
 required of adults who offered them- 
 selves to baptism. For such persons 
 were placed among the catechumens, 
 
20 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 till being duly instructed in the myste- 
 ries of Christianity, they were enabled 
 to make a confession of their faith be- 
 fore the bishop and all the people. 
 Therefore those who had been baptized 
 in their infancy, because they had not 
 then made such a confession of faith 
 before the church, at the close of child- 
 hood, or the commencement of adoles- 
 cence, were again presented by their 
 parents, and were examined by the 
 bishop. That this exercise, which de- 
 served to be regarded as sacred and 
 solemn, might have the greater dignity 
 and reverence, they also practised the 
 ceremony of iiuposUion oj hands. Thus 
 the youth, after having given satisfac- 
 tion concerning his faith, was dismissed 
 with a solemn benediction. This cus- 
 tom is frequently mentioned by the an- 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 21 
 
 cient writers. Such imposition of hands, 
 as is simply connected with benediction, 
 / highly approve and wish it icere now 
 restored to its primitive use, uncorrupted 
 by superstition. Succeeding times have 
 almost obliterated the ancient practice, 
 and introduced, I know not what coun- 
 terfeit confirmation as a. sacrament of 
 God." Then after showing with what 
 superstitions and errors Popery had 
 deformed the original institution, he 
 says, " It was the Lord's will that 
 those visible and wonderful graces of 
 the Holy Spirit which he then poured 
 out on his people, should be admin- 
 istered and distributed by his Apostles 
 with imposition of hands. Now I do 
 not conceive that the imposition of 
 hands concealed any higher mystery, 
 but am of opinion that this ceremony 
 
22 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 was employed by tliem, as an external 
 expression of their commending, and 
 as it were, presenting to God, the per- 
 son upon whom they laid their hands " 
 — " I sincerely wish that we retained 
 the custom which I have stated was 
 practised among the ancients, before 
 this abortive image of a sacrament 
 made its appearance. For it was not 
 such a confirmation as the Romanists 
 pretend," &c. — Institutes^ b. iv. §§ 4, 
 5, 6 and 13. 
 
 It is one of the instances of that 
 eminent wisdom with which the Church 
 of England conducted her reformation 
 from the corruptions of the pap cy, 
 that this ordinance, instead of being 
 renounced because grievously corrup- 
 ted, was cleansed, reformed, and re- 
 tained, because, though defiled and ccr- 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 23 
 
 rupted, it ua-5 still Apostolic. As she 
 retained the Scriptures, though found at 
 the reformation almost buried under 
 the traditions of men, and joined, as of 
 only equal authority, with the apocry- 
 phal books ; as she retained Episcopacy, 
 though it had been crushed under the 
 usurpations of the Pope's supremacy ; 
 and the Liturgy, though it had been 
 mingled in all directions with idolatrous 
 services to the Virgin, and Saints, and 
 Angels ; not thinking that the pure 
 gold was any the less to be valued and 
 kept, because it had been associated 
 with ' wood, hay, and stubble ;' so did 
 she retain the laying on of hands, as 
 derived from the Apostles and intended 
 for the Church in all ages. 
 
 In this connection, we may ask the 
 attention of the reader to the following 
 
24 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 extract from a valuable Report made 
 in years past, to the General Assembly 
 of the Presbyterian Church of the 
 United States, by a committee appoint- 
 ed to report on the best method of 
 treating those who had been baptized. 
 The document is valuable as a just ex- 
 position of the relations between the 
 church and baptized children, as well 
 as for its testimony on our present 
 subject. 
 
 "The Primitive Church considered 
 herself as the common mother of all 
 baptized children, and exercised a cor- 
 responding care over them, that they 
 might be trained up as a generation to 
 serve the Lord. She did not indeed, in 
 so many words, in her public confes- 
 sions, adopted and enlarged from time 
 to time to meet prevailing errors, avow 
 
ox CONFIRMATION. 25 
 
 the principle : nor -was it necessary, for 
 the principle was recognized in the re- 
 quirement of ' a promise or vow from 
 the baptized person, that he would live 
 according to the rules of Christanity.' 
 As this TOW could not be made by in- 
 fants, it was required from those who 
 presented them. These persons, whe- 
 ther parents or others, besides receiving 
 themselves, as members of the church, 
 the seal of baptism, become responsible 
 not only for the instruction, but for the 
 admonition and rebuke, if necessary, of 
 the children baptized. Individuals of 
 eminence in the Primitive Church, in- 
 cidentally avow the principle, and draw 
 conclusions from it suitable to the cir- 
 cumstances which led them to avow the 
 principle. Thus Agustine says, ' child- 
 ren were presented to baptism, not so 
 
26 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 much by those in whose hands they 
 were brought, (though by them too if 
 they were good faithful men,) as by the 
 whole society of saints. The whole 
 Church was their mother.' Hence he 
 concludes the Church is bound to main- 
 tain baptized children, who in the course 
 of Providence should be deprived of 
 support. That this principle was in 
 fact avowed by the Primitive Church in 
 her practice, though not in words in her 
 confession, appears from the design of 
 the rite of Confirmation ; the attention 
 which was paid to the instruction of 
 baptized children ; and the discipline 
 actually inflicted upon them in case of 
 improper conduct. 
 
 " It appears that a rite, called' Con- 
 firmation, was administered by the im- 
 position of the hand of the Minister, 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 27 
 
 or Bishop, or Elder, together with 
 prayer, on baptized children at a cer- 
 tain age. Both Calvin and Owen ac- 
 knowledged that this practice existed 
 at a very early period in the Church. 
 The latter thus states its design ; 
 'When they, (that is, the children of 
 believers, baptized in their infancy) 
 were established in the knowledge of 
 these necessary truths, (of which he 
 makes mention before,) and had resolved 
 on personal obedience unto the Gospel, 
 they were offered unto the fellowship 
 of the faithful : and here, on giving the 
 same account of their faith and repen- 
 tance which others had done before, 
 they were baptized, they were admitted 
 into the conmiunion of the Church ; the 
 elders thereof laying their hands on 
 them, in token of their acceptation, and 
 
