%:^. o^. \^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 A y 1.0 II 1.25 I 1.4 II 2.0 1.6 V2 , '^ f 3i PREFACE. n A riORfc perfect argument upon the sul/ject of the following dirfcou'^-e '3 lo be found in the adniiruhle works of the Rev. \v M iviAM Gray, of St. John, and the Rev. James Robertson, of -Ji'.di;etr>\\ n ; and to them I lefer the reader, who would ' v)rove all things and hold f; sc -hat which is good ;" to scholars ZiV' to men of lei-'ure thjy furnish an unanswerable defence of Infant Baptism, jjut, logical investigation and massive argu- ment ave offered in vain to the uneducated and laboring poor ; while the doctrines of the fathers and the practices of antiquity are alike undervalued and disallowed by those who are in en'or upon the subject. Either of these books, abridged and simplified by their able authors, would supersede the necessity of the present undertaking ; the object of which is to set before the unlearned inquirer the tme doctrine of the initiatoiy sacrament, and to vindicate the practice ' of the Church by the alone evidence of the sacred Scriptures. I have strictly confined myself to the one great doctrine of Infant Baptism, and have purposely avoided the dispute upon Immersion, the Shibboleth of the Baptists ; and upon the necessary qualification of the baptizer. But, I will here state that I am fully persuaded that the spirit of the commandment is fulfilled eidier by affusion or sprinkling — each and all being practised in the Church ; nor can IV PRKFACK. 1 shrink Horn ilio avowal of iny lu-lii-f. iluit they, who so scrupu- lously adhcrt' to ih(! one modti of administerlns; the sacrament, have no authoiity to administer it at all ; and that having no scnj)tural ordination to thu ministry, their baptisms must be irrouular, if not altoizctlicr in\alid. The s])irit of in(|uiry awakened l)y tlie preaching of this sermon lia.s indneed me to ])Mblish it, that its elFect may not tenninate in a ti'uiporary excitement ; but that my parishioners may j)onder its arguments with unimpassioned minds, and imitate those noble IJereans, who searched the Scriptures, whether tiie things sj)oken of wviv christian verity ; — and it is sent forth w ith tlie earnest prayer, that it may serve to build up and to fortify the members of the C'hurcli in her precious faith, and assist those who have strayed from her pure and peaceful household, to discern the free urace of God, as it is manifested in the admission of our children into the covenant and the kuigdom of lieaven. W. Bullock. Rectory, Digby, March, ]8i2. SERMON. AND WHEM THE EIOHT DATS WERE ACCOMPLISHF.T) FOR THE CIRcnMCISI>ia OF THE CEIl-D, THEY CALLED HIS NAME JESCd. Luko ii. 51. EvKKV circumstance in the life of our Saviour deserves devout attention, and is full of instruction ; and this is especially tme with respect to those significant acts, by which he fnKilled the Law, and sanctioned the usau;es of the Jewish Church. That Church was in all important thinirs the same as the Chiistian ; and althoiiirh its outward rites were dill'erent, in doctrine and order there is a perfect airreement ; and we ari' taught to look U|)on the ancient conj^freiiation of the Lord, as the parent stock, upon which has been grafted Christ's Holy, Catholic and Apos- tolic Church. By all the feasts and ceremonies of the Law, were shadowed forth the richer promises and purer services of the Gospel ; and it is worthy of remark, that the Church which was established by the Law of Moses, lik(> that w Inch is now " built upon the Apostles and Prophets^ had its sacramert of admission, and its sacrament of commemoration — Uie Circumci- sion and the Passover ; to both of w Inch es[)ecial blessin!ry mak; cliild should ]h) circumcised ; and the neirlfct of this outward sinii was declared lo be a violation cfthe covenant ano a Ibrli'itun" of its bl<'ssin;i:s. - yhid the unclraim- cised man child, whose Jlesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be rut off from the people : he hath broken my covenant.''^ So we learn that the oii.'