The history which our text records is therefore the consummation and the climax of a series of circumstances, which are intended to show _the interest which the children of believers have in the Saviour’s kingdom_. And as such we receive it with joy and thankfulness. There is, in the heart of every christian parent, an earnest desire that his children, as well as himself, should participate in the enjoyment of spiritual blessings; and when he receives his new-born babe into his arms, the first wish of his heart is to lay it on the arms of Christ, and to dedicate it to him for ever. So strong is this feeling, that many persons, who deny infant baptism, are so convinced of the desirableness of having some mode of dedicating their offspring to God, that they hold a special meeting for the purpose, in which the pastor of the church sets their children apart by a solemn dedicatory service. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans, guided probably by imperfect tradition, as well as by the light of nature, were accustomed, a few days after the birth of a child, to carry it to the temple, and to commend it to some patron deity. Instructed by the sacred scriptures, it is our privilege to believe that He who awakens this desire in the parental bosom, has appointed appropriate means whereby it may be expressed and gratified; and that having instituted circumcision, for such as were of the kingdom of God under the former dispensation, he has now instituted baptism for such as are of that kingdom, whether they be adults or infants. Some proof of this has already been afforded by the history to which your attention has been called; for if Christ has declared that our children now, as well as formerly, are “of the kingdom of God,” and if he gave to them the sign of his blessing, and the blessing itself, “can any one forbid water, that these should not be baptized?” But a variety of additional evidence is still presented by this holy book, our only divine and authoritative guide. The great question which we have to ask on this subject is, _What is the will of Christ_? and in seeking an answer to that inquiry, we are not to dictate to the divine Spirit the manner in which the will of Christ is to be made known to us, but we are thankfully to receive it, in the form of express command, or by any other mode of intimation that may seem good in his sight. As there is, in the New Testament, no _prohibition_ of infant baptism, we are not much concerned about a direct _injunction_ to practise it. There are some institutions belonging to former dispensations of religion, which it was not necessary should be formally re-enacted in the New Testament; because the will of Christ respecting their continuance can be gathered by evidences less direct. And as such a mode of teaching often requires thoughtful and continuous reading to ascertain the mind of God, we thereby gain a more extensive and intelligent acquaintance with the scriptures, than we could have