28 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 praying for their confirmation in tlie 
 faith.' This rite, which originally was 
 confined to those who were baptized in 
 their infancy, was afterwards adminis- 
 tered to adults, immediately upon their 
 baptism. In process of time, when the 
 Church became grossly corrupted in 
 her practice as well as doctrine, it was 
 administered to infants immediately 
 after baptism, that they might receive 
 the Lord's supper. — This historical fact, 
 while it exhibits a most deplorable su- 
 perstition, strikingly illustrates the de- 
 sign of Confirmation, as already stated 
 from Dr. Owen. By this rite, ' it 
 came to pass, saith the judicious Hook- 
 er, that children in expectation thereoT 
 were seasoned with the principles of 
 true religion, before' malice and corrupt 
 examples depraved their minds ; a good 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 29 
 
 foundation was laid betimes for direc- 
 tion of the course of their whole lives : 
 the seed of the Church of God was pre- 
 served sincere and sound : the prelates 
 and fathers of God's family, to whom 
 the care of their souls belonged, saw bj 
 trial and examination of them, a part 
 of their own heavy burthen discharged ; 
 reaped comfort by beholding the first 
 beginnings of true godliness in their 
 tender years, glorified Him whose praise 
 they found in the mouth of infants ; and 
 neglected not so fit an opportunity of 
 giving every one fatherly encourage- 
 ment and exhortation : whereunto im- 
 jjosition of Jiands, and prayer being ad- 
 ded, our warrant for the great good 
 effect thereof, is the same which Patri- 
 archs, Prophets, Priests, Apostles, Fa- 
 thers, and men of God have had, for 
 
30 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 such their particular invocations and 
 benedictions as no man, I suppose, pro- 
 fessing truth and religion, will easily 
 think to have been without fruit.' This 
 rite of Confirmation, thus administered 
 to baptized children, when arrived at 
 competent years, and previously in- 
 structed and prepared for it, with the 
 express view of their admission to the 
 Lord's supper, shows clearly that the 
 Primitive Church in her purest days, 
 exercised the authority of a mother 
 over her baptized children." 
 
 II. Let us next consider the nature and 
 spiritual signification of this ordinance. 
 It is the ordinance preparatory to the 
 admission of a baptized person to the 
 full communion of the Church, in the 
 Lord's supper. It is the mode used in 
 our church, by which those who desire 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 31 
 
 to partake of the Lord's supper, first 
 publicly profess their faith in Christ, 
 with their cordial consecration of them- 
 selves to his will ; and upon which they 
 are admitted to, and expected to par- 
 take in, the highest act of the outward 
 and visible communion of the house of 
 God. All the older and better regu- 
 lated denominations of Protestant Chris- 
 tians have felt the need of, and have, 
 with more or less constancy, practised, 
 some public ceremony preparatory to 
 admission of the baptized to the Lord's 
 supper, by which their spiritual prepa- 
 ration and faith might be examined into 
 and professed before the congregation. 
 Confirmation is the mode practised 
 among us, in preference to any other 
 way — and we think it no little evidence 
 of its being the best w^ay, that it is 
 
32 BISHOP M'lLVAINE 
 
 derived from, the usage of the ^Vpostles 
 and the uninterrupted usage of the 
 Church from their times. 
 
 In Confirmation, should you come 
 thereto, you will publicly profess and 
 declare that you heartily consent to the 
 vows undertaken, in your name, at 
 your baptism ] that you acknowledge 
 yourselves under entire obligation to 
 keep them, and that you do devote your- 
 selves, solemnly and sincerely, to that 
 life of holy obedience to which they 
 bind you. What you will do in receiv- 
 ing confirmation, is precisely the same 
 in point of self-consecration to God, as 
 what an adult person does in receiving 
 baptism, with this single exception, 
 that in confirmation, vows previously 
 made are renewed and ratified^ while in 
 adult baptism they are for the first time 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 33 
 
 made and professed. But as to the 
 seriousness and solemnity of the en- 
 gagements and professions involved in 
 the two cases, there is no diflference. 
 Read, there, in your prayer book, what 
 an adult promises and professes when 
 baptized ; and you will see what you are 
 to do when confirmed. He professes 
 not merely that he will^ but that he 
 does renounce the devil aiid all his works, 
 the vain pomp and glory of the ivorld, 
 with all covetous desires of the same, and 
 the sivful desires of the fleshy so as hj 
 God's help, not to follow nor be led by 
 them. This is evidently a positive 
 abandonment of all that is offensive to 
 God. It includes every department, 
 every source, every form of sin. ^^ hat- 
 ever is kicluded in conformity to the 
 world, in being of the world, or in liv- 
 3 
 
34 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 ing unto yourselves, is unquestionably 
 embraced. Nothing offensive to God, 
 or injurious to the soul, is excepted. 
 It is as perfect and exalted a profession 
 of a determination to forsake all sin and 
 to live above the world, and to deny 
 self and cultivate a spiritual and heav- 
 enly mind, as any communicant at the 
 Lord's table is ever called to make. 
 But further : The adult, in his baptism, 
 besides professing his belief in the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, as expressed in 
 the Apostles' creed, promises, by the 
 help of God, ohedientiij to keep God's 
 hohj will and commandments, and walk 
 in tJw same all tJie days of his life. This 
 covers the whole ground of active, 
 earnest, devoted piety. It is a solemn 
 promise and profession of devoting him- 
 self to all that belongs to the life of a 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 35 
 
 Christian — the whole spirit, and walk, 
 and conversation of a faithful servant 
 of God. It embraces all that is strict 
 and holy and heavenly-minded in the 
 ways of a devoted follower of Christ, 
 who lives as a pilgrim and stranger on 
 earth, and sets his aflfections on things 
 above. 
 
 Such are the serious and thorough 
 terms of the profession you will make 
 before Grod and his Church, when, to 
 the question of the Bishop, in the Con- 
 firmation service, you shall answer in 
 those two short words, " I do." This 
 answer is easily uttered, but how much 
 does it mean ! ' I do henceforth re- 
 nounce the love and service of the 
 world — I will not follow it — its covetous 
 desires shall not lead me, nor will I 
 seek my pleasure in its pomp and vanities. 
 
36 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 I will live above it, and set my affec- 
 tions on things in heaven. Whatever 
 is sinful I renounce ; whatever is duty 
 I embrace. To all the will of God, as 
 revealed in the Bible, I devote myself. 
 Does he command me to be holy, to be 
 humble, to walk in love, to live by 
 faith, to be spiritually minded, to im- 
 prove my talents for his service, to en- 
 deavor to do good to my fellow creatures, 
 to glorify him with my body and spirit, 
 and to take the Holy Scriptures as 
 the rule by which my mind and heart 
 and all my life are to be guided, and 
 by which every question of faith and 
 duty is to be determined — -the book 
 which I am to search and follow as the 
 lamp of my feet and the light of my 
 path 1 To this reasonable service I do 
 publicly profess, in reliance on his grace, 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 37 
 
 to consecrate myself for the remainder 
 of my life.' 
 
