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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour dtre reproduites en un seul clich6 sont filmdes d partir de Tangle supirieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 .*' f Au< BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. BY REV. J. S. EVANS; D.D. ^"*tLL''''';Ht'"/'''*''""**'''"" (*° «"««' ^^'"^ Je«"« in order to bein. glonfied w,thH.m). "The Martyr's Millennial Reward," "The Christ^anr Everlasting Reward " (superadded to Salvation by Faith) and "The One Mediator." •■••■p mm Baptizing and Teaching: Ev^jsrs NEIV EXPOSITION OF EITUAL BAPTISM AND OF BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY SPIEIT AS SEEN WHEN SET BACK IN THEIR RIGHT PLACES IN THE GREAT SYSTEM OF REVEALED TRUTH, NAMELY, AS PERTAINING TO THE TEACHING DEPARTMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION, AND NOT TO ITS PURIFYING AGENCIES AND MEANS. Who has not observed that bnptlzing and teaching are sperially associated by the New Testament writers? Who has paid proper attention to that fact wlien endeavouring to ascertain the precise nature and intended effect of baptism ? / TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 & 80 KING STREET EAST. MONTREAL: C. W. COATES. HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS. 1887. if/ Entered accord.ng to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand Z I .r^'f .'"? eighty-seven. by W.llum Briogs. Book Steward of Igriculture "' ''"'"^'"" ""'"' ''•'^°"*°' '' '""^ ^^P"*--* « :| PREFACE. It was a long-cherished purpose of the author of this work, the Rev. John S. Evans, D.D., to publish his thoughts on the subject of Christian baptism; but the execution of his design was delayed by a variety of circumstances till a short time before his lamented death. While the work was passing through the press, and before he had time to give it a consecutive reading, "God's finger touched him, and he slept." The book now given to the public is the fruit of the author's extensive, critical and varied reading, intellectual vigour, and patient research on the subject which is here presented, as the author believed, in consonance with the genius of the Gospel, and the true nature and method of human salvation. The position assumed is discussed with clearness, earnestness and force; and many of the exposi- tions of the proof-texts are original and unique. The work is a valuable contribution to the literature of the subject of Christian baptism, and is commended to the attention of the Christian student. JOHN A. WILLIAMS. ToBONTO, October 27 ^ 1887. COJ^TEJSTTS. Chaptbr. Introduction . ^**"'- 7 P^RT I. I. Baptism as used in connection with the Pioneering Mis- sion of John-He Baptized and Taught-John's Baptism not a Purfying Rite jy II. The Baptism of Jesus by John III. God's Method of Teaching- Why Christ'became a Prophet hke unto Moses g^ IV. The Gr^eat Teacher invested with Supreme Kingly Au- ^ gg V. Christ formed a Kingdom of Disciples, as distinct from a Kingdom of Regenerate Believers 1 14 VI. Christ issued a Royal Commission to make allNations His Disciples (Matt. xxviii.)-In this He associates Baptizing with Teaching jg^ . VII. The Baptisms of Teaching, incorrectly' translated 'ihe Doctrine of Baptisms (Heb. vi. 2) 137 I* ART II. VIII. The Doctrinal Import of Baptism as more fully unfolded m Rom. VI. 1-11 : Baptism into Christ's Death 198 IX. The Doctrinal Import of Baptism as unfolded in Col 11. 11, 12: Buried with Christ in Baptism 239 X. Note to Rom. vi. l-H and Col. ii. 11. 12_Baptism is'a Commemorative Rite XI. The Doctrinal Import of Baptism as indicated in 1 Cor XV. 29 : Baptized for the Dead . . ' ggs iv CONTENTS. Chapter. Paor. XU, The Doctrinal Import of Baptism as presented in 1 Peter iii. 8-iv. 6: Noah providentially "Saved by Water " from the Ancient Enemies of Right- eousness 269 XIII. The Hebrew Fathers wlio were Baptized into Moses disregarded their Oldigations and were Punished. 289 XIV. (a) One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (?]ph. iv. 5)— Promotion of nity. (h) Conse(|uence of Pre- venting Unity it the Lord's Table— The Lord's Supper is not Eaten 297 PAUT III. XV. Cases which illustrate the Doctrinal Import of Bap- tism : («) The Three Thousand on the Day of Pentecost . 303 XVI. Cases which illustrate the Doctrinal Import of Bap- tism : (h) The Baptism of Lydia and her Family (Acts xvi. 9-15) 331 XVII. The Saviour's Tender Feelings towards Little Children (Matt. xix. 13-15; Mark x. 13-16; Luke xviii. 15-17) 348 XVIII. Cases which illustrate the Doctrinal Import of Bap- tism : (c) Baptism of the Philippian Jailor and all his 366 XIX. The Special Import of Baptism with the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 1-4) 379 XX. Saul's Baptism with the Holy Ghost (Acts ix. 17, 18; xxii. 13-16; xxvi. 14-18) 397 Fi^RT IV. XXI. The Mode of Baptism with the Spirit as represented in the Scripture Narrative 406 XXII. The Movie of Baptism as taught in Romans vi. 3, 4 . . . . 420 XXIII. Ritual Baptism of the Eunuch (Acts viii. 36, etc.) 428 CONTENTS. V ClIAI'TKH. PaOK. XXIV. The Mode of the Baptism of the Three Thousand on the Day of Pen».-Jost 446 XXV. The Mode of John's Baptism — No need to inquire about the Old Purifying Rites 451 XXVI. A Fresli Investigation of (1) the Primary Meaning, and (2) of the Secondary Meanings, of Baptizo, previously to and in the New Testament Writ- ings 463 XXVII, CJod made Disciples under the former Dispensation of the Gospel— He luul then, as now, a Two- fold Kingdom — The Covenant of (Irace made with Abraham — The Covenant of Circumcision formed a School of Disciples in coi \ection with the Abi'ahamic Oospel — The added Mosaic Law did not set aside the Abrahamic Covenant 503 XXVIII. God formed also an Inner Kingdom of Regenerate Persons under the Covenant of Grace made with Abraham 563 XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. Examination of Misapplied Texts: (a) 1 Cor. vii. 14. . 573 Examination of Misapplied Texts: {b) John iii. 5 (Born of Water) ; (c) Titus iii. 5 (Washing of Re- generation) 579 An Examination of Mark xvi. 16 592 Exposition of John iii. 5-7: Born of the Water which is applied by the Divine Sprinkler — or as stated in Titus, the Washing performed by Re- generation — followed by the Renewing which is eflfected by the Holy Ghost 607 Critical Notices of Prominent Points in the History of the Dogma of Baptismal Regeneration 651 The Great Commandment 700 IlSrTRODUCTIOK Baptizing and teaching are associated by the writers of the new dispensation. TJie writers of the old dispensation connected baptism witli ceremonial purification. The New Testament writers sometimes allude to this, but they themselves specially associate baptizing with teaching. Ritual baptisni is associated with the work of John, the greatest prophet of the old dispensa- tion, who did "baptize and teach " in order to prepare the Jews for the first coming of Christ. It is associated with the work of Christ, the Great Teacher of our dispensation, who taught His disciples, though He had employed others to baptize them ; who issued a royal commission to make all nations His disciples, and to do this by "baptizing them and teaching them." Hence, in order to a right understanding of the subject, we need to ex- amine carefully : (1) The nature of John's pioneering mission ; (2) The nature of the work of the Great Teacher. Attention must be given : (a) To Christ's subordinate prophetic office ; (b) To the supreme authority given to Him to form a kingdom of disciples — i.e., of those who are put under the authority of a teacher — that they may be afterwards taught His doctrines and prectpts, so that when "faith comes by hearing" they may be added to His inner kingdom of evangelical believers. Hence there are great important and interesting themes which must be studied in order to understand the proper subjects, the proper i'i Vlll INTRODUCTION. mode, and the intended effect of ritual baptism, and the special nature of baptism with the Holy Spirit. Let us give more care- ful and prayerful attention than we have hitherto done to these most important topics. The right understanding and due administration of a religious ordinance ' ' instituted by Christ to be of perpetual and universal obligation in His kingdom, and to be done in the names of the sacred Trinity, can never be a topic unworthy of our most seri- ous attention." (Thorn, Mode of Bupthtn, p. 34.) "A revelation given by Infinite Wisdom contains nothing superfluous." Hence a "well-regulated mind will not be indif- ferent to any part of it, but will give every part of Divine truth a share of its serious attention ; and in a case where all are called to act, and where there is a right and a wrong way, will perseveringly inquire what is the line of conduct that the reve- lation which God has given points out." (Innes in Ingham's Hand-hook on Baptism, p. 581.) It has been well remarked that ' ' God, the fountain of all truth and goodness, has furnished us with means for the obtain- ing of evidence sufficient for a rational satisfaction upon all ob- jects which it concerns us to know." (Dr. J. P. Smith, Congre- gational Lectures, p. 16 ; Innes in Ingham's Hand-hook o)i Bap- tism, p. 164 ) And He has taught with sufficient clearness what He commands us to do. There is such a thing as truth. Evidence of this truth is presented. Time for examination has been granted to us, and ability to conduct the examination may l)e acquired. It clearly follows that ignorance or error in such circumstances is a thing which God must condemn. " Opinions are not involuntary when we possess the means of examining their evidence and INTRODUCTION. IX their foundation." (TuumseiuL) "Prove" ("test" — Sir W. Hamilton) "all things; hold fast thai which is good." The man who has not tested his convictions has no authority to hold them fast. In short, as Wesley said, "Every man must- think for himself, because every man must give account for himself." He said wisely, that we ought to be "always open to instruction : willing to be wiser every day than we were be- fore, and to change whatever we can change for the better. " "In all ecclesiastical usages we must diligently mark what God has commanded and instituted, and what men have added thereto, in order that we may hold the Divine as the essential part, and diligently practise it, and on the other hand judge the human additions, whether or not tliey are things indifferent, and if indifferent, whether they are also useful or not, in order that what is contrary to God's Word or otherwise unprofitable may be done away." (Preface to Brandenburgh Liturgy of 1553 in Goode on Baptism, p. 528.) To me the important question is not, What have men said on the topic before us? or, What objections have been made to those sayings ? but the great question is, Wliat saith the Scrip- ture ? Hence very special care has been taken to ascertain pre- cisely and exhibit clearly what the Scriptures expressly teach on the topics under consideration. Where it seemed necessary, however, wrong opinions have been attacked, because they are found upon ground which we have ' ' a right to occupy for other and more important purposes, and cannot occupy without such aggression." (Bascum.) Besides, "Error does not die; it must be killed." This is especially true when it has become associated with rites and ceremonies. To expose and overthrow injurious errors is a duty which we owe to God. It is also a duty which r fV f X INTRODUCTION. 'I man owes to his fellow-man. " If we feel in the spirit of genuine brotherly love," says Dr. Wardlaw, " we cannot but be desirous that our fellow-Christians should discern and relinquish what are, in our apprehensions, their errors." Especially do we wish this when we observe that no opinion is "too monstrous to be credited by a man who has been persuaded that it has been taught in the sacred Scriptures." (BeAJ. J. Dick.) I am aware that many in this generation try to produce the impression that it is the duty of Christians to avoid writing definitely on controverted subjects. Religious indifference glo- ries in being non-sectarian. "Non-sectarians are the most in- tolerant of all the sects." They are "fierce for moderation." But "Christianity would never have established its unyielding peculiarities oi opinion, discipline and holiness if the apostles had consented to forego their zeal and diligence in deference to popular clamour. Truth was their only, their undivided object. From this they were neither intimidated, nor perverted, nor seduced." (Townsend.) " A man of a true catholic spirit does not halt between two opinions, nor vainly endeavour to blend them into one," said Mr. Wesley. "Observe this," he adds, "you that know not what manner of spirit you are of, who call yourselves of a catholic spirit only because you are of a muddy understanding, because your mind is always in a mist, because you are of no settled consistent principles, but are for jumbling all opinions together." "From education, reason, or prejudice, we all generally adopt some criterion of truth, to which every proposition is brought." {Toivnseud.) On the present subject I adopt the great Protestant principle, and appeal to the all -sufficiency and exclusive supremacy of Sacred Writ. "Methodists," as Rev. INTRODUCTION. XI W. Arthur says, "have chosen for principles the Word of God ; for church model, the apostolic age ; for plans, the good hand of Providence. " The method we propose to follow is to give an exposition of the scriptures which we quote as proof-texts, and to show reasons for the interpretation given. It would, indeed, be far easier to adopt the method of those " who make assertions, find then quote passages without showing their relevancy to the point at issue." But, as Dr. Dale observes, this "is neither proof, nor worthy to be called an attempt at proof." {Johannk Bap- tism, p. 97.) The right plan is to prove one's position by fair interpretation, and by exhibiting the process employed. In- stead of acting thus, some thunder forth assertions, knowing that, "with respect to the vulgar, bold assertions generally suc- ceed as well as arguments, and sometimes better." (Canqjbell, Lecture on, Pulpit Eloque'nce.) "The early Baptists succeeded," says Curtis, "not by their arguments, but by their assertions." We do not adopt this plan. Unlearned hearers or readers may come to a just decision on scriptural difficulties after hearing the points fairly and fully dis- cussed. To illustrate this point take an analogous case in a court of justice: "An illiterate jury, though totally incom- petent to determine points of law from a simple recitation of parliamentary enactments, may form a good judgment in the case after hearing the pleadings of counsel and the summing up of the judge. In jurisprudence, as in every science, the points ultimately rest upon common sense. But to reduce a question to these points, and to propose them accurately, recjuires not only an understanding superior to that which is necessary to de- cide upon them when proposed, but often, also, a peculiar and ! Xll INTRODUCTION. technical erudition. Agreeably to this distinction, which runR, perhaps, through all sciences, wliat is preliminary and prepara- tory is left to the legal profession ; what is linal, to the plain understanding of plain men. " (Paley, Works, p. G14. ) So there are points in theology which require the aid of teachers. Christ expounded the Scriptures to His disciples. Paul, too, in the synagogue at Thessalonica, " reasoned out of the Si^riptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered." (Acts xvii. 3, 4.) And so, on tue other hand, those who heard these interpreters "searched the Scriptures to see whether those things were so." ""There is very little real criticism which may not be made obvious to men of good common sense," for "this is the basis of all correct principles or rules of interpretation." (Dobie.) "All that the unlearned reader is obliged to take on trust is the fairness" of translations and "of reference to authorities ; and for these he has the security that if they are unfair they are liable to be exposed by learned opponents." (Carsofc. ) We must, however, admit with Bishop Jewell, that some tilings in the Scriptures require much studious attention. "It is very expedient that somewhat should be covered to make us more diligent in reading, more desirous to understand, more fer- vent in prayer, more willing to ask the judgment of others, and to presume less on our own judgment." To teach otherwise is to justify the presumption and strengthen the false confidence of the unreflecting reader — two bad (qualities, "of which the weakest judgments have commonly the greatest share." (Camp- bell.) An unlearned man may proudly wish to become wholly independent of the learned, and with this view may turn from the work of commentators and theologians, from critics and l« INTRODUCTION. • • • Xlll that some sernionizera. But this would not release him. He remains in a state of mental dependence on the translators of the Bible, for it is on the terms and phrases chosen and employed by these that he has to found his conclusions. Thti -> might bo some little plausibility in rejecting fallible interpreters if they could do without fallible translators. But as "every translator of the Bible is of necessity an interi)reter of the Bible in a high and important sense " (Dohie), it is very inconsistent to accept their work, and yet resolve to give no heed to other interpreters, n'hebher called commentators or preachers, etc. It wo dd be much more prudent to hear these also, and then to compare and decide for themselves. Some, however, assume unwisely that the interpretation of Scripture is easy work ; that any man of common sense, however unlearned he may be, can understand any part that it concerns him to know as soon as he attentively reads or listens to it. They hence conclude that they have no need of the ministry of the Church to teach them. It is true that the study of Scrip- ture seems easy to those who are content with isolated thoughts or vague general ideas, which can be readily inade to assume any desired shape. But those who endeavour to trace ' ' the exact sequence of thought in the mind of the inspired writer " look at it very differently. "It is useless to disguise that the close analysis of the sacred text is very difficult; that it requires a calm judgment and a disciplined mind no less than a loving and teachable heart ; that it is not a power we can acquire in a week or a month ; yet if the Scripture be what I for one believe it to be — the writing of men inspired by the Third Person of the adorable Trinity — then we may well conceive no labour in this direction can bo too severe, no exercise of thought tc)0 close ': .1 ll I XIV INTRODUCTION. or persistent. ' (Ellicott, Preface to Ephenians.) This is the view that is coniirmed by the express testimony of inspired men. Peter, for instance, says that some things in St. Paul's writings are "hard to be understood." The inclusi(jn of some such things may be expected from the very design of the Bible. Its Divine Author aims at stimulating man to mental activity, because without mental action man can- not progress in mental power. "Energy," says Sir. W. Hamil- ton, "is the means by which our faculties are developed, and a higher energy the end which this development proposes." Whatever, therefore, most impels man to mental action is his greatest friend. The Bible was intended to do this more than anything else can. And it does do this. But that it may do so its method of instruction had to be made such as to treat of some difficult subjects, and to call for " inquiry into the structure of ancient languages, the usages of ancient times, the laws of thought, the philosophy of moral obligation," etc. (Dr. Thomas.) Hence it contains more than easy lessons for children. It treats also on subjects that are fitted to exercise the minds of men, and the minds of the most highly educated men, and which even angels "desire to look " into. False principles of interpretation have been the chief source of the corruption of the truths and ordinances of Scripture. " It is not possible that different conclusions should be grounded on the same words if on all sides the same sound and self-evident laws of language were employed in the deduction." (Carson, Baptism, p. 262.) We must therefore pay special attention to these laws, because "the misinterpretation of Scripture must be reckoned among the gravest calamities of Christendom." {Dr. F. W. Farrar,) This remark applies with special emphasis to INTRODUCTION, XV 3d from the the misinterpretation of texts pertaining to our present inquir- ies. On the other hand, the topics which pertain to our subject will, when rightly investigated, be found to bo \evj interest- ing and important, and exceedingly rich in instruction, Ipoth
ing is associated with the de- partment of teaching. Under the former dispensation it became connected with the work of piu'ification^from ceremonial unclean- ness ; but it was previously connected with the work of teaching, as in the case of "baptism into Moses." After Closes died bap- tism into Moses was superseded by "circumcision after the man- ner of Moses." But after the lapse of centuries baptism became connected with the work of John, the greatest prophet of the old dispensation, who "did baptize and teach." Hence we pro- ceed to examine the mission of the prophet John ; and we will find it to be an interesting study. I I ) Baptizing and Teaching. PART I. CHAPTER I. iRAPTISM AS USED IN CONNECTION WITH THE PIONEERING MISSION OF JOHN : HE BAPTIZED AND TAUGHT. It is worthy of special observation that the person who was to be the forerunner of the long-expected Messiah was to be the son of a typical Jewish priest ; md that this priest was in the holy place of God's temple, for the purpose of offering incense, when the )irth of that son was predicted. Zacharias had been chosen by lot to perform the mediatorial act of offer- ing incense in the typical temple of God. " Only once In a life-time might anyone enjoy that privilege." lEdersheim, i. 134.) Bearing the golden censer he tood alone within the holy place. On his left was [he seven-branched golden candle-stick which lit the )lace ; on his right the table of shewbread ; before lim was the golden altar of incense, on v/hich the red [oals glowed. At a moment indicated by a special ignal, he spread the incense on the altar, as near as 2 18 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. II Kli possible to the Holy of Holies. When he saw the incense kindlini; he bowed down in worship. He would now have reverently withdrawn had not a wondrous sight arrested his steps (v. Edersheim, i. 137, 138): Lo! on the right or south side of the altar, between it and the golden candlestick, stood an angelic form. " Such a vision to an ordinary priest in the act of incensing had never been heard of before."; The angel reminded Zacharias of prayers and hopes which may have been waxing faint, but which, he assures him, shall yet be fulfilled ; for he would have a child who would bear the significant name of John (the Lord is gracious), and who was to be a source of joy and gladness to a circle far wider than that of thei family. He was to go before the Messiah " to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." The announcement of such a mission would specially i attract the attention of the Jews, for they were at that time in lively expectation of a new and most important era in Jewish history. This fondly cherished hope instantly aroused earnest attention to every event of an unusual nature ; and events of such a kind were connected with the birth and infancy of John. Things which the Jews had not seen for hundreds of years were then witnessed — the revival! of angelic visitation, and of prophetic utterance, for the purpose of announcing his birth ; and the revival of miracle-working power in causing, and afterwards removing, the dumbness of his incredulous father.] (Luke i. 11, 20, 64.) These things were kept in re^ BAPTISM AND ThE PIONEERING MISSION OF JOHN. 19 he saw the [)rship. He had not a lersheiin, i. side of the ck, stood an Lry priest in I 1 of before." li and hopes t which, he] would have anie of John } a source of j I that of the' h " to make I uld specially hey v^ere at w and most ly cherished n to every |s of such a infancy of lot seen for! the revival I terance, for the revival afterwards lous father.] kept in re^ membrance by the name given to this child ; for he was called John by direction of the angel of the Lord. As the natural result, the wondering exclamation was, "What manner of child shall this be?" (Luke i. G6:) His training and future movements would, of course, be watched with special interest. It was known that as the son of Zacharias the priest, and of Elizabeth of the house of Aaron, he would, when of age, be entitled to claim consecration for the work of a typical priest in their venerated temple. Yet, as they must have observed with astonishment, he did not go to the temple to learn such duties, as other sons did, for he was " in the wilderness until the time of his showing to Israel." This omission was not caused by want of zeal, for he was " filled with the Holy Ghost " from earliest infancy. (Luke i. 15.) He went not to Jeru- salem to be consecrated by man for the work of a sacrificing priest, because he was to be called of God to be a teaching priest, and that only. To teach was a part of the business of the sons of Aaron. For " the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth : for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts." (Mai. ii. 7.) This was the only part of the priest's duties which John was sent to perform. And in this one part there was • one topic which, as we shall see, he was to present more frequently and impressively tnan other priests had done. For this purpose he was speci'^y commissioned. 'The word of God came unto John in the wilderness" 1 1 ' 1 i i! t''"'l I I j ll ,il > I 1 1 20 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. (Luke iii. 2) just as it did to the prophets of old. (Jer. i. 2 ; Ezek. vi. 1 ; vii. 1.) He accordingly appeared in the f^arb of a prophet, and undertook (1) to initiate the Jews into his school ; (2) to teach his disciples what would prepare them for the first coming of Christ. The people understood that he had a commivssion to make disciples, though he did " no miracle." (John x. 41.) To do them was rendered unnecessary in his case by the well-known fact that the circumstances of his birth and circumcision were distinguished by miracles, by angelic visitation, and by the utterance and fulfilment of prophecy. The people were thus convinced that John was a teacher sent by God, and that they ought to become his disciples. And they could be convinced of these two things while yet wholly uninformed as to the instruction which he was to give. So miracles led Nicodemus to understand that Jesus was a teacher sent from God before he heard the peculiar teaching of Christ. Influenced bv the considerations mentioned above, many Jews became the disciples of John that they might be taught by him. The Greek word for disciple is mathetes, a learner, pupil, disciple. This last word was transferred into the English language from the Latin discipulus. The meaning of the Greek word may be expressed more fully thus : (1) One who is put, or one who puts himself, under the authority of a teacher, to be taught by him. (2) It is sometimes used to denote one who is engaged in learning the distinguishing opinions of his teacher. (3) It has also 'I BAPTISM AND THE PIONEERING MISSION OF JOHN. 21 been sometimes used to signify one who has already learned tii8 peculiar doctrines of a teacher, and who maintains them on the authority of that teacher ; i e., a pupil who has finished his education. In which of these senses was it used by the Jews, and especially by the inspired writers in the case before us ? They used it in the first or second of these three senses. " Discipling," says Lightfoot, " was not of persons ih'eady taught, but to the end they should be taught ; and if the disciples understood this word after any other sense, it was different from the sense of the word which the nation had ever used, and only used.' {Thorn.) The inspired writers used the word in the sense commonly employed by the Jews. Matthew thus uses the word. He tells us that when Jesus " was set, His disciples came unto Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them," etc. (Matt. v. 1,2.) Mark, too, does so when he says of the same Great Teacher : " When the}" were alone He expounded all things to His disciples." (Mark iv. 34.) That John's disciples were persons put into his school to be taught, not persons who had been taught his distinguishing views, is plain from the fact that very many of them never believed what he tried to teach them respecting the Lord Jesus Christ. John counselled them to " believe on Him who should come after him." (Acts xix. 4.) But when the Christ did come they "received Him not"; and a very large majority of them rejected Him, and cried, '• Away with Him ! Away with Him ! Crucify Him ! Crucify Him ! " Many disciples of John were doubtless among IP r i. ! ! l(! ^2 Baptizing And TEAcritNGt. these rejectors, and were as destitute of evangelical knowledge and faith as were the disciples of the Pharisees. Christ, too, had many disciples — that is, pupils — who, though so called, had not received His fundamental doctrines, and would not accept them. For when this Great Teacher, using figurative terms that alluded to the typical paschal lamb (because " the passover " was nigh), said, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you," — and uttered thereby the fundamental doctrine that a true atonement could be made only by Christ's death, — they replied : " This is a hard saying ; who can hear it ? " " And from that time manv of His ft/ disciples went back and walked no more with Him " They did not like His teaching on that point. They had not that faith which receives a doctrine on the authority of its Divine Teacher, even though it may be at variance with former opinions. "There are some of you," said Christ, " that believe not." They were not believers ; they had not accepted, and v/ould not accept, even from the lips of the Lord Jesus, the all- important and essential doctrine of the great anti- typical atonement ; yet they were disciples, that is, pupils, of the Great Teacher, and were so called by an inspired apostle. Unwisely they resolved to be pupils no longer. They ceased to follow Him ; they "went away." Let it be remembered that this took place in Galilee, which was the scene of the greater part of Christ's private life and public ministry, and where, accordingly, BAPTISM AND THE PIONEERING MISSION OF JOHN. 23 evangelical pies of the es — that is, Bceived His 3cept them, rative terms ecause " the the flesh of have no life 'undamental lade only by lard saying ; manv of His ft/ with Him " )oint. They trine on the 3Ugh it may ere are some They were d v/ould not esus, the all- great anti- Dies, that is, called by an to be pupils they "went 3e in Galilee, ■j of Christ's accordingly,! His disciples were the most numerous. Among those who did not go away were the twelve who afterwards became apostles, and who were all Galileans either by birth or residence. It is now fully apparent that in- spired men sometimes used the word "disciples" to mean simply persons who were under the authority I of a teacher, that they might be taught by him. Persons who have been taught for some time, and Inow believe the fundamental doctrines of their teacher, jinay be still called disciples, because still under in- struction. But this circumstance furnishes no warrant for inferring that the word "disciple" means believer and saint. For, as Dr. Carson observes, " Words may refer to the same thing without being synonymous" (p. 396). " When words refer to the same thing, they I must be consistent in what they express, but one may [express more or less than the other" (p. 397). "I might illustrate my doctrine by the various names which are given to the followers of Christ. They are called Christians, disciples, believers, saints, etc. Does not each of these designate the persons in a difl'erent manner?" (p. 433). Certainly. And what the term ' disciple " designates is that the person spoken of is under the authority of a teacher, that he may learn what that teacher is commissioned to teach. It implies that instruction has been begun and is to be continued; but not that it has been completed. The attainment of all the knowledj^e which the teacher can communicate is the aim of discipleship. " Every disciple that is perfect shall be as his master " {McwKaioq, 24 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. \Hm 111 Hi I m "'i'li! ^Illl teacher), says Christ. If the teacher is an uninspired one, or, like John, has only a special portion of instruc- tion to convey, cliscipleship may reach a point of termination before life does. But if the teacher is Divine, like Christ, the term of dicipleship must be continued through life. Hence Christ said, " If ye continue in My word" (i.e., if ye sit under My teaching) " then are ye My disciples indeed ; and ye shall know the truth " (they did not yet know it), " and the truth shall make you free." They were not yet freed from their sins, as the context plainly show.s. If there are hindrances to contiiuiance they must be overcome. When Christ says, " Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple," He plainly means that one who does not do so cannot, in perilous times, continue to be His disciple. He does not mean that one who does not do so cannot begin to be a dis- ciple. The word " disciple," therefore, means a learner, a pupil. John's disciples were the pupils of John, a divinely appointed teacher. John could make pupils and teach them. John could not make saints. John formed a school of disciples. He did not form a church of regenerate believers. The word " disciple " means a pupil who by an appointed rite has been initiated into the school of a divinely commissioned teacher. John was such a teacher, and formed a school of disciples, and initiated them by baptizing them that he might afterwards teach them. That John was authorized and directed BAPTISM AND THE PIONEERENG MISSION OF JOHN. 25 aninspired of instruc- point of teacher is f) must be id, " If ye jr teaching) 3hall know i the truth freed from f there are overcome. ir his cross, He plainly in perilous s not mean be a dis- learner, a »f John, a lake pupils Ints. John a church [ho by an school of 7 as such a Id initiated ifterwards Id directed to employ baptism for the purpose of initiating persons into his school will plainly appear from the following observations : — John administered the rite before he engaged in teaching. He did not teach and baptize; he baptized and taught. Mark tells us : " John did baptize in the wilderness . . . and preach." (Mark i. 4.) The ap- proved reading is, " John was baptizing in the wilder- ness . . . and preaching." Some copies omit A;ai (and) before the word " preaching "; but the great weight of manuscriptal authority is said to be in favour of re- taining it. That this translation is right, and, conse- quently, that this order of words points out the proper order of things, is evident from one of John's sermons which is subjoined in the eighth verse : " And he preached, saying, ... I indeed have baptized you with water," etc. Here it is manifest that he taught those whom he had baptized, and, therefore, that he taught [them after baptizing them. This is here expressly j shown, and is elsewhere obviously implied. He r taught his disciples " to pray. (Luke xi. 1.) The only exception to this teaching after baptism was in the case of Christ. John baptized Christ, but did not teach Him. Christ needed it not, and therefore did not wait for it. Accordingly; of Christ, and of Christ only, it is written, " He went up straightway " (apo) from the water. Dr. Carson says, " I admit the proper translation of apo is /rom." (Baptisvi, p. 126.) Christ waited not to be taught; He needed it not. In all other cases John baptized and then taught. 26 BAPTIZING AND TEA' RING. 'Vl 11 i.ii: II Christ approved of this order in the great commis- sion. It says : " Baptizing them . . . and teaching them." Our English version improperly and unhap- pily translated 7)iathetuo to teach, instead of to disci- ple, and thus put the word "teach " before " baptizing," as well as " teaching " after it. But, unquestionably and admittedly, the proper meaning of mathetuo is that given in the margin, namely, " make disciples of," or simply " disciple," as it is rendered by Mr. Wesley, and by the authors of the Baptist translation. The proper translation is, " Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . and teaching them." Mr. Wesley's note on this text is good : " Make them My disciples. This includes the whole design of this com- mission. Baptizing and teaching are the two great branches of the general design." We shall find that the apostles observed this order. Having, on the day of Pentecost, convinced three thou- sand Jews that Jesus was both Lord and Christ — the Divine and Divinely anointed Teacher of men — they, by so doing, made them willing to become His pupils. They then immediately baptized these, and subse- quently taught them. For we are told that those who had been baptized " constantly attended to the apos- tles' teaching." This is the proper translation of pros- karterountes te didake — the words which in our Eng- lish Bible are inapjJropriately rendered, "they con- tinued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." (Acts ii. 42.) As the other apostles did, so did Paul ; for we are told when the Corinthians were baptized (Acts xviii. 8), JOHN S TEACHING. 27 Paul " continued there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God amonfij them " (verse 11). The apos- tles taught the disciples, as Christ and John had done. (Matt. V. 1, 2 ; Mark iv. 34.) It is evident, therefore, that baptism was used by John as a discipling ordi- nance; that is, an ordinance by which persons were put as pupils into his school, to be taught by him as a teacher specially commissioned " from heaven." John's teaching. The Jews had been divided into three large, and innumerable smaller, parties. John was sent to call them away from these conflicting teachers, and to in- itiate them into his own school, that he might show them all the need of looking to the great teaching and mediating High Priest who was to come, and whose greatness was so surpassing that John himself was " not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoes." The year during which John began his ministry was probably a Sabbatic year. (Ex. xxiii. 11.) "If this year was now observed by the Jews according to jits original intent, it was a most appropriate time for the Baptist to begin his labours, the people having no burdensome agricultural tasks to occupy them, and being thus at liberty to attend upon instructions." (Andrews, Life of Christ.) "According to Vouseler such a year was that from Tisri 779 to Tisri 780." [(Andrews, Life of Christ.) John, like the prophets of old, was zealous for the [law of righteousness, and expounded it. By preaching *■! ^ 28 BAPTi;iING AND TEACHING. Ji : II' ; 1 righteousness to those who had not fultilled it, he showed them the need of "confessing their sins." But to those who came confessing their sins he taught the inefficacy of all typical sacrifices and typical rites, and did this more fully than had hitherto been done. This had been indicated in part by the fact that they needed to be repeated constantly, and by the other fact that confession of sin, as made under that dispensation, had a peculiar feature. The Jews when confessing sin were required to bring to remem- brance sins often confessed before, as well as recent sins ; because it was all-important that they should be given to understand that no true atonement for any past or present sin had yet been presented to God. This remembrance was especially made every year on what they called the great day of atonement. The solemnities of this day were the most distinguished in the whole Mosaic ritual, and the ones that have received the fullest exposition from the inspired writers of the present dispensation. The Epistle to the Hebrews, when referring to that day and to the typical sacrifices connected with it, tells us that " in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins EVERY YEAR ; for it is not possible that the blood of bulls, and of goats, should take away sins." (Heb. x. 3.) Such a lesson had been taught them annually for centuries; but it was imperfectly apprehended, and soon forgotten. Hence John was sent to fix their thoughts on it for months together, because nothing was better fitted to prepare the people for Christ's JOHNS TEACHING. 29 he coming to offer the true atonement, and to provide the means of true sanctification. They understood that this was the case; as is evident from the fact, already adverted to, that they went out to him " confessing their sins" ; and also from the multitudes who went for this purpose. The state- ment of Matthew is: "Then went out to him Jerusa- lem, and all Judea," — that is, " persons from all parts of Judea" (Nasi), — "and all the region round about Jordan " (Matt. iii. 5) — i.e., from Persea, Samaria, Galilee, and Gaulonitis — " and were all baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." The point now before us is, that these Jews confessed their sins in presence of a Jewish priest, yet he did not put on priestly vestments. He calls for a national confession of sin, and yet says nothing about the typical sacrifices that for centuries had been offered at such times. By this wonderful silence he indicated their utter insuffi- ciency more impressively than was done by the typical high priest on the great day of atonement. For after the latter had called the people to make remembrance of unatoned-for sins, he proceeded again to offer a merely typical sacrifice. The high priest, on that day, had selected "two young goats for a sin offering." The " two," not one of them only, were for a sin offer- ing to the Lord, because they were presented together " before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." (Lev. xvi. 7.) First, one of the two was selected by lot, and slain as a sacrifice ; and its blood carried by the high priest into the Holy of Holies, 30 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. : :!'' and sprinkled before the mercy-seat. But no assur- ance was given that such typical sacrifice, when offered even by the high priest, was regarded by God as a true propitiation for sin. On the contrary, it was shown to be inefficacious by the fact that the high priest went from the most lioly place to where the other goat was, and again brought to remembrance the nation's sins as still unatoned for. He confessed over and laid on this second goat all the iniquities that had been typically, but not really, atoned for by the blood of all past sacrifices. Yet, after proceeding so far, he was not permitted to proceed any further with his priestly work in reference to that goat'; he was prohibited from offering it in sacrifice — a prohibition which im- pliedly signified that a priest who needed, and who on that day had made, atonement for himself, was not fitted to make atonement for others. The second typical goat is therefore left unslain, and is led away into the wilderness and allowed to go free. From this last circumstance this goat was said to be for Azazel, an abstract term which, according to Michaelis, Jahn, etc., denotes " a free going away." The Septua- gint translators so understood it, for they translated it by eis ten apopompen. But the Jews confessed their sins in the presence of John. He in no instance gave them exhortation to go to the priests who were in the temple courts and offer fresh typical sacrifices. He himself never visited the temple. This most significant omission is intsntional. Though by birth he might have been a sacrificing JOHNS TEACHING. 