581. Children Brought to Christ, and Not to the Font

A Sermon Delivered on Sunday Morning, July 24, 1864, by C. H. Spurgeon, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

And they brought young children to him, so that he would touch them and his disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said to them, “Permit the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them: for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter into it.” And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16

1. My attention has been especially directed to this passage by the fact that it has been quoted against me by most of the authors of those sermons and letters which are, by a stretch of imagination, called “replies” to my sermon upon “Baptismal Regeneration.” Replies they certainly are not, except to one another. I marvel that a Church so learned as the Anglican, cannot produce something a little more worthy of the point in hand. The various authors may possibly have read my discourse, but by reason of mental absorption in other meditations, or perhaps through the natural disturbance of mind caused by guilty consciences, they have talked with confusion of words, and have only been successful in refuting themselves, and answering one another. They must have been aiming at something far removed from my sermon, or else I must give them credit for being the worst shots that ever practised with polemical artillery. They do not so much as touch the target in its extreme corners, much less at its centre. The whole question is, “Do you believe that baptism regenerates?” If so—prove that your belief is scriptural! Do you believe that baptism does not regenerate? Then justify your swearing that it does! Who will reply to this? He shall merit and bear the palm branch of victory.

2. The Scripture before us is by several of the champions on the other side exhibited to the people as a rebuke to me. Their reasoning is rather ingenious than forcible: truly, because the disciples incurred the displeasure of Jesus Christ by keeping back the little children from coming to him, therefore Jesus Christ is greatly displeased with me, and with all others like me, for keeping children from the font, and the performance there enacted; and especially displeased with me for exposing the Anglican doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration! Observe the reasoning—because Jesus was much displeased with disciples for hindering parents from seeking a blessing upon their children, therefore he is much displeased with us who do not believe in godfathers and godmothers, or the signing of the cross on the infant brow. I must say at the outset that this is rather a leap of logic, and would not ordinarily be thought conclusive, but this we may readily overlook, since we have long ceased to hope for reasonable arguments from those who support a cause based on absurdity. My brethren, I concluded that there must be something forcible in such a text as this, or my opponents would not be so eager to use it; I have therefore care fully looked at it, and as I have viewed it, it has opened up to me with a sacred splendour of grace. In this incident the very heart of Christ is proclaimed to poor sinners, and we may clearly perceive the freeness and the fulness of the mighty grace of the Redeemer of men, who is willing to receive the youngest child as well as the oldest man; and is greatly displeased with any who would keep back seeking souls from coming to him, or loving hearts from bringing others to receive his blessing.

Nothing to Do With Baptism

3. I. In handling this text in what I believe to be its true light, I shall commence, first of all, by observing that THIS TEXT HAS NOT THE SHADOW OF THE SHADE OF THE GHOST OF A CONNECTION WITH BAPTISM. There is no line of connection so substantial as a spider’s web between this incident and baptism, or at least my imagination is not vivid enough to conceive one. This I will prove to you, if you will follow me for a moment.

4. It is very clear, dear friends, that these young children were not brought to Jesus Christ by their friends to be baptized. “They brought young children to him, so that he would touch them,” says Mark. Matthew describes the children as being brought “so that he would put his hands on them and pray,” but there is not a hint about their being baptized; no godfathers or godmothers had been provided, and no sign of the cross was requested. Surely the parents themselves knew tolerably well what it was they desired, and they would not have expressed themselves so dubiously as to ask him to touch them, when they meant that he should baptize them. The parents evidently had no thought of regeneration by baptism, and brought the children for quite another reason.

5. In the next place, if they brought the children to Jesus Christ to be baptized, they brought them to the wrong person; for the Evangelist John, in John 4:2 expressly assures us that Jesus Christ did not baptize, but his disciples: this settles the question once and for all, and proves beyond all dispute that there is no connection between this incident and baptism.