 Thus you perceive that Confirmation 
 is not a mere ceremony, to which one 
 may come without any reference to the 
 question whether he has given his 
 heart and life to Christ. You see that 
 it is nothing less than a public pro- 
 fession of personal religion. It is a 
 solemn avowal before God and the 
 Church, that henceforth, by His grace, 
 you will live no longer unto yourselves, 
 but unto him that died for you. Hence 
 the strong language in which the pro- 
 fession, undertaken in baptism and re- 
 newed in confirmation, is expressed in 
 the baptismal service. " Baptism doth 
 represent unto us our profession, which 
 is to follow the example of our Saviour 
 Christ, and be made like unto him, that 
 
38 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 as he died and rose again for us ; so 
 should we, who are baptized, die from 
 sin and rise again unto righteousness, 
 continually mortifying all our evil and 
 corrupt affections, and daily proceeding 
 in all virtue and godliness of living." 
 
 The candidate for confirmation should 
 well consider the full meaning and ex- 
 tent of what under the above exposi- 
 tion, he will be expected to declare and 
 profess. And as there is too often 
 manifested a sad looseness of construc- 
 tion and of practice on the part of those 
 who have been confirmed, as to worldly 
 conformity, a few more words on that 
 point will not be out of place. 
 
 If ihe writer be asked, whether, in his 
 view, among " the poinps and vanities 
 of this uicked ivorld^"^ which are re- 
 nounced in baptism, are included 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 39 
 
 theatrical amusements and dances ; he 
 answers without hesitation, in the affir- 
 mative. If he be asked whether, under 
 the Apostle's exhortation, " be not con- 
 formed to the world ^"^ they are, in his 
 view, included as matters of worldly 
 conformity to be forsaken ; he answers, 
 certainly. If he be asked whether 
 those things are consistent with the 
 cultivation of a spiritual mind, and the 
 maintaining of a rightful Christian in- 
 fluence, by example, for the good of 
 man and the glory of God ; he must 
 answer, they are, in his view, very in- 
 consistent with such duties. He thinks 
 they are renounced in baptism ; that 
 their renunciation is ratified in con- 
 firmation, and professed in every par- 
 ticipation of the Lord's Supper. He 
 prays the time may come when all 
 
40 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 comnninicants will unite in rejecting 
 these things ; and he trusts that all 
 who come to be confirmed, under his 
 hands, will consider themselves as 
 solemnly separated from them. The 
 question, in his view, is very simple. 
 It is not, as it is often, delusively, put, 
 what is the harm of dancing or of 
 dramatic representations, and the like, 
 under any conceivable simplicity and 
 abstraction, which because it would 
 present no inducement to a vrorldly 
 taste, would never be customary ; but it 
 is, what is their inconsistency with the 
 spirit, example, profession, and whole 
 spiritual walk of a Christian, when they 
 are contemplated in the condition, and 
 surrounded by all the associations, in 
 which the world always has had, and 
 always will have, them. We must 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 41 
 
 take them as they are, and are to be. 
 We must look at them as to the state 
 of mind they engender ; the time they 
 waste ; the expenses they involve ; the 
 obstacles they place to the saving in- 
 fluence of the word and ordinances of 
 God; the difl&culties they make for a 
 pious parent endeavoring to train his 
 children, according to their baptism, in 
 the nurture of the Lord : and the offence 
 which they certainly are to the great 
 mass of serious, earnest. Christian peo- 
 ple. We feel well assured that these 
 things are " of Hue world,''^ while true 
 Christians are not. When professing 
 Christians, as a community, are in the 
 habit of these things, spiritual, earnest, 
 active piety cannot flourish, formality 
 must prvail, and the world will mould 
 
42 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 the diurch much more than the church 
 will sanctify the world.* 
 
 Here it is proper to say that our 
 
 * In the year 1817, these things came be- 
 fore the General Convention of our church, 
 and the House of Eisliops entered on their 
 journal tlie following : " The House of Bishops, 
 solicitous for the preservation of the purity of 
 the Church, and the piety of its members, are 
 induced to press on the clergy the important 
 duty, with a discreet but earnest zeal, of warn- 
 ing the people of their respective cures of the 
 danger of an induldgence in those worldly 
 pleasures which may tend to withdraw their 
 affections from spiritual things. And especi- 
 ally on the subject of theatrical amusements, 
 to which some peculiar circumstances have 
 called their attention, lliey do not hesitate to 
 express their unanimous opinion, that these 
 amusements, as well from their licentious ten- 
 dency, as from the strong temptations to vice 
 which they afford, ought not to be freqaented." 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 43 
 
 Churcli is very far from regarding Con- 
 firmation as possessing the dignity and 
 authority of a sacrament; wliicli, as 
 you have learned, from the Catechism 
 of the Church, must necessarily consist /^ 
 of two parts :— 1st. " an outward and 
 Visible sign ;" and 2d. " an outicard 
 and spiritual grace given unto W5," and 
 which that sign signifies and pledges. 
 These are truly found in Baptism and ^ 
 the Lord's Supper. But, in Confirma- 
 tion, though there is, on the part of the 
 Bishop, the outward sign of the laying 
 on oj hands, it is not intended to sig- 
 nify any grace residing in, or commu- 
 nicated or promised to, the person 
 confirmed. It is only a gesture indi- 
 eating that he is set apart for God, and 
 uiade a special subject of prayer. 
 