31 priest, thouj^Hi his coming was prophetically announced, though he liimselt* is specially commissioned by God, though he brings to remembrance the sins of his people, yet he says not one word about their time- honoured typical sacrifices and venerated temple. He simply puts them to school and teaches repentance, and says that they should believe on Him who should ^ome after him. And when he saw " Him that was to come," and knew that He was the Christ, the anointed a nti typical teaching and sacrificing Priest, by seeing the Spirit descending like a dove and abiding upon Him, he then pointed them to " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away" — i.e., that beareth — " the sin of the world." He makes reference, as we think, to the typical goat that ia that same wilderness was bearing all the iniquities of the house of Israel, but was left go free because unable to make an efficacious sacrifice. John \ as not sent to find that goat and slay it. He was sent to point men to another sacrifice, to " behold the Lamb of God, bearing the sin of the world," and ready in due time to become an all-sufficient sacrifice by one oflfering of Himself. And he gave this testi- mony that Jesus should be " made manifest to the house of Israel," and not only so, but that " all men through Him might believe." (John i. 7.) John therefore acted, not as a sacrificing priest, but as a teaching one — as a prophet ; and his direction was that they should repent and "believe on Him who should come after him," 32 JUPTIZING AND TEACHING. JOHNS BAPTISM NOT A PURIFYING RITE. The Levitical purifying baptisms were, as to their design, wholly • i ■ r ■^ r 56 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. thing which the Lord commanded to be done. And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto hiui therewith. And he put the breastplate upon him." (Lev. viii. 4-8.) How utterly different is this from John's baptism of Jesus ! " If you give his bap- tism this interpretation you make him violate instead of fulfil the law." (Bailey, Baptism, p. 193.) Further, John could not have consecrated Christ to the priesthood by any mode whatever, without acting in violation of some requirements of the law of that dispensation. The law which regulated the human consecration of the priesthood required that the candi- date should be of the tribe of Levi ; but Christ did not belong to that tribe — He " sprang out of Judah." The law consecrated after the order of Aaron, " in which the chief priest had subordinates associated with him for the discharge of^ inferior and ordinary services." But Christ was not after that order, He was after the order of Melchisedec, who was alone in the honours and functions of his office, having no pre- decessor, assistant, or successor. Moreover, it is ex- pressly stated in Scripture that our High Priest was "not made after the law of a carnal commandment." No earthly creature was delegated to pour fragrant unction on His sacred head and call Him High Priest. He was " called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedec." (Heb. v. 10.) f t? THE BAPTISM OF JESUS BY JOHN. 51 Christ did not indicate, as some think, that it was John who consecrated Him to the priestly office, when He made reference to John in reply to the question, " by what authority " He had acted as He did in the temple. He implied that John had told the people " that they should believe on Him who should come after him." He wanted to know whether they did not admit that John was Divinely commissioned to teach as he did ; if so, they should infer that Christ's authority was sufficiently proclaimed. His questioners saw that this inference would follow from the former admission ; they therefore refused to own that John's commission came from heaven. As they thus showed that they were not disposed to deal fairly with evidence, Christ decided not to tell them by what authority He did these things. He therefore had not implied that He was consecrated to the priestly office by John, and acted by his authority. To give such an interpretation is to suppose that Christ had told them whence His authority came, though He said He would not tell them. Any interpretation that involves such a contradiction must be utterly wrong. Tlie Spirit when descending on Christ was attended by a visible emblem in a complete bodily shape, having the appearance of a dove, to intimate, probably, that to Him the Spirit was given in His entire fulness ; not in part, " not by measure," as when the Spirit after- wards descended on the apostles. Then the chosen emblem was a distributed part of the fiery emblem, because to them the Spirit was given only in part. It 5S HAI'TIZINU AND TKACHING. W'l' was probably the same Shecbinah-gloiy that appeared as an entire body in the one case, and in the other as dividinfj tonjjues. When John saw the dove-like emblem of the Spirit descending upon Christ and abiding with Him, he at tiie same time heard the Divine voice saying to Christ, "Thou art My beloved Son "; and saying to John respecting Christ, " This is My beloved Son." Some harmonize these statements " on the universally admitted principle that one witness may report the substance, and another the exact form, without any inconsistency whatever." (Nasi) And John said, " He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost," and who therefore can qualify His disciples to learn spiritual things. "And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God " — I have seen what descended upon Him, and I have borne witness that this is the Son of God. " The tense employed shows that John refers to a testimony given at the time, akid now on record in their memories." {Alford.) All the preternatural manifestations mentioned above were subsequent to John's act of baptizing Christ with water, and after Christ had left the place of baptism. Yet many imagine that this wonderful scene was got up for the purpose of indicating the Divine approbation of water baptism, and of express- ing pleasure in Jesus because He submitted to thi^t ordinance. Such an interpretation has a tendency to THE BAPTISM OF JESUS HV .JOHN. 59 induce people to deify a ceremony, and to become., like the Chaldeans of old, " mad upon their idols." (Jer. 1. 38.) John, as we have seen, knew that these wonderful manifestations were designed to honour, not a baptism with water, but Christ's baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not in the water, and did not co-operate with it. He came down from Heaven after the baptismal act was finished. As we have shown, Jesus was baptized by John, but did not wait to be tausfht by John. He was im- mediately baptized with the Holy Ghost, and became the Great Teacher, and formed a school of disciples distinct from that of John. Some of John's disciples left him and became disciples of Jesus, but very many of John's disciples refused to become the disciples of Christ. Their schools were distinct, and not identical^ as some have supposed. 60 BAPTI/INf} AND TEACHIN(i. CHAPTER III. •:! I ':vk GODS METHOD OF TEACHING — WHY CHRIST BECAME A PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES. As BAPTISM became connected with teaching, it will be useful to consider why God's method of teaching man is as it is, — why God teaches indirectly through the prophets, and by the lettei'ed page of a book, rather than by immediate revehition from heaven to each individual, — why the manner of His teaching has been adapted to the weakness and frailty of human nature rather than to the great majesty and glory of the Divine nature. The temporary experiment of the latter plan, tried at Sinai, proved to be utterly over- powering to the Hebrew fathers. They therefore earnestly entreated God to lay it aside and resume His former plan of speaking to them through Moses. God not only approved of and granted this entreaty, but promised a further fulfilment when He sent His own Son to make further revelations. He would send Him in the form of a Prophet like unto Moses. Moses said to them, "The Lord thy God will ra?se up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him ye shall hearken." " And the Lord said unto me. They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My GODS METHOD OF TEACHING. 61 words in His mouth; and Ho shall speak unto them all that I shall comjnanrl Him." These prophetic words pointed clearly to the Christ that was to come. They were applied to Him hy a!i inspired apostle. On the occasion when a miraculous case was performed at the gate of the temple, in the name of Jesus Christ of Na/areth, whom (Jod had sent unto them to bless them, Peter argued that Christ was thus sent in fulfilment of prophecy: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto thee. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which shall not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts iii. 22, 2'3.) The Jews had previously made the same application of the prophecy. When Jesus fed five thousand men by a miracle, like one that was wrought in the wilderness in the days of Moses, the Jews said: "This is of a truth that Prophet which should come into the world." (John vi. 14.) Christ Himself said : " Moses wrote of Me" (John v. 45), and doubtless had reference to this statement. Kings have been named and described beforehand, but only one Prophet was thus prophetically announced. The coming One was to be a Prophet like unto Moses, in order that He might use a form of teach- ing adapted to men in frail mortal bodies. Divine revelation could not be made in a form worthy the majesty of God without being utterly overpowering to humanity in its present state. This is the explanation !;:; t ^•-\ 62 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. given in the prophecy when viewed in the light of the context. That there is reference to the context is very clear. It is said : " They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet," etc. We must therefore enquire what the Hebrew fathers had spoken about, and we find that it was about the immediate manner in which God revealed His will at Sinai. The mode used on that occasion was so majes- tically grand that human infirmity could not stand before it, even for a moment. Hence the Hebrews instantly and urgently entreated God to discontinue this method, to make known His will in an indirect and gentle manner, and therefore by the mouth of Moses, their fellow-creature, as God had done on previous occasions. God heard that urgent request, and, as we learn from the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, where the narration is given more fully than in the 18th chapter. He replied: " They have well said all that they have spoken ;" i.e., they have shown prudent regard for the preservation of their frail bodies. God there- fore complied with their prayers, and said to Moses : " Go say to them. Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by Me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it." (Deut. V. 30, 31.) Not only so; as their request was one which human frailty in every age would feel con- strained to use in similar circumstances, God resolved tc remember it when He would send His own Son into -•s GODS METHOD OF TEACHING. 63 the world to make a further and fuller revelation of His will to man. He would cause His Son to take upon Him human nature, that He might make known the Divine will, as Moses did, with a human vcice, uttered by a human form. No man in any generation could endure the great voice of God as it was uttered from Sinai. This is the reason why Christ appeared in the humble form of a Proj)het like unto Moses. We shall examine this subiject more fully, but before doing so it will be well to remember that, as an offset to this, He was in due time invested with a higher posi- tion, with all kingly power in heaven and in earth, and that He has since obtained and retains that sole supremacy, and will retain it until at the end of this dispensation it will be delivered up that He ma> ogain reign jointly with His Father, when " the kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ." This exalted state will be carefully considered at a further stage. The hasty glance which we have taken over the passage now before us discovers that it con- tains very interesting and important instruction ; but to understand it properly we must take time to look at it more closelv and attentively. We will need to examine more fully the mode of revelation employed at Sinai, and the other mode previously employed and again graciously granted by a prayer-hearing God. A hasty glance, such as the one we he"^ just taken, could not adequately discern the distinctive character of each mode, and the reasons for requesting the discontinuance 64 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. iHii of the one and the employment of the other ; and the practical lessons that may be derived from a com- parison of these methods. To get on the right track of the inspired writer we shall recall to mind the previous history of the people. God selected the family of Abraham. The family in- stitution has a tendency to counteract " the self-seek- ing of the human individual.' The family multiplied until it was subdivided into tribes livinij toccether- They had a tendency to promote the brotherhood of man. They were providentially led down into Egypt and there preserved a distinct race, for the Egyptians would not mingle with them. When emancipated from Egypt by the miracle-working hand of God, God proposed to form the twelve tribes into one nation, that He might make them an example and blessing to all the nations and families of the earth. He said to them, '•' Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice in- deed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a pecu- liar treasure unto Me, above " (or among) " all people : for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." (Ex. xix. 5, 6.) God now proposed to become their King. Kingly government is control by authoritative di- rection with a view to the maintenance of moral order among free agents. It aims to attain this end by the sense of duty, by hope and fear, by the voice of reason, and by love and sympathy. God now pro- posed to rule by prescribed general laws, proclaimed beforehand by special revelc^tion ; unlike human kings, GODS METHOD OF TEACHING. 65 who then governed by their personal will. And these laws were to be made known by special revelation, and were to produce a sense of the obligation of moral duty, and a feeling of guilt and ill-desert when duty is neglected or transgressed. And it is a historical fact that the Hebrews afterwards had these more clearly and strongly than any other ancient nation. There are noble moral sentiments in the ancient heathen writers, but their practical moral code lacked authority, and we find no expressions of conscience feeling the guilt of sin. " The history o.f the Jewish nation under the intlu- ence of their law and prophets gave them these two things : a moral sense and sensitiveness to sin, and a hope for the future that the heathen world had not. In this we have the historical proof that they were under the special teaching of a holy and gracious God, and that His law was to them, and to the world, a schoolmaster to lead to Christ." {Dr. Candlish, p. 88.) God's covenant had promises as well as laws, and these preannounced promises showed them how God could be merciful to unrighteousness, and ability for future obedience may be obtained. God's kingdom was a moral and religious training school, and the lessons to be learned were henceforth to be communicated by the mouth of His holy prophets. The Psalmist said, "He showeth His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation." (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20.) He proceeded to pro- claim the ten commandments, which were to be taught "' 66 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. in that orjranized system of schools, and added, " Hear, O Israel : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart : and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walk- est by the way, and when thou liesl down, and when thou risest up." (Deut vi. 4-7.) They were thus to be a kingdom of priests. The priest was a teacher. " The priest's lips should keep knowledge," we are told, "and they should seek the law at his mouth." They were to "teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, to know the Lord." God did not mean that He would take the place of a human monarch in a kingdom of this world, or that if thej^ chose a human monarch He would cease to be their King ; because when they did appoint a human king, God is still called the King of Israel. Jehovah says, b}'' Haggai, " The word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remaineth among you : fear ye not." (Hag. ii. 5.) " From an examination of the nature and history of the theocracy in Israel it appears that it really was simply the special moral and religious training of that people by God — its specialty consisting in this, that it was a training not merely by nature but by revela- tion." {Dr. Gandlish, p. 86.) It was what we would call a kingdom of disciples. Persons were admitted into this kingdom by baptism unto Moses ; they GODS METHOD OF TEACHING. 67 were thus made the disciples of Moses, the great prophet whom God sent to proclaim His will. When they arrived at the promised land this initiatory- rite gave place to " circumcision after the manner of Moses." "What profit is there of circumcision ? Much every way," said Paul ; " chiefly, because that unto them " (i.e., unto those who are circumcised) " are com- mitted the oracles of God," which are spoken by His prophets. These oracles gave the lessons which they were to learn in order that they might know God and His relation towards them. Within the outer circle of disciples there was formed an inner circle containing those who were circumcised in heart to love God. These formed the spiritual Israel. The Psalmist speaks of them when he says : " Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." These attended services in the Tabernacle of David on Mount Zion. There the spiritual psalms were sung. There David as a patriarch preached right- eousness in the great congregation. There the Levites preached the Abrahamic gospel. Hearers were con- verted. Of Zion it was said, " This man and that man was born in her." Here after the opening service sacri- ficing priests had nothing to do. They acted merely as trumpeters to summon the congregation. It was in the Temple on Mount Moriah that they offered typical sacrifices. But while they were thus engaged, there were persons in the Tabernacle on Mount Zion who thought of the coming antitypical High Priest, who wa3 to offer a true and efficacious sacrifice, and of 68 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. the words which He would utter when preparing to do so. " Sacrifice and offering" (which are offered by the law of typical services) " Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. Lo, I come to do Thy will O God," as offering true atonement and interces- sion. These few remarks indicate the importance which the Hebrews attached to Mount Zion, and why the Christian service was modelled after that in the Tabernacle of David, {v. Acts xv. ; also chapter on the Tabernacle of David in Smith's Harmony of the Divine Dispensation.) When Socrates and Plato saw that ancient kings among the Gentiles had failed to produce a well-ordered and permanent state of society, they jndged that a remedy could be found only in education. Plato's ideal republic w^as, as has been said, " really a great university, since education is the main thing in it." {Dr. Oandlish.) These distinguished men saw the need and the importance of education. They thought it would give wisdom, and wisdom lead to wise action, and that wise action meant virtue. But, as Aristotle pointed out, they failed to see that a State could not be made good by instruction only, without good laws and right character ; and it should be added, without sufficient motives. There were no good civil laws until those established by the empire of the Roman people. Letrislation was its distinctive character. " Previous empires were tax-taking empires. The Roman empire, while it was a tax-taking, was also a legislating empire." {Sir Henry Maine, quoted by Dr. Camllish.) lUii ihey GOD S METHOD OF TEACHING. 69 ered at a ato's rreat it. need t it tion, totle not laws bout until ople. ious jipire, . >> ire. they knew not how men may obtain a good character that would dispose them to keep good laws, or how to fur- nish them with right motives higher than temporal ones. But long before this time God had given the Hebrews perfect moral laws, and made provision for "writing those laws on their minds and in their hearts;" and strengthened right motives by connecting them with the surpassingly great realities of eternity. And He intended the Hebrews to be the means of benefit- ing all other nations and families. He recognized the unity of the race, and knew how each could realize personal purity and righteousness, brotherly kindness and usefulness, the true worship of God and entire devotion to His reasonable service. We are informed that in reply to the Divine mes- sage w^hich Moses laid before the Hebrews, all the people answered together and said, " All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord." (Ex. xix. 8.) It was, of course, important that the people should be fully convinced that Moses was Divinely commissioned to make the proposal he had laid before them. Hence God said to them, " Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever." Moses announced these words to the people, and they said something in reply, for it is written that " Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord " (v. 9). What words ? What answer had they given on this occasion ? Their reply is not recorded, but it is alluded to and may be inferred 70 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. m from what is stated afterwards. It was evidently of a gainsaying kind, for we observe that God, after hear- ing it, changed what He previously had proposed to do. He had intended to announce His laws directly to Moses only; He now resolved to proclaim directly to the people also. All the people are to be immediately addressed from Sinai by the great voice of God. This shows a change in the proposed method of procedure, and this change was obviously made in compliance with the people's words. Their words, then, were manifestly of a gainsaying kind, and were to this effect : " We want to be directly taught by God Him- self, not indirectly through Moses. Ought not our Divine King to speak to us, too, in an immediate man- ner ? And not only so, ought He not to do so in a manner worthy the Divine Majesty, in a way that must awaken the most stupid, arouse the most indolent, convince the most unbelieving ? If Divine revelation involves subjects that concern men deeply for time and eternity, why not place it before them in a way that must convince the understandings of all, excite the feelings of all, and rouse their active powers to become steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord ? " We think the answer which they gave to God was of this kind. We infer it from the fact, already stated, that it led God to make a change in His proposed plan, and that He may yield them an opportunity of proving by trial whether their suggest on would be an amendment of the Divine method, or a short-sighted device of human inexperi- ,1 f •. GOD*S METHOD OF TEACHING. 71 ence. To let them test the matter fully, He desired Moses to make certain preparatory arrangements serv- ing to impress upon them the importance of the occasion, and to call their attention away from every- thing else, and to fix it intently on this humanly suggested way of making a Divine revelation. That they might be thus prepared and thus disposed to listen reverentially, the people were to be sanctified ceremonially for two days, and precautionary measures were to be used to prevent any acts of daring pre- sumption. Bounds were placed about the mount which was to be used as the pyramidal pulpit from which God was personally to address them. And they were warned that neither man nor beast could with impunity go nearer to the mount than that limit ; that those who presumed to do so would be stoned, or thrust through with a dart. These precautionary measures astonished and annoyed them ; they regarded them as needless restrictions. It is said, " They could not endure that which was commanded," etc. (Heb. xii. 20) ; so highly did they estimate their ability to approach and face any manifestation of God's glory, however majestic, or to listen to any voice which He could use for the purpose of giving emphasis to His legislative will. The chosen mount and its surroundings attract our attention for a moment. The Sinaitic group is encom- passed by many hills and towering cliffs, producing no vegetation, but presenting a startling contrast of colours — red, and brown, and olive, and salmon, and 'I I i ■ ' I 72 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. cream, and white, and black. The people had passed throufjh these surround inofs and had come to the dark granite cliffs of Horeb. Near these is a plain, upwards of two and a half miles lon V, i/.x u^ -% 1.0 I.I >- IIM •*» 140 11.25 Ml 1.4 2.2 1.6 ^'' A .-^ ;;> V' ->/ 7 Si. ^ V 4>^ \\ ^" K^ ^ L. " If Matthew had written oi [ih npoatKwriaav^ oi (h eaiaraaav^ he WOuld have divided the disciples into two co-ordinate and almost equal parts." (Lange.) But he does not, and hence im- plies that only a few doubted. And it is further im- plied by the context in Matthew that these few were some of the eleven. Having come near enough to be perfectly recognized, He said, " All power " (" authority " — Eev. Ver.) has been given " unto Me in heaven and in earth." The Greek word combines the idea of governing authority with that of executive power. In many cases these are not united ; " for many are not able to perform those things which they have a right to do ; and on the contrary, many have power to do things which they have no right to do." (Beza.) Christ has both. He always had power. He, at the time He here refers to, received full kingly authority also ; He received a new office — not a new attribute. This new office was therefore distinct from the dominion which He pre- viously possessed as Creator and Preserver of all ; though this too might in a certain sense be said to be given to Him, as being the Son of God. "God of God, deriving His being and essence by an eternal generation from the Father." (Bloomfield.) He has all power over 1 -'ial nature and its forces ; all power over all ^^.erning authority, whether angelic or human (Eph. Christ's supreme kingly authority. 105 i. 20, 21 ; Heb. i. 6) ; whether civil (Rom. xiii. 1, 2 ; Rev. i. 5 ; xvii. 14 ; xix. 16 ; Ps. ii.) ; ecclesiastical (Col. i. 18; Eph. v. 23; Ps. ii.), or domestic (Eph. vi. 1-4.) He has "every kind of power." Christ has kingly power over Satan, the prince of this world. The king- dom of Christ is opposed to the kingdom of Satan. Satan aims to prevent men from rendering full sub- mission and obedience to the will and word of God. He seduces to disobedience by means of natural infirmi- ties, like those of hunger and thirst ; by means of plausible error, by the allurements of worldly pleasure and ambition, by the tyranny of worldly opposition and persecution. Christ aims at exposing the devices and destroying the works of the devil ; and of setting men free from his misleading influence. Christ re- strains him so that he cannot tempt beyond what men may successfully resist. The Father Almighty handed over to the Son of God all kingly authority to employ all agencies and instrumentalities in heaven and earth, as occasion may require, to carry out the gracious plans of His redeem- ing love. By so doing He gave the fullest assurance that He wishes those plans to be tried as patiently, fully, and zealously as possible. It is this supreme kingly authority that will be " delivered up " at the close of man's probation, in order that thenceforth Jesus may reign jointly with the Father, when " the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ." It is proper here to observe that when God com- Ill- ^i|i f i:.J.:|i! 106 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. mitted all this kingly power into the hands of His beloved Son, He retained in His own hands the prerogative to uphold the principles and laws of moral government, and to pardon those transgressors who are persuaded to repent and plead for mercy through the Mediator. Hence Christ is a Priest upon His throne, making intercession for penitent petitioners. The Divine Father retained also the right to adopt believers as His children, and as brethren of Christ. And He reserved in His own power to determine when Christ's remedial kingdom shall be delivered up, when remedial efforts shall be terminated, and when the day of judgment shall dawn ; and also the right to punish the incorrigibly wicked when convicted and sentenced by Christ as Judge. God the Holy Spirit, too, has a peculiar department in this great remedial work. He graciously under- takes to convince men of sin, because they believe not on Christ, and of righteousness, and of judgment. As a witness He attests the adopting act of the Father ; as a regenerating Spirit He renews men after the image of God, and by His presence He makes them of quick understanding to see the beauty and the glory of spiritual and divine things ; and He will renew the bodies of believers. Thus the blessed Trinity are associated in the great work of human salvation, and entitled to be the united object of man's highest gratitude, love, and devotion. Christ continued after His ascension to direct the apostles whom He had sent forth. When a new -['I CHRIST S SUPREME KINGLY AUTHORITY 1.07 apostle was to be chosen, the Lord Jesus reappeared and met him on the way to Damascus. When that chosen one wished to exercise his ministry among his own people, he was ordered away from that sphere by immediate command. He says, " It came to pass, that, while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance ; and saw Him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me. . . . Depart, for I will se id thee far hence unto the Gentiles." (Acts xxii. 17, 18, 21.) Christ through the ministry of the Spirit sent him other directions. " When Paul had fixed himself as a settled teacher in Antioch, * the Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereto I have called them.' When he would have confined himself to the Eastern continent, and turned, in his contem- plated circuit, first to Asia and then to Bithynia, ' the Spirit suffered him not,' and a Divine message enabled him to ' gather assuredly that the Lord had called him ' to carry His Gospel into Europe. In Corinth, the Lora's own voice directed him to remain, as in the headquarters of the Grecian world. In Jerusalem, when disheartened and perhaps doubtful of the course he had taken, his Master came to assure him of the acceptance of his past testimony, and announce the purpose that he should bear witness also at Rome." (Bernard, Progress of Doctrine, pp. 106, 107.) " Thus does He, who at the commencement of the history was seen to pass into the heavens, continue to appear in person on the scene. His apostles act not Ij- n- >j it ^ ■ ^' '■ i . ]■ ^ ■ 1, ' liMIl! 108 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. only on His past commission, but under His present direction. He is not wholly concealed by the cloud which had received Him out of their sight — now His voice is heard, now His hand put forth, and now through a sudden reft the brightness of His presence shines. And these appearances, voices and visions are not mere incidental favours ; they are apportioned to the moments when they are wanted, moments which determine the course which the Gospel takes, and prove that the whole course was under Divine guid- ance." (T. D. Bernard.) While the Acts show that the Lord Jesus still directed the course of action taken by His apostles, the Epistles show that He inspired their teaching. Paul, for instance, says respecting the doctrine which he taught, " I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. i. 11, 12; Eph. iii. 1-5.) "The Christian revelation, therefore, is made known partly in the discourses of our Lord, and partly in the discourses and epistles of His inspired apostles." Some have failed to see that Christ now has this supreme kingly authority. They think that the Holy Spirit now reigns as King, exercising all supervision and control over everything pertaining to the king- dom of God. But they wholly misapprehend the commission given to the Spirit. It is said, " He shall not speak of Himself." His distinctive work is to " glorify " Jesus Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. Hence, "the descent of the Spirit to act in Christ's CHRIST S SUPREME KINGLY AUTHORITY. 109 name was an additional attestation of Christ's sover- eign supremacy. It was Christ who received of the Father and sent the Divine Spirit. The Divine Spirit came as the agent of the Divine Immanuel, who is Head of the new theocracy on earth." The men on whom He acted were the men whom Christ had selected to be His own witnesses to bear testimony to His character and dignity and work. The Spirit fitted them fully for this work. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, testified to the fact of His exaltation : " Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom" they "crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts ii. 36.) And speaking of Him to those assembled in the house of Cornelius, he told them, '* He is Lord of all." (Acts x. 36.) When ascend- ing from earth He did not surrender His regal au- thority to the Divine Spirit. He not merely had. He has, all power in heaven and in earth. Of course. He did not resign it into the hands of the apostles. We find that the apostles and evangelists acted not only on Christ's past commission, but under His present di- rection. They acted in Christ's name and by His authority. As the Gospels record what Christ began to do while He was on earth, so the Acts are a record of what He continued to do after He had passed into heaven. The activity of the apostles was under the guidance of their risen and exalted Lord. They re- garded themselves as agents through whom the Lord Himself continued to act. Compare " the summary of the last instructions of Jesus to His apostles, as men- tioned in the beginning of the Acts, with the summary ■U no HAPTIZINO AND TEACHING. III*! 1 i i i i ;l 1 1 nil i !,,■_ '. .'ii • if . li :(l L of Paul's teaching," and you will find that as Jesus " gave commandments through the Holy Ghost to His apostles," and " spoke of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God," so Paul, at Ephesus, entered " into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading " (" reasoning and persuading " — liev. Ver.) " as to the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." (Acts xix. 8.) At his last interview with them he said, " I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God "("of God " is omitted in the Revised Version), " shall see my face no more." (Acts xx. 25.) So at Rome, " Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preach- ing the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus." (Acts xxviii. 30, 31.) Paul afterwards wrote to the Romans that he was " separated unto the gospel of God, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh ; and, according to the spirit of holiness, was declared to be the Son of God with power" — i.e., with kingly power — "by the resur- rection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (Rom. i. 1-4.) Paul tells the Philippians about " Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God : but made Himself of no reputa- tion, and took upon Him the form of a servant . . . and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every »iame : that at the name of Jesus " — i.e., in devout Christ's supreme kingly authority. Ill recognition of the title conferred on Him by God, viz., the title "Lord" {TJuiyer), — "every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should con- fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. ii. o-lL) In short, the title "Lord," which is constantly given to Jesus, has reference to His kingly and judicial authority over men. " For whether we live, we live unto the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord . . . For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living . . . for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." (Rom. xiv. S-IL) r has been said, it is worthy of remark that the apostles to the Jews are never described as referring to the kingdom. The Jews had formed wrong antici- pations respecting it. They thought it would take the form of a state, and as a logical result rejected Christ because He did not adopt this plan. As they were not yet willing to receive the truth on that topic, the Spirit, it seems, did not inspire the apostles to the Jews to dwell upon this point. He imparted a measure of truth where persons were not prepared to receive more. But Philip, when preaching to the Samaritans* preached good things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and as a result the Samaritans were baptized; and, as we have seen, so did Paul when preaching to the Gentiles, i '1 i-i 112 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. |i i I i ! i;: In the Book of Revelation, Christ is introduced as the Prince (" Ruler " — Rev. Ver.) of the kings of the earth (ch. i. 5). Some of these enter into conflict with Him, but it is prophetically announced that He " shall overcome them because He is King of Jdngs and Lord of lords." (Rev. xvii. 14; xix. 16.) The martyrs on Christ's side will be granted a iirst resurrection, and will " reign with Christ a thousand years " (Rev. xx. 4), before the end of the world, when the nations of Gog and Magog enter into the final conflict and are destroyed by fire from heaven (Rev. xx. 8, 9). For " He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet," and until death, the last enemy, is destroyed. (1 Cor. xv. 25, 26.) His continued reign was anticipated by the penitent on the cross — Luke xxiii. 42 — " Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom" {ev, in Thy Kingdom) — that is, with all Thy glorious kingdom about Thee. (Trench, p. 122 ; v. Matt. xvi. 28: " Coming in His kingdom.") In the preceding chapter we saw that He speaks in a way in which we can hear. From this chapter we see that we ought to hear what we can hear — that we refuse or neglect to do so at our peril. " See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh " (Heb. xii. 25), that now speaketh from heaven. He is the only possible Saviour. To refuse Him that speaketh is a very different thing from the refusal of the Hebrew fathers to hear again an earth-shaking voice. The Hebrew fathers ])rayed to be freed from hearing again the overwhelming tones and emphasis of fche Divine voice from Sinai. On that occasion they had well spoken a,ll that they had CHRIST S SUPREME KINGLY AUTHORITY. 113 spoken. From this voice they did escape by flying afar off, and by praying against its repetition. They at that time did not pray to be delivered from the law that was proclaimed on that occasion, or from the authority and government of the Divine Law^ -giver. On the other hand, they then wished the law itself ^o be repeated in their hearing by the mouth of Moses. But when God afterwards spoke to them through Moses, in a way which they could hear, they turned away, we are told, from him that spoke — and then " they escaped not " the judgments that God denounced against such turning away. " Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven," that is, from the Lord Jesus, now raised from the prophetic to the kingly office, and invested with " all power in heaven and in earth." He now speaks with supreme authority from heaven, not with an earth-shaking voice, though He will speak with a voice that will shake not the earth only, but also the heavens, to wake the dead and summon them to His judgment seat. He speaks with gentle voice, but it is He that speaks, and His words should guide the consciences of men, for they will be the rule of judgment. See that ye refuse Him not ; " for if they escaped not who refused " (begged off from) " him (Moses) that spake on earth, the testimony which God inspired him to deliver ; much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him " (the Lord Jesus, no longer a mere prophet like unto Moses, but a supreme King) " who speaketh from heaven." 8 I- 114 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. CHAPTER V. tii'f I :i ii: ■iii CHRIST FORMED A KINGDOM OF DISCIPLES, AS DISTINCT FROM A KINGDOM OF REGENERATE BELIEVERS. » Those who hear what is taught in the school of disciples believe. Those who believe are regenerated. Regenerate believers are added to the Church. The Epistles which are addressed to the churches do not use the word /iiaS?/T}ig^ disciple. These two kingdoms are made distinct by separate Divine institution. Many Christian teachers have not seen that this distinction is of Divine appointment, yet they have felt it to be expedient and prudent to introduce a somewhat similar distinction, a correspond- ing two-fold arrangement, to carry out the work of Christian evangelization. They form an outer circle enclosing congregations for adults, and Sabbath -schools for the young; and then they proceed, as soon as practicable, to form an inner circle containing members selected from the outer one, who hold Christian fellow- ship and co-operate in Christian work. In fact, " all the churches of scriptural Protestantism have pro- fessedly, if not practically, societies within societies, or select communions within general ones." (Thorn, Suhj. of Bap., p. 335.) In the outer circle both good and bad are permitted to remain. In the inner circle they wish to keep the good only. Now, Christ THE TWO DISTINCT KINGDOMS OF CHRIST. 115 clearly saw the expediency of such a course of pro- cedure. Accordingly He instituted first a kingdom of disciples, i.e., of pupils. In this the bad were to be allowed to remain with the good, until He closed the day of probation by sending forth His angels to gather out the bad. He established also a kingdom of regenerate believers, in which the good only should be permitted to enter and remain. A man must be born of the Spirit to enter this kingdom. Thus, Christ has now two kingdoms, and that the on*^ differs from the other in the manner that has been indicated is very clearly taught in the following Scripture statements: — 1. The New Testament Scriptures tell us that Christ has a kingdom which contains the bad as well as the good. This one is variously illustrated : e.g., by the field in which tares as well as wheat grow, but from which the tares are not to be rooted out till harvest. Authoritative directions were given not to remove them sooner, lest the effort to separate the tares from the wheat should pull up the wheat also. The sower of the wheat will take proper action in the harvest time. He says, " I will say to the reapers. Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn. . . . So shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matt, xiii. 30, etc.) This explains how it is that persons may I ill »^i it! B: f ! • ,1 116 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. be " children of the Messiah's kingdom " and yet be cast into outer darkness. (Matt. viii. 12.) John, the fore- runner of Christ, spoke of this outer kingdom. He foretold that it would contain chaff as well as wheat. But he informs us that the King has a fan with which in due time He shall separate the wheat from the chaff. The outer kingdom is compared to leaven hid in tne meal, causing a process of assimilation that goes on gradually till the whole of the meal is leavened. The likeness to His kingdom is not said to be found in the whole mass after it has been thoroughly leavened, but in the leaven when hid in the meal. It therefore does not teach that there is no kingdom until the process of assimilation to truth has been completed. No, it means that it exists where that process has commenced. This kingdom is established before the judgment day, for it is compared, as already stated, to a field in which tares remain until gathered out at the judg- ment day. " Therefore the kingdom must be before the judgment." {J. E. Werden.) These Scriptures were intended to apply to an outer kingdom of pupils* organized in families, in Sabbath-schools, and in con- gregations (which to get through with work should meet also on other days). It is not necessary to meet in one locality. They may be subdivided, but every part is to have the one end and aim. 2. But the Scripture writers also speak of an inner kingdom which is intended to contain the good only. " The Lord adds " to this kingdom. He admits the regenerate. He does not admit the unregenerate. I:' THE TWO DISTINCT KINGDOMS OF CHRIST. 