6. But you will say, “Perhaps they brought the children to be baptized by the disciples?” Brethren, the disciples were not in the habit of baptizing infants, and this is clear from the case at hand. If they had been in the habit of baptizing infants, would they have rebuked the parents for bringing them? If it had been a customary thing for parents to bring children for such a purpose, would the disciples who had been in the constant habit of performing the ceremony, have rebuked them for attending to it? Would any Church clergyman rebuke parents for bringing their children to be baptized? If he did so, he would act absurdly contrary to his own views and practice; and we cannot therefore imagine that if infant baptism had been the accepted practice, the disciples could have acted so absurdly as to rebuke the parents for bringing their little ones. It is obvious that such could not have been the practice of the disciples who were rebuked.

7. Moreover, and here is an argument which seems to me to have great force in it, when Jesus Christ rebuked his disciples, then was the best time in his life to have openly spoken concerning infant baptism, godfathers and godmothers, and the whole affair. If he wished to rebuke his disciples most effectively, how could he have done it better than by saying, “Why do you keep these children back? I have ordained that they shall be baptized; I have expressly commanded that they shall be regenerated and made members of my body in baptism; how dare you then, in opposition to my will, keep them back?” But no, dear friends, our Saviour never said a word about “the laver of regeneration,” or, “the quickening dew,” when he rebuked them—not a single sentence. Had he done so, the time would have been most appropriate if it had been his intention to teach the practice; in his entire life, there is no time in which a discourse upon infant regeneration in baptism could have been more appropriate than on this occasion, and yet not a single sentence about it comes from the Saviour’s lips.

8. To close all, Jesus Christ did not baptize the children. Our Evangelist does not inform us that he exclaimed, “Where are the godfathers and godmothers?” It is not recorded that he called for a font, or a Prayer Book! No; but “He took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them,” and dismissed them without a drop of the purifying element. Now, if this event had any connection with baptism whatever, it was the most appropriate occasion for infant baptism to have been practised. Why, it would have ended the controversy for ever. There may be some men in the world who would have raised the question of engrafting infants into the body of Christ’s Church by baptism after all this, but I am certain no honest man would have done so who reverently accepted Christ as his spiritual leader. I, my brethren, would sooner be dumb than speak a single word against an ordinance which Christ himself instituted and practised; and if on this occasion he had only sprinkled one of these infants, given him a Christian name, signed him with a cross, accepted the vows of his godparents, and thanked God for his regeneration, then the question would have been settled for ever, and some of us would have been saved a world of abuse, besides escaping no end of mistakes, for which we are condemned, in the judgment of many good people, for whom we have some affection, although we have no respect for their judgment.

9. So you see the parents did not ask for baptismal regeneration; Christ did not personally baptize; the disciples were not in the habit of baptizing infants, or else they would not have rebuked the parents; Christ did not speak about baptism on the occasion, and he did not baptize the little ones.

10. I will give an example to you which may exhibit the weakness of my opponents’ position. Suppose a denomination should rise up which should teach that babes should be allowed to partake at the Lord’s Table. Such teaching could plead precedents of great antiquity, for you are aware that at one time, infant communion was allowed, and logically too; for if infants have a right to baptism, they have a right to come to the Lord’s Table. For years children were brought to the Lord’s Table, but rather inconvenient accidents occurred, and therefore the thing was dropped as being unseemly. But if someone should revive the error, and try to prove that infants are to come to the Lord’s Supper, he might prove it from this passage quite as clearly as our friends can prove infant baptism from it. Moreover do not forget that even if infant baptism could be proven from this text, the ceremony prescribed in the Prayer Book is quite as far from being established. Whether the baptism of infants may or may not be proven from other Scriptures I cannot now pause to enquire, but even if it can be, what are we to say for godfathers or godmothers, or the assertion that in baptism children are made “members of Christ, children of God, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven?” Truly I might as well prove vaccination from the text before me, as the performance which the Prayer Book calls “infant baptism.” I do not hesitate to say that I could prove any earthly thing, if I might only have such reasoning granted to me as what proved infant baptism from this passage. There is no possible connection between the two. The teaching of the passage is very plain and very clear, and baptism has been imported into it, and not found in it. As a quaint writer has well said, “These doctrines are raised from the text as our tax collectors raise a tax upon indigent, insolvent people, by coming armed with the law and a constable to extract what is not to be had. Certainly never was text so strained and constrained to pay what it never owed; never man so racked to confess what he never thought; never was a pumice stone so squeezed for water which it never held.” Still hundreds will catch at this straw, and cry, “Did not Jesus say, ‘Permit the little children to come to me?’” To these we give this one word, see that you read the Word as it is written, and you will find no water in it except only Jesus. Are the water and Christ the same thing? Is bringing a child to a font bringing the child to Christ? No, here is a wide difference, as wide as between Rome and Jerusalem, as wide as between Antichrist and Christ, between false doctrine and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why Was Jesus Displeased?

