of worship, the administration of it in the name-the one name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, attests not only the true divinity of each, but also their unity, or their possession of the same perfections, prerogatives, and authority. And as all religious ordinances are means of salvation, the distinct mention of the divine persons by name in baptism fixes our thoughts on the place held by each in the scheme of redemption, and the full disclosure of their gracious relations in the gospel. Its administration in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, thus declares it to be a solemn devotement of the person baptized;-to the faith of the trinity, the reception and constant profession of the fundamental doctrine of christianity, that there are three persons in the Godhead, the same in nature, and equal in power and glory;-to the honour and service of these three persons as the one living and true God, who conjointly and separately have an indefeasible claim to the exclusive worship, the supreme reverence and love, and the implicit submission and obedience of men ;— and to interest in each of these persons according to the character sustained by him in the scheme of redemption; in the Father as the Majesty on high, who presides on the part of Deity over the execution of the plan of salvation, and is thus the source of its blessings, and the ultimate object of the glory which flows from it; in the Son as the Mediator between God and man, who, in his various offices, is the procurer and dispenser of spiritual blessings, and the primary object of homage to the saved; and in the Holy Ghost as the Applier of redemption, who, by his operation and influence, commences a work of grace on the soul, and carries it forward till it is consummated in the heavenly state. III. On the part of God, baptism is significant of Spiritual Purification. This purification is presupposed in the acknowledgment expressed by the administration of it; for it is necessary to constitute a person a true member of the church of Christ, and those only who may be presumed to have experienced it ought to be recognized as its visible members. It is also requisite in order to the verification of the solemn devotement implied in baptism; for without it none can fulfil the obligations, or enjoy the blessings connected with conservation to God. In the scriptures of the New Testament, the words, "baptized," and "baptism," are sacred terms. They are never applied to merely secular acts. They are wholly restricted to religion. And their essential meaning, the idea uniformly suggested by them, is purification. They always refer either to spiritual purification, or to rites which were symbolical of it. The baptism of the Israelites in the cloud and in the sea, denoted their purification from the contaminations of Egypt, by which they were prepared for the reception of the system of laws and ordinances, which was to be delivered to them by Moses. The "divers washings," or different kinds of baptisms, prescribed in that system, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, and were typical of that purgation of the conscience from dead works to serve the living God, which is effected by the blood of Christ. Heb. ix. 10, 13, 14. The baptism of themselves before eating, and of cups and pots, and brazen vessels, and tables or couches, observed by the Pharisees, was a religious rite, intended to prevent or remove ceremonial pollution. Mark vii. 4; Luke xi. 38. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance, signifying preparation for the introduction of the kingdom of heaven, by the renunciation of the prejudices, hypocrisy, and vices which prevailed among the Jews; and hence the dispute which his disciples managed with those who resorted to Christ's baptism is called “ a question about purifying." John iii. 25. And the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, foretold by John, and verified on the day of Pentecost, was purification from the ignorance, prejudice, and moral incapacity that would have dishonoured the station occupied by the apostles in the christian church, or impeded the faithful and successful discharge of their office. The only apparent exceptions from this view of baptism, are our Lord's submission to the rite as administered by John, and his application of the word to his sufferings and death. Matt. xx. 22; Luke xii. 50. These, however, are not exceptions. The baptism of Christ was a sign of purification, not indeed to be communicated, but previously conferred in an extraordinary way, and in his very conception, and not consisting in the removal of the taint of sin from him, but displayed in preventing it from adhering to his human nature, which, though formed of the substance of the virgin, was thus, from the very commencement of its existence, a "holy thing." Luke i. 35. And by his sufferings "he died unto sin," as to all the connexion he ever had with it, or was completely freed from the guilt which the Lord had laid upon him, thus exemplifying the change of state experienced by sinners in justification. Rom. vi. 10. Though, therefore, the idea of consecration or devotement is suggested in both these cases, yet that of purification must not be excluded. It is, in fact, the primary one. His baptism by the Spirit and in his own blood prepared and qualified him for the services which he was to perform in his humbled and in his glorified state; and they were thus fitted to mark him out as "God's