Newport daily independent., 1902-05-27
SERMON ON BAPTISM.
By Rev. L. H. Richar dson, Pastor of Presbyterian Church, Relative to Essentially of Baptism and
 Mode Practiced Tn
 Scriptures.


 "Christ said Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me- .To the law and to the testi- mony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'"
 The Holy Scriptures are the pro- fessed standard of us all as christians; but whence we aver that this is our one rule of judgment and conduct, we should be very careful lest in our zeal for our own opinions and fancies we depend more upon human wisdom to bolster up the word of God.
 We as Presbyterian christians, how ever, believe in creeds. Our creed is written record of our opinions, put in black and white, to which we and all men can refer, and know where we stand, and around which we rally and contend for 1.-the faith once delivered to the saints," for they are instru- ments of battle formed from the white heat of controversy that has waged unceasingly around the word of God in all the past, and so will it ever be in the future.
 Creeds are like sermons, explana- tions of the word of God, and like many sermons are worth nothing, ex cept as they have Thus saith the Lord'' for them.
 But in that there is no need of creeds, there is no need of sermons, because the word of God eau be as easily understood without the one as the other; in fact creed is the same as a sermon, with this difference that many write the sermon called the creed, whereas, the individual ser- mon is produced, and may be written down or not, by one man, and if not written down we will have different preachment each time. Hence the necessity for a clear and we'll defined statement.
 We as Presbyterians believe in de- nominational names, especially when we have a scripture warrant therefor, as we have. The name Presbyterian comes from the well known bible term in Greek, Presbuteroi, which means Elders, an office in the Old Testament church, and not less honored and blessed in the New Testament dispen- sation. Ours is a church governed by elders, divinely instituted and divinely guided, in so far as we are faithful to this divine method.
 If it can be shown by ourselves or | by others that our creed or our name is not according to the word of God, then it becomes us to change that work-for we call it only human-so that it may square according to Gods supreme revelation. But because it is human work, is that prima facie evidence that we should throw it out? If so we had better do away with everything else connected with church work and worship, e. g., the sermon, the prayer, the organ, the pulpit, the bell, etc., for they are hu- man inventions placed into the wor- ship of God for our aid and comfort therein.
 But to our original thesis, the word of God is our final rule of appeal and judgment. We propose this morning to apply one of the first articles of our creed, which is the second ques- tion of our catechism.
 "The word of God, which is con tained in the scriptures of the old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him." Let us take the word of God this morning and see what it says upon the mode of baptism. There are two different general modes that are practiced by christians the world over, and throughout all times.
 Neither one of them is essential to salvation as there are clear instances in Gods word where persons were ac- cepted of him, before or without the administration of the rite; e. g., the thiet on the cross, Cornelius, the centurian upon whom the Holy Ghost fell before he was baptized; whereas the case of Simon Magus indicates the