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imbibe errour, and take up with forms of unbelief that dishonour their God and Saviour, without even the weak reproof of Eli, 'Nay, do not so my sons.'

Have you not solemnly given your children to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost? and can you permit them to violate their Baptism without strong efforts and prayers to bind them to the covenant that was made for them with Heaven? God has entrusted their immortal interests to your care. You must one day surrender your charge at his bar, when He will say, Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward!

In view of what has been said, the feelings with which parents bring their children for Baptism should be those of serious consideration, and great solemnity. They come to take a most important charge upon themselves, as lasting as the possibility of influencing their children. It is not a formal service upon which they attend; it is to receive the oath of Heaven upon themselves in regard to their offspring, and to assume obligations which are to affect the interests of the children for eternity. Parents, therefore, should not come to the baptismal service until they are impressed with the nature of the service in which they are about to engage, and the extent of the promise and covenant which they are about to make. As it is a voluntary service, they should be the more careful to do it acceptably

and with godly fear. The two victims of falsehood who fell dead at Peter's feet, were especially guilty, because the offering which they counterfeited was voluntary and not by constraint. If you see fit to withhold your children from Baptism, it is in your power to do so, and the consequence will indeed be a loss to your own soul and to them. But if you propose to make this voluntary offering, you must be sincere and unreserved in the consecration, and faithful afterward, for it will be better for you not to vow than to vow and not pay.

But the feelings of the parents should not be exclusively those of overwhelming responsibility. They should come to the service with joy. They have an immortal soul committed to their care, and it will be a relief to their feelings if they may secure the assistance and blessing of their Maker in training it up for Heaven. By dedicating the child to God, and making use of his appointed ordinance of Baptism, they secure for the child the special notice of God. He also enters into engagements respecting it. This will not lessen the sense of responsibility in the parents, but will increase it, and at the same time mingle with it a feeling of hope and confidence that will strengthen their faith and efforts.

CHAPTER IV.

BENEFITS OF INFANT BAPTISM. Benefits to the Parents.

I. Deep impression of parental obligations. Use of a public consecration. Answer to an objection. Use of the ordinance of Baptism. Objection answered. II. Pleasure and satisfaction afforded by the ordinance. The Baptism a new bond for the parents to the love and service of God. Influence of the Baptism

Death of the parents

upon the mind in thinking of the future. while the child is young. The dying scene. Influence of the Baptism on the mind of a dying parent.

Influence of it upon the

parent at the loss of a child. Reasons. III. Ground of religious appeal. Trait in childhood to which an appeal drawn from its Baptism may be made. God's notice of it when an infant. Prayers of a Church for it.

BENEFITS TO THE CHILD. Objections considered.

Investing

property for an infant. Unconsciousness of a benefit no objection to it. Right of parents to benefit a child without its consent. I. Baptism of a child properly performed, secures to the child the favour of God. Simple view of this truth. II. Prayers of the Church. Influence of these prayers. III. Influence of Baptism on the child by its influence on the parents. Baptism in after life, a ground of hope and of Matthew Henry.

IV. Thought of its prayer. Testimony

The benefits of Infant Baptism may be considered, 1. In reference to the parents, and 2. To the child.

The benefits to the parents are as follows.

1. The solemn baptismal service in the presence of many witnesses is fitted to impress very deeply upon the parents their obligations and promises in regard to their children.

Some may say, If we dedicate our child to God at home, what is the use of a public consecration?

We may ask in reply, If you dedicate yourselves to God in your closets, what is the use of a public profession of religion? You can readily answer the latter question. 'I must profess Christ before God expects me to own my obligations to serve Him before the world. I must do good by my example. I shall be restrained from sin, and prompted to duty, by remembering my public profession.'

men.

These reasons may be applied in the case of Infant Baptism. You must avouch the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Ghost to be the God and portion of your children, before angels and men. The recollection of what you have done, will excite you to greater faithfulness. vows in public will have tenfold more effect upon your mind than those which are made in private.

The

But some say, Why make use of Baptism in consecrating children to God? Why not bring them to the House of God, and have public prayers for them without using the form of Baptism? may ask again in reply, Why use the ordinance of the Lord's Supper when we would in a particular

We

USE OF THE SEAL OF BAPTISM.

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manner remember the Lord Jesus? Why not come to the House of God, have prayers and a sermon suited to bring the Saviour near to the mind, and not use the ordinance of the Supper? The ready answer which every one will give, is, There is something in the sight of the ordinance, in taking consecrated emblems into our hands, that affects the mind more deeply with the thoughts of Christ, than silent meditation could ever do. Our minds are affected through the senses. God remembers this in appointing the ordinances of his worship, and while He does not burden us with forms and ceremonies, He retains the use of them to a limited extent in Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The parent feels that Baptism is of divine appointment, and is deeply impressed by using the divine rite for his child; and the minister, standing before the parents in the place of God, and in His name placing the seal of Heaven upon the infant, exerts a greater influence upon the parent than any exhortations could do without the ordinance.

2. Another benefit to the parents, of Infant Baptism, is, The pleasure and satisfaction afforded by the ordinance.

A Christian parent who loves his child will ever think of its Baptism with delight. It is a satisfaction to know that he has given up his child into the hands of God, and that God has engaged to be,