Baptism-the Mode of Its Administration-Its Efficacy-Dr. Moshiem--State of the Religious World-the Apostacy, [Apostasy] &c., &c. Brother Taylor:-

(Continued.)

BROTHER TAYLOR:-

We have now clearly shown there is but one true mode of baptism, and we have shown pretty clearly that that is by immersion. But more of this hereafter. Then, if the apostles tell of but one way of baptising [baptizing], the sectarian world are thrown into a very singular dilemma! We would advise them to look into the matter, and if they cannot compromise with the apostles, by entering into some friendly treaty, they must, of necessity build their churches upon sandy foundations, which when the 'floods come,' and the 'storms beat' against them will be in danger of being washed away. Our Savior has marked out the way, and made it so plain, 'that a man though a fool need not err therein,' yet disorganization characterises [characterizes] the whole christian world; creeds clash with creeds-systems with system-confusion, tumult and contention invade the whole ecclesiastical ranks-from one of christendom to the other. Verily, 'man hath sought out many inventions;' but the apostles knew but one legitimate way. It is important that man should ascertain what that way is, for Christ says, St. John, X: 1;-'Verily, verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door, into the sheep fold, but climbeth up some other way is a thief and a robber.' But we must hasten.

John, III: 23; 'And John also was baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there was much water there; and they came and were baptized.' Wherever we read of John s baptizing the people, he is generally in some place where there is much water. A half gill is an abundance for some of the enlightened clergy in the nineteenth century. Verily there is nothing under the sun that the march of science and humbug-those great twin-brothers of the age-have not modified and changed from their pristine beauty! Acts, VIII: 36, 37, 38; 'And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, see, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?-And Philip said, if thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.' Went both 'down into the water!' If you could have lived a little longer upon earth, a more easy and genteel way would have been worked out for you, through the great inventions of man. Enlightened and refined society are not so vulgar as to go down into the water to be baptized. How ridiculously absurd it would be to lead one of the elite of the popular world, muffled in silks and satins, down into the dark waters of the great Mississippi, for the non-essential purpose of being baptized. It is thought much more appropriate, and our learned divines (nice men) lay it down as a correct mode, to be baptized upon dry land, by receiving a drop or two of holy water upon the forehead, conveyed there upon the very tip of the priest's attenuated finger. But, perhaps the magnanimity of men have adopted this system because of its greater refinement, and therefore we ought not to say that it is not scriptural! We beg pardon, gentlemen. Romans, VI: 3, 4, 5, 6; 'Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death?-Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death; that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even

