120 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. any particnlar religion in the world to have some of the most considerable points of it held forth or represented in visiblecere- monies, to strike the senses of men, and to dwell upon their ima- gination. The God of nature knows our frame how much we are touchedand affected with things sensible, and therefore he bath condescended to deal with us in this manner in all ages of the church ; and upon this account the two chief blessings of the New Testament, viz. cleansing from the defiling principles of sin by the Holy Spirit, and washing from the guilt of sin by the blood of Christ, are held forth to our senses in the two great ordinances of the gospel, baptism and the Lord's supper, words and discourses, precepts and promises, given out by the lips of men, oftentimes vanish into the air and are lost and forgotten : Writings are preserved indeed, but all men are not learned, nor know letters, and though our age be blessed with so much know- ledge, yet multitudes in all former ages could not so much as read, But these sensible emblems and ceremonies preserve the articles of our holy religion in the blessings and in the duties of it from age to age, and write them upon the memory of the unlearned, and that in lasting characters. Blessed be God for hiscondescending goodness in suchan evangelical ceremony! II. " Let us enquire into the spiritual meaning of all Chris- tian ordinances, and never content ourselves with the mere out- ward forms without enjoying the blessingsignified thereby and practising the respective duties." Caildren should enquire of their parents when they see a child washing withwater, and say, " What is the meaning of this washing ? And what are we to understand by the use of these names, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?" And parents should be able and willing to instruct their children, and teach them these important points of their holy religion, viz. that they are under a defilement by sin, they are to be washed from the guilt of it in the blood Of Christ, and to be cleansed and purified from the principles of it by the re- newing grace of the Spirit. So it was among the Jews ; Ex. xiii. 26, 27. 4ndwhen your children shall say unto you, what mean you In this service, then ye shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passedover the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when he'stnote the Egyptians: and thus should it he arming Christians, But remember that washing with water in never so solemn a manner, and using these sacred names with never so great seriousness by the minister, doth not profit the persons baptized, if they still continue to wallow in their sinful pollutions and take no care to seek purification of heart and life. You may be washed with the water of baptism, and.yet be driven down to hell among the polluted souls. III. " Do not think yourselvesexempt or excused from this seremony, though, you are possessed of all the graces signified-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=