11. II. Now, for our second and much more pleasing task, WHY THEN WAS JESUS CHRIST DISPLEASED?

12. Read the passage and at once the answer comes to you. He was displeased with his disciples for two reasons: first, because they discouraged those who wished to bring others to him; and secondly,  because they discouraged those who themselves were anxious to come to him. They did not discourage those who were coming to a font, they discouraged those who were coming to Jesus. There is always a great distinction to be made between the font and Christ, between the sprinkling of the priest and living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

13. First, his disciples discouraged those who wished to bring others to him. This is a great sin, and wherever it is committed Jesus Christ is greatly displeased, for a true desire to see others saved is worked in the believer by God the Holy Spirit, who thus renders the called ones the means of bringing wandering sheep into the fold. In this case they discouraged those who would bring children to him to be blessed. How can we bring children to Jesus Christ to be blessed? We cannot do it in a corporeal sense, for Jesus is not here, “he is risen”; but we can bring our children in a true, real, and spiritual sense. We take them up in the arms of our prayer. I hope many of us, as soon as our children saw the light, if not before, presented them to God with this anxious prayer, that they might sooner die than live to disgrace their father’s God. We only desired children so that we might live over again in them another life of service for God; and when we looked into their young faces, we never asked wealth for them, nor fame, nor anything else, but that they might be dear to God, and that their names might be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We then brought our children to Christ as far as we could do it, by presenting them before God, by earnest prayer on their behalf. And have we ceased to bring them to Christ? No, I hope we seldom bow the knee without praying for our children. Our daily cry is, “Oh that they might live before you!” God knows that nothing would give us more joy than to see evidence of their conversion; our souls would almost leap out of our bodies with joy, if we would only know that they were the children of the living God. Nor has this privilege been denied to us, for there are some here who can rejoice in a converted household. Truly we can say with the apostle John, “I have no greater joy than this, that my children walk in the truth.” We continue, therefore, to bring them to Christ by daily, constant, earnest prayer on their behalf. As soon as they come to years capable of understanding the things of God, we endeavour to bring them to Christ by teaching them the truth. Hence our Sunday Schools, hence the use of the Bible and family prayer, and catechizing at home. Any person who shall forbid us to pray for our children, will incur Christ’s high displeasure; and any who shall say, “Do not teach your children; they will be converted in God’s own time if it is his purpose, therefore leave them to run wild in the streets,” will certainly both “sin against the child” and the Lord Jesus. We might as well say, “If that piece of ground is to grow a harvest, it will do so if it is God’s good pleasure; therefore leave it, and let the weeds spring up and cover it; do not endeavour for a moment to kill the weeds, or to sow the good seed.” Why, such reasoning as this would be not only cruel to our children, but grievously displeasing to Christ. Parents! I do hope you are all endeavouring to bring your children to Christ by teaching them the things of God. Do not let them be strangers to the plan of salvation. Never let it be said that a child of yours reached years in which his conscience could act, and he could judge between good and evil, without knowing the doctrine of the atonement, without understanding the great substitutionary work of Christ. Set before your child life and death, hell and heaven, judgment and mercy, his own sin, and Christ’s most precious blood; and as you set these before him, labour with him, persuade him, as the apostle did his congregation, with tears and weeping, to turn to the Lord; and your prayers and supplications shall be heard so that the Spirit of God shall bring them to Jesus. How much more like the Scripture will such labours be than if you were to sing the following very pretty verse which disfigures Roundell Palmer’s “Book of Praise!”—

