judge for himself on the import of all Divine truth. I remember also that many of our opponents whose acknowledgments are recorded, do nevertheless maintain that infant baptism is right. The commission-and the only commission to baptize-they believe to have only adults in view, but the apostles are by some confidently supposed to be acquainted with the proselyte baptism of infants, although it is not known to have then had an existence. This supposed acquaintance of the apostles with proselyte baptism is supposed to have caused the apostles to need no instruction on the baptizing of infants, knowing it to be their duty, although Christ referred only to the baptizing of adults! Why on this supposition they needed. more on the baptizing of adults I am not able to say. And why in this commission, intended for the church's guidance to the end of time, we have, for the sake of those who have succeeded and must succeed the apostles, no reference to the proselyte baptism of the Jews, now maintained to be although there is no mention of it in any part of the oracles of God-Divinely sanctioned, I am unable to conceive. But by suppositions respecting proselyte baptism on the part of some, and by other hypotheses advanced by others, the plain commission, admitted to teach alone the baptism of disciples, is tortured to allow, or metamorphosed to sanction, the baptism of infants. Thus the words of Him in whose mouth was no guile, are mangled in a manner more worthy of Simon, the Jesuit, than of the humble follower of the Lamb. The supposition that grammatical requirements embrace infants, is as destitute of foundation as are extracts from the Mishna or the Talmuds. And to our opponents who say that such passages as Matt. xxviii, 19, 20, and Mark xvi, 15, 16, can refer only to persons capable of faith, I reply that this is an admission that the only commission to baptize which Christ has given, says not a word on the baptism of infants, but has exclusive reference to persons capable of faith; and which I maintain cannot be otherwise than an enjoined baptism either of believers or persons of every character; yea certainly of believers, or disciples of Christ. If the reader is not a subject of believers' baptism, what ought to be his thoughts and solemn purpose, if the obvious import of the commission, admitted by so many distinguished Pædobaptists, is believed also by him to be its true import? The words which Christ has left on record in the inspired volume will at the last day, on this matter as on others, determine our innocence or guilt. If Christ's commission is profoundly silent respecting the baptism of any but disciples, believers, converts, it could not be the Saviour's intention that infants who are incapacitated by nonage, or that unbelievers who are incapacitated by ignorance or the want of faith, should be baptized. Whatever may be the baptism of unbelievers, the baptism received in unconsciousness and administered by coercion is a nullity. Believe and obey.

The further elucidation and confirmation of Christian duty, as taught in Christ's commission when grammatically and correctly understood, is attempted in the Appendix.

SECTION IV.

APOSTOLIC BAPTISMS.

Dr. D. YOUNG." Baptism is ordained to continue so long as the work of regeneration continues."-The Law of Christ, &c., p. 19.

Dr. W. COOKE.-"Baptism as a ceremony was as distinct from baptism by the Holy Ghost as any two things can be. The apostles understood the command of our Lord as enjoining a duty at once imperative and indispensable." "What God has ordained, let no man dare to disannul."Inf. Bap. Def., p. 4.

S. DAVIS. The conduct of the apostles and their believing hearers at Pentecost, and afterwards, is an inspired commentary upon our great Master's pleasure."-Sh. View, p. 3.

C. H. SPURGEON." There is the same authority for requiring baptism as repentance and faith."-Speech, April 29th, 1869.

Dr. STOCK." Men by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ become Christians, and by the power of that faith, in the ordinance of baptism they become the professed disciples of Christ."-Speech, April 29th, 1869.

It will not be deemed necessary that I refer to the baptism of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as that was by Christ and not by His apostles. I however deem infants to be as expressly mentioned here as in any apostolic baptism, or in Christ's commission, or in John's baptism of repentance. And I conceive that grammar, analogy, and inference, as justly sustain the conclusion that they were a part of the one hundred and twenty disciples in the upper room, as that they were a part of any preceding or succeeding disciples.

The records of apostolic precept and practice I believe to be as silent in reference to infant and indiscriminate baptism as the commission of Christ. I do not believe that we are required to know the heart, a knowledge of which is not requisite to pastors or people previous to an admission to membership in the church of Christ, or to a filling of the highest office in Christ's body. I believe that faith ought to be possessed by the baptized, and that we who administer this ordinance should know nothing of insincerity in those who profess this pre-requisite to baptism. That apostolic conduct must give a correct exposition of Christ's commission, I regard as incontrovertible. Let us emulate those who have "done homage to the principle of neither forcing anything upon a speaker or writer, of which it is not apparent that he thought, nor of allowing themselves to be fettered by any tradition, in a work that demands such an entire surrender of oneself to that which is written."-Doedes's Her., pp. 27, 28.

§ 1. THE BAPTISM OF ABOUT THREE THOUSAND.

DAN TAYLOR." On all other subjects we think it proper to consult the precepts and examples which relate to them."-Comp. View, p. 4.

W. THORN." Three thousand on the day of Pentecost were converted to Christianity and baptized."-Inf. Bap., p. 272.

Dr. OWEN." He repenteth not, who hath not faith toward God."-Expo. of Heb., vi, 1.

Dr. HALLEY. "If we allow the exigencies of controversy to create a new sense of phrases, we may prove any thing we please from Scripture."-Cony. Lec., vol. xv, pp. 27, 28.

Dr. DOEDES.-"Be very careful, then, lest you make those Scriptures say what you would like to find in them." "What have people not extracted from the New Testament? i.e., what have people not introduced into it ?"-Her., pp. 11, 12.

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On the day of Pentecost Peter said to those who after an address from him "were pricked in their heart," and inquired, "Men and brethren, what shall we do ?"-" Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." The inspired writer also adds: "And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine," &c.-Acts ii, 37-42.

Here the persons addressed are said to be "pricked in their heart." In connexion with the command to be baptized is given the command to REPENT; and the duty of repentance, whether by accident or design, is at least first mentioned. Also, Peter exhorts to be baptized in (epi) the name of Jesus Christ, which implies that their baptism would be an acknowledgment of the previous sin of unbelief, and of their present faith in Jesus the Messiah. Peter exhorts every one to repent and be baptized. He does not say, Let all repent and some be baptized; nor does he say, Let some repent and all be baptized; nor, Let those that will, repent, or let all repent, and let those that are willing, or that by the willingness of parents or guardians can be laid hold of for the administration of baptism, be baptized. Nor do our opponents attach all these meanings to his words. Nor does he say that every one is to repent and be baptized and his children, or children and servants, or a part of them along with him; nor that the children, or children and servants, or children and servants under a certain age, are to be baptized along with penitent parents. The record respecting the baptized who gladly received the apostle's word, is in accordance with the precept. Nor do I hesitate to express my sentiments in the words of Dr. P. Fairbairn: "There can be no reasonable doubt that the repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, which formed the sum of apostolic teaching, was in some form implicitly or expressly demanded of the applicants for baptism." "Such as failed in these respects were treated as unwarranted intruders into the Christian fold; and hence the sincere reception of baptism is regarded as necessarily carrying along with it the answer of a good conscience,' a conscience purged through right views of sin, and faith in the power and work of the Saviour.' "Explicit statements of baptism being administered to the children of believers, are not to be found."-Imp. Bi. Dic., Art. Bap.

The Rev. W. E. Boardman says, "The apostle Peter's answer to the question, What must we do?' of those pricked to the heart by his pregnant words on the day of Pentecost, was substantially the same as the apostle Paul's answer to the trembling, prostrate Philippian jailor, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.' Peter virtually said, Repent, and accepting the name of Jesus Christ as the foundation of all spiritual hope, declare in baptism that you are resting on this foundation, Peter knew the commission he had received, and spoke by the

authority of his risen Lord and Saviour. The baptism of those whom he exhorted to repent and save themselves from that untoward generation, obviously involved a profession of faith in the same Saviour as Peter had preached to them, who had recently by wicked hands been "crucified and slain," whom God had "raised up," who had "ascended into the heavens," and had "shed forth" the Holy Spirit, the fact of which was demonstrated by what they saw and heard. Only by thus believing on Christ, which would be associated with a surrender to Him, was it possible for them to save themselves; to which Peter by many words exhorted them. Whether an individual on repenting enjoys the remission of sins, is no more stated here than is it stated in "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved," whether the person who believes is in a state of salvation before he is baptized. That repentance is a change of mind involving altered feelings and an altered conduct, and that believing on Christ we become new creatures in Christ Jesus, I firmly believe. Nor do I doubt that any one truly repenting, or believing with the heart on Christ will neglect or refuse, except through ignorance or mistake, to be baptized. I also believe that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish."

Mr. M'Lean (a Baptist) speaks of an opponent who "insists that the promise, Acts ii, 38, 39, is the promise made to Abraham, because the apostle mentions that promise on another occasion, ch. iii, 19-25 (strange logic indeed), and because the blessing of Abraham includes the promise of the Spirit, Gal. iii, 14, as if that was the only promise of the Spirit which Peter could refer to in Acts ii! Yet Peter speaks not a word of the promise made to Abraham in the whole of the discourse, but cites at large the promises of the Spirit from Joel, shews its begun accomplishment in what was then seen and heard, and applies it to the Jews nearly in the very words of that prophet-Comp., ver. 39, with Joel ii, 32."—Works, vol. vii, p. 284.

Perhaps it is thought that I am forgetting the word children, which occurs when the apostle enforcing his exhortation, says, "For the promise is unto you and to your children." But that the word children does not signify and necessarily include infants, that it is often used for posterity, is known to every one who is familiar with God's word, with human writings, or with common conversation. Does "the children of Israel,” which in God's word so often occurs, mean the infants of Israel? Did John the Baptist by "children" mean infants, when he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees: "Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham ?" Did the apostle Paul by "children" mean infants, when he said, "And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children?" Is it possible that the apostle Peter could here mean infants? Consider the following facts: 1. The persons addressed are in a state of which infants are incapable. The facts and reasoning in the apostle's previous address had greatly agitated their minds, and caused the earnest enquiry, "Men and brethren what shall we do ?" 2.

The duties enjoined in reply to the anxious query are duties of which infants are utterly incapable. They cannot repent, or yield themselves to baptism. 3. The promise of the apostles is clearly conditional, and it is on condition of those very things of which infants are certainly incapable. The promise of remission of sins and of the gift of the Holy Ghost is on condition of repenting and being baptized in (epi) the name of Jesus Christ. The extending of a conditional promise, if the condition is inapplicable and impossible to infants, implies most clearly the exclusion of infants. Can any be interested in a conditional promise who do not perform the conditions of that promise? According to the teaching of Peter as well as of Paul, we "receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." 4. The blessings included in this promise are totally inapplicable to infants. Peter says, "The promise is unto you, and to your children." The promise to the children is as clearly of the same blessings, as it is on the same conditions as to themselves. This promise, without violence and a plain perversion of the passage, can refer only to "the gift of the Holy Ghost," or to "remission of sins," or to both of these. The apostle had just promised to those who obeyed the command to repent and be baptized in (epi) the name of Jesus Christ, "the remission of sins" and "the gift of the Holy Ghost." In his previous address he had mentioned the fulfilment of Joel's prophecy, "I will pour out of my Spirit," &c. If the promise unto them and to their children is this special promise in Joel, in the fulfilment of which sons and daughters would prophesy, the supposition that children means infants is forbidden. If the promise is general, and refers to "the gift of the Holy Ghost" in His sanctifying, comforting, and invigorating influences, infants cannot be meant. Or if the promise refers to remission of sins, or to remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost, infants cannot be meant. If the forgiveness of sins takes place previous to baptism on the exercise of trust in Christ, the fact is not contradictory to Peter's words which mention duties to be discharged and blessings that will be enjoyed, without mentioning whether or not both duties must be discharged previous to an enjoyment of either promised blessing. Elsewhere on this we are instructed. Here, as elsewhere, where promises and commands are given to the children of Israel, by children is meant posterity, descendants. 5. The words immediately following the declaration, The promise is unto you and to your children, equally prove the impossibility of infants being intended. It is immediately added, "And to all that are afar off, even as many" (not as shall be born, or as are infants or children, but as many) as the Lord our God shall call." Until the Lord our God shall by His servants address His calls to unconscious babes, the attempt to deduce from this passage the right to baptize infants, will be futile. 6. Infants were not among the baptized. The Divine testimony is: "Then they that (gladly) received his word were baptized And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." The baptism was preceded by a reception of apostolic truths, and was immediately succeeded by a union with the Christians at Jerusalem, and by a steadfast continuance in the apostles' doctrine, &c. These facts

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