the gospel, and to baptize. So, the ministers have these two things enjoined unto them, to preach the word, and to minister the sacra-ments. We hear nothing spoken here of offering of a sacrifice, either bloody or unbloody, or of a priesthood; and, no question, if there had been such a thing, or, at least, if it had been a matter of such importance, and so necessary, as the pope and his shavelings say, the Lord would' altogether have misknown it, and passed it over with silence, but he would have spoken something of it to his apostles; so, it is but a folly and vanity to think, that since Christ hath once offered himself a propitiatory sacrifice for the redemption of the world, that now there remains any propitiatory sacrifice in the church. The Lord hath put an end to them all by his death and sacrifice; there is no priesthood committed either to the apostles before, or to the ministers now, but that where, by the preaching of the word, they offer the souls of men and women in a sacrifice to the Lord. Away with that devilish sacrifice of the mass, whereby the pope and his clergy deceive the world, making men believe that daily they offer up Christ again, as a propitiatory sacrifice to the Father, for the sins of the quick and the dead. No; there is no propitiatory sacrifice now left to the kirk. That sacrifice which the Lord once offered upon the cross is sufficient and perfect enough to take away the sins of the world.

Thirdly, these words teach us that these two points of the calling of the ministry, teaching and baptizing, were not committed to divers and sundry persons, but both were committed to one and the self-same person. So that he who is ordained to preach is ordained to baptize; and he who cannot preach has no power nor liberty granted him of the Lord to baptize; and if he baptize, he does it without the Lord's commandment, he has no warrant of him; and, therefore, his doing is but a profanation of that holy sacrament of baptism. This baptizing of infants, which is ministered by private men, has no warrant nor allowance of God, much less that which is done by women.

Not, omitted.

Fourthly, out of these words we may learn what order ought to be kept in the ministering of baptism; to wit, the word must be first preached, the covenant of grace and the glad tidings of salvation must be first opened up unto us; and then baptism should be ministered, to seal up that same word and covenant which before was preached. Wherefore serves baptism, except first the word be preached? Baptism is a seal. And what serves the seal for, if there be nothing to be sealed? Wherefore can it serve, if the charter of the word precede not? Therefore, except the preaching of the covenant of grace precede, baptism is nothing but an unprofitable ceremony and a dead element.

Now, in whose name should this sacrament of baptism be ministered? The Lord says, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." That is, "Ye shall baptize, by the authority and power of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Whereof we have to learn, that the power and efficacy of baptism depends neither upon the power of the minister who baptizes, nor upon the force nor power of the words pronounced by the minister in baptism, as if there were any such power or operation in the words, as the Papists falsely attribute unto them; but all the force and efficacy of baptism depends upon the power of God only. And, therefore, it is the duty of him who is baptized to lift up his eyes and his heart to heaven, and to crave the blessing and efficacy thereof from God only.

Next, it would be noted, that he says not in a general term, "Baptize in the name of God," but he says distinctly, "Baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Therefore, it is the duty of him who is baptized, not to content himself with a confused knowledge and consideration of God, but he ought to behold that glorious majesty, and that incomprehensible essence distinctly in the Trinity of the persons; that is, three distinct persons in one Godhead; for faith is a distinct and a clear knowledge and apprehension of the majesty of God. For, whosoever truly and sincerely believes, and puts his confidence in God, he finds sensibly, by experience, that all good things flow, first

from the Father, as the fountain of all grace and goodness; through the Son, as Mediator, by whom all grace is conveyed and communicated unto them; and by the Holy Ghost, who powerfully and effectually works all grace in the heart.

Last, we see here a clear and a plain naming of the three distinct persons of the Godhead. The Lord names distinctly, "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." In all the Old Testament, we will not read so plain and clear a distinction of the three persons of the Godhead. Then learn here, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, brought first of all into the world a distinct knowledge of God, and that he, first of all, distinctly named, "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Indeed, it is true, that God was known in the Trinity of persons, in some sort, by the fathers who lived under the Old Testament before Christ's manifestation in the flesh; but the knowledge which they had was obscure and confused, in respect of that knowledge which Jesus brought into the world at his coming. But chiefly this distinct knowledge of the three persons of the Godhead was manifested after Christ's resurrection from the dead, and his glorification; for Christ glorified, is chiefly "the image of the invisible God, and the brightness of his glory, and the engraven form of his person." And from Christ glorified especially proceeds the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit in the souls of his elect. All tends to this, to let you see that the clear and distinct knowledge of the Godhead, in the Trinity of the persons, proceeded chiefly from the kingdom of Christ, and from his glory. Now, to this God, one in essence, in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour, and glory, for evermore. Amen.

1 Hebrews i. 3.

THE FIFTY-FOURTH LECTURE.

OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

MATTHEW, CHAP. XXVIII.

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, until the end of the world. Amen.

MARK, CHAP. XVI.

16. He that shall believe, and be baptized, shall be saved; but he that will not believe, shall be damned.

17. And these tokens shall follow them that believe in my name they shall cast out devils, and shall speak with new tongues ;

18. And shall take away serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

THE last day, well-beloved brethren in Christ, we began to speak of the nine appearings of the Lord to the disciples, as it is set down by Matthew and Mark. He appeared to them in a mountain of Galilee, where he had appointed them to meet him. We heard what was the disciples' behaviour. The sight of that glorious majesty made them to fall down and worship him; yet, in the meantime, some of them doubted, and therefore the Lord, to confirm them, draws near unto them, and enters into communication with them; and, in his communing, first, he tells what power and authority was given him, both in heaven and earth, to the end

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he might move them, the more willingly and cheerfully, to undertake the office of the apostleship. Then when he has laid down this power as a ground of their office and ministry, he sends them out in the world, charging them, first, to go to all nations, next, to preach to every creature, and, thirdly, to baptize in the name and authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, in these words, first he tells them what doctrine they should teach to the world, then he makes them a threefold promise. The first is of life and salvation to them that believe and are baptized. The second is a promise of the extraordinary and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. The third is a promise of his own glorious and powerful presence with them in discharging of their calling, and that not for a season, but to continue to the end of the world.

Then in the first words which we have read, he tells them what they should teach; not all things, not every thing that they pleased themselves, but he says, "Teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." So he restrains the doctrine that they should teach unto the world, unto that doctrine which he himself first had taught them. In the xiv. chapter of John, verse 26, after he has first promised the Holy Spirit to teach his apostles all things, then he tells what he means by all these things which his Spirit should teach; and he bounds them and restrains them to that doctrine which he himself had taught them before. "For," says he, "he shall bring all things to your remembrance which I have told you." Even so here, he restrains the preaching of the apostles to these things which he himself had taught them. So mark this lesson. The doctrine of Jesus Christ, which he delivered the time that he lived in the world and had his conversation among men, is the ground, the rule, and the measure of all true doctrine. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus, whom he left behind him to be his vicegerent in the earth, kept precisely this rule; he taught not so much as one sentence in substance but that which Christ had taught before. The apostles whom he sent out into the world declined not one jot from this rule; for they taught the world nothing but that which the Holy Spirit had fur