whom gave "all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." But as this was the first instance of Gentile conversion, and as the apostle placed in new circumstances, must have felt great hesitation, God imparted to Cornelius and his friends the supernatural gifts of his Spirit.as the visible warrant of heaven for admitting them to baptism. These gifts generally followed the ordinance, but in this instance they were communicated previously for reasons of obvious wisdom and beneficence. That both Peter and the church in Jerusalem regarded this outpouring of the Holy Ghost on Gentiles as the seal of God to their faith and repentance is evident from Acts xi. 17, 18, "Forasmuch then, as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." In this instance the evidence of faith as a prerequisite to baptism appears to us to lack no element which can give it power in carrying our convictions. Dr. Halley, however, alleges his prize objection, to the effect that Cornelius and his friends "were baptized on the day on which they first heard the preaching of the gospel." Its validity in the present case may be left to the judgment of every candid

reader.

5. The baptism of Lydia, Acts xvi. 14, 15, requires only a passing notice. She was one who "worshipped God," and when the gospel message came, "the Lord opened her heart that she attended to the things which

were spoken of Paul." Immediately after her baptism, she besought Paul and Silas, "saying, if ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there." Was not this woman a professed convert? The Spirit characterizes her as a worshipper of God even before she was visited with the gospel, and when the "glad tidings" arrived, the Lord opened her heart; and being judged faithful to the Lord, she was baptized. If any choose, in the face of this evidence to call Lydia an unbeliever, or insinuate that her profession was not credible, we have only to express our earnest desire that many such unbelievers would present themselves for admission into our churches.

The family of Lydia, it has been suggested, may have contained adults; and the question arises, on what terms did they share in an ordinance which was administered to all the household? There is, we think, no real difficulty in reaching the true answer. If there were adults, the terms on which the apostle baptized them must have been the same as those on which he baptized Lydia herself. The known must guide us in determining the unknown. With the grounds of Lydia's baptism we are acquainted, and we confidently apply the same principles to the hypothetical case in the recorded baptism of her household. A credible profession of faith on their part, as on hers, plainly constituted the requisite qualification.

6. Acts xvi. 33, narrates the baptism of the Philippian jailor. Amid the shock of an earthquake, and apprehensive that his prisoners had escaped, this man was on the point of committing self-destruction. But reassured by the friendly voice of Paul, "he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" That he meant salvation in a spiritual sense is manifest, and this fact shows us that in seeking religious direction he was not an utter stranger at least to the character and office of those whom he addressed. The question was answered by Paul in a manner equally brief and satisfactory :"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Not to baptism, but to belief in the Christ did the apostle, in the first instance, direct the anxious and alarmed inquirer. Nor did the ordinance immediately follow the first earnest exhortation to faith in the Saviour. The apostles proceeded (v. 32) to speak "unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." Concerned for his spiritual state, and that of his house, they opened up more fully the glad tidings of salvation. This was no unmeaning parade, no empty ceremony conducted by men who were prepared to baptize the jailor, whether or not he professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That the Gospel message was received by him with all readiness of mind, it appears to us, in view of all the circumstances, no easy matter to doubt; and besides, his baptism as a professed believer is the only hypothesis that can maintain a shadow of consistency between the apostles' faithful preaching of the word, and their administration of the ordinance. The jailor's reception of the word paved the way for his admission to the ordinance; and, as the happy result, "he rejoiced, believing (exercising faith) in God, with all his house." "He is not said," as Dr. Wardlaw well observes, "to have believed afterwards, but to have 'rejoiced believing.' It is the joy, not the faith, that is recorded as subsequent."

7. We solicit a moment's attention to the case of the disciples of John whom Paul rebaptized, Acts xix. 1-5. These twelve men, says Dr. Halley, "on the very strictest interpretation of their words, had never heard of the effusion of the Pentecost, and of the plenitude of miraculous gifts conferred upon the church;" yet they were baptized "after a brief exposition of the testimony which John-had borne to Jesus as the Christ." -p. 525. The author does not inform us that the sacred narrative styles these men disciples, and that Paul addresses them as persons who had believed. That the terms disciples and believed employed in this absolute manner, refer to Christ, is the view embraced by learned interpreters of various schools, and it seems to be sustained by New Testament usage. These persons, then, were in some sense disciples of Christ, when Paul found them; and though their religious knowledge was extremely defective, yet their attention to Paul's preaching argued a moral preparedness to receive the full message of salvation. "When they heard" the apostle-heard doubtless of the crucified and exalted Messiah, and of salvation through him, the theme which Paul never kept in the back ground," they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." The hearing predicated of these men, in connection with what follows, clearly implies assent to the doctrine promulgated, and professed belief in Jesus Christ, "whom Paul preached."

For this they were prepared by the intermediate dispensation of John, and especially by their recognised relation to the Messiah, to whom John's baptism pointed. The consequent effusion of the Holy Spirit in his supernatural influences we are constrained to regard as a crowning testimony to that faith in the profession and exercise of which these disciples made a baptismal dedication of themselves to the Lord Jesus.

8. The baptism of Saul by Ananias forms the last instance. Acts xxii. 16, "And now why tarriest thou? arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Comp. ix. 10-18, and xxvi. 16-18. "Why tarriest thou?" "Nothing else,” says Dr. Halley, "was delayed than his baptism, yet this was manifestly the first interview of Saul with a Christian on friendly terms," p. 519. What though it was the first interview? That neither proves Saul destitute of repentance and faith, nor Ananias ignorant that Saul possessed these qualifications. Ananias and Saul did not meet as strangers. The Lord had informed Ananias that Saul was a chosen vessel to bear his name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, ix. 15. With such an introduction, and finding the lion persecutor changed into a lamb, is it wonderful that Ananias urged Saul to be baptized? The strongest advocate for prerequisite penitence and faith, we are satisfied, would not hesitate to administer the ordinance in similar circumstances. But observes Dr. Halley, "the language of Ananias implies that, when he exhorted Saul to be baptized, he did not consider the persecutor to have obtained the forgiveness of his sins."-" Ananias did