so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be distroyed [destroyed], that henceforth we should not serve him.' It appears from the context, that the ordinance of baptism was instituted as a type, or figure, to represent the burial and resurrection of our Savior. Immersion is certainly a correct figure, and represents his burial and resurrection exactly. It is a better symbol of it, at all events, than the symbol of sprinkling.-For we ask all common sense, how a man can be 'baptized into Jesus Christ,' 'baptized into his death,' be 'buried with him by baptism into death,' in a single drop or even a bucket of water. It is an impossibility. In order to represent this matter as the apostles intended, according to the language and fair construction of the context, the officer who administers, together with the candidate, must go 'down both into the water,' as did Philip and the eunuch and the body of the candidate must be immersed, or buried in the water. The body must be covered or overwhelmed by the liquid wave. To illustrate; if you place a corpse upon the brink of a grave, above the surface of the earth, and throw a shovel of dirt upon the coffin, will it bury him? Again, if you place a candidate for baptism upon the margin of a stream, above the surface of the water, and sprinkle a gill of water in his face, will he be 'buried with him,' in the 'likeness of his death?' The answer must be emphatically in the negative. And then the act of raising the body of the candidate from the bowels of the limpid tide, is an exact and sublime representation, or 'likeness of his resurrection.' O, wisdom!-how has your understanding become darkened, that you cannot understand the simple things of the kingdom of God! 'Blind leaders of the blind!' Instead of walking up before the great mirror of heavenly intelligence, (the Bible) and letting the full blaze of truth, of light, and gospel beauty, reflect upon your souls, you grope your way through a vast domain of darkness and error, and your understanding becomes lost in the sable labyrinths of your own folly and ignorance. In the language of the scripture, you 'look through a glass darkly.' Again, the apostle says, Col., II: 12; 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.' This passage renders it so plain that comment is not necessary. 1st Col., X: 1, 2; Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea.' We conclude there would not have been much necessity for sprinkling, in the case cited here. As a matter of course they were not sprinkled, for the apostle says they were all baptized in the sea. When men learn the force and meaning of the English language, they will learn that they cannot be IN the sea without being beneath the surface of it. How can a man be in a house without being within its walls and beneath its roof? But some will contend that a person can be in the sea without being entirely buried from sight by its water. We conclude that when the apostle talks of a man, he means the whole body of a man, and not a particular limb or member of the body. It takes all the members of the body to form the man, therefore, if you cover the hand or foot in water, the man is still above the surface, consequently, he has not been in the water at all. So, if you baptize the forehead, or hand of an individual, his forehead or hand alone has been 'buried in baptism,' and all other members of the body remain unburied; consequently the individual has not been baptized, because the burial was not complete. The similitude of the death and resurrection of the Savior is imperfect. As the whole body of Christ was buried in the tomb of and resurrected therefrom, so must the whole body of the candidate be buried in the waters of baptism and raised therefrom. Otherwise there is an imperfect representation. These arguments, we anticipate will be conceded to by all. Why? Because they are just such common sense arguments as reason will suggest to the mind of every reasonable man. Heb., X: 22; 'Let us draw near with a true heart, in assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.' The apostle mentions sprinkling here, but his meaning is clearly defined. It only extends to the sprinkling of the heart, and when he comes to speak of the way the body is to be regenerated, he washes it with 'pure water.' AS to sprinkling the heart with water, every person of sense, who understands the formation of the human system, knows this would be an impossibility; consequently we infer that the apostle alluded to the heart's being sprinkled in some other way. How it is, we do not pretend to say. No doubt the apostle understood himself, and whenever he expresses himself in a manner at all ambiguous, we are disposed to leave the spiritualizing machine of the sectarian world, to root out the mystery. At all events there is no authority here for sprinkling the body for the body is to be washed with pure water.

After this array of incontestible [incontestable] proofs, we

believe the reader cannot be in any doubt of the way in which the ordinance of baptism was administered in the primitive church. We will therefore leave the subject of its proper administration, and pass on to the examination of other points.

'You have shown that baptism by immersion is correct,' says one, 'but I am not entirely convinced that it is really essential.' Very well, sir. We will see what the Bible says about it. Acts, II: 37, 38; 'Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.' Peter tells his interrogators to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Well, then, if it is necessary for sins to be remitted, it is of paramount importance that you should be baptized. But one will say, 'Peter's instructions was confined to the people present on the day of Pentecost; therefore they are not binding upon us.' You are under a mistake. After Peter had told them what to do, he says in the following verse, 'For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.'-Then this promise extends to the latest period of time, to 'all that are afar off;' and as all mankind are called to repentance, of course it is necessary that every son and daughter of Adam should be baptized. One may wish to know what this promise is that extended to all that are afar off. We answer, it is the promise of redemption by repentance and baptism, for the remission of sins. Again, John, I: 11, 12, 13; 'He came unto his own, and his own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' Being born of God, is to show forth the death and resurrection of God, by immersion, as we have before shown. 'But as many as received him, (that is by baptism) to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' If this great blessing was conferred upon those who were baptized, and withheld from those who were not, then we contend that it is a very essential ordinance, and is necessary to be attended to. But the following passage puts the question beyond the reach of controversy. We look upon it as positive. John III: 3, 4, 5; 'Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'-Why? Because the Savior has made that the only entrance into the kingdom.

