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them with men), and by relation and obligation. God had never a church on earth of which infants were not infant members, since there were infants in the world.

6. To be baptized into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is no less than by solemn covenant to give up one's self to God the Father, as our Father reconciled by Christ, our chief owner and ruler, and chief benefactor, even as our God; and to Christ as our Saviour, and the Holy Ghost as our sanctifier. And merely to consent to learn of Christ makes one a baptizable disciple.

7. Baptism is christening, and is the badge of those that must love and take each other for Christians; and the terms of church unity, till it be nullified by verbal or actual apostasy.—And it is church tyranny and schism to make canons which shall exclude those from the Church of Christ whom he taketh in by baptism; before they impenitently nullify that covenant, in whole, or in some essential part, namely, by proved denying essentials of faith, or forsaking some essential part of obedience.

8. He that consenteth heartily and unfeignedly to the baptismal covenant, is regenerate and justified, and shall be saved. And he that doth consent but with the mouth and outward sign, or leaveth out some essential part in his heartconsent, is regenerate only sacramentally, and a visible member of the church, but is not justified, nor shall be saved.

9. The general command to the disciples of teaching all nations Christ's commands, includeth writing the Scriptures, without which they could not teach posterity in all nations his commands.

10. It maketh them his intrusted apostles, from whose fidelity we may believingly receive his commands; and therefore it includeth the promise of his Spirit to make them true and credible reporters.

11. It implieth that his commands are the universal laws for his catholic (i. e. whole) church. And no man or men have authority to make laws for the universal church on earth but he.

12. Yet the precept of observing his commands forbids not the observing of the commands of any lawful limited local rulers under him, not crossing his commands; parents, masters, pastors, princes, must be obeyed in their provinces and places, even about God's wormake subordinate according to God's general laws of love, concord, edification, order, they must be obeyed. — BAXTER.

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READER. Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven aud in earth.-See Psalm cx. 1; Eph. i. 20, 21. By this is expressed his dominion and rule as Prince of Peace, the alone king of his church, her supreme lawgiver and mighty protector, and the conqueror of all his enemies.;

ruling his "holy hill of Zion" with the golden sceptre of his word, and breaking his enemies, the strongest of them, in pieces, with the iron rod of his justice, as we have it in the second Psalm. They attempt in vain to unsettle his throne; it is established in Heaven. What way is there for the worms of this earth to do any thing against it?

The visible church is but a little parcel, a kingdom chosen out of the world; but the truly godly, who are alone the subjects of the inward kingdom of grace, are but a small part of that part, a choice part of the visible church, as that is a small part of the visible world.

The church is the jewel in the ring of the world: in it God hath his peculiar residence and chief delight; as kings choose one of their palaces, and, if they have more, one of their kingdoms, to dwell in more than another. Those things that are hidden from all the rest of the world concerning this king, are made known to his subjects of this his select kingdom; and it is in that he opens up, and displays after a special manner more than in all the world besides, both the glory of his majesty, and the riches of his bounty.-LEIGHTON.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations. The design of the Christian religion being to restore mankind to the mercy and favour of God, from which we are sadly fallen, it pleased God to send his only Son," not only to die for our sins but "to instruct us in the true and only way of becoming holy, that we might be

capable of being happy. This he did in his own person while he continued upon earth; but, being to return to heaven, he gave authority to his apostles and to their successors, to finish the work which he had begun; that is, to preach the gospel to all succeeding generations, that the world might have an opportunity of knowing the good pleasure of God, and what men must do to be saved.

Jesus, speaking to his apostles, said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" that is, in heaven to send down the Holy Ghost to guide you into all truth, and in earth to establish a spiritual kingdom there. "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples to me in all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo,”— that is, let the world take notice of it, "lo, I am with you," I who have all power in heaven and earth, "I am with you" am present with you, in the work of your ministry, both to prosper your labour and to protect your persons, "unto the end of the world," with you, while you live, and with your successors* after your death.

The apostles having received this commission for themselves and their successors, they immediately set about the work of the ministry; declaring to all nations that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world

All faithful ministers of Christ, all who serve God truly in the work of the Gospel, are successors of the Apostles.-EDITOR.

unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;" and that he had "committed unto them," and their successors, "the word of reconciliation;" that is, he had committed unto them the preaching of the Gospel, upon the receiving and obeying of which God will be reconciled to mankind. 2 Cor. v. 19. -WILSON.

Baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The great design of the Christian religion is to recover man from the state of corruption into which he is fallen, to a state of perfection, and to retain him in it, until God think fit to call him out of this world to a much better. Now, this cannot be done, but by the Spirit of God. Neither the law of Moses, nor the law of nature; no, not the state of innocence, was sufficient to direct and secure men from falling, without an especial grace of God. The Jews had a law holy, just, and good; and yet they became a most wicked people. The Gentiles had all the advantages of reasoning and learning, and yet they fell into the most monstrous sins. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans (ch. i. ii.), is forced to put both Jews and Gentiles in mind of this, that he might more effectually recommend the grace of God afforded in the Gospel to all true believers. And, indeed, Jesus Christ did not come into the world until the fulness of time; that is, until the whole world was, or might have been, convinced that there was need of further help to save

them from ruin, and to make them perfect, besides their own free will, their reason, or learning, or the best law that could be given them. And this must be the work of the Holy Ghost alone.

For this end we are dedicated to the Holy Ghost in Baptism, that he may take us under his especial care;-that he may enlighten our understandings with saving knowledge;-that he may subdue our wills to the will of God;-and that he may change our affections from following after vanity, to love those things which are above;-that, being made partakers of a divine nature, God may own us for his children, and, when we die, give us an inheritance with the saints in glory,

In short, this is the great rule of the Gospel, "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. They that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God," being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. To them, and to them only, belongs the inheritance.

Do not deceive yourselves, or place the new birth in anything but a new life. This is what all the ordinances of God aim at. We are therefore baptised, that, being within the covenant of grace, we may have the assistance of God's Holy Spirit to become new creatures. And if we value Baptism upon any other account, we mistake the end of that ordinance.-WILSON.

In (or rather, into) the name not names, but (one NAME, denoting the unity of the Godhead) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Ghost. Here is a distinct, and most important, mention of the adorable Trinity in Unity, one God in three persons.-EDITOR.

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It is wonderful to observe that at the baptism of our Redeemer (ch. iii. 16, 17.) the three infinitely glorious, incomprehensible, Persons were pleased to manifest themselves severally to the very senses of men, to their eyes and ears. For the Father was heard speaking, the Son was seen in the nature of man coming out of the water, and the Holy Spirit was seen in the shape of a dove, descending and lighting upon him. And therefore, we may truly say with St. Augustin, that at this time, "the Trinity appeared most manifestly the Father in a voice; the Son in a man; the Holy Spirit in a dove." And, with St. Jerome, "the mystery of the Trinity is demonstrated in the baptism of Christ: the Lord is baptized; the Spirit descendeth in the likeness of a dove; the voice of the Father, giving testimony to the son, is heard.—And it is much to be observed that, as all the three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they manifested themselves at the baptism of our Saviour, so he himself requires that all who would be his disciples should be made so by being baptized in the name of all the same persons. And no man can be initiated into the church of Christ, and so made a Christian, any other way but by being so baptized: this being the only way appointed by Christ himself for that purpose. Our salvation depends upon, and must be attribut

ed unto, all the three divine persons. For seeing Christ himself hath so ordered it that none can be brought into a state of salvation but by being first baptized in the name of all three, all three must needs be acknowledged to concur in the effecting of it.-BEVeridge.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. If the principles of the Christian religion were well rooted in the hearts of all mankind, what excellent fruit would they produce! The earth would put on another face, bearing some resemblance to heaven itself. Idolatry, with all sorts of wickedness and vice, would be everywhere discountenanced and suppressed, for all would worship the one living and true God, and him only. There would be no more wars nor rumours of wars; kingdom would not rise against kingdom, nor nation against nation; but all princes would be at peace with their neighbours,and their subjects at unity among themselves; striving about nothing, but who should serve God best, and do most good in the world. Then piety, and justice, and charity, would revive and flourish again all the world over.-All sorts of people would do all they could to serve and honour God; whether they eat or drink or whatsoever they do, they would "do all to his glory." And, as for their fellow-servants, they would all love as brethren, and every one seek another's good as well as their own; whatsoever they would that men should do to them, they would do the same to all other men. In short,

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END OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.

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