 Airain, it is required by the definition ^ 
 of a Sacrament, above referred to, that 1 
 
44 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 it be " orclahicd by Christ himself, "^^ 
 Thus were Baptism and the Lord's sup- 
 per most emphatically ordained. They 
 are necessary to the integrity of the 
 Christian Church. A church as a visi- 
 ble society cannot exist without them. 
 But not so with Confirmation. The 
 highest authority claimed for this rite 
 is the example of the Apostles — as in 
 the prayer next to the Lord's Prayer, 
 in the ' Order of Confirmation,' where 
 the administrator says, " We make our 
 humble supplications unto thee for these 
 thy servants, on whom, afte?- the example 
 of thy holy Apostles, we have now laid our 
 hands." This indeed is very high and 
 sacred authority, demanding a very re- 
 verent and obedient homage. And there- 
 fore did the Church for more than 1500 
 years after the Apostles, without any 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 45 
 
 controversy or exception, practise this 
 rite. And therefore do all Episcopal 
 Churches and many others continue its 
 practice. But still we do not regard 
 it as having been ordained in the same 
 positive and authoritative manner as 
 Baptism, and the Lord's supper. In 
 point of dignity and importance, we most 
 carefully distinguish it from those two 
 institutions which the Lord himself so 
 imperatively appointed as the great seals 
 of his Church and people to the end of 
 the world. 
 
 Now, my dear friends, should you 
 come to be confirmed, the usefulness of 
 this ordinance to you, will depend en- 
 tirely on the state nf mind in which you 
 shall receive it. It is no charm which 
 is to do you good, whatever your quali- 
 fications for its reception. The Bishop, 
 
46 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 administering, cannot convey to your 
 souls any spiritual blessing. He can 
 only pray for you. It is therefore ex- 
 ceedingly important that you will under- 
 stand and consider what is necessary to 
 qualify you for the worthy receiving of 
 this ordinance. We proceed therefore, 
 to our third subject of enquiry, viz : 
 
 III. I'lie Qiialijications for Co?i- 
 firmalioti. 
 
 These, as laid down by the Church, 
 are of two general kinds, intellectual 
 Sind spiritual ; qualifications as to know- 
 ledge of religious truth, and as to dis- 
 positions and determination to religious 
 duty. 
 
 Let us first consider the knoivledge 
 required. Read the opening address 
 of the Confirmation service, and you 
 will see what the Church declares on 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 47 
 
 this head. In that summary is includ- 
 ed the knowledge of the creed, the 
 Lord's prayer, the ten commandments 
 and the catechism of the Church. To 
 these, of course, must be added a 
 knowledge of the vows of baptism, which 
 by the candidate are to be ratified and 
 confirmed. It can hardly be conceived 
 by the feeblest mind that merely to be 
 able to say these formularies of religious 
 knowledge is enough. They evidently 
 embrace a comprehensive view of Chris- 
 tian doctrine and duty, of the way of 
 salvation and of the privileges, re- 
 sponsibilities and whole character of a 
 follower of Christ ; and as such, it is 
 therefore the expectation of the Church 
 that, besides being learned by memory, 
 they shall be understood in their mean- 
 ing and solemn obligation. The amount 
 
48 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 of knowledge required is placed at this 
 low and simple mark ; not by any means 
 because it is not extremely important 
 that all Christians should go on to in- 
 crease in religious knowledge, to the 
 utmost of their abilities and oppor- 
 tunities ; but it was necessary thus to 
 place it, lest any of the young and the 
 poor and the weak-minded, and those 
 of small opportunities of knowledge, 
 who nevertheless know enough to follow 
 Christ, and who do truly follow him, 
 should be excluded from the communion 
 of his Church. But knoivledge is a 
 small part of the qualilications required 
 for Confirmation. There is a prepara- 
 tionf o tJie heart, as well as the avsucr 
 of the tonpie. What is that prepara- 
 tion ? In other words : 
 
 What are the spirUual qiialijications ? 
 
ON CONFIRilATION. 49 
 
 These are not expressed in that address 
 of the Confirmation office, M^hich speaks 
 so plainly of what " the Church hath 
 thought good to order," in regard to 
 the knowledge required. And hence 
 not a few have taken up the singular 
 idea that what is speciaed in that ad- 
 dress is the whole qualification of un}' 
 kind demanded, as well spiritual, as 
 intellectual. But did the Church mean 
 to teach that when a person comes to 
 renew and solemnly ratify and profess 
 the vows of his baptism, his only re- 
 quired qualification is a knowledge of 
 the nature and meaning of those vows, 
 without any serious purpose, disposi- 
 tion and determination, by the help of 
 God, and the use of all the means of 
 grace to comply with them ; that when 
 he confirms his renunciation of the world 
 4 
 
50 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 and of all sin, it shall not be required 
 of him that he have the heart and de- 
 sire, and resolution actually to renounce 
 them ; that when he ratifies his solemn 
 engagements to keep the word of God 
 to his life's end, it shall not be one part 
 of his qualification that his afi"ections be 
 set upon that will, and his life be really 
 consecrated thereto ? The church could 
 not possibly be guilty of such an ab- 
 surdity. 
 
 The Church has not detailed the 
 spiritual requisites for Confirmation, in 
 the service for that rite, as she has the 
 intellectMal ; because she has so particu- 
 larly expressed them elsewhere, and in 
 those very formularies which the re- 
 quired knowledge embraces. For ex- 
 ample, in the catechism, it is asked 
 " What is required of persons to be 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 61 
 
 baptized V^ This question, of course, 
 is just as applicable to persons to be 
 confirmed ; since the vows assumed in 
 baptism are the vows ratified in Con- 
 firmation. And what is the answer of 
 the Church to that question ? " Re- 
 lientance whereby they forsake sin ; and 
 faith whereby they steadfastly believe 
 the promises of God made to them in 
 that sacrament;" that is, faith whereby 
 they embrace all the promises of sanc- 
 tification and justification through the 
 mediation of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Again, it is asked in the catechism, 
 " What is required of those who come to 
 the Lord's Supper ?" And this ques- 
 tion is quite as applicable to those who 
 come to be Confirmed, since Confirma- 
 tion is the introductory rite to the Lord's 
 Supper, and he who has received the 
 
52 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 former is considered as having been ad- 
 mitted by the highest human ministry 
 of the Church to the latter, and as hav- 
 ing a riglit, and as being bound by the 
 vows renewed in Confirmation, to come 
 thereto, unless something of a dis- 
 qualifying nature has occurred since he 
 was confirmed. Thus, then, in the an- 
 swer to the question of the catechism, 
 as to the qualifications for the Lord's 
 Supper, as well as in what is said con- 
 cerning baptism, the Church defines the 
 spiritual preparation for those who 
 should be Confirmed. And what is 
 that answer 1 " To examine themselves 
 whether they repent, them truly of their 
 former sins ; steadfastly purposing to 
 lead a new life ; having a lively faith 
 in God's mercy, through Christ, with a 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 53 
 
 thankful remembrance of his death ; and 
 be in charity with all men." 
 
