the likeness of his death: and Noah's ark floating upon the water, and sprinkled by the rain from heaven, is a figure corresponding to baptism:* but neither of these gives us the same idea of the outward form as burying. We must be careful, therefore, not to lay too much stress on such circumstances. Drowning among the ancients was considered the most noble kind of death; some think the apostle may allude to this.

"Writing also to the Colossians, Paul says, 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.' Alluding to the immersions practised in the case of adults, wherein the persons appeared to be buried under the water, as Christ was buried in the heart of the earth. His rising again the third day, and their emerging from the water, was an emblem of the resurrection of the body, and, in them, of a total change of life. They were quickened, changed, and saved, by means of faith in Christ Jesus; which faith was produced by the operation or energy of God. Believing, is the act of the soul; but the grace or power to believe, comes from God himself.

"The doctrine of the resurrection of our Lord was a grand doctrine among the apostles; they considered and preached this as the demonstration of the truth of the Gospel. The multitudes who embraced Christianity, became converts on the evidence of this resurrection. This resurrection was considered the pledge and proof of the resurrection of all believers in Christ, to the possession of the same glory into which he had entered.-The baptism which they received, they considered as an emblem of their natural death and resurrection.

"The sum of the apostle's meaning in 1 Cor. xv. 29, 'What shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?' appears to be this; If there be no

* 1 Peter iii. 20, 21.

resurrection of the dead, those who, in becoming Christians, expose themselves to all manner of privations, crosses, severe sufferings, and a violent death, can have no compensation, nor any motive sufficient to induce them to expose themselves to such miseries. But as they receive baptism as an emblem of death, in voluntarily going under the water; so they receive it as an emblem of the resurrection unto eternal life, in coming up out of the water: thus they are baptized for the dead, in perfect faith of the resurrection. "Ananias said to Saul Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins' as much as to say, Take now the profession of Christ's faith most solemnly upon thee, by being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let this washing of thy body represent to thee the washing away of thy sins and know, that this washing away of sin can be received only by invoking the name of the Lord.

"In John i. 12, 13, we are told As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God;' who were regenerated, not of bloods-the union of father and mother, or of a distinguished or illustrious ancestry; for the Hebrew language makes use of the plural, to point out the dignity or excellence of a thing: and probably by this the Evangelist intended to shew his countrymen, that having Abraham and Sarah for their parents would not entitle them to the blessings of the new covenant; as no man could lay claim to them, but in consequence of being born of God: therefore, neither the will of the flesh-any thing that the corrupt heart of man could purpose or determine in its own behalf; nor the will of man-any thing that another may be disposed to do in our behalf, can avail here: this new birth must come through the will of God-through his own unlimited power and boundless mercy, prescribing salvation by Jesus Christ alone.

"There is no respect of persons with God.'* The

*Rom. ii. 11.

Righteous Judge will not act according to any principle of partiality; the character and conduct alone of the person shall weigh with him. He will take no wicked man to glory, let his nation or advantages be what they may; and he will send no righteous man to perdition, though brought up in the very bosom of gentilism. And as he will judge in that day according to character and conduct; so his judgment will proceed on the ground of the graces, privileges, and blessings, which they had received, improved, or abused. And as there is no respect of persons with God in judgment, so there can be none in the previous administration of his saving blessings; he that will be condemned for his unrighteousness, will be condemned on the ground that he had sufficient grace afforded him for the salvation of his soul and his condemnation will rest on the simple principle, that he abused the grace which was sufficient to save him, by acting in opposition to its dictates and influence. No man, in that great day, shall be brought to heaven through any partiality of the Judge; and no man sent to hell because God did not afford him sufficient grace; or because he had made a decree, which rendered even his use of it ineffectual to his salvation. In reference to the great design of God in the salvation of man, it shall be said, in time, at the day of judgment, and throughout eternity, THERE IS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS WITH GOD.

"Jesus said' unto Nicodemus, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born again when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?' Every man must have two births-one from heaven, the other from earth; one of his body, the other of his soul without the first, he cannot see nor enjoy this world; without the last, he cannot see nor enjoy the kingdom of God. As there is an absolute necessity that a child should be born into the world, that he may see its light, contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good; so there is an absolute necessity that the soul should be brought out of its state of darkness and sin, through the light and power of

the grace of Christ, that it may be able to see, or to discern, the glories and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared for the enjoyment of the kingdom of glory hereafter. The Jews had some general notion of the new birth; but, like many among Christians, they put the acts of proselytism, baptism, &c., in the place of the Holy Spirit and his influence: they acknowledged that a man must be born again, but they made that new birth to consist in profession, confession, and external washing. But this new birth implies the renewing of the whole soul in righteousness and true holiness: it is not a matter that may be dispensed with heaven is a place of holiness, and nothing but what is like itself can ever enter there. It is probable that Nicodemus was pretty far advanced in age at this time; and from his answer we may plainly perceive, that, like the rest of the Jews, and like multitudes of Christians, he rested in the letter, without paying proper attention to the spirit; the shadow, without the thing signified, had hitherto satisfied him. Our Lord knew him to be in this state, and this was the cause of his pointed address to him, 'Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?' Hast thou taken upon thee to guide the blind in the way of truth, and yet knowest not that truth thyself? Dost thou command proselytes to be baptized with water, as an emblem of a new birth, and art thou unacquainted with the cause, necessity, nature, and effects of that new birth? How many masters are there still in Israel who are in this respect deplorably ignorant; and, strange to tell, publish their ignorance and folly in the sight of the sun, by writing and speaking against the thing itself! It is strange that such people cannot keep their own secret.

"In the Acts of the Apostles,* we read, 'A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us saying, If ye have judged me

Acts xvi. 14, 15.

D

faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.' As she was a sincere worshipper of God, she was prepared to receive the heavenly truths spoken by Paul and his companions and as she was faithful to the grace she had received, so God gave her more grace, and gave her now a divine conviction that what was spoken by Paul was true; and therefore she attended unto the things; she believed them, and received them as the doctrines of God; and in this faith she was joined by her whole family; and in it they were all baptized."

"Further down in the same chapter, we read of the conversation between Paul, Silas, and the jailor. 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.' Thus, by teaching him, and all that were in his house, the doctrine of the Lord, they plainly pointed out to them the way of salvation; and it appears that he and his whole family, who were capable of receiving instructions, embraced the doctrine, and shewed the sincerity of their faith by immediately receiving baptism. And, by the way, if he and all his were baptized straightway, -immediately, instantly, at that very time,—it is by no means likely that there was any immersion in the case; indeed, all the circumstances of the case-the dead of the night, the general agitation, the necessity of despatch, and the words of the text,-all disprove it. The apostles, therefore, had another method of administering baptism, besides immersion, which, if practised according to the Jewish formalities, must have required considerable time, and not a little publicity. As the Jews were accustomed to receive whole families of heathens, young and old, as proselytes, by baptism, so here, the apostles received whole families, those of Lydia and the jailor, by the same rite. It is therefore