117 He says, " Except a man be born again " (born of the Spirit) " he cannot enter into this kingdom." (John iii- 5.) It is sometimes compared to a vineyard in which the unfruitful are not allowed to remain. " Every branch in Me," said Christ, " that beareth not fruit. He " (the Divine husbandman) " taketh away," — not He will take it away at the judgment day ; no. He " taketh away " when it is shown to be persistently unfruitful. Accordingly, in reference to this kingdom, the subordinate rulers are commanded to exclude the bad from fellowship with the good. For instance, (a) they are to exclude those who are immoral in their conduct — " I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators : yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, . . . but if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them that are without ? Do not ye judge them that are within?" (1 Cor. v. 9, 12.) (6) They are to exclude those characters who impenitently persist in what is injurious to their brethren — " If thy brother shall trespass against thee, . . . and neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." (Matt, xviii. 15-17.) (c) They are to exclude those who are schismatical in purpose and aim — " Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doc- trine which ye have learned ; and avoid them." (Rom. xvi. 17.) (d) They are to exclude those who openly I \l 118 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. if!:: W ■ ■ LL- Pill !' ! disregard the prudential regulations established by proper ecclesiastical authority — " Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." (2 Thes. iii. 6.) Since they are commanded to exclude such, it is plain that they are impliedly forbidden to receive them. These Scriptures are intended to apply to the inner kingdom of regenerate believers, which is now called the Church of Christ. In each case the kingdom means not merely a community of men with men, but of men in special relation to God. The congregation is the congregation of the Lord. (Numbers xvi. 3.) The Church is the Church of God. (1 Thes. ii. 14.) A king- dom was more extensive than an ecdesia — the Greek word translated church. Ecdesia originally meant an assembly of citizens called together by proper authority for the transaction of some business pertaining to them. This assembly pertained to the kingdom, but did not constitute the kingdom. There were many in the kingdom who were not in such assemblies ; so there are many in the outer kingdom of Christ that are not in the Church of Christ. The outer kingdom was to be regulated by teaching revealed truth addressed to the conscience. The inner kingdom was to be regu- lated by the same truth addressed to a new principle of feeling and action in the hearts of men, which " makes the worldly godly, the selfish loving, the cold affection- ate," the indolent active. And this new principle was iSI THE TWO DISTINCT KINGDOMS OF CHRIST. 119 imparted by the Spirit of regeneration. In the outer kingdom they were taught to interpret the Word of God by .ight methods and rules, that they may know the character and will of God. This knowledge is more excellent than that which is taught in any other school. " Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty rnan glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches : but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he under- standeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth : for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." (Jer. ix. 23, 24.) What was taught was the laws and promises of the new covenant, and this was framed in view of the mediatorial sacrifice and inter- cession which the Great High Priest was in due time to offer. In the inner kingdom they were taught to do the will of God " on earth as it is done in heaven." (Matt. vi. 10.) In the Lord's prayer as given by Luke the words " Thy kingdom come" are not followed by " Thy will be done as in heaven so in earth." These last words are not adopted in the Revised Version, as they are omitted in the best authorities. From this omission it has been inferred, as Dr. Candlish says, that they are simply an explanation of the preceding words, " Thy kingdom come," and accordingly, that the object of God's reign is to get His will done on earth as it is in heaven ; and the people of this kingdom have immediate relation to God and special access to Him. " In ancient empires priests and kings were supposed K i- 4, ^' •^— ^ . I ■f. i- T '■■ i ! ■ M w till 120 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I il It--". Hi* ' r ^ii; ' liii i ili J i iili i.l I lit to be the only ones who had immediate relation and access to God, the only ones who were directly under God the Supieme Ruler. In those empires we can find no trace of the people being regarded as standing in direct relation to the gods, whose will their kings proclaimed and enforced." {D7\ Gandlish.) But the Divine King places all the people in immediate relation to His law, and gives them personal access to Him. We agree with those who say that we must come to Christ before we come to His Church. But the Church is not the only organization which Christ has formed, nor the first one in which He places us. Before appointing a church organization for regenerate be- lievers, He appointed a school organization for disci- ples, i.e., for pupils, persons put to school to be taught what Christ commands. Again, we agree with the position " that the commands of Christ have supreme authority ; that these commands are revealed in the Bible, and there only ; that they make demand upon the individual for personal obedience ; that this obedi- ence is impossible without intelligent conviction as to what they require." (Rev. Geo. D. B. Pepper.) But we hold, also, that persons are first put to school in order that they may attain the personal conviction that baptism pertains unto, and initiates into, the outer preparatory school — not into the inner communion of the Church. In a word, we have to do not merely with Christ as the Head of the Church, which He be- came after His ascension to the right hand of the Father : we have to do with Him as (1) the Great 111 t II m THE TWO DISTINCT KINGDOMS OF CHRIST. 121 }■ 1 Teacher, p ad (2) King of disciples, which He became before His ascension. The Great Teacher began His ministry on earth by forming a school of disciples and then teaching them. He afterwards appointed baptism to be the initiatory rite. But He Himself did not baptize — He taught. He not merely announced certain truths, He laid open their meaning — " He expounded " (solved, cTrtAwj) " all things to His disciples." (Mark iv. 34.) Even after His resurrection "He expounded" (interpreted thoroughly, (kepfij^vEvu) " unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke xxiv. 27.) So His sub- ordinate teachers were not merely to testify, but to expound. When Paul addressed the Romans in his own hired house, "he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening." (Acts xxviii. 23.) When Peter addressed the Jews respecting what had occurred at Csesarea, "he expounded it by order unto them." (Acts xi. 4.) Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos " and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." (Acts xviii. 26.) They were to teach — not merely to announce certain truths, but to guide in study, to con- duct through a course of study in theology. They required special preparation for this, and hence Christ, as an important part of His work, selected twelve in- dividuals and trained them to be(^ me teachers. It was to this work that His short to have been specially directed. ministry seems Follow Me," said I' I ! 122 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. He in first gathering to Him a few disciples, " and I will make you fishers of men." His last words to them were, ■'* All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations." They were to initiate all as pupils into Christ's school, and thus form a kingdom of disciples ; and teach them all things that He commands, and thus establish His reign over the consciences of men. The commission which Christ gave to Paul shows that the apostles, too, were to regard teaching as more import- ant than baptizing. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, tells us that he was sent " not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." It was therefore understood by him that baptizing had a relation to preaching the Gospel, but a subordinate relation. To initiate a person into a school is one thing, to teach the initiated is another and more important thing. Paul had a commission to do the latter, but not the former. He was specially commissioned to preach the Gospel, but got no com- mission to baptize, though not forbidden to do it on rare occasions. By giving due attention to this distinction between Christ's kingdom of disciples and His kingdom of regenerate believers we are prepared to form a right view of the " keys " that were given to Peter. It was the keys of the outer kingdom of disciples that were given to him. He admitted the first Jews on the day of Pentecost into the outer kingdom; he admitted into it the first Gentiles, in the house of Cornelius. He said to the former, " Repent, and be baptized every one of THE TWO DISTINCT KINGDOMS OF CHRIST. 123 you." (Acts ii. 38.) And he commandec' the latter " to be baptized in the name of the Lord." (Acts x. 48.) But Peter did not get the keys of the inner kii^gdom, which is called the Church: Christ retains in His own hands the keys of the inner kingdom. He it is who " hath the key of David" (as patriarch), "who openeth and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." (Isa. xxii. 22 ; Rev. iii. 7.) It is the Lord who " adds to the Church daily." (Acts ii. 47.) Hence Christ said, " I will build My Church," at the very time that He said, " I will give unto Peter the keys of the kingdom of disciples." (Matt. xvi. 18, 19.) Great error and injury have resulted from confounding what Christ meant to distinguish. The distinction now spoken of seems to be recog- nized in the so-called Apostles' Creed. It distinguishes between the Catholic — i.e., the universal — Church, and " the communion of saints." For we find these words are made distinct and differing clauses in the so-called Apostles' Creed: "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church ; the communion of saints ; the," etc. It has been affirmed that in every ancient and venerable formulary of the faith the clause " the communion of saints" is separated from the clause " the Holy Catho- lic Church " by a period, a colon, or a semicolon, and never by a comma, except as the comma is used to separate other distinct clauses. It is a separate and distinct clause in the present E.iglish Prayer Book, and was so in the American one until 1845, when an edition published by Harpers, New York, changed II 1 ■I 124 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I the semicolon to a comma, to remove the distinction between the Catholic Church and the communion of saints. " This was the first time it was so placed in any creed of Christendom." (J. P. Lundy, Monumental Christianity, p. 350-358.) Many have not recognized the distinction, but apply the word "church" to what is really the congregation — the outer school. They have no Church distinct from the congregation. Properly speaking, they have no Church, no communion of saints, but only a school of disciples, and hence no strict ecclesiastical discipline. J . i i lli^-H,; i CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 125 CHAPTER VI. CHRIST ISSUED A ROYAL COMMISSION TO MAKE ALL NATIONS HIS DISCIPLES. (MATT. XXVIII.) IN THIS HE ASSOCIATES BAPTIZING WITH TEACHING. " All great designs must bt condensed into some brief working forms in order to secure tbe results at which they aim." {Dr. E. Beecher.) This is done in the commission before us. It specifies the incorpora- tion of all nations in one kingdom as the grand aim that the teachers are to keep in view ; and it points out baptizing and teaching as the means by which they were to aid in attaining that end. The English version of this commission uses two similar words, " teach " and " teaching," where the Greek Testament uses different words. The first word 7 fiadnrevaaTe, the second is 6i6aaKovTeg. Happily, as Dr. Dale observes, " there is a very general assent as to the translation " of the former word. Ma6?/Tevo), says Stier, means first, " I am fiadrjTvg, a disciple, to some one," as in Matt, xxvii. 57 ; and then with a transitive meaning as here, " I make another a disciple to some one." {v. Acts xiv. 21; and Matt. xiii. 52.) This meaning is admitted by Baptists to be the correct one. "It is well known that the word corresponding to 'teach,' in the first instance in which it occurs in this passage, signi- fies to disciple or make scholars." (Carson, Ba'p., 'mm 1 , 1 ^ i ■ !^s 126 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. p. 169.) Dr. Conant translates it, " Go ye therefore and disciple all nations." Wiberg also renders it, " Going out, make all nations disciples, baptizing them unto the name of the Father," etc. (Christian Bap., p. 33.) Dr. Dale, a Pedo-baptist, observes, "The agree- ment on this point, so far as translation is concerned, is now so uniform that nothing need be said upon it." The proper meaning of this translation, however, will need to be examined. It is important to consider in what sense the com- mand to make disciples would be understood by the apostles to whom it was immediately given, " because our Lord would not so speak as to mislead those whom He was instructing." (Noel.) We fully adopt this remark, and proceed on this plan. The first observa- tion which they would make would probably be this, that the things which the commission referred to were partly old and partly new. " When sovereigns com- mand their subjects, or masters their servants, to con- tinue previously proclaimed and well-known duties, it is not necessary to enter into full particulars in stating them ; it is sufficient to employ general terms. And this is all that is usually done. But if those in authority wish to forbid what v/as previously com- manded, or to command some new duty, or new mode of performing it, they then employ words that will more fully and precisely specify what is or is not to be done." They would observe, accordingly, that the work of making disciples was not new. Their fore- fathers had beeii accustomed for centuries to make iiiii . "i CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 127 disciples unto Moses. John, the forerunner of Christ, made disciples, and Christ during His personal minis- try made disciples and then taught them. So a king adopts a child, and then teaches it and trains it to be fit for its royal destiny ; or enlists soldiers, and then drills and trains them in the use of the most active, skilful '\nd united efforts to vanquish every foe. " Disciple means learner or scholar." (Walden, Bap. and Com., p. 8.) The word points to instruction yet to be received. Mr. Stovel admits this, for after quoting what Clement says, " Let your chil- v'>en partake of the discipline that is in Christ," lie subjoins, " This was the business of a disciple, and because he had this to learn he was called a disciple." {V. Thorn, Suh. of Bap., p. 475.) It includes those who have been only this day placed under a teacher, as well as those that have been under training for months or years. Accordingly, we find it applied in Scripture, as elsewhere, to persons at all stages from the starting-point to the goal. The evangelists, as we remarked in a former page, gave the name of disciples to some followers who had not yet learned the dis- tinguishing doctrines which Christ taught, and who would not receive them when He did teach them. For instance, when the essential doctrine of His sacri- ficial death for the sin of the world was taught by Christ, in figurative language that alluded to the typical paschal lamb (" because the passover v/as nigh," John 6. 4), He said : " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man," etc., " ye have no life in you." (The eat- m 128 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Jl '■::i ing of the flesh of the typical paschal lamb represented the partaking of the benefits resulting from its death; so the eating the flesh of the Son of Man, who, as our antitypical Paschal Lamb, was slair for us, denotes the partaking of the benefits procured for us by His atoning death.) They replied : " This is a hard say- ing ; who can hear it ? " " And from that time," says the inspired historian, " many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." The sin of those who now deserted Him " was not that they found it difficult to understand this saying, but that finding it difficult they had not confidence enough to wait for light." (Smith's Diet, Art. Jesus Christ, p. 1049.) Jesus said to them, " There are some of you that be- lieve not." He thus made it evident that many dis- ciples — that is, pupils — of the Great Teacher were not believers in His fundamental doctrines. They had not even heard them, and would not receive them when thev did hear them ; and for this reason went away, resolved to be disciples no longer. Therefore, to show that persons were made and called disciples does not prove that these persons had received previous instruction respecting the distinguishing doctrines of the Great Teacher. Other disciples did not go away from Him. Those who remained with Him in due time became believers, but did not then cease to be disciples ; they had more to learn, and continued to hear > His teaching. Hence, from the mere circum- stance that the words "believer" and "disciple" may be applied to the same person, it cannot be rightly CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 129 inferred that the word " disciple " means believer. For, as Dr. Carson says, " Words may refer to the same thinof without being synonymous" (p. 396). " My canon is that in certain situations two words, or even several words, may, with equal propriety, fill the same place, though they are essentially different in their significations " (p. 57). " When words refer to the same thing they must be consistent in what they ex- press, but one may express more or less than the other " (p. 397). In the situations in which they are interchangeable " the characteristic difference may be expressed, but is not necessary " (p. 64). " Now, it is from ignorance of this principle that lexicographers have given meanings to words which they do not possess, and have thereby laid a foundation for evasive criticism on controverted subjects, with respect to almost all questions " (p. 57). He sayvS, " I might illustrate my doctrine by the various names which are given to the followers of Christ. They are called Christians, disciples, believers, saints, etc. Are these words identical in meaning ? Does not each of these names designate the persons in a different manner ? " (p. 433). Certainly, and what the term " disciple " designates in Scripture is that the person is under the authority of the teacher, that he may begin or may continue to learn what the teacher engages to com- municate. In any other school than that of Christ a person may be advanced far enough to cease to be a disciple, and may even become more eminent than his teacher ; but in Christ's school this can never be. 9 m 1 In i! ^ii H 130 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Here we must be disciples through life, for no disciple can become equal in knowledge to the Great Teacher. In short, " What constitutes a disciple is not what he has already learned, but what he has to learn. The most advanced and the least advanced are equally disciples, provided they are at school. One is not a disciple when he thiqks that he has nothing to learn, or when he imagines that he has learned all." (Felix Bovet, Ph.D.) The need of teaching, a teachable spirit, and a listening ear, are the chief qualifications for discipleship. That the word " disciple " is not synonymous with "evangelical believer" is evident also from the fact, already stated, that John's followers were called " dis- ciples," yet manifestly they were not evangelical be- lievers. If all whom John baptized, namely, "Jeru- salem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan," were true believers, they were all savingly converted before Christ commenced His ministry. But Christ did not think so. He knew that this was not the case, for His first proclamation to them was, " Re- pent ye, and believe the Gospel." A full unfolding and exhibition of the doctrines of the Gospel was not necessary in order to make dis- ciples, for it was not in a perfected and demonstrated system of doctrines, but in a perfect Teacher, that they were to repose their faith. " This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." (John vi. 29.) "I am the light of the world: he th&t followeth Me shall not \yalk in darkness, but shall have the light CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 131 of life." (John viii. 12.) " I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger ; and he that helieveth on Me shall never thirst." (John vi. 35.) " If ye con- tinue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John viii. 31,32 ; Briggs.) Their Hrst duty was to believe in the Teacher and in His present teach- ing, and in due time they would know all the doctrines which He taught. The doctrines of the Gospel are based on its facts, especially on the facts of our Lord's death and resurrection ; the doctrines that pertain to these could not have been taught with perfect explicit- ness before the facts themselves had transpired, and, therefore, not during Christ's personal ministry. " In- timations of them, however, had been given by Him in the forms principally of metaphor, parable, and contrast." Some reverse this order. Instead of baptizing and teaching for life, they teach for a few days or months, and then baptize. Baptism is used as a certificate. Thus the disciple's education is finished. As if it had been said, " Make Rabbis of men because you have taught them." This theory sadly checks the great work of education, and counteracts the very design of baptif^m. To this reversal of the proper order we may doubtless, in very many cases, attribute the low at- tainments in Christian knowledge, the low manifesta- tion of Christian enterprise and efficiency. As already stated, the first thing which Jesus did was to form a royal school or kingdom of disciples, ! i t. ". I I! !)! hi [*l I;- : ' '■ III 1 ■ ^^' 1 i ;ii 1 - i ' .; ;J!I i -i'^; i II'' 'M' \'i''\ ii|i. ;':!; : 1 . :!': 'It'i'l il 132 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. which, as it increases, may be organized into families, Sabbath-schools, and congregations. It was intended to embrace all who are capable of receiving instruction, even though they should eventually fail to become influenced by it. This is the kingdom which is said to be like unto a net which gathered of every kind, both good and bad (Matt. xiii. 31-50) ; and like unto a field in which tares are mingled with the wheat, and are not to be separated until the harvest day. The outer kingdom of disciples is, as already observed, dis- tinct from the inner kinfjdom of evangelical believers. It is most important to perceive this distinction, and to understand and keep in remembrance that the outer kingdom of disciples is the one to which the great commission, and consequently baptism, has special reference. Baptism admits into this, and, as Matthew Henry observes, it " admits not into the internal com- munion." Having at this point distinguished things that differ, we can see the way into the wonderful fulness of meaning which is contained in the very important words which Christ employed on this occasion ; and can keep clear of the dangerous errors into which others have fallen. The warrant for putting persons to school is found in their relation to the atonement. By the atonement, as Mr. Wesley remarked, " God is so far reconciled to all the world that He hath given them a new covenant : the plain condition whereof being once fulfilled, there is no more condemnation for us ; but we are justified Christ's royal commission. 133 freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." By placing them in this new and gracious relation it has set them apart to be educated respecting the terms and conditions of this new covenant. In this respect " we are sanctified " (that is, set apart) "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. x. 10.) In another text, also, the atoning blood of Jesus is called " the blood of the covenant by which we were sanctified." Sanctification by the atonement is diflferent from sanctification by the Divine Spirit. Sanctification by the atonement sets persons apart to be instructed in reference to the promises of the covenant, and to get its laws written in their minds. This part may be effected by human teachers, aided by the baptism of the Divine Spirit. The sanctification which is by the Spirit is necessary to write the law in the heart, and to incline them to obey it. In this manner the atonement has opened the way for persons to get initiated into the new covenant school of disciples, that they may learn what the will of God is, and how to obtain grace to obey it. A command to put under instruction presupposes teachableness in reference to the things that are to be taught. It will apply, therefore, (1) to all penitent adults, and (2) to all infants who are not idiots, i.e., absolutely unteachable. 1. It will apply to penitent adults. Adults, being directly responsible to God, are required to learn the truth as it is in Jesus ; but in reference to this they are not properly teachable until they penitently ask, 134 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. :l!l m !li "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" Hence the Apostle Peter, when addressing adults on the day of Pentecost, said, " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus." Repentance brings an adult back to the teachableness of a child. Christ ac- cordingly said, " Except ye repent " (the Greek words used here literally mean, " Except ye turn hack ") " and become as little children " (i.e., except ye turn back to the teachableness of a child), " ye shall in no case enter into the kinofdom," etc. Christ wishes those who enter the kingdom of disciples to enter as little children, willing to receive instruction, willing to accept facts on the authority of a teacher, before they can understand the philosophy of those facts ; willing ' to act from knowledge sufficient for present duty, however limited it may be in other respects. " To throw off old prejudices, and come with hearts willing to receive knowledge and understandings open to convic- tion, is the condition of instruction," says Sir W. Hamilton. This is especially true in religious matters. Men in relation to the Lord Jesus are like children in relation to the human teachers, and must receive upon the authority of the Great Teacher many things which cannot at present be comprehended philosophically. Adults who are not penitent have no desire to learn what Christ has commanded them to know and to do. Impenitents are not willing to be taught, and are therefore not willing to be made disciples. Such are not to be forced to submit to instruction. But peni- tent adults are teachable, and teachable adults are CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 135 eligible, and are therefore to be discipled when they yield to exhortation. A penitent may believe that Christ is the Great Teacher before exercising savincr faith in Him as the mediating High Priest. Belief that Christ is a Teacher is wholly distinct from faith in the essential doctrines which He teaches and in the offers of salvation which He makes. Nicodemus, for instance, believed that Christ was " a Teacher come from God," but would not believe His teaching respecting the new birth. To this he disapprovingly asked, " How can these things be ? " Some adults have repented and exercised saving faith, and have obtained regenerating grace ; but as they are still teachable, and still in need of instruction, they have the qualifications for baptism. 2. As the command to disciple all nations applies to all that are teachable in reference to what is to be taught them, it applies to all infants also. A command to put under instruction supposes teachableness. But all chil- dren are naturally teachable in some degree in reference to what they should learn from their first teachers. " Education begins with life. Nature does not study^ in this particular, parental convenience ; knows noth- ing of accommodating delays, nor of formal begin- nings. The child is born " teachable, " and receives its first lessons with its first breath." (J. Harris, D.D., Patriarchy y p. 228.) " Education for good or for evil begins in the cradle. This is plain to every one who has watched with any discernment the wide-eyed gaze of the infant, the open-mouthed listening to every m ,p^ 1 ,1 ■Ml ( ' ''J \ i ! ■J >'V li li Mi m 136 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. sound ; the fingering of everything it can lay hold of ; but especially the sympathetic attention to the features and the tones of a mother's love or anger. Here are the first steps in the series which ends in ability to compose symphonies, to form systems of philosophy, and theology, etc." (The Educator). " The bias which shapes our earthly and eternal destinies is usually received in early childhood." (Br. Olin). " The activity of the faculties, from the very first, being spontaneous and inevitable, education can no more be suspended than life. The question, therefore, is whether we shall supply, in due variety, the materials on which they may exercise themselves ; and to the question so put none but an afiirmative answer can be given." (The Educator ; v. Thorn, Suh. of Bap., p. 139.) Reason and affection agree with Scripture in this reply. The apostles would naturally expect that a discip- ling commission would apply to infants as well as to adults. They knew that their Jewish forefathers had been accustomed through many centuries to disciple infant children as well as grown persons. Not only so, they knew that the former were initiated much more frequently than the latter. Consequently they would necessarily understand that a commission to make disciples would include children. They would inevitably understand this if children were not ex- pressly excepted. Christ knew that this must be so, and yet made no exception in their case. It is a general principle that "novelty gives occa- CHRISTS ROYAL COMMISSION. 137 sion to express mention and historical narration." As they were now to make disciples of all nations, instead of merely one nation as formerly, this difference is plainly stated. If children were to be no longer dis- cipled, there would have arisen a novelty calling for special exception and historical notice ; but no such exception is made, either in the commission or in the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, or in the Epistles written by them. We are not here building infant discipleship on ^he mere absence of a prohibition. " Mere silence, abstractly considered, furnishes no argument, either pro or con, on any ques- tion. It is the peculiar posture of circumstances in which silence occurs that lends it whatever meaning it may possess ; and these circumstances may lend to silence a positive or a negative signification." (Hihhard on Bap., p. 78.) We may say of infant discipleship what Curtis concedes with respect to infant baptism : " The silence of Scripture respecting it must be allowed to prove that it was either universal or unknown; either a Divine command perfectly understood and obeyed, or not a command at all." {Prog, of Bap. Principles, p. 102.) This states the matter fairly. But we have shown that it is only the former alterna- tive that accounts for the silence in this case. Observe, we do not say that what is not prohibited should be admitted and practised ; what we do say is that what has for centuries been done in obedience to Divine command should not be omitted and set aside, un- less excluded by some authoritative precept, caution, i^' iiy i ili 1 1 a, '^' 138 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. or example. But there is none in all the length and breadth of the inspired volume. If a case " involving the rights of our infants and minors and their legal status " came before a court of law, would it be right for one party to plead that they have now no rights under our present government, because we are now under a new political dispensation, and at the time of the Confederation of the Provinces there was no direct and positive legislation for the benefit of the class concerned ? No ! The forcible reply would be, " If there has been no act of repeal, the old statute law remains in full force under the new regime^ (Rev. J. Lathern, Baptisnia, p. 91). We point to the ancient Divine ^aw, which un- doubtedly includes infants among disciples. Who can point to a Divine act of amendment or of repeal to exclude them ? Until an act abolishing infant dis- cipleship can be found, it must be regarded as an institution of Divine appointment which cannot be opposed without touching the throne of God. The parents of that day would have said, " The dis- cipling of infants has been for centuries a Jewish custom, kept up in obedience to Divine command. It has been thus observed throughout the Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations ; it therefore cannot be set aside without express Divine prohibition. Unless it can be shown that the authority which so long admitted children now excludes them, we must admit them still." And as laws never lose their authority by mere lapse of time, but continue binding till repealed by CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 139 competent authority, we must conclude with Thorn that, " Whatever we find in the Old Testament, not manifestly abolished by the express or implied com- mand of Christ, or of His apostles ; nor evidently con- summated and terminated by Christ when He as- cended to glory; nor become impracticable through the changes of place and the alteration of human circum- stances, is still in full force." (Suh. of Bap., p. 551.) Such a conclusion would be drawn by any Jew, but more readily and strongly by those Jews who had learned the great interest which the Author of the commission took in little children, and the great dis- pleasure with which He rebuked adult disciples be- cause they tried to prevent little children from coming to Him for His blessing. (See Chapter XVII.) The Lord Jesus might have put into the commission the words " proselyte all nations," instead of the words "disciple them." The words have substantially the same meaning. The word " disciple " was applied to a Jew who was placed under a Jewish teacher ; the word " proselyte " was employed when a Gentile was placed under a Jewish teacher ; so that the essential idea in both is the same. But as the former word had been in higher esteem, it was selected to designate the pupils who should come from aP. nations to Christ. Suppose, then, Christ had said, " Go, proselyte all na- tions to Me," would they not understand that both adults and infants were to be put under instruction ? They knew what it was to proselyte a nation. Accord- ing to Josephus (Ant. Bk. XIII, chap, ix., sec. 1), "the \r^ i 1 140 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. IM-^'I , t ! ij 1 h ■ 1 ■I i Hi- 3 ( ii _1 "vJyjU. nation of Iclumea v/as wholly proselyted by them, and those of them who we're Pharisees still compassed sea and land to make proselytes." (Matt, xxiii. 15.) On these occasions it is admitted that they proselyted infants as well as adults : therefore, if they had been com- manded to proselyte all nations to Christ, they would certainly have included infants if not expressly ordered to do differently. Now, the command to disciple all nations, being substantially the same, would be inter- preted in accordance with their method of proselyting Gentiles, even if they had never been accustomed to disciple Jewish adults and infants. This argument, be it observed, depends on the admitted fact that they made proselytes, but has no connection with the dis- puted question whether those proselytes were or were not baptized before the Christian era. Infants unquestionably form part of the "all na- tions " who were to be discipled. Persons can easily imagine that there might have been no little children in the family of Lydia, or of the jailer at Philippi, or of the other families which were discipled as such. But it is impossible to all except the insane to im '"-^ that there were, and would be, no little ones '^ j.e families in all nations during the successiv j that the commission was to remain in force. As children are undoubtedly included in the terms of the commis- sion, and are not excluded by its nature, they should therefore be made disciples ; they should be initiated at once into Christ's school, and taught from the earliest dawn of intelligence. CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 141 All children in all nations should be made disciples. Hence all parents, and not merely Christian ones, are under obligation to comply with the connnand, and lo help to give right religious training. Wherever the parental relation exists, there exists also the obligation to discharge its duties aright. To suppose that some parents are released from this obligation because they neglected to fit themselves for its duties, is to assume that voluntary unfitness for duty frees from obligation; and that men are at liberty to postpone duty until they choose to acquire a fitness. But, on this princi- ple, it would be in man's power to make void every command of God. It is therefore evidently a fear- fully erroneous one. The obligation to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord does not arise from the parents' voluntary consent to assume the responsibility, nor from a promise expressly or impliedly made by them. It arises from the law of God ; and that law is binding, irrespective of our promise. It is as binding on those who do not pro- mise as on those who do promise. The institution has a new end in view. It was not into Moses' school, nor into that of John; it was into Christ's school. " Make them disciples to Me" is obviously Christ's meaning. A new dispensation com- menced with the personal teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke presents his Gospel as a " treatise of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." (Acts i. 1.) Peter, after the great day of Pentecost, tells us that the word which he preached "began from Galilee after the r^ 142 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. in ti'l '■;, 1:1 t?i'3 I baptism which John preached." (Acts x. 37.) And when addressin<:f the rest of the apostles at the time they met to select a person to fill the place of Judas, he said the selection must be made from among those persons who "companied with them all the time that ^he Lord Jesus went in and out among them, begin- ning from the baptism of John" (i.e.y from the day that Jesus received baptism from John, for it was immediately after His baptism that Hj was anointed with the Holy Ghost for His official work), "unto that same day that He was taken up " into heaven. (Acts i. 22.) Now, since a new dispensation of the kingdom of God commenced with the personal ministry of Christ Himself, it clearly appears that the baptism which the twelve disciples administered under His authority dif- fered from that by John. John's baptism made persons the disciples — i.e., the pupils — of John. So the baptism administered by the authority of Christ, whether during His personal ministry or under the great com- mission, initiated persons into the school of Christ. This point of difference, accordingly, is expressly men- tioned. They are to make disciples to Christ, who issued the commission to make them. The New Tes- tament speaks of disciples of Moses, of the Phari- sees, and of John ; but to refer the discipleship here spoken of to any of these is out of all question. The only other disciples spoken of are disciples of the Lord Jesus. These are the ones referred to. As Mr. Wesley observed, Christ obviously meant "disciple CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 143 them to Me." Christ was to be their authoritative teacher. Some have rightly perceived thfit the narrative in the Acts speaks of " baptizing and teaching ; but they erronously regard baptism as an obligation to hear, not the Lord Jesus Christ, but the subordinate human teacher, and to place implicit reliance in him as in- fallible, and to reverence him as a superior to whose authority the baptized are obliged to bow." (Wiseman's Lectures on the Doctrines and Practices of the Catholic Church.) Some imagine they are to be discipled to the Church. They say baptism introduces into the Church, and makes the baptized subject to the Church, where- soever they are, and liable to be compelled to remain in the Church and to retain its dogmas. But they err ; this is not the design of baptism. They are to be discipled to Christ — not unto Paul, or Peter, or Apollos, but unto Christ. He said to other teachers, " Neither be ye called masters," (Kadj/vrjTai, authoritative teachers), " for One is your Master " (authoritative Teacher)? " even Christ." Uninspired men are not infallible or authoritative teachers, hence their interpretation of what is to be taught must be tested by searching the Scriptures to see whether these things are so. Christ (lid not say to these teachers, "Go, rule in My kingdom," but, " Go, teach what I command." Baptism places disciples under an obligation to hear Christ and those who teach what Christ commands ; it places under no obligation to hear those who teach otherwise, much less to receive their words implicitly. The man who ■ 144 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. !-^ I !':! I|i ^^'^ I : if: - 1(1 - makes disciples by a ritual act does not impose on them an obligation to hear him, if he does not bring the Divinely given form of doctrine and of duty. A disciple may leave one denomination for the purpose of attending another that teaches the way of the Lord more perfectly, without violating any obligation. Dis- cipleship to Christ does not place the conscience under the dominion of any minister or any denomination, but solely under the authority of Christ ; and Christ appointed that His commands should be perpetuated, not by tradition, but by Holy Scripture. The Bible is therefore the highest visible authority on earth. To this all who have come to years of accountability can appeal from the teachings of ministers and con- ferences, or the decisions of kings and parliaments. His disciples are required to " receive nothing as an article of faith which is not contained in the Bible ; do nothing as a part of Divine worship not com- manded by it; but, on the other hand, must reject nothing, and leave undone nothing, that in it has been Divinely enjoined." Baptism implies an obligation to hear and obey what Christ teaches and commands. A rational creature may be placed, at the commencement of its career, under obligation to seek to attain the noble and benevolent end proposed by its Maker. Even human guardians appointed by a father's will, or by the courts of law, are " allowed to act for the benefit of a child who has not as yet understanding sufficient to act for himself," " and all their acts (if legally performed) bind CHRISTS ROYAL COMMISSION. 