Though your conception was in sin,
 A sacred bathing you have had;
And though your birth unclean has been,
 A blameless babe you now are made.
Sweet baby, then forbear to weep;
 Be still, my dear, sweet baby, sleep.

I cannot tell you how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother. It was the custom on Sunday evenings, while we were still little children, for her to stay at home with us, and then we sat around the table and read verse by verse, and she explained the Scripture to us. After that was done, then came the time of pleading; there was a little piece of “Alleine’s Alarm,” or of Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted,” and this was read with pointed observations made to each of us as we sat around the table; and the question was asked how long it would be before we would think about our state, how long before we would seek the Lord. Then came a mother’s prayer, and some of the words of a mother’s prayer we shall never forget, even when our hair is grey. I remember on one occasion her praying thus: “Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they do not lay hold of Christ.” That thought of a mother’s bearing swift witness against me, pierced my conscience and stirred my heart. This pleading with them for God and with God for them is the true way to bring children to Christ. Sunday School teachers! you have a high and noble work, press forward in it. In our schools you do not try to bring children to the baptistry for regeneration, you point them away from ceremonies; if I know the teachers of this school properly, I know you are trying to bring your classes to Christ. Let Christ be the sum and substance of your teaching in the school. Young men and young women, in your classes lift up Christ, lift him up on high; and if anyone shall say to you, “Why do you talk like this to the children?” you can say, “Because my soul yearns towards them, and I pant for their conversion”; and if any should object afterwards, you can remember that Jesus is greatly displeased with them, and not with you, for you only obey the injunction, “Feed my lambs.”

14. The case in our text is that of children, but objectors rise up who disapprove of endeavours to bring any kind of people to Christ by faith and prayer. There are some who spend their nights in the streets seeking after the poor prostitute, and I have heard many harsh observations made about their work; some will say it is ridiculous to expect that any of those who have spent their days in debauchery should be converted. We are told that most of those who are taken into the refuges go back and become as depraved as ever; I believe that to be a very sad and solemn truth; but I believe, if I or anyone else shall urge that or anything else as a reason why my brethren should not seek the prostitute, that Jesus would be greatly displeased; for any man who stands between a soul seeker and the divine object of getting a blessing for the sinner’s soul, stirs up the wrath of Christ. Some have hopes for our convicts and criminals; but every now and then there is an outcry against those who even believe it to be possible for a transport or a ticket-of-leave1 man to be converted. But Jesus is greatly displeased with any who shall say about the work, “It is too hard; it is impossible.” My brethren in Christ, labour for souls of all kinds: for your children and for those who are past the threescore years and ten. Seek out the drunkard; go after the thief; do not despise the poor downtrodden slave; let every culture, let every colour, let every age, let every profession, let every nation, be the object of your soul’s prayers. You live in this world, I hope, to bring souls to Jesus; you are Christ’s magnets that his Holy Spirit will use to attract hearts of steel; you are his heralds, you are to invite wanderers to come to the banquet; you are his messengers, you are to compel them to come in so that his house may be filled; and if the devil tells you will not succeed, and if the world tells you that you are too feeble and do not have enough talent, never mind, Jesus would be greatly displeased with you if you would listen to them; and meanwhile he is greatly displeased with your adversaries for endeavouring to stop you. Beloved, this is why Jesus Christ was greatly displeased.

