But again; we obey CHRIST's command in having our children baptized, and we do this in dependance on His promises. This is well. But are we that are baptized equally careful afterwards to believe in these promises, and to keep up in ourselves a right sense of what Baptism is? This faith is required of persons to be baptized; but surely to be realized after Baptism also, especially in those who are baptized young; for otherwise all that is said of faith-which, indeed, pervades the whole of Scripturewould be lost to us. We should have passed away from the well of water as we entered the wilderness, and have to bear the dry desert and heat of the day without it. But surely this is not So. St. Paul, in speaking of the smitten rock in the wilderness and the water that flowed from it, says, They drank of that spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was CHRIST'." That is, "It was CHRIST," says St. Chrysostom, "that performed the whole; Who was every where with them, and wrought all the wonders"."

And indeed, if repentance is needful all our life long after Baptism, much more is faith, for without faith repentance itself were dead and of no avail: with faith are all good fruits, and without it are none. Peter was a man like unto us," says an ancient Father, St. Cyril," formed of flesh and blood; but believing JESUS, when He said, Come, he walked on the waters, having his faith for a support on the waves, surer than any foundation, and his heavy body was sustained afloat by the buoyant power of his faith. But though as long as he believed he had a sure footing on the water, yet as soon as he doubted he began to sink." "And again nerved by HIM Who took hold of his right hand, from the moment he believed again, he regained the same power of walking on the waters "."

Nor is it only to restore us when fallen that faith is necessary; but even in the best it is capable of continual increase unto the end. We may observe that even the Apostles are spoken of as if in a manner without faith to the last of our LORD's stay with them: on account of faith, however great among men, yet in the sight of GOD, being still but little, still such as may grow more into all the fulness of GOD, and be able to comprehend the length, and

7 1 Cor. x. 4.

8 Hom. xxiii. in Cor.

9 Cyril. Sect. v. 7.

breadth, and depth, and height of the love of GOD in CHRIST. Assuredly, when at first they forsook all at the call of JESUS CHRIST, and followed HIM, their faith was great. Yet long after, in the storm at sea, He said unto them, "O ye of little faith ';" and, "where is your faith??" Still later, but a few days before His Crucifixion, when by His word He had withered the fig tree, we read," JEsus saith unto them, Have faith in GOD ";" even as if they had no faith before that time, such as it might be. And even at the last Supper He said to them, " Believe in Me;" and, "Do ye now believe?" as if it were even then for the first time that they began to believe. Yet before this they had more than once solemnly confessed Him to be the Son of GOD, and were accepted and blessed for so doing. And surely, as compared with other men, the faith of the Apostles was very great, and shown in much love, and loss of all things the world values. But compared with what it might be, it as yet was small.

From these, and many other such like reasons, we may, I think, conclude, that even the best of Christians have to go on increasing in faith even to the last. So that while the world around us says, It is not necessary to believe steadfastly the promises of GOD contained in this Sacrament, and your Church shall not say that it is necessary, we, on the contrary, declare that the Holy Scriptures, and the Church of all ages and our own Church, declares it is necessary: and our only fear is, lest we should ourselves not steadfastly, or not sufficiently, believe these promises of GOD. Let the world say what it pleases, we have but one fear-lest we be not true to ourselves and to our God; lest we should not value sufficiently those mysterious means of grace which He has appointed; although such humblé instruments be little esteemed and set at nought by the world, even as was the author HIMSELF of our salvation.

1 Matt. viii. 26.

3 Mark xi. 22.

2 Luke viii. 25.

4 John xiv. 1; xvi. 31.

SERMON XX.

INFANT BAPTISM.

MARK X. 13, 14.

'And they brought young children to HIM, that HE should touch them: and His Disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when JESUS saw it, HE was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of GOD."

EVERY Christian parent must naturally be very desirous that his children should be baptized, and anxious that death should not overtake them before they have been made partakers of promises so great. The only question to him is, whether it be allowable for infants to be so received, for if allowable, it must certainly be a great duty and privilege; and it is enough for him to know that his Church does permit and require it. But if he should further ask on what scriptural grounds our Church sanctions this practice, we shall find in the baptismal service that it is especially on our LORD's own strong invitation and acceptance of little children. And certainly there is hardly any thing in the Gospels put more strongly than this with regard to all the circumstances attending it. First of all, it is said that " JESUS was much displeased" with those who would have kept them from HIM. It is very rarely that we read of our Blessed LORD showing outwardly tokens of His displeasure; there must have been something very wrong, very inconsistent with His Gospel, in the thoughts of those who occasioned it. It was His tender love for such little And this HE evinced, not only by His marked displeabut by what our Prayer Book calls "His outward gesture

ones.

sure,

and deed"-His taking them up in His arms, His putting His hands upon them and blessing them. But it might be said this was not baptizing them. No, indeed, our Blessed LORD baptized no one, neither man nor child: but surely this-His gracious acceptance of them-His folding them in His arms as His own— His taking them thus up, as it were, from their natural parents, and claiming them as His by this outward gesture of love in the sight of all men-His putting upon them those His sacred hands, by which He gave life to the dead, health to the sick, and pardon to the sinner, and His own blessing together with all this-surely this was more than any Baptism could be. We should have thought it much to have been baptized by an Apostle; but to have been taken up into the arms of an Apostle, and to have been baptized by him in CHRIST'S Name, was very far less than this, our LORD's affectionate embrace and benediction.

But what bears still more on the subject of infant Baptism than our LORD's conduct to these little children, is His own declaration at the time to all around HIM, when He spoke by solemn warning: "Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of GoD as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein." As if He had said, So far from these children being unfit for the kingdom of Heaven, they are more meet for it than ye yourselves are; so far from their having to wait till they become of your age, ye yourselves, on the contrary, have to go back and become like them, to be most suited for it. And the fact is that this is the case with regard to Holy Baptism, which is the entrance into the kingdom; there is less to hinder its gracious gift in little children than there can be in grown persons. For what is needful on man's part that God's unspeakable love in this Sacrament be not lost?-repentance, or forsaking of past sin but not to have committed sin is a far better state than to repent of it; and original sin-that taint which is derived from Adam is herein washed away by the righteousness of CHRist. When a grown-up person is baptized, he might lose the full benefit of Baptism by not having sufficiently repented, but in an infant there cannot exist this hindrance: a man must come to be as a child in order to receive this Sacrament most worthily; for "whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." And if to be as a little child

:

is the most suitable in an adult or grown person, to be a little child is safer and better still.

But the other requisite for Baptism is faith, and this infants cannot have; yet surely if they cannot have faith at this tender age, GoD will not require it of them: HE will not shut up the treasure-house of His mercies against them for what they cannot help: HE, Who has put it into the heart of a mother to love an infant before the child can return or know such love, will not HIMSELF be unmindful of it when it is incapable of knowing HIM, or its own spiritual wants. HE has, indeed, taught us in His Gospel, that He requires faith in us before He will bestow on us His benefits; but it may be observed, that many of our LORD's miracles in the Gospels were wrought in answer to the faith of others, not of those persons themselves who required healing. The paralytic was healed on account of the faith of those that brought him: devils were cast out of her daughter at the request of the Canaanitish mother; and out of a son, by the belief and prayer of a father'; when the persons healed were incapable of asking for themselves. His sick son was restored at the request of the nobleman at Capernaum2; and the Centurion's servant was instantly saved for his master's faith. It was our LORD'S rule, if we may so speak, thus to act. Of these very children whom He thus affectionately invited into His kingdom, saying, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me," He knew that they could not come of themselves, they must be brought by others.

3 "

Is it an unusual thing for God to love us first before we can love HIM? is it not the case throughout, and especially by the very law of His Gospel? Herein is love," says St. John," not that we loved GOD, but that He loved us It is our LORD'S own declaration, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you*." Is it unlike His dealings that He should set His love and choice on a child before such little one has faith to acknowledge HIM? The cry of an infant expresses his wants and helpless condition, appealing to the compassions of mankind for support, without which he must die. And is GOD, at such a time, insensible to

1 Mark ix. 24.

3 1 John iv. 10.

2 John iv. 53.

4 John xv. 16.