145 e on brinf]r f- A rpose Lord Dis- ander lation, hrist u uated, Bible earth. ibility i con- ments. as an Bible ; corn- reject ts been what •eature career, and tiuman courts a child act for 3) bind e the infant." An oblicfation for our benefit may be validly imposed on infants by a Divine Being, though an obligation to their injury may not be imposed by a fellow-creature. The law of the great commission places them under obligation to learn what Christ commands — not to receive a man-made creed. If it required the latter it might be advisable to postpone placing children under obligation until they were able to consult and consent for themselves. But it merely places under obligation to hear Christ and those who teach what He commanded them to teach. In such a case no delay, no deliberation, could lead them to a wiser or better position. If, when able to judge of such matters, they find that subordinate teachers who baptized them do not teach what Christ commanded theui, they find also that they are, for this very reason, under no obligation to hear such ; that, on the other hand, they are under obligation to hear others who do teach as Christ conmianded. Teachers stand in the highest and best place that God has ordained to man ; but they do not stand in tiie place of God. Hence they should in no case say to a disciple : " You must never call in question the truthfulness or authority of what I teach." They should, on the other hand, say : " When you come to years of personal accountability for your opinions, you must search for yourself whethei' these things are so, and receive or reject me on your own responsibility." To initiate teachable persons into the Royal school of Christ, and to place them under obligation to hear and 10 ^■rTT nt 146 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I 111 iili III ' fi i I « obey Him, is the design of baptism ; and those who understand this must regard it as an unspeakably im- portant ordinance. It is regarded as unimportant only when it is grievously misunderstood. Baptism was appointed to be the rite of initiation into Christ's school. Special mention is made of baptism in the commission, and afterwards in the record of the acts performed under it. It is recorded that persons were " baptized into the name of Christ " (Acts viii. 12, 16) — that they were " baptized into Christ Jesus." To admit the pupils of a religious school by some visible cere- mony involved a principle which is adapted to man under every dispensation. This principle would be * expected to continue if not abolished by a " rescinding act of the law-making power, or by a fulfilment of the specified ends for which it was enacted — the only two ways in which laws may constitutionally pass into dis- use." (Hibbard, p. 70.) Divine authority has perpetu- ated this principle of initiation by an ordinance. It was not necessary to specify that baptism implied the use of water, because John had made disciples by " baptizing with water," and this was well known throughout ''Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan." (Matt. iii. 5.) We after- wards find that when acting under the great commis- sion the apostle Peter said : " Can any man forbid water that these " (uncircumcised but teachable per- sons in the house of Cornelius) " should not be bap- tized ?" (Acts X. 47.) It was not necessary that water should be expressly mentioned in the commission ; to mk CHRISTS ROYAL COMMISSION. 147 who T im- only was irist's 1 the \ acts were 16)-- admit cere- ) man lid be inding of the ly two to dis- rpetu- m )l8 plied sby ^nown all the after- Dmmis- forbid le per- 3e bap- t water ion; to mention it without necessity might have seemed a warrant for giving it undue prominence. It was per- haps for this reason that its use was not at any time made a matter of " formal and public announcement." {Prof. Pepper.) An illustration to the following effect has been used by one writer : — A farmer purcliased a large flock of sheep, and expressly ordered his shepherd to mark both old and young with a bloody sign ; and mentioned par- ticularly that this sign was to be put on the lambs as soon as they were eight days old. The shepherd did so, and continued to observe this plan unvaryingly for many years. He was then sent to a new country to get another flock, and .vas told to mark them with paint. Now, the question is, would not that shepherd understand this order as commanding him to bring the lambs as well as the sheep, and to mark the lambs as well as the sheep ? Certainly he would. Both are included in the word " flock." And he would naturally conclude that no change was intended by his master beyond what was expressly ordered. But suppose he was so attentive to the letter of his instructions as to say, " The use of the bloody sign may possibly be superseded by the paint ; but as I am not expressly forbidden to use it, I'll continue to use it. I will mark them with blood and with paint also." In this case would he not do with the paint as he had done with the blood ? Would he not put it on the lambs as well as on the sheep ? Of course he would. Further, if the farmer knew that his shepherd would thus under- r, i ■nKtr"— 148 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. '.m I stand such directions, would he not intend that he should do so ? This illustration is a fair one : it bears a strict analogy to the point it is intended to illus- trate. It would, of course, be easy for an opponent to ifnagine a case which bore no analogy, and which, for that reason, would seem to require the exclusion of what was not expressly mentioned ; but any illustra- tion would be unfair which would assume that the Jews had never been commanded, and had never been accustomed, to make infants disciples. Suppose the great commission had been so worded as to make no change of the initiatory rite, but had run in these terms : " Go, make all nations disciples, circumcising them in the name of the Father," etc., would not the apostles necessarily conclude that infants were to be still discipled ? Certainly they would. How then could they be excluded by mentioning another rite equally applicable to them ? It is import- ant to observe that even the apostles were unwilling to make changes in a discipling ordinance. Circum- cision was the discipling rite of the old dispensation. This appears clearly in Paul's language : " What profit is there of circumcision ? Much every way : chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." (Rom. iii. 1, 2.) Divine revelation was entrusted to them that they might learn it, obey it, and perpetu- ate it. The command to make disciples by baptizing them superseded the old command to use circumcision as the discipling rite, and yet because circumcision was not expressly repealed they were unwilling to CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 149 discontinue it. They assumed that it was to be per- petually observed. Their opinion accordingly was that all nations were to be discipled to Moses by cir- cumcision before they could be discipled to Christ by baptism — that Gentiles must go through Judaism to reach Christianity. Six or seven years after the com- mission was given we find that even Peter was of this opinion. He would not make the Gentile Cornelius a disciple of Christ because he was " one uncircumcised." Special miracle and special revelation were needed to set aside his opinion that the rite of circumcision ought to be continued because not expressly repealed. And special miracle and revelation were used for this purpose when Peter was sent to the uncircumcised Cornelius. (Acts x.) This fact shows the unwilling- ness of the apostles to make changes that were not expressly specified, even when they were obviously implied. Much more would they shrink from making changes where change was not at all implied. Those who were so averse to change the old form of the initiatory ordinance without an express rescinding act of the Lawgiver, would, of course, be more averse to making changes on a more vital point, namely, the proper subjects to be discipled. They would not reject children unless they were expressly excepted. Even if their rejection were implied, they would not act on a mere implication. As children had been for several centuries initiated as disciples into a Divinely approved school, and as in the days of the apostles they were not excepted, either expr«.ssly or by implication, from , •> [Ji^T 150 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I I: 1 ! 1 J 'I 1: 1"; 1 I, ■ i i j the renewed command to make disciples, there is no need of any other kind of proof to authorize their continued admission. Yet some undertake to dictate the kind of proof that God should give in this case. They demand an express statement that children were still included. They even name the words which should be used to convey it. But to dictate the kind of proof that God should i>ive in any case is to imitate Satan when he undertook to prescribe to Jesus what signs and evi- dences would be a proper proof of Divine Sonship : "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from this pinnacle," etc. The Jevvs at one time imitated the Satanic procedure ; but Jesus said, " It is an evil and adulterous generation which seeketh after a sign " — that is, a sign of their own selection, a sign different from those which the wisdom of God deemed it best to give, and had given. The only conclusion is, that as circumcision under the old dispensation, so baptism under the present one, gives " evidence of God's care and concern for the little ones, and cannot but produce salutary impression upon the minds of devout and thoughtful parents." (Lathern, Baj)ti8ma, p. 122.) The baptizing or initiating act was to be followed by teaching. They were to make them disciples by initiating and teaching them. They were not com- missioned to make them Rabbis or Doctors of Divinity after having finished their education. In Christ's school education is never finished in this world. There Christ's royal commission. 151 are progressive lessons for all the days of our life. The word "disciple" is in Scripture applied to those who have been initiated before they have professed, or even learned, the peculiar doctrines which Christ taught. When Christ commenced to teach these, some said, " This is an hard saying ; who can hear it ? ' " From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." (John v-i. 60, QQ-) They not only had not received His characteristic doctrines, they would not accept them even when presented by Him- self. Yet they are called disciples, because the word "disciple" means one who has been put to school to be taught. Others had learned many things, but being still under instruction were still called disciples. Hence we are told that "Jesus taught His disciples." The apostles also taught those that had been baptized. The three thousand persons who were baptized on the day of Pentecost were afterwards taught, for we are told that they " continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine," or rather, attended constantly to the teaching of the apostles (Hcav p. 20, 21.) " Use your authority for God, and He will support it." Some unwisely shrink from the duty of teaching children. " The mother of President Olin, a pious member of the Baptist Church, believed that children ought not to be religiously influenced. She did not even teach them to repeat the Lord's Prayer." (Lath- ern, Baptisma, p. 123.) Others, too, have thought that religious education should not be commenced in child- hood, because children are ready to receive as truth any opinions that happen to be taught by a parent or teacher ; and what they then receive penetrates so d reply, and becomes so intertwined with the strong associations of home, that it is found exceedingly dif- 160 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. [III i \ y ficulfc to shake them off, no matter how erroneous or injurious they may be. But it should be considered, on the other hand, that if wrong religious instruction prejudices the mind against right instruction, so does the neglect of religious teaching prejudice against all religious knowledge. "Parents must, for a time, judge for their children, and should therefore feel that they are under the most sacred obligation to qualify them- selves to train them up aright. The aim of parental education should be the development of a free crea- ture. The sole thought of parents, the end of their cares for so many years, is that their child may at last be able to do without them — a free and strong man, able, when the occasion calls, to detach him- self and be his own support." (Michelet, Jesuits and Jesuitism, p. 12.) It should not be such training as is given by the Jesuits. Beginning with a child before he is of age to defend himself, " they aim to make him act, not as a free agent, but as ^n instrument of theirs, guided, even in his most trivial doings, by spiritual directors." They afterwards give them "a set of edu- cational works, which show them the world in a false point of view, . . . that they may be forever im- prisoned, walled in, as it were, in falsehood." They unite them for action in ref ^ence to one end, but keep them disunited in heart by employing the spy system, which creates mutual distrust by the fear of mutual betrayals. On the contrary, the aim of education ought to be to teach the young in due time to assume personal responsibility, to think, to decide, to act for CBRISTS ROYAL COMMISSION. 161 oneself ; to be a man with men, while humbly obedi- ent to God. Such education should be wisely directed and assisted. Those confiding minds should be solemnly placed under interested and responsible teachers. Rea- son and affection say so, and so says Christ. He appointed that they be initiated into His training school, to be trained as He commands. He regards teaching as the greatest work which man can do ou earth. When the age of accountability to God has come, no change takes place in their relation to this school. There is only a change in the lessons that are to be given. They were first taught obedience to parents, and may get grace to do it acceptably. They should next " be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." But as human hearts, while unchanged, feel and show disinclination to His service so soon as they understand it, they should be " pointed to the remedy as soon as they manifest the disease," and be taught how they may come to exercise " repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." In short, they should be taught the way of salvation and the duties of the saved. So when they are converted and become connected with the Church, they still be- long to the school of disciples. They continue through life to be learners. " Education has twcr great ends to which everything else must be subordinated. The one of these is to increase knowledge, the other is to develop the love of right and the hatred of wrong." (Huxley, Lay Ser- n i i ■ ^' I V I I i ii I is i I I |i'' ■ 102 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. mons, pp. 70, 77.) To promote this second end is the direct work of Christ's school. It gives moral and religious education, and thus supplies the defect of teachers in ancient times. " We learn," says Plutarch, " to play on musical instruments, and to dance, and to read, and to farm, and to ride. . . . We are taught to do all these things, which, without some instruc- tion, we cannot do well. . . . But to live a good and happy life remains untaught, is without the direction of reason and art, and is left altogether to chance." (Quoted by J. Harris, Patrmrchs, p. 234.) The Great Teacher, however, does not will that this all-important part of education should be learned by chance, or not at all. He has not left it optional. He has appointed a Royal school, in which He comman s that it be taught. " The true progress of mankind depends on the cultivation of the moral and religious portion of our nature." " Without moral improvement we need not look for amendment of political institu- tions." " Men must have virtue enough to desire good institutions before they will exert themselves to attain them. Such amendments are the effect, not the cause, of the moral progress of the governed." " It is in vain to seek in political institutions, or intellectual cultiva- tion, the moral regeneration of the world." Christ's proposal is to train the man ; not a part of the man, but the whole man. "-To do this the whole truth must be employed, and not a part of it ; the doctrine as well as the precept, and the precept as well as the doctrine ; and one doctrine as well as n i\ *s CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 163 another, and one precept as well as another. One truth, however important it may be, is only a link in the chain, and hence if only a few links are used, the influence on character is partial, instead of being uni- versal. Not only should all truths be used, but all should be put in their relative positions of promin?ncy or subordination. If not, the influence will be dispro- portional, and the result cannot be symmetrical." (Rev. E. Manning.) In a word, the Lord Jesus, by this commission, places parents under obligation to have their children initiated by baptism, and to see that they are regular attend- ants as they pass successively all the grades of the Royal school ; and it makes it binding on parents to inquire whether the teachers are qualified to teach what Christ commanded. Parents are placed under personal responsibility in this matter. They " cannot yield to any society or government, whether general or municipal, the right and responsibility of saying what shall be the kind of early training their children shall receive, and what the mental and moral character of the man or woman to whose moulding influence the plastic souls of their loved ones shall be committed." {Prof. Wells.) " Nor does He leave parents at liberty, at a farther stage, to send their children to any insti- tutions of learning whatever ; but only to those which are not merely intellectually clear and stimulating, but also morally pure and thoroughly pervaded with sound and healthy religious influence." Not only so, the Bible should be the great text-book. " The Bible ■ i ^ * J u^ 164 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. 4 alone, of all books in the world, addresses itself to the whole man. It exercises his memory, strengthens his reason, controls his passions, informs his judgment, regulates his conscience, sanctifies his will, enlivens his fancy, warms his imagination, cherishes his affec- tions, stimulates his practice, quickens his hope, and animates his faith." (Dr. Woodsworth.) Intellectual by no means involves moral progress ; this we see in nations. Intellectual by no means in- volves moral superiority ; this we see, alas ! in gifted individuals — "in Bacon's sordid avarice, in Byron's grovelling sensuality." Intellect cannot produce moral sentiments. It can, indeed, " give dignity and vigour to them where they do exist," but it can equally " lend energy to bad passions." " As Christianity is the only true religion, and God in Christ the only true God, the most important edu- cation is ' the nurture and admonition of the Lord.' The whole process of instruction and discipline must be that which He prescribes, and which He administers, so that His authority should be brought into constant and immediate contact with the mind, heart and con- science of the child. It will not do for the parent or teacher to present himself as the ultimate end, the source of knowledge, and possessor of authority to determine truth and duty : this would be to give his child a mere human development. Nor will it do for him to urge and communicate everything on the ab- stract ground of reason ; for that would be to merge his child in nature. It is only by w iking God in CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 165 Christ the Teacher and Ruler, on whose authority everything is to be believed, and in obedience to whose will everything is to be done, that the ends of educa- tion can possibly be attained." (Hodge in Lange on Eph. vi. 1-4.) " That infants should be baptized, and then be left by ministers and churches in a situation undistinguish- able from that of other children, appears to me irrecon- cilable with any scriptural views of the nature and importance of this sacrament." (Dwight.) " All bap- tized children should be viewed as claiming the special oversight, attention and care of the adult members of Christian churches, and of all ministers of the gospel. If parents knew beforehand that such would be the consequence of having their children baptized by us, it would prevent many from neglecting the ordinance. Yet so feeble has been the sense of special accounta- bility to train up the children that — startling thought ! — there is much reason to doubt whether the Church has not lost more from her own fold through neefli- gence than she has gained from the world through diligence." (Breckenridge.) No man can estimate the consequences of neglecting to train even a single child. From that one case children, and children's children to the remotest generation, may be led into fearful and fatal errors. On the other hand, on the right training of one child may depend the conversion of thousands, and then of myriads more through their influence. It is wrong to suppose that the depravity which is 166 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ml I!. -I I m natural to man should be allowed time to come to full strength and activity that it may be overcome in after life by a revolutionary struggle. " In a recent discus- sion about Church schools in the Protestant Episcopal Convention in Maryland, the Rev. Dr. Schenck made a vigorous speech, in which he recited a fact which is instructive in more ways than one. He said that the Bishop of Minnesota, whose fame was known through the whole c: alized world for his labours in behalf of the poor Indians, had told him an anecdote concerning this business of education. The Bishop, with a Romish priest and several ministers of the Protestant denomi- nation, was on a long journey to the frontier, all being commissioners to inspect certain grounds that were to be assigned to the Indians. Being shut up in one coach for many days, the angles gradually wore oiF, they became very amiable, and at last frankly com- municative in regard to their spiritual work and prin- ciples of action. Finally, one day, the Romish priest broke out : ' How utterly silly are all you Protestants ! You give up all the children until they have grown up possessed of the devil ; then you go at the work of reclaiming them with horse, foot and dragoons, and find that the grown-up devil is too much for you ! We know the great difficulty of doing anything with adults, and devote nearly all our energy to the chil- dren, well knowing that eveyy child is as plastic clay in our hands." (Chr. Intell.) The Lord Jesus fully understood the importance of early instruction, and hence He ordered the continuance M. I Christ's royal commission. 167 of that consecration of families which had existed from Abraham's time. By family baptism He imposed the Divinely appointed duty and established the Divinely conferred ri^ht of the parent to "train up the child in the way he should go." " The responsibility of giv- i»ig these instructions and persuasions must, in the first 1 chief degree, de^4olve on parents ; and no other Ason, or society of persons, can supersede the neces- sity, or excuse the neglect, or compensate the loss, of parental instruction and discipline." (J. Baker, Wes. Meth. Mag.) Go then. Christian parent, and with a thankful and confiding heart oft'er your children for initiation into the school of Christ, and do what you can to " bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Forget not that "if the child perish through default of parental instruction, of careful superintendence, and of good example, the blood of that child shall be re- quired at the hand of the guilty parent." (Dr. McCrie.) " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded them." They are to be trained to obey God, and not merely to know Him. " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.'' " What signify the best doctrines .if men do not live suitably to them ; if they have not a due influence upon their thoughts, t!.eir principles and their lives ? " {Bishop Burnet.) On the other hand, "a man who lives according to the rules of religion becomes the wisest, the best and happiest creature that he is capa- ble of being." (Bishop Burvet.) Doctrinal teaching is . ! I ■ 108 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. not enough ; there must be practical teaching, includ- ing every principle of moral and spiritual duty. The doctrinal and the practical must be inseparably con- nected. On this point we cannot enlarge further than to observe, that to educate a person is to teach him how to acquire all that knowledge, how to obtain and cherish all those principles and motives, and how to form all those habits, that will qualify and dispose him to discharge the duties devolving upon him in the present and in the future stage of existence. " Disciples are bound to receive with docility every doctrine distinctly discerned to be a doctrine of Christ, and to aim at a cordial compliance with every re- quirement clearly perceived to be a commandment of Christ." (B. Balmer.) " In everything connected with religion they must be regulated by His will ; they must believe no doctrine but v/^hat He has revealed ; observe no ordinances but what He has appointed ; and they must believe every doctrine which He has revealed, and observe every ordinance He has ap- pointed ; and believe the doctrine because He has revealed it, and observe the ordinance because He has appointed it. To follow on these points the guidance of their own reason or caprice is to usurp their Sover- eign's place. To follow on these points the guidance of other men is to exalt them into His throne." Men, so far as their fellow-men are concerned, have indeed " a right to think and act for themselves in religion ; but so far as their rightful Sovereign is concerned, they have no such right. They are to think as He CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 109 directs them, they are to do as He bids them." (Rev. J. Brown, D.D., on 1 Peter, p. 194.) "It is not the comparative importance or utility of any doctrine in human estimation, but the authority of Him who has revealed it, which is the formal reason of receiving, prufessinj]f, or maintaining it." " True obedience must be grounded on the authority of the power that com- mands, not on the judgment of the subject as to the benefit of the precept imposed." (Bishop Reynolds.) The commission undertakes to place all disciples in "one kingdom, under one supreme Teacher, who is in- finitely wise and good ; and thereby aims at the free- dom of the human conscience on the one hand, and at the unity of the Divine government on the other." The true view of baptism, then, is this : It was in- tended to initiate all that are teachable, whether young or old, into Christ's Bible school. It places persons under obligation to be through life in one or other of its branches. This rightly understood and enforced would secure a much larger and a much more regular attendance. It would also secure for these schools the best teachers that can be obtained, and stimulate them to make the best preparation for teaching with the highest attainable success. The obligation to be a discipl^ was not originated by a promise made for us in our infancy, which would need to receive confirmation from a promise made by ourselves subsequently. The so-called rite of con- firmation proceeds, therefore, on an erroneous assump- tion. The obligation imposed by Divine law is not 170 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. i '1 fi n.i ri f.'l f iiri confirmed by liuman acceptance, or weakened bj'^ human rejection. The unconditional bindingness of the law of God is denoted most unequivocally by ordering the rite of initiation to be administered in infancy, and by directing it to be in every case an act done to the candidates, not by them. It was, in this respect, like the law of circumcision ; circumcision ad- ministered to an infant was a sign of obligation to future obedience, not a manifestation of present obedi- ence. It was not an act of voluntary submission at the moment of administration that the ordinance required or denoted, for this was not present in the vast majority * cases. What was found only in the few cases of auult circumcision could not have been an essential part of its design. So in baptism an act of voluntary submission at the moment of administra- tion is not the thing to be denoted or required. The essential thing is that it is a sign of obligation to future teachableness and future obedience. Divinely imposed on each individual. We can now understand how it was that in Paul's view the administration of ritual baptism, though of Divine obligation, was not regarded to be as import- ant a work as the preaching of the Gospel. To initiate a disciple into the school of Christ is one thing, to teach him subsequently is another and a more important work. Any one commissioned by Christ could do the ritual work as well as an apostle could, but any one could not do the subsequent teaching work as well. Hence P^ial was commissioned I! CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 171 to do the latter, but not enjoined to do the former. Paul formed this moderate estimate of ritual baptism because it was not mentioned in the commission given to him by the Lord Jesup Christ, as recorded in Acts xxvi. 17, 18 : "I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." This was a preparatory work of instruction, as the next words show : " That they may receive forgiveness of sins" (not from Paul but from God) " and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith " — not in Paul, but " by the faith which is in Me," said the Lord J-^sus Christ. A distinguished minister, in his last siickness, admitted that he had mistaken the relative importance of baptism, when he said to Rev. John Lathern : " If I shall be raised up and permitted to preach again, two themes now seem to me only worthy of consideration : I shall feel that I have a special mission to preach holiness, and the importance of the one glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost." {Baptisnia, p. 74.) The glorious dreamer, John Bunyan, evidently re- garded the rite as a subordinate thing, for he " took his pilgrims all the way from the City of Dest. action to the Celestial City, and in all their progress we meet with no flood until, in the deep, dark river of death, thej- finished their earthly pilgrimage, were welcomed by the shining ones, and then went up through the golden gates into the city of the Great King." (Rev. J. Lathern, Baptisma, \.. 82.) As we now see that teaching was to follow baptizing, 172 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. 'I we are prepared to understand the import of baptizing one person into another, " which is still agitated among the most accomplished interpreters of Scripture " (Dr. Dale.) Those who have given a wrong interpretation to related points have regarded this point as hard to be understood. But those who have observed that baptizing implies that teaching is to follow, can see that by this subsequent teaching one person can be placed under the influence of the person or the name of a distinguished teacher. Hence, to baptize the nations into the " name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," means that they were by teaching to be placed under the influence of that name — under the influence of the infinitely holy, good, and happy Trinity. " Into the name of the righteous Father. Into the name of the Son, mediating and interceding with the Father ; teaching and beseeching men. Into the name of the winning, renewing, and comforting Spirit." Thus, to baptize one person into the name of another means to place the former in con- nection with the enlightening and ennobling influence of the latter. This is done, not by administering an ordinance, but by teaching the doctrines to which it points. The word " baptized," as here used, alludes not to the act, but to the doctrinal import of the rite. The word is used figuratively. So the word "circum- cision ' was sometimes used ; as when God said, " I will circumcise thine heart to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart. (Deut. xxx. 6.) This was not done by the rite of circumcision, for this did not touch the II CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 173 heart. It was performed not by a human but by a Divine act. " Influence is the operation of one's person, personal character and teaching on the susceptibilities which others possess. One who influences these can modify the opinions, sentiments, and even appearances, of others. For instance, earthl}'^ influence is the cause of that wonderful thing called family likeness, whereby persons of different features, complexions, and stations resemble each other, and also one common model." (Woman s Mission.) The most powerful earthly in- fluence is the maternal. It exists everywhere, in the cabin of the poor as in the palace of the rich. Every- where it determines the sentiments and tastes of the family. Hence it has been said, "Woman's mission on earth is not merely to shine and please, but to in- fluence, and by influence to ennoble the good and to reform the bad." We are first placed under woman's influence, but the great commi.s.sion shows that we should be also placed under the unspeakably higher influence of the inflnitely loving, kind, and sympa- thizing Trinity. This is done by the teaching of those who exhibit the character of the Persons of the glorious Trinity, and their thoughts and feelings and relations towards us. " In the schools of the world systems are taught, not persons ; geometry, not Euclid ; botany, and not Lin- na3us ; astronomy, and »iot Sir Isaac Newton." (Rev. J. Davies, in HoniiL, i., p. 90.) But in the .school of Christ the Persons of the ever-blessed Trinity are to |! < J^ ;{i i! w 174 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. be taught more prominently than systems of doctrine. Here the prominence is given to the name ol: the Father, who gave His Son to be our mediating High Priest ; the name of the Son, who became incarnate for us men and for our redemption ; and tlie name of the Holy Ghost, who, in pursuance of the grand remedial plan, undertakes to convince of sin and unbelief, and to regenerate the believer. A name given by inspiration is expressive of char- acter. The name of God points to His perfections and majesty as proclaimed by inspired testimony, that they may be known, remembered, loved, and honoured. The teacher therefore points to the Trinity as reflected in the Bible. What the Bible says about the character and work of the Trinity is the summary of what is to be taught for the progressive development of disciples" in knowledge and holiness. The full communication of what may be known on these topics is the final aim, and is to be attained through doctrinal teaching. True teaching baptizes into the Triune name. The Spirit of the Lord accompanies this work of right teaching. He opens the understanding of dis- ciples to apprehend more clearly and fully spiritual and divine things — to see the glory of creating and preserving love, the glory of redeeming love, the glory of renewing love. Not only so, the Spirit by a dis- tinct and further operation purities the heart to love and adore the Trinity whose harmonious co-opera- tion carries into efiect the glorious plan of everlasting salvation. CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 175 of Us- tual and lory dis- love pera- Man, by teachinjr what has been revealed, may enlighten others respecting that name, but man cannot regenerate the heart to love God. " For we are not born of the will of the Hesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." God only can regenerate, but man can teach. Baptism is associated with teaching, not with regenerating. There is a regenerating work of the Spirit, but it is not effected by His baptizing power. The Lord Jesus was baptized by the Spirit, but was not regenerated by Him. Man can make a disciple, but not a regenerate believer. Many disciples are not regenerate. Dr. Dale strangely thinks that the command to make disciples is a connnand to make regenerate believers. He perceived, of course, that those who received the counnission could not make disciples to Christ in this sense of the word, except by the co- operation of " the power of Him to whom all power in heaven and earth was given" (p. 454). He thinks, therefore, that Divine power connects itself with man's act of ritual baptizing. But this interpretation wrongly assumes that Divine agency conjoins itself with human agency to do this renewing work. This erroneous dogma, if adopted generally, would inevitably be made the ground of ministerial assumptions, ard of claims as presumptuous and dangerous as those of the popish hierarchy. Man cannot render any assistance in the work of regenerating his fellow-men, but he can put them to school and teach them the noi'd of regeneration, the great desirableness of it, the solemn 'IT 17G BAPTIZING AND TKACHING. Ml Ill I'!,'. ! |: y >^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 21 2.0 1.8 1.25 i 1.4 i 1.6 1 ^ Q^ IP 182 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. j I til ■; I \f I' ! ference with the mediating priesthood that typified the great fundamental work of the onl}^ true Mediator between God and man, and that it was for this rea- son it was so severely punished. In other cases it appeared that should positive and moral laws come in collision, the former may give place to the latter. David knew this, when, pinched by hunger, he ate the shewbread, which it was not lawful to do. Still, the simple spirit of obedience will manifest itself most fully in observing laws whose obligation depends solely on the will and appointment of God. "The appointment of God is to us the highest law." {Turre- tini.) And to "claim a right to annul or alter the commandments of Christ is the very essence of popery.*" {Carson, p. 247.) " Whosoever therefore shall break " — or, as Dr. Carson translates it, shall abrogate — " one of these least commandments, and teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kinj^dom of heaven." (Matt. V. 19.) "Christ authoritatively silences legisla- tive interference with His appointments by proclaim- ing, ' One is your Master, even Christ ; and all ye are brethren.'" (Dr. Harris, Great Teacher, p. 276.) He also says : " And why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke vi. 46.) "There- fore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock : and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these say- CHRISTS ROYAL COMMISSION. 183 lat ings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand : and the rain descended, and the Hoods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell : and great was the fall of it." (Matt. vii. 24-27.) " Though baptism is not necessary to salvation," says Mr. Gibbs, " it is essential to that perfect obedience to the will of Christ which recognizes His authority in all things." (Thorn, Sub. of Bap., p. 605.) " The doctrines, the positive institutions, and the morality of Chris- tianity are combined into one regular, consistent, and inviolable whole, and committed to our fidelity. What- ever He has confided to us we must retain and defend. Whatever He has ordained we must o!>serve. What He has conjoined we must not put asunder." (Dr. Ferrier, of Paisley.) Well has one said, " Here are appointments made by infinite wisdom — who will presume to improve upon them ? and enjoined by infinite authority — who will dare to repeal them, or set them aside ? " " Here is at once the ample extent and well-defined limits of the evangelical commission." As those who were immediately addressed could not, in their short life, disciple all nations to the end of time, it must be inferred that tlie commission was given to the apostles as the first of an order of teachers who were to be sent to carry the work into completion. But Christ keeps in His own hands the right to call, from first to last, the men who are to fulfil His coi i- mission. ii I if;i 184 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Ur' W:l I m m " The injunction of the ascending Redeemer to make disciples of all nations is abundantly explicit ; and yet, for nearly three centuries after the Reformation, the Protestant churches, with a few inconsiderable excep- tions, made no effort to fulfil this injunction, and seemed scarcely aware of its existence." (R. Balmer, D.D.) In tlie present age, however, the authority of the great commission is reviving ; not because it has been re- vealed afresh, but because it is understood that lapse of time has not diminished its authority, and cannot do so. Hence it is now awakening the benevolent action of the Church, as it did at first ; and is mak- ing the present, like the primitive one, a missionary age. The missionary enterprise only puts this com- mission in action in carrying out the design of Christ to subdue the world to Himself, to banish every false religion, and to introduce and establish Christianity in its stead ; and it must ever be aggressive in its character till the glorious design is consummated. The Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to connect with the commission a very gracious promise. He promised that His presence should be with its agents — i.e., with those who rightly baptize, and rightly teach, in every nation and through every age — " till the end of the world." His presence will accompany the observance of His own ordinances; and the teaching of His own commands : not the teachers of any substituted rites, or doctrines, or duties. In His human body He could not be with all teachers scattered over their wide- spread fields of evangelistic labour. But His Divine g n ir n oi CHRIST S ROYAL COMMISSION. 