lusts, and the allurements of the world, were all written on the water that sprinkled us, and wiped off together with it, we have lived not only careless of, but even contrary to our baptismal vows and engagement. And, to conclude this, whensoever we attend this holy ordinance, the administration of this sacrament, we ought to renew our covenant with God; and again to give up ourselves unto him, with more unconquerable resolutions of being his, and wholly devoted to his service, than formerly. So that, though the seal be not applied to us, yet to us may be confirmed the benefits of the covenant by virtue of that seal, which in our infancy was applied to our body, and is now, by our faith, applied to our souls.

II. Having thus, at large, confirmed to you the lawfulness of Infant Baptism, and removed those prejudices and cavils that lay against it; I shall now return MORE NARROWLY TO CONSIDER THE TEXT: wherein we have, as I formerly told you, two propositions.

The one is, That the End of Christ's giving himself for the Church, was to sanctify and cleanse it.

And, secondly, That the Means to sanctify and cleanse the Church, is by the washing of water, and the word.

It is the latter of these, which I shall insist on.

i. Wherein TWO THINGS Only REQUIRE A BRIEF EXPLICATION. What is meant by the washing of water.

What by the word.

1. As to the first, washing of water may be understood either literally or allusively.

If we take it literally, so it signifies Baptism; and the meaning is plainly, that we are sanctified and cleansed by Baptism.

If we take it allusively, so this washing of water denotes to us the manner of the Spirit's sanctifying and cleansing the soul: for, as water cleanseth the filth of the body, so doth the power of divine grace purify the soul from its vicious filth and pollutions.

But, certainly, the literal sense is here the best; nor ought we to depart from it, in any text of Scripture, without apparent reason and cogent necessity.

1

For here are two means of our sanctification mentioned, water and the word: and, to make both these effectual, the inward influence of the Holy Ghost must concur, without which they will never attain their end.

2. By the word, may be understood two things.

(1) Either the very words used in the form of baptizing, and prescribed by our Saviour, Matth. xxviii. 19. where he commands his Apostles to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

So that, according to this, the meaning of the Apostle is, that the washing of Baptism, joined with the words of institution, is the means appointed by Christ for the sanctifying and cleansing of his Church. And, indeed, towards infants there is no other means appointed; nor are they capable of any other ordinance. Or,

(2) By the Word here is meant, the preaching of the whole word and will of God.

And this I judge most probable: for so the sense runs plain, that the two great means, which Christ hath appointed for the sanctifying of his Church, are the administration of the Sacrament and the preaching of the Gospel.

Concerning the influence that the word hath in our sanctifica tion, I shall not now speak. It is the seed, by which we are begotten: 1 Pet. i. 23. Born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God. It is the milk, by which we are nourished: 1 Pet. ii. 2. Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. It is the principle of our spiritual being, and it is the spiritual food of our souls; an effectual instrument in the hand of the Holy Ghost, both to beget and to increase grace in us: and therefore our Saviour prays, John xvii. 17. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word

is truth.

ii. But the subject, which I now intend to prosecute, is concerning Baptism; and that this ordinance is APPOINTED BY

CHRIST FOR OUR SANCTIFICATION.

And here observe, that, to be sanctified, imports, in the proper signification of it, no other than to be appointed, separated, or dedicated to God. And, therefore, in Scripture, whatsoever is set apart for the use and service of God, whether persons, or places, or things, is said to be holy, or to be sanctified to the Lord. So, the first-born are said to be sanctified to the Lord: Exod. xiii. 2. and Aaron and his sons, to be consecrated and sanctified to minister unto the Lord: Exod. xxviii. 41. And so, for Places, Moses was commanded to sanctify the mountain Sinai, that is, to make it holy, by setting it apart only

for God's appearance on it, and that the people might not come near to touch it: Exod. xix. 23: thus, the Tabernacle, and afterwards the Temple, are said to be sanctified: Numb. vii. 1. for, being set apart only for the worship and service of God, they were thereby made relatively holy: so we read, that the ground, on which Moses stood, is, by God himself, called holy: Exod. ii. 5: and Mount Tabor, on which our Saviour was gloriously transfigured, is, by the Apostle, called the holy mount : 2 Pet. i. 18. because of the special appearance of God in those places, which did then hallow and consecrate them. And then, as for Things, a man is said to sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord: Levit. xxvii. 14. and to sanctify his field: v. 16. when the rent of the one and the profits of the other were devoted unto God, for the maintenance of his service and servants. And so, in innumerable other places, the word sanctify is thus used; and the import of it is no other, than to signify the dedication of a person, thing, place, or time unto God.

There are Two ways of Dedication unto God; whereby his title takes place, and what is so devoted becomes his.

The one external, by men; as in the instances before cited: whereby there was no change at all wrought in the nature of the thing thus dedicated, but only a change in the relation and propriety of it. As in a field devoted to God, there was no other change, but only in relation to the owner; God himself becoming the proprietor, and receiving the increase of it by his immediate servants and ministers. And thus the piety of our ancestors hath sanctified the tenth part of the increase of the land unto God, for the maintenance of his worship.

The other dedication is internal. and wrought by God himself. And thus he is said to separate or dedicate persons tó himself, when, by the effectual operation of the Holy Ghost upon them, he endows them with those habits, which enable them to do him service.

Not to heap up many places, we have both of these, Acts xiii. 2. Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul, for the work, whereunto I have called them. Here is their external separation: they were to be dedicated, to be sanctified, or made holy persons by the Church: Separate unto me; that is, set these men apart, and appoint them by a solemn mission for my work and service in the ministry. Here is, likewise, their internal dedication; whereby God had set them apart for himself, by the

gifts and graces of his Spirit wrought in them: Separate them to the work, whereunto I have called them: i. e. whereunto I have inwardly both inclined, and fitted, and furnished them.

As there is this twofold dedication or separation, so there is also a Twofold Sanctification.

There is an external, relative, or ecclesiastical sanctification; which is nothing else, but the devoting or giving up of a thing or person unto God, by those who have a power so to do.

There is an internal, real, and spiritual sanctification: and, in this sense, a man is said to be sanctified, when the Holy Ghost doth infuse into his soul the habits of divine grace, and maketh him partaker of the divine nature, whereby he is inwardly qualified to glorify God in a holy life.

I suppose by this, which hath been said, the meanest capacity may well apprehend the difference between these two kinds of sanctification, or separation unto God.

iii. In applying this distinction to Baptism, and to shew you how it is that Baptism doth sanctify, I shall lay down these following PROPOSITIONS.

1. Baptism is the immediate means of our external and relative sanctification unto God.

By this Holy Sacrament, all that are partakers of it are dedicated and separated unto him.

There are, if I may so express it, but two regiments of men: the one is of the World; the other is of the Church. And, in one of these, all mankind are listed, and do march. The great captain and commander of the World is the Devil; who is therefore called the Prince and the God of this World: but the great captain of the Church is the Lord Jesus Christ; called therefore the Captain of our Salvation, Heb. ii. 10. So that all, who belong not unto the Church of Christ, are of the World, and march under Satan's ensign and banner: and all, who are not of the World, but are taken out of it, belong unto the Church, and are listed under Jesus Christ as his soldiers and

servants.

This Church of Christ may be considered, either as visible or invisible. The Visible Church of Christ on earth, is a sort of people who profess the name of Christ, and own his doctrine; joining together in a holy society and communion of worship, where it can be enjoyed. The Invisible Church of Christ on earth, is a number of true believers, who have internal and in

visible communion with Jesus Christ, by their faith and his Spirit. The Visible Church is of a much larger extent than the Invisible for it comprehends hypocrites, and too many ungodly persons; yea, all those, who have given up their names unto Christ, and make a visible profession of his doctrine, though by, their lives and practices they deny it. And, therefore, the Church, which is frequently in Scripture called the kingdom of heaven, is compared to a net, cast into the sea, gathering of every kind of fish, both good and bad: Mat. xiii. 47. both sorts are embraced in the bosom of this net; and no separation can ordinarily be made, until it be drawn ashore at the Day of Judgment: and then the good shall be gathered into vessels, and the bad cast away; as it is there expressed. Again, the Visible Church is compared to a floor, wherein there is both chaff and wheat: Luke iii. 17. and these will be mixed together, till the Last determinating and fanning Day; and then shall the wheat be gathered into the garner, and the chaff burnt up with unquenchable fire.

The World, out of which this Church of Christ is taken, is the whole company of those persons, who belong unto the Devil, the God of this World:

And this Ecclesia Malignantium, this Satanical Church, may likewise be either visible or invisible, as the Church of Christ is. That, which is visibly such, are all such, who make no profession of the name of Christ, nor own his doctrine and religion, without which there is no salvation attainable: so that they do visibly belong to the Church and Kingdom of Satan, who are either trained up in Heathenish idolatry, Mahometan stupidity, or Jewish obstinacy; or else those, who revolt from the Christian Profession to embrace any of these. Those, who are of the World, but yet more invisibly, are all such persons, who, though they make a profession of the name and doctrine of Christ, yet, through hypocrisy or other sins, reject that Christ, whom they profess; denying him in their works, whom they own in their words; maintaining no vital nor spiritual communion with him. From this distinction it follows,

(1) That all, that are of the Visible Church of Christ Jesus, are taken out of the world; so that it may truly be said of them, that they are not of the world.

I cannot indeed deny, but that too many, yea, possibly the major part of the Church Visible of Jesus Christ, may still ap