August 25 PM

"If thou believest with all thine heart,

thou mayest."
Acts 8:37
These words may answer your scruples, devout reader, concerning the ordinances.
Perhaps you say, "I should be afraid to be baptized; it is such a solemn thing to avow
myself to be dead with Christ, and buried with Him. should not feel at liberty to come to
the Master's table; I should be afraid of eating and drinking damnation unto myself, not
discerning the Lord's body." Ah! poor trembler, Jesus has given you liberty, be not
afraid. If a stranger came to your house, he would stand at the door, or wait in the hall;
he would not dream of intruding unbidden into your parlour--he is not at home: but your
child makes himself very free about the house; and so is it with the child of God. A
stranger may not intrude where a child may venture. When the Holy Ghost has given you
to feel the spirit of adoption, you may come to Christian ordinances without fear. The
same rule holds good of the Christian's inward privileges. You think, poor seeker, that you
are not allowed to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; if you are permitted to
get inside Christ's door, or sit at the bottom of His table, you will be well content. Ah! but
you shall not have less privileges than the very greatest. God makes no difference in His
love to His children. A child is a child to Him; He will not make him a hired servant; but
he shall feast upon the fatted calf, and shall have the music and the dancing as much as if
he had never gone astray. When Jesus comes into the heart, He issues a general licence to
be glad in the Lord. No chains are worn in the court of King Jesus. Our admission into
full privileges may be gradual, but it is sure. Perhaps our reader is saying, "I wish I could
enjoy the promises, and walk at liberty in my Lord's commands." "If thou believest with
all thine heart, thou mayest." Loose the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter, for Jesus
makes thee free.