“But we want something binding.” Look then, at the command accompanying this oracle, or confession, or immediately following it, if you desire something binding, or authoritative. We allude to the authoritative utterance, “Hear Him.” God, who made the worlds—God, who rules among the armies of heaven—who hurled angels down to hell for disobedience—whose voice shook the earth. God, who holds the destinies of all the nations in his hand, who “weighs the hills in a balance, and handles the isles as a very little thing,” in connection with the revelation of his Son, to all the nations of the earth, with all the majesty of his authority, says, “HEAR HIM;” give him audience; regard him; bow to him; follow him; be guided by him; honor and obey him forever. How utterly futile and insignificant the attempt of puny and erring mortals to add anything to the great oracle, or confession, in which is concentrated the whole christian institution, and with which is connected the authoritative words of the ineffable Jehovah, “HEAR HIM.” If a man receives the revelation God makes of his Son, or, rather, if he receives his Son, from the revelation he has made of him, and bows in submission to him, in accordance with the command to “Hear Him,” confesses with the mouth before men, what he believes in the heart, that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” and submits to the Divine test of loyalty, in the requirement to be buried with his Lord in baptism, while that great formula is uttered over him, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he gives the highest assurance in his power to give, that he is changed in heart, that he loves God and will serve him, and is bound by the strongest pledge, the highest and most solemn obligation that ever did or ever can bind a human being, to love and serve God. To add a thousand human ceremonies to this, would give no higher assurance of the preparation of the heart, the designs and resolutions being genuine, and bind the individual no more solemnly to be faithful to the end. The confession that God requires, is the greatest confession that man can make, and the making of it is the best evidence a man can give that his heart is right. The first test of loyalty God has required of the penitent confessor, is the strongest, highest, and most solemn to which man can submit, and the submission to it, is the strongest evidence of loyalty the person can give. The authority that requires this submission, is the highest and most binding that can rest upon a human being; and, if it does not govern, control and restrain the person, no authority can.