185 nature could be present with them everywhere, and always, or all the days, unto the end of the world, without the interruption of one day in any case. The Saviour had previously used the phrase the " end of the world" to denote the time of the final Judgment (Matt. xiii. 39, 40, 49.) At that time an historical end will come to the course of this probationary world. When a cloud received His ascendinj^ human nature, and concealed it frotn the eyes of men, there was no departure of His Divine nature. He was still " God with us," fulfiUini^ the mystery of His name, ^nfiavovjj'k. "As Matthew, in his first chapter, announced that Christ should be called Emmanuel, he appropi lately closes his last chapter with the glorious utterance of Him who bears and fulfils that name, * Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' " After which He will take all His people to be with Him. His humanity is absent, having ascended to the right hand of the Father Almighty, but His divinity is present, because omnipresent. The all-present Jehovah Jesus "needs no representative or deputy." (Stier.) And He has appointed none. He allows no man, and no body of men, to come between Him and the alle- giance that is due to Him ; or between us and the blessings He communicates. The words of the Royal commission to disciple all nations, as recorded in Matthew's Gospel, have been interpreted independently of the words which are now found in St. Mark's Gospel, because the teaching of the words in Mark cannot be harmonized with those if |;4 ,d' 186 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. \ ■" V) li hi in J. m P.H ,; parts of Scripture which have admitted authority. The passage in Mark will be examined carefully in a future chapter. Looking over the topic of baptism as we have presented it in the foregoing pages, it appears clearly that the ritual act is only a part of what has to be attended to, and is by far the least important part. To initiate a person into the school of Christ by a momentary act is far less important than to teach the initiated through life all that Christ has commanded- It is true that if we have made an error respecting the mode of initiation we cannot correct it, because the initiatory rite is not repeated ; but any other error may be corrected. Those who taught before baptizing, and regarded baptism as a certificate that the disciple had finished his education, can change that very injurious error, and for the future can teach the baptized throutjh life. If the teaching: itself has been incorrect in any respect it can be corrected and taught accord- ingly. It seems manifest, therefore, that an uninten- tional error made at the moment of initiation cannot be deemed fatal if the subsequent teaching has been of the kind that was commanded. On the other hand, the mode of initiation may be altogether correct, yet it will b.e of no avail whatever if not followed by teaching them the truth as it is in Jesus. THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 187 CHAPTER Vll. THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING, INCORRECTLY TRANSLATED THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. -{HER. VI. 2.) This expression requires attention and a correct interpretation ; it therefore calls for an examination of the verses with which it is immediately connected — " Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine," etc., etc. The word " therefore " indicates some con- nection with what precedes. The connection appears to be this : the inspired writer was about to show that our Lord Jesus Christ was appointed a High Priest, not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of Melchisedic. He had many things to say on this topic, but felt the difficulty of presenting these things so as to convince the Hebrews of their great importance. He tells them the reason of his apprehending that there would be difficulty, " seeing ye are " (yeyovare, have become) " dull of hearing." " The difficulty of some things in Scripture lies not in the things them- selves, but in the hearer or reader. If ministers of the Go.spel rise in their range, or if they dip deep, or if they go out far, they transcend the sphere of the in- experienced. If, on the other hand, they keep within that sphere, they are regarded as furnishing forever milk only, and never giving strong meat. It is a difficult thing to purvey for all conditions at one and w Ml 188 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. vl\ m I'll' I'i I'i Iff ^ ! ^ ■t ■ the same time." {Evang. Repository, 1867.) " For when for the time" — that has elapsed since you first listened to Gospel instruction — " ye ought to be teachers" — qualified to take part in the evangelization of the world — " ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God " — i.e., of the testimony which God spake unto the fathers by the prophets, and unto us by His Son — " and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness." Some, unwisely, do not wish to be skilful in this respect. They show no desire to know their duty, but merely how to obtain pardon for leaving it undone. The inspired writers, however, knew that the Word of God is emphatically " the word of righteousness," and is specially intended to furnish " the man of God unto all good works." As the Hebrews had received elementary instruction from others, the inspired writer deems it not necessary to repeat it, but merely to allude to it. He says, " Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ" — as the child leaves the alphabet of learning to advance in literature — " let us " — me as a teacher, and you as learners — " go on unto perfection " — i.e., to more advanced instruction aiming at the fullest possible knowledge — " not laying again the foundation." Some think it better to give KaTajialleiv its original signification, to cast down, to overthrow. They think the meaning is, not destroying the already laid founda- tion, which is composed of the following materials : — THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 189 " Repentance from dead works." This form of expres- sion, as Dr. Dale remarks, "corresponds in structure with the Jewish form, ftaKriCofievng a-o ft:xi)ov — baptized from the dead" — and was most probably intended to allude to the ceremonial pollution which was incurred by contact with a dead body, so moral j^uilt was in- curred by contact with dead works — the works of a heart spiritually dead to God and to ho'iness while alive to sin. [And as ceremonial pollution was removed by a purifying baptism, so soul pollution is removed, not by any rite, but by " repentance from dead works and faith towards God," who alone is able to cleanse from spiritual uncleanness, and who waits to be gra- cious.] They may have had works of pharisaic mor- ality according to " the commandments of men," but such works do not conform to the spiritual law of God : they werje not " out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned." There was no soul of piety in them, and hence, like " the body without the spirit," they were "dead works"; and "the effort to give them the appearance of life only rendered them the more offensive." The works of all mere formal professors proceed from a similar state of heart and mind, and are equally dead. Men should not rely on them, but penitently turn from them and exercise " faith towards God," the Father Almighty, a gracious and merciful God, who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they should turn to Him to be taught the ti way of serving God, and of obtaining qualification for that service. f\ V:M M 1 i Jili il' li i 1 ; ! 1, • ■ 1 ; i 190 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. This much might be known by the light of the old dis- pensation ; but Christianity brought additional light by its doctrinal baptisms — literally, its baptisms of teach- ing This is the right translation, for in the Greek Testament the word " baptisms " comes before the word which is translated "doctrine," but which literally means teaching. We have here the second pair of a series of genitives, all depending on He/iE?iov, foundation. ''iSmr- Tta/Kov (hfiaxf}g" (depending on ee/ueimv, foundation) " cer- tainly belong together," says Winer. They should be translated as they are ; " to transpose them would be at variance with the whole structure of the verse." The writer of the Hebrews uses fianuafiui', with which the Hebrews were familiar, and which, if not qualified by some other word, they would refer to some of the "divers baptisms," or Jewish purifyings, as in Heb. ix. 10. But the writer here connects it with "the adjunct daSaxTji, which removes it entirely from the popular Jewish use." {Christie Hap., p. 330.) " Of teaching," (hdaxvc. "This was the catechetical in- struction which in the apostolic age followed baptism." Conybeare and Howson.) The great commission was to be carried into effect by a twofold process, " baptizing and teaching"; and the teaching was to include all things whatsoever Christ commanded, and was to be continued through life. {v. exposition of the Great Commission.) In Christianity there are two baptisms of this kind — baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Ghost. Baptism with water is the Divinely appointed form of putting per.vons for life into the school of Christ, that THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 191 they maybe subsequently taught all things whatsoever He commands. (See exposition of Matt, xxviii. 18 20.) They were, according to the great commission, to be baptized and taught; and the writer, for this reason, placed the words in this order, as Winer remarks. {Gram., p. 205, 6th edition.) Baptism, understood thus, is so plain in its meaning that it properly belongs to the " first principles " of religious instruction. The true import of baptism may " be made so plain that the humblest disciple may comprehend it." {Barnes.) It was so in the apostles' day, and should be so now; and whatever cannot be so presented cannot be the true import. The other baptism connected with this dispensation is the baptism with the Holy Ghost. This is related to baptism with water, and, like it (as we shall show when we come to consider this topic), has reference to teaching. Persons are baptized with the Holy Ghost that they may get increased ability to learn religious truths. (See exposition of Acts ii. 1-4.) This baptism is administered by Christ, and imparts spiritual knowledge. This baptism with the Spirit sometimes preceded and sometimes succeeded baptism with water. They are never represented as received simultaneously but the succession may be in any order ; and a knowledge of this fact may have occasioned the various readings quoted by Griesbach, rfmJo;^'/?. ^ succes- sion of baptisms. The instruction which is connected with the first principles of the doctrine of Christ shows that in addition to " repentance from dead works and i:^;' * m ¥,:♦/ ; 'If m 192 lUPTIZING AND TEACHING. li !l* I 'tl faith toward God," men need to be taught to " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ " in order to obtain salvation. The penitents were baptized, the baptized were taught the way of salvation by faith. " And of laying on of hands." From the context we gather that this refers to the ordination or official appointment of the teachers who were to give the instruction which was to follow the baptisms. The Lord Jesus Christ a] ointed the teaching office, calls and qualifies men to fill that office, and wishes His followers to recogrnize such, and to desijjnate them by laying on of hands. All teachers of disciples should be solemnly set apart to this work. A Divinely appointed work shoidd have Divinely called workers, whether they take their place in the Sabbath -school or in the congregation. That these words refer to Christian teachers is further intimated by the fact, already alluded to, that the apostle " enu- merates three pairs of chief particulars." (Bengel.) As " repentance from dead works " and " faith toward God " are related, so are the baptisms of teaching and the proper appointment of teachers; and so afterwards are the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. These form a third related pair. Some, however, have supposed that the phrase " the laying of hands," points to what some call 'J\e rite of confirmation, used as a supplement to infant baptism, that the baptized may have in after years the oppor- tunity of making in person the promises which others made on their behalf at the time of baptism. But to THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 193 e assume that infant baptism requires a supplemental rite is to misrepresent its nature. This supposition erroneously ass'unes that the obligations pertaining to baptism are created by human promises ; and, therefore, that when the subject is not of competent age to make these promises personally, other persons, called spon- sors, must make them on his behalf, until he is old enough to take the vows on himself, and thus ratify them. But they forget that in God's covenant, and covenant rite, Divine laws take the place of human promises, and are binding, whether promises are or are not made by man, are or are not kept by them. God says, "They shall be to Me a people" — not "they promise they will be." The rite of confirmation has been unwisely used for another purpose. Jerome, in the fourth century, tells us : " It is the custom of the Church for bishops to go and invoke the Holy Spirit by imposition of hands on such as were baptized by presbyters and deacons in villages and places remote from the Mother Church." The High Church party in the English Establishment claim that their bishops can use it for a similar pur- pose. But this only shows that bishops intrude into the apostolic office without being able to give " the signs of an apostle," and even without rightly under- standing why it was that the Spirit was given in con- nection with the laying on of the apostles' hands. The apostles were extraordinary ambassadors, specially sent by Christ to teach the many things which Christ Himself spake not, as the people " were not then able 13 I '1 m ^ 194 lUPTIZING AND TEACHING. to hear thein." The apostles were, therefore, sent to complete the revelation of the New Covenant, and were on this account enabled to show special sij^ns of their extraordinary commission. They could by the laying on of hands confer the gift of tongues. When Paul laid his hands upon "the twelve disciples" whom he met at Ephesus " the Holy Ghost came on them ; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." (Acts xix. 6.) When Peter and John were sent to the Samari- tans who had received the word of God, " they prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost," and " then laid they their liands on theni, and they received the Holy Ghost." And it is obvious that the Spirit which they received was given for the purpose of using His miraculous agency, as He did in the case of the disciples at Ephesus ; for Simon the sorcerer saw His woikings, and approving of them, offered the apos- tles ujoney, " ^ j \g. Give me also this power, that on whomsoeve. ^ *• y hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost." He h i wondered at the miracles and signs which Philip ^ ought ; but when he saw the apostles laying their hands on persons, and procuring for them a miracle-working power, he wished to be an apostle* When Peter saw that Simon wished to intrude into that office, he said unto him, " Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness," etc. (Acts viii 20-22.) The power THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 195 Xo th od ler iot lis rer communicated at the moment of the laying on of the apostles' hands was not the gift of the apostles, but " the gift of God." But this gift of tongues was not the baptism with the Spirit. It was merely the sign that in a few cases accompanied baptism with the Spirit. To baptize with the Spirit for the purpose of enlightening the understanding is the work of Christ only. It was He who was to baptize with the Holy Ghost. The laying on of hands by the apostles was for the purpose of obtaining the gift of tongues. But the laying on of hands spoken of in the 6th of Hebrews does not refer to such an act at all. It refers, as already stated, to the ordination of teachers. [This construction is required by the fact that eTTiBemug — laying on of hands — is coupled by re with 6i6axnc, teaching.] " And of the resurrection of the dead." The resur- rection is a preparation for the judgment. " As in Adam all die " a temporal death, so in Christ shall " all be made alive." " It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." "And of eternal judgment" — " Kpi/na is properly the judgment sentence, the result of Kpiaig^ the process of judgment." (Alford.) That judgment sentence will produce eternal consequences. Christ is appointed to be the Judge. The power which He as Mediator got over all flesh was not to be resigned till all were made to appear before His judgment seat, and were accjuitted as saved through the plan of salvation, or condemned for disobeying the law of God, and neglecting or re- iV.,' m :n ■■ Pi 'If: I v. i ; II' ■w i III r 196 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. jecting the Gospel of Christ. These are the principles which the inspired writer exhorted them to leave that they may rise to higher views of the word of right- eousness. He now adds, "And this will we do " (or " let us do," according to the MSS., which read ttoiticuhev) " if God permit " us to have time to do so. It is fear- fully dangerous to do anything else. " For it is impos- sible for those who were once enlightened " by the elementary instruction given to disciples, and have " tasted of the heavenly gift " of the Holy Ghost as an indwelling Teacher, and have, under His assistance, " tasted the good word of God" — the text-book used by the great Teacher, and used by His ministers — and "the powers of the world to come " — the powerful motives inspired by attending to the future and eternal things which are revealed in that text-book — " if they shall fall away " (or rather, " and fell away," for the Greek is in the past tense, as in the former words) from the Great Teacher, and from tho first principles of His teaching, and from a teachable disposition, " to renew them again to repentance " — that teachable spirit which inquires, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " To bring them again to this disposition was now im- possible, because they now rejected the Great Teacher, and discredited His credentials, and regarded Him as a false prophet who as such was, in their opinion, rightly rejected and crucified by their rulers. They crucified Him afresh. Not merely so, they continued to do so. They crucify Him afresh. The writer here uses the present participle, not the aorist tense, as in THE BAPTISMS OF TEACHING. 197 the former clauses. Every fresh attempt to bring them to repentance was counteracted by this crucify- ing afresh the Son of God. The impossibility was not caused by any single act of past rejection, but by pre- sent persistent rejection. They could not be prevailed on to become His teachable disciples again, because they now persisted in regarding Him as a false teacher, and in affirming that as such He was rightly put to death by the highest civiland ecclesiastical authorities. ;re in hi I lid IP > lUi. PART II. CHAPTER VIII. THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM AS MORE FULLY UNFOLDED IN (I.) THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS VI. 1-11 ; (XL) IN THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS II. 11, 12 ; (in.) IN THE EPISTLE OF PETER III. 8, IV. 6. We shall examine these in the order just stated. L ROM. VI. l-ll.-BAPTISM INTO CHRIST'S DEATH. This portion of Holy Scripture is very often quoted by those who speak or write about baptism. The instruction it contains is highly important. It gives " God's own explanation of His own ordinance," as Dr. Carson remarks. (Baptism, p. 144.) This explanation is placed in the Epistles, which on this, as on^ome other subjects, give information additional to what is recorded in the Gospels. " As all the lessons of wisdom concerning material nature cannot be learned in one county or country, but from a survey of the entire globe, so God does not explain all His mind in one chapter of the Scriptures, nor in one book, nor even in one Testament, but in the entire canon of revelation." (Thorn, Sub. of Bap., p. 308.) God's successive acts and dispensations constitute a regular progressive de- velopment of one wise, broad, comprehensive plan. " To understand, therefore, any part of the works or ■f "" BAPTISM INTO CHRIST's DEATH. 199 ways of God, we must understand others which stand connected with it." (Hihbard, p. 64.) In the case now before us this fuller information is presented in the form of inferences drawn by an in- spired reasoner from all-important facts, which -are here definitely referred to, and which had been parti- cularly described in the historical Gospels. A careful examination of what is stated and alluded to discovers that the inspired writer points to the Lord Jesus Christ when on Calvary — to the bodily death which He there died, to the subsequent " burial " of His dead body, and to His "resurrection from the dead," as effected by that almighty power which is " the glory of the Father." The baptism which Christ received there was accord- ingly a baptism with blood on the cross. It was therefore a baptism by affusion. It was not, and could not possibly have been, by immersion. The death of Christ is here presented as an example to be imitated ; the martyr death is the one to which reference is made, not His atoning death. His atoning death had been pre- viously spoken of by Paul, but this has relation to the Lord's Supper, and not to baptism. Baptism is related to His martyr death, and was designed to place man under obligation to die as Christ died — i.e., to submit the body to be martyred by the enemies of Christianity rather than allow them to gain and exercise dominion over the conscience or the will. The argumentative enquiry of the apostle therefore is : How shall persons who have felt the obligation to be martyrs rather than I •"if/ 1^ f m M ^1 II 200 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. sinners, and have shown their determination by taking up their cross to follow Christ, and have thus by anticipation " died to sin," as Christ did, " how shall they continue in sin " ? This makes a very forcible argument, and brings out to view truths that were intended to be of very great practical importance aU through the Christian dispensation. We undertake to prove that this brief statement indicates tht; true and only true interpretation of these most important words- But all this scene has been veiled from view, and all this utility has been prevented, by an exceedingly erroneous interpretation that has been plausibly set up in its stead. This wrong interpretation assumes that the apostle's words refer not to Calvary, but to the Jordan ; and then supposes that the words "burial" and " resurrection " were intended to describe the mode of a ritual baptism administered to Christ by John. Having wholly changed the scene before the apostle's mind, they utterly mistake the meaning of the apos- tle's descriptive words, and entirely exclude the point and force of the apost'e's argument. But before examining the Immersionists' view it will be advisable to show reasons for setting aside another wrong interpretation, namely, that which thinks the reference is not to any literal baptism, but to a baptism with the Spirit; and that the terms "death," "burial" and "resurrection," are a description or illustration of a change from sinfulness to holiness. But those who give this interpretation have not ob- served that the very closely related words are applied BAPTISM INTO ^CHRIST S DEATH. 201 on the one hand to Christ, and on the other to the party with wlioin Paul associates himself. From this twofold application of these terms it is plain that a true interpretation of them must be equally applicable to both parties, and that what is not so applicable is not a true interpretation. It follov/s that the terms re- ferred to cannot have been intended to illustrate a spiritual change from depravity to sanctification ; for in this sense the terms could not be applied to Christ at all. Christ never had a death to a former depraved self and a resurrection to holiness. Therefore it is not the death and resurrection which the Pauline party had with Christ. Besides, if we interpret Paul as saying that it was sinfulness that died and was buried, then, to be consistent, we should represent him as saying that it was sinfulness that was raised again. For, according to Paul, that which died is that which was buried and raised again ; hence, if it was sinful- ness that died, it was sinfulness that was buried and raised again. Had Christ a resurrection of that kind? The resurrection spoken of was to be effected by the glory of the Father. Would the Father Almighty effect a resurrection to sinfulness ? Was Paul delighted with the prospect of a resurrection of that kind ? He says, " We shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." Paul and his friends had not yet obtained the resur- rection spoken of. If it was a resurrection to sinful- ness, he was better without it. It is better to have sinfulness dead than to have it raised again. On the other hand, if it were a resurrection to holiness that ii 1 202 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. was referred to, Paul would not say, " We shall " have it; he would have said, " We have it already." Paul was not at this time an unholy man merely hoping for sanctitication. He says, in this Epistle, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from ohe law of sin and death." (Rom. viii. 2.) But to say that spiritual resurrection to holiness is what is here meant, is to assert that Paul had not yet attained it ; that he died in the Gospel womb, and was buried there awaiting a " new birth." We have surely said sufficient to prove that Paul did not use the words as referring to a spiritual change of heart from sin to holiness. We now examine the interpretation given to these words by the Immersionists. We are confident that we can show them that their interpretation is wholly wrong, if we can get them to consider our arguments with careful attention, and with minds open to con- viction. But many seem utterly indisposed to rein- vestigation. When their position is attacked they throw over it the authority of antiquity, or of learned men for whom a right of dictation is assumed. They even bid away all scrutinizers, and demand that they give uninquiring assent. But in this method of pro- cedure there is nothing that could discriminate be- tween right and wrong interpretation. Uninspired dictation sometimes " deifies error, which," as Bacon says, " is the greatest evil of all." Others, more reasonable, endeavour to defend the interpretation by the authority of argument. They BSEBKWLUa BAPTISM INTO CHRIST S DEATH. 203 know that Dr. Carson s&ys that to claim for any unin- spired interpreter " any authority but that of argu- ment, is the essence of Popery." When advocates take this course they leave in ohe hands of their hearers or readers some means of detecting error, should it exist. " All the sophistry, all the colour of plausibility, all the artifice and cunning of the subtlest disputer in the world may be laid open and turned to the advantage of that very truth which they are designed to hide." {Bishop Hoadley.) We shall therefore examine the authority of the arguments which have been presented for this interpretation. To prove all things (" test all things," as Sir W. Hamilton translates the original) is a Divinely granted right, which no fellow-creature is permitted to restrict. No party may monopolize these important texts, they were intended to be common property. We have undertaken, therefore, to examine anew the entire passage, and to present what we think to be the true interpretation, and the reasons which conduct to it. And we shall endeavour to ex- pose and overthrow the wrong interpretations which have been set up in its stead and have hidden it from the view of many. Of course, the Baptist interpretation of this scene has been rejected by some good writers. " Melancthon, the most learned and accurate Greek scholar of the sixteenth century, utterly rejected it. So also did Philip Henry and Dr. Thomas Scott, the most devout and popular commentators on the New Testament since the apostolic age. So also did Dt. Charles !i fA \ i i ¥ 204 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I f w. 1; " i.lh' l\V - e 'i ; «^RI 1^ Hodf^e, of Princeton, U.S., the most learned judiciary and profound theologian and commentator to be found on two continents in the nineteenth century " (in the judgment of Presbyterians) ; " and so did scores of others." " Even Judson, the great missionary, and Robin.son, the learned historian, and others, admit that this passage has no reference to their mode of baptism." (Rev. W. A. McKay, B.A., Immersi'm, p. 51.) But those who have rightly rejected the Immersionists' interpretation have failed more or less to apprehend the apostle's own meaning of his own words. This, if rightly presented, brings to view things new as well as old, and opens up a wonderful fulness of manifest instruction that has escaped the notice of many readers. Many have erred from the right interpretation because they unwisely commenced their examination in the middle of the ppostle's course of reasoning. They begin with the words, " Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism," etc. But the word "therefore" obviously implies that there is a former part of the inspired argument which should be previously con- sidered. The proper method, therefore, for an inter- preter to take, is to notice what the apostle's preceding train of thought is. Looking back to the fifth chapter, we find that he had spoken of "sin" — i.e., sinfulness of disposition — "entering into the world," into every human soul. Afterwards the law enters gradually into each human soul ; but mere law is unable to control and regulate sinful predisposition. On the other hand, the former BAPTISM INTO CHRIST S DEATH. 205 only aroused the latter into greater activity. Hence, in point of fact, " the law entered that the otience may abound," and thus betray that it is a perverse opposi- tion to what is " holy, just, and good." He then announced the evaui^elic statement that " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.' (Rom. V. 20.) His meaning is that though natural sin- fulness, when addressed by only the authoritative commands of la^' resists and even abounds in perverse oppo.sition to law, yet God employs something more than law to deal with it. He manifests grace also, and superabounding grace. Grace uses means which are fitted to subdue those who have such a disposition, and biing them to repentance, faith, and prayer. And then, when asked to do so, grace pardons their previously abounding per^erseness, and renews the pardoned unto cheerful and faithful obedience to law for the future. Paul remembered that he had made this statement about the superabounding grace of God, and hence, when commencing the sixth chapter, supposes it to be not improbable that some of his readers may draw a false inference from that statement, and ask, What shall we say then ? — shall we say, " Let us continue in sin that grace may abound " ? He knew that irresolute pro- fessors of Christianity are disposed to draw inferences that serve as an excuse for retreating from the path of holiness, when opposed by the enemies of righteous- ness. He thinks that, for such reasons, such persons would wish him to consider this inference and reply to to it if he could. The approved reading is Eirifisvunev I I: 1 i 'in !» I') ti 206 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. .iW )•: m (A, B, C, D, etc., adopted by Griesbach, Lachinann, and Tischendorf). This is the deliberative subjunctive, and means, " must we think that we may continue in sin " in order that we may give grace a further opportunity to abound, an opportunity to pardon future as well as past sins, and thereby more fully increase its own glory. In replying to this the apostle lirst utters a ver}'- strong negative, which the translators represented by the phrase " God forbid," but which is literally, " may it not be " — that is, may it not be that we should think, say, or do so. In the Greek Testament the name of God is not here introduced. Inspired writers never use the name of God in a mere exclama- tion. Paul siuiply repelled the objection by an expres- sion of holy aversion. Having done this he proceeds to show that right views and right feelings would in- fluence us to ask a very different question, " How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein ? " In this retorting question is contained " a brief statement of Paul's answer to the objection," as Rev. Richard Wat- son remarks. " His design is to show from their death to sin that they are not to continue in it that grace may abound." (Rev. J. Errett, in Gliristic Bap., p. 262.) The meaning of this ' death to sin " would have been readily understood by them if they had been taught the full doctrinal import of baptism. The apostle apprehends, however, that the disciples of that distant city may not yet have been fully instructed on this point, though it is well known to himself and to others whom he associates with himself. Hence he inquires BAPTISM INTO CHRIST S DEATH. 207 " Know ye not" (literally, " or know ye not." The " or " implies that there is an ellipsis, which in this case is to this effect : " It" my brief answer seems obscure to you — if ye do not see the meaning of being * dead to sin ' ") — " know ye not that as many of us as were baptized with Jesus Christ were baptized into His death ? " This language implies that they knew the design of baptism in part, but not in full. The part they knew was tliat those who wei'e baptized were baptized into Jesus Christ ; but Paul supposes that they may not have known that those who were baptized into Jesus Christ were " baptized into His death." Paul, and the others of whom he speaks, knew this part also, but he supposes the Roman disciples did not yet know it. This appears from the change of pronouns, " Know ye not that as many of us" etc. This last expression is peculiar : it seems to imply that some of the persons alluded to were not baptized ritually. And this seems to be true of Paul himself {v. chapter on Saul's baptism) and of the other apostles. They were not ritually baptized by man, because they were not to be taught by man, but were to receive instruction immediately from the Great Teacher. He wishes to tell the " ye " how tlie " we " reckoned in this matter, and after he has done so we shall find that he added, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ." (Verse 11.) Prof. Ripley, an Immersionist, says very justly: ' The expressions * baptized into Jesus Christ ' and ii h ' 208 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. m: Si-! In ■ 'baptized into His death ' require explanation. These phrases are the hinges on which tiie interpretation of the passage turns. As they are understood or misun- derstood the passage will he understood or misunder- stood." (Christie Bap., p. 256.) It is plain that these expressions are distinct, for the Romans at this time knew the former, but did not know the latter. We first examine the former expression. What are we to understand by baptism into Jesus Christ ? " This point . . . has often been overlooked in the discus- sion ; yet we believe it to be so vitally important that a correct answer to this question must regulate and control the interpretation of the entire passage." (Christie Bap., p. 264.) Under the Christian dispensation " baptizing " is specially associated with " teaching," as is done in the great commission. (Matt, xxviii. l(S-20.) Baptism with water initiates persons into the school of Christ, the Great Teacher, that they may be taught the truth as it is in Jesus during all the days of their life in this present world. This baptism is initiatory, it is " into Christ." The preposition eig has a prospective relation to the noun with which it stands in connection. It n-^ver has a retrospective reference. Yet some unwit- tingly or daringly set aside the apostle's statement that baptism is " into Christ," and affirm that men were not baptized until after they were in Christ. And they, in like manner, contradict other passages. They oppose the statement that John baptized " into " (Eig) "repentance," and assert that he baptized after repentance. T BAPTISM INTO CHRIST S DEATH. 209 " The meaning of eig with (ianni^o)" says Ellicott, " ap- pears twofold, 'unto' and 'into.' 'Into' denotes intimate relation with; 'unto' denotes the purpose, object or end aimed at." (On Gal. iii. 2.) Persons were baptized into John unio repentance. So persons are baptized into Christ iinto His death. The disciples at Rome knew that baptism was into Christ, but they needed to be taught that they should regard themselves as " baptized unto His death." We want to find the meaning of this expression. For this purpose we shall examine what follows. He obviously keeps the "death" of which he speaks before the attention of his readers for the purpose of explaining the meaning in which he used the word. We must endeavour to ascertain this meaning. It is well known that the word "death," like other words, has different senses in different con- nections. A fully qualified and honest writer will, when using such a word, insert other words that suffi- ciently indicate the sense in which he uses it. Paul was a fully competent writer ; hence he here used other words which point to the meaning which he intended to give to the word " death " in the sentence under consideration. He shows that the particular death to which he referred is (a) a death which is closely connected with a " burial " and with a " resur- rection," which he plainly describes ; (h) again, it is a death which Christ died, and which some men have died ; (c) it was a death peculiarly connected with a baptism — baptism into death. Besides these there are several other indexes, which will be noticed in due timei 14 u % m i^ III I 210 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. It is obvious that the meaning which the apostle t UWiH] BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAITISM. 239 CHAPTER IX THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTIHM AS UNFOLDED IN COL. IL 11, 12: BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. These verses have the next claim on our considera- tion, because the statements which they contain are obviously parallel to those in the sixth chapter of Romans, which we have just examined. They accord- ingly require a similar interpretation. But to see this we must get into the. apostle's train of thought. That we may do so we shall notice how he approaches the topic. He had said to the Colossians, " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit"; or, as the Revised Translation reads, "Take heed lest there shall be " (" enTiu, the future indicative, denotes an impending danger whose entrance is feared as certain" — Winer) "anyone that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit." (Col. ii. 8.) What the false teachers put forward as philosophy the apostle designates to be vain or empty deceit, " as is shown by not repeating the preposition and article before th-^ latter word." (Lange.) He further points out its merely human oriofin : it was " after the tradi- tion of men." It was also " after the rudiments of the world" — referring probably to an imitation of Jewish ritual observances which were misunderstood and misapplied, and therefore not regarded as pointing 1- , I m liJ L hfil? ■ ' i '■'■ i 1 i ■:'4 U 'i i: !| ii ■■ i.r 240 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. to the Christ that was to come — " and not after Christ, who is the Great Antitype of those rites, and the Great Teacher of this dispensation, being Divinely appointed and Divinely qualified to teach." " For in Him dwelleth all the fuhiess of the Godhead bodily." The immediate reference is probably to His possessing as a Teacher the fulness of knowledge pertaining to the Godhead, " which only a Divine mind could contain, and yet are complete in Him." He can furnish you a full degree of knowledge. The word rendered "com- plete" had this special allusion to knowledge in chap, i. 25 : " Whereof I am made a minister ... to fulfil " (margin, * fully to preach ") " the word of God." It is also so used by the same writer in Rom. xv. 19 : "I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ." The Colos- sians therefore should not imagine that any other teacher could (Ave them better or more full instruction than their Great Teacher does. " Which " (who) " is the Head of all principality and power;" being "su- preme over every order of intelligent beings that exercise authority and power." (Blooynjield.) His disciples, therefore, are placed under oblij^ation to hear Him, and render obedience to Him, and to refuse allegiance to any other authority that may seek to get dominion over tlieir faith and conscience ; " resisting even unto blood, striving against sin," choosing to be martyrs rather than apostates. To this last point Paul specially calls attention in the words which follow, as we shall see after examination. The words now before us are given in the Revised Translation as follows : m\ BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. 241 mg be laul as lore rs : " In whom ye were also circumcised with a circum- cision not made with hands, in " (or rather, as Tyndale translated, by) "the putting off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ," etc. The trans- lators of the Authorized Version had a different read- ing before them, which they translated, " the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." But this reading was not accepted by the authors of the Revised Version. In this the phrase " of the sins" is not quoted. Bibli- cal critics have decided that it was improperly admitted into some copies of the Greek Testament. It is omitted hv Uie Sinaitic Manuscript, by the Vatican, and by the Alexandrian. It is also without internal evidence, as we shall see; it even turns an interpreter aside from the apostle's train of thought. The apostle was not now speaking of putting off* the body of sin in regeneration (it is universally admitted that circum- cision had no power to produce a spiritual change of condition), but of putting oft' " the body of the flesh" in death, because the apostle next speaks of " burial " and of " resurrection from the dead." He speaks of " putting off" the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ." Let us inquire into the meaning of this. As the circumcision of Christ here spoken of put oft' " the body of the flesh," it was not the mere rite of circumcision which He received in infancy at Bethlehem, but that which He received, on Calvary, and which was a fulfilment of its import. The circumcision in infancy made Him a debtor to do the whulc law of God with the fftifcljfulnwsH and imxx^ ISF't 242 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. lessness of a martyr. It was a severe rite, which strikingly indicated the requirement of the martyr spirit. It was, in Christ's estimation, an obligation to allow the whole body to be put off in martyrdom rather than allow one's self to be turned aside from any path pointed out by the oracles of God. Jesus was " made under the law," and circumcised the eighth day, and thus publicly placed under obliga- tion to obey the law of that dispensation. This made it part of His duty to attend the Passover at Jerusa- lem. He therefore did attend, though He knew that doing so would put Him into the hands of enemies that were seeking how they might put Him to death. He was not deterred by " the fear of the brand," nor even by the fear of the cross. Rather than set aside the exceedingly sacred obligation of a Divine command, and submit to ungodly counsels that pointed out a difFerenli course, He submitted to their power to perse- cute the flesh. He would allow them to have power over this, but would allow them no dominion over the soul. Hence His submission to martyrdom rather than to sin is here regarded as a compliance with the obli- gation imposed by circumcision in infancy. It is on this account that the apostle speaks of " putting ©ff" the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ." In the following verses we find that this circumcision was followed by the burial of His dead body, and this by a resurrection from the dead. We now see that the series of terms given in this 2nd chapter of Colos- sians is in a great degree similar to the series we L>!)' BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. 243 a rse- wer the lan bli- on the In ion this hat los- we examined in the 6th chapter of Romans. In the lat- ter we found the following terms: — (1) Baptism with Christ ; (2) Death with Christ ; (3) Burial with Christ; (4) Resurrection from the dead with Christ. (See expo- sition of Romans vi. 3, 4.) In Colossians the series stands thus : — (1) Circumcision with Christ ; (2) Put- ting off the body of the flesh with Christ ; (3) Burial with Christ ; (4) Resurrection from the dead with Christ. The two last terms in each series are exactly the same, and are placed in the same order. But in the first term of the one series we find a baptism ; in the first of the other series we see a circumcision. In the one case the baptism was " into death " ; in the other the circumcision " put off the body of the flesh." As in Romans vi. 3, 4 there was a baptism of Christ Himself, as well as a baptism of Paul and his asso- ciates, vso in Colossians ii. 11, 12 we find a circumcision of Christ, as well as a circumcision of the Colossian brethren. It will be best in this instance, too, to examine the cases separately. And first, " the circumcision of Christ." This was a circumcision that " put off the body of the flesh " — " the whole body of the flesh," as remarked by Cony- beare and Howson, Ellicott and others ; and therefore it was not completed in infancy by the act which put off a very small portion of the body. The word " body " must be taken in the literal sense, as is evident " from the concrete references ' buried ' and ' raised ' in the context." {Ellicott.) It was a literal putting off of the body of the flesh of Christ. There was nothing E.t • i» f 1 1 I I I m 244 r.APTIZING AND TEACHING. I < I 1 1 'I in Christ's spiritual nature that needed to be figura- tively put off. Hence the phrase "of the sins" is properly absent in the Revised Translation. There was a literal putting off of His body, causing literal death ; for it was followed by the burial of the dead body, and afterwards by a resurrection from the dead, effected by the operation of Divine power. The correctness of this interpretation will be clearly seen by reasoning back from the resurrection spoken of to the two related terms. As the resurrection is expressly said to be a resurrection of Christ from the dead, it follows that the burial must have been the burial of His dead body, and therefore the circumci- sion that put off the body must have resulted in His bodily death ; and, for reasons which are mentioned in the exposition of the parallel verses in Romans, and which need not be repeated here, it is the martyr death, martyr burial, and martyr resurrection which the apostle is describing. • The circumcision which divided asunder soul and body caused blood to flow, and the blood which poured down His body formed a " baptism into death," and it is called such in the Epistle to the Romans. We have understood the expression " the circumcision of Christ" as meaning here the circumcision undergone by Christ, the genitive having here a possessive refer- ence. This circumcision was performed in Christ's case by the hands of persecuting men on Calvary. The Colosaiana, too, are represented as having redeived a eircumeision, It is probable that, many of them Wer6 'I' I -y-.f HURIEn WITH CHRIST IN RAPTISM. 