PRESIYTERIAN ;lA:\.)ER.'..& „''' ADVOCATE. terlan Banner, Vol. V, No. 25. Lorton Advocate, No. 20. MeKINNEY, Editor and Proprietor. ADVANCE. Original flag. tten on the Death of a Friend , it bitter Borrow thrills my heart, think that he and t mast part! is, how piercing is the pain, more on earth to meet again ! flood did o'er his body roll, could not overwhelm his soul ; now he bathes in seas above, .streams of everlasting love. chilliag tide cut shOrt his breath, left his body cold in death; now he drinks the streams on bigb, gushing streams that never dry. mild and lovely was that youth! early learned and loved the truth; walked the ways of righteousness, lived with all his friends in peace. love was free to every friend, loved the Saviour to the end, now he loves to sing that Psalm, song of Moses and the Lamb. name is 'graved on every heart, earthly friends are called to part; • sweet remembrance of his name, eeds the pomp of earthly-fame. h may dissolve these earthly ties, showers of tears suffuse our eyes ; we shall dwell in realms above, ell in eternal love. 'iving friends dry up your tears, . banish all your gloomy fears ; aua our Captain's gone before,. d conquered death, with all its power, t youth prepare to meet their God, And walk the way our friend has trod; Devote, like him, their blooming days, To walk in wisdom's pleasant ways. For the Presbyterian Banner and Advocate. Baptism.--No. 9. :aping from the desert, and shaping our te to the North• East, at length we reach uxuriant plain of Damascus, one of • the it Paradises "of Eastern poetry. En , the oldest City in the world, and pass •long the street oalled Straight, we come e house of. Judas, where we find SAUL OF TARSUS. alias comes in, and puts his hands on and what follows ? "He received forthwith, and arose and was bap- —Acts ix : 18. Ananias had said to " And now, why tarriest thou? Arise be baptized."—Chap. xxii : 16. The iuge of the original is very expressive : ,IR ebaptisthc, " rising, or standingup, is baptized." And so in the parallel anastas baptisai, "rising'up, be ,zed." And it is fairly implied that received baptism immediately, on rising his couch, and without leaving the Our Baptist friends suppose there ellipsis, or omission of some words in sentence, to be supplied by the reader; that the meaning of Ananias was, ;e up, and go out to a river or pool, there be baptized." But an manna of different passages, where the same of expression is used, will show the lition to be groundless. The participle s, occurs six times in Luke's Gospel, .mes in the Acts of the Apostles, and it five times in other parts of the New , nt. In not one of these instances rds, supposed to have been omitted, tst in between the participle and the Take a few examples : cs I : 15- 6 ( Peter rose up in the midst disciples, and said ;" anastas Petros 28—" And there stood 'up one of named Agabus, and signified;" anas- EMIR 7—" Peter rose up and said unto anastos Petros eipen atztOis. IV : 39—" And she arose and min unto them;' "unastasa. diekonei : 8—" He arose and stood forth;" este. : 46—" Rise and pray that ye not into temptation ;" anastantes eesthe. will readily be seen, that in every in the action expressed by the verb the rising up immediately and on rot, leaving no interval to be filled npby !ader. On the other hand, whenever )ject of the actor is not attained without the place, , that fact is expressly as in the following passages : • • XV : 18—"'I will arise and go to my , and say unto him ;" anastas poreu -kai ero. rse 20—" And he arose and came to .her ;" anastas elthe pros ton piztem 11X 39—" Peter arose and went them ;" anastas Petros sunelthen 11—" Arise and go into the street is called Straight, and, inquire ;" poreutheti—kat zeteson. in every instance in which anastas td, if the purpose of the actor in rising not attained without going elsewhere, )ing elsewhere is expressly mentioned. re is no room for the insertion of omitted And it is as clear as noon-day, that Ananias said, " Arise and be bap ," he meant that Saul should stand up be baptized at once, without leaving his ber. What Baptist preacher would say to a son in a private' house, or at the church, se up and be-baptized ?" In such case, Id not every one expect the baptism to place by effusion An immersionist Id say, "Rise up and gb out with me to river, and be baptized. WASHING AWAY SINS. " But," say our good brethren, " does Ananias say, 'be baptized, and wash ty thy sins ?' This purely calls for more Lter than is implied in pouring or sprink ig." I answer, dipping a person with all clothes on, is no more a washing of the arson than sprinkling is; nor will it more ffectually cleanse from sin. What Ananias ' , ant was, that Saul, having now really the lith, should attend to the visible sign of le washing away of his sine, baptism being e emblem, or sign, of spiritual cleansing. haw was it to be signified ? Why, sprinkling is the standard among emblemat ical washings ; for God himself says, " will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean."—Ezek.. xxxvi :25 It is also said of the Redeemer, that he hath "washed us from our sins in (or with) his own blood."—Rev. i : 5. And how ? Peter answers, by " sprinkling of the blood of Christ."