The next thing to be noticed in Scripture in connection with this subject, is _the Charge or Commission_ which the Lord Jesus gave to His Apostles after His resurrection from the dead and before His ascension into Heaven. In Matt, xxviii. 19., we find the Lord saying to the Eleven, “Go ye therefore and teach all nations;”—or, as it is in the margin, “make disciples of all nations;”—“baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” In Mark xvi. 15, 16., the Commission to the Eleven is thus given; “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Now in both these passages the same course is prescribed, which had been previously adopted by Christ Himself and by His forerunner, John the Baptist. They (Christ and John) first made disciples; and then baptized them, in token of their being disciples. And the Apostles were to do the same. They were first to preach the gospel, and then, when any believed it,—or, as God only knoweth the hearts, (for the discerning of spirits was not possessed by _all_ who preached the gospel, and does not appear to have been exercised in ordinary ministrations,) when any professed to believe it, without giving cause for a suspicion of insincerity, they were to baptize them; and when the profession was sincere, the promise of salvation was _assured_ unto them. And according to these directions the Apostles and other preachers of the gospel acted. The Jews had hitherto been the peculiar people and Church of God. But this state of things was to last no longer. The gospel was certainly to be _first_ preached to the Jews, but not to be confined to them. It was to be preached “to every creature.”—All nations were to hear the glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ, and to be called to “the obedience of faith.” “Repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in Christ’s name among all nations.” _The teaching_, then, which preceded baptism, and by which disciples were made to Christ, was _the preaching of the gospel_. (Of this we have a direct proof in Acts xiv. 21. “And when they (Paul and Barnabas) _had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many_;”—or, as the latter word properly signifies, “had brought many to the faith of Christ and made them His disciples.”) And when the gospel was believed, the Sacrament of baptism was to be administered, and then farther instruction to be given in all things which Christ willed that His disciples should do. For thus continuing baptism as the outward and visible token of believing upon Him, the Lord Jesus gave no reason. The Ordinance, in fact, spake for itself. The design of Christ’s death being to “redeem from all iniquity, and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works,”