delivered them, to cause them to pass
through the fire.” When Jonah, jealous
for his own reputation as a prophet, was
angry that the Lord had not destroyed
Nineveh, as he had predicted, God assigns
as a principal reason for its preservation,
the great number of infants within its walls.
« Should I not spare Nin^vah, that great
city, wherein are more than six score thou
sand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand?’5 If,
then, innocent children were the cause of
averting the temporal judgments of the
Almighty, surely he could not banish them
forever from his presence, and make them
the victims of his eternal vengeance.
Again: when Israel, because of their re
peated rebellions, were doomed to perish
in the wilderness, their children were ex
empted. “ As I live, saith the Lord, your
carcasses shall fall in the wilderness; and
all that were numbered of you, according
: to your whole number, from twenty years
old and upward, which have murmured
against me, shall not come into the land,
concerning which I swarc to make you
dwell therein, save Caleb and Joshua; but
your little ones, which you said should be
a prey, them will I bring in, ami they shall
know the land which ye have despised.”
Who does not understand that Israel rep
, resented the Church militant on earth; and
their journeyings through the wilderness,
amid enemies, the world through which
the Church must pass amid all the dan
gers and trials to which 3he is exposed.«
That Canaan was a type of heaven, and
the Jordan of Death, the cold and solitary
passage which leads to this better inheri
tance? And docs not all this intimate,
this fearful, yet pleasing truth, that while
the unbelieving and rebellious perish, chil
dren, together with such parents and adults,
who, like Caleb and Joshua, believe the
promises, keep the faith, and follow the
Lord fully, shall enter this promised rest,
this spiritual Canaan. ,
2. The tender conduct ot me csaviour
towards little children during his person
al ministry on earth, must lead us to the
same conclusion. We have but to listen
to his discourses concerning them, and we
, can scarcely doubt of their felicity. In
order to reprove the pride and ambition of
' his disciples, he called a little child unto
him, and set it in the midst of them, and
said, Verily, I say unto you, except ye
be converted, and become as little chil
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven.” If we must become like
them, harmless, unoffending, before we
are fH> to be made partakers of that hea
venly kingdom, surely they themselves
must be the subjects of it. Again: “ w ho
soever shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom
of heaven; and whoso shall receive one
such little cliild in my name, receiveth
me.” He identifies himself with them,
as being the objects of his purchase, anti
in wliose future felicity he expresses a
tender regard. Again : “ take heed that
ye despise not one of these little ones; for
I say unto you, that in heaven their angels
do behold the face of my father, who is
in heaven.” Angels are ministering spi
rits, sent forth to minister to them that are
heirs of salvation. Their angels, there
fore, watch over them during their short
pilgrimage; they are present when it clo
ses, they convey them to heaven, and put
them in possession of their kingdom.
Whose heart does not bum within him as
he contemplates this precious Redeemer,
at one moment exercising almighty power,
and at another taking little children up in
his arms and blessing them. At one time
conversing with prophets and lawgivers,
and at another uttering this language of
melting tenderness: “ Suffer little children
to come unto me, and forbid them not; for
of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Pa
rents! need you tremble to commit your
departed babes to the care of such a Re
deemer? He who became the babe of
Bethlehem, is ready to receive the spirits
of your babes, as soon as their bodies sink
into the dust. Of this shepherd of Israel
it was predicted, “He shall gather the
lambs in his arms, and carry them in his
bosom;” a declaration which is fulfilled
when the spirits of your departed children
rest secure in his embrace.
*' Death may the cord of life unloose,
But can't dissolve CJ d’s love;
Millions of iiiftfiit souls compose
The Pars'Jiao above.” . —
3. From the perfections of God, we
conclude they are the fit subjects of his
pardoning love. Mercy is the darling at*
tribute of Jehovah. When.he made him
self known unto Moses, he proclaimed:
“ 'J’he Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness
_