Hate to jump in here, but I couldn't ignore the logic in this post.

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Pilgrim said:
For example, one of the situations I am thinking of is one of the "signs" posted down at the hydro plant; KEEP OUT - High voltage. Now, the placard seen is the "outward sign" (no pun intended) of an "inward reality" (the high voltage). But again, using but not pressing in any way whatsosever, your "logic", to the one who believes that there is serious danger involved with that equipment, the sign truly signifies the reality of that high voltage. But if one refuses to believe there is danger, then the sign is "effectively void", i.e., what the sign says is untrue.

No it isn't. If I see a sign that says "High Voltage," I'm going to assume that there's high voltage back there. If I randomly refuse to accept that there is high voltage back there, does that in any way affect the real facts? If, however, I have good reason to doubt that there was high voltage back there (i.e. lets say my friend worked for the power co. and told me it had been shut down), I might start to doubt the sign, but only because I doubted the "inward reality" first. This is fair.

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Or we could look at it in another way and see the same illogic of it. If the sign says there is High Voltage and there is indeed high voltage there, then the sign is true; i.e., it is an "outward sign" of the "inward reality". But if there is no high voltage, then the "outward sign" is no sign at all for there is no "inward reality".

Yes, it's still a sign, just a lying sign. If I were to baptize Howard Stern in his present state, all the phycicalities of the sign would be there- the water, etc.- but it wouldn't mean anything. It would be a sign that said "High Voltage" when none was there. In this case, I would call up the guy who hung the sign, and complain, because it isn't telling the truth and is misleading.

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The problem isn't with the sign and its inability to communicate a truth; a reality, but with your understanding of how a sign functions. Baptism IS a sign of a reality. But that reality is not to be found in the SUBJECT(IVE) realm, e.g., the recipient of the sign but in the OBJECTIVE truth; i.e., God saves believing sinners by the washing away of their sins in Christ's blood. The sign is ALWAYS and FOREVER true, regardless of who receives the sign, for the reality is the promise of God which can never change. The application of what the sign signifies does vary dependent upon whether or not the person being baptized has faith. But again, the "sign of the covenant" does not change since it does not find its meaning and/or significance in the subjectivity of the recipient, but rather in the immutable promise of God and the reality of Christ's accomplished substitutionary atonement in behalf of the elect. In short, Baptism IS "an outward sign" but of an "outward reality", which may demonstrate what belongs to the person being baptized should they have faith.

Now you're taking a huge leap, by saying that "High Voltage" signs aren't a sign of the subjective reality of that one particular station having high voltage, but of the objective reality that all real power stations everywhere have high voltage. If this were the case, I could hang a "High Voltage" sign over my bedroom door, or the neighbour's doghouse, and it wouldn't be a problem. Hey, we could hang 'em everywhere- at every street corner! In every restaraunt! It would be awesome, because it would continue to proclaim to everyone the objective reality that all real power stations have high voltage. What would be more wonderful?

And what it does, is makes the signs in front of real power stations mean absolutely nothing anymore.

(Latin phrase goes here.)