Newspaper Page Text
y’jS ‘ r ' \ r ’ \ \
nt ■ I I E9E B fig H Ejg Ebl gig d9 s’
l ■.* r jg-fl PK| reg OL/
WF. Wj. (Sh;::
v.
„ „ . vnrt"'”
50L in ndt a nee. |P* y
All fg&t>iist is nwHjiff in this ucnoini nation. nro j
Torniested to act as wi
duces & c imittissioii from the pubWpf.
Agents who procure five subamb# and m for the same in ad-;
iBWCe, are- entitled to the sixth *opv gratis.
I Prmiurn will he allowed on origins! articles, furnished for our
. ; ;;;:v ;;“ •'*’*'” “ u Kunt ,n ~ nt to JUaU> 1 ieir Itpu ,catlon
?¥ desired for such as we admit we shall
Cltarge at he rates effcrfred by the publishers of secular pa
per*. A'sinipf* lutdffr**® be published twelve months for $6 00,
OWtuin’ jjfcuSf/ B n ? y S f exceed^r^'vJ°
IMWP i!■ |. ■ mi, , ■! ■■■Ml HI I, -I IMMNM
fttlfcllll .
■■mm-* - - - ;
T._, ■ “ i
• \F rom Jhe Oriental •Baptist.] j
-~T vTrirffo*
BY UJE V,. tV . BROCK.
In deciding between the difFergttt opinions which
prevail in the relfgists wonaTmen are influenced by
the effects wliich they produce. Unable to under
stand the arguments in support of an opinion, or un
willing to devote to them the attention that is required,
they look at its tendencies, and as they are in accord- 1
nnce or in opposition to their notions of what is right
so do they decide. Amoug other opinions which have
been judged of from these alleged tendencies, may be
mentioned our denominational opinions concerning
the baptism of children. They must he wrong, it has
been decided, because of their results. Inquiring
about those unhappy results, we are told that we ex-,
elude our children from privileges which God designed
them to enjoy.
! - -a.. call/ lyn unvn m vriiich liio pnedobnp
tists can have an advantage over ourselves. They
may have means of grace which we do not enjoy; or
they may have especial promises, relating to the suc
cess of means in themselves common to us all. Pre
mising that by means of grace I understand any in
strumentality that God has appointed for the commu
nication of grace, I proceed to examine, in the first
place, whether pmdobaptist parents have any means oi
grace which we do not possess.
There are what may be termed parental appliances.
.Are these exclusively possessed by paidobaptists ?
Let us see. They commend their children to God in
•earnest and believing prayer. One encouragement to
prayer alter another occurs to their remembrance; of
which the language of the Saviour is about the chief,
“ Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid
them not, tor of such is the kingdom of God.” Instead
of forbidding them, they bring them in faith and pray
er for Christ’s blessing, hoping that with the cause of
Christ they wiil become connected, and that for the
promotion of his glory they may be permitted to sur
vive. This, assuredly, is a great privilege ; but then
it is not one which is enjoyed by pado baptists alone.
It is not one which follows upon attendance to a sa
cramental rite. Whether a child has been baptized.or
not, its parents have an equal right to commend him
to God, and precisely the same grounds on which to
raise their hope that their prayer will be heard. .Wit
ness the language of Christ just quoted, which, as all’
admit, is the strongest recorded warrant for commend-’
ing our children to the divine blessing at all. Those
who differ from us examine it, and act as we have de-j
scribed. Those who agree with us examine it, and
act exactly in the same way; convinced that whatev
er warrant it may supply to the parent who sprinkles
his child, it supplies one just as strong to him who
does no such thing. And is it not apparent that their
conviction is sound? Christ does not say that only
the children who had been baptized might come to
him. He spoke of children in the mass. Neither di
rectly nor indirectly is baptism referred to, either as
the cause or as the consequence of their being wel
comed by Jesus Christ. All that the language says is
that children are, even as they then were, welcome to
Jesus Christ. I ask, then, whether, as he brings his
child to the throne of grace, the baptist has not the
same authority as the poedobaptist ? Has he not, to
the ven letter, the same ground on which to hope that
his effectual fervent prayer will avail much ? What,
therefore, the disadvantage under which we labor ?
E Earners.