.;in of Circumcision was the sovereiirn will of God, and its elieet wa.', to brin;^ the chosen people into covenant with Him. As such it was ohs"Vved by all who valued their election, and exercised their faith in the pronnses of God — as snch i: was sanctioned ai.ci received, \hen " the eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, and they called Jli name Jksi's "—as such it must still be considered by us ; (or although the sii;n is chano^d, the sij;ni- fication remains — althounli we no Ion i^a-r circumcise our chilrlnMi, our children enter into covenant with God. St. Paul, discours- in^^ upon the suhjeet, ''alls t!,e si^n of circumcision " the seal of the righteousness which is by faith : "| and he points out, with wonderlul precision, its nature as a sacrament : it was an entrance into covenant w iih God, " an outward and visible siun of an inward and spiritual ta-ace yiven to them ; " it was not merely a mark to distinnuish them from the he;-«h(Mi — it was the mystical cuttjnrr off of sin— the mystical adoption into t'le family of Gotl. '• The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, to lore the Lord tlu/ God with all thy heart and vnth all thy soul, that thou mnyest //rc."s§, So we see. It was not a mere cerei.iony.once to b(< performed and then to be lore ver forgotten — it was to ivmove sin— ii. was to sanctify the heart— to fill it w ith divin(> |()V(> and prepare it for eternal life. But. the sacram(>nt of Circumcision has ceased : it is an ordi- nance which Christ has cancelled, and it now availeth nothin^^|| And have all its blessings faih'd ? An; all its precious promises * Cirii. xvii. 7. ? I), ut. xxx. 0. t Vrrsf 11. ll (Jill. V. r,. i Roin. iv. 11. \\ as n^vcrsod ? No, my l)relhn>n, ii., ; they arc scrurod to us by the " Clrcumdnion of Christ.'' Is it cvc-j so ; tlini whcr ; is the siirn of the covenant r Where is the " scat of I he righteousms.i which is by faith 1 " \\\> have th. in in the " n-nshing of rcgtncration.'^* We have tlieni in tlie sacrament of cir JJaptisin into the name of the Lord Jesus ! And so Haptisni is now to us 'vhal Circumcision was to the ancient children of the cove- nant — ii i; th'! m(!aro whereby we are achiiitted into the Church of God : and 11k, who fulfilled ilie one, ordained liie oilier in io stead; IJr who on the ei;;litli day was rircuiiici.'--e(i because He was '' borr under the Lnuu^i has tauiiht i by Hi;, example, that it is never too soon to enter into covenii svith o.ir Father — never too soon to reeei\(i the si;L,ai of o'u uloption to be His sons and dauffhters. Nor was the command to circumcise i;iore Litrict and ln]i)erative, than that by which it was superseded, when the uji-eat Lord and Mediator of the re.iewed covenant sent forth his Apostles to make disciples of all nations, and to " bap- tize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy (rhost."X It was then that all the privih^L^es and blessings annexed io Circumcision wen; transferred to the sacrament of Baptism thus ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.*^* And now to netrlcot this sacred ordiiKinee is to despise the authority of our Lord and Saviour, and to place ourseHes in the condition of those excommunicated men who in former days " hrolce the covenant, and mere cut off from the people of the 'Lord^W Great is the tnith an(l sweel t!ie consolation to be derived from this event of our Saviour's life ; and \s hile it t':'aches the necessity of fulfilling all the righteous ordinances of die Church, assures us that all the mercies of the Gospel are free, and that all its promises are :o us and to our children. " And xchcn the eight days were accomplished for the circwncising of the child, theycaf'ed his name J;:sus." The Law is fulfilled— Christ was the end of it — still His covenant of gra'. ■ standeth sure, and the blessings promised to the Church are neither lessened nor limited, now that the admission into :i is by tiie more spiritual sacrament of holy Baptism. Yes. my brethren, the "promise is to us and to our children ; "U and like the children of Abraham,, after the example of die Holy Child Jf.sus, we may enter the covenant as soon as we are born ; and this being the case, is it * Titus iii. :,. § Church Catechism. t nil. iv. 4. |{ Gen, xvii. 14. t Mattli. xxviii. 19. H Acts ii. 39. 