15. A second reason for his displeasure must be noticed. These children, it strikes me, and I think there is good reason for the belief, themselves desired to come to Christ to obtain a blessing. They are called “little children,” a term which does not necessarily involve their being infants of six months or a year; indeed, it is clear, as I will show in a moment, that they were not such little children as to be unconscious babes. They were “infants,” according to our version of Luke, but then you know the English word “infant” includes a considerable range of age, for every person in his minority is legally considered to be an infant, although he may be able to speak freely. We do not, however, desire to translate the text with so great a licence. There is no necessity in the language used that these should have been anything but what they are said to be—“little children.” It is evident they could walk, because in Luke it is said, “Jesus called them”; the gender of the Greek pronoun used there refers it to the children, not to the people, nor to the disciples. Jesus called them, he called the children, which he would hardly have done if they could not understand his call: and he said, “Permit the little children to come,” which implies that they could come, and doubtless they did come, with cheerful faces, expecting to get the blessing. These perhaps may have been some of those very children, who, a short time later, pulled down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way, and cried, “Hosanna,” when the Saviour said, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have ordained strength.” Now Christ was greatly displeased with his disciples for pushing back these boys and girls. They did, as some old folks do nowadays, who cry out—“Stand back, you boys and girls! we do not want you here; we do not want children to fill up the place; we only want grown up people.” They pushed them back; they thought that Christ would have too much to do, if he attended to the juveniles. Here this principle comes out, that we must expect Christ’s displeasure, if we attempt to keep anyone back from coming to Christ, even though it is the youngest child. You ask how people can come to Christ now? They cannot come corporeally, but they can come by simple prayer and humble faith. Faith is the way to Jesus, baptism is not. When Jesus says, “Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden,” he did not mean, “be baptized,” did he? No; and so when he said, “Permit the little children to come to me,” he did not mean, “Baptize them,” did he? Coming to Jesus Christ is quite a different thing from coming to a font. Coming to Christ means laying hold upon Christ with the hand of faith; looking to him for my life, my pardon, my salvation, my everything. If there is a poor little child here who is saying in her little heart, or his little heart, “I would like to come to Christ, oh that I might be pardoned while I am still a little one”—come, little lamb; come, and be welcome. Did I hear your cry? Was it this?

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
 Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
 Suffer me to come to thee.

Dear little one, Jesus will not despise your lispings, nor will his servant keep you back. Jesus calls you, come and receive his blessing. If any of you say a word to keep the young heart back, Jesus will be displeased with you. Now I am afraid some do that; those, for instance, who think that the gospel is not for little children. Many of my brethren, I am sorry to say, preach in such a way that there is no hope for children ever receiving any good from their preaching. I cannot glory in education or eloquence, but in this one thing I may rejoice, that there is always a number of happy children here, who are quite as attentive as any of my audience. I do love to think that the gospel is suitable for little children. There are boys and girls in many of our Sunday School classes downstairs who are as truly converted to God as any of us. Indeed, and if you were to speak with them about the things of God, even though you should get to the knotty points of election and predestination, you would find those boys and girls well taught in the things of the kingdom: they know free will from free grace, and you cannot puzzle them when you come to speak about the work of Jesus and the work of the Spirit, for they can discern between things which differ. But a minister who preaches as though he never wanted to bring children to Christ, and shoots right over the little one’s heads, I do think Jesus is displeased with him.

16. Then there are others who doubt whether children ever will be converted. They do not look upon it as a thing likely to happen, and whenever they hear of a believing child, they hold up their hands at the prodigy, and say, “What a wonder of grace!” It ought to be, and in those Churches where the gospel is simply preached, it is as common a thing for children to be converted as for grown up people to be brought to Christ. Others begin to doubt the truth of juvenile conversions. They say, “They are very young, can they understand the gospel? Is it not merely an infantile emotion, a mere profession?” My brethren, you have no more right to suspect the sincerity of the young, than to mistrust the grayheaded; you ought to receive them with the same open hearted confidence with which you receive others when they profess to have found the Saviour. Do, I urge you, whenever you see the faintest desire in your children, go down on your knees, as your servant does, when the fire is almost out, and blow the spark with your own breath—seek by prayer to fan that spark into a flame. Do not despise any godly remark the child may make. Do not puff the child up on account of the goodness of the remark, lest you make him vain and so injure him, but do encourage him; let his first little prayers be noticed by you; although you may not like to teach him a form of prayer—I shall not care if you do not—yet teach him what prayer is; tell him to express his desires in his own words, and when he does so, join in it and plead with God on his behalf, so that your little one may speedily find true peace in a Saviour’s blood. You must not, unless you would displease my Master, keep back the smallest child who longs to come to Christ.

17. Here let us observe that the principle is of general application, you must not hinder any awakened soul from seeking the Saviour. Oh my brothers and sisters, I hope we have such a love for souls, such an instinct within us to desire to see the travail of Christ’s soul, that instead of putting stumblingblocks in the way, we would do the best we could to clear out the stones. On Sabbath days I have laboured to clear up the doubts and fears which afflict coming sinners; I have entreated God the Holy Spirit to enable me so to speak, that those things which hindered you from coming to the Saviour might be removed; but how sad must be the case of those who delight themselves in putting stumblingblocks in men’s way. The doctrine of election for instance, a great and glorious truth, full of comfort to God’s people; how often is that made to frighten sinners from Jesus! There is a way of preaching that doctrine, in which you make it put on a black and ugly face, and stand with a drawn sword, and say, “You must not come unless you know you are one of God’s elect.” That is not the way to preach the doctrine. The true way of preaching it is, “God has a chosen people, and I hope you are one of them; come, lay hold on Jesus, put your trust in him.” Then there are others who emphasize emotions and feelings as a preparation for Christ. They in effect say, “Unless you have felt so much depression of spirit, or experienced a certain quantity of brokenness of heart, you must not come to Christ,” instead of declaring, that whoever will is permitted to come, and that the true way of coming to Christ is not with a qualification of emotions and feeling and mental depressions, but just as you are. Oh! it is my soul’s delight to preach a gospel which has an open door to it, to preach a mercy seat which has no veil before it; the veil is torn in two, and now the biggest sinner outside of hell who desires to come, is welcome. You who are eighty years of age, and have hated Christ all the time, if now the Spirit of God makes you willing to come, Christ seems to say, “Permit the grayheaded to come to me, and do not forbid them”: while to you little children, he stretches out his arms in the same manner, “Permit the little children to come to me.” Oh my beloved, see to it that your heart longs to come to Christ, and not to ceremonies! I stand here today to cry, “Come to the cross, not to the font.” When I forget to lift up the Lord Jesus, and to cast down the forms of man’s devising, “let my right hand forget her cunning,” and “let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth”—

None but Jesus, none but Jesus,
 Can do helpless sinners good;

The font is a mockery and an imposition if it is put before Christ. If you have baptism after you have come to Christ, well and good, but to point you to it either as being Christ, or as being inevitably connected with Christ, or as being the place to find Christ, is nothing better than to go back to the beggarly elements of the old Romish prostitute, instead of standing in the “liberty by which Christ has made us free,” and inviting the sinner to come as a sinner to Christ Jesus, and to Christ Jesus alone.

Incorrect Reasoning

18. III. In the third and last place, let us also gather from our text, that WHEN WE DISCOURAGE ANY, WE ALWAYS USE INCORRECT REASONS. Here was the case of children. I suppose that the reasons upon which the apostles kept back the children would be one of these—either that the children could not receive a blessing, or else that they could not receive it worthily.

19. Did they imagine that these little children could not receive the blessing? Perhaps so, for they thought they were too young. Now, brethren, that was an incorrect reason to go on, for these children could receive the blessing and they did receive it, for Jesus took them in his arms and blessed them. If I keep back a child from coming to Christ for the reason that he is too young, I do it in the face of facts; because there have been children brought to Christ at an extremely early age. You who are acquainted with Janeway’s “Tokens for Children,” have noticed very many beautiful instances of early conversion. Our dear friend, Mrs. Rogers, in that book of hers, “The Folded Lamb,” gave a very sweet picture of a little son of hers, soon folded in the Saviour’s bosom above, who, as early as two or three years of age, rejoiced and knew the Saviour. I do not doubt at all, I cannot doubt it, because one has seen such cases, that children of two or three years of age may have precocity of knowledge, and of grace; a forwardness which in almost every case has betokened early death, but which has been perfectly marvellous to those who have talked with them. The fact is that we do not all at the same age arrive at that degree of mental stature which is necessary for understanding the things of God. Children have been reported as reading Latin, Greek, and other languages, at five or six years of age. I do not know that such early scholarship is any great blessing, it is better not to reach that point so soon; but some children are all that their minds ever will be at three or four, and then they go home to heaven; and as long as the mind has been brought up to such a condition that it is capable of understanding, it is also capable of faith, if the Holy Spirit shall implant it. To suppose that he ever did give faith to an unconscious babe is ridiculous; that there can be any faith in a child that knows nothing whatever I must always take ground to doubt, for “How shall they believe without a preacher?” And yet they are brought up to the font to make a profession in their baby clothes, when they have never heard a sermon in their lives. But those dear children to whom I have before referred, have understood the preacher, have understood the truth, have rejoiced in the truth, and their first young lispings have been as full of grace as those glorious expressions of aged saints in their triumphant departures. Children are capable, then, of receiving the grace of God. Do notice by the way, that all those champions who have come out against me so valiantly, have made a mistake; they have said that we deny that little infants may be regenerated; we do not deny that God can regenerate them if he pleases; we do not know anything about what may or may not happen to unconscious babes; but we did say that little children were not regenerated by their godparents telling lies at a font—we did say that, and we say it again, that little children are not regenerated, nor made members of Christ, nor children of God, nor heirs of the kingdom of heaven, by solemn mockery, in which godfathers and godmothers promise to do for them what they cannot do for themselves, much less for their children. That is the point; and if they will please to reply to that, we will answer them again, but until such time as that, we shall probably let them talk on until God gives them grace to know better.

20. The other reason which the apostles held back the children would be, that although the children might receive the blessing, they might not be able to receive it worthily. The Lord Jesus in effect assures them that so far from the way in which a little child enters into the kingdom of heaven being exceptional, it is the rule; and the very way in which a child enters the kingdom, is the way in which everyone must enter it. How does a child enter the kingdom of heaven? Why, his faith is very simple; he does not understand mysteries and controversies, but he believes what he is told upon the authority of God’s Word, and he comes to God’s Word without previous prejudice. He has his natural sinfulness, but grace overcomes it, and the child receives the Word as he finds it. You will notice in the conversion of little boys and girls, a particular simplicity of belief: they believe just what Christ says, exactly what he says. If they pray, they believe Christ will hear them: if they talk about Jesus, it is as if he were a person near at hand. They do not, as we do, get into the making of these things into mysteries and shadows, but little children have a realising power. Then they have great rejoicing. The most cheerful Christians we have are young believers; and the most cheerful old Christians are those who were converted when they were young. Why, see the joy of a child who finds a Saviour! “Mother,” he says, “I have looked for Jesus Christ, and I have trusted him, and I am saved.” He does not say, “I hope,” and “I trust,” but “I am”; and then he is ready to jump for joy because he is saved. Of the many boys and girls whom we have received into Church fellowship, I can say of them all, they have all gladdened my heart, and I have never received any with greater confidence than I have these: this I have noticed about them, they have greater joy and rejoicing than any others; and I take it, it is because they do not ask so many questions as others do, but take Jesus Christ’s word as they find it, and believe in it. Well now, just the very way in which a child receives Christ, is the way in which you must receive Christ if you wish to be saved. You who know so much that you know too much; you who have big brains; you who are always thinking, and have a tendency to criticism, and perhaps to scepticism, you must come and receive the gospel as a little child. You will never get a hold of my Lord and Master while you are wearing that quizzing cap; no, you must take it off, and by the power of the Holy Spirit you must come trusting Jesus, simply trusting him, for this is the right way to receive the kingdom.

21. But here, let me say, the principle which holds good in little children holds good in all other cases as well. Take for instance the case of very great sinners, men who have been gross offenders against the laws of their country. Some would say they cannot be saved; they can be, for some of them have been. Others would say they never receive the truth as it is in Jesus in the right manner; indeed, but they do. How do great sinners receive Christ? There are some here who have been reclaimed from drunkenness, and I know not what else. My brethren, how did you receive Christ? Why, in this way. You said, “All unholy, all unclean, I am nothing else but sin; but if I am saved, it will be grace, grace, grace.” Why, when you and I stood up, black, and foul, and filthy, and yet dared to believe in Christ, we said, “If we are saved, we shall be prodigies of divine mercy, and we will sing of his love for ever.” Well but, my dear friends, you must all receive Jesus Christ in that very same way. What would raise an objection to the salvation of the big sinner is thrown back upon you, for Christ might well say, “Unless you receive these things as the chief of sinners, you cannot enter the kingdom.” I will prove my point by the instance of the apostle Paul. He has been held by some to be an exception to the rule, but Paul did not think so, for he says that God in him displayed all longsuffering for a pattern to those who believe, and made him as it were a type of all conversions; so that instead of being an exception his was to be the rule. Do you see what I am driving at? The case of the children looks exceptional, but it is not; it has, on the contrary, all the features about it which must be found in every true conversion. It is of such that the kingdom of heaven is composed, and if we are not such we cannot enter it. Let this induce all of us who love the Lord, to pray for the conversion both of children and of all kinds of men. Let our compassion expand, let us exclude no one from the plea of our heart; in prayer and in faith let us bring all who come within our range, hoping and believing that some of them will be found in the election of grace, that some of them will be washed in the Saviour’s blood, and that some of them will shine as stars in the firmament of God for ever. Let us, on no consideration, believe that the salvation of any man or child is beyond the realm of possibility, for the Lord saves whom he wills. Let no difficulties which seem to surround the case hinder our efforts; let us, on the contrary, push with greater eagerness forward, believing that where there seems to be some special difficulty, there will be revealed, as in the children’s case, some special privilege. Oh labour for souls, my dear friends! I beseech you live to win souls. This is the best defence against error, a defence built of living stones—converted men and women. This is the way to push back the advances of Popery, by imploring the Lord to work conversions. I do not think that mere controversial preaching will do much, although it must be used; it is grace work we need; it is bringing you to Christ, it is getting you to lay hold of him—it is this which shall frustrate the devil and expand the kingdom of Christ. Oh that my God would bring some of you to Jesus! If he is displeased with those who wish to keep you back, then see how willing he is to receive you! Is there in your soul any desire towards him? Come and welcome, sinner, come. Do you feel now that you must have Christ or die? Come and have him, he is to be had for the asking. Has the Lord taught you your need for Jesus? You thirsty ones, come and drink; you hungry ones, come and eat. Yes, this is the proclamation of the gospel today, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let him who is thirsty come. And whoever wishes, let him take the water of life freely.” I do trust there may be encouragement in this for some of you. I pray my Master makes you feel it. If he is angry with those who keep you back, then he must be willing to receive you, glad to receive you; and if you come to him he will in nowise cast you out. May the Lord add his blessing on these words for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Baptismal Regeneration

The following Sermons contain Mr. Spurgeon’s views upon the question now under controversy:—

No. 573—"Baptismal Regeneration." [See Spurgeon_Sermons  564]

No. 577—"Let Us Go Forth." [See Spurgeon_Sermons  568]

No. 581—"Children Brought To Christ, Not To The Font." [See Spurgeon_Sermons 572]

No. 591—"Thus Says The Lord": Or, The Book of Common Prayer Weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary [See Spurgeon_Sermons 582]