soul was considered as in a state of defilement, because of past sin; now, as by that water the body was washed, cleansed, and refreshed, so by the influences of the Holy Spirit the soul was to be purified from its defilement, and strengthened to walk in the way of truth and holiness. When John came baptizing with water, he gave the Jews the plainest intimations that this would not suffice; that it was only typical of that baptism of the Holy Ghost, under the similitude of fire, which they must all receive from Jesus Christ. See Matt. iii. 11. Those that have never had any other baptism than that of water, may take Jesus Christ's word for it, they cannot, in their present state, enter into the kingdom of God. It is Jesus only who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.* He who receives not this baptism, has neither right nor title to the kingdom of God; nor can he with any propriety be termed a Christian, because that which essentially distinguished the Christian dispensation from that of the Jews was, that its author baptized all his followers with the Holy Ghost.

When Paul came to Ephesus, he asked 'certain disciples, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?' For it was the common privilege of the disciples of Christ to receive, not only the ordinary graces, but also the extraordinary gifts, of the Holy Spirit: and thus the disciples of Christ differed from those of John, and of all others. John baptized with water; Jesus baptized with the Holy Ghost. And to this day, the genuine disciples of Christ are distinguished from all false religionists, and from nominal Christians, by being made partakers of this Spirit; which enlightens their minds, and convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment; quickens their souls, witnesses to their conscience that they are the children of God, and purifies their hearts.

"These Ephesians said unto Paul, 'We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? and they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the

*John i. 33.

people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."*

"As there is no evidence in the New Testament of persons being rebaptized, unless this be one, many criticisms have been hazarded to prove that these persons were not rebaptized. I see no need of this. To be a Christian, a man must be baptized into the Christian faith: these persons had not been baptized into that faith, and therefore were not Christians. They felt this, and were immediately baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. This is a plain case: but let one instance be produced of a person being rebaptized, who had before been baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, or even in the name of Jesus alone. In my view, it is an awful thing to iterate baptism, when it had been before essentially performed: by 'essentially performed,' I mean administered by sprinkling, washing, or plunging, by or in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, being invoked at the time. Whoever has had this, has the essence of baptism, as far as it can be conferred by man: and it matters not at what period of his life he has had it: it is a substantial baptism, and by it the person has been fully consecrated to the Holy and Blessed Trinity: and there should not be an iteration of this consecration on any account whatever. It is totally contrary to the canon law; it is contrary to the practice of the purest ages of the Church of God; it is contrary to the New Testament; and tends to bring this sacred ordinance into disrepute.

"From Acts i. 5, we may learn, that baptism does not always mean being plunged or immersed in water; for as this promise most evidently refers to the communication of the Holy Spirit, which 'sat upon each as a cloven tongue of fire, this certainly has more affinity to sprinkling than to plunging. However, the mode of administering the sign is of very little consequence; and which is the best mode, is exceedingly dubious. The stress should be laid on receiving the thing signified—the Holy Ghost, to illuminate,

Acts xix. 1–5.

regenerate, refine, and purify the heart. With this, sprinkling or immersion are equally efficient: without this, both are worth nothing.

A little further on in the Acts we are told, then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added to them about three thousand souls.' When a Jew had been baptized in the name of Jesus, it was the criterion of his conversion, and he was then excluded from all communication with his countrymen; and no man would have forfeited such privileges, but on the fullest and clearest conviction. These three thousand were not converted under one discourse, nor in one place, nor by one person. All the apostles preached, some in one language, and some in another; and not in one house; for where was there one, at that time, that could hold such a multitude of people? For out of the multitudes that heard, three thousand were converted; and if one in five was converted, it must have been a very large proportion. The truth seems to be this. All the apostles preached in different parts of the city, during the course of that day; and in that day, three thousand converts were the fruits of the conjoint exertions of these holy men.

"Then we have Philip asking the Eunuch, Understandest thou what thou readest? and he answered, How can I, except some man should guide me?' This is no proof that the Scriptures cannot be understood without an authorised interpreter,' as some of the papistical writers assert. How could the Eunuch know any thing of the gospel dispensation, to which the Scripture referred? That dispensation had not yet been proclaimed to him; he knew nothing about Jesus. But where that dispensation has been published, where the four Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles are at hand, every thing relative to the salvation of the soul may be clearly apprehended, by any simple, upright person. There are difficulties, it is true, in different parts of the Sacred Writings, which neither the Pope nor his conclave can solve; and several which even the more enlightened Protestant cannot remove: but these difficulties

do not refer to matters in which the salvation of the soul is immediately concerned; they refer to such as are common to every ancient author in the universe. These difficulties, being understood, add to the beauty, elegance, and justness of the language, thoughts, and terms of expression; and these, only the few who are capable of understanding, are able to relish. As to all the rest, all that relates to faith and practice, all in which the present and eternal interest of the soul is concerned, 'the wayfaring man, though a fool [quite illiterate], shall not err therein.'

"After Philip had 'preached unto him Jesus,' 'the Eunuch said, See, here is water, what does hinder me to be baptized? Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest; and he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch: and he baptized him.' (They alighted from the chariot into the water.) When Philip was instructing him, and he professed his faith in Christ, he probably plunged himself under the water, as this was the plan which appears to have been generally followed among the Jews in their baptisms: but the person who had received his confession of faith, was he to whom the baptism was attributed, as it was administered by his authority.

"The baptism of the Spirit did not supersede the baptism by water; nor indeed can it. St. Peter commanded the Gentiles to be baptized, after they had received the Holy Ghost, see Acts x. 48; in other cases, they were baptized before, see Acts xix. 4-6, where the disciples who had received only the baptism of John were baptized again with water, in the name of the Lord Jesus: and after even this, the apostles prayed, and laid their hands on them, before they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. So we find that Jesus had his water baptism, as well as John: and that even he who gave the baptism of the Holy Ghost required the administration of water baptism also. Baptism, as well as the Supper of our Lord, were intended not only to be means of grace, but standing, irrefragable proofs of the

truth of Christianity. To be baptized in the name of the Lord,' implied their taking upon them the public profession of Christianity, and believing in Christ Jesus as their Saviour and Sovereign.

"Paul, writing to the Romans, says, 'Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.'*

"Every man who believes the christian religion, and receives baptism as the proof that he believes it and has taken up the profession of it, is bound thereby to a life of righteousness. To be baptized into Christ' is to receive the doctrine of Christ crucified, and to receive baptism as a proof of the genuineness of that faith, and the obligation to live according to its precepts. Baptized into his death.' That as Jesus Christ, in his crucifixion, died completely, so that no spark of the natural or animal life remained in his body; so, those who profess his religion should be so completely separated and saved from sin, that they have no more connexion with it, nor any more influence from it, than a dead man has with or from his departed spirit.

"We are buried with him by baptism into death.' It is probable that the apostle here alludes to the mode of administering baptism by immersion, the whole body being put under the water, which seemed to say, The man is drowned, is dead; and, when he came up out of the water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life; The man is risen again, he is alive! He was therefore supposed to throw off his old gentile state, as he threw off his clothes, and to assume a new character, as the baptized generally put on new, or fresh garments. I I say it is probable that the apostle alludes to this mode of immersion; but it is not absolutely certain that he does so, as some do imagine; for in the next verse, our being incorporated into Christ by baptism is also denoted by our being planted, or rather grafted, together in

Rom. vi. 3, 4.