-1. Pet. i : 2. BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS. We now pass to Cesarea, a sea-port on the Mediterranean, and the political capital of Judea, under the Romans. Here, a Cen turion, previously instructedby Peter, was baptized in the faith of Christ. Thrs was the first Gentile admitted to the Christian Church ; and Julian the ,Apostate, who ac knowledged but two eminent converts from Paganism to Christianity, named him as one of them. , For the record of his baptism, see Acts x : 44-48. "The Holy Ghost , /e/1 on all them that heard the word." " Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water that should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we 7" Peter's meaning is; "Can any one object to the baptism of these Gentiles; who have received the same , effusion of the Spirit as ourselves ?" Still, the form of his expres sion discloses to us the existing mode of baptism. " Can any man forbid water ?" This plainly implies,, ..that the water was brought in and applied to the subject; not the subject taken to the water. When Christ, speaking of little children, says, " forbid them not," (Luke xviii : 16,) his meaning is, " forbid them not to be brought to me ;" for the context declares, that they were being " bronght to him," at the time. So when Peter says, " Can any man forbid water?" his meaning is, _"Can.any one forbid water to be brought and appliectin baptism to these Gentiles ?" Had he'been an immersionist, he would doubtless have said, " Can any man forbid these - Gentiles going down with us at once to' the sea shore," Ac.c. How singular would it sound if a Baptist preacher, taking the vote of his church on the reception of a candidate, should say, "Brethren, can any of you forbid water for the baptism of this person ?" A stranger present would certainly take him for a Pedo baptist. The immersionists do not speak of forbidding water to .a person, .but of forbid ding a person being put under water, if they think him not a proper subject. A notre. PETER'S IDEA OF BAPTISM In giving an account of this baptism, to the Apostles and brethren at Jerusalem, Peter makes the'following remarkable state ment : "And as T began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on ns at the begin ning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord,how that he said, John indeed bap tized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.—Acts xi': 15, 16. Something occurred which forcibly re minded Peter of baptism' And whit' was it? It was the falling or outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the assembly. But if he were an immersionist, how could that put him in mind of baptism ?' Onr Baptist friends say that there is no sort of resew blance'between the two. Nothing short of a plunge under, would put them in mind of baptism. But Peter was no immersionist. Leaving• Cesarea, and taking ship, we steer to the North-West; and after sailing near a thousand miles, we land at Neapolis, and pass thence to Philippi, in Macedonia. Here, when Paul •visited the place, were a few Jews, but no organized synagogue. There was, however, a place resorted to for prayer, in the outskirts of the town,,by the river side. Here Paul's preaching blessed to the conversion of Lydia of Thya tira. The sacred historian tells us, in few words, that "she' was baptized, and her household."—Acts xvi : 15. It is not stated whether this took place at the river, or elsewhere;'that matter being left entirely to conjecture• 0 BAPTISM 'OF THE JAILOR. From the hospitable dwelling 'of Lydia, we pass round to the prison of Philippi. Here, confined in the inner ward, their feet made fast in the stocks, and their backs bleeding from the recent scourge, are two of the most disinterested servants of Christ, the world ever saw. And what had they done ? Their successful Mors had given offense to the idolatrous fanatics of Philippi ) at whose instigation they were cruelly beaten, and ignominiously thrust into prison. The particulars are recorded in Acts xvi : 19-40. The reader is already familiar with them, and they need not here be repeated. That the jailor's baptism took place within the walls of the prison is evi dent from the circumstances narrated. Yet our opponents allege that the Apostles must have taken him out to a river for that pur pose, because, in verse , 30, we are told that the jailor, "brought them out ;" and then, in verse 34, that " he sbrought them into his house." But they forget that the Apos tles were thrust into the inner prison. From thence the jailor "brought them out" into the outer prison, where he washed their stripes and received baptism. Thence he " brought them into his house ;" which, according to usage, was under the same roof, and constituting a part of the edifice. The supposition that they took the jailor and all his family to the river is attended with insuperable difficulties. It was mid night. The river was quite out of the city. —V. 13. By the laws of the country, the jailor would have, been condemned to death had he allowed the .prisoners to leave the prison. And, if the baptism was to be by immersion, it could have been deferred till the following day. How often do our Bap tist brethren, for convenience sake, delay an immersion for days and weeks ,together. Or, supposing that the Apostles had at tempted to leave the prison, they would 'have been stopped ,by the guard at the gates; and bad they succeeded in gaining the streets, they would have been arrested by the watchmen of, the city. But their language and conduct on the following day prove, beyond a doubt, that they had not left the prison. When the mag is4ates sent, saying, "let these men go," they declined going, saying, ." let them come.themselves and fetch us out." Could these holy.:• men ) without the grossest du have, uttered this lan. plicity and,,hypocrit!,y, guage, after having the , night previous stolen out of the city to a river? "ONE THING IS NEEDFUL:" "ONE THING HAVE I DESIRED OF THE LORD:" "THIS ONE THING I DO." BAPTISM OP LYDIA '11; . 