 Now it is evident that what is here said 
 of preparation for the Lord's Supper is 
 but the repetition, with a little more 
 detail, of what is previously said of pre- 
 paration for Baptism. For each sac- 
 rament, the great constituents of all 
 spiritual qualification are Repentance 
 for sin, for all sin of which we are guilty 
 in thought, word, or deed ; repentance 
 of so sincere and hearty a nature that 
 it causes ilie forsaking of all sin and the 
 steadfast jm.rpose to lead a neiv life; 
 and then Faith, embracing all the pro- 
 raises of the Gospel as all our hope — " a 
 livcli/ faith," not the mere faith of the 
 understanding, but the living and active 
 faith of the heart, which trusts only " in 
 God^s mercy thrugh Christ,''^ as all the 
 
54 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 sinner's dependance for salvation — a 
 faith which so worketh by love that it 
 brings forth the fruit of a "a ihavkful 
 •remembrance of Christ? & death ^"^ and a 
 life of " charity ivith all meny 
 
 Such are the qualifications for that 
 rite which ratifies and confirms the vows 
 of Baptism and opens the door to the 
 communion of the Lord's Supper. But 
 they are more at large expressed in the 
 service of adult Baptism. There, — in 
 the conculding address to the person 
 baptized, you will see that he is exhor- 
 ted as one who has by his baptism pro- 
 fessed to be " a child of God and of the 
 light, by faith in Jesus Christ." The 
 nature of his profession, as represented 
 in his Baptism, " is to follow the ex- 
 ample of our Saviour Christ, and to be 
 made like unto him ; that as he died, 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 55 
 
 and rose again for us, so should we wlio 
 are baptized, die from sin and rise 
 again unto righteousness; continually 
 nwrtifying all our evil and corrupt 
 aifections, and daily proceeding in all 
 virtue and godliness of living." Un- 
 questionably none who have come to 
 vears of discretion should be admitted 
 to baptism, except they do seriously 
 hope, after serious self-examination, that 
 they can sincerely and heartily enter up- 
 on that profession, and come to that sac- 
 rament, repenting and believing with a 
 lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; re- 
 nouncing the world, with all its pomps 
 and vanities, and consecrating themselves 
 unreservedly to the commandments and 
 ordinances of the Lord, and this unques- 
 tionably is equally true of confirmation. 
 Turn to the service of the Commu- 
 
56 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 nion, and you will see tlie same in a 
 somewhat different aspect. There the 
 Minister is standing at the Table of the 
 Lord. Before he begins the prepara- 
 tion of the feast, he publishes the 
 invitation, — but before the invitation, 
 —the terms — namely, that they " come 
 in the mai'riage gar7nent required 
 h]j God in Holy Scripture.''^ The 
 benefit is great indeed, but only to 
 those who come " with a true penitent 
 heart and lively faith." He therefore 
 pronounces the only terms : " Ye who 
 do truly and earnestly repent you of 
 your sins, and are in love and charity 
 with your neighbours, and intend to 
 lead a new life, following the command- 
 ments of God and walking from hence- 
 forth in his holy ways, draw near," &c. 
 But since confirmation is the door to 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 57 
 
 the communion ; since the personal ratifi- 
 cation of our baptismal vows, " in spirit 
 and in ttath^'^ gives a title of admission, 
 or rather does admit, to the communion 
 of the church, these solemn words at 
 the table of the Lord should be consi- 
 dered as addressed to every candidate 
 for confirmation, afi'ectionately inviting 
 and bidding those to come who do hum- 
 bly believe they have a true penitent 
 heart and living faith, and do heartily 
 desire and determine, by the grace of 
 Grod, to live as becometh the Gospel ; 
 but with equal decision fencing up the 
 rite from the approach of all who have 
 no reason to believe that they have 
 thus embraced the promises. 
 
 If you will now peruse the service for 
 Confirmation you will see an entire rati- 
 fication of all the views above expressed. 
 
58 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 Every part of that service proceeds 
 upon the supposition that the candidates 
 have come in the spirit of which we 
 have been speaking, and consider them- 
 selves as making the solemn profession 
 before God and man, which we have 
 described. They are regarded not as 
 merely desiring to become the followers 
 of Christ ; not as having only a serious 
 consideration of religion, and a serious 
 disposition towards its duties, which 
 they may hope will be strengthened and 
 carried on by attendance on this and all 
 other ordinances of the church, till they 
 ripen at last into positive piety and 
 an actual reconciliation with God. This 
 indeed, it is to be feared, is the footing 
 on which not a few contemplate a par- 
 ticipation in this rite, as well as in the 
 sacraments of the church. They rightly 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 59 
 
 regard these ordinances as means of 
 gmce ; but they forget that they are 
 means for the confirmation^ not for the 
 first inipkuitatlon, of grace. They are 
 means of grace indeed, and most emi- 
 nently adapted for the strengthening 
 and furthering in our hearts of repen- 
 tance and faith ; but it is required that 
 before we come to them, we be already 
 in the exercise, at least in some infant 
 degree, of " a true penitent heart and 
 lively faith." So that merely to have 
 a serious mind in regard to these things, 
 and a general desire to obtain them, 
 and a hope, through such ordinances, 
 to possess them, by and by, is far from 
 the state of mind and heart required. 
 You will see by a perusal of the con- 
 firmation service, that those who come 
 thereto are regarded, not as inte?iding 
 
60 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 to enter upon tlie Christian life, hut as 
 having done so already. In the prayer 
 oflFered up by the bishop in their behalf, 
 just before the laying on of hands, they 
 are spoken of as being now regeneratjed 
 by the Holy Ghost^ and as having already 
 received tJie forgiveness of all their sins. 
 And in the solemn supplication which 
 accompanies the imposition of hands, 
 the petition is not that they may be- 
 come, but that they may co?itinue to be 
 the servants of Grod : not that they 
 may receive, but daily increase in, the 
 Holy Spirit more and more. 
 