8 not well for us ♦-• consider, if, in denying to children the sign and seal of that covenant, we do not put a stumbling block in their way, and keep them back from the privileges which are at once their birthright and their blessing. The children of Jews were admitted to this covenant, and their Circumcision was a profitable service ;* it sealed them as members of God's chosen family — it made them the inheritors of the promises made to Abraham — to Abraham and his seed forever.f And can it be that the Gospel, " the ministration of glory, ^' is so much less privileged than the Law, "' the ministration of condemnation,^^ that the children of Cin-istians — of Christians, the true and spiritual seed of Abraham, J are to derive no advantage from this gracious decree, and that thousands are to live and die without admission into the everlasting covenant ? God forbid ! " Their angels do behold the face of their Father in heaven,'^ and they cannot be excluded from the grace and favor of adoption upon earth. It is possible that all of you have heard expressions of con- tempt on Infant Baptism — it is possible that some of you may have indulged in them ; but. did our Lord sanction such expres- sions when He submitted to Inflmt Circumcision ? and did He not most solemnly reprove them when He bade his disciples to ^^ suffer Utile children to come unto Him and forbid them not '1 <^ We learn from the history of liie Circumcision, that infants might enter into covenant with God, and we see in the conduct of our kind Redeemer, that they might particii)ate in spiritual mercies, for " He laid his hands upon them and blessed them." It is a vain thing to argue that there is no express command to baptize infants ; there needed none ; tlie law of Circuni'^ision was a sufficient rule, and in this law the time was distinctly prescribed ; and it is the same covenant, only unveiled, made new and per- fected with better hopes and better promises, of which Baptism is the sign and seal ; and w liich was ordained by Christ when he charged his Apostles to " disciple all nations,'' — there is no direction to change the time — there is no intimation tliat the time was changed, anil in all the Scripture there is no word of pro- hibition upon the ciiildren of Christians. On the contrary, not only the Circumcision of the infant Jesus, but the word of his Apostles, the conduct of the (irst Christians, and tlu; judgment of the whole Catholic Church, all combine to witness the tmth which our reason approves and which our faith confirms, vl".. * liom. iii. § Msirk X, 1 1,'.'. t Iiiik'' i 5.'). 1 A<'ts iii. fJal. iii. 29. bt) 9 i I that God is unchangeahk ; and that the token of the covenant accorded to the infant Jews, is not denied to the children of Christians ; and it was with this assurance that St. Peter, when persuading the niuhitude to Baptism, appeals to this privilege — " Ye are the children of the covenant which God made tvith our fathers."* Of what covenant did he then speak ? Was it not the same which God made to Abraham, of which all the child- ren of Abraham received the seal on the eighth day, and of which holy Baptism is now the sign ? If there could be any doubt upon tills subject, it is removed by the arguments of St. Paul, where he speaks of the Church under the figiu-e of an olive tree, of which Christianity is the graft, and tells his converts that they siiared all the privileges of the covenant made with Abraham — privileges which he compares to " the root and fatness of the olive tree."f And to make the affinity still more close and clear, we have only to read the third chapter to the Galatians, where he distinctly asserts that the Gospel was preached unto Abraham,^ and that it is one and die same covenant. " Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith are the children of Abraham For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as are baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither ninle nor female ; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus ; AND IF YE BE Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE."«§> No words can be plainer, and they teach us that the Gospel was not to contract but to expand the free mercies of God — not to limit but to extend the blessings of the covenant. They had never been confined to infancy or to age — but now every obstruc- tion was to be removed. The covenant had been restricted to Jews, but now the Gentiles were to be admitted. The token of the covenant had been given only to males, hut now females were to receive it also ; all were to be one in Christ Jesus ; and I * Acts iii. 25. t Rom. xi. 17. t 8th verse. § Gal. iii. 20, et scq. It is true that the Gospol is called, by St. Paul, " o new covenant," hut we must not make him so contradict all those other passages in which he speaks of it heina; one anil the same with the Alirahamic covenant. It was new, in the same sense in which the commandment to " lore one another" was a "new commandment." h was new, as hvinii l/i at in s'.ilistunco which the ancient