(2.) A devoting and giving up ourselves to God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as our God, 2 Cor. viii. 3, and Eom. vi. 13 ; as our owner by creation, Ps. c. 3 ; and by redemption, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; as our sovereign lord, Jer. xxiv. 8, Isa. xxvi. 13, ' Other lords besides thee have had dominion over us,' &c. ; as the fountain of our life and blessedness : Ps. xxxi. 14, ' I trusted in the Lord, I said, Thou art my God ;' Lam. iii. 24, ' The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him ;' Ps. cxix. 57, ' I have said, Thou art my portion, therefore I will keep thy precepts.'
Acts IL 38.] how ought we to improve our baptism ? 465
[2.] As to our progress and perseverance, which is our walking in the narrow way, and shows the sincerity and heartiness of our consent in making the covenant — and besides, this is not the work of a day, hut of our whole lives — we have continual need of coming to God by Christ. Here three things are required : —
(1.) As to the enemies of God and our souls, there must be a for- saking as well as a renouncing : the devil must be forsaken ; we must be no more of his party and confederacy ; we must resist, stand out against all his batteries and assaults, 1 Peter v. 8, 9 ; the world must be overcome, 1 John v. 4, 5 ; and the flesh must be subdued and mor- tified, Gal. V. 24, that we be no more governed by the desires thereof, and if we be sometimes foiled, we must not go back again, but renew our reso- lutions ; and the drift of our lives must still be for God and heaven.
(2.) As to God, to whom we have devoted oui'selves, we must love and please and serve him all our days, Luke i. 75. We must make it our work to love him, and count it our happiness to be beloved by him, and carefully apply ourselves to seek his favour, and cherish a fresh sense of it upon our hearts, and continue with patience in well- doing, Kom. ii. 7, till we come to the complete sight and love of him in heaven, 1 John iii. 2.
(3.) You must always live in the hope of the coming of Christ, and everlasting glory: Titus ii. 13, ' Looking for the blessed hope ;' and Jude 21, ' Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus unto eternal life.' As we did at first thankfully accept of our recovery by Christ, and at first consent to renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh, and resolve to follow God's counsel and direction, we must still persevere in this mind, and use his appointed means in order to our final happiness. The sum, then, of our Christianity is, that we should by true repentance and faith forsake the world, the flesh, and the devil, and give up our- selves to God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that he may take us for his reconciled children, and, for Christ's sake, forgive all our sins ; and by his Spirit give us grace to persevere in those resolutions, till our full and final happiness come in hand.
7. This covenant, consisting of such duties and privileges as God hath confirmed by certain visible ordinances, commonly called sacraments, as baptism and the Lord's Supper ; both which, but in a different man- ner, respect the whole tenor of the covenant. For as the covenant bindeth mutually on God's part and ours, so these duties have a mutual aspect or respect to what God does, and what we must do. On God's pait they are a sign and a seal, on our part they are a badge and a bond.
[1.] On God's part they are sealing or confirming signs. As cir- cumcision is called, ' a sign ' or ' seal of the righteousness which is by faith,' Kom. iv. 11 ; that is, of the grace offered to us in Christ ; so is baptism, which came in the room of circumcision : Col. ii. 11, 12, ' In whom ye are circumcised, buried with him in baptism.' Surely the gospel ordinances signify as much grace as the ordinances of the legal covenant. If circumcision was a sign and seal of the righteousness which is by faith, or a pledge of God's good-will to us in Christ, so is baptism, so is the Lord's Supper ; they are a sign to signify and a seal to confirm, to represent the grace and assure the grant of pardon and life. As, for instance, baptism signifies pardon and life, so does the
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466 HOW OUGHT WE TO IMPROVE OUR BAPTISM ? [ACTS 11. 38.
Lord's Supper, Mat. xxvi. 28, 29 ; that for our growth and nourish- ment, this for our initiation. Baptism is under our consideration at present, that it hatli respect to remission of sins. The text is clear for it, and so are many other scriptures. It was Ananias' advice to Paul, Acts xxii. 16, ' Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, and call on the name of the Lord.' So Eph. v. 26, ' That he might sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of water through the word.' The washing represents the washing away the guilt and filth of sin ; it signifies also our resurrection to a blessed and eternal life. Baptism saveth by the resurrection of Christ, 1 Peter iii. 21. Well, then, it is a sealing sign. W^ien God promised longer life to Hezekiah, 2 Kings XX. 8, he said, ' What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me?' So when he promiseth pardon and life to us. What shall be the sign that the Lord will do this for us ? Baptism is this sign ; a witness between us and God : Gen. xxxi. 48, ' This heap is a witness between thee and me.'