short of it," ashamed of their iniquities;" and this salutary shame will induce them henceforth to "keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof.”

As Christians, we ought to be ready to give a reason, not only for the hope which we cherish, but for the principles which we adopt, and the rites which we practise.

In the course of sermons which is this evening commenced, I propose A Vindication of the Peculiar Sentiments of the Baptist Denomination,' making a direct appeal to the Bible for their support, and availing myself of such concessions as I may find in the writings of those whose practice differs from my own.

While I mean to be very plain and fearless in the statement and vindication of my own sentiments, I trust I shall not forget the rules of Christian courtesy towards those who differ from me in opinion. If any such shall favor me with their attendance, I beg them to feel that no man can have any real interest in supporting any thing but the truth; and if I should animadvert with considerable severity on some practices which I believe to be repugnant to the truth, that severity will be designed to fall not on the honest though misguided inquirers after the right way, but upon the wilful upholders of known error.

In this discussion I expect to offer but little that will be new to those who have been conversant with the baptismal controversy; but to those who have paid but little attention to the subject, some light may be imparted. I shall not aim at novelty, but utility; I shall not hesitate to adopt good and appropriate ideas wherever I may find them.

I begin with the baptism of John, because he was the first Baptist, or baptizer; and because the disputed question in reference to his ministry ought to be settled, before arguments be drawn from his practice in support of sentiments to be vindicated in future sermons of this

course.

The harbinger of our Lord, designed of Heaven to act a conspicuous part on earth, was the subject of inspired prediction. Isaiah xl: 3, foretold his coming, the place of his preaching, and the object of his ministrations. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Malachi, iii: 1, says of him, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts." And, iv: 5, 6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." this last prediction the canon of the Old Testament scripture is finished, and the spirit of prophecy ceases. Jesus makes an application of it to John. Matthew, xvii: 10–13, “The disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?" In his character and work he strongly resembled Elisha the Tishbite. These predictions, like those which relate to the Messiah himself, evidently had respect to gospel times. In accordance with them, just before his birth, an angel said to his father Zacharias, "Thou

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shalt call his name John: and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

When John commenced his public ministry, his personal appearance, his doctrine, and especially the new rite which he introduced, excited admiration. The Jews sent a deputation of priests and Levites from the metropolis of the nation to make suitable inquiries. They commenced by asking, "Who art thou?" He at once replied, "I am not the Christ." "What then?" continued his examiners," art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not," (meaning that he was not the identical Elijah of old.) "Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.-Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us: what sayest thou of thyself? He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias." It only remained for them to ask him one more question. Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water; but there standeth one among you❞—or, I make no pretensions to be the Messiah. The extent of my commission is to preach and baptize with water. For every thing spiritual I refer you to him whose harbinger I am. "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”

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Notwithstanding there seems to have been some uncertainty in the minds of the people with regard to the

precise nature of the mission of John, yet all regarded him as an authorized messenger of God; though many embraced not his doctrine, and submitted not to his baptism. Our Saviour availed himself of this fact to confound his captious enemies. As he was teaching in the temple, the chief priests and elders came unto him with the inquiries, "By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?" Jesus meekly replied, "I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men ?”

There still is some difference of opinion among professing Christians, respecting the man in "camel's hair." All admit that he was a man of God; but some say that he was a prophet of the Jewish dispensation, and others assign to him an intermediate place between the Jewish and Christian dispensations.

Baptists believe that the ministry of John the Baptist was the commencement of the Christian dispensation; and that his baptism, for this and some other reasons, is to be regarded as Christian Baptism. The reasons for this belief will now be given.

I. THE MINISTRY OF JOHN IS PLAINLY DECLARED TO BE THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION.

In Mat. xi: 7-14, we are told that after the two disciples sent by John to make a certain inquiry of Christ, had received their answer and "departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitude concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment ? Behold, they that wear

soft clothing are in king's houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.” Let us now hear what the Evangelist Mark has to say on this subject. i: 1. "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." In proof of this assertion, he quotes the predictions from Malachi and Isaiah respecting John; thus fixing the date of the Gospel Dispensation at John's ministry.

Some of the ablest Pedobaptists expound this declaration of Mark as we do. Lightfoot says, "Mark calls the ministry and baptism of John the beginning of the gospel." Henry says, "In John's preaching and baptising there was the beginning of the gospel doctrines and ordinances, and the first fruits of them."

Calvin, as it should seem, was of the same opinion; for he said, "It is certain that the ministry of John was precisely the same as that which was afterwards committed to the apostles-the sameness of their doctrine shews their baptism to have been the same."

Scott, the commentator, is very explicit. "This was in fact the beginning of the gospel, the Introduction of the New Testament Dispensation." I will adduce but