cove- nant was in shadow, with a lara;or etTusion of sjrace and richer promises of mercy. It was new, as reniovina: all restrictions— as suiiplyinif every thins that was want- ing; — as revealing every thing that iiad heeu veiled and hidden— as embracing all who had been excluded, and making ^' all one in Christ Je:in.s "—o\d and young, male and female, Jew and Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, liond and free, without hin- drance or distinction, '' all one in Christ Jesus." I 10 if the Jewish infant were to be admitted into the Church on the eighth day, it would be cruel, it would be profane, to exclude the heir of " a more excellent minutry " from the very earliest con- signation of its blessings. Nothing, therefore, but necessity is deemed by the Church a sufficient excuse for delay, ?nd while by her article she affirms her judgment that "the baptism of young children is to be retained," as most agreeable to the institution of Christ, she directs, by her Rubric, " that it be not deferred longer than the first or second Sunday after its birth." The Circumcision of the infant Jesus ought to be sufficient to settle the question of Infant Baptism, which w ith striking fidelity is called by the Apostle, " the Circumcision of Christ,'^ or, as it is sometimes called. Christian Circumcision, or the Circumcision of Christians.* In all the baptism? of the Apostles, no exception of children is eviu" made. The baptism of the woman of Thya- tira and '' her AoMsc,"t of the Philippian jailer " and all /iis,"J and of " the household of Stephenas,^''^ are all recorded in a manner to show that neither doubts nor scruples were entertained upon the subject. The argument of St. Paul, that a believing parent sanctifies the children, is another convincing proof that such children could enter into covenant. For '• the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the ivife, and the unhelicving wife is sanctified by the husband, else were your children unclean, but NOW ARE TtEY HfUiY,|j — that is, dedicated, or capable of being dedicated to God, for in no other way could they be considered holy ; while the invariable practice of the Catholic Church for many hundred years confirms this view of the case, as it is pre- sented to us in the ^^•ol•d of God ;1[ and although at various times, as at the present, there have been contentious men to hinder and find fault with the baptism of children,** there are none bold enough to dispute the fact that such was the custom in all the Churches in every age ; and all tme believers in the primitive Church allowed its validity, and valued it as their promise and their privilege. Again, I repeat, the fact was never denied ; and it proves the undisputed custom of the apostolic age, that at the *Cnl. ii. 11. tActsxvi. 15. t Acts xvi. 33. § 1 Cor. i. 1(1. II 1 Cor. vii. 14. IT Pctpr Bruis. a Fri'nclimriii wlin lived in thn eleventh century, ""is the first Raptist \vh<) hud a retrular cnntfre^atidii. The IJaptists (if (ierni uiy, a turliulont and enthusiastic sect, took their rise in the he^'innin!? ol' the fifteenth century; and there was no coui^resjalion of Daplists in Ensjlund before the year liilO. ** St. Denis, the Areapaa;ite. calls them '' unholy persons and enemies to the Christian Religion." council of Carthaire* there was a question, not if infants sliould be baptized, but if it should be done before the eighth day ; and that is a fine argument for the custom, which is supplied us by Irena^us, who lived only a few years after the inspired Apostles. "^ Christ," he says, " did sanctify every age b> "lis own suscep- tion of it and similitude to it. For He came to save all men by himself; all, I say, who by Him are Iwrn again unto God, infants and children and boys, and young men and old men. He was made an infant to infants, sanctifying infants," &c.t And so the tradition of the Church, and the practice of the Apostles, and the example of Christ, all concur as consentient witnesses to the virtue and necessity of Infant Baptism. Yet objections are urged against the practice, and I will endeavor with fairness and meekness to answer thon. "A negative argument for matters of fact," says Bishop Jeremy Taylor, " cannot conclude a law ; " and yet all the arguments that infants should not be baptized are of this charac- ter ; and the passages in Scripture brought forward to support them, although sometimes plausible, will, none of them, when fairly examined, bear such an