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St Peter too declares, that tlie baptism which saves is 'not the putting away of filth of flesh only, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.' But whatever himian being is thus rightly consigned to the grace of the Eternal Spirit in the body of Clirist's Church, we earnestly believe that the God of all comfort is both ahle and willing to serve him to the uttermost ; and this beUef is a suffi- cient answer to the charge of arbitrariness which -was hrouo-ht against us. For we do not proclaim as good news a remedy from the Healer of souls, and then say tliat it is a mockery to any one; but we make its powers of healing embrace every human soul, to which on man's part it is rightly applied. It is true that the words healing, and deliverance, or redemption, SACRAMENTS ABE SYMBOLS. 505 imply a disease not less than the general sinfulness of our race ; but there is no greater difficulty in this than in the existence of evil in the world, which you not only admit as fully as we do but even rather exaggerate. ^^ Baptism then is an expression of human faith, and a pledge of Divine faithfulness. It goes upon the idea that there is such a disease as human sinfulness, and embodies the promise of God to heal every one who comes to Him in the Spirit of His dear Son. As an external rite, it may be said to admit men only into the visible Church ; but it is a symbol of something deeper, and admits into a fellowship of promises which concern the soul. Thus to our mingled being, with our necessities of sensuous ap- prehension, the rites which speak of Christ and dedicate us to His service, are what faith and the strong crying of the spirit are to our innermost man. They are not then imworthy in- struments of Him who embodied His Word in man, that He might lift us into spiritual life. For in these things we see as it were again our Master, and while we give ourselves to Him are assured that He is given to us. Nor what God has joined in spirit and form can man rightly put asunder. Thus, when we have been admitted through baptism, with a rightly answer- ing mind, into the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, and the * waters' (if I may here borrow your words*) * have taken away our sins,' we go on to * shew forth the Lord's death' by taking the bread and wine which represent His body and blood. We give in our names as soldiers of the truth, and receive our colours and watch- words, and bind ourselves by a vow of faith, and are consecrated into that body of living men, which is to the Spirit of Christ now what His fleshly tenement was on earth. For in the second, as in the first sacrament, it has pleased Gt)d to give our sensuous consciousness a symbol of that secret grace which prevents and follows us, and of the faith by which we hold fast our life from Him. I have said, that what the slain victim was to the old Hebrews, Christ on the cross is to us. Or rather shall I say, that * See above, p. 77. 506 SACRAMENTS REQUIRE FAITH. OUR WORSHIP MENTAL. both the Hebrew sacrifice looked forward, and our own sacra- ment looks back, to that perfect self-consecration and obedience to His Father's will, even unto death, by which the Saviour of men wrouglit out a spiritual deliverance from evil, and triumphed by patience over every enemy ? By partaking of Christ's Spirit, and by such a life as His, we partake of His sacrifice : and in the symbols of His death, we receive a pledge that the Eternal God will renew His life in us, and make us partakers of His triumph over the grave. Nor is this to be considered without remembering, that the ancient nations ate the flesh of victims they had slain in token of worship with joyful eucharist. So men who use strong figures say, that we verily eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. But far from us be any thought of eating, as cannibals, human flesh, or ' making mention of drink- ofierings of blood*,' even for man, much less for Grod. For all along you remember that our service is a spiritual one ; and our sacrifices, as the ancient doctors said, are bloodless ; and prayers, and praises, and almsgivings, with dedication of the life and heart, are the sacrifices with which our God is pleased. Thus it is by partaking the mind of Christ that we become truly members of the body which He animates ; by faith 'we assimi- late with our natures the Divine truth which dwelt in Him; and though our dedication of ourselves, with the memorials of His death, is truly (and not figuratively) a sacrifice, yet since Christy having otice diedy dieth no more, so as regards tliat bodily oblation of Himself on the cross, we liave not a repetition, but a commemoration, and an eucharistic sacra- ment. If the wicked come to it, they receive, to tlieir own judgment only, *the sign of so great a thing;' but if men come with that contrite heart which God calls sacrifice f, de- siring to die unto sin, and to live by the mind of Christ, they receive from God the free gift of His Holy Spirit, and all the benefits which by living and dying Jesus Christ wrought oui for mankind. Thus we sacrifice, like the Levites, but not with * Psalm xvi. 4 ; Isaiah i. i j. f See Psalins L U. WATER, OR BREAD, AND THE WORD. . 607 blood ; we renew the death of Christ, but in spirit rather than in letter ; and becoming partakers of His life, we receive, with the symbols of His body, the pledge of His everlasting life. In short, our sacraments are an embodiment in act of the doctrine of the atonement. Thus our God has in His manifold wisdom graciously counselled for our complex being of body and soul ; nourishing the one with daily bread, and bidding the other find in simple elements nourishment of a fiaith which looks on to things eternal. If we had been like beasts which perish, we might have lived by bread alone ; but we have a hope full of immortality, because of the word which cometh forth firom the mouth of God, and His word abideth for ever. Then these two sacraments, which are the most solemn acts of Christian worship, and the pledges of Divine grace, as we are either consigned to its beginning, or have our faith nourished in its progress, are also symbols and expressions of all our daily life. They ever remind us, that all true Christians are cleansed from sin, and that by such a life as that of Christ we truly live, and that with such sacrifices as His entire self-consecration and obedience to God, and love to man, the Father of our spirits is well- pleased. " I will not conceal, nor need you wonder, that with a general agreement among Christians as to the essentials of their faith, there are points as to some of its aspects variously disputed. Him that is weak in the faith, says St Paul, receive ye without vexififf him with doubtful disputations. Some men, with breadth of reason, lay stress on the secret handwriting which the Eternal Spirit engraves on the hearts of all nations*; others, with partial feelmg, will mention nothing in comparison with the fuller em- bodiment of the Divine wisdom in Christ. But to the most thoughtful, neither nature is godless, nor the Gospel unnatural ; yet the lower lesson gives place to the higher, and the fainter light fades in the brighter. Some value most the sacred history of blessed words and works of old; others cherish more the * Pmlm xcir. lo ; Bomans ii. 508 wisdom's children diverse. fresh lessons of the living God, and the continuous flow of life which His Spirit upholds throughout all generations. Yet surely the ancient letter is an useful instrument to the soul, and yet the Holy Spirit is the living law. Some imagine the work of the Spirit is only when feelings arc stirred in the heart, and flow like rivers of water ; others will not exclude from the gifts of the same * Father of lights' the firm grasp of reason, or the clear sight of conscience, and the unbiassed convictions of the imderstanding. Some test our state by asking only what we think or feel, and whether we trust ourselves to God, or have confidence in Him; others ask rather for the growth of such flowers into tlie fruit of good deeds, and the tangible tests of life. With some men we must have faith, which will be followed by love*, but is distinct from it ; with others, love must enter into faith, and perfect it, or even give life to it.