gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and in the blood of the cross.

The gifts covenanted or promised on God's part are, remission for Christ's sake of sins that are past, and the in-dwelling of the Holy Ghost the comforter, to renew the heart and to bend it by secret constraint, or by strong interference, to the will of God; to begin in vessels of clay the life of heaven; to say to the believer, in language unheard but not uncertain, "this is the way, walk in it ;" to pour into his heart such love towards God, that the service in which every day is passed becomes a service of perfect freedom. The duties laid upon us, are, faith and repentance; the outward token of the covenant, which Christ appointed before he returned to the glory which was his own before he made the worlds, is Baptism. As the covenant which it betokens stands in the place of Abraham's, so is this outward form a substitute for that of circumcision, to which Abraham and his seed submitted themselves; the things signified being, in both,

Isaiah, xxx. 21.

the same, though under the gospel exalted and improved-"Holiness to the Lord," and separation from sin.

We now arrive with ease at the answer to our question, how far may we rely for our salvation upon our obedience to the divine appointment of baptism-in what sense, having been baptized, may we consider ourselves "inheritors of the kingdom of heaven?"

Baptism is, first, a ceremony whereby we enter publicly upon our Christian profession; secondly, a sacrament whereby we bind ourselves openly to the performance of certain duties; and thirdly, one of the great means of grace which our blessed Lord has ordained, that we may receive thereby certain spiritual advantages: our present subject leads us to consider it in the last view.

What

We are born children of wrath. ever evil change came upon Adam in consequence of his fall, affects all who have been since, or are to be, born into the world. The depraved and carnal bent of the soul; the enmity against God; the impossibility

of restoring himself to righteousness; and the being liable to the full unchecked effects of God's justice; these sad fruits of man's original disobedience cleave to the very nature of every individual. Upon our entrance into the covenant of grace, we escape from this dreadful situation. Every enemy of our souls has been vanquished by Jesus Christ; every hindrance to salvation removed; "the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin," in-born or actually committed-his self-sacrifice turns away entirely the severity of God's wrath against sin his spirit sheds new powers upon our hearts, leading them to love, and enabling them to serve God in righteousness and true holiness. These are the benefits of the gospel, and to these we are admitted by baptism. Such is the express language of St. Peter: he is speaking of the ark, "wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water," and adds, "the like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now save us. No similitude can give a more satisfactory explanation than this, nor con

h 1 Peter, iii. 20.

vey a more positive statement.

When, for

the wickedness of those who dwelt therein, the earth was overwhelmed by a flood of waters, those who entered the ark rode in safety over the destroying element. So, also, are those who enter into the new covenant by baptism, raised above the destruction which the great water floods of iniquity have brought upon the universal world. The person baptized stands before his Maker under new circumstances, in a new condition. The guilt of in-born sin, the liability to punishment as a descendant of sinful Adam, have been laid upon Christ Jesus: he has borne them in our stead, and we are free. For the merits of his wellbeloved son, God looks upon us with love, unshackled by the demands of justice. We are children of grace. So sure and complete is this effect of baptism, that if one die, after having received it, without the commission of any actual offence, we without doubt believe that he goes to everlasting happiness. But its effects do not end here it is the distinct doctrine of our church, that, at the time of its being duly

sent unto us our profession; which is, to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto him; that as he died and rose again, so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and live again unto righteousness; continually mortifying all our corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living."

i

To those who have hitherto nursed the unthinking hope which weakens all Christian exertion—the hope that the wings of God's mercy will shelter them, simply because they are Christ's in name and by baptism, and have forfeited this claim by no scandalous offences-to such this warning should be often and solemnly repeated -fear, tremble, least having been called by Christ you should not "enter into his rest." Remember that his kingdom is not merely forgiveness of sins after death, or everlasting peace; but grace and truth and righteousness: it begins in your soul as soon as you become, in spirit and in truth, a follower of Jesus, and if it do not really begin there in this life, in the next it is

i Office for the Public Baptism of Infants.