interpretation. The first is, the charge of our Saviour to his Apostles, " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. ''f From this it is argued that teaching ought to go before Baptism, and as infants cannot be taught, therefore they ought not to be baptized : and if these were the exact words of Christ, the conclusion would not be unwarrantable. All the words of the covenant were to be taught to die Jews, yet they did not wait until this could be done, to circumcise their children and thereby admit them to the cove- nant ; but the Greek word in this text, which we have rendered " teach," literally means disciple, or make disciples ; and thus rightly understood, all the point of the argument is lost, and teaching follows the ordinance, " teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, I am with you alwuys, even unto the :nd of the world." The command is emphatic — " all nations " — of which children are an integral part, and there is no word to exclude them. The next passage is the same commission of our Lord, as it is * This council was held A. D. '^30; St. Cyprian pr (lent. It was attended Ijy sixty-six African Bi.slioi)s, and tliey all declared unaniiiiuiisly, that none were to he hinclcred from Baptism and tiie tjriice of God, and this rule "was more especially to he ohserved with reference to infunls. t Iren. Lib. ii. c. ,19. t Matt, xxviii. 19. 12 recorded by St. Mark. " Go yc into all the loorld and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that bclieveth and is baptized shall be saved, and he icho believcth not shall be damned."* Here the same line of ai'i,aiment is pursued, viz. '' He who believeth and is baptized shall be saved " — infants cannot believe, and th(!refore infants are not to be baptized. But this involves a difficulty even greater than the former ; and would lead to a conclusion revoltinji to reason and at variance with the attributes and word of God ; that He requires that which we are unable to perform, and will punish the neglect of obligations which it is imy^ossible to fulfil ; — for if the deduction be right on one point of the text, it must be on the other, and then it would be, infants cannot be saved because they cannot believe ; nay, what is even worse — infants cannot believe, and therefore, infants will be damned. May God deliver you from such an error — opposed, as it is, to the greatness of His mercy and the freeness of His grace. The other passage^ which makes repentance necessary admits of the same general reply. " Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and yc shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.^-f Here repentance was required of all who had committed sin, and could undei-s^vnd and value the grace of God ; but this was not to exclude from the Gospel covenant all those who had no present capacity for these tilings ; and lest they should fall into this mistake, the words of the following verse seem to have been added — "for the promise is to you and to your children." All the demands of the Gospel suppose the capacity to fulfil them, and God expects of us " o)dy according to what ive have, and not according to ivhat tvc have not.'"X We may illustrate this, by the manner we act upon other impracticable precepts. Take, for instance, the passage of the Apostle — " For even when we were ivith you, this tvc commanded you, that if any would not loorlc, neither should he eat." Here industry is required of all, to obtain their daily bread ; and yet what parent ever thinks of denying necessary food to an infant, who has no capacity to work for it ? We must not deny — we do not deny — that knowledge and faith and repentance are all necessary, ivhen they can be prac- tised : they were necessary to every adult convert to the Jewish religion, before he could be circumcised ; they would be neces- i j f * Mark xvi. 15, 16. t Acts ii. 38. t 2 Cor viii. 10. T id preach baptized amned."