LECTURE XLVII. ON BAPTISM. SECOND PART. OF THE REQUISITES FOR BAPTISM, AND THE : MATTHEW, III. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repent ance. This declaration of the Baptist is confirmed by the injunction of the Apostle, in the following words: ACTS, II. 38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. IN N my former Lecture on the subject of this sacrament, I treated chiefly of its outward institution, and the benefits it is calculated to convey to Christians in general, as a free gift of God. I took some pains to repeat, enforce, and place in various points of view, what Al mighty God, of his infinite goodness and mercy, has done on his part for the recovery of his fallen creatures. In the present Discourse I shall confine myself particularly to the condition whereby this holy sacrament can alone become effectual to grown persons; or, in other words, what must be done on our parts, to prove that we actually possess a valuable share of this "inward "and spiritual grace;" and which our Catechism thus intimates in the question, "What is re quired of persons to be baptized?" The answer, you all know, is, REPENTANCE and FAITH. Now, as neither of these can properly belong to infants, I shall divide the subject of my present inquiries into two distinct parts: First, I shall consider the dispositions and conduct required in those of riper years, which will include the serious case of those who have broken their baptismal vows: and, Secondly, I shall offer a few observations upon the case of infants that are brought to be baptized. We will follow our usual method of attend ing to the strict meaning of the words we use. By repentance, then, is meant a change of mind. This is the literal signification of the original term. At the first preaching of the Gospel, the conditions of salvation by Jesus Christ were generally proposed to mankind; grown persons were consequently the subjects of conversion. From all who were desirous to embrace the truths and blessings of the Gospel, a preparation was positively required and proposed to them, both by Christ and the messenger that was sent before him; for, even previous to our Saviour's delivery of these glad tidings of peace in his own person, John the Baptist preached, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. iii. 2); that is, the Master himself is about to offer salvation unto sinners, on the terms of repentance. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, commissioned, by miraculous appointment, to prepare the way before him. His preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and his baptizing with water unto repentance (Matt. iii. 11), plainly testify the work of redemption to have been determined, through Christ, from the beginning of the world, and that there was a light and power vouchsafed to man, even before the more positive publication of the Gospel, though it was obscured and abused by the ignorance and superstition of the heathen world, and by the perverseness of man's own will united; for, if this had not been the case, it would have been quite superfluous in the Baptist to invite men to do what it was impossible to perform, and no man before the positive preaching of the Gospel could have been saved. By the figure of water, therefore, even in John's baptism, the necessity of a degree of purification was established, and holds forth an indispensable condition or qualification to be fulfilled, though not in that high degree as should hereafter be communicated by Christ, when the fulness of time was come: and this distinction the Baptist very clearly states in the text (Matt. iii. 11): I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance (to show that some change of life and manners must take place before your sins can be forgiven): but He that cometh after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire; that is, he shall purify you with a virtue superior to that I am able to bestow. The gift of the Holy Spirit shall act upon you with the subtlety of fire, producing such improvements in you, as shall declare the truth of Christ's mission, both by inward regeneration and outward miracles; and thus, it is proper and necessary that you should be prepared for receiving his word: as though the Apostle had said, All you can do by my baptism, and by the strength ye already possess, in consequence of the promise immediately made on Adam's fall, is trifling, in comparison of what the further influence of the Spirit is capable of effecting; so that, by the blessing and light of the Gospel, ye may well be said to be brought |