Church; and concerning Abraham our Lord said, "He rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad;" and we are told that "he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God." But neither Abraham, nor any of the faithful, received the promise: "These all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." *

Now one remarkable feature in the Abrahamic dispensation is, that God confirmed the covenant which He made with Abraham by circumcision. None was ever afterwards received into the Jewish Church, or entitled to the promises, but by circumcision. That they were children of Abraham according to the flesh was not sufficient for this. They were not made partakers of the covenant or promises by faith, or by any act of theirs, but by circumcision. No uncircumcised person could enter into the land of Canaan. Yea, God solemnly declared that the uncircumcised man-child should be "cut off from among His people; he hath broken my covenant."+ Circumcision was a sign or token that God had brought them into a new condition, different from that of all the world besides; and that they were thereby made partakers of peculiar benefits. It involved also new responsibilities, binding them to walk before God according to the faith of Abraham; and under the Mosaic law it bound them to observe all things contained therein. Circumcision, therefore,

*Heb. xi. 39, 40.

+ Gen. xvii. 10-14.

being the appointed ordinance for admission into the Jewish Church, and investing them, as it did, with all the privileges and blessings thereof, contained in it the principle of new birth. The phrase being born again was a common expression among the Jews, to denote the new position which a person occupied in being brought into covenant with God. But the Abrahamic dispensation was only a shadow of one more glorious, and for which it was designed to prepare men. So much so, that those who continued not in that state of salvation to which God had brought them, who abode not in the truth, were utterly unprepared to receive the new dispensation of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. And this was the lamentable condition of the Jewish nation at our Lord's advent. John, therefore, came preaching the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe on Him that was for to come-that is, on Christ Jesus. But the Pharisees, who formed the chief sect of the Jewish nation, rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not being baptized of Him. When, therefore, Nicodemus, who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, came to Jesus to enquire of Him concerning the kingdom of heaven, our Lord immediately directed His word to the root of the matter: "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, thinking himself a true son of the Jewish Church, and knowing that circumcision could be

* John iii. 3.

only once administered, conceived the thing impossible, and metaphorically replied, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Yet this was necessary. He needed that change of mind and sentiments which a new birth implied. Our Lord spake to him as St. Paul afterwards did to the Galatians who had departed from their Christian standing: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again till Christ be formed in you."* So Nicodemus needed virtually to be born again, being devoid of that which circumcision implied. For unless he believed the truth contained in the law of Moses, he was not capable of apprehending the truth of Christ-he could not discern the kingdom of God -he could not see it, much less could he enter into it. To enter into the kingdom of God, he must submit himself to a new ordinance-" he must be born of water and of the Spirit." To see the kingdom of heaven he must become a true son of the Jewish Church, and exercise the faith of that Church. To enter into the kingdom of heaven, "he must be born of water and of the Holy Ghost." As a master of Israel, he should have understood these things; but he did not. The Jews had departed from the faith of Abraham, and made void the law of Moses by their traditions: they received not the testimony of John, nor of Christ, respecting it. Hence the reproof of our Lord, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have

Galat. iv. 19.

seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ?" If Nicodemus received not the earthly things of the Jewish Church, how should he believe the heavenly things of the Christian Church, concerning which he came to enquire?

As circumcision stood at the threshold of the Jewish Church, so does BAPTISM stand at the very entrance of the Church of Christ. "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."* If there were no other passage respecting it in the New Testament but this, it would be sufficient to establish the important truth, that baptism is the divinely instituted ordinance for admission into the Christian Church; but it is confirmed by many others. When our Lord sent forth His disciples to preach the Gospel, "He came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, THEREFORE, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 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."+ In the Gospel according to St. Mark it is added, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." When St. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, he said, "Repent and be

* John iii. 5.

+ Matt. xxviii, 18-20, + Mark xvi. 16.

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; 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.”* And we further read, "Then they that received His word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls "-that is, as many as repented and believed were added to, and received into the Church by baptism. Throughout the New Testament we find that baptism is the first act of the Church towards those that believe the Gospel. Philip baptized the eunuch as soon as he believed.† When the Lord opened the heart of Lydia to attend to the words spoken by St. Paul, she was baptized. The jailor, and all that were in his house, believing, were straightway baptized. § We may learn from the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that nothing would have induced Peter to administer baptism to Cornelius and his house, had not God convinced him, by revelation and by miracle, that the Gentiles were to be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel. And why would he have withheld baptism without this conviction? The answer is obvious: simply because baptism is the appointed ordinance whereby persons are admitted into that body. As no one could be admitted to the Church under the law but by CIRCUMCISION, So is

† Acts viii. 36.

*Acts ii. 38, 39.

Acts xvi. 14, 15.

§ Acts xvi. 33.