SERM. 2. You may plead from hence the Atonement VIII. that he has made, becaufe Baptifm is for the Remiffion of Sins, from which he has washed us Rev. i. 5. in his own Blood. This is he who came not 1 John v. by Water only but by Water and Blood, for without the bedding of Blood there could be no Re

6.

Heb. ix.

3. Sanctification of the Spirit is another Doctrine belonging to this Ordinance. Wafhing is Tit. iii. 5. an Emblem of Regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghoft. Therefore, all thefe Truths that relate to the Neceffity and Sufficience of a Grace from above are included in your Profeffion.

4. The Refurrection from the Dead is a thing of which Baptifm is a Figure, an Earneft, and an Introduction. If the Dead rife not at all, 1 Cor. xv. why are we baptized for the Dead? That is, (without any Buzz of critical Learning) why are we baptized in Hope of this Refurrection?

29.

5. Eternal Life is another Article of Faith that we may argue from Baptifm. These and feveral more are not only Doctrines of the Gofpel, but they are refembled and hinted at in this very Ordinance; but a Trinity of Persons, in the Unity of the Godhead, is ftill more confpicuous in the Profeffion that you made when your Bodies were washed with pure Water.

1. This is not declared with a Train of Confequences, but is the plain unaffifted Interpretation of the Words; 'tis impoffible to avoid it. In many Scriptures we prove the Deity and Perfonality of the Son and Holy Ghost by rational Deductions, comparing fpiritual Things with fpiritual. But in the Ordinance of Baptifm 'tis the immediate Propofition itself. We don't take any length of Argumentation. It comes like the Light of the Morning, even a Morning

without Clouds; it demonftrates its felf, and SERM. fhines with no other Evidence than its own. VIII. There needs no Chain of Thought, no connecting of one Thing to another; but it lies open at first look, he that runs may read it.

I think, we are obliged by this Act of Profeffion to believe the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, the Efficacy of his Grace, and the Reality of his Empire; but these are Things afar off in Comparison of the plain and primitive Declaration that we have made, of one glorious Name, belonging equally and diftinctly to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

2. This is the only Doctrine that is expreffed in the Ordinance; and therefore to drop this is to lofe all. Others, as I faid, are fuppofed by it, and may be deduced from it, but Baptifm is commenfurate to the Article of the Trinity. It includes no lefs, and it reaches no farther. 'Tis the whole Senfe of that Solemnity. I think that Baptifm may be pleaded against a Pelagian or Arminian, but I'm fure it must against an Antitrinitarian.

The Lord's Supper is a fhowing forth of Chrift's Death, and a Declaration of our Hope in his coming again; fo that if a Perfon denied either of thefe Articles, he would rather contradict the Ordinance than obferve it. These are the particular immediate Profeffions that we make in partaking of the Body and Blood of the Lord; and, in like Manner the Truth connected to the other Sacrament, is that of one divine Nature in three diftinct and equal Perfons.

3. As this Doctrine is initial to our Profeffion, fo it is fundamental to it. Every other Truth has its Dependance here. You will eafily fee how vain it is, to speak of our Election according to the Fore-knowledge of the Father, if we do not N

lay

SERM. lay the Ground of all in this, that the Father is a VIII. divine Agent. To afcribe Actions to him fup

pofes him to be a Perfon, to expect a Glory from him, takes it for granted that he is God. If therefore we fhould ever doubt either of thefe; if we make him no more than a Power or a Faculty, no higher than a Creature or a dependent Being, all the Scheme of his Decrees, Operations, and Defigns, will fall to the Ground. The Man who does not own thefe two Characters in the eternal Father, would be only guilty of building in the Air, let him write never fo well of Creation, Providence, and Grace. We fhould expect if any one was to acquaint us with the Decrees, the Works, the Defigns, the Promises, and Laws of the Father, that he should firft be at a Point who this Father is. We could not have Communion with an Attribute, we could not have Salvation from a Creature.

And just fo it is, when we fpeak of the Son and Spirit. If the Son is called God, and is not a Perfon, he is but the Power of the Father, and therefore not distinguished from him. If he is called a Perfon, and yet not God, he is but a Creature derived from the Father, and therefore not united to him; and in both thefe Turns the Form of Baptifm would be impatient; and if either of them be true, I can have no perfonal Communion with him, or no entire Dependance on him, because my Communion and Dependance are not concerned with any additional Glory that he may receive, but what he is in himself, in his own original Nature. 'Tis in vain to tell one of the Redemption that he wrought out, and the Righteoufnefs that he brought in, if I must not know who it is that did all this. For if he has Perfonality in no other Nature than the Humane, he is a meer Man, and has no more

Divinity

Divinity than God might have communicated SERM. to any other Creature. He is no more a God VIII. than the Sanctuary or the Temple was, for the Fulness of the Godhead, according to fuch an Explication, dwelt in them.

And thus it is as to the Holy Spirit: If he is below the Son in his Existence, and the Son himfelf no more than a Derivation from the Father, I dare never truft him for what none but the Supreme God can do, and will never give him. a Glory which none but the Supreme God fhould have. He is too low to fanctify a Sinner, to preserve a Saint, to infpire a Prophet, to furnish an Apostle, to make a World, and to fill a Heaven. Either this Scheme faith too little, or the Scripture has faid too much. If he is only an Attribute of the divine Nature, I will never diftinguish him from the Father, any more than I would his Holiness, Juftice, or Mercy, but rather speak of God under two Trinities instead of one.

So that, 'till the first Profeffion is fettled, all Religion is at a Stand. We know not who our God is. There ought to be a Sufpence of Baptism; ; an Embargo laid upon the Ordinance, or else upon the Mouths of thofe that pervert the Doctrine. A Perfon who pretends to rectify the Foundation defigns no lefs than to pull down the Building. For if the Foundations are deftroyed, Pf. xi. 3. or, if they are rotten and uncertain, what can the Righteous do? We are to begin again.

I am in the next Difcourfe to show you the Duty and Neceffity of holding faft this Profeffion without wavering; and fhall confider the Arguments against it. As,

First, That "it's defirable there fhould be an "Union of all the Trinitarian Schemes, Atha

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nafian,

SERM. "nafian, Arian, and Sabellan." But let me VIII. tell you, that fuch a Medley and Jumble as that is fitter for Babel than Zion.

Secondly, 'Tis urged that "we must not con"tinue to lie down in Darkness, that this is a po"lite Age, and that Men will not be put off with "the Notion that a Doctrine is incomprehenfi"ble." Such Talk as that favours of too much Arrogance and Vanity.

Thirdly, 'Tis faid that "the primitive Church " and the Jewish Writers take the Matter other"wife." And, again, it is propofed that Men destroy the Faith for the Sake of Charity; but I hope it is not impoffible to put to Silence the Ignorance of foolish Men.

SER