1\ ,t. :I ll\ t, I :1 , 11 1, i 'it i 1.. FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1857. BAPTISM IN CISTERNS. Some Baptist authors suggest that per haps there were cisterns in or about the prison, and that in one of these the jailor was immersed. But how can a person be dipped in such a place with any degree of decorum. Have the Baptist friends ever tried the experiment? True, nothing would be easier than to plunge the jailor, with his wife and children, down into a cisteri.; but how would they be got out again, , unless there was at hand some such apparatus as was resorted to for extricating Jeremiah from the dungeon ?—Jer. xxxviii : 12. I will just add that Chrysestom, of the fourth century, had no difficulty in deciding where the jailor was baptized. " Doubt not, belovid," says he, "for the grace of God is perfect. The place is rio obstacle, whether you baptize here, or in a ship, or on the road. Philip baptized on a road, Paul in prison."—How. de J?egress. L. N. D. For the Presbyterian,Tanner and Advocate Religion; • OR, LETTERS TO 'A FRIEND ON THE DOCTRINES AND DUTIES Or THE BIBLE. Letter 11.-Sin mid Salvation.. Sin is''the tinnOgiessiOn 'of .thO.law.Hl.:Jonit • In: 4. Christ heth 'redeemed us from the curse of the : 13. M---v DEAR FRIEND.:—In my last, I tried to tell you what sin is; it is " any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God ;" and it is both orignial and actual. —Sh. Cat., Q. 14-18. " Sin is opposition to the nature, law, and government of . God, which exposes the soul to his wrath and curse."—Bible Dictionary, published by the Presbyterian Beard of Publication. Here, then, you see the ildesert of sin. It offends God; it breaks his law; it mars his works; it brings misery and death 'upon his crea tures;'and what does it deserve? What punishment can equal, its enormity, and its turpitude ; ? The least sin, breaks God's law, and is, in its very nature, an infinite evil, as, ' unless arrested, its effects must endure for ever. Hence, every sin, however small, "every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life .and that.which is to come." --Sh. Cat., Q. 84. And here, my friend, you see your exposure as sinner. * You are exposed to "God's wrath and curse" for this life and the next; exposed' to. God's wrath, and 'curse for time and eternity You have transgressed his law; you are guilty •of -sin as' a transgressor; and as a sinner you are exposed to God's wrath and curse ? Bring the matter home: Realize your condition. It is sad and fearful. 'Think ! Exposed to God's wrath and curse ! Suspended by the brittle thread of life over the gulf of perdition •! The swordof jus . tice ready to 4 fall upOn you 1 Oh, my friend, should God now summon your = spirit to his bar, how dreadful must be your doom I Death! Eternal death! Eternity! Eter nity!! Oh, think of , a miserable eternity! How can you dwell' with thedevoiring fire How can you dwell with everlasting ings ? How can- you lie down in endless 'tormentsl—lsa. xxxiii : 14. Hell, friend ) hell !" To this you, as a sinner, are exposed; and how ''can you escape? Yes, how Can you escape 't You—how can ,yeit eseape How. escape? This question concerns you; it is important for you; you are inter= ested in it; look at it, think of it, ponder it over; how can, you escape ? You cannot deliver yourself. You are ruined and lost; and despairing of yourself, you should look up to God for Help and salvation. Look around you, then, and see; just where you are; and try if you can any .where discover an open door, through which you can .enter and be safe. Is there any way of escape ? any way of deliverance 'from sin and hell ! Is there hope?' Is there deliverance ? is there safety;? Come, mY.,friend, em your feet, slide down to .perdition;..come,. look about you, and see where you , are, and' what is the . prospect before you. Come,', let us reason together.—lsa. x : 18. And: here it is my. Privilege to spelr the language of en couragement. Hope-! Yes, there is hope ! Salvation:! Yes, there is salVation ! Be holdthe Lamb of God !—John i : 36. For while sin is' the transgression of the law, and exposes us to its curse, Christ bath re deemed.us from the curie of the law, being made a curse for us; and; hence, Christ is the end of the law for rightecnisness to every , one that believeth.-1. John iii : 4; Gal. iii : 13 ; Rona. x:' 4. My friend, to see where you are, consider, " When God had created Man, he entered into a covenant of life" with him, upon con dition of perfect obedience forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, upon the pain of death.'--Sh. Cat., Q. 12. Here is