"In March, 1770, I witnessed the baptizing of two young persons, having never seen that ordinance administered before, and was considerably affected by what I saw and heard. The solemn immersion of a person, on a profession of faith in Christ, carried such a conviction with it that I wept like a child on the occasion. The words of the psalmist, in Psal. cxi. 10, 'A good understanding have all they that do his commandments,' left a deep and abiding impression on my mind. I was fully persuaded that this was the primitive way of baptizing, and that every Christian was bound to attend to this institution of our blessed Lord. About a month after this I was baptized myself, and joined the church at Soham, being then turned of sixteen years of age."Within a day or two after I had been baptized, as I was riding through the fields, I met a company of young men. One of them especially, on my having passed them, called after me in very abusive language, and cursed me for having been 'dipped.' My heart instantly rose in a way of resentment; but though the fire burned, I held my peace; for before I uttered a word I was checked with this passage, which occurred to my mind, 'In the world ye shall have tribulation.' I wept, and entreated the Lord to pardon me; feeling quite willing to bear the ridicule of the wicked, and to go even through great tribulation, if at last I might but enter the kingdom. In this tender frame of mind I rode some miles, thinking of the temptations I might have to encounter."
[From Joseph Belcher, The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller, 1845; reprint 1988, "Memoir," pp. 7-8.
___________ Andrew Fuller says in his 1802 Northamptonshire Baptist Association Circular Letter on "The Practical Uses of the Ordinace of Baptism"
Baptism is a divine institution pertaining to the kingdom of the Messiah, or the gospel dispensation. John received it "from heaven," and administered it to the Jews, who, on his proclaiming that "the kingdom of heaven was at hand," confessed their sins. Jesus gave sanction to it by his example; and after his resurrection, when all power in heaven and earth was committed to him, confirmed, and extended it to believers of all stations. Whatever circumstantial differences there might be therefore, between the baptism of John and that of Christ, they were substantially the same. There were things in former ages which bore a resemblance to it; as, the salvation of Noah and his family in the ark, the passage of the Israelites through the sea, divers washings or bathings prescribed by the mosaic ritual, &c.: but the thing itself existed not, till it was revealed to the intmmediate forerunner of Christ.
A Narrative of Surprising Baptisms
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