nd is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." In carrying out this
commission, thus recorded by these three evangelists, if
we find an ignorant pagan that knows nothing of Jesus we
shall say to him, as Paul said to the Philippian jailer,
ignorant pagan that he was: "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house."

But if we find men who already believe, as did the three
thousand who were pierced in the heart on the day of
Pentecost, we shall say to them, as Peter did: "Repent and
be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit." If, however, we find a man that not only
believes, but is a penitent believer, such as Saul of
Tarsus was when Ananias found him, we shall say, as
Ananias said: "And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be
baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of
the Lord."

In all this there is nothing human, nothing schismatical.
All can accept it who are willing to accept the Word of
the Lord. In the baptism we administer, we will give no
cause for schism: it shall be a burial, and this, so far
as the action of baptism is concerned, will meet the
conscience of the Greek Church, the Roman Catholic Church,
and of all Protestant churches.

Do not, my friends, attempt to turn aside this appeal
which I now make to you with a laugh or a sneer. This is
the Lord's word, and the word of the Lord is not to be put
aside with a sneer. Do not scoff at this as a water of
salvation. You certainly will not scoff at the word of the
Lord.

And now, my friends, will you not demean yourselves worthy
of the high place that God has given you? Adam and Eve
carried in their hands the weal or woe of the unnumbered
millions of their children that should come after them.
Abraham, because of his great faith and because of his
high integrity, sent down a blessing upon his fleshly seed
for fifty generations; and for the same cause was
constituted the spiritual father of a spiritual seed as
numerous as the stars of heaven or as the sand upon the
seashore. A few Galileean fishermen have filled the world
with the glory of the Lord. Luther drove back the darkness
of the dark ages and has filled the world with the light
of God's Word. And now, my friends, you are laying the
foundations of many generations, and will you not take
heed how these foundations are laid? Can you repent if you