 From all that has now been said, you 
 perceive, my dear friends, how griev- 
 iously they are mistaken who suppose 
 that any who do not conscientiously hope 
 they have given their hearts and lives 
 to Christ, should come to confirmation. 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 61 
 
 You see that he who comes to the Lord's 
 Supper, is bound by no obligations, 
 makes no professions, assumes no respon- 
 sibilities, which do not equally rest upon 
 him who has been confirmed. Then let 
 me ask you this question. Should any one 
 approach to confirmation, who does not 
 feel himself prepared for the communion T 
 If he shrink from the solemnity and re- 
 sponsibility of the latter, has he not 
 quite as much reason to shrink from the 
 solemnity and responsibility of the for- 
 mer ? Unquestionably, whoever is pre- 
 pared to ratify his baptismal vows, in 
 the one, is prepared to do it, and is 
 bound to do it in the other. He who 
 repents, and believes in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, with a true and living faith, is 
 prepared for both ; as evidently as that 
 
62 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 he who does not, is prepared for neither. 
 So that none should be admitted to con- 
 firmation but those who will expect to 
 proceed from thence, on the earliest 
 opportunity, to the commemoration of 
 the death of Christ in the holy Eucha- 
 rist. Said Bishop Burnet . '* Till one 
 is of an age and disposition fit to re- 
 ceive the holy sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper, and desires to be confirmed as 
 a solemn preparation and qualification 
 for it, he is not ready" for confirmation. 
 — Pastoral Care, 190. 
 
 In requiring that every candidate for 
 confirmation should become a commu- 
 nicant immediately after his confirma- 
 tion, as a matter of course, we do not 
 bring down the spiritual qualifications 
 for the Lord's Supper, nor the serious 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 63 
 
 responsibility of the communicant, to a 
 level with the low views too often enter- 
 tained as to the proper preparation and 
 responsibility of him who comes to be 
 confirmed, but we elevate the latter to 
 the spiritual rank and importance of the 
 former. 
 
 And now, my dear friends, let me 
 intreat you to make very serious and 
 solemn work, in examining your hearts, 
 to ascertain whether you possess the 
 qualifications I have laid before you. 
 The step you contemplate is of great 
 importance. Well taken, with a heart 
 wholly decided to be on the Lord's side, 
 and to keep a plain and broad demarca- 
 tion between you and all wordly con- 
 formity, and all sin, it would be of the 
 greatest benefit in your whole subse- 
 
64 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 quent course. Searcli your hearts, un- 
 der the eye of God, praying as David 
 did : " Search me, God, and try me, 
 and lead me in the way everlasting." 
 
 The following questions will assist 
 you (by the Lord's blessing,) in deter- 
 mining your duty. 
 
 1st. Have you been hrougltt to true re- 
 pentance 1 
 
 In order to answer this question sat- 
 isfactorily to yourselves, let it be divid- 
 ed into the following particulars : 
 
 Do you see yourself to be so sinful 
 as to deserve God's wrath and condem- 
 nation % Do you see that your sinful- 
 ness lies not merely in particular acts of 
 trangression, but chiefly in your heart ; 
 that the heart is the fountain of sin, so 
 that in you naturally dwells no good 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. C5 
 
 thiug ? Is jour heart humbled before 
 God on account of your sinfulness ? Do 
 you cordially hate it, and desire to be de- 
 livered from all sin ? Are your affec- 
 tions set upon God and upon holiness ] 
 Are you heartily striving to be more 
 and more free from sin, and to be trans- 
 formed more and more into the mind 
 of Christ and conformity to his will ? 
 
 2d. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ 1 
 
 Consider this question by dividing it 
 into the following : 
 
 Have you been brought to renounce 
 all reliance on your own works and 
 righteousness for acceptance with God ? 
 Do you place any reliance for mercy 
 upon your reformation, your prayers, 
 your religious efforts, your attention to 
 
66 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 religious duties, or any actions or feel- 
 ings of your own ? Or do you feel that 
 all your help and hope are to be sought 
 in Christ ? Have you fled to him and 
 committed your soul to him as all your 
 refuge and righteousness ? Do you feel 
 that he is precious to your soul ; and do 
 you desire and determine to live wholly 
 unto him? 
 
 3rd. Are you ivilling and resolved to 
 foUow Christy whatever it may cost you 7 
 
 Are you prepared to give up all vain 
 amusements — all sinful conformity to 
 the world ; whatever is opposed to the 
 maintenance of a spiritual frame of 
 mind, and a holy walk and conversation? 
 
 4th. Are you resolved to endeavor 
 conscientiously to perform your whole 
 duty to God and your fellow creatures 1 
 Is it your solemn determination to make 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. G7 
 
 the will of God, as revealed in his word, 
 the rule and guide of your spirit and 
 life, all your days ? 
 
 5th. Do you earnestly desire to glo- 
 rify God, and to honor his service by 
 an example becoming the Gospel '^ Do 
 you realize the great responsibility of 
 that public profession of religion which 
 you contemplate ; and will it be your 
 earnest prayer and effort to live con- 
 sistently with what the world has reason 
 to look for in a Christian ? 
 
 6th. Do you lean to your own wis- 
 dom or strength for ability to live as 
 above described ? Or do you feel that 
 your own strength is perfect weakness 
 — that your sufficiency is only of God] 
 Will you look to Him for all your 
 strength, and yet strive to follow Christ 
 
68 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 in tlie diligent use of all means of 
 growth in grace ? 
 
 7th. Do you find habitual pleasure 
 and profit in secret prayer and in read- 
 ing the Scriptures ? Do you heartily 
 love these duties ? Do you feel the 
 absolute necessity of their frequent and 
 regular observance to all steadfastness 
 in your religious walk, and all pros- 
 perity in your soul 1 Will you make it 
 a matter of conscientious observance, 
 daily to read the Scriptures in a devout 
 manner, and daily to wait upon God in 
 secret and earnest prayer ? 
 
 If you are able, conscientiously to 
 answer in the affirmative, to these 
 questions, you may trust that you know 
 by experience what it is te repent and 
 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 may lay aside all hesitation as to the 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 69 
 
 propriety of your coming to tlie ordi- 
 Dcance in prospect, Indeed, if such be 
 your state, I bid you, in the name of 
 the Lord, come. You can sincerely 
 profess, and consent to, all that is in- 
 volved in such an act. You will find 
 it to be a grateful, as well as very sol- 
 emn, opportunity of confessing Christ ; 
 of writing anew upon your hearts, the 
 vows of God which are already upon 
 you, and of seeking, under the special 
 prayer of the Church, as well as by 
 your own earnest supplications, the con- 
 firmation of the Spirit of God to seal 
 you " unto the day of redemption." Ap- 
 proaching in the spirit of true humility 
 and earnest hungering after righteous- 
 ness, you may hope to receive, in the 
 laying on of hands^ by the human min- 
 istry, that blessing which no hand but 
 
70 .BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 that of " the Shepherd and Bishop of 
 souls," can bestow, even "joy and peace 
 in believing." Your sense of responsi- 
 bility, as Christians and stewards of God, 
 will be increased ; your faith, as weak and 
 unworthy sinners, leaning upon the 
 strength and righteousness of Christ, 
 will be invigorated ; your hope of the 
 prize of your high calling will be ren- 
 dered more effectual to enable you to 
 run with patience the race that is set 
 before you." 
 
