troversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent be- fore thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. people remember now what Balak, king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor an- swered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. Where- with shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth ERRATA. Page 29, line 6, for Be ye doers of the world, read, Be doers of the word. 32, 17, dele? after prayer. 33, 98, 111, 129, - 1, for St. John xi. 16, read St. John ii. 16. 3, for conviction, read conclusion. SERMON S. SERMON I. ON BAPTISM. 1 PETER iii. 21. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A SLIGHT transposition in one or two of the clauses of this verse will, I think, for our immediate use, give a clearer and more simple expression; we will take it therefore thus-" The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, B not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God." The main purpose of this epistle, at least of the part of it which stands in immediate relation to the passage before us, appears to have been to strengthen the minds of those whom the apostle was addressing, against some present or expected persecution. In the course of his reasoning he incidentally alludes to the preservation of the family of Noah from the flood which overwhelmed mankind: the means of this extraordinary delivery was water, the same element that, in its rapid and irresistible progress, carried terror and dismay to the hearts of the guilty, the same element, obedient to the providence which directed it, received into its bosom and protected the innocent. As inhabitants of the earth, it is natural we should take a deep interest in an event which affected the whole human race; but in a |