1. What it representeth, primarily and principally the death of Christ, and secondarily his resurrection, the one in order to the other.
[1.] The death of Christ, which is the meritorious cause of all the grace and good which is communicated to us in this or any other sacrament or mystery of the gospel. We are told, 1 Peter ii. 14, ' That he himself bore our own sins in his body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, might be alive to righteousness.' I told you before that Christ's death may be considered as an instance of his love, or as the price paid for the blessings of the new covenant ; as an instance of his love it worketh morally, as the price of our blessings meritori- ously ; as it worketh morally and exciteth our gratitude, we should not go on in that course which brought these sufferings on Christ, but live holily, in gratitude to him, and kindness to ourselves, lest we bear our own sins, which are so hateful to God. This consideration we exclude not ; but to make this all the sense of the place, no christian heart can endure ; therefore we go to the second consideration, as the price and ransom of our own souls, and of the blessings we stand in need of. He purchased grace to mortify sin, and quicken us to the duties of holiness, that the love of sin might be weakened in our hearts, and we might be quickened to live to God in the Spirit. Now, if this be represented in baptism, then surely it strongly obligeth us to improve this grace for those ends and purposes ; and that this is represented is evident, for in the apostle's interpretation baptism is a sort of burial ; and first it is a commemoration of the burial of Christ, who, when his soul was separated from his flesh, he was buried, his sacred body was laid up in the chambers of the grave. This was necessary not only in compliance with the types — Mat. xii. 40, 'As Jonah was three days and three niglits in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.' Christ was found to be the true Messias by his resurrection from the dead, as Jonas was authorised to be a true prophet of the Lord by his miraculous deliver- ance. Prophecies of this you may see : Ps. xvi. 9, ' My flesh also shall rest in hope ;' Isa. liii. 9, ' He made his grave with the wicked, and
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with, the rich in his death/ — but also this was necessary for the con- firmation of the reality of his death past, and the verity of his resurrec- tion suddenly to follow. Therefore in baptism the truth of his death is represented as the ground of all our hopes.
[2.] The next thing which is represented is the truth of his resur- rection. Christ, that purchased this grace, is risen to apply it ; he is a saviour merito et efficacia ; his merit immediately depended on his death, and his power for effectual application (though mediately on that too) depended immediately on his resurrection ; for Christ rose on purpose to turn men from their iniquities : Acts iii. 26, ' God having raised up his Son Jesus, hath sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.' Christ's resurrection hath a twofold regard — (1.) It is a pattern ; (2.) It is a pledge.
(1.) It is a pattern of our rising from the death of sin to newness of life. If Christ, that was dead and buried, rose again, and cast off the burden of our sins, which for our sakes he undertook, or cast off the form of a servant, we must not only be dead and buried, but we must rise also. Christ's resurrection is everywhere made a pattern of the new birth : 1 Peter i. 3, ' He hath begotten us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead ;' that is the influential cause and pattern of it. So 1 Peter iii. 21, 'The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.' Anima non lavatione, sed responsione sancitur. The soul is dedicated to God to live a new life, not by the water, but by the answer to the demands of the new covenant, and this is by the resurrection of Christ
(2.) As it is a pledge of his power, by which that great change is wrought in us : Eph. i. 19, 20, ' And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.' To convert souls to God there needeth a mighty working of efficacious power, which exceedeth all contrary power which might hinder and impede that work. Men by nature are averse from God ; the devil seeketh to detain them from him, and his powerful engine is the world. But now, if they are to be raised as Christ was raised, what can oppose this work ? So that we have not only the merit of his humiliation, but the power of his exaltation. And besides, that this power is likely to be exercised for us, we may consider that Christ is said to rise by his own power : John ii. 19, ' Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ; ' John x. 17, ' I lay down my life, that I may take it again ; ' and to be raised by the power of his Father, which noteth authority to rise again, and having fully done his work, upon which account he is said ' to be brought again from the dead,' Heb. xiii. 20 ; and the apostle inferreth from thence, ver. 21, ' Being made perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.' Now, if both these be implied in baptism, it doth mightily oblige the parties baptized to look after the effect of these two acts of Christ's mediation ; for christians should not only believe the death and resur- rection of Christ, but feel it : by the merit of his death and efficacy of his