Monday June 30, 2008

        1. To Jordan came our Lord, the Christ,
        To do God's pleasure willing,
        And there was by Saint John baptized,
        All righteousness fulfilling;
        There did He consecrate a bath
        To wash away transgression
        And quench the bitterness of death
        By His own blood and Passion,
        He would a new life give us.

        2. So hear ye all and well perceive
        What God doth call a Baptism
        And what a Christian should believe
        Who error shuns and schism:
        That we should water use the Lord
        Declareth is His pleasure,
        Not simple water, but the Word
        And Spirit without measure;-
        He is the true Baptizer.

        3. To show us this, He hath His Word
        With signs and symbols given;
        On Jordan's banks was plainly heard
        The Father's voice from heaven:
        "This is My well-beloved Son,
        In whom My soul delighteth;
        Hear Him!" Yea, hear Him, every one,
        Whom He Himself inviteth;
        Hear and obey His teaching!

        4. In tender manhood God the Son
        In Jordan's water standeth;
        The Holy Ghost from heaven's throne
        In dovelike form descendeth;
        That thus the truth be not denied,
        Nor should our faith e'er waver,
        That all three Persons do preside
        At Baptism's holy laver
        And dwell with the believer.

        5. Thus Jesus His disciples sent:
        Go, teach ye every nation,
        That, lost in sin, they must repent
        And flee from condemnation.
        He that believes and is baptized
        Shall thereby have salvation,
        A new-born man he is in Christ,
        From death free and damnation,
        He shall inherit heaven.

        6. Who in this mercy hath not faith
        Nor aught therein discerneth,
        Is yet in sin, condemned to death
        And fire that ever burneth;
        His holiness avails him not,
        Nor aught which he is doing;
        His inborn sin brings all to naught
        And maketh sure his ruin;
        Himself he cannot succor.

        7. The eye of sense alone is dim
        And nothing sees but water;
        Faith sees Christ Jesus and in Him
        The Lamb ordained for slaughter;
        It sees the cleansing fountain, red
        With the dear blood of Jesus,
        Which from the sins, inherited
        From fallen Adam, frees us
        And from our own misdoings.