* He icko )t believe, nvolves a lead to a attributes unable to 'hich it is one point 36, infants at is even ; will be -opposed, 53 of His ry admits every one n of sins, 't Here and could as not to o present into this ave been !n." All Ifil them, have, and rate this, s. Take, when we jould not 'd of all, thinks of pacity to 3dge and be prac- le Jewish )e neces- i. 10. I IS sary to any one of you, if, (ni^^glecting it until this time,) you were now to pres' t yourselves ibr Baptism, This is the dcictrine of the Church, as laught in her Catechism ; it is the doctrine of the Gospel ; but, it applies not to children m ho have no ability to learn — no capacity to believe — no occasion to repent. It was no obstacle to the circumcision of infants that they were untaught — that they did not believe — that they could not repent ; — but, if when they were i apable of these things, they neglected them — if while they prided themselves as being the children of Abraham, they failed to do the works of Abraham, and became breakers of the La- ', then " their circumcision became micircum- cision,"* and they forfeited all the blessings of the covenant. So, in like manner, if, baptized in infancy, you live to commit sin, and forget God and remain unchanged and unsanctified in heart and life ; wh), then your Baptism will be as no Baptism ; that is, it will avail you nothing to salvation, and othei-s less privileged will be preferred before you, ''ivhcn ye shall see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and your- selves thrust oM^"f I am aware that the case of the Ethiopian Eunuch is fre- quently urged against Infant Baptism ; but, w hen rightly considered, it will prove no more than the capital texts I have already noticed ; it will prove no more than 1 am ready to allow, viz. that an idolater ought not to be baptized — that a denier of our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be received into covenant with God. St. Philip knew that this treasurer of Queen Candace had been brought up an Egyptian and a heathen ; he had, how- ever, witnessed some signs of his conversion, in his attention to ine Scriptures and the request to be baptized, and he was taught by the reply of the Evangelist that the outward washing of water would confer no benefit unless he had embraced the Gospel in sincerity. " If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayestyX But, in what manner does this )irohibit the baptism of infants ? We know that when a heathen was con- verted to the Jewish religion, he was not only circumcised himself, but all his children received the sign of the covenant on his account."^. Let us look to this argument. If a heathen that had turned from idols to the living God, had prayed to be circumcised according to the Law, and the Priest had said, if thou believest in the God of Israel thou mayest ; would such an Rom. li. 25. § Exod. xii. 48. t Luke xiii. 28. Ads viii. 37. 14 answer serve ;ohi„aeMheci„u„^^^^^^^^^^^ :„• ellwand S-ade n.eet fo,- .ha, onhnance by ,he sr-Li J;, and . ^^::^^x^,:^:^ x ^sp:;i.1 :.■ V;' -£ ::;;u■7s^o^h^ii: special rule upon the subject. But no ^"^^ ^^ 'g • „^ ^o On fliP rnntrarv a the intimations ot the »cnp.ures^u teLKl nations, ammmi/,^? them in the name of the Father ff tip Son and of the Holy Ghost ; surely, none xvould Ta^tt sobddat toargue fi/m this, that the Circumcision of children was to be discontinued ; or make the omission of the le a reason for denying to them an entrance nito the '° KTexpross command is indeed necessary for every religious account, keep the first day ol "e J^ck y, 1^ sha he" find a scriptural rule or a scnptnral ™™!f f" *^ !:^^,kltZl and drink of that cup ; "f and we know that * 1. Cor. vii. 14. t 1. Cor. xi. 28. V^AA 15 our blessed Lord administered the sacrament only to his twelve disciples. But, they say, they liave both rule and example for their practice, and point to the Baptism of our bless.'d Lord, who did not receive the rite until he was thirty years old. There never was a jrreater mistake than that of supposing the baptism of John to be Christian baptism ; or that our Lord in receiving that baptism affords us a just reason for delaying our own, or that of our children. It is the Circumcision, not the Baptism of Christ which is to be our pattern. By Circumcision He entered the covenant, as we, by Baptism, enter it now. The baptism of John was only a preparatory service, the baptism of repentance — a service suited only to the time and circumstance, ?nd which ceased widi him — a baptism which was received only by a limited number, and which did not make tiie true sacrament of Baptism unnecessaiy ; for many received it at the hands of John, who had never even "heard of the Holy Ghost,'' and were baptized again into die name of the Lord Jesus.