THE TRi\ v\ LOVE.
PenfleM, Georgia, 6, 1848.
What the worth of the ar/i ?Qnt sometimes drawn
j from the tendencies of tlnrj® fine we espouse? It
‘interrupts no parental emotio 4ft inflicts no injury on
ithe child ; it offers not the sll,Vest obstacle to the pre
jsentation of the prayer of faitvl “ At the. time of her
birth,” said a pious man, “{/ commended my little
daughter to God, as, I trust, have done many times
isiuM. Once, in particular, 11( ok her in my arms, and
‘retired ;nd wrestled hard will God for a blessing; at
! the same time bring her up ndsolemnly presenting
her to God for / tcepiance. 1 doing this I was great
ly encouraged by the condu t .towards children of
Christ himself.” No.w the pn eat who olfered up his
child like this was a baptist, He was Andrew Fuller.
And what could a pmdobaptislhave done more !
Among the parental appliances must )>u named in
struction in the knowledge of Jjesus Christ. bWJi pa
rents as we refer to not only mb/ for the conversion „f
Jtheir children, but they also ‘ f- The l ' x; 'in|)le
‘of the ‘ '‘lT"" l ' l “.m 111,111 its beauty and com-
VitlilTlSWcuMs ; his revereneJH-oH.is-i.arents; his be
nevolence; his meekness pn<% n tleness; his purity
,nnd love, ihe death of Buvicfur is especially
pointed out as a sacrifice for g ig, # Uu-ougli faith in Ins
blood. And all this with the express design of bring
ing the children into fellowship vgh Christ. The pm
idoboptist does this with holy j.w en uity and power!
Hut the baptist does it, too. Its iK.not as the conse
quence of their baptism that the foiw r is authorized
to beseech his children to love and serV-Qod. By no
means, lie does so by virtue of the diKotion of the
gospel: “And ye, fathers, provoke not your children
to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and xdmo
nition of the Lord.” Here a course of instruction in
the knowledge of Jesus Christ was, without doubt, en
joined ; and Christian parents were to give it, not be
cause they had submitted theif children to a sacra
imental rite, but just jy.'ili ir it T * , “- will of * ~ 1
in this “Thylfielr children should be named up. How
ever carelul any man’s examination of the direction to
Ephesian parents, or however accurate his comparison!
of it with all that took place at Ephesus, when Timo
thy was preaching there, and when Paul baptized, no
connexion can lie trace between the baptism of cliil-)
jdren and the education of children, no allusion can lie
lind to a practice of making their instruction in the
knowledge of Christ dependent on their baptism in
to Christ. Our children are to be instructed, hut they
are so by virtue of a command which comprehends
equally the families both of baptists and picdobaptists.
With regard, therefore, to the parental appliances or
means of grace, the poedobaptist possesses no advan
tage over the baptist. After all that may be said of
bringing children into the covenant by baptism, it can-!
not be said that it is on that account they are to be’
trained lip in the nurture and admonition oi’ the Lord. ,
Then there arc what may be termed pastoral applian
ces. Are these exclusively possessed by paidobap
tists? In conjunction with their own prayers, the pa
rents in question secure those of a beloved minister on I
behalf of their child. When professedly presented to j
jGod in she administration of water by such a minister.jj
prayer was olfered on its behalf. The foundations of,)
i his soul were moved with earnestness, as lie sought for
/he benediction and the benefactions of heaven; and
i lie concluded not his prayer until all were instinctively j,
fund devoutly saying, “Surely that is the effectual fer
! Vent prayer that avaiieth much.”
I] Then there is effort as well as prayer. In public)
worship the pastor remembers the children, llis 11-L
lustrations, arguments and appeals, are frequently and
j|intentionally adapted to them; whilst more privately)
|!lie meets with them, and by familiar, appropriate, and,
!aifectionate exposition of the truths of the word of God,
attempts to promote their everlasting good. All that
devout ingenuity can suggest, does he resort to—tra-j
Availing in birth for them until Christ he formed in their
heart. Happy the family thus provided with ministe-j
| rial care 1
| Let is prayer such as I have described peculiar to
j pastors of one denomination ? Is instruction sucli as J
have described conveyed exclusively to children who
!| have been baptized?
