Ver. 14.-Ghristian baptism. "But now are they holy." I. ,vnAT IS IMPLIED IN THIS STATEMENT, It is an acknowledgment of their virtual ,Church membership. II. THE BEARLXG OF THIS DOCTRINE ON THE IlAI'TISU OF INFANTS. By this net of baptism the Church (1) expresses its own evangelical faith; (2) recognizes the children .as belonging to God :md to Christ; (3) testifies its confidence in their present spiritual safety; (4) pledges itself to train them up in the culture of the Lord. Ill. GENERAL INFERENCES CONCERNING CHRJS'.l'IAN BAPTISM. l. It is only an external sign. 2. ·where persons are not baptized ns infants, they should not afterwards be cSubmitted to the rite except as intelligent believers in Christ. 3. As to the mode of baptism, it may be performed in any decent, possible way. 4. It may be administered by any one qualified or appointed to represent the Christian Church. 5. It should be consummated by an early admission to the Lord's table. G. The duty of those who were never bnptized in infancy.-R. 'l'.
Ver. 24.-Abiding as called. Observe the peril of Christianity, as it spread among .the nations, disturbing the social conditions, customs, and relations. Yet Christianity never directly; attacks social evils, war, slavery, etc. '!.'here was ulso a constant danger -of men's conceiving Christianity as a ceremonial and outward, and not o.s a spiritual .and inward, religion. Our Lord had constantly to resist the expectation that he wouhl prove a new Maccabeus, a national Messiah. And so the apostles had to assert constantly that Christianity is not, first of all, an ordering of conduct, but a life, an inward spiritual thing, that can gain expression in all circumstances and through all relations. A ru,rn may "abide" in whatever state he is when "called,'' seeing that he can there live om ,the Christian spirit and the Christian life. I. THE LonD's CALL. Notice: 1. Its form. It comes through human agency. 2. Its effectuality. It is accompanied by the witness and the sealing of the Holy Ghost. II. THE CONDITIONS IN WJIICII THE Lonn's CALL MAY FIND us. Illustrate: 1. The personal conditions, as suggested by the distinction of circumcised and uncircumcisc,l. 2. The relative conditions. \Ve may be bond-slave or freeman, master or servant. III. THE C11nrSTIA:,r's DUTY IN RELATI0:,! '1'0 TIIE CONDI'l'IO:s'S HE IS IN WHEN CALLED . .As a rule, he had better remain in them. The new life in Christ should not make mei:; ,restless concerning their circumstances. It is always a far nobler thing to conquer ~GO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO 'l'HE CORINTHIANS. [err. vu. t-40.
circumstances of disability by the power of Christian principle and Christian life, than merely to chani!e onr circumstances, and shake ourselves free from the disability. l'ress, in conclusion, that God's p1·esence is not conditioned by any outward positions in which we may be placed. He dwells with contrite hearts everywhere, and pays no heed to the presence or absence of the brand•marks of the slave.-H. 'l'.