 But here it is important to remind 
 ycu that in examining yourselves by 
 these or similar questions, it is the 
 reality^ not the degree of attainment in 
 spiritual things, by which you are to 
 judge of your fitness for the ordinance 
 in view. Tender consciences are not 
 unfrequently much troubled for the want 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 71 
 
 of this distinction. Because they easi- 
 ly ascertain that they are very far from 
 having as deep a repentance, as lively 
 a faith, as fervent a love, and as com- 
 plete an obedience as they ought to 
 have, and as they suppose Christians 
 generally have ; they fear they are too 
 far beneath the ^vill of God to be war- 
 ranted in coming to the communion of 
 the Lord's Supper, and to that solemn 
 ordinance -^hich is introductory there- 
 to. But vrho, if this were the true me- 
 thod of ascertaining one's jBtness, would 
 not be prevented from approaching? 
 Who counts himself to have a^rprchended 
 that for uhicli he is apprcJieiided of 
 Christ Jesus ? Who can say any thing 
 more for himself than that having set 
 out in the race, he is j'^'^^sing towards 
 
72 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 the mark of the prize of his high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus. Haring truly 
 repented, and believed, and loved and 
 obeyed, but haying come very far short 
 in all things of that degree of penitence 
 and faith and love and obedience which 
 he ought to feel, he is striving for more, 
 and endeavoring daily to grow in grace. 
 True Christians are found of very dif- 
 ferent degrees of attainment in grace. 
 But their privileges as Christians, in re- 
 gard to the communion of the Church, 
 are n'ot different. Though some are 
 more grown than others, all are alive 
 unto Grod ; and therefore all are par- 
 takers of the hope of salvation through 
 Christ, and of that communion of his 
 body and blood by which the true hope 
 is strengthened and animated. 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 73 
 
 Eiit suppose not, my friends, that I 
 •^•ould turn your attention entirely 
 away from the degree of your attain- 
 ment in grace, and from all comparison 
 between your state as Christians and 
 the holy standard by which we are com- 
 manded to direct our aim and estimate 
 our progress This you must indeed 
 do habitually, constantly. It is the 
 way by which to see your unworthiness ; 
 to grow in humility and true repentance ; 
 to realize more and more your need of 
 the atoning blood of Christ, and to feel 
 the exceeding preciousness of a Saviour, 
 wIk) is mighty to save to the uttermost. 
 It is the way to see and adore the 
 patience and loving kindness of the 
 ]-iord ; to gather food for continual 
 thanksgiving and praise, and incite- 
 
74 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 ments to daily diligence in endeavoring 
 to rise more above the world, obtain 
 more victory over the sin that dwelleth 
 in you, and more conformity to the per- 
 fect will of Q-od. 
 
 But the question noiv is, not whether 
 you have need of 77iore repentance and 
 faith and love and obedience and holi- 
 ness ; but whether you have any. Not 
 whether you have advanced to a certain 
 measure of growth in the divine life, 
 but whether you have been born into 
 that life ; not how far you have attained 
 towards the stature of men in Christ 
 Jesus, but whether you have attained to 
 the condition of " children of God and 
 of the light, by faith in Christ Jesus." 
 You may have been born again of the 
 Holy Grhost, and so have begun to live 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. <0 
 
 unto God and to be his " clear clnldren," 
 and yet you may be still in the infancy 
 of grace; having all the features of 
 children of God, the heart, the mind, 
 the will — and yet all in infancy ; grow- 
 ing; indeed, but not grown ; becoming 
 daily more established, but yet very 
 weak, very delicate, and peculiarly de- 
 pendant upon all the means of grace. 
 The question now is. Have you reason 
 to believe that you have been born of 
 the Spirit and are children of God ; that 
 you have -nnd do repent, believe, love, 
 obey and follow after holiness ? Be 
 exceedingly honest and impartial with 
 yourselves in deterniiiiing this question. 
 If you answer " yes though all is exceed- 
 ing ueak and unworthy ;" Then come. 
 If any real Christians should more than 
 
76 
 
 any others partake in ordinances of a 
 sealing, confirming and invigorating 
 character, surely they are those who are 
 most in the beginning of grace. 
 
 But here let me touch upon another 
 point of much interest to one in your 
 circumstances. Perhaps the thoughts 
 of your hearts are sometimes such as 
 the following : Though I trust I have 
 been changed in heart, and made, 
 through divine grace, desirous above 
 all things of living for Christ, yet I am 
 so weak ; so liable to be led astray ; to 
 be overcome by the world, and to lose 
 all spiritual mindedness ! And should 
 I make a profession of religion, however 
 sincerely, and then fall away, and live 
 inconsistently with christian duty, what 
 a dreadful thing would -it be to my own 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 77 
 
 soul, aud how injurious to the cause of 
 Christ ! Now am I not too weak to 
 venture upon such a step, when such 
 may be the consequences ?" 
 
 The answer is — Must we confess 
 Christ before men, as soon as we are 
 his, or at some indefinite time hereafter ? 
 Must the Christian acknowledge God 
 in all his ways ; the ways of his spiritual 
 childhood as well as of his riper years 5 
 or only in a part of them, uken all his 
 ways are established ! Does the Chris- 
 tian walk by sight and sense, only going 
 forward in duty when he feels that he 
 has strength within himself to trust in : 
 or does he walk by faith in this wilder- 
 ness, not expecting ever to feel strong 
 in himself, but to find strength as he 
 needs it, " in tJie Lord and i?i tlie power 
 
78 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 of his might ; saying, " the Lord is my 
 Shepherd, I shall not want ; " the life 
 that I live in the flesh, I live by the 
 faith of the Son of God, who loved me 
 and gave himself for me." Were you 
 now about to go into the valley and 
 shadow of death, and to enter into 
 conflict with " the last enemy," would 
 you expect to feel strength in your own 
 arm to bring salvation from his onset ; 
 or would you lean exclusively upon the 
 " rod and staff"," of Him who hath pro- 
 mised, " I will never leave nor forsake 
 thee "?" But if you will have to meet 
 even death, with nothing to sustain you, 
 but the assurance, " Fear not, I am 
 with thee ;" can you not in the same 
 strength encounter all the responsi- 
 bilities of a Christian profession ? 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 79 
 
 It is of the greatest importance that 
 your minds be clear on this subject of 
 strength and sufficiency. 
 
