THE FAMILY ALTAR

June 17.

"Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

 Matt. 28:19.

Here the only-begotten Son of God who is in the bosom of

the Father declares and formulates the doctrine of the Holy Trinity

in the most solemn manner. He clearly teaches us that there are

three persons in the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, and

God the Holy Ghost; and yet there are not three Gods, but only

one God. Therefore Christ does not say in the names, but uses

the singular form^ and says in the name. This doctrine of the

Holy Trinity Christ's apostles held and taught at all times, as

their writings clearly show. Paul teaches it when he writes to

the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 13, 14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus

Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost

be with you all." When the Unitarians and other sects deny the

doctrine of the Holy Trinity, they place themselves outside the

pale of the Christian Church. If they baptize at all, their baptism

is no Christian Baptism and not valid in the eyes of God; for it

is not admnistered after God's ordinance and command. When

any of these people want to join our church, they must first be

baptized in the name of the Triune God; for Baptism is not

simple water only, not a mere human ritual, but it is a means

of grace by which we are taken into the communion of the blessed

Trinity. In Baptism the name of the Triune God is laid upon us ;

God the Father comes to us as our reconciled Creator, God the

Son as our Redeemer and Savior, God the Holy Ghost as our

Regenerator and Comforter. Is it not sad to think that millions

in our country are born, live, and die without being baptized and

therefore without being made children of God? Let us thank

God for our baptism and at all times comfort ourselves with the

same against all our sins and in all our afflictions.