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It is not

ular blessings of this ordinance. merely taking upon us a badge that is to be worn for life, but it is an act of worship to our God, and of communion with him. As the scripture has directed us to this action, it guides us in it, tells us what we should mean, and what we are to aim at. I have shown you, that it is a seal of the righteousness of faith. And what does this righteousness issue in, with respect to ourselves? I cannot give a better answer to that, than in the language of the Bible.

John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. That kingdom was now to be opened, which called for repentance from sins, and proclaimed a remission to them. Here is a sovereign, a king of saints, Rev. xv. 3. the blessed and only potentate, to whom we should bow with repentance and godly sorrow; and who himself has bowed the heavens with all the treasures of salvation and pardon. 1 Tim. vi. 16. Not that the external action did any more, than signify these things. The Sadducees and Pharisees came to John's baptism, as people warned to flee from a wrath to come. They thought they had a visible claim to any ordinance in the Church of God, having Abraham to their father, Matt. iii. 7, 8, 9; but he exhorts them not only to appear in the signs of repentance, but to bring forth fruits that are meet for it. Or otherwise, though the king of Sion was come among them having salvation, yet his fan was

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in his hand, and he would thoroughly purge his floor, as well as fill his garner. Ver. 12.

And so baptism saves us, not by washing away the filth of the flesh, but by the answer of a good conscience towards God. What is that? I believe, though it includes our integrity, yet it relates to a great deal more: for it is the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, that purges our consciences from dead works, to serve the living God. Heb. ix. 14. A good conscience signifies that a person is in a state of pardon. If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. 1 John iii. 21.

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Thus does Ananias explain it to Saul; now why tarriest thou, arise, and be baptized, washing away thy sins, and calling upon the name of the Lord. Acts xxii. 16, Not that the virtue lay in the action. A flood of water does no more than the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin; and therefore he speaks of this in connexion with his calling upon the Lord. So that though a person who is baptized, ought not, cannot, and dare not say, that this ordinance is a token 'of his being pardoned, yet he knows it is the emblem of that blood, by which alone he can be so. Therefore,

There is an application in this solemnity, whether I do it for myself or my child. "Lord, in this way of thine own appointment "I come to thee for mercy. I am looking to "Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant,

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" and the blood of sprinkling that speaks "better things than that of Abel. The privilege is not secured by this duty, but it is represented and may be conveyed. Let my person, my garments, my children be "washed indeed in the blood of the lamb. It "is this that takes away the sins of the "world."

Simon Magus was baptized but not pardoned, Acts viii. 23. He still continued in the gall of bitterness, though he had passed under that ordinance, which to others is a token for good. He that believes not shall be damned, whether he is baptized or no, Mark xvi. 16. They will be bitter waters to him. Though he make his body never so clean, God will plunge him in the ditch, and his own clothes shall abhor him. Washing does no more change the nature of an infidel than it does the skin of an Ethiopian. But he that believes, and is baptized, shall be saved, i. e. he that believes what baptism signifies, and is baptized as an act of his faith, and an emblem of a justifying righteousness, he shall be saved. And if you do not mean all this by it, either you do it not; in the name of God, or you take that name in vain.

7. Our being baptized into this great name signifies that we must be conformed to his image. Circumcision was a seal of the covenant; and therefore Abraham meant by the sign what he meant by the covenant itself, that the Lord would be his God; and that he was obliged to walk before him and be

perfect. Gen. xvii. 1. Baptism carries the same demand along with it. It is a reliance upon the death and the resurrection of Christ, as that, by which, he brought in a righteousness. But, besides that, it also calls us to a fellowship in his sufferings, to be partakers of his death, and to feel the power of his resurrection. Phil. iii. 10.

I will turn you to the apostle's argument upon this head, which may excuse me from making any of my own. He observes, that believers are dead to sin, and therefore cannot live in it. Upon this he argues, Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death. Rom. vi. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Whether this refers to the manner of baptism, is a question very trivial, in comparison of what I now bring it for. If you think that being under the water is all that is meant by this burial; or that it is essential to it, so that there cannot be the one without the other, you make a poor business of it indeed. The apostle tells us what he means by the phrase; that we are therefore 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 should also walk in newness of life; for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. And to let you see that what he speaks of in these allusions, has nothing to do with external forms, he binds an interpretation upon his own words, that is all spiritual;

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. So that

The whole design of the ordinance, is to represent and enforce our conformity to him, who lived as one dead to this world, and whose conversation was all in another. Col. iii. 27. Thus he pleads again; as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You are to look like him, to walk as he also walked. The life you live in the flesh should be by faith in him, that you may have boldness in the day of judgment. 1 John iv. 17. The phrase of putting on Christ sometimes relates to your justification and signifies a being found in him, not having on our own righteousness, but it is also used in another branch of your character. And it is thus expressed to show the entireness of this conformity, that as you put off the old man with all his deceitful lusts and deeds, so you put on the new man. Eph. iv. 24. This is what you should design, understand, and promote by this ordinance. In him ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God. Col. ii. II.

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8. When we are baptized into the name of God, we do it with a hope of his mercy to eternal life. It is a temporal ordinance, but

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