his world, and you will at once convince me that this world will
shortly be destitute of a solitary inhabitant. Convince me that a man
will not be born again, and you will not only convince me that no one
will ever enter the kingdom of God, but that the many worlds, that
have already passed from the stage of mortal being, and those that
shall hereafter follow, will alike be consigned to eternal silence!
Endless misery is out of the question. That could have had no
existence even had there been no resurrection in _Him_ who is the life
of the world; but death would have terminated the existence of all.
Such a punishment is not threatened in all the writings of Moses and
the prophets. And we cannot reasonably suppose, if such were a
principal truth in revelation, that God would suffer four thousand
years to elapse without warning his creatures of such an awful doom.
Upon our first parents, for transgressing the law, he pronounced all
the miseries of life, and uttered the closing sentence, "Dust thou art
and unto dust shalt thou return." Here the doctrine of endless misery
(if that be the sentence of the violated law) ought to have been
clearly stated to the "covenant head" of our race, so that the same
sentence might pass upon all that have sinned, unless they complied
with the conditions set before them.

But we leave this point, and will notice the 5th verse which may,
perhaps, be considered as an objection to my views, and urged as proof
that the new birth is wholly confined to this life. "Except a man be
born of _water_, and of the spirit," &c. What is here meant by
"_water_"? Ans. Baptism by immersion. This, instead of being an
objection to my views, will strengthen them. Baptism in water is
nothing more than a _figure_ of our death and resurrection, by _which_
we manifest our _faith_ in the resurrection of the dead, by which
_faith_ our hearts are baptized into the spirit and truth of the
gospel of Christ.

Paul says, I Cor. xv:29 "Else what shall they do, which are baptized
for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized
for the dead?" Baptism being only a _figure_ of our death and
resurrection, is perhaps, in a gospel sense, of but little consequence
to christians in the present day.

Christ went to John and was baptized of him in Jordan. His being put
under water signified his death, when the condemning power of the law
under the first dispensation should lose its force--and his being
rai