Matthew 3:6

Baptized of Him.

I. In baptism we are admitted to the kingdom of Christ.

1. Presented unto Him.

2. Consigned with His Sacrament.

3. Witnessing a good confession.

4. Undertaking a holy life.

II. In baptism we

(1) give our names to Christ;

(2) are matriculated and adopted into our Father’s house.

III. Baptism Is

(1) the gate of the Church;

(2) the first entrance of saints to an eternal conversion with God and the Church;

(3) the sacrament of initiation;

(4) investiture of them that enter into religion.

IV. Baptism is adoption into the

(1) covenant;

(2) a new birth;

(3) our sins are pardoned now;

(4) and we are put into a state of pardon for the time to come. (Jeremy Taylor.)

Baptism

1. An initiatory rite.

2. A leading ordinance.

3. A confirmatory rite.

4. An instrument of regeneration.

5. A representative ordinance.

6. A sealing ordinance. (T. Watson, M. A.)

Confessing their sins.

The nobility of compression;

1. Confession of sin should not be made to every one we meet; it should be discriminating.

2. It should be honest.

3. The moment a man attempts to be honest with himself in respect to his moral character, and to make confession before God, everything that is in Him rises up against him:-

1. Reason. Reason suborned by his feeling: refuses to investigate. It returns false reports.

2. Pride. How on the proud man do the evidences of sin beat as hailstones on a slate roof, and never penetrate. The mouth of pride has the lockjaw, when it is a question of confessing wrong.

3. “Vanity. Vanity teaches men to regard more the opinions of men than of God.

4. Conscience. When ready to confess, conscience says, “Stop, insincere hypocrite.”

5. Prudence. “Let well alone.” Let the past alone.

6. Yet is there anything nobler than confession of wrong done? It is a way of pleasantness and peace.

7. Do not be afraid to confess your sin to Jesus. It is easy for sorrow to confess to love. (H. W. Beecher.)

Confession without extenuation

Men’s faults lie like reptiles-like toads, like lizards, like serpents; and what if there is over them the evening sky, lit with glory, and all aglow? All the gorgeousness of the departing day, shining down on a reptile, leaves it a reptile still. Men think, “I am generous; I am full of fine feelings; I am endowed with superior taste; “ but what of that? Down in the very thicket; down where men do not love often to go-there their faults lie nestling. (H. W. Beecher.)

Compression should realize the nature and peril of sin

Ah! the bank is breaking away. A craw-fish has pierced it. The stream is working, and working and working. The engineer is sent up to see if all is safe. He sees that a stream is running through the bank, big as his finger. He looks at it, and waits to see if the stream enlarges. Soon it is as big as his two fingers. He waits a little longer, and it is as big as his hand. It is wearing on either side the opening, and the waters are beginning to find it out, and slowly they swirl on the inside towards this point. It will not be many hours before the bank will be so torn that it will give way, and the flood will pour through the crevasse. But the engineer goes back and says, “Well, there was a little rill there. But it was a very beautiful place: I never saw a prettier bank than that. The trees that grow in the neighbourhood are superb; and the shrubbery there is very fragrant and charming; and the moisture which finds its way through the bank seems to nourish all vegetation near it.” “Well, but the break! How about that?” “It was something of a break; but, as I was saying, it is a beautiful spot. And right there is a fine plantation; and the man that owns it-” “But how about the crevasse? Yes, there was a little crevasse; but, as I was saying, all things conspire to make it a lovely scene.” What kind of a report is that, of an engineer sent out to investigate, when it is question of impending ruin? What kind of a report is that, when the elements are at work which will soon launch desolation on the neighbourhood? Send the engineer Reason into a man’s soul, and ask it to report concerning the habit of drinking in the man. It comes back and says, “Oh! well, he takes a little for the oft infirmities of his stomach; but he is a good fellow, he is a strong man, and his heart is in the right place.” “But what about his habit? … He takes a little now and then; but, as I was saying, he is a generous fellow. If you had heard of his kindnesses to that family when they were in distress-” “But what about his habit?” (H. W. Beecher.)