Let this question be fairly answered, and it will be
jsaid that the children of our families are not neglected
!by their ministers, because they are baptist ministers.;
! They are prayed for, they are attended to, they are ad-
idressed, they are besought in Christ’s stead to be re
jconciled to God.
Addressing the child of a member of his church, a
minister once wrote, “ I hope, dear child, you are not
omitting the first of all concerns—the dedication of
your heart to God. This, and nothing short of this, is
true religion. You have often heard, you have often
written on religion. It is time you should feci it now.
Methinks you are feeling it, and as you do so there is
joy in heaven and there is joy on earth. But oh.
should Ibe mistaken! Alas ! I cannot bear tin
thought. O thou Saviour of sinners and God of love !
take captive the heart of my dear young friend, and
make her willing to be wholly thine. If you can find
freedom, do oblige me with nielter on the state of reli
gion in your own soul; and be assured of every sym
pathy or advice that I am capable of feeling or giv
ing.” Now can any thing surpass this in kindness,
faithfulness, or love ? Could any pastor have been
more like a pastor ? Couhl the child of any parents
have been more highly blessed ? All parties would
instantly reply, No. Well, this child had never been
baptized, and the parents were baptized parents, and
their laithfully affectionate minister was a baptist min
ister. The minister was Samuel l’earce.
Xet it not be said any more, then, that our system
entails injury on our children. Whatever means the
poedobaptist may employ, whether parental or pasto
ral, whether instructor)- or intercessory, we may, and,
thank God, we do, employ the very same.
Let us examine, in the second place, whether paido
baptist parents have any especial encouragement rela
ting to the success of means in themselves common to
us all.
It is well known that where just the same instrumen
tality has been employed, very different results have
ensued. One man has been converted, whilst another
has been unmoved. One lias been taken, an<ft*fcer has
‘nm ncWiH:tj4^d IsTunv'tlie questum. Tre lue'y’iefi
Jto the darkness of nature on that account ? Certainly
not. Sprinkled or not sprinkled, immersed or not im
mersed, so far as the matter is revealed to us, their
spiritual character is just the same. In praying for. or
in appealing to, one who was never carried to the font,
1 have as much reason for hoping that I shall succeed
as my pmdobaptist brother basin praying for, or in ap
pealing to, one who has. Novv, if it be really so, the
advantage which he claims over me is nothing worth.
Let us see. What saith the word of God in reference
to conversion ? Having addressed men as sinners, the
scriptures universally testify that if they be saved, it is
“not by might,nor by power, but by the Spirit of the
Lord.” “Jn Christ Jesus neither circumcision avaii
eth any thing, nor uncircumcision; hut faith which
worketh by love.” “ There is neither Greek nor Jew,
■circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free.” The sentiment of these passages ap
pears to be, that whatever the circumstances of men
previous to their conversion, Christianity regarded
them all as alike sinners, and God saved them all alike,
’not because of the performance of a religious rite, but
(because of his sovereign love; as it is written again,
j“ He hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling,
biot according to our works, but according to his own
‘purpose anti grace, which was given us in Christ Je
sus before the world began.” Are we not, then, led
away from every thing that lias been done by man. or
j lor man through others, and l:xed at once and exclu
sively upon the purpose and the grace of God? No
■distinctions are to be regarded. No ceremony is to be
relied upon; for if any man is saved, it is, without
controversy, through the grace of God in Christ. ‘-lie
is born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor <>f
the will of man, hut of God.” Hence we deal with
men,and with children also, as sinners, hoping, as we
do so, for the exertion of the power that belongeth un
do God.
Where, then, the disadvantage of which men speak ?
i What loss do we or our children sustain ? We have
|'the same instrumentality as the paedobaptists, and they .
equally with ourselves, are shut up to the sovereignty
lot the grace of God.
Besides, how do the poedobaptist ministers deal with
i those who have been baptized? Do they say that by
the sacramental rite the deceitfulness of their hearts
has been modified? Do they tell them that, in conse
quence of their baptism, less of divine energy will be
sufficient —less of almighty power to bring them hue.,
to God ? Do they proclaim one method of salvation
ifor him whom they pronounce baptized, arid another
J. T. BLAIN, Pjuntkk.
Number 1.