* Oh ! then, I pray you, my dear bretlu-en, to weigh well these arguments which speak for the free mercy of God, and the unspeakable benefit of your children — children who are ordained by God to eternal life — childr.m given to you that you may join them unto the Lord in the everlasting covenant. Oh ! consider, and beware how you limit the goodness and the grace of God ; consider and beware how you act the part of those rebuked disciples, who would have hindered the little children when brought to Christ, and whom Christ blessed and pronounced to be fit objects of the kingdom of God.f Oh ! consider, consider and beware of the measure you mete to your children, lest at a greater day the same be measured to you again ; and the entrance you refuse them to the kingdom of God u|ion earth, be denied you to the kingdom of God in heaven. And if all my argu- ments fail, yet let the word of Jesus awaken you to the responsi- bility. " It lucre better that a millstone were hanged about your neck, and ye cast into the sea, than that ye should offend one of these little ones." J And I cannot but believe that we do offend them when we keep them from a sacramental union with their willing Saviour, and leave them to the uncovenanted mercies of their God. What is to be the consequence to those who live and die in this alienated state, we are not conxpetent to decide ; we can * Acts xix. 1—4. t Luke xviii. 16. t Luke xvii. 2. 16 only form our jiulj^ment by the promises made to tliose who are in the bom's of the covenant — by the promise of pardon — by the promise of graces — by th« the Jew and the 1 eat n l '"■' " •''^tin-ruislu-d li-oiu witness and e^J^it: ^Zl^T t'' ^''^' '7 ^— pass from tlie de-ith n^^ • V^ . ' "'*" "^*''"''^ whereby we righteousne s tot ich u ' t""'' ''" ''"' ''"'"' ^« ^''^^^ ^'^- of siinin.a,TseaL.of a tir ^"^""^V '>>; <^"hrisl.* Jt is the the bolul TuZ I etween'ffr'?"' /^^l^"^^ -^^'^"^'t ^t is not only by th^ leLZ wl r"'^^^ ^ "' ^^^''''•^'" '^ ^^ ^^'^ ^^^S< Church-ou of \huan^^ r^^ ''■''' ^' ^^^"^ °"t of the Himself, '' £rl/ « Li:^'T /' '^ '"'^ '' ^'^ '^^^^ '*:^ ^^^'i^t ciuljy careful not hC ? r ^ ' ' ^"*' '^'^^ '«"^^t Le espe- without ii renevJin tl "^^^^ i:^^ '^ if ^^"77' baptism we are ndmitwi : ♦ .i 7m " ' " '^ true, that by upon ear^; but t 1 '^h '''' Cljurch-the kingdom of God M7- /. ' i "^ "' 't'l piivjleirc's and iiibfM- 1 -ill it . Li We are calM by our ba|,tisi„_w,. ar. tW ,„ ^ I"'' oj me L.aw, thy Circumcwon is made uncircumehim, "+-1 \ i w^e quite salb in applying the same n^^^ hd^ ^klm "' referred to the sS f r ' , '' T ^""^'^'^'^-ition must be eirej to the Spnt ol Christ, through the operation oi" u hicli * ' Pclnr i. :(. I 111 lIlC (iriMJli;,! If il'etori. 10. + 2 (".)!•. i. 21. it is, e.\cu|il iiiir I,,. |,i,rii, (^f. ** Mattli. XX. li;. i f-al. iii. oc, 07 jl J'lliii 111. 0. f+ Uoni. li. jj. rMJMWit la we are (luickoncd in that sacranu'nt. " Born again of water ami of the Spirit," let us seek at all times the yuidanco of that Spirit, and exercis. at all times a practical liiilh in that quick- enint,' pvower, and adoni that faith with purity o<' life, and then with'confidence we may say, " Now Baptism savcth us."* But if we continue in carelessness and sin — if neither the lisht nor the fruits of the spirit are visih)(5 in our lives, then, inst(>ad ot obtain- in*? such assurance, we shall pfvther nothinji; from it but reproof and condemnation — the n^proof and condemnation of disloyal sid)jects raid uniiratefid children, upon wiiom a uracious God and Father has freely bestowed His grace and favor, and bestowed them in vain. To sum up and conclude : Baptism, like Circumcision, is an appointment of God, and it must be complied with ; it is a merciful appointm(>nt, and it ought to make us thankful ; it is ordained to be a means of grace, as such we must value it ; it lays upon us the greatest obligations, and we nnist labor dili- gently to fulfil them ; it jilaces^ us in a state of salvation, and fervent must be our prayt.s, and earnest our endeavors, that we may continue in that state unto our lives' end : and even then, however severe may have been our repentance, however great our faith, however strict our obedience, we shall attribute all our salvation to the free, the unmerited mercy of God, and not trusting to our works or deservings, we shall say, " Now Bap- tism SAVETH us," The blessedness of Baptism is not in the act once perfonned, but in its constant power and glorious result ; and like its correspondent sacrament of Circumcision, it verily profiteth, if " we truly repent and unfeignedly believe the Gospel."t ^i * 1 Poler iii. 21. t Church Service. )f ll (1 d n a is it i- id n, at jr ot p- le t; le VI t