ture we were to have had? where the many quotations from the Gospels and the Acts?" Well, I have gone on jotting down the thoughts, which have, for some considerable time, occupied my mind; and now, space forbids my going further at present. But if you so desire, I shall write you a second letter on the subject. Meanwhile, may the Lord, by His Spirit, make us more earnest in seeking the salvation of immortal souls, by every legitimate agency. May our hearts be filled with genuine love for precious souls, and then we shall be sure to find ways and means of getting at them!

Ever, believe me, dearest A-—,

Your deeply affectionate yokefellow,

**

SHORT PAPERS ON CHURCH HISTORY; &c., &c., &c.

THE SEALING OF THE GENTILES.

NOTICE, then, this important fact connected with the bringing in of the Gentiles-they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, simply through the preaching of the word. At Jerusalem, the Jews were baptized before they received the Holy Ghost. At Samaria, the Samaritans were not only baptized, but had the apostles' hands laid on them, with prayer, before they received the Holy Ghost. But at Cesarea, without baptism, without the laying on of hands, without prayer, the richest christian blessing was given to the Gentiles; though the doctrine of the Church as the body of Christ was not yet revealed.

The grace of God, thus shewn to the Gentiles, at the commencement of the dispensation, has characterized it ever since. We are Gentiles; we are neither Jews nor Samaritans. Therefore, God's ways in grace, and His order of things with the Gentiles, have a special appli

cation to us. There is no instance recorded by the inspired historians of one being baptized without professing faith in Christ; but if we are to follow the pattern of things at Cesarea, we must look for sealing as well as quickening— for peace with God as well as faith in Christ before baptism. The case of Cornelius stands at the very head of our dispensation; it was the first direct expression of grace to the Gentiles; and surely it ought to be a model for Gentile preachers and disciples. When the word of God that was then preached to Cornelius is now believed, the same effects, as to peace with God, we may rest assured, will follow.

Preaching, believing, sealing, baptizing, is the divine order of things here. God and His word never change; though "times change," as men say, and human opinions change, and religious observances change, but the word of God-never. Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans professed faith in Christ before they were baptized. Indeed baptism supposed eternal life possessed through faith, not communicated by its observance, as Anglican Catholics teach. "Grace is communicated, life is communicated, by sacraments," they say, "and is only effected through these means; irrespective of any exercise of the intellect on the part of the person brought into union. Holy baptism is the means of conferring on the recipient a new and spiritual life."* Such notions, we need scarcely say, are utterly opposed to scripture. Baptism, we affirm, confers nothing. Life is conferred by other means, as the scriptures plainly teach. Conversion, or "being born again," is effected, in all cases without exception, by the Holy Spirit. As we read in 1 Peter, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for

"The Church and the World," pages 178-188.

ever." Here, the truth of the gospel is viewed as the means, and the Holy Spirit as the power, in conversion. Christ, or God in Christ, is the new object of the soul. It is by the Spirit and truth of God that this blessed change is effected. Those who trust to water baptism as the means of effecting it, trust, alas, to a great delusion—a fatal delusion.*

In the case of the Gentiles, now under consideration, even more than life was possessed before baptism was administered. They had the seal of God. Baptism is the sign of full deliverance and salvation as secured for the believer by the death and resurrection of Christ. Cornelius had life, was a devout man, but he must send for Peter,

The following brief statements from the fathers of the fourth century, on the subject of baptism, will shew our readers the sources, or the authorities, of much that is said and done in the present day by the ritualists. The authority of scripture is entirely set aside. "At Easter, and at Pentecost, and in some places at the Epiphany, the rite of baptism was administered publicly-that is, in the presence of the faithful-to all the converts of the year, excepting those few instances in which it had been expedient to perform the ceremony without delay, or where the timid Christian put it off till the close of life, after the example of Constantine: a practice for a long time condemned in vain by the Clergy. But the fact of the delay shews how deeply the importance and efficacy of the rite were rooted in the christian mind. It was a complete lustration [purifying] of the soul. The Neophyte [new convert] emerged from the waters of baptism in a state of perfect innocence. The Dove—the Holy Spirit was constantly hovering over the font, and sanctifying the waters to the mysterious ablution of all the sins of the past life. If the soul suffered no subsequent taint, it passed at once to the realms of purity and bliss; that is, the heart was purified; the understanding illuminated; the spirit was clothed with immortality.

"Robed in white, emblematic of spotless purity, the candidate

and hear words whereby he would be saved-fully delivered. The Old as well as the New Testament teaches this blessed truth most plainly. Israel, as a typical people, after being brought to God and sheltered by the blood of the lamb in Egypt, were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Thus they were delivered out of Egypt, and saw the salvation of Jehovah. Again, Noah and his family were saved through the flood-not by it. They left the old world, passed through the waters of death, and landed in a new condition of things altogether. The like figure, or antitype, whereunto even baptism doth also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Exodus xiv.; 1 Peter iii. 21.

But what was the word, some may enquire, that Peter

approached the baptistery, in the larger churches a separate building. There he uttered the solemn vows which pledged him to his religion. The symbolizing genius of the East added some significant ceremonies. The Catechumen [one in the first stages of christian instruction] turned to the West, the realm of Satan, and thrice renounced his power; he turned to the East, to adore the Sun of Righteousness, and to proclaim his compact with the Lord of life. The mystic trinal number prevailed throughout; the vow was threefold, and thrice pronounced. The baptism was usually by immersion; the stripping off the clothes was emblematic of 'putting off the old man ;' but baptism by sprinkling was allowed, according to the exigency of the case. The water itself became, in the vivid language of the Church, the blood of Christ it was compared, by a fanciful analogy, to the Red Sea: the daring metaphors of some of the fathers might seem to assert a transmutation of its colour.

"Almost all the fathers of this age, Basil, the two Gregories, Ambrose, &c., &c., have treatises on baptism; and vie, as it were, with each other in their praises of its importance and efficacy. Gregory of Nazianzen almost exhausts the copiousness of the Greek language in speaking of baptism." Milman's History of Christianity, vol. iii.

preached, which was accompanied with such remarkable blessing? He preached peace by Jesus Christ, as Lord of all. Christ risen, exalted, and glorified, was the grand object of his testimony. He sums up with these words: "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." The blessing follows. The Jews present were astonished; but they bow, and own God's goodness to the Gentiles. "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then Peter answered, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded that they should be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days."

We now retrace our steps a little way, and notice some of the leading events, which, in order, precede chapter x.

THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR.

STEPHEN, the deacon and evangelist, is the first to receive the crown of martyrdom for the name of Jesus. He stands at the head of "the noble army of martyrs." He is perfect as a type-as the proto-martyr. Firm and unwavering in his faith; bold and undaunted before his accusers; pointed and faithful in his defence before the Sanhedrim; free from malice in his strongest statements; full of charity towards all men, he seals his testimony with his blood, and falls asleep in Jesus.

In some respects, Stephen resembles the blessed Lord Himself. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," is like "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit:" and again, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," resembles Father, forgive