out to the people as " that very Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world." He called men to repentance, and to an acknowledgment of the Saviour, by being baptized in his name ; and announced that as the sure and only way of obtain- ing the remission of their sinsa ]
Immediately, such was the impression on all de- scriptions of persons, that "every one pressed into
it"—
[Most surprising was the effect of his ministrations. Persons flocked from every quarter, to be baptized of him. Pharisees and Sadducees, distant as they were from each other in their principles, equally felt the power of his word, and came to be baptized of him. Nay, all Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, were so wrought upon, that they actually submitted to his baptism, making public con- fession of their sinsb. They sought instruction also from him, every one (soldiers, publicans, and the people generally) being- willing and desirous to approve his sincerity before God, by abandoning all the evils to which he had been particularly prone, and by practising those duties which would most adorn his holy profession c. Many of them, it is to be feared, went back afterwards : but such, at the time, was the power of the Gospel as ministered by him.]
Let us compare with this, II. The effect of Gospel ordinances in our day —
We preach the kingdom of God, even as he did — [Our blessed Lord commanded, that " repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations, be- ginning at Jerusalem d:" and the Apostles obeyed this injunc- tion, preaching this doctrine to the Jews first e, and afterwards to the Gentiles f. The same injunction, also, do we obey. You yourselves will bear us witness, that the great subjectof all our ministrations is, " repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Yea, like St. Paul, " we have determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified e. We proclaim the Lord Jesus to be" King in Zion :" we call upon you to submit yourselves to him : we declare that " his blood was shed for the sins of the whole world11;" and that " all who believe in him shall be justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses1." In this respect we have even the advantage of John the Baptist : for he could only proclaim what the
a Luke hi. 3. b Matt. iii. 5 — 7. c Luke iii. 10—14.
a Luke xxiv. 47. e Acts v. 31. f Acts xx. 21.
s 1 Cor. ii. 2. h 1 John ii. 2. \ Acts xiii. 38, 39.