The Savior s doctrine upon this point may seem rather hard to some, but we cannot help that. How often have we heard people say that if a man walks according to the best light he has, they believed he would be saved. We believe so to. But the light which they have is the Bible. Then all men have the same light. The Bible lays down but one rule for mankind to walk by-points out but one road to heaven-teaches but one set of principles-contains but one code of laws-but one kind of ordinances-and these are laid down so plain, and are made so clear to the understanding of every rational man, that 'he that runneth may read' and understand. God is no respector of persons. He has but one way of dealing with man, in all ages of the world. He requires the same things of people in the nineteenth century that he did of these of the first. When he organized his church, he made laws for the government of it, and we have no Bible testimony that they have ever been repealed. Now every person knows that any particular law is held good and continues in full force and effect until it is repealed, and it cannot be repealed by an improper tribunal. Before a repeal can be legal, that repeal must be made by such a court as the constitution recognizes as having jurisdiction in the case.-We cheerfully acknowledge that the laws and regulations that are now implanted in the different churches are not the same as governed the apostolic church. But this is the work of man, not God. The prophet Isaiah clearly foresaw this when he said, (Isaiah, XXIV: 5;) 'The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.' But one will say that this passage alludes to something that had already transpired, when the prophet spoke it, because it is written in the past tense. We conclude that this certainly cannot be the case, from the reading of the verse that immediately follows it. 'Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.' This shows that the prophet alludes to something that was to transpire long after his day, for in consequence of this changing the ordinance, &c, the inhabitants were burned, and few men left. This we

know, has never yet taken place. But the changing of the ordinance, we have shown, has already been accomplished. But more of this hereafter. Therefore we may look for the time yet to come when this burning is to be consummated. Hence we argue the disappearance of the priesthood. Paul says: Heb., VII: 12; 'For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.'-A good rule will work both ways.' Hence we say that a change of law will accomplish a change of priesthood. This is a fair conclusion to come to. But in order to show more clearly that the ordinance of baptism has been changed and corrupted, we will make a few extracts from Dr. Moshiem's Church History. This point we have clearly proven already by the Bible, (which is the best evidence,) but as men place such great confidence in the statements of commentators and historians, we feel disposed to gratify them. Dr. Moshiem is an unquestionable authority. On page 27, first paragraph, it reads as follows: 'The rites instituted by Christ himself, were only two in number and these were intended to continue to the end of the church here below, without any variation. These rites were baptism and the holy supper, which are not to be considered as mere ceremonies, nor yet as symbolic representations only, but also as ordinances with a sanctifying influence upon the heart, and the affections of true christians.' This goes to strengthen our argument, that baptism is essential to salvation, and that the ordinance must not be treated as a non-essential. It also goes to establish our assertion, that God has but one way of dealing with men, and that the ordinances which he instituted were to continue in the church through all ages wherever a true church should exist. We disagree, however, with the learned author in his statement that Christ placed in his church no ordinances but those mentioned. He certainly created the ordinance of laying on of hands, anointing with oil, &c. St Luke, XII: 11, 12, 13; 'And behold there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her: Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid he hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.' Again: St. Mark, VIII: 22, 23, 24, 25; 'And he came to Bethsadia, and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught [ought]. And he looked up and said, I see men as trees walking. After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored and saw every man clearly.' See St. Mark, VI: 5; 'And he [Jesus] could there do no mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. St. Mark, IV: 40; 'Now, when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick, with diverse diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.' St. Mark, V; 'And besought him greatly, saying, my little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands upon her, and she shall live.' St. Mark, XVI: 18; 'They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.' St. Mark, X: 16; 'And he took them up in his arms and blessed them.' The following proves the ordinance of anointing with oil. St. Mark VI: 13; 'And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.'-Let him that readeth understand. When the Savior appeared unto the Eleven, after his resurrection from the tomb, he gave the following instructions. St. Mark, XVI: 15, 16, 17, 18; And he said unto them, 'go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' This quotation shows the necessity of baptism, and that the ordinance of laying on of hands should continue in his church. These were the last instructions that were given the apostles by the Savior, previous to his asscention [ascension] into heaven, and taking his seat at the right hand of the Father, as will be seen from the verse that follows in the Bible. Then, upon what authority do men say that these things are done away?-Surely not upon the authority of the Bible.-We find further instructions in first Peter, V: 14; 'Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.' These evidences we deem conclusive; and however much a wicked and corrupt generation may laugh and sneer at the idea of these ordinances, gifts and blessings being continued in the church, we care not. It is the doctrine of the Bible, and that will bear down all the artful subterfuges, scoffs and baseless dogmas of the nineteenth century.

JUNIOR.

(To be Continued.)