walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit;-then shall ye be found on the right hand.

O, friends, there is no middle state spoken of here; either on the right hand, or on the left! Awful thought! terrible to the sinner, terrible to the unbeliever, terrible to all who turn their backs on the Sun of righteousness, who would rise upon them with healing in his wings! But joyful beyond expression, to the poor, the needy, the sorrowful ones, who, through all their tribulations, through all their exercises, and through all their conflicts, keep hold of the faith once delivered to the saints; and in the path of simple dedication, follow, follow, follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth,

And now, friends, away with the lingering remnants of the hard heart; away with the disobedient mind; away with the pride and vanity of this world; away with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life; and come ye, and follow Jesus in the regeneration, that when your frail mortal tabernacles shall become food for worms, your immortal spirits, washed and made white from every stain in the blood of the Lamb, may ascend with acceptance into his holy presence, there to become partakers of the fulness of joy; for, in thy presence, O Lord, there is fulness of joy; and at thy right hand there are pleasures forever and forever more.

SERMON VI.

DELIVERED AT ARCH STREET MEETING-HOUSE, FIRSTDAY EVENING, THIRD MONTH, TWENTY-FIFTH, 1838.

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When our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was about to leave this lower world, and to ascend into that glory from which he came, he went to his disciples, on the mountain in Galilee, I think it was, and said unto them, " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all na▾ tions," (or make disciples of all nations,) "baptizing them in the name" (or as it ought to be, into the name) "into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And this, the command given forth to his disciples, was introduced by a declaration, that all power was in his hands, both in heaven and in earth. And it was followed by the gracious promise, That he would be with them always. The All-powerful One

being always with them, they might well believe that they would be enabled to perform the high and holy duties, pointed out in the command. "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And when we look at the words and manner in which this commandment is introduced, and followed by the promise of his own presence always at hand to assist them, I think we must conclude that the duty which they were commanded to perform, was not one which they could do by their own bodily powers, in their own strength, and at their own time. And, as doubtless they could make disciples only by the power of the Holy Ghost, so I think it is abundantly evident, that they could baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, only by the same power. And herein they were but the instruments for Christ himself, as the one immortal, omnipotent, unchangeable Baptizer of the children of men.

And, probably, it was very nearly at the same time, very shortly before his ascension, that he made the very notable distinction, "John truly, baptized with water;" said he to his disciples, "but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." And it is very observable from various passages in the New Testament, that our blessed Lord and Master was accustomed to use the word baptize, in a spiritual sense. "But I have a baptism to be bap

tized with;" said he, "and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." We know that Paul, though not then present, was afterwards made a full partaker of the apostolic unction. He was not a whit behind the chiefest apostles, and he expressly says; "Christ sent me not to baptize," (that is with water,) "but to preach the gospel;" "not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power." And, friends, when the disciples of Jesus, after tarrying many days at Jerusalem, were endued with power from on high, they went forth, and through the appointed instrumentality of an inspired ministry, by that preaching which was in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, they baptized the people into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. According to the words of Paul again; "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word;" doubtless the word preached in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which was thus made an instrument for sanctifying and cleansing the church, by the washing of water, an instrument whereby the unbelieving Gentiles also were converted, and brought under the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. And although the apostolic commission was indeed most pre-eminent in its nature and character, and marked by some grand features which were all its own, we do believe that it is still

the office and the duty of the ministers of Christ, to baptize the people of every name and class, not with that outward element, but by the living and anointed preaching of the glorious gospel, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And when their very spirits faint within them, in the view of the awful importance of the work, when they cry in their secret conflict of spirit, "Who is sufficient for this thing?" they are cheered in the remembrance of the Saviour's words; "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth;" and again; "And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And therefore, their faces are set as a flint, and therefore are they made as an iron pillar, and as a brazen wall, against all opposers; against all who will not bear the light of the glorious gospel; for this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.

The Lord in his tender mercy grant, that many impure, polluted souls may, even this night, be baptized into the name of the Father, whether he may be pleased to permit the continuance of the word of ministry, or whether he may proclaim a solemn silence, wherein the language may go forth in spirit; "Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord, for he is raised up out of his holy habitation." "Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength."