he spoke of, belong to Christ; and in this character are to be received by his followers. But they can be received, as belonging to Christ, in no other manner, than that of receiving them into his Church.

Secondly; Matthew xix. 13-15: Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. And He laid his hands on them, and departed thence. Mark adds, that He took them up in his arms, and blessed

them.

Of this passage I observe, First; That the parents who brought these children to Christ, were believing Jews, who wished for his blessing on their offspring. Secondly; They were Infants; being called by Luke, Bespn. Luke xviii. 15. Thirdly; The disciples rebuked the Parents. Fourthly; Christ reproved the Disciples, and directed them to suffer the Infants to be brought to him. Fifthly; He declared, that of such children, the Kingdom of God is composed. Sixthly; He took them in his arms, and blessed them. The kingdom of God denotes either the Church on Earth, or the Church in Heaven. Whether one, or the other, or both, are here intended, is of little importance to the question in debate. It is, however, in the highest degree, probable, that the Church on Earth is intended; as, very plainly, children can come to Christ in the present world, so as to constitute a part of his Kingdom, in no other manner, than by becoming members of the visible Church. It is plain, also, that they cannot be forbidden by his ministers to come to him in any other manner, beside being excluded from the Church. Christ blessed these children, after he had made this declaration. Those, whom Christ has blessed, and whom he has directed ministers to permit to come to him, ministers ought not to forbid to come to him in the only manner, in which they can either forbid, or permit, this

to be done.

The interpretation which makes our Saviour say, "Suffer little children to come unto me, because the Kingdom of God is composed of Christians;" that is, of such as have a childlike spirit; sometimes alleged, is undeserving of a refutation.

In accordance with the account which I have given of this passage, as well as with the whole scheme of this discourse, the Apostles preached, so far as we are informed of their preaching. They preached to a man and his house; and their language was, Beleve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house. The Angel who appeared to Cornelius said to him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter, who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall ve saved.

Thirdly. Acts, ii. 38, 39; Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the re

mission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

The promise, here referred to, is plainly that, which was made to Abraham; a promise to him and to his seed; to wit, the very persons, on whom God directed the seal of his covenant to be placed. These, we well know, were to a great extent Infant children. As there is no other promise in the Scriptures, made to the Israelites and their children; we know, that this is the promise, referred to by St. Peter: and this declaration assures us, that it is extended to the Church under the Christian Dispensation. As there is no limitation of the promise here, nor in any other part of the New Testament; we have in this fact ample proof, that it is extended to Christians without any limitation. It may, I think, be safely concluded, that, if so great a change had been made in the conditions of the promise, St. Peter would, at this very time, have advertised these Jews of such a change. We may at least be certain, that he, or some other Apostle, would have announced this change somewhere. But no such annunciation exists in the New Testament. The change, therefore, has not been made: and Children hold exactly the same relation to the Church, at the present time, which they held under the Abrahamic Dispensation. Fourthly. 1 Cor. vii. 14; For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife by the husband; else were your children unclean, but now are they holy.

The word unclean, in almost all instances, in the Scriptures, denotes that, which may not be offered to God, or may not come into his Temple. Of this character were the Heathen universally; and they were, therefore, customarily, and proverbially, denominated unclean by the Jews. The Unbelievers, here spoken of, were Heathen; and were therefore unclean. In this sense, the children, born of two heathen Parents, are here pronounced to be unclean also; as being in the proper sense Heathen. To be holy, as here used, is the converse of being unclean; and denotes that, which may be offered to God. To be sanctified, as referring to the objects here mentioned, is to be separated for religious purposes; consecrated to God; as were the first-born, and vessels of the Temple; or to be in a proper condition to appear before God. In this text, it denotes, that the unbelieving parent is so purified by means of his relation to the believing parent, that their mutual offspring are not unclean, but may be offered unto God. There is no other sense, in which a Jew could have written this text, without some qualification of these words. The only appointed way, in which children may be offered to God, is Baptism. The children of believing parents are, therefore, to be offered to God in Bap

tism.

3. Infant Baptism was uniformly practised by the early Chris

hans.

Justin Martyr, born near the close of the first century, observes, when speaking of those who were members of the Church, that "a part of these were sixty or seventy years old, who were made disciples to Christ from their Infancy." But there never was any other mode of making disciples, from Infancy, except Baptism.

Irenæus, born about the year 97, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John, says, "Christ came to save all persons, who by him are born again unto God; Infants and little ones, and chil dren, and youths, and elder persons." By being born again, Irenæus intends being baptized, as he himself elsewhere clearly shows.

Clemens Alexandrinus, born about the middle of the second century, says, "If any one be a Fisherman; let him think of an Apostle, and the children taken out of the water." Clement is here giving directions concerning images, to be engraven on seal-rings. These engravings were sometimes indecent, and sometimes idolatrous. Clement exhorts Christians to adopt such, as are becoming and useful; and particularly exhorts Fishermen to choose the image of an Apostle baptizing Infants. This furnishes a decisive proof, that in Clement's view, the Apostles baptized Infants; and that this practice was, in his own time, the general practice of the Christian Church.

Tertullian, born about the same time with Irenæus, says, "The delay of Baptism is more useful, according to every person's condition, and disposition, and even their age: but especially with regard to little children." The reason, which he urges for this delay, is, that their faith was not entire, or complete. As Tertullian is here directly opposing the common opinion; it is obvious, that little children were then commonly baptized. The reason, why Tertullian proposed this delay, was, that he attributed to Baptism an importance, not given to it by the Scriptures.

Origen, born about the year 184, and a man of more information than any one of his time, says, "Infants are baptized for the remission of sins." And again; "The Church hath received the tradition from the Apostles, that Baptism ought to be administered to Infants."

6

Cyprian, who was contemporary with Origen, says, that "sixty-six Bishops, being convened in a Council at Carthage, having the question referred to them, Whether infants might be baptized be fore they were eight days old,' decided unanimously, that no Infant is to be prohibited from the benefit of Baptism, although but just born."

Gregory Nazianzen, born in the early part of the fourth centu ry, exhorts parents to offer their children to God in Baptism.

Saint Augustin, born in the middle of the fourth century, says, "The whole Church practises Infant Baptism; it was not instituted by Councils, but was always in use." He also says, that he did not remember ever to have read of any person, whether catholic or here

tic, who maintained, that Baptism ought to be denied to Infants. "This," he says, "the Church has always maintained."

Pelagius, a contemporary with Augustin, declares, that "he had never heard even any impious Heretic, who asserted, that Infants are not to be baptized." Again he asks, "Who can be so impious, as to hinder the Baptism of Infants?" Pelagius is here a witness of high authority. He was born in Britain; and travelled through France, Italy, Africa Proper, and Egypt, to Jerusalem. Had such a practice existed in his time; it seems impossible, that he should not have heard of it. He was also an inquisitive and learned man; and must, therefore, have been well informed concerning preceding periods. At the same time, the doctrine of Infant Baptism was objected against his own opinions by St. Augustin, in such a manner, that Pelagius knew not how to answer the objection. Still these are his own assertions.

A person who employed himself extensively in examining this subject, gives the following result of all his inquiries. "First; During the first four hundred years from the formation of the Christian Church, Tertullian only urged the delay of Baptism to infants, and that only in some cases; and Gregory only delayed it, perhaps, to his own children. But neither any society of men, nor any Individual, denied the lawfulness of baptizing Infants.

"Secondly; In the next seven hundred years, there was not a society, nor an Individual, who even pleaded for this delay; much less any, who denied the right, or the duty of Infant Baptism.

"Thirdly; In the year eleven hundred and twenty, one sect of the Waldenses declared against the Baptism of Infants; because they supposed them incapable of salvation. But the main body of that people rejected the opinion as heretical; and the sect, which held it, soon came to nothing.

"Fourthly; The next appearance of this opinion was in the year 1522.

Had the Baptism of Infants been ever discontinued by the Church; or had it been introduced in any age, subsequent to that of the Apostles; these things could not have been; nor could the history of them have been found.

SERMON CLIX.

THE EXTRAORDINARY MEANS OF GRACE. NO INFANTS, BUT THE CHILDREN OF BELIEVERS, PROPER SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM.MODE OF ADMINISTRATION.

ACTS ii. 38, 39.-Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

THE persons, here addressed by St. Peter, were a collection of Jews. Of course, they were persons, on whom God had placed his covenant, and to whom he had affixed the seal of circumcision. They were persons, who had regularly partaken of the passover through life. They were not excommunicated persons. They were, therefore, still in the covenant. On this ground, St. Peter declares to them, that the promise was still to them, and to their children.

Still they were gross sinners; and had imbrued their hands in the blood of the Redeemer. They had not, indeed, been employed in the external act of putting him to death: this was done by the Roman soldiery. But they had sought, and procured, his death, with a disposition, probably more malignant, and abominable, than that of his real murderers. Thus, they were gross sinners; and were therefore, called upon to repent. They were also required to be baptized, every one of them, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins; because Baptism was now become the initiatory seal of the covenant. As the promise was to them and to their children, according to the gracious declaration of God to Abraham; it follows, that they being baptized, and thus introduced into the covenant under the Christian Dispensation, and made members of the Church under that dispensation, their children also were placed under the same covenant, and were to be baptized according to the appointment of God.

These

1 persons, say, were to be baptized. The question naturally arises, What is it to be baptized? It will be the design of this discourse, to show,

I. That Infant Baptism is, in the Scriptures, confined to the children of professing Christians; and,

II. To show what Baptism is, considered as an external religious

rite.

I. I shall attempt to show, that Infant Baptism is, in the Scriptures, confined to the children of professing Christians.