be baptised every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

We find in the practice of those holy messengers of God, the apostles, a continued attention to this ordinance, and that they invariably administered it to all converts. We find in the course of their history, fifteen or sixteen instances in which baptism was administered, and we find it particularly recorded, who were the subjects, what was the manner, and what the matter, with which it was performed. So that it must be extreme prejudice or ignorance, which can leave any man to doubt, that there were visible ordinances established in the Church of Christ, and that these sacraments were constantly celebrated in the practice of the first Christians.

We

This matter is not left Sir, to our understanding and explanation of the scripture account. have the opinions and the practice of the early Christians, successors to the apostles, who lived in their age and the age immediately succeeding. These men, renowned for their piety, as well as their wisdom, must have known the mind of Christ and his apostles upon this matter. It was a matter of fact in which the Christian Church could not be deceiv

ed-and it was not until more than fifteen hundred years after they lived and died, before any christians ever questioned the necessity of the visible ordinances, or the visible authority which Christ ordained in the church.

This voice of universal consent, this voice of antiquity, this voice of the church in her pure, her primitive days, when she was uncorrupted and undivided, should be heard with veneration; and this voice so exactly according with the scripture institutions, and apostolic practice, must carry conviction to every thinking mind.

These facts being thus established Sir, it will be easy to see what constitutes membership in the visible church. Baptism was always administered, and its necessity enforced on every convert to Gospel truth. The converts on the day of pentecost, on the day of their first conversion-the jailor, in the very hour in which he appealed to the apostle-Lydia, as soon as she heard the word of God preached-were all baptised. None were received as disciples by the apos tles except those who were subjects of this ordiIn this way baptism evidently becomes the seal of adoption into Christ's visible Churchthe visible door by which we enter his household

nance.

and kingdom. This we are expressly taught by Christ himself in the 3d chap. of St. John's Gospel-" Except ye be baptised with water, and the Holy Ghost, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This is plain language. "The kingdom of God" here, must mean in its lowest sense, the visible church. This we cannot enter, without water baptism, as well as the baptism of the spirit. To baptise with the spirit, is the work of God; but to baptize with water is the business of his visible officers. God ever does all on his part. To those who are faithfully and devoutly obedient to his laws and institutions, he will grant every spiritual aid and qualification. This puts upon every one the necessity of complying with this institution, in order to be one of the fold of Christ, and it at the same time shows us, that this ordinance is the only seal of admission into his family. For if without baptism, 66 we cannot enter" the kingdom, and with it we can, nothing can be plainer than that this is the only way of admission.

These Sir, are the views which I have collected upon this question, from the scriptures, from the practice of antiquity, and indeed from the standards of almost every denomination in Chris

tendom, These views I shall continue to entertain, unless some gentleman can afford me new light on the subject.

Presbyter Tertius. Sir, although I heartily ac cord with my Rev. Brother, in his views of the visible Church of Christ, I must beg leave to differ in opinion from him, in reference to membership. In my mind, it is a question whether water baptism constitutes membership therein or not, and I confess I am inclined to believe the contrary is the fact. I rather accord with some of our best writers, who teach us that baptism is to be administered only" to regularly received members of the Church."* That" baptism does not constitute membership," but that it consists in that faith and sanctification which are wrought by the word and spirit of God. Surely the gentleman will not go so far as to say, that the want of baptism will exclude from final

salvation; and if it

exclude not from the kingdom triumphant, it is a mystery to me why it should from the kingdom militant. It appears to me that the baptism of the spirit, should be placed above that of water, and that the latter should be considered as a sign, rather than a seal of admission into the church. It

*Ecclesiastical Catechism, p. 9.

is certainly undervaluing the grace of God, and his work in the soul, to place the visible ordinances in one sense above them or at least upon an equality with them. I wish to magnify the love of God, and to see it raised above every thing earthly. I am willing however to hear what can be advanced on the subject.

P. Primus. Sir I am as desirous" of magnifying the grace of God," as this Rev. Gentleman or any other man can be; but I am desirous of doing this in God's way, and not in man's. It is surprising to me that any man can think or talk of giving honor to his Redeemer, by mangling, distorting and rendering insignificant his positive institutions. Were this sacrament the ordinance of man-did it rest on a matter of opinion-we might then treat it with comparitive lightness. But when it is supported by facts-by indisputable scripture facts, when it is ordained by Christ's own words, when he expressly declares we cannot be members of his kingdom without it-is it not, instead of magnifying his grace, seriously detracting from that glory and honour due to him, to make his ordinance a bare ceremony?

Christ declares in positive terms, ye cannot enter my kingdom without baptism. Some ap