 Did you feel else than entirely weak 
 and insufficient of yourselves, to live as 
 becometh the gospel, it would be indeed 
 a discouraging sign as to your prepara- 
 tion for the ordinance in view. Not to 
 feel weak, is indeed to he the weakest 
 of all. You will always feel weak in 
 yourselves, just in proportion as you 
 shall grow in grace and become " stroig 
 in faith.'^^ The christian's might is 
 never in himself, but always " in the 
 Lord." He stands fast, in proportion 
 as a sense of his own helplessness con- 
 strains him to lean upon the guidance 
 and support and protection of his Re- 
 deemer. Then does he say of a truth, 
 
80 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 "wlien I am weak, then am I strong." 
 The more he feels his mfirmities, the 
 more he will seek help of God, and the 
 more will " the power of Christ rest 
 upon him." 
 
 Now, my dear friends, if you ever 
 get rid of a sense of weakness and en- 
 tire insufficiency for these things, it can 
 only be by getting rid of the knowledge 
 of yourselves, and of a belief of the 
 words of him who said — " without me 
 ye can do nothing." Your own weak- 
 ness is the very reason why the means 
 of grace have been appointed ) and 
 among them, that solemn ordinance 
 which we have been particularly consid- 
 erin^y. 
 
 My instruction to you is this. If you 
 have reason to hope that you have given 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 81 
 
 yourselves to the Lord in true repent- 
 ance and fiiith, then you must embrace 
 all duty. But under all iluhj, is in- 
 cluded the public confession of (^hrist, 
 and of his truth and service. You 
 might as well stand back from seeking 
 the salvation of your soul, because 3'ou 
 have no strength, as, for that reason, 
 to hesitate at making that confession. 
 You have as much ability to honor a 
 Christian profession in all things, as 
 you have to do its duty in any thing. 
 You have in yourselves no ability now 
 to repent and believe, any more than to 
 live always according to godliness ; but 
 the Lord who " worketh in you to will 
 and to do according to his good plea- 
 sure," and whose grace is sufficient for 
 you, will make you strong for the one 
 
 6 
 
82 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 as well as tlie other. You must believe 
 in Jesus, not only for pardon, but for 
 strength ; not only to be made at last 
 acceptable to God, but to be enabled 
 now to keep yourselves " unspotted from 
 the world," not only to give you the 
 prize of victory at the end, but to sus- 
 tain you all the way of the race. He 
 is your sword and shield* as well as righ- 
 teousness; your shepherd as well as your 
 sacrifice. You must believe in him to 
 supply all your wants ] to give you the 
 bread of life ; to defend you against the 
 fiery serpent of the wilderness ; to re- 
 fresh you when you are weary ; to lead 
 you all your journey through. Thus 
 have the Israel of God always been sup- 
 ported and guided and saved. By faith 
 they set out from the house of bondage ; 
 by faith, they passed through the waters 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 83 
 
 and were not overflowed ; by faith, they 
 walked in paths which they knew not of 
 and lost not their way ; by faith, they 
 took of that bread and drank of that 
 rock which followed them, and that 
 bread and rock was Christ ; by faith, 
 they endured every trial as seeing him 
 who is invisible, and who never suffer- 
 ed them to trust his grace in vain ; by 
 faith, they lived as pilgrims and strang- 
 ers on the earth, and looked for a bet- 
 ter country, even an heavenly, till "a// 
 died in faith,''^ finding the same divid- 
 ing of the waters at the end of the 
 way, as at its beginning, and never 
 knowing a day when the manna did not 
 feed them, till they had entered " the 
 good land" and did " eat of the tree of 
 life which is in the midst of the Para- 
 
84 BISHOP m'ilvaine 
 
 dise of God." And my friends as long 
 as faith shall lead you to work out your 
 own salvation with fear and trembling, 
 not in reliance upon your ivorldvg, but 
 upon God to ivork in you, to will and to 
 do ; so long will Christ be " made unto 
 youj of God, wisdom, and righteousness 
 and sanctification and redemption.'" 
 
 Now, have you faith to obey the Lord, 
 and profess his cause and seal your vows 
 to his service, trusting his grace to be 
 sufficient for you '? 
 
 Perhaps you find your state of mind 
 to be such as that while you earnestly 
 desire to feel as these pages indicate, 
 you are in great doubt whether your 
 views and feelings answer satisfactorily 
 to the questions proposed for your self- 
 examination. Still, do not at once re- 
 
ON CONFIRMATION. 85 
 
 linquish the idea of coming to this ordi- 
 nance. Carry your doubts to the throne 
 of gtace. Pray earnestly for all that 
 you feel yourselves to need. Diligence 
 at the mercy-seat may remove every 
 hindrance before the day shall ar- 
 rive. Let your pastor know your 
 doubts. Be free to communicate with 
 him upon the subject of your qualifica- 
 tions. He may encourage, where you 
 would be in fear. You cannot trespass 
 upon his time or patience, when coming 
 on such an errand. That the merciful- 
 Lord may guide your self-examination ; 
 that he may guard you against every 
 spiritual delusion, every unfounded 
 hope, and all false confidence : that he 
 may enable you to approach the ordi- 
 nance we have been considering with an 
 
86 BISHOP m'ilvaine, etc. 
 
 humble and contrite heart ; with a liv- 
 ing faith and a fervent love 5 that he 
 may meet and bless you with the con- 
 firming influences of his Holy Spirit to 
 " establish, strengthen and settle you" 
 in all that belongs to the Christian char- 
 acter, so that you may be sealed unto 
 the day of redemption, may God, of his 
 infinite mercy, grant, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord ; Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BT 
 
 S. DOUGLAS VVYETH, Agt. 
 No. 7 Poar Street. Philad'a. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
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