servant, whom he had chosen; his elect, in whom his soul delighted." Such being the scriptural meaning of the word "baptize" and its derivatives, the christian ordinance of baptism must be significant of purification. That it is so is decisively ascertained by many passages of scripture. Does not Paul allude to the ordinance, and indicate its meaning when he says, "Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God ;" and, "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word;" and again, "God saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost?" 1 Cor. vi. 2; Eph. v. 25, 26; Tit. iii. 5. Does he not directly explain the meaning of the symbolical rite, when he says, "Therefore we are 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 also we should walk in newness of life?" Rom. vi. 4. And does not Peter also suggest the same view of its significance, when he says, in allusion to the flood, "The like figure whereunto baptism doth now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh," or a mere outward purification, "but the answer of a good conscience toward God," that is, as it is called in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "a conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God." 1 Pet. iii. 21. Baptism, being the initiatory ordinance of the christian dispensation, is significant only of that purification which is experienced at conversion, when the sinner passes from death unto life, and becomes a member of the invisible church. This, however, is a change of no trivial or temporary character. It affects both the state and the nature, both the legal and the moral condition of its subjects; in other words, it comprehends the removal of the guilt and release from the dominion of sin,-the reversal of the sentence of condemnation, which rests on them as children of wrath, and renders them obnoxious to everlasting punishment, and the overthrow of the power of depravity, which makes them children of disobedience, and incapacitates them for the service of God. The first of these blessings is pardon or justification, which is the result of the sprinkling of the blood of Christ; the second is renovation, or the reception of a new heart, which is effected by the influence of the Holy Spirit. The reference of baptism to the former, is indicated by the words of Ananias to Saul of Tarsus, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Acts xxii. 16. Its reference to the latter is notified by our Lord's declaration to Nico.. demus, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John iii. 5; see also Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27. And both were associated together by Peter in his address to the Jews on the day of Pentecost. "Repent and be baptized every one of you, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts ii. 38. This purification, comprising pardon through interest in the atonement of Christ, and renovation by the influences of the Spirit, of which baptism is significant, is unspeakably valuable. In receiving it, sinners pass from the guilt and degradation of their natural condition, into the favour of God and conformity to him. It is the commencement of a good work in them, which will be maintained and advanced by the daily reception of forgiveness, and by progressive sanctification, till it is consummated in admission to the heavenly state. Spiritual purification is not inseparably connected with the administration of the ordinance of baptism, which neither imparts to the recipient the blessings of pardon and renovation, nor is a proof that he has already received them. To suppose that an unfailing connexion exists between the sign and that which is signified by it, is virtually to assert, that God is not free to give or withold spiritual blessings at his pleasure, but is controlled in the exercise of this divine prerogative by men,—by those who administer the external rite. The unbaptized may, therefore, be members of the family of God, as the baptized are often strangers to the covenants of promise. Yet baptism is not a useless ceremony. It not only indicates, in an impressive manner, the necessity of purification from sin by the blood of Christ and the influences of his Spirit, as a prerequisite to admission to the household of faith, thus imparting important instruction and solemn admonition, to all who witness the administration of it; but, like the other seals appended to God's promises or covenants, it is intended to confirm to believers, the persuasion of their reception of the blessings of which it is the sign, and thus to advance their peace and hope and joy. Believers only are interested in that covenant of promise, of which baptism is a seal, and entitled to it in the sight of God; and to them it is an attestation that they have obtained the remission of sin, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. It thus serves to strengthen their faith in the testimony of scripture, respecting these important blessings. Let then the baptized beware of forfeiting the valuable outward privileges to which baptism, when viewed as declarative of membership in the visible church, gives them a right; let them faithfully fulfil the obligations which, when considered as expressive of devotement to God, it imposes; and let them rest satisfied with nothing short of that entire change of state and nature, the necessity of which, when contemplated as significant of spiritual purification, it impressively attests. They have been recognized as