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was baptized the same day that he believed: Acts ii. 38, 'Repent and be baptized.' Acts ii. 41, 'Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added about three thousand souls.' Acts viii. 35-38, 'The Eunuch was baptized immediately.' Acts xvi. 15, Lydia did not delay.'Acts xvi. 33, The jailor was baptized the same hour of the night.' Acts xviii. 8, 'Many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized.' Hence this joining a six month class paper, or being propounded for one, two, or three months, is without any Bible precept or example, and is wholly opposed to the scriptures. It should be remembered that we are account able for sins of omission as well as commission: Matt. v. 19, 'Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.'

1st John ii. 6, 'He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.'John xiv. 15, 'If ye love me keep my commandments.' Luke vi. 46, 'Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.'

2 John 6, This is love, that ye walk after his commandments.'

Luke xiv. 33, 'Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he can not be my disciple.' Matt. xix. 29, 'And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.'Mark viii. 34, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' Luke xiv. 27, 'And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, can not be my disciple.'

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Ir has been said that Baptists esteem immersion a saving ordinance. We reply, no ordinance saves.Jesus Christ alone saves, by grace, through faith; and the Baptists are so far from believing this ordinance saving, that none are admitted to it but those who give satisfactory evidence of piety. But the following extracts will show what efficacy pedobaptists give to sprinkling:

'Whoever denies that infants by Christian baptism are delivered from perdition, and brought to eternal salvation, let him be anathema.'

Council of Carthage, Wall's Hist. Bapt. part 1, p. 247.

'If any one shall say that baptism is not necessary to salvation, let him be anathema.'

Council Triddent Session 7, Cann. 5.

'Christ has nothing to do with any man, nor any man with Christ, till he is baptized with water. All power in heaven and earth is in baptism. He that is not baptized has no interest in Father, Son, nor Spirit. He who is baptized is as white and clean from sin as God can make him.'

Lewelyn's Treatise on Bapt. pp. 5, 11, 23.

'In baptism we are regenerated, justified and sanctified while yet infants.'

Faith of the Church of England, New-York Evangelist, Sept. 8, 1838.

'From this it follows of course, agreeably to the terms of that covenant, (the covenant of grace,) that infants are entitled to baptism; and that the blessings of that covenant are forfeited by a neglect to practice infant baptism.' L. A. Sawyer's CRITICAL DISSERTATION, p. 19.

'By baptism, we, who are by nature the children of wrath, are made the children of God.'

John Wesley's Works, vol. 6, p. 15.

'It was the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal lamb on the door posts of their houses which preserved

the Israelites from the destroying angel. So baptism when truly received saves from everlasting ruin.'

Evan. Mag. (presbyterian) Hartford, June 1836, p. 547. See, also, Presbyterian Conf. Faith, pp. 111, 112, and Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, under Public Baptism of Infants and the Catechism.

CHAPTER VI.

THE LORD'S SUPPER.

THE Word communion is used in connection with

This

the Lord's Supper but in one instance: 1 Cor. x. 16, 'The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ?" and here it is not used to denote the Lord's Supper, but the fellowship which Christians have with the blood and body of Christ, in partaking of the supper. κυριακον δειπνον, Lord's Supper, at 1 Cor. xi. 20; is entirely a different thing from xovavia, communion, 1 Cor. x. 16. latter word means, and is most usually rendered fellowship as at Acts ii. 42: 1 Cor. i. 9: 2 Cor. viii. 4: Gal. ii. 9 Eph. iii. 9: Phil. i. 5: ii. 1: iii. 10: 1 John i. 3: communion is used to denote a friendly interchange and unity of sentiments: Gen. xxiii. 8, Abraham and the sons of Heth: Gen. xlii. 24, Joseph and his brethren: 1 Saml. xviii. 22, Saul's servants and David: 1 Saml. xix. 3, Jonathan and Saul: Job iv. 2, Job and Eliphaz: Psl. lxiv. 5, David's enemies: Luke vi. 11, The pharisees: Luke xxii. 4, Judas and the chief priests: Acts xxiv. 26, Felix and Paul: according to the inspired use of the word communion, close communion is only applicable to such Christians as decline all friendly intercourse; and how far this is applicable to pedobaptists we leave the reader to judge; open communion and close communion are not scriptural terms: but as their meaning is generally known, we shall use them to avoid circumlocution. Christian fellowship and Church fellowship are two things: the

former may be perfect where the latter does not exist, and no denomination has church fellowship for another distinct sect, although they may have Christian fellowship for each of its members. 'In the Westminster confession they distinguish between church communion and Christian communion. By the first, viz. church communion, they understand communion with a church in her social character as organized under a particular form of doctrine, government, and worship. By the second, viz. the communion of saints, or Christian communion, they understand that communion which subsists between Christians as individuals without reference to their church connexion at all.'

Dr. J. M. Mason's plea, pp. 225, 229.

There are several religious duties which are the acts of individual Christians: such as preaching, prayer, singing, alms giving, visiting, &c.; others are church acts and can not be performed by individuals: as licensing and ordaining ministers, ordaining deacons, administering and receiving the Lord's supper, receiving, disciplining and excluding members, settling and dismissing pastors, &c.; no pedobaptist denomination invites other sects to join with them in all these church acts. But shall we therefore call them bigoted and close communion. If I should appear at a Methodist ordination, or a Congregational church meeting, and insist on taking an active part, alledging that it was the Lord's church meeting, and the Lord's minister to be ordained; I should act as consistent as they do who urge open communion for the same reason.

The elements of the Lord's supper must be bread and wine; Matt. xxvi. 26, 29: 1 Cor. xi. 23, 26.— The command and example of Christ is the law of this institution from which no church is at liberty to depart. We are not directed how often to repeat this sacrament, but 1 Cor. xi. 26, 'As often as ye do eat this bread and drink this cup.' In baptism the burial and resurrec

tion of the Savior is set forth: and the Lord's supper represents his sufferings and death: thus in the two sacraments we commemorate the sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. The communicants must be baptized believers regularly admitted to church fellowship: as also the administrator: 'The primitive Christians never received the Lord's supper but from the hands of their bishop, or from one appointed by him.'

Tertulian de Corona Militis P. 338.

Some persons suppose that they can partake of the Lord's supper with sects holding erroneous sentiments, and not thereby fellowship their errors, and say that partaking with them is only joining in that one action. But 'as the sacramental supper is the act of a church in her social eharacter, we do by the very fact of communing with her, acknowledge her as a whole: and thus by implication at least, put the seal of our approbation to whatever belongs to her as a church.'

Dr. J. M. Mason's Plea, p. 236.

Hence partaking with a church is publicly declaring a fellowship for the whole faith and practice of that church.

The custom of giving the Lord's supper to infants originated at Alexandria, in Egypt, in the third century, and continued in use till the Council of Constance, June 14, 1415. The scholastic divines supposed it was essential to salvation, from a wrong interpretation of John vi. 53, 54. They administered it by mixing the bread and wine in a spoon, and uniformly gave it to all they baptized: for the Catholics, using common sense, saw that if the candidate was fit for one he was for both sacraments.

: In the ancient church those two sacraments were never separated the one from the other. Infants in the third century were generally admitted to baptism and the Lord's supper.' Venema's Hist. Ecclesiast. secul. 2, sect. 100.

'It is manifest that in the ancient church it was usual

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