It should always remind those who have been baptized of the grace of
their second birth, when they were made "members of Christ," and of
their duty, "being made the children of God, to walk answerably to
their Christian calling."
It should call to remembrance that "baptism doth represent unto us our
profession; which is, to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and
to be made like unto Him; that as He died, and rose again for us, so
should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto
righteousness." That is the main profession or business of a Christian
man, and the Font, where Baptism constantly represents our Lord's death
and rising again for us, should ever remind us of it and call us afresh
to "mortify all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceed in
all virtue and godliness of living."
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_The Lectern._--The lectern, supporting the large Bible from which the
Lessons are read, bears witness to the esteem in which our Church holds
the Sacred Scriptures. It is worthy of note that our Church makes
larger provision for the people "to hear God's most holy Word" than any
other religious body in the world. Almost the whole Bible--some parts
of it several times--is read publicly every year. Lessons from the Old
Testament were read in the service of the synagogue. Our Lord's
example shows how properly we follow this ancient custom of reading
Scripture lessons in public worship: "As His custom was, He went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there
was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias."
The selection of suitable Lessons for each day is a matter of careful
arrangement on the part of the Church. There will be found in the
front of the Prayer-Book "The Order how the Psalter is Appointed to be
Read," and also "The Order how the Best of the Holy Scripture is
Appointed to be Read." Four "Tables of Lessons" are given--for
Sundays, for Holy-Days, for the forty days of Lent and the Rogation and
Ember-Days, and for all the days of the year not otherwise provided for.
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Of the two Lessons appointed, one is from the Old, the other from the
New Testament. Both are "God's most holy Word," and taking the Lessons
from both enables us to see the unity of thought and purpose in the
two, and how the promises and predictions of the Old Testament are
fulfilled in the New.
The most common and, perhaps, the most appropriate lectern is that made
in
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