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the apostle says, yet fhew I unto you a more excellent way, which is Jefus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life.

Christ is the way of falvation, which the gospel, and the ministers of it, point out to men; and he is the only way of falvation, there is falvation in him, and in no other; this is what the whole Bible centers in; this is the fum and fubstance of it; this is the faithful faying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Chrift came into the world to fave the chief of finners. He is the way of access to the Father, nor can any come to God but by him; he is the mediator between God and man, and through him there is accefs with confidence by the faith of him. He is the way of acceptance with God: we have nothing to render us acceptable unto God; we are black in ourfelves with original and actual fin, and are only comely in Chrift; our acceptance is in the beloved. God is well pleased with him, and with all that are confidered in him; their persons and their facrifices are acceptable to God through him. He is the way of conveyance of all grace, and the bleffings of it to us. All was given originally to him, and to us in him; and from him, and through him we receive it, even out of his fulnefs, grace for grace; all spiritual bleffings are with him, and come to us from him; all grace paffes through his hands; the first we have, and all the afterfupplies of it; yea, the gift of God, eternal life, is through Jefus Christ our Lord. And he is the way to heaven and eternal happiness; he has entered into it with his own blood already, and has opened a way by it for his people, into the holieft of all; he is gone beforehand as their forerunner, and has taken poffeffion of heaven for them; he is now preparing a place for them there, and will come again and take them to himself, and introduce them into his kingdom and glory. And he is a plain, pleasant, and safe way; plain to him that understands, and has a spiritual knowledge of him, even though but of a very mean capacity; for this is a way in which men, though fools, shall not err; and it is a very delightful one; what more delightful than to live by faith on Chrift, or to walk by faith in him, as he hath been received. And a very safe one, it must needs be; none ever perished that believed in Chrift; he is the living way, all in this way live, none in this way die; though it is a strait gate and narrow way, yet it furely and safely leads to eternal life; and though it is fometimes called a new way, yet not because newly contrived, for it is as ancient in this refpect as the counfel and covenant of peace; nor newly revealed, for it was made known to Adam immediately after the fall; nor newly made ufe of, for all the Old Testament faints were directed in this way, and walked in it, and were faved by the grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the Lamb flain from the foundation of the world, as well as we; but because it is more clearly manifested now, and more largely and

* 1.Cor. xii. 31.

and frequently walked in otherwife it is the good old path to be asked for; there never was any other way of falvation, or ever will be. I go on,

II. To confider the encouragement given to take the direction, and make the inquiry as above; and in this I fhall be very brief; it lies in this claufe, and ye fball find reft for your fouls.

There is a reft for fouls to be enjoyed in ordinances, when men are arrived to fatisfaction about them, and fubmit unto them in a becoming manner; when a man has carefully and confcientiously fearched the fcriptures, and is come to a point about an ordinance, his mind is eafy, which before was distracted and confused; and he is the more easy in that he has acted the faithful part to himfelf and truth; and I cannot fee how perfons can have reft in their minds, who have not stood in the ways and looked about them, fearched the fcriptures, and inquired for the good old paths; and in confequence of an honeft inquiry, walk therein; to fuch, wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and her paths paths of peace; there is great peace enjoyed in them, though not from them; a believer comes to an ordinance, being upon inquiry fatisfied about it, as for instance, the ordinance of baptifm; he, I fay, comes to it with delight, paffes: through it with pleasure, and goes away from it as the eunuch did, rejoicing.

There is reft for fouls to be enjoyed in doctrines, which a man does enjoy, when upon a diligent fearch after truth, he finds it, and is at a point about it; a man that is toffed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, is like a wave of the fea, always reftlefs and uneafy; a double-minded man, that halts between two opinions, and sometimes inclines to one, and fometimes to the other, is unstable in all his ways, and has no true reft in his mind; a man that is carried about with divers and strange doctrines, is like a meteor in the air, fometimes here, and fometimes there; a good thing it is to have the heart established in and with the doctrines of grace; and the way to this is to fearch the fcriptures, to fee whether these things be fo or no; which when seriously and faithfully done, the iffue is peace of confcience, reft in the mind.

But above all, true reft for the foul is to be had in Christ, and such who ask for the good and better way find it in him, nor is it to be found in any other; Chrift is that to believers, as Noah's ark was to the dove, which could find no reft for the fole of its feet, till it returned thither: there is reft in Chrift, and. no where else, and he invites weary fouls to come to him for it; his words are *, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft; take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find reft unto your fouls; which laft claufe is the fame with this in our text, and

our

* Matt. xi. 28, 29.

Lord seems to have had respect unto it, and to have took his language from it : and what peace and reft do weary fouls find in Chrift, when their faith is led to his perfon, fulness, blood, facrifice and righteousness? and fuch who are made partakers of spiritual rest here, shall enjoy an eternal one hereafter, for still there remains a rest to the people of God'.

