though he came "in the spirit and power "of Elias."

This declaration of our blessed Lord will be fully illustrated by considering, first, the objects of John's baptism; and, secondly, those of baptism by Jesus Christ.

The character of the Jewish nation, at the time of our blessed Lord's manifestation, was, in a very high degree, faulty and degenerate. Cured of the sin of idolatry, for some centuries, by their long captivity in Babylon, they did not, indeed, worship false gods, as their ancestors had done before that national visitation; but their religion had sunk into lifeless forms; into mere lip-service, unaccompanied by any heartfelt devotion; into an observance of ceremonies, originally, it is true, appointed by God as typical and prefigurative of the Christian dispensation, but practised by them without the slightest reference to their meaning or intention; and into a zealous attachment to "the traditions of the elders," or mere human tenets, which were, in many instances, directly opposed to the eternal moral law of God.

In addition to these gross defects in the Jewish character, was a self-righteousness, which led them to believe and avow that

they alone were holy, while they despised others; a national a national pride, that revolted against intercourse with the neighbouring people; and a total want of all charity for those whose religious opinions were not in exact conformity with their own.

To rectify these errors in sentiment, and sins in practice; to humble and purify their hearts, and reform their conduct; to direct their attention to the great subject of their prophecies; to awaken a full conviction of the immediate completion of these predictions, and thus "to prepare the way" for the successful ministry of the Saviour, and to "make ready" the hearts of the Jews for the reception of his divine religion; was (as I have before remarked) the intention and purport of John's baptism; similar, indeed, in a degree, to the baptism of Jesus Christ; but, as John himself repeatedly confesses, vastly inferior to it in its nature, scope, revelations, and consequences; for, says he, "there cometh one mightier than I after 64 me, the latchet of whose shoes I am "not worthy to stoop down and unloose." "He it is, who coming after me is pre"ferred before me for he was before me;' "and of his fulness have all we received, "and grace for grace." "He must in

"crease, but I must decrease. He that "cometh from above is above all; he that

is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of "the earth; he that cometh from heaven " is above all." "And what he hath seen "and heard, that he testifieth ;"" "for he "whom God hath sent speaketh the words "of God, for God giveth not the spirit by 66 measure unto him.'

In conformity to these representations of himself, of his inferiority to Christ, and of the objects of his own mission, John's baptism commenced with exhortations to repentance: "Repent ye, for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand." But it was not a general call to all mankind: its sound did not extend to the Gentiles. He addressed himself to the Jews alone, and to those among them only, as it should seem, who were of an adult age. The repentance required included a general confession of sins as one of its branches; but it recognized no propitiation for the guilt of fallen man; and though the Baptist pointed to "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the "sins of the world ;" and declared, "He "that believeth on the Son hath everlasting "life; and he that believeth not the Son "shall not see life, but the wrath of God

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"abideth on him;" yet these declarations were not accompanied with any intelligence of the manner in which this great salvation was to be effected; nor with any of those revelations which render the doctrine of the atonement comprehensible, reasonable, and conclusive, as well as soothing, consolatory, and delightful, to the mind. The baptism of John proclaimed aloud, indeed, that good works" were the proper "fruit” of repentance; and that the observance of the Moral Law, so shamefully neglected by the Jews, was the means of rendering repentance acceptable, or of escaping" the "wrath to come:" but it 66 gave no new "commandment" to the disciples, nor enjoined any of those striking and particular Christian precepts, which have for their end and objects the spiritualizing of the soul, the melioration of the heart, and the regulation of the temper.

Finally, the baptism of John was a solemn and salutary rite of the Jewish faith, but not an ordinance expressly appointed by the Almighty; combined with circumcision, it constituted an adoption into the covenant of Moses, a sign of communion with the Jewish Church, and a pledge, on the part of the baptized Jew or proselyte, that he

would conform to the moral and ceremonial law of the Mosaical religion; but it had no regenerating influence in itself, and was accompanied by no actual operation of the Holy Ghost on the soul of the person who received the rite; as John himself has expressly told us: "I indeed baptize you "with water unto repentance;" "but He "shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost "and with fire."

Such was the Baptism of John; necessarily confined and imperfect, being in tended merely as introductory to the promulgation of the Christian faith; for the revival of the religious spirit among his apostate countrymen; for the due preparation of a rugged soil for the reception and growth of the seed of the Gospel. But how perfect and exalted was the baptism commanded by Jesus, and administered by his disciples and apostles, when compared with the exclusive and incomplete baptism which we have just described!

Unlimited in its range, and impartial in the diffusion of its blessings, the Baptism of Christ was not confined to the Jewish nation, and to the proselytes to the Mosaical dispensation, alone; the whole race of mankind was invited to partake of its