the covenanted people of God; and if they refuse to acknowledge this relation to him, or act inconsistently with it, they are chargeable not merely with the guilt which such conduct attaches to others, but with ingratitude and apostacy. From this responsibility the circumstance, that having been baptized in infancy, they were not parties to the transaction, and did not give their consent to it, does not free them. It was at God's command they were distinguished from others, and acknowledged to be fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of faith; and he has a right to bring his creatures under any obligation he pleases. If parents, by presenting their children to God in baptism, engage to employ instruction, and example, and persuasion, and parental influence, and prayer, to lead them in the way of truth, and holiness, and salvation; the children by the reception of baptism, are brought under solemn obligations to walk in it. The claim which God institutes to the offspring of believers, is wholly a gracious one, and it is at once their duty and their interest, to recognize it as soon as they are capable of doing so, to surrender themselves willingly and entirely to him, and to say in the exercise of faith and obedience, "The Lord is our God." D. D. H. THE LAST DAYS OF AUTUMN.-A STRAY LEAF. THE "melancholy days of autumn, the saddest of the year," and some will say the sweetest, have come at last. And how brief has been the space since the bright festival of spring-time-when frost, tempest, and desolation were all forgotten amidst the sweet song of birds in their green bowers of bliss,—the sounds of bubbling fountain and gushing stream,-when nature threw off her frozen mantle, and resumed her kindliest inspirations, changing the earth from "gloom to glory." It was but as yesterday that summer beamed upon us with its fierce sunshine, unvarying hymn. Yet summer is gone! The brown spoiler is abroad. The leaf turns pale, trembles, dies. The groves are deserted, the tenants have departed to a more congenial clime. The last sheaf is gathered in, and the cold harvest moon is pale and wan. The moss cup, the tulip, the whole "beauteous sisterhood of flowers," have been NO. I. VOL. III. с withering, hung on autumn's shrine. There is something sad in the reflection that earth's loveliest things must fade; that there is nought too beautiful to escape the unsparing hand of time; that the fair buds which have opened their folded leaves to the sunbeam, should wither, decay, and die; and the earth, so lately clothed with fertility and fragrance should become bleak, solitary, and desolate. But there is sunlight amid these deepening shadows. A spirit of beauty pours a glory upon the autumn woods, deep, varied and magnificent, as if they had borrowed the summer's rainbow for a covering. The silver garniture of the heavens is seen stretching far away into the dim hazy distance. The hill sides are clad in a habit of crimson and gold. The hoary forests in their autumnal beauty, present a spectacle compared with which the verdant plains are dull and cheerless. And then the going down of the sun-the intermingling of the beauty of the earth with the glory of the heavens, like the images in a poet's dream: -Sinking slowly from our sight, he changes the wreaths of vapour from glory to glory, imbuing them with his own peerless magnificence, and creating a fit pavilion for the king of day. There is a moral in the falling leaf and perishing blossom. When all things are dying around us, we are admonished that death and decay come alike to all,-that the chill hoar frost cuts down all alike; the tender plant and the noxious weed. As the head sinks upon the hand, and memory calls up the thronging images of the past,—as the eye wanders around the friendly circle, and finds it narrowed since the last vernal season, a feeling of insecurity comes over us. that in a few years, or even days, perhaps, the fallen leaves will rustle above our resting-place. May we be enabled by a holy faith to look forward to an immortal spring-time, to a season of perfected life and unfading beauty amidst the paradise of God! 31st October. We know A. NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE. Eleventh | lantly to his own position, and to hold himself in readiness, whatever his system be, to discuss unexpected objections both to his creed and nomenclature. The subject of Dr Payne's volume is confessedly one of first importance. WithLondon: Jackson and Walford. in the whole range of theological invesDR PAYNE is, on the whole, a useful as tigation, there is probably not a subject well as able writer. Not that we consider which more powerfully demands, in the his conclusions always judicious, or all his examination of it, profoundest sentiments opinions sound. On various points we of submission to the authority of the word. have the misfortune to differ from him. In every stage of the inquiry, and under But his writings are the fruit of reading, every aspect of the question, difficulties and of independent research, and are, present themselves which show that, in therefore, profitable for information; and approaching it, we are dealing with one then the author has such an eye to the of the deep things of God, and which minutiæ of a subject, and such a lively ought ever to remind us that our only turn for fault-finding, that the reader safe, as it is plainly our dutiful course, is feels himself necessitated to look vigi-to handle it as peculiarly one of rigid |