To conclude; let us bless God for the fcriptures, that we have fuch a waymark to direct us, and point out unto us the way in which we should go; let us make use of them; let us search the fcriptures daily and diligently, and the rather, fince they testify of Chrift, of his person, offices, of his doctrines and ordinances. These are the more fure word of prophecy, to which we do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place; these are a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our paths, both with respect to the way of falvation, and to the way of our duty. Thefe guide us to the old paths, and fhew us where is the good way in which we should walk; and when we are tempted to turn to the right hand, or the left, it is beft to hearken to the voice of the word behind us, faying, This is the way, walk in it". The Bible has the beft claim to antiquity of any book in the world; and the gospel, and the truths of it, have the greatest marks and evidences of it upon them. Error is old, but truth is more ancient than that; the gofpel is the everlasting gospel; it was even ordained before the world unto our glory"; and the ordinances of it, as administered in the times of Chrift and his apoftles, fhould be received and fubmitted to, as there delivered; and we should walk in them as we have Chrift and his apostles for an example: but above all things, our concern fhould be to walk in Him, the way; there is no way better, nor any so good as he; seek reft for your fouls in him, and no where else; not in the law, and the works of it, there is none there; not in the world, and the things of it, this is not your reft, it is polluted°; but seek it in Chrift, where you will find it here, and more fully enjoy it with him hereafter.

¡Heb. iv. 9.

m John v. 39.

Rev. xiv. 6. 1 Cor. ii. 7.

2 Pet. i. 19. Pfal. cxix. 105. Ifai. xxx. 21. • Micah ii. 10.

Baptifm

Baptifm a Divine Commandment to be Obferved.

Being a SERMON Preached at BARBICAN, October 9, 1765. at the BAPTISM of the Reverend Mr ROBERT CARMICHAEL, Minister of the Gofpel in EDINBURGH.

The

PREFACE.

THE following discourse was not defigned for the prefs; had it, the fubject of it would have been a little more enlarged upon; and, perhaps, might have appeared in a little better drefs; but as the publication of it is become neceffary, I chose to let it go juft as it was delivered, as nearly in the very words and expreffions, as my memory could affift me; the fenfe, I am fure, is no where departed from; that it might not be faid, that any thing that was spoken is concealed, changed, or altered. The warmeft folicitations of my friends. would never have prevailed upon me to have made it public, being unwilling to renew the controverfy about baptifm unneceffarily; and being determined only to write in felf-defence, when attacked, or whenever the controverfy is renewed by others; for I am very fenfible, that the argument on both fides is greatly exhaufted, and scarce any thing new can be expected, that is ferious and pertinent: but the rude attack upon the fermon in two letters in a news-paper, determined me at once to fend it out into the world, as being a fufficient confutation of itself, without any remarks at all, of the lies and falfhoods, calumnies, cavils and impertinencies, with which the letters abound; whereby it will appear to every reader, how falfly that writer charges me with railing against my brethren, and the whole chriftian world; and how injuriously he reprefents me, as treating all that differ from me as fools, unlearned, ignorant of the fcriptures, and unclean. It is hard we cannot practise what we believe, and fpeak in vindication of our practice, without being abused, vilified and infulted in a public news-paper; is this treating us as brethren, as the writer of the letters, in a canting way, affects to call us? And how does this answer to the falfe character of Candidus, he affumes? I fhall not let myself down fo low, nor do I think it fitting and decent to go into, and carry on a religious controverfy in a newspaper, and especially with fo worthlefs a writer, and without a name. This base and cowardly way of writing, is like the Indians manner of fighting; who fet up an hideous yell, pop off their guns behind bushes and hedges, and then run away and hide themselves in the thickets. However, if the publication of this discourse should be of any service to relieve or strengthen the minds of any, with refpect to their duty in the observance of the ordinance of baptifm, I am content to bear the indignities of men, and shall reckon it an over-balance to all their reproaches and infults. J. G.

VOL. II.

3 S

Being

Being about to adminifter the Ordinance of Baptism, before we enter upon the administration of it, I fhall drop a few words on the occafion, from a paffage of scripture you will find in

I JOHN V. 3.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

WHAT I fhall fay in the following difcourfe, will much depend upon

the fenfe of the word commandments; by which are meant, not the ten commandments, or the commandments of the moral law delivered by Mofes to the children of Ifrael; which, though they are the commands of God, and to be obferved by chriftians under the prefent difpenfation; fince we are not without law to God, but under the law to Chrift; and are to be kept from a principle of love to God, for the end of the commandment is charity, or love, out of a pure heart, and of a good confcience, and of faith unfeigned; yet these commands are not eafy of observation, through the weakness of the flesh, or corruption of nature; nor can they be perfectly kept by any of Adam's fallen race; for there is not a juft man upon earth, that doeth good and finneth not; and he that offends in one point is guilty of all; and is expofed to the curfe and condemnation of the law, which runs in this tenor, Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them; hence this law in general is called a fiery law, the letter which kills, and the miniftration of condemnation and death, which make it terrible to offenders; however, it may be delighted in by believers in Christ after the inward man: nor are the commandments of the ceremonial law intended, which being many and numerous, were burdenfom; especially to carnal men, who were frequently ready to fay concerning them,

1 Cor. ix. 21. . Gal. iii, 10.

b 1 Tim. i. 5.

• Eccles, vii. 20.

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