245 ■)ne er- se he a re Jewish proselytes before they embraced Christianity, and that they had at that time received the Jewish rite of circumcision. But they w^ere informed by Paul that Christ, who received that rite, regarded it as placing Him under obligation to put off the whole body of the flesh at the martyr's stake rather than submit to be turned from the right way into a sinful course ; that on this account they should regard them- selves as placed under a similar obligation. The Colossians, moreover, had accepted this obliga- tion, and accordingly regarded themselves to be dead with Christ by circumcision with Christ ; just as Paul and his associates (mentioned in Rom. vi. 3, 4) reckoned themselves to be dead with Christ by baptism into His death. The circumcision which puts off the body of the flesh was anticipated by them, but w^as "not made by hand " in their case as yet. They anticipated that it would be, however, and so reckoned themselves as dead with Christ. The burial of the Colossians with Christ was also anticipated. Theirs w^as a figurative burial with Christ. They knew that they were authorized to hope that those who, like Christ, are martj^red, shall, like Christ, have a martyr burial — a short burial — a thousand years shorter than that of the un martyred ; for the general martyr resurrection will be a thousand years earlier than the resurrection of " the rest of the dead." (Rev. XX. ; v. author's exposition of this passage in Christian Rewards.) They anticipated that if they were actually martyred they too would have this m m i>iiii ii' I ■ ! Ill 'III ' i a ■ If- 1 1 i h t i 1 i 1 1? S 1 '■[,:■ i ' ■ i 1 iiiiii ill' ji 1 - 246 FiAPTIXING AND TEACHING. short martyr burial. The relation between the burials here spoken of was that of a common doctrinal mean- ing and design. Accordingly " he uses the preposition sxiTiy and not the preposition mda. He would have used the latter had he intended to say that they were buried in the same burial-place, by the same hands, at the same time. But he did not intend this, hence he uses a different preposition, which denotes that the relation between the events spoken of was that of a common import" — that they were equally related to the sufferings and hopes of martyrdom. After saying that the Colossians were dead in circumcision, he tells us they were " buried in baptism." Here is a remark- able interchange of words. Instead of speaking of those who were dead in circumcision as buried in cir- cumcision and risen in circumcision, as some would expect him to do, he speaks of them as buried in bap- tism and risen in baptism. He might have used either form of expression, because baptism and circumcision were alike discipling ordinances, and bound those who received them to hear and obey with fearless fidelity. In that age many persons, among whom were prob- ably the Colossians, received both circumcision and baptism. Jews and Jewish proselytes continued to be strongly attached to the ancient rite of circumcision. On this account God allowed them to continue its observance throughout the apostolic age, if they under- stood that it was connected with the Abrahamic gos- • pel before it was connected with the Mosaic law, and that the latter was never intended to take precedence I 1 nUlUEr» WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. 247 of of the former. When persons proposed to use it for this purpose its observance was forbidden by Paul. There was no longer a Divine obligation to use it. Hence it was gradually discontinued, and baptism took its place, as the Lord's Supper did that of the Passover. Knowing that such a change would be uiade, the apostle represents the dead in circumcision as " buried in baptism." When the apostle said " buried in baptism " he used the word "baptism" with reference to the abiding design and obligation of the ordinance, not with refer- ence to the momentary act of administering it. That the former is the case is plain from the fact that they are represented as being "dead in baptism," and " buried in baptism," and " risen in baptism." These three things could not be at the same time true with relation to any mode of the act of baptism. But the different parts of the doctrinal design of baptism could be contemplated at the same time, and through a whole lifetime. The act of baptism is transitory, but the state resultant from the act is abiding. And the latter, as Dr. Dale remarks, is the proper meaning of l3a7rTiafia, the word which the apostle here uses. They were not buried with Christ as part of the act of baptism. The word " buried" is here followed by the preposition ev (in). Grammarians know that when the Greek preposition ev is placed after a verb denoting putting or moving into an element it always signifies that the thing put in is affirmed to be left in. If therefore the apostle had here used the word "baptism" 248 HA1TIZIN(J AND TEACHINCJ. II! ,1 iilll r to denote the baptismal element, i.e., water, and if " buried " here meant put into watf-r, then, V)y adding the preposition "in" after putting into, he meant that they were left in water and were drowned. The English preposition "in " has sometimes the same meaning in similar circumstances. When we say "a man is put in prison," we mean he is put into and left in. When we say we have "put seed in the ground," we mean w^e have put it in and left it there. But the Greek preposition, in like circumstances, expres.ses this abiding result always. It is certain, therefore, that the apostle could not have intended to say that the Colossians were put into water and left there. It is consequently evident that he does not refer to the act of baptism, but to the resultant state. We cannot suppose that the burial was in water, because the following word, " risen," does not lift him out of the state referred to. The whole statement is, " wherein, or in which, ye are risen "; not out of uhich ye are risen, but wherein ye were raised. Hence, on the supposition that Paul buried in water, it would follow that they were raised to their feet, but left still immersed over head and ears in w^ater, and drowned, or else miraculously preserved alive at the bottom of some cistern, lake, or river. An interpretation that necessarily leads a , truly attentive reader through such absurdities cannot be a true one. But this is not all. As they w^ere buried w4th Christ it would, on that supposition, follow that Christ was buried in water by the baptismal act of John, and left there L^IV mnuKi) u'lTii ciiiasT in liAPTisM. 240 lot on in re until the ])ivinc Katli(T raised Hirn from the (lead. If so, how coiiM the intervening part of His history, in- chiding His journeyings, His teachings, His atoning sufferings, etc., liave been accomplished under much water ? It must now appear plain that interpreters cannot suppose a reference to the act of baptism here until they improperly look away from the apostle's train of thought and separate his words from their true connection. On the other hand, the apostle's words, when viewed in the connection in which he placed them, plainly refer to the literal burial of Christ's corpse in the sepulchre. But in that process no one can discover a likeness to any part of any mode of baptism. The carrying of the sacred corpse through the doorway of the sepulchre, laying it on the stone shelf (on which the angels afterwards " sat, one at the head and the other at the feet "), and leaving it there, has no like- ness whatever to any part of any mode of baptism ; and of course there is no foundation whatever for the strange notion that it illustrates or describes any mode. A resurrection also is attributed to both the parties. We shall look first at the resurrection of Christ. I have already observed that the apostle expressly calls Christ's resurrection a resurrection from the dead. In each of the parallel passages, Rom. vi. 9, Col. ii. 12, he definitely states, and expressly affirms, that God " raised Him from the dead." What we see here is a dead body raised to life ; an effect which could not be i i it. i' I n i!i|l 250 BAPTISING AND TEACHlNfi. produced by the human hands that buried it. And hence it is explicitly said that it was " the operation of God " that effected the resurrection. The resurrec- tion of Christ here spoken of, then, was literally a resurrection of a dead body — a martyr's resurrection following a martyr's burial. The Colossians are contemplated as having a resur- rection with Christ. But their resurrection from the dead was not by means of the power of another, but by the anticipating act of their own "faith." They believed that the operation of God that raised Him (Christ) from the dead could raise them also. Hence the latter part of this verse, as more correctly rendered in the Revised Translation, says : " Through faith in the working of God that raised Him from the dead." There is in the Greek text a genitive after Tzia-K; (faith). And " in all cases where Trcang is thus associated with a genitive re'i, the genitive appears to denote the object of faith." {Ellicott) Alford, too, remarks, "The genitive after T^iang is ever of the object of faith," not of the efficient cause of faith. The operation of God here spoken of did not work in the Colossians to pro- duce this faith. No ; it wrought in Christ to raise Him from the dead. Hence, as was already stated, they believed that the operation of God had actually raised the actually martyred Christ; they knew that a similar operation could raise them too. From what God had done they knew that He is able to raise the martyred dead ; and from His word of promise they knew that He will raise them in the first resurrection, i B^fiB^fiiM& m unuui^^mmttm BURIKD WITH CHRIST IN HAPTISM. 251 ;t a lat die ley on. a thousand years before the second or general resur- rection, in order that the risen martyrs may reign with Christ a thousand years prior to the commencement of the final reign over the full assembled hosts of all that are saved. There is no allusion here to a spiritual resurrection from sinfulness to holiness. The operation of raising a corpse from bodily death is wholly different from that working which raises a depraved soul from spirit- ual death. Hence faith in the operation of one power would not anticipate an effect wrought by another power. So that it was not a spiritual resurrection from depravity that the Colossians anticipated hy faith. A confirmation of this negative statement is found in the fact that the resurrection of the Colossians was " witk Christ " ; but Christ was never raised from spiritual death — it ,.as only from bodily death that He was raised. His was a martyr's resurrection from a martyr's grave. To anticipate a resurrection with Him is to anticipate a martyr's resurrection. The Colossians did anticipate such a resurrection. In this respect they were in advance of the Romans, who, when Paul wrote to them, did not thus " reckon them- selves to be alive unto God." But they were not in advance of Paul and his fellow-disciples, who had anticipated this resurrection, who had embraced the promises pertaining to baptism ; and had, by their aid, responded to the obligations imposed by bapti.^im. Rev. A. Wiberg admits that the burial and resur- rec^.v^n of the Colossians were not the means by which f-i 252 lUI'TIZINU A^ TEACHING i ; b. h i ill! 11^ their circumcision was effected, but were the " conse- quences from this circumcision which consisted in putting off the body of the flesh." {Chr. Bap., p. 200.) Having admitted this, why did he not also admit, for the sake of consistency at least, that the burial and resurrection of the Romans were not the means by which their baptism was effected, but the consequences of the baptism ? For, obviously, baptism holds the same relations to burial and resurrection in the one case that circumcision does in the other. It must now appear plain that the apostle's reference is to a martyr's death on Calvary, a martyr's burial, and a martyr's resurrection ; and not to a mode of baptism at the Jordan, or anywhere else. When examining the parallel passage in Romans we showed that these three related words cannot be supposed to describe an act of baptism by immersion without putting utter nonsense into the clauses in which the apostle uses those words. Paul subsequently notices that the anticipations which the Colossians now had by faith were very different from those which they had in their heathen state. The apostle calls their attention to the contrast : " And you, being dead in your sins and the uncir- cumcision of your flesh." That is, when they were in a heathen state, for uncircumcision of the flesh was "the physical mark of a heathen state." (Eadie.) When in an unconverted and heathen state they looked for no resurrection from the dead at all. They anticipated death only. But old things had passed •iHi iw IJUIUED WITJl CHRIST IN BAPTISM. 253 away, for now he says, " You hath He quickened together with Him." The Father Almighty by raising Christ from the dead led them to anticipate a similar resurrection, a first resurrection with Christ, and thus emboldened them to resist even unto blood, striving aofainst sin, as did Christ, who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. As the quickening here spoken of is the work of God the Father, it does not refer to the regeneration of the soul, for this is the work of God the Holy Ghost. The apostle does not mean the latter for another reason — the quickening here spoken of is " together with Him," i.e., with Christ, who never needed or received spiritual regen- eration. It must therefore be the other quickening that is meant. God quickened Christ, i.e., made Him alive from the dead; and thus authorized the Colossians to believe, as they did, that the operation of the same Almighty power would in due time, in fulfilment of the Divine promise, quicken them also alter a short martyr burial, if they were called actually to die as martyrs. It thus emboldened them to serve God " without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of their life." They had been dead in sin ; they are now dead to sin and alive to God, ex- hibiting the highest elements of Christian character, with the courage and fortitude of a martyr. Before this quickening by the Father they had, however, passed through a spiritual quickening by the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost. But this pardoning and regenerating process thcjV underwent f n ' 111': !l m 1 ■ I ^^fl-r:! u !f!l 1^ 254 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. alone, and not together with Christ, and hence it is not here definitely alluded to. This regeneration is given at the time of pardon, which had taken place, for all the oldest authorities read, " Having forgiven us all trespasses." "Blotting out" (having wiped out by His authority as the Supreme Teacher) "the handwriting of ordinances " — which, after Moses' time, circumcision bound Jews and Jewish propf'lytes to observe — " which was contrary " (adverse) "to us" — being a yoke of bondage — "and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross," and thus exhibiting it as a wiped-out writing. He then pro- ceeds to tell them how by that cross Christ proved Himself victorious over all principalities and powers that usurp the place of God by trying to gain domin- ion over the consciences of men. When these per- secuting powers had seized on His body of flesh, He put off the flesh, and by putting it ofl"- — mrf-Kch^aa/jEvnc, in the middle voice — " stripped away from Hiuiself " the principalities and powers that had dominion over the body only, and over that for merely a little while, who while they had that dominion had failed to make Him swerve from the way in which He should go, and who now had no more that they could do. It is thus that Wordsworth and Ellicott, following Hilary and St. Augustine, explain this passage. They say, " The powers of evil had power against Christ, as mortal in His flesh : He divested Himself of His flesh ; by thus doing He divested Himself of them." {Lange.) They put Him to death, and thought they had made '^1' BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. 255 an end of Him. But no ; He rose from the dead in the possession of all power over them. Having completely baffled their final effort, and being now forever above their reach, " He made a show of them with boldness, as the ancient conqueror exhibited those who had been completely subjected to Him, triumphing over them in it," i.e., in the cross, the very instrument by which they thought they should triumph forever over Him. He therefore tells the Colossians to " let no man judge them " in respect of meats or drinks, for they should feel " under no obligation to obey the Judaizing teachers, who enjoined the now repealed rites of Moses, the worship of angels, or bodily morti- fications, as the means of salvation " (Dr. Macknight), because they need not fear them that kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do ; and because they know that if they suffer with Christ they shall also reign with Him. It thus appears that the subsequent context fully sustains the exposition jriven above. ilary say, ist, as flesh ; \ange^ made ^ ^TT^. ^ .^) j .; 256 IJAPJIZINU AND TKACHINCI. ■'I' ill mn : ll's, !.i;> 4' ! I CHAPTER X. NOTK TO KOM. VI. I 11, AND COL. II. 12: J^AITISM IS A COMMKMOKATl VE KITE. When we understantl the ordinance ari §m :iii :; I 258 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. out it. Now, to keep up the proof of these doctrines, the proof of the fact on which they are founded is kept up ; and this proof of the fact is kept up by the commemorative rite which is called the Lord's Supper. This visible rite was pre-appointed by the Lord Jesus, was observed by those who lived when the great event took place, and has been periodically observed since that time, in many nations, down to the present day, as is evident from all past history and from present usages throughout Christendom. Hence, while that past history and this present usage prove the observ- ance of this commemorative rite, the fact commemo- rated must be admitted ; and while this is admitted, the doctrines necessarily implied by it should be ad- mitted also. No one can overthrow the doctrine that man needs an atonement, unless he can overthrow the fact that Christ made an atonement. But no one can overthrow this fact except by annihilating the present commemorative usages of Christendom, and falsifying all past history so far as it bears testimony to the past observance of this rite ; and to do this is surely an utter impossibility. In like manner, the rite of baptism is commemora- tive. It was designed to commemorate the martyr death of Christ — the exceedingly important fact that our Great Teacher sealed with His ms^rtyr-blood the truth of His baptism — the truth of all that God has " spoken unto us by His Son." In order to faith in teaching, there must be faith in the teacher ; \n order to faith in the teacher, there must be fafth in i my BAPTISM IS A COMMEMORATIVE RITE. 259 jtrines, ided is by the 5upper. [ Jesus, t event d since nt day, present lie that observ- imemo- Imitted, be ad- ine that row the one can present Isifying ;he past Irely an lemora- \martyr ict that Ir-blood lat God Irder to iacher ; [aith in his character and in his credentials. Now, His martyr death was a crowning confirmation of His character, and His martyr resurrection was a crowning confirmation of His credentials. Hence, as we have said, baptism was appointed to com- memorate the martyr death of Christ; and the Lord's Supper to commemorate the atoning death of Christ. His death in each sense is exceedingly im- portant, but not equally important. In this respect the atoning death far exceeds the other, being the one peculiar and fundamental Gospel truth, without which there could have been for fallen men no par- don, no holiness, no heaven. And for this very reason it is of the highest importance that the expiatory death of Christ as our Mediator, and the scriptures which refer to it, should be kept in our thoughts dis- tinct from the martyr death of Christ as our example, and the texts which point thereto. If we apply to the former death statements which were meant for the latter, the result will be chaotic confusion of thought and gross perversion of doctrine. For in- stance, it is plain that in this passage of the 6th chap- ter of Romans, " the death of Christ " is spoken of as an example to be imitated. This being so, the as- sumption that Christ's atoning death is the one that is referred to by the apostle, leads obviously to the conclusion that it presents an example to be imitated. But it could not be imitated. His followers could not be conformed to His death for sin by dying to sin. " What sort of conformity is this ? " says Dr. Carson. H t if) Vm '1, 260 JJAI'TIZINU AND TEACHING. li 11 ':.. m<.: iii i 'ill!;' " There is no likeness at all in this conformity ; it is only a mere play upon words." {Bap., p. 885.) T£ the death of Christ hero spoken of be supposed to bo " His death as a proper atonement " for others, then the " dyinfT along with Him" to which baptism refers would represent us as mediators suffering an atoning death for the sins of others. Or else it would imply that the *^ 'ling work was not given to Christ only; that mer required to unite with Him in bearing atoning sutierings — whether by bodily penances, by sympathy of feeling, or by some mystical fiction of thought. The result is a most gross and dangerous perversion of the glorious work of our great High Priest. We have not space to specify here all the errors that arise from confounding and misapplying the scriptures which refer severally to the two deaths spoken of. We can refer onh^ to those which touch on the ordinance of baptism. When it is supposed that the death here spoken of is the atoning one, then the phrase " baptism into His death " leads to the opinion that it is by means of the baptismal rite that persons are placed in union with the atoning sufFerinofs of Christ ; and as salvation is through these sufferings, it is then inferred that baptismal .salvation is a doctrine of Scripture. Thus are they misled to embrace the dangerous doctrine that salvation is com- municated by rites and ceremonies. And it is easy to add, as popery does, that these rites must be adminis- tered by a certain order of men, who claim therefore HAPTISM IS A COMMEMORATIVE RITE. 201 an allef^iance which sinks all who yichl to it into the degradation, guilt, and danger of gross idolatry. The two sacraments differ as to the death commem- orated. But they agree in commemorating one and the same personage — the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems all fit and right that one of the two ordinances of Christianity, namely, the Lord's Supper, should com- memorate Jehovah Jesus as the only true Priest and true propitiation for sin in the universe ; and that the other sacrament should commemorate Jehovah Jesus as the martyred Prophet and " Apostle of our confession." Yet some who rightly make the Lord's Supper commemorate the Lord Jesus use baptism as if it was intended to be a celebration in honour of a fellow-creature who emboldens himself to profess that he has the requisite qualifications for baptism. This makes the rite cease to be a part of Divine worship, and gives it the aspect, outwardly at least, of popish saint-worship, or pagan hero-worship. And such a celebration has often been a snare and an injury to those who " love the praise of men," tempting them to receive an ordinance of God for the sake of being the hero of a religious service. But when we regard baptism as commemorative of the martyr death of Christ, we see Christ as the hero whose faithfulness and fearlessness is to be imitated. We are here reminded of the simplicity of our Christian ritual. On this point Caird remarks : " The principle on which the appointment of rites and cere- monies defends is deeply seated in man's nature. There Ill I* I 1 1 • i il,i> I* l!:' 'II I II I I I I : ill ") nil \ il 262 liArnZlNf} AND TEACHING. is a disinclination to rest satisfied with a mere verbal expression, or even v/ritten record, of the greatness we honour, or the events we celebrate. We seek by forms and observances to give them external significance. For instance, the coronation of the monarch, the forms and solemnities that accompany the passing of laws and the administration of justice, the rites and fes- tivities of marriage, and the gloomy attire and solemn pomp of the burial of the dead. . . . Even the fleeting phenomena of thought and feeling are not garnered up in words only ; there is a silent language of look and tone and gesture, which, as it is the earliest, is also the most vivid and impressive medium of mind." Hence Christianity has its rites, too. These rites, being commemorative, are more plain and simple than those of the former dispensation, which were a'nticipa- tive. " To aid in anticipating the unknown requires a more full delineation, a more elaborated formality of type and ceremony. To commemorate the known needs merely hints for thought. A well-informed scientific observer needs no illustration on a large scale to remind him of the principles and laws of nature. The fall of a stone is as significant of gravi- tation as the revolution of a planet. The print of a foot on a rock revives to the imagination an ancient and extinct world." (Gaird.) So the pou' ing of a lit- tle water on the head of an initiated pupil is suffi- cient to commemorate the affusion of blood on their Great Teacher in the solemn hour of martyrdom. ^]\ BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD. 263 CHAPTER XI. THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM AS INDICATED IN 1 COR. XV. 29: BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD. " Why are they then baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? " We bring these words up for con- sideration after those of the sixth chapter of Romans and the second of Colossians, because here too we find the apostle associating the idea of the resurrection of the dead with the ordinance of baptism. This associa- tion appears exceedingly perplexing to many — so much so that some have concluded that this text cannot be used by either party in the controversy, " because of its obscurity." (Sumner on Bap., pp. 225, 226.) Had they acquired a right view of Paul's conception of the ordinance, as unfolded in Rom. vi. 3-6, and Col. ii. 11, 12, they would find no special difficulty in understand- ing his language to the Corinthians. The apostle's main object in this chapter is to demonstrate the doc- trine of the resurrection of the dead. Knowing that this doctrine is confirmed bv the reference which is made to it by the ordinance of baptism, he alludes to the ordinance for this purpose. Baptism, as he taught the Romans, places disciples of Christ under obligation to imitate their Divine Master, who submitted to mar- tyrdom rather than yield to sin ; and he encouraged them to fulfil this obligation by assuring them that .It 264 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. li* nii I i ,•' ; ' ■ I l! ; 1 i' u \mi iiiu martyrs have been promised a martyr resurrection, and that that Divine promise will surely be fulfilled. As baptism by Divine appointment conveys such an assur- ance, it is properly used to support the doctrine of the resurrection. On the other hand, to deny the resur- rection of the dead is to deny the specially promised resurrection of the martyrs, and therefore to deprive baptism of an important part of its import, and to falsify its promises. If these are false, what shall they do who have risked so much upon them ? " Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not " (are not raised) " at all " ? " Why are they then baptized for the dead " ? (vrzep, over the dead) — for them. (A, B, D, E, Slnalt., etc.) Observe, the apostle here speaks of a part of the baptized, not of the whole of them. He says " they," in contradistinction to "we," in the next clause. Again, he speaks of those who were being baptized just at that time, not of those who were baptized previously. The times then present were obviously times of bloody persecution against the disciples of Christ. " In imminent contact with this baptism — vntf) rc^vp^*^ — we have," says Dr. Dale, "a statement that churches are in hourly peril of death ; and the last verse of the chapter exhorts to steadfast- ness and immovableness amid encompassing dangers." Hence he properly concludes that we have here "a ritual baptism received in a time of persecution " by persons who at the time were standing "over the dead" martyrs. " The dead," says Dr. Dale, " may refer defi- nitely to some Christians who had been slain at !r 'm BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD. 265 >> gers. Ire "a lead" defi- lin at Corinth, and immediately thereupon others had been baptized." It is assumed, apparently, that the cruel persecutors have left, having satisfied themselves that the martyr is dead ; and tender-hearted brethren and friends have now gathered round, and are bending over the corpse, or over its grave. They sper k of the martyr's true faith and godly life ; of his heroic forti- tude while under the power of violent men; of his happy escape to " where the wicked cease to trouble ;" of his glorious title to a first resurrection and millen- nial reign with Christ ; of the wisdom and goodness of God in making even the sufferings of the present time " work together for orood to them that love God." In- fluenced by witnessing such an e::ample, and by listen- ing to such remarks, some of the group desire and resolve to become disciples of a Master who has such follow^ers. They count the cost on the one hand, and the reward on the other, and offer themselves to be " baptized over the dead." He who was baptized at such a time confronted that death which they had met. Such action might well elicit the inquiry : " Why do men thus give themselves to death, filling up the ranks of the slain, unless they believe and do know that, through that Christ into whom they are baptized, the martyred shall have a resurrection from the dead?" (Dr. Lf&ie, Christie Bap., p. 1317.) Dr. Dale supposes that the candidates were thinking only of the general resur- rection. Had he correctly interpreted Romans vi. 3, 4 he would have seen that the reference is to tne • \3 ill ijii. If ill] i M^ tl!l i!||!;»l III hiiii 266 nwrV/ANii AND TEACHING. first resurrection, promised to martyrs as a special encourafife merit to martyr firmness, and he would have found no diflficulty in comprehending " the rela- tion of baptism ' to this subject. If they anticipated that the martyred dead would have an early martyr resurrection, it is easy to understand why they should get themselves baptized over them. On the other hand, why did the Divinely appointed rite of baptism publicly point to the resurrection of the martyrs (as they knew it did), if there was no truth in the doctrine of their resurrection ? for there cannot be a resurrection of the martyrs if the dead rise not at all. It may be remarked that Bloomfield and others consider that there is an ellipsis of the words " resur- rection of " between " for " and " the dead." Supply- ing this, they would read — " Why are they baptized for — in relation to — the resurrection of the dead, if the dead rise not at all ?" Theophylact explained the passage thus : " Why are men baptized at all in behalf of the resurrection — that is, in expectation of the resurrection — if the dead rise not?" (A. Wiberg, Ghr. Bap., p. 138.) After the criticism of some had supposed an ellipsis of the words "resurrection of" between " for " and " the dead," the theology of others supplied another word, " confession." The passage was then paraphrased by them — " Why are they bap- tized for the confession of the resurrection of the dead, if the dead rise not at all ?" This addition led to the rejection of the whole e'lipsis, because the phrase " the confession of the resurrection " cannot hl:'i ! BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD. 267 be literally expressed by bn^p rwv vcKpuv, as Olshausen observed. Paul does not assert that he himself had been " baptized for " (or over) " the dead." But he nevertheless considered himself to be as fully under obligations as they were to be a martyr rather than a sinner should perilous times come. And now that such times had come he shrinks not, but stands " in jeopardy every hour"; and asks, "Why si&nd we in jeopardy every hour if the dead rise not ?" He plainly implies that he and his companions ran the constant risk of martyrdom, because they, too, con- Udently anticipated that the brief pains of martyr- dom would be followed, in due time, by a resurrection of the martyrs, in order to enjoy a millennial reign with the once martyred but already risen Christ. He next mentions his own case particularly, as he was in much greater danger than his associates. " I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily " — I daily expose myself to a martyr death. And he did so because he daily felt a martyr's joyful hope of the first resurrection, " the rejoicing in Christ Jesus our Lord," which the Corinthians had, and which he also had. " If after the manner of men " (" with the views of common men " — Lange) " I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what ad vantage th it me ?" — what doth it profit me ? Some take this literally, and suppose that as " the young men at Ephesus were famous for their bull-fights " [Artimedor i. 9 (Wetstein) in Lange], they wished to know whether Paul could do what they ■f p i I k I '1' '■1 I I'.i.' 268 BAPTIZING AND TEACHlNa. had done ; whether he could equal them in their glory. From such motives they may have armed him as they v/ere armed, and exposed him to the fury of such beasts. But what advantage to Paul would be the glory of the young men of Ephesus — the glory of having fought with beasts and slain them ? Would it be wise to voluntarily risk his life for the sake of such glory ? No. Would it be wise to pursue a course which exposed him to be forced to such contests, if he knew that the dead did not rise ? No, not for a moment. But he had un- doubting faith in the power of God to raise the dead, and in the promise of God to give the martyrs a first resurrection. He thus justified his own conduct in standing in jeopardy every hour, and the conduct of those who became disciples over the corpses of those who had been martyred for being disciples. God cannot disappoint the hopes of such martyrs. ' li 'I' I pi ii' i i p*l NOAH PROVIDENTIALLY SAVED HY WATER. 269 CHAPTER XI I. THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM AS PRESENTED IN 1 PETER III. 8-IV. i: NOAH PROVIDENTIALLY "SAVED BY WATER" FROM THE ANCIENT ENEMIES OF RIGHT- EOUSNESS. This portion of Scripture throws additional light on the import ol:' baptism. It shows that when God ap- pointed baptism to bind Christ's disciples to be martyrs rather than sinners, He gave a pledge that they shall not be exterminated by martyrdom. They shall be saved from this by Him who keeps all opposing prin- cipalities and powers under His control. The verses that convey this encouraging thought belong to a closely connected series of statements. Hence their meaning can be best ascertained by care- fully reviewing some of the preceding statements. The inspired writer had shown Christians the feelings which they ought to cherish towards each other. He next shows them how they were to behave towards an ungodly world, from whom the)'' had received, and might still expect, injurious words and deeds. For this purpose he adds, " Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing" (ver, 9); "but contrariwise, bless- ing " the evil-doer and the railer : "Just as the scented sandal tree, in all its pride and bloom, Sheds on the axe which lays it low its sweet and rich perfume." To induce them to act thus iie presents various and I ^If ) ll'' ■ 1 1 1 ; 270 lUrnZING AND TEACHlNa. iM MV ■ ) ■ I, 1 •-i - : ! 1 strong motives as follows: " Knowing that ye are there- unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." The Heavenly Father calls His children to pass through sufferinor to the blessing which He ogives in return for the blessing which we gave to our persecutors — to blessing also from those who approve of our conduct, or who have thereby been changed from enemies into friends. He tells them, too, that by acting right they secure long life and happy days, " For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile " (dolov, fraud, deceit). " Let him eschew " (turn away from) "evil and do good; let him seek peace." Peace is a timid thing that retires from a threatening con- flict which it seems unable to prevent ; but " seek " it. It flies from a conflict already begun ; but pursue it. If it be possible, live peaceably with all men. He proceeds to mention another motive, " For the eyes of the Lord are over" (fr/, upon, directed upon) '"the righteous." Ho here mentions the ej'es because " love brightens the eyes" (Be^i gel); and those loving eyes will watch over the interests of those who keep these precepts. " And His ears are open unto their prayers " for help in time of need. " But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." He now mentions the face because " anger excites the entire human coun- tenance" (Bengel); and God manifestly feels holy in- dignation against the workers of iniquity. Besides, such Christian kindness and meekness will prevent many an affront from being given to you, and many an NOAH PROVIDENTIALLY SAVED BY WATER. 271 ''W He yes of = the love coun- ly in- sides, event ny an I injury from being inflicted. "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of " (or, as some copies adopted by the Revised Version read, " zealous for ") "that which is good." " Humility," as Scott justly re- marks, " takes away all occasion of insolence from the proud and haughty. Meekness pacifies wratli, and the returning of good for evil is apt to subdue the roughest disposition, and to conquer even malice itself." Hence few are so undiscerningly and childishly violent as to injure those who are manifestly humble and benevo- lent. Some such, however, have been and may again be met with. Some will inflict suflering for righteous- ness' sake. " But and if ye sufler" (should suffer) "for righteousness* sake, happy" (blessed) "are ye." In actual suffering you will need more grace, and ask more, and therefore obtain more ; and that additional •j-race will make you so happy as to cause you to glory ill your infirmities that " the power of Christ may rest upon you." "And be not afraid of their terror" (be not terrified by the fear which they strive to in- spire into you), " neither be troubled ; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts," — or, as A, B, C, Cod. Sinai t., Lachmann, Tischendorf, etc., read, "Sanctify in your hearts Christ the Lord," as Lord, as the one and only one who should have dominion over your faith ; as the only one who should by fear influence your conduct in matters of conscience — "and be readv always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." "There is po hope without some antecedent belief that the thing I- 1 i;tl I'll , :mi I 272 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. hoped for may come to pass " (Benfley) ; and belief has seen reasons for its confidence, and ought to be able to show these reasons. Hence the Christian is directed to give " an answer," — anoTioyiav, an apology or defence — to " every man " asking reasons. This does not imply that every Christian should be ready to engage in public disputation with an enemy, but enter into private conversation with an inquirer. "Religious truth is not the exclusive ])roperty of any man, hence the possession of it makes us debtors to others." {v'inet.) He that can remove the doubts and diffi- culties of others should do so when those others ask reasons, not when they appear as scoifers or revilers. We should be ready, but " with meekness " — proper re- spect for man — " and fear" — proper reverence towards God. It is a solemn thing, a matter of grave respon- sibility, to define and defend religious truth. " Having a good conscience." Defenders of the Christian hope will do little good by giving their reasons if they have not a good conscience attesting the consistency of their conduct with their profession Nothing but this will silence those who speak evil of Christians. " That, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ." ("They may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ" — Rev. Ver.) " For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doinjx than for evil-doing." Your earnest defence of the Christian hope may silence argument, and yet arouse a persecuting spirit. If so, it is better NOAH PROVIDENTIALLY SAVED BY WATER. 273 belief to be an is .gy or J does cly to , enter igious hence bhers." I diffi- srs ask jvilers. per re- )wards espon- laving n hope they |stency ipr but Istians. Ildoers, good Ishame ■Rev. Ihat ye larnest iment, I better to submit to any sufferings wliich wicked men are per- mitted to inflict for well-doing than to have to suffer what God will inflict for doing evil. " For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust," etc. That is, even Christ suffered for well-doing ; even His well-doing was called ill-doing, and pun- ished as such. He was pre-eminently a just person- age, and yet called unjust, and punished as such. He was martyred by wicked hands. His martyr suf- ferings are here thought of, and regarded as an example to be imitated. (Chap. iv. 1.) His atoning sufferings are not here referred to, for these were on our behalf, and were not left us as an example. He who went about doing good was martyred for ill- doing, maliciously laid to His charge by the "false witnesses " that were suborned against Him. He was numbered with transgressors, and punished with them under the pretext of making Him a warning example to sinners. But He knew that many would after- wards loetfc^ on Him in a very different light, and would regard Him as a holy martyr, emboldening them by His heroic courage to follow in His train through martyrdom to glory. " That He might bring us to God" — may bring them through all the stormy opposition of sinful men into His presence, where they will have a peaceful haven which the tempests of this world are not permitted to invade. ** Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." " This cannot be fairly translated ' quickened in spirit/ so as to denote His soul ; for that needed no 18 TB ;,r 274 HAPTIZINCJ AND TKA<^IIIN(i. : i ■ f ( t J ■ t 1. 1 r , i" 1 1 i:i' f : (luickeiiino" " — the soul continued to Vivq. Tlie antithe- sis to tlie (leatli of the Hesh is tlie ([uielvenin^ of the flesh. The (juickening was of the body, and hy tlie Divinity." (Rev. M. Randals, For Ever, p. ir)2.) The suffeiinj^s which men inflicted caused merely the martyr death of the body, but His martyr death was followed by a martyr resurrection. The martyr resur- rection was in His case followed by a quickeninj^ into immortality. He both died and rose and revived. After death (Jhrist'sbody underwent a twofold process. One was by the jjjlorious power of the Father, which raised the dead body to life. But when flrst raised from the dead His body was still in a form which those who had known Him in the flesh could recoj^nize and bear witness to. But this risen body of flesh and bones was, before His ascension, quickened into a spiritual body by His own quickening Spirit. This, we think, is what is referred to by the clause " (piick- ened by the Spirit." The rw before Trifiymn is spurious. This is the only (juickening that Christ ever needed. This He Himself wrought. We are told in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians (xv. 45) that "the first Adam was made a living soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit." He quickened His nat- ural body into a spiritual body. [The Scripture gives, apparently, a three-sided view of man's nature ; but really a twofold view adapted to a twofold state. It speaks of spirit, and soul, and body. The soul is man's immaterial nature considered in relation to the senses of the body of flesh, and through the senses to the NOAH IMIOVIDKNTIAF.LY SAVKI) IJY WATKR. 27.') T;M ot* the by the , Tl.e ly the ith was c resur- •evived. process. ', which b raised 1 which [icognize esh and into a This, " (jiiick- p»u'i()ii>^. needed. Paul's the first 1 am was ^is nat- re gives, ire ; but bate. It I is man's je senses Is to the present material world. The spirit is man's imma- terial nature viewed in its relation and adaptation to spiritual and divine things.] The natural or soul-body (rj'vxiKov nu)iia) is the body in its present state of animal orf^anization and adaptation to the present world. The spiritual body is the body as it will l)e when ada{)ted by resurrecting and quicken- ing power to the use of the spirit in reference to the spiritual and eternal world. Christ's body after its death and resurrection was then quickened into a spiritual Ijody. In other cases the resurrection and quickening will be simultaneous. "By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison," etc. That is, by which quickening, and in which quickened and new spiritual body, He went, etc. He personally went into the place where the spirits spoken of were kept in prison. " The apostle,'" says Alford, " is evidently dealing with his- torical matters; Christ suffered, died, was (juickened, went, preached." It is most natural to think that those historical events took place in chronological sequence (Weisinger in Alford) ; and, therefore, that He went after His body was quickened into a spiritual body ; not previous to its quickening, while He was in His disembodied state ; and for the same reason, not previous to His incarnation, in His pre-existent state as a Person of the Trinity. " And preached unto the spirits in pri.son ; which sometime were disobedient when once" — which were unpersuadable once when — " the longsuifering of God AJ ■>'iu A/. xO. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ' / ^/ A O O M.^^ /////^ f^^3 *;. V 1.0 !ri- — .!! MM I.I 11.25 1.4 2.5 li M 1.6 V] <^ /J ^?. '<^. %s. W % v'> % >?' 'rx y /^ ■ 11' ' "I ■'I' 5 Ml !■ im^ I.: '! jj 276 HAPTIZINU AXn TEACHING. I'll 1,'i; 'ii i; II ,ii ■ Hill I'i ]|i'' !| Ml 1 1, liil: ii' i; '' : ! . ■ 'i !' . '■ill! iMli ! waited in the days ot' Noah, while the ark was a pre- paring " (being prepared). The word translated "dis- obedient" literally means unpersuadable ; it often de- notes unbelief manifested in disobedience. The word rendered "preached" is one which means to proclaim as a herald, to announce a thing publicly and authori- tatively. The particular subject of the proclamation is indicated, not by the word itself, but by the con- text. In some cases the context points to the gospel of Christ ; in others, to the law of Moses (Acts xv. 21); in others, to the day of judgment (Acts x. 42). In the case now before us it points to the announcement of the resurrection from the dead, and the quicken- ing of the body of flesh into a spiritual and immortal body. By personally going in His now spiritual and glorified body He personally made known to those spirits a great truth respecting which they remained "unpersuadable" in the days of Noah, namely, the truth that dead and buried bodies will rise aixain, and that natural bodies will be changed into spirit- ual ones. Jesus went as the firstfruits from the dead — the first that was raised from the dead to die no more ; and He appeared specially to them, prob- ably, because they were the first who openly and per- sistently denied the resurrection, and consequently the judgment. They were prol»ably the fathers of this unbelief. This appearance of Christ to them would give them, and all who followed their example of unbelief, to feel strong convictions of the general judgment to come ; for such an " assurance has been 11 :flH NOAH PROVIDENTIALLY SAVED BY WATEIi. 277 ; a pre- d "dis- ten de- le word roclaim .ufchori- 1 1 nation he con- i gospel xV. 21); t2). In icement [uicken- iimoital ;ual and to those sinained ly, the again, 3 spirit- he dead to die n, prob- in(i per- 'quently hers of them xample oreneral 1 as been given to men by raising Christ from the dead." (Acts xvii. 31.) These spirits were expressly summoned to listen to this proclamation ; but others doubtless would hear it, or hear of it. This assurance would deepen their fear of the wrath to come, and this fear would aid in keeping them under restraint until the day of judgment. He did not make proclamation then and there to the obedient spirits. The announcement to these was made on His ascension into heaven. And to them the announcement of the resurrection and conse- quent judgment would be glad tidings. "The text says nothing whatever of the good, but refers explicitly to the ' disobedient.' All interpretations which ig- nore this distinct and explicit reference are arbitrary, and substitute speculation for the language of inspira- tion." (Lange.) It is equally true that the text says nothing about the repentance or final salvation of the disobedient ones to whom the proclamation was made ; nor does it censure them for neglecting a graciously added opportunity. No such opportunity was added. No saving truth of the gospel was preached to them. They, like others, were left to be judged according to deeds done in the body, not according to anything done by them in a subsequent disembodied state. Some have imagined that the meaning is, that the Spirit of Jesus was given to the apostles, and went in them after the day of Pentecost ; and preached not to the same individual persons that lived in Noah's time, but to their descendants. (Lindsay's Sequel.) But they forgot to show how those who perished in the :;] » ^1 \\\\§\ hi h II ' M II ! r. I , ! '1 il'l 1 1 i;i, 'I ■ 1 1 111! i! I il!i I mil 'i I 278 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. flood managed to perpetuate descendants to the days of the apostles. The view given above discovers a reason for allud- ing here to the disobedient in Noah's time. They dis- believed, and probably were the first to disbelice, the prophesying of Enoch, " the seventh from Adam," re- specting the coming of the Lord, " with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their nngodl)^ deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches . . . spoken against Him." (Jude 14, 15.) Then, under the influence of this unbelief, they became "filled with violence " (Gen. vi. 11), and manifested it against the righteous. Those who spoke " hard speeches " against God would com- mit hard deeds against His people. And that they did so may be inferred from Peter's inspired reference to them when treating on the subject of persecution against the righteous. It may be inferred also from the fact that Peter tells us in his second Epistle that it was to " save Noah, a preacher of righteousness," that the flood was brought upon " the world of the un- godly." (2 Peter ii. 5.) Noah was therefore in danger of being martyred by them. But he was " saved by water." He was providen- tially saved from martyrdom by the flood of water that drowned those who purposed to slay him. This was the true design of the flood. It was not sent as the punishment that was to be adjudged to those un- godly men ; for Peter, in the part of his second Epistle i':"~M rn !' le days r allud- hey dis- e^^e, the am," re- lousand and to all their [imitted, against lence of J " (Gen. . Those lid com- at they eference secution o from tie that usness," the un- danger 'oviden- f water This sent as nose un- Epistle Noah providentially saved by nvater. 279 already quoted, adds tliis observation: "The Lord ktioweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." (2 Peter ii. 9.) This teaches us that the Hood (verse 5) was sent for the deliverance of the godh'^ from temptation, i.e., from temptation to apostasy arising from fear of martyrdom. It was not sent for the judicial punishment of the ungodly, be- cause the infliction of this is reserved until the day of judgment. But this method of delivering the godly from martyrdom was not adopted until they became so few in number as to be contained within a family of eight persons. We have no evidence that more than one of these eight was really pious. Noah was " a righteous man and a preacher of righteousness." The seven others were listeners to his preaching, but perhaps they were hearers only. These disciples had been diminished to this little company by fear of the violent men of that age. And now God resolved not to allow this process of diminution to proceed any further. He could not permit the only prei^her of righteousness and his seven disciples to be banished from this fallen world. He providentially saved them by water, which He sent to drown their persecutors. There was a baptism at that time, but it is not said that Noah was baptized. The probability is that the seven persons referred to were baptized into Noah as a teacher of righteousness, just as the Hebrews, in somewhat analogous circumstances, were baptized into Moses. H' there was a baptism into Noah, it is the V" M ' : 1. :l:-,«. Mil! ii !ill! 280 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. earliest instance of discipling baptism on record. But as the inspired writers do not expressly call it such, we lay no stress on the opinion, but shall have to regard baptism into Moses as the earliest precedent for this kind of baptism. What salvation took place in connection with this baptism in Noah's time ? They were providentially saved from martyrdom by the water that drowned those who purposed to martyr them, but who probably thought they might as well let Noah iinish his work on the ark and pay off his workmen before doing so- Soon as their lives were actually endangered, God saved them by bringing a flood of water upon the world of the ungodly. He thus providentially saved the little company of disciples from extermination by martyrdom. In this providential sense Noah was spe- cially saved, because, being a preacher of righteous- ness, he was specially hated by the ungodly sceptics of his age. Noah was not spiritually saved by water ; he was a righteous man for a hundred and twenty years before that time. It is not said that he was saved by the ark from water ; that water was not intended to drown Noah, but only his persecutors. Though it is implied that a baptism took place, nothing is said about the mode of it. If it was a discipling baptism it was probably by pouring upon, as in the case of subsequent baptisms of this kind. It certainly was not by immersing and leaving him immersed, for that would have drowned him. It was not by dipping, for the word never meant to dip till '1! NOAH PllOVI DENT! ALLY SAVED 1?Y WATER. 281 [1. But it such, have to ecedent ith this entially Irowned irobably lis work loing so- ed, God pon the ly saved ation by wras spe- ^hteous- sceptics f water ; twenty he was i\'as not ors. f place, was a g upon, kind. njr him It was dip till '% after the apostolic age. It never took out what it put in, or took off what it poured on. It brought into contact in various ways, but it never removed from contact. What Peter does say is that Noah and seven others were " saved by water," and the meaning is, as already stated, that the water which deluged the world and drowned the violent men of that age, saved Noah from the death which thev intended to inflict on him because a preacher of righteousness. " The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) " i.e., " such answers from a good conscience as agree with the end and design of baptism." (Bishop Burnet in Goode, p. 498.) Such as respond to the obligations imposed by bap- tism are the only ones who have the promise of this providential salvation by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God, " angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him," and who is therefore able to save from all enemies. The Revised Version gives the former part of the twenty-first verse thus : ** Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism." Dr. Dale rightly says, " The resemblance can only be in the office, for to make simple water the type of simple water would be absurd." (Christie Bap., p. 336.) And he also properly observes, that " The true likeness is seen in the salvation effected in the respective cases." The comparison, says Dr. Dale, is between " tj^pe salva- m: I', i«! ni'iHii i! j;;'tiiii:M:, 'III '":' i lil i ll'l il I iilllH 282 IUPTi;iINfJ AND TEACHING. tion and antitype salvation " (p, 3.S8), but lie does not rightly apprehend the one or the other. The type salvation was not by the ark, but "by water." The antit3^pe salvation was not by the Spirit, but b}'' the risen and ascended Christ. On the one hand Peter sees the providential salva- tion of Noah and his disciples from their violent enemies, and on the other the providential salvation of Christ's disciples by the same providential powder. The salvation here spoken of is one that is effected by the power which the risen and enthroned Christ has over all opposing authority and power. The word " save," as Winer remarks, is connected with the words ' by the resurrection of Jesus Christ," to whom " angels and authorities and powers are made subject." By giving attention to this, and keeping in memory what the apostle had said of Noah, we understand him to teach that one design of baptism is to assure us that He who has appointed it to make disciples has also appointed it to assure those disciples that all the power which He now wields at the right hand of God over all opposing authority and power will be used, if necessary, to save His disciples from being exterminated by persecution. He may allow persecu- tion to cut off many, but He will not permit it to go so far as to banish all disciples utterly from the earth. Thus while God binds every individual to be a martyr rather than a sinner, and, as we learn else- where, makes baptism a sign of obligation to this — for we are " baptized into the death of Christ " — yet He I -»^'fl! NOAH PUOVIDENTIATJ.Y SAVED HY WATER. 283 oes not »e type " The by the [ salva- violent ilvation power, icted by rist has le word e words " an<^els Jt." By ry what him to 11 H that has also all the land of will be n being Dersecu- t to go le earth, io be a ,rn else- his — for -yet He will not allow the work of martyrdom to go so far as to destroy utterly those who listen teachably to His word. Were it not for this pledge some of His fol- lowers miglit plausibly say, We had better not make open profession and take up the cross, lest we be all martyred, and the cause of God destroyed wholly and forever. The Son of God will take care of that. He may permit His followers to be deci'eased b}'^ martyr- dom ; He will never suffer them to be annihilated by it. All the power of the enthroned Messiah is ready to prevent the utter extermination of true disciples. As baptism pledges such providential preservation, and as such preservation has in fact been hitherto granted, it is plain that baptism as a continually repeated promise of Divine protection has been faith- fully kept. The connection of baptism with the evi- dences of the Divine origin of the Christian doctrine has been elsewhere stated. Here we see its relation to the preservation of those who accept its teachings. These taken together form the connection which this visible ordinance has with the evidences of Chris- tianity. It now clearly appears that it is providential, and not spiritual, salvation that is here spoken of. It was only in a providential sense that Noah was saved by water. There was confessedly no regenerating cere- mony under that dispensation. There is no intimation that the word "saved" when used in a subsequent clause is used in a different sense fr ^^ that which had just been given to it. The salvation spoken of is effected m ill i! i> 1 ;: : i : lie *.. iji pi ,1 i ■'■'■'; ■ i iiliil 1 j ' ■ I: i lii 284 HAPTIZIN(i AND TKACHINfJ. by the act of the enthroned Son of God. It is not said to be an act of the regenerating Spirit. For this reason, too, it is plain that spiritual salvation is not here referred to ; and consequently, there is here no ground whatever for inferring that water baptism is a means or channel of conferring spiritual salvation. The main object of the apostle in mentioning baptism here is, as already stated, to assure disciples that baptism conveys a pledge that special, present, and continuous providential care will preserve them from being exterminated by their enemies. In a parenthesis he points out the baptism to which he refers — "not the putting away of the filth of the flesh" (that is, he is not speaking of the old Jewish purifying baptism), " but the answer " (the inquiry) " of a good conscience toward God ;" that is, he speaks of Christian discipling baptism, which demands in disciples the interrogation or inquiry of a good conscience toward God as the one who has ability to teach, and supreme authority to command, the consciences of disciples, and who as a jealous God admits no rival authority, and no double allegiance. The word translated "answer," eTrepuTT/na, is by Knapp rendered stipulati<\ the formal demand- ing of a good conscience. The kindred verb eTrepuTTjaev is used by the LXX. in 2 Kings xi. 7 (2 Sam. xi. 7)» and is by the English version rendered "demand" — " David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered." Some render it " the asking," because the kindred verb in Rom. x. 20 is translated "asked" — "I was made manifest to NOAH IMIOVIDENTIALLY SAVED MV WATER. 285 ^w them that asked not after Me." But what God asks in connection with baptism He demands. He asks for and demands the inquiry of a good conscience towards God, and then that we act according to our conscien- tious convictions. Paul said : " I have lived with all good conscience" (rw Oeo)) " unto God " (Acts xxiii. 1) ; "I exercise myself to have always a good conscience void of offence toward God" (Acts xxiv. 10); and Peter says : " This is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God," etc. (1 Peter ii. 19) — Christie Bap., p. 836. This is certain, that God requires a good con- science ; and baptism being a discipling ordinance, it binds all disciples to have a good conscience towards God. The inquiry here spoken of is addressed to God, and not to man. This inquiry is demanded to be made all through subsequent life, and is therefore a very different thing from the human requirement of a single profession of faith to man, whether before or after ritual baptism. The providential salvation spoken of is promised to those disciples who are characterized by the inquiry of a good conscience toward God. Such disciples will never be wholly exterminated. The correctness of the exposition now given is con- firmed by the exhortation which the apostle himself bases on what he had been stating. This exhortation is given in the next verses, which have been injudi- ciously placed in another chapter. " Forasmuch then as Christ hath suflfered for us in the flesh" — rather, "hath suffered in the flesh " (the wm m 286 HAI'TiZING AND TEA(JHING. It' , F/ • 1 'I'll I I ': I 'III''''. I'M 'T ' i !!i!|iil|ii'jii : 1 ■ ir i l;|:h/ ] Iv'i 1 i) \iWM, ■- i. TPlf fl' THE HEBREW FATHERS PUNISHED. 289 CHAPTER XTIT. THE HEBREW FATHERS WHO WERE BAPTIZED INTO MOSES DISREGARDED THEIR OBLIGATIONS AND WERE PUN- ISHED. The immediate object which Paul had in view when adverting to the baptism into Moses, was to admonish the Corinthians who had been baptized into Christ not to disregard the obligations of their baptism and bring down judgment or punishr^ient upon themselves. He reminds them that the Hebrew cathors were bap- tized into Moses, but soon heeded not the obligations which it imposed. They tempted Christ, the mani- fested Jehovah of that dispensation, and were destroyed of serpents. They became adulterers, and tvventy thousand perished in one day. They murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer. They grieved God forty years long in the wilderness, and provoked Him to swear that they should not enter into His rest. Precedents and examples do not lose their influence through distance of space or lapse of time ; he^ice by their example Paul warns the Corinthians who were baptized into Christ, and who were thereby placed under obligation to hear and obey the will of God as taught by Christ, to take heed lest they sin like the Hebrew fathers, and perish likewise. Baptism gives no pledge of unconditional final salvation. Those 19 290 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. m-'\ -'^ ;ilt: § liiHl '1 il ii ^ 'I r li t i ^ ; t! ' MS . Hebrew fathers were rightly baptized, for the ordi- nance was administered by God Himself, They were under a teacher truly called of God. They received many favours from God's special providence, and for a time received spiritual blessings, " for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ," the manifested Jehovah of the Old Testa- ment. But they afterwards sinned and perished. Hence, to receive the ordinances rightly, to sit under a ministry who are called of God and who teach the true way of salvation, and to run well for a season, is not enough. We must be teachable and willing and obedient to the end, else we run the risk of perish- ing likewise. But baptism was intended to be a pledge that God will never permit true disciples to be annihilated by persecution. He saved them from Pharaoh at the moment of baptizing them into Moses. As at the time of the deluge the world was destroyed to save the disciples of Noah from persecution, so now the Egyptians were drowned to save those who were to be henceforth the discioles of Moses. Hence the latter scene was made to have some resemblance to the former one. The same Greek verb that in 1 Cor. x. expresses the act of baptism into Moses, is used in Rom. vi. to express baptism into Christ. And the same Greek preposition is employed in reference to Moses and to Christ. Hence, as Dr. Carson says, "There must be some similarity between Christian baptism and what took place with respect to the Israelites " (p. 331). THE HEBREW FATHERS PUNISHED. 291 Moses was a Divinely commissioned teacher; Jesus also was a Divinely commissioned, and not only so, but a Divine, Teacher. Baptism in such cases was a ritual use of water for the purpose of initiating persons as pupils into the school of a Divinely sent teacher. "All baptized into Moses . . . were marked to be the dis- ciples of Moses." (Noel in Thorn's Sub. of Bap., p. 268.) At the moment that ^hey were fully emancipated from Pharaoh — that is, from slavery to mere human author- ity and dictation — they were placed under Moses as a prophet of God inspired to ccTimunicate such instruc- tion and direction as their circumstances needed. Bap- tism initiated them into the school of an authorita- tively appointed teacher, who would subsequently and in due time instruct them, and who, in fact, did after- wards spend many years in teaching them. The state of the case is as follows : — Prior to the baptism in the Red Sea, Moses performed miracles in sight of the Hebrew fathers, and thus convinced them that he was Divinely commissioned to teach them. The Hebrews then received baptism into Moses, and were then taught by Moses. They were baptized and taught ; they were not taught and baptized. Their baptism did not signify that they had already learned what Moses was to teach them, because a great part of what he was to teach them had not yet been revealed to himself ; but it signified that they were placed as pupils in his school to be taught what had been re- vealed and what was to be revealed to him by Jehovah. Moses was an evangelical prophet. " Moses wrote of lyi ill ilH m I m »i, 111 ilj jl'ii 292 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Me," said Jesus. He predicted Christ's prophetic office and His mediatorial priesthood. He said : " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me ; unto Him ye shall hearken." (Deut. xviii. 15.) According to Luke xxiv. 44-47, Moses taught that Christ ??hould suffer, and " that repentance and reniission of sins should be preached in His name." And it was such truths among others, and more than others, that Moses was commanded to teach the Hebrew disciples. " For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices ; but this thing commanded I them, saying. Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be My people," etc. (Jer. vii. 22, 23.) The fathers did not comprehend the meaning of baptism at the moment it was administered ; it was afterwards shown to them. Those disciples whose feet Christ washed did not know the meaning of this ceremony until He after- wards explained it. The subjects of this baptism into Moses were teachable persons — persons who were will- ing to learn what Moses was commissioned to teach. They had faith in God, and in Moses as a teacher sent from God, when they were baptized. But faith in a teacher is very different from faith in the doctrines which he teaches ; the former precedes the latter, and may exist without the latter. They were willing to hear what Moses was commissioned to teach, and will- ing that their little ones should be " trained up in the THE HEBREW FATHERS PUNISHED. 293 nurture and admonition of the Lord." We do not say, however, that had there been unwillingness to hear, it would have prevented their baptism in this case, where God, and not man, was the baptizer. He had the right to impose obligation to hear, and the sign of obligation, without the consent of any subject. But had He done so. His conduct in this particular would obviously have been no model for a human adminis- trator, who, being a fellow-creature, ought to ask and obtain the consent of the adult subject, or of the parents of the infant subject, before performing a ritual act upon them. We should not lay stress on the reading, epairrLaavTo — they baptized themselves. There is, says Alford, " strong manuscriptal evidence " — A, C, D, E, F, G, Sinait, and 15 Cursives (Lange) — in favour of a differ- ent reading — ejianTiadnaav, " were baptized." This I deem to be the right one, as /?a7rnC :l f! Hill 'J' it III 294 BAPTISING AND TEACHIXa. regarded as superseded by baptism into Moses. But after Moses terminated his life on Mount Nebo there were no more baptisms into Moses by Divine appoint- ment, or into any of the prophets that came between Moses and John. The Hebrew disciples did not "call themselves by the name of Moses, as the several sects of philosophers did by the names of their several leaders. For the doctrine which Moses taught was not his own; and the obedience which he required was not to him- self, but to God, the Makei of heaven and earth." (Abp. Seeker in D'Oyly and Mount.) The time when the baptism took place was probably when the Hebrews had nearly reached the shore to which they were mov- ing, when Moses their leader had passed through and ascended the high bank. Standing alone there, he was visible to all the Hebrew host, and was ready to stretch his rod over the sea as a signal for God to cause its waters to close tumultuously on the pur- suing Egyptians, beginning at the rear of the He- brews. The Egyptian pursuit was first arrested by a sudden manifestation of the gl^^y of the shechinah cloud. They turned to flee, but God blew with His wind and caused the waters to rush in and overwhelm them as "they fled against it." That tumultuous rush of waters doubtless caused a great spray to arise ; the wind carried that fine spray so as to fall upon the Hebrew host to baptize them into Moses, but it moved not as yet the walls of water on their right hand and their left. The baptism did not consist in being " under the cloud and passing through the sea," but » i THE HEBREW FATHERS PUNISHED. 295 in .. mething distinct from these, which is explicitly mentioned. They were " baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." The object was not to drench them or obstruct their progress. There was not enough to wet the ground; they went through "on dry ground." The expression "in the cloud and in the sea" simply gives the place in which the baptism was effected. So John afterwards " baptized in the wilderness." It cannot mean that they were under the sea. It was not above them, nor beneath them, nor before them, nor behind them ; it was merely on th 'ir right hand and their left. They were not put into its water. The word "baptize" never takes out what it puts in, as it never takes off what it puts on. It sometimes meant to put in, but it cannot be supposed to do so here, be- cause it is followed by ei>. And when ev follows a verb signifying motion into, it denotes that the object put in was left in. The Hebrews, in point of fact, were not put into the sea and left in it. They were not drowned like the Egyptians. This was the very thing God worked a miracle to prevent. " In the cloiid " may denote that the cloud at this moment was not merely behind them, but had moved on each side of them to strengthen their faith that they would get safely through. This was not a purifying but a discipling ordinance. It is fair, therefore, to assume that its mode was similar to the discipling ordinances after- wards appointed, and accordingly, that it was effected by pouring the element upon them. They were f iii I 11! 'i :i ') ^1 (••:l !'''i^ §§ ill illilil 296 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. baptized where there was much water, and yet by a gentle and brief affusion. They were baptized into Moses when he alone stood on the farther shore, and while they were still between the divided walls of the sea and the cloud, which had moved over their heads to the rear and then descended between them and the Egyptians. This was the moment at which the baptism took place, and this was the site where this great baptism took place. In this sense they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, just as John long afterwards baptized their descendants in the wilder- ness. When Moses stretched his rod over the sea, the stormy winds which God sent did not disturb the walls of water on either side of the Hebrew host, but it did overturn those on each side of the Egyptians, beginning at their rear ; for they tried to flee against it when panic-struck by the glory suddenly mani- fested by the shechinah cloud in their front. Soon the closing sea overwhelmed them. " Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them." (Ex. xv. 10.) That tumultuous rush of waters would cause a great spray, and this spray, wafted by the wind over the intervening cloud, was probably that which baptized the Hebrews into Moses. 1 ! I ; ■ ■.'-■: ■ \1- '■'.'■. !■■■ \a j|| -j 1 Hi ! : ■ '-" 1] ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. 297 CHAPTER XIV. (a) ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM (EPH. IV. 5)-PR0- MOTION OF UNITY. I The apostle is presenting to the Kphesians the various lines of argument which should induce them to maintain unity of spirit. The words before us pre- sent one of these lines, for there is " one Lord " — one Supreme Royal Teacher presiding over all the disciples who have been initiated into His school ; " one faith " in that one Teacher who is Divinely appointed and qualified. There is not as yet one faith In the various doctrines and duties which He teaches. Some as yet have waded but a very little way into them ; some have different views of what they have heard; but all may have one faith in the one great Teacher, and this eventually may bring them nearer together in refer- ence to His various teachings. " One baptism " into Him as Supreme Teacher, as a sign of obligation to hear Him, to learn His doctrines, obey His commands, and imitate His example. Every true baptism has this essential import : whatever has not this one feature is not true baptism. In this respect there is but one baptism into one Lord. Baptism binds us to hear and believe the one Royal Teacher ; it does not bind us to hear and follow subordinate teachers, who may bring divers doctrines and cause 298 liAI'TIZFNCi AND TEACHfNG. pi parties and divisions : in this case there would be many baptisms. Every true baptism is into Jesus Christ, the " one Lord." Tlioiigh a thousand subordi- nate teachers should try to gain dominion over our conscience, there is but one Lord who has the right to do so. The bond of unity in His school is one faith in Him, not in a hierarchy of subordinate teacliers. Having- in previous chapters dwelt at length on this topic, it is not necessary to enlarge here. liw m (6) CONSEQUENCE OF PREVENTING UNITY AT THE LORD'S TABLE -THE LORD'S SUPPER IS NOT EATEN. By looking at the eleventh chapter of Corinthians we find that unity was to be shown in a very special manner at the Lord's Table. Those who came to par- take were accustomed to " come together unto one place." When there they were to -^it together as one family, and not in sectarian bands. The principal object of the Supper is "to show forth the Lord's death," and not points of higher attainment among the partakers. One leading object of the Supper is to keep Christian brethren united, by showing them the common need of the atonement, the common efficacy of the atonement in procuring precious salvation, the common salvation obtained through the atoning death. These common blessings are the only ones to be thought of here. Whatever points of diversity may exist are not allowed to intrude here. They belong to non-essential points, and should be matters of for- bearance everywhere, but should not be even thought of at the Lord's Table. ONE LORD, ONE KAITH, ONE HAPTISM. ^99 The Corintliians, however, began to cease to act on this wise plan. They had differences, and they thought of them and emphasized them, and felt variance to- ward those who dissented from them. And this soon went to such a lenorth that when " they came together unto one place to eat the Lord's Supper, they would not eat together." They ate with their own party. Then came the tremendous ^^ecision of St. Paul, "This is not to eat the Lord's Supper." Every man who has acted in that way has " only eaten his own supper." They departed so far from the original design of the Lord's Supper, they changed it so utterly, that the apostle Paul told them that they did not eat it at all. Besides, the Lord Jesus was not there ; they had no fellowship with Him. If they felt any persuasion that they had, that " persuasion did not come from Him that called them." The place of the Corinthians is filled in the present day by the close communion sectarians. As far as we can now judge, these seem to be in every respect the most blameworthy. The design of the Lord's Supper, as we have already stated, is " to show forth the Lord's death." To do this shows *'the terms of salvation." Terms of salvation should be the only terms of com- munion. Rev. Robert Hall remarks : " Terms of com- munion should not be established which are not terms of salvation." If we make them exceed, we disown those which Christ acknowledges. " To do this," says Dr. Carson, "is anti-Christian disobedience to Christ ... To set aside the weakest of Christ's little ones ill ' 1 ": "] i ' \l m 1 1 1 1 '- m m- 300 BAPTIZING AND TEACHINCi. I call not illiberal, but unchristian." (p. 5.) Yet the close communionists have claimed that they have full authority to frame terms of communion, and to set aside all who will not comply with them. In fram- ini^ these terms they very erroneously assume that baptism introduces into Church fellowship. We have shown already that this is a gross error. Baptism initiates into the outer kingdom of disciples ; it does not initiate into the Church (see preceding chapters). But they affirm, on the contrary, with a firmness which seems to lay claim to infallibility, that baptism does introduce into the Church, that immersion is bap- tism, and hence they decide that baptism by immer- sion is a necessary term of communion. They thus legislate away all the children of God who were not immersed. They boast that they have been prominent advocates of religious liberty, but they have been wholesale destroyers of it too. All who unite with them are placed under strictest obligations not to transgress in the slightest degree the terms of com- munion. Those who are to be received to fellowship here are those whom God has saved. Wher persons call aright on Him for salvation. He saves and receives them, and then says to those whom He had previously saved, * Receive them, for I have received." He has in some degree a disposition to love and serve God, but may seem to be very different from others in the degree of light and faith. It may seem, in the judgment of his brethren, that he has not some of the prerequisites to ONE LORD, ONE FAITFI, ONE HAITIHM. 301 salvation; Gxl's judgment differs from theirs, for He has saved them. The fallibility is found on their side. Some are disposed to say, " We want to convince them of their deficiencies." Paul did not recommend the Ro- mans to take this course ; he said : " Receive him that is weak in the faith, but not to doubtful disputations." Paul could very easily have told whether the man " that eateth herbs " or the man that " eateth all things " was the one in error, but he refrained from doing so. He wanted them to exercise forbearance — to care more for the law of charity than for the law of uniformity in such cases. Scripture speaks more strongly against want of love to the brethren than against want of light on non-essential points. " This tender care is peculiar to Christianity," it has been said, " and is greatly to its honour." They may "assert that their withdrawing from communion with their brethren is no interruption to their mutual harmony and affection." But, says Rev. Robert Hall, " it is a serious and aivful interruption, and will ever be considered in that light. It is the very essence of schism." (Hall's Works, p. 323-333.) When " they come together into one place " they appear as a sectarian party. They set aside the true meaning of the Lord's Supper, and so far change its purpose that we must say to them, in the language of Paul to the sectarian Corinthians, " This is not to eat the Lord's supper." Every attempt you have made has been a failure ; every future attempt must equally fail. Christ never once came to have fellow- I I f I m 302 BAFI'IZING AND TEACHING. ship with you. This part of your system cannot be improved by mending ; it must be absolutely surren- dered. The command to you, as to the Corinthians, is, " Wherefore, tarry one for another." If so, they must break up their organization. But they can organize on other principles, and use their piety, talents and energy in doing a good work that will grieve no child of God. We are aware that Baptists have been always sensitive when any remarks have been made on their close communion sentiments, and they strongly de- claim against it. They do so very inconsistently, however. They hesitate not to speak very strong words against infant baptism. " We must treat their pretensions just as we treat similar pretensions in Papists. We cannot have respect of persons in things which touch the vitals of Christianity." (Seiss.) i^: If!! : i-i m PART III. CHAPTER XV. CASES WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM: (a) THE THREE THOUSAND ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. i i It would be instructive to ^o fully into the preced- incr context, but we have not space, nor is it neces- sary. Good remarks respecting it can be found in commentaries and elsewhere. It is important, how- ever, to make remarks on those verses which illus- trate the theory of baptism which we have presented, and not the theories which others have adopted. We must place before us for special consideration the first directions respecting Christie baptism. " The importance of a right interpretation of this passage cannot be overestimated. To err here is to err in every after case of Christian baptism. We cannot, then, give it too close attention." (Ghristic Bap., p. 131.) The apostle's words are in answer to an inquiry made after Peter had charged the Jews with rejecting the Lord's Christ, whom God had anointed to be their Great Teacher, Supreme King, and Medi- ating High Priest. They rejected His claims, suborned false witnesses against Him, and by the hands of the wicked crucified Him. That they had acted wrong \, I. % ml ' ' t!,^i!i ii" W: > 304 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. in SO doing was demonstrated by the fact of His resurrection from the dead, and by the miraculous scenes of the day of Pentecost. Though Peter's argument convinced them that they had committed a very guilty act, yet he had spoken to them with the kindness and lowliness of a brother ; " and they seek counsel from him as such, and not from him only, but equally from his brethren, for he did not magnify himself above his equals." " And said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" — what must we do? — TzoLTjaafiev, the deliberative subjunctive. They retained full self-possession, and felt the need of guidance. Then Peter, still the spokesman of his associates, said unto them : " Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you, in " (em, on) " the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." This answer was given to those who already manifestly felt conviction of sin and of danger, and who felt sorrow for sin, being "pierced to the heart." But conviction and sorrow do not make up repentance ; conviction produces sorrow, and " sorrow worketh repentance." Repentance is some- thing that is done by a convicted and sorrowful soul. The first step of repentance is to come as a convicted and sorrowful sinner, with a teachable spirit, to the Great Teacher, to be admitted into His school, that he may be taught the way of salvation and the way of duty. Repentance precedes justifying faith in the order of experience — " Repent ye, and believe the Gos- ■^' 'Kft BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 305 pel." But before there is saving faith there may be faith in the fact that Christ is a Divinely appointed and Divine teacher. The addresses which the apostles delivered to per- suade men to become the disciples of Christ went merely to show that Jesus was Divinely appointed and Divinely qualified to be their Great Teacher ; but to those who had become disciples they gave addresses or sent epistles that were fitted and designed to give a knowledge of the doctrines which He teaches, and of the commands which He issues. Hence in the lat- ter, but not in the former, we find special instruction as to doctrine and duty. Penitent teachableness is prerequisite to the recep- tion of adult baptism. Adults, while impenitent, are not earnestly disposed to hear and learn what Christ teaches and commands. It is only when penitent th^,t they inquire, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" In infancy they might have been discipled without a penitent spirit, because then they were naturally teach- able in reference to what earthly parents teach and command, which is all that God requires of little chil- dren. But when persons have arrived at adult age without being discipled, penitence is then prerequisite, because without it they cannot become rightly dis- posed to learn what God requires of adults. Repent- ance brings adults back to the teachableness of juve- niles. " Except ye be converted " (eav fin arpai^TiTE, except ye turn back), "and become as little children, ye '='hall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matt, xviii. X) 20 Vi 'll; ; ■ ii 1- 306 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Peter the apostle, like John the forerunner of Christ, connects a command to repent with a command to be baptized. John, however, placed his baptism before repentance : he said, " I baptize you unto repentance " {Eig /leravoiav), not "after repentance" — eig never has a retrospective reference. But Peter puts repentance before Christian baptism : he says, " Repent, and be baptized," etc. This difference in the order arose from the difference in the baptisms. John's baptism made persons the disciples of John ; but John's peculiar work as a teacher was to prepare men for the first coming of Christ, and the truths which specially pertained to his pioneering mission were such as men, while yet impenitent, might learn. (See remarks on John's teach- ing.) But the characteristic truths taught by Christ to adults are ones which they do not wish to learn until they are penitent. Peter's reply to their inquiry was, " You must in a penitent spirit enter the school of Christ in order to learn the way of salvation." The "What must we do?" had not precisely the same meaning as the fuller inquiry of the jailor of Philippi, "What must I do to be saved ?" If it had this mean- ing Peter would have given an answer similar to the one which Paul gave. Paul said to the jailor, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." He was not told to repent before believing, because he was already penitent. He was riot told to believe before he was baptized. We do not read of his believ- ing till after his baptism. But those whom Peter addressed were not penitent, though they were con- 1= ill BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 807 I I victed so as to be " cut to the heart." Hence they are told to repent and be baptized, i.e., to come in a peni- tent, and therefore teachable, spirit to Christ to be initiated into His school. Repentance in this relation implies teachableness, and this part of repentance must, in the case of adults, precede initiation into Christ's school. Repentance has also relation to " re- mission of sins." In this case it includes other ele- ments, as we shall see. It was not necessary for Peter to say expressly that baptism had this general signifi- cance. It was well understood, since John's ministry began, that baptism was made a discipling ordinance. In one point it diftered from John's baptism, and to this Peter calls attention. It was to be ein. to ovo^an hjaov Xpiarov, upon the nauie of Jesus Christ as the Teacher. The preposition eKi., when construed with f^aTzn^u, points to that on which a person stood or rested when baptized. Dr. Dale quotes the following examples in illustration of this : — " ' Judith ' (xii. 7) ' baptized her- self upo7i the fountain' {kni rfja Trr/y^g). The preposi- tion expresses that upon which Judith rested when she baptized herself. Every fountain has a lip, an edge, on which one can stand. Clement of Alexandria (i. 1352) says : ' It is a custom of the Jews to be bap- tized icpon a couch ' {em xoirr/). The preposition points out that upon which the Jew rested when he received baptism ; he rested upon a couch. Matt. iii. 13 : Jesus came from Galilee [em rov lopdavrjv ^anTiad^vai), He came from Galilee toward the Jordan, and when He reached •'! m 'i I r W^ 308 BAPTIZINCi AND TEACH IXCJ. the bank or side of the rivar He stood unon it. Every river has a side or a bank upon which one can stand. These examples present a physical basis on which the baptized rested. There is also ' a moral basis upon which the soul may be said to rest in receiving bap- tism.' " (Christie Bap., p. 145.) That basis is " the name of Christ." This is an abiding basis on which to take one's position. Winer says that, according to Krug, " etti with the dative indicates the notion of belonging to permanently." They were to come to Christ in order to rest per- manently on Him as their future and all-sufficient Teacher. The name of Christ expresses what He is for man, as set forth by both Divine and human testimony. It points to Him as represented in historic testimony as the Great Prophet, "come and crucified, risen and ascended." (Dr. Dale, Christie Bap., p. 213.) They were to be baptized in His name, for the pur- pose of being " taught in His name," (hdnaKeiv em tu ovnjiaTi (see Acts iv. 17 ; v. 28, 40), by those who have no other theme but " Christ, and Him crucified." Compare analagous expressions : " Many shall come ia " {eirt, upon) " My name, saying, I am Christ." (Matt, xxiv. 5; Luke xxi. 8.) The high priest said, "Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in " {eni, upon) "this name ? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine." (Acts v. 28.) " And when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in " liAPTlSM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 309 (eki, upon) " the name of Jesus." (Acts v. 40.) They were to be baptized in the name of Christ because tliey were " to be taught upon His name." The first lessons were to have reference chiefly to the name of Christ. But the full course of instruction, which was to follow in due time, would make them acquainted with " the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Among the first lessons given to convicted adults would be instruction how to obtain remission of sins. They were to be initiated into Christ's school "unto remission of sins," as the Revised Translation reads. Ea; sometimes means " into " and sometimes " unto." Here we think it signifies " unto." Ea; points to a des- tination aimed at, but does not of itself determine whether it will be reached immediately, or after inter- mediate events. It here points to a result that was to follow, teaching them how to " call upon the name of the Lord for the remission of sins." This statement simply fills up an ellipsis which is readily suggested to those who keep in mind the apostle's train of thought. Prof. Crosby, in his Greek Granunar, observes : "It is a remarkable but general truth, that an ellipsis omits that word which is most essential to the grammatical structure of the sentence. The reason is, such word will be more readily missed, and more easily supplied." (Quoted by Dr. Dale, Johannic Bap., p. 286 ) Peter had mentioned baptism, and thereby suggested teach- ing, because it is administered in order to teaching. He had also spoken to them of calling upon the name s li !l iriiii W: I ;: I 1:1 1 1,^ II 310 I^APTtZlNG AND TKAOHtNCt. i of the Lord for salvation, of which "remission of sins" is the part which conies first in order. Hence an atten- tive reader, who knew the apostle's train of thought, would fill up tlie ellipsis thus : " Be baptized every one of you upon the name of Jesus Christ, that you may be taught how to * call upon the name of the Lord ' so as to obtain the remission of sins." " And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" to enable you to understand the teaching. We have seen that k/c before " remission of sins " should be translated " unto." But Dr. Dale thinks the transla- tion should be " into the remission of sins," because he thinks that remission is here regarded as a bap- tismal element ; and e "I IV, 316 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. II li. I- m It is obvious that Dr. Dale's interpretation does not conform to Peter's words. Peter places repentance before the gift of the Spirit. The Great Teacher put repentance before faith — " Eepent ye, and believe the Gospel." Paul put faith before salvation — " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Dr. Dale, then, cannot be right in putting salvation first, and representing the other things referred to as coinci- dent results of salvation. Dr. Dale's system of theology has dimmed his critical sagacity during the examina- tion of such texts. " But," said a Baptist to me, " baptism is a Christian ordinance, and Christian baptism should be given to none but Christians, and accordingly to none but those who have been taught, and have become evangelical believers." This statement is made to appear plaus- ible, but it appears so only because of its peculiarly deceptive ambiguity. The word "Christian" is re- peated, not in the sense in which it was first used, but in a wholly distinct, though related, sense. The word " Christian " sometimes means " having something per- taining to Christianity considered objectively as a system of agencies and means appointed by Christ." In this sense it is applied to an ordinance. A Chris- tian ordinance means an outward rite connected by Divine appointment with the system of means and agencies which Christ has established. But the word " Christian," when applied to persons, means " having the things which are essential to Christianity subject- ively considered — attaining the end aimed at by those 111^ wlHI BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 317 agencies and means." A Christian man is one who, by healing the word of Christ, has justifying faith, and wliose heart has, by the Spirit of Christ, been regenerated to love God, the law of God. and the peo- ple of God. Of course, an ordinance could not have justifying faith or regenerating love, and therefore could not be Christian in this sense of the word. It can onlv be called Christian in the former sense, namely, that it belongs to the system of agencies and means which Christianity employs — the circulation of the Bible, the preaching of the Gospel, prayer, ob- servance of the ordinances, etc. But some of these means and agencies, though called Christian, are ap- plied to persons before they believe, and some after. And therefore the mere circumstance that baptism is called a Christian ordinance does not decide which of these classes it belongs to — i.e., does not decide whether it is one of those means that are applied to persons before they are believing and regenerate persons, or one of those that are applied to persons after they are believing and regenerate. Those who perceive the ambiguity of the expression, " Christian baptism," will see that it is better, with Dr. Dale, to call the ordinance " Christie baptism." "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." " The word used is fiupeav, which indicates the freest and most benignant gift ; not fiu^nv, a legal gift or offering which law or custom enacts." (Amer. Rev. Version.) It is by an act of free grace that Christ baptizes with the Spirit. It is a gift in another respect. The Divine ,.ij> . m \ m':' I'M''"' m I ' I ■< 318 BAI'TIZIN(; AND TEACHING. Baptizer pours on and leaves on. The Spirit occasion- ally strives with all. The Spirit is given to disciples to be a continually present help to understand the na- ture and appreciate the beauty and glory of spiritual, eternal, and Divine things. It confers also special fitness for special spheres of duty. At first it conferred miracu- lous endowments, but this was merely a preparatory and temporary part of His work, and as such was not promised to all. It does not in its ordinary work "qualify any to do without instruction" from any other source, as some Anabaptists and others have strangely imagined. The Holy Ghost is given by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His prerogative to baptize with the Holy Ghost; He promised it, and fulfils that promise. It is there- fore not given by a man who baptizes with water. The Samaritans when baptized with water were not baptized with the Holy Ghost, for we are afterwards told that " He as yet was fallen upon none of them." Baptism with water is not even a necessary prerequi- site to baptism with the Holy Ghost, for those in the house of Cornelius received the latter before the other. (Acts viii. 12, 16; x. 47.) ThDse in the house of Cor- nelius received the baptism of the Spirit when they were listening to one of Christ's teachers, though they had not been formally initiated into Christ's school ; which omission was probably owing to Peter's hesita- tion about giving the rite to those who had not been circumcised. But they were in a teachable frame of mind, and such may pray for the Spirit, may plead the promise, and obtain its fulfilment. UAITISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. ;n9 ta- sen of ad " For the promise is unto you and to your children." That is, you may expect the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise of it is unto you. It also means, When I tokl you to be initiated by ritual baptism into the school, I did so because you may expect that the bap- tism of the Spirit will enable you to understand the teaching that is to follow the baptizing. A human teacher may speak to the outward ear, but he cannot remove the natural dulness of the mind in reference to spiritual and invisible things, nor can he quicken the " slowness of heart to understand all that the pro- phets have spoken." There must be an accompanying work of the Spirit for this purpose. Without this aid ritual initiation and human teaching would be ineffec- tual. The promise is to you awakened ones if you comply with my directions. Though you once spat in Christ's face, plaited the crown of thorns and put it on Him, cried "Away with Him, crucify Him!" and railed at Him when He hung upon the cross, — if you repent, the promise is unto you. Peter means that they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost if, in compliance with the directions just given them, they became pupils in a school where true instruction respecting all things that Christ commanded could be obtained. The Spirit will be given to those who are initiated into a school where "the truth as it is in Jesus" will be taught. It is not said that the Spirit is promised and will be given to those who refuse to enter the school of Christ, or to those who have entered another school, , m '< 1^ iff i5f ' 1 1 if'B I I I 320 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. where the teaching is fundamentally wrong. The Spirit may occasionally visit such, but there is no promise that He will be given to abide with them. The promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost is " unto your children " also. It is equally necessary to open their understanding to receive parental teaching and training : to learn the one and obey the other is their whole duty up to a certain age. Children are more teachable, are more easily led to believe. They as yet are not hindered by knowing the insincerity and falsehood of men and the sophistries of errorists. Christ gave this blessing to the little children that were brought to Him. It made them more teachable. (Mark. x. 13-16.) He gives the Spirit to children to help them to learn, as well as to help parents to teach. A boy is more worth saving than a man. He may be trained to do more good in tho world. Believers' children are not here referred to, for those parents wore not yet believers. As baptism with the Spirit is here promised to children, the plain and necessary in- ference is that they too are regarded as fit subjects for the baptisni with water, which initiates them into the school where is given the teaching which the Spirit can aid them to understand. The term "children" referred to those found in the families of the three thousand inquirers, and therefore included young children. The question is not, does TEKva imply infancy in every case in which the word is used ; but did it not include infancy in the case now before U'^ ? Is it not rational to assume that the three BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 321 the ifore does d is now bree thousand inquirers — not to speak of all the other hearers — had some infants among their children ? Surely the contrary supposition is utterly improbable. The promise was to " all that are afar off"; probably meaning, to all the Jews that are scattered aV>road. Literally, all unto a distance, that is, all who are between Judea and the supposed distance — meaning. Dr. Carson thinks, " the most distant nations." (Bap., p. 300.) The promised gift is not limited to any line of natural descent from Abraham. The expres- sion "all that are afar off" is extensive enough to include all Gentiles as well as all Jews ; but this prob- ably was nob Peter's meaning. The discipling of the Gentiles was not " the matter in hand." It would awaken the prejudice of the Jews if they did not suppose that Gentiles would have to become proselytes to Judaism in order to become disciples of Christianity. "Even as many as the Lord our God shall call." The call here spoken of is the call to discipleship in the school of Christ. This call is given by those who were sent to "make disciples of all nations." (Matt, xxviii. 18, 19.) It is a public call, limited only by the conditions of discipleship. Nothing could be more irrational than to suppose that there were no infant children found in all nations during all generations. The state of the case, then, is this : Peter when ad- dressing adults commanded them to "repent and be baptized"; he did not mention children in that clause, because children do not need to repent in order to be teachable in reference to their lessons. But he tells 21 Vi] n22 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. \ ] 'i I r. ■>:•■, us that baptism with the Spirit ought to follow bap- tism with water, and that the promise of this is made both to adults and children ; and thereby he most clearly implied that the preceding baptism was to be given to both adults and children. " To believe other- wise would make the apostle's argument very confused and inconclusive ; for then it would stand thus : The promise of baptism with the Spirit is to you, therefore be ye baptized with water. The promise is equally to your children, therefore let them not be baptized." (Evans, Conference on Bap., pp. 7> 12.) Surely the apostle did not intend to reason thus. He meant manifestly. Let your children too be baptized, for they too may get the baptismal gift of the Spirit to give intellectual discernment of the truths that are to be taught them. And as the promised aid of the Spirit has reference to your children also, you should have them too initiated into Christ's school. " When did God ever enter into covenant with parents without including their infant children ? Is there a solitary example of the kind in the Bible ?" {D7\ Rice.) Not one. The covenant with Abraham included the young- est children. The covenant of Moses did the same. And when Peter, " full of the Holy Ghost," came to expound the New Covenant on the day of Pentecost, he said to all who yielded to his words, " The promise is to you AND TO YOUR CHILDREN." (Acts ii. 39 ; Seiss, p. 311.) The Jews, in consequence of their habits of thought, would regard infant discipleship as the rule, and knew m ; l!*t.' BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 323 bap- made most to be 3 th er- ifused : The refore illy to bized." [y the meant r they 3 give to be Spirit have len did ithout litary Not oung- same. |me to ecost, omise Seiss, )ught, I knew : that the observance of this would soon make adult discipleship the exception. But, of course, there could not be infant baptism in the case of those who had become adults before the commission to baptize was issued. In the nature of things, there would be nu- merous instances of the initiation of adults at the commencement of the apostle's ministry. Under the former dispensation we find that the first-mentioned cases of initiation by circumcision were adults. " In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised " (being " ninety years old and nine "), " and Ishmael his son " ("thirteen years old"). "And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him." (Gen. xvii. 26, 27.) '■ The men," as we learn from a previous state- ment, numbered at- least three hundred and eighteen. Among those " born in the house " there were doubt- less children. The narrative, however, is silent re- specting infant circumcision at that time, yet from this silence no one ventures to infer that children should not be circumcised It is well known that infant circumcision was practised after that time, and that it became the almost exclusive practice. " Dur- ing the following four hundred and fifty years net a single adult Hebrew is said to have been circumcised." (Thorn, Sub. ofBa^p., p. 273 ) At the end of this period the rite was again performed on several adults, because it had been discontinued during forty years in the wilderness (Joshua v. 2, 9) ; probably because they were then " baptized into Moses." " After that, for i; ' t, ' I ill 324 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. fifteen hundred years more, no adult of any of the chosen tribes is ever mentioned as bavins: been cir- cumcised ; " doubtless because it was regularly ad- ministered in infancy. (Thorn, Sub. of B ip., p. 273.) Now, if the inspired writers, when narrating the first acts of baptism, had spoken of adults only, as was (hme when describing the first acts of circumcision, we would not be warranted to draw an inference in the one case which would be utterly false if drawn in the other, analogous, case. Since, on the other hand, circumcision commenced with adults, and yet after that was administered to infants chiefly, and almost exclusively, so it would be expected that baptism, which also is a discipling ordinance, would be ad- ministered chiefly to children in coming years. The cases of adult baptism would not be regarded as an example, because it is a general rule " that no matter of fact is entitled to be considered as an authoritative precedent, which necessarily arose out of existing cir- cumstances, so that it could not fail to have occurred." (Hall in Thorn's Sub of Bap., p. 269.) The persons spoken of in each case were adults at the time the discipling rite was instituted. The rite was not appointed when they were infants. Hence there was no example of delay to be imitated. The question is, whether adults and children should be discipled ; not whether adults or children. Some put the question in this latter form, and then try to make the impression that proof of adult baptism is disproof of infant baptism. But this plan is utterly '11:. i BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 325 misleading. Giavely to demonstrate what an opponent does not deny, is a kind of procedure more likely to ensnare the unwise than to satisfy the sagacious. " And with many other words did he testify " (bear testimony to the great historical facts already noticed), " and exhort " as to what thev should do in view of those facts, "saying" — to give the substance of his many words of exhortation — " Save yourselves from " (cTTo, " separating from " — Webster) "this crooked gen- eration." Separate yourselves from those who will not hear the Great Prophet, and who, for that reason, will be destroyed from among the people. Separate your- selves by becoming the disciples of Christ and attend- ing His school. "They then that received his word were baptized." This, says Meyer, may be translated either " They then who received his word to save themselves from this untoward generation," etc.; or, " They then — i.e., those indicated in verse 37 — after they received his word," etc. The latter, he says, is correct. The word " gladly," which is found in the Unre vised Translation, is omitted in the Revised Trans- lation, because wanting in important MSS. (A, B, C, D, Cod. Sin.), in ancient versions (Vulgate, etc.), and Church fathers. Hence Lachmann and Tischendorf cancel it. (Lechler.) Peter's hearers had not yet heard him teach the way of salvation by faith. They had merely heard him prove that Christ was the Great Teacher, and that penitent teachableness was, in the case of adults, the prerequisite qualification for enter- ing this school in order to be taught ; and exhorting I ! 1,1 ; i ! ■ft A m 326 BAPTISING AND TEACHING. them to receive the initiatory rite. They who re- ceived this word of exhortation were baptized. " Apostolic baptisms appear to have taken place at the earliest convenient place and time." (Ingham, H. Ofi Baj)., p. 558.) Not merely so-, they took place on the very day on which persons were first willinor to be baptized. " No delay of baptism was suggested," says Mr. Noel. " No testimonials of character were asked. No account of doctrinal sentiments was re- quired." The three thousand on the day of Pentecost made no profession of faith, or of religious experience. We find no such record in their case, or in that of Cornelius, or of the Philippian jailor, or Lydia, or Stephanus, or Crispus, or Gaius. This conclusion is favoured too by the fact that not a single one of those who apostatized from Christianity is reproved for having obtained the rite of baptism under a false pro- fession. Even Simon Magus himself is not charged with having done so. Baptism does not make persons Rabbis, as a mark that they have been taught; it merely makes them pupils that they may be taught. Hence those who were willing to be taught were put to school without delay. " The same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." These were added to the pre- viously existing congregation of disciples — the dis- ciples of Jesus — w^ho were at that time in Jerusalem and who had been made disciples while Christ taber- nacled among them. The baptisms administered by " the twelve " during Christ's personal ministry made t \\ BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 327 persons the disciples of Christ. " The one hundred and twenty," previously mentioned, were some of these disciples. There were now added unto them " about three thousand." " Whoever baptized also added." {Dr. Dale.) Hu- man baptizers added these to the kingdom of disciples. The inspired historian makes no mention as yet of evangelical believers being added to the Church, though there was a church which continued after the unbe- lieving Jews were " cut off." When he does speak of believers, he tells us " the Lord added to the Church." After they were baptized, we read that they were taught. " And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine." Literally, " they were constantly attending to the teaching of the apostles " (irpoampTepowTeg 17 (hSaxv)- " Here the reference is to the * act of teach- ing ' (didaxT?), not to the substance or result of teaching (rfffJaffKoAm)." (Ellicott, 2 Tiin. iv. 3.) Observe the rela- tion of ^iSaxri to diSaoKOTrreg (teaching) in the great com- mission. (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) The apostles placed the rite of baptism at the commencement of the catechetical course, not at the close of it, as others in post-apostolic times began to do. In the present day, unhappily, many of the baptized are not placed in catechumen classes at all. The three thousand disciples constantly attended to the apostles when giving instruction. And the whole body, of the apostles did give instruc- tion. And instruction to penitent disciples would doubtless set forth the way of salvation. " God will have all men to be saved and to come to the know- 328 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I ill ii .1 ' I Jifci ledge of the truth." " To be saved " is the end ; to come to the knowledge of the truth is the way to that end. This knowledge is to be obtained by attending to the Word of God wlien read or preached, and by seeking the aid of the teaching Spirit. " And fellow- ship." The disciples associated together, and regarded themselves as distinct from the unbaptized ; just as Paul afterwards " separated the disciples." (Acts xix. 9.) This fellowship of disciples, however, was distinct from the brotherhood of believers mentioned after- wards. It was fellowship in ordinary meals, for we should omit the " and " before breaking of bread (in accordance with weighty authorities — A, B, C, D, etc. — Lechlcr). " The bread of the Hebrews was made commonly into cakes, thin, hard and brittle, so that it was broken instead of being cut. The phrase ' to break bread * sometimes denoted intimacy or friend- ship, in the same way as the Greeks denoted it by drinking together — av/xnoaiov." (A modern expositor, quoted b}) Thomas.) The expression here, and in some other places, de- notes an ordinary meal. (Luke xxiv. 35 ; Acts xxvii. 35.) The Roma^ Catholics apply it to the Lord's Supper in order to :he appearance of apostolic example to their " . administering the Supper, by distributing breau .ly to the laity, (v. Hockel in Amer. Version.) The Baptists, too, apply the words to the Lord's Sup- per, to support their position that baptism is an in- dispensable prerequisite to the Lord's Supper. But there is no reference to the Lord's Supper here. •jLi. fiAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 829 l^ing " And in prayer " — the prayers — referring to those offered by several persons at each praj^er-ineeting. They were now calling on the name of the Lord for the remission of sins. " And fear came upon every soul." The whole Pen- tecostal scene impressed an overawing fear on every soul, i.e., even on those who did not repent. This pro- cured for the new disciples a season of freedom from persecution which was most desirable and .advantage- ous in the commencement of the Christie school. And this fear was intentionally deepened by the additional " signs and wonders which were done by the apostles." These signs were exhibited also, and chiefly, as proofs that they held a Divine commission to teach the dis- ciples of Christ, and that their teaching was true. It also served the purpose of persuading others to come and be enrolled as disciples. Those disciples who constantly attended to the teach- ing of the apostles soon became believer;^. " And " then, it is said, " all that believed were together " (enl ravTo, together in the same place). Here is a new fellow- ship — a fellowship of believers. It is distinct from the previously mentioned fellowship of disciples. When disciples became believers, they appointed a place for believers' fellowship ; and they met in that place to exercise and cultivate such fellowship. Here is a Chris- tian church manifesting, as the next verses show, bro- therly love, benevolent distribution of property, glad- ness, singleness of heart, praising God. But of this inner kingdom of Christ we are not now treating ; we J 'I 1 ;llk .1 ! 830 BAPTlJiING AND TEACHING. can here only take time to say that it is " the Lord who adds " believers to the Church ; and that He adds those "that should be saved" (rovg au^ofievovg, those that were being saved). The participle is not in the future tense, but in the present, or in the imperfect tense, which, as its name signifies, denotes an incomplete action, one that is in its course, and is not yet brought to its in- tended accomplishment." (Donaldson.) Salvation is begun here in ^ardon and regeneration ; it goes on in entire sanctification ; it is finished in the resurrection of the body, and the admission of the re-united soul and body into the final and everlasting inheritance. Ir. '., ! Ill " I ■I I I :i I : fiAPTISM OB* LYDIA AJJD HER FAMILY. 331 CHAPTER XVI. CASES WHICH ILLUSTRATE THE DOCTRINAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM: (b) THE BAPTISM OF LYDIA AND HER FAMILY (ACTS XVI. 9-15). Looking at the context of this interesting and in- structive record, we find it noticed that Paul, on his missionary tour, had arrived at Troas, on the north- west coast of Asia Minor, near the waters which divide Asia from Europe. " Alexander the Great had crossed these waters to become the conqueror of Asia." ( Whedon.) Paul was about to cross them in the oppo- site direction that he mig-ht become the evanjyelizer of Europe. The part opposite to Troas was the Greek province of Macedonia, at a distance of somewhat more than a hundred miles. " A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed " (besought) " him, saying " (Paul seems to have recognized the man's nationality. When in Tarsus he mav have often seen Macedonian seamen, and become acquainted with their appearance and dia- lect), "Come over into Macedonia and help us," by bringing to us religious light. The result of the ap- peal is thus stated : " Immediately we endeavoured to go " (from Troas, which was the port of embarkation) "into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them." In 332 BAPTI^^ING AND TEAC^HING. '^i!ii i ! forming this conclusion they were influenced partly by this vision and partly by certain previous occur- rences : — (a) The Spirit of Jesus had restrained them from preaching the word of God in the western mari- time region of Asia Minor (ver. 6). (6) They were restrained in the same manner from labouring in Bithynia (ver. 7). But on arriving at Troas, on the coast of the ^gean Sea, the vision invites them to pass over to Macedonia. (Lange.) From all these cir- cumstances, in such a sequence, they conclude that the vision is from God, and they are immediately ready to go. "This c"^^ for help was once addressed by the pagan West to the Christian East. It is now ad- dressed to Western Christianity by the East, which has relapsed into its former misery." (Lange.) Here we find in the narrative the pronoun " we," indicating that Luke, the narrator, was here an eye- witness. When leaving Troas, Luke was added to the company as an assistant preacher. " Silas had already accompanied Paul from Antioch, and Timotheus at least from Lystra." (Lanne.) " ' Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia,' an island about thirty-five miles from the point of departure, ' and the next day to Neapolis,' a port situ- ated on the Strymonic Gulf, the modern name of which is Cavallo." (Lange.) But as this city belonged at that time to Thrace, they did not stay here, but con- tinued their journey towards the district from which the call had come. Hence they went " from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city" — Neapolis was BAPTISM OF LYDIA AND HEH FAMILY. 333 regarded as the port of Philippi — or perhaps the nar- rator meant the frst city of the district of Macedonia which they reached. "First" is the marginal read- ing, and is adopted by the Revised Version. Some think that " Thessalonica was at this time the chief city of the whole Province of Macedonia." {Lange.) Others, however, think that " Philippi was then the chief city, because it was a Roman colony — ' a body of Roman citizens thither transferred, as a part of Rome itself, with all the riglits of Roman citizenship ' (Whedon) — and it was part of the Roman policy that their colonies should be the chief cities of the coun- tries where they were placed." {D'Oyly and MovMt.) In Europe, as in Asia, Paul preached chiefly in the cities and large towns ; for in ancient as in modern times the populous centres exercised a controlling in- fluence over social and relio:ious customs. This was the first city in Europe visited by the preachers of the gospel. "And we were in that city abiding cer- tain days," before the Jewish Sabbath came round. "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made." This river was one of the tributaries of the Strymon. The Strymon itself was nineteen miles away. There was probably no synagogue at Philippi. The number of Jews would be small in a city that was not a mer- cantile but a military one. "Proseuchce" (places of prayer) " were distinguished from the regular places of Jewish worship by being of a more slight and tem- porary structure " (Lange), and frequently were mere ir^ 334 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ii ii if t! roofless enclosures. These buildincfs were by prefer- ence placed on the banks of rivers, " as it was custom- ary with the Jews to wash the hands before praj'^er." (Meyer in Lange.) They were sometimes made on the seashore, according to Josephus, who quotes from a public decree : " They may make their proseuchce at the seaside, according to the custom of their fore- fathers." (Lange.) These places were resorted to by Jews and Jewish proselytes ; and to these Paul and his company resolved to give the first offer of salva- tion, partly from special regard for their kindred, and partly from better hope of success. The house of prayer was wisely chosen as the place of their first discourse ; but no praying men were found among the Jews or proselytes in Philippi — none but women were there, even on the Sabbath day. Assuming at once the attitude of teachers, they "sat down, and spake," kialoviiev. This expression, as contra- distinguished from leyeiv, ctc, may describe "conversa- tional remarks, not a formal public discourse." {Lange.) It probably implies that the number of women was small. But among them was a certain woman named Lydia, of the city of Thyatira. This city was a Mace- donian colony, and was celebrated at a very early period for its purple dyes (procured from shell-fish), and for its purple fabrics. " The purple colour, so extravagantly valued by the ancients, included many shades or tints, from rose-red to sea-green or blue." From that colony Lydia came to the mother country of the colony, and her occupation was the impor- BAPTISM OF LYDIA AND HER FAMILY, 8;^ 5 prefer- [justom- Drayer." lade on 3s from lichee at ir fore- l to by ml and : salva- ed, and ouse of iir first ong the .n were ey "sat contra- iversa- ^ange.) n was named Mace- early 1-fish), mr, so many blue." )untry mpor- tation and sale of clothes that had received a purple dye, or of purple dye itself. As Thyatira belonged to a district of Asia Minor called Lydia, some think that the woman referred to was on this account called Lydia, or the Lydian woman. As it is after- wards mentioned that she invited Paul and his minis- terial brethren " into lier house to abide," then it is clear that her presence in the city was not a mere call while attending to some business transaction. She was there as a resident " which worshipped God." Though the city to which she came was given to idolatry, and though cr.; option of religion implies that there is also, corruption o morals, yet Lydia felt a conscientious tear of God, and resolved to worship Him ; and this doubtless shielded her from many evils. She knew that God had commanded the Sabbath to be kept holy, and she tried to keep it. It is a good thing to be found in the w^ay of duty. " Heard us." She listened to the preachers. Perhaps it is implied that she was the only one who gave earnest and steady attention. But if a minister can get one lititeninof ear he ought to continue his address. That listener was one " whose heart the Lord opened " (diavoiyu, opened widely) "that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." The human heart is naturally closed against spiritual truth and the motives which it presents. In its natural state it discerns little of the nature, and none of the glory, of spiritual and Divine things, until the Lord, the Spirit, opens the blind eyes to make it capable of discerning them; and imparts a V 1 '1 , -i ' 'i 1 .1 I .f -■ 1 . 1 ilU if'' , ii t! 336 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. disposition to learn ; and, consequently, a desire to give wakeful, earnest, and fixed attention to those wlio are commissioned to give religious instruction. The Spirit opens the heart to attend to the ministry of the Word, but does not make an inward revelation that would set aside the Divinely inspired Bible, or the Divinely appointed ministry. He merely inclined her to attend to these, and enabled her to understand them. Observe carefully the circumstances in which Lydia's heart was opened. She was a woman who feared God, kept the Jewish Sabbath, had withdrawn her thoughts from her worldly business, had gone from the city to a place of prayer, and quite probably had desired and asked more light respecting the way of salvation. Hence that God who said, if any one will do His will, he "shall know of the doctrine," made arrangements to send a minister to impart to her the requisite knowledge. Probably there was a man of Macedonia in similar circumstances, but, yielding to temptation, he was not at meeting that day. She was, and the Lord opened her heart to listen to the first discourse of the first minister of Christ in Europe. She made good use of that first opportunity. How many allow hundreds of opportunities to pass away unimproved ! We may infer from the result that soon followed, that Paul informed her, in the course of his remarks, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Great Teacher ; that pupils of every nationality and of either sex are re- ceived into His school by baptism, and that she and her BAPTISM OF LYDIA AND HER FAMILY. 337 jire to those action. inistry elation ble, or iclined rstand which n who idrawn le from )ly had ivay of > ne will I made | »er the i nan of ' ling to le was, le first \ lurope. 1 How 1 1 away | lowed, 1 Larks, B that 1 Ire re- J md her family of little ones ought to be baptized with a view to future instruction. Hence, we are informed, " she was baptized." It is surely not without deep signifi- cance that a woman should thus have been the first in Europe who was enrolled as a disciple to learn the gospel of the grace of God, and to give the first example of Christian hospitality. "And her household " (oikoc ovTi/g). " The earliest translation of the New Testament, the Syriac, sa3's she was baptized with her children." (Seiss, 358.) Here, as everywhere in Scripture, we see immediate baptism. No previous examination made., no profession required. There is no intimation that she had for this purpose to leave the spot where she listened to Paul, or to provide change of raiment. She would be baptized as others were, by pouring the baptismal element upon her. When baptized she is ready to invite Paul and his brethren in the ministry to become her guests, that she may be their pupil. " And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying. If ye lave judged me to be faithful to the Lord " (i.e., since she became a Jewish proselyte ; there was not time to exhibit faithfulness as a disciple of Christ) — if Paul and his brethren judged her to have acted sincerely, conscientiously, as a Jewish proselyte, and as such worthy to be their hostess — " come into my house, and abide there." So earnest was her request, so repeated her importunities, that "she constrained us." They were somewhat unwillinjx to 2;'ive her the burden of boanlinjTj them. Her haptizers became her guests, and thus had a most 22 ■■] 'I'S m ; 5 ■ Ill "I . '■ ttuvti tu oiku avrov (Acts X. 2). This state;nent implied that his family liad come to years of accountability. And accordingly the inspired historian does not speak of this as a family baptism. So when it is said that Crispus "be- lieved on the Lord with all his family," aw o?.cj tu oiku nvTov (Acts xviii. 8), there is no mention made of family baptism; but in the case of Lydia mention is* made of family baptism. The administration of baptism to families is very remarkable from this circumstance* that no other ordinance or " privilege of any kind is mentioned in the New Testament as given to fami- lies." (Ewing.) The Lord's Supper, for instance, is never said to be administered to families. There must be some special reason for this peculiarity in the nar- ratives of baptism. Baptism, being a discipling ordi- nance, like circumcision under the former dispensation, is, like it also, given to parents and their families while young. It is only by means of these family baptisms that we can trace and prove the continuance of the ordi- nance among Christians. To say that these families had no infants in them is to leave us without example of the continuance of the ordinance. For if these bap- tized families did not contain infants, but only adults personally converted from Judaism or heathenism to Christianity, then it would follow that we have no examples under the ministry of the apostles (which in ■ :^ w |i ' |i > i I 'I r' I !'!';■ !!■: 344 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. some cases extended over sixty years) of the baptism of any except those who were brought up in Judaism or paganism. From this it might be inferred that baptism was to be given only to such proselytes, and not at all to those born of Christian parents, whatever their age may be. If any man thinks that these m.ay be baptized without the warrant of examples, he can lay no stress on the want of examples in other cases. But as the ordinance was to be continued among the descendants of Christians, it is surely probable that we would find examples of its continuance ; yet, unless those baptized families were composed of infants, we have no examples of the kind. It is important to observe that the Scriