Page:Short illustration of the commission given by Jesus Christ to his apostles.pdf/9

 and conformity to him therein, seems to be quite inconceiveable.

Jesus says, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God." From this it is argued, that since the infants of believers belong to the kingdom of God, they must have a right to baptism. But this passage; does not the infants of believers from those of infidels, nor conclude for the baptism of the one more than the other. The to which little children are declared to belong, is his real, which will not truly appear until Christ’s second coming; for it is that kingdom which none can enter but such as receive if as a little child, and are really converted and born again. But there is no room for much reasoning on this passage. Either these infants were baptized, or they were not. It they were, the controversy is at an end, if they were not, then they ought not. That they were not then baptized is evident; they were not brought for that purpose, "but that he should put his hands on them and pray." Jesus himself did not baptize them, for he baptized none; nor did he order his disciples to do it; nor would they have prevented them if they had known any thing about infant baptism. If, therefore, while Jesus was rebuking his disciples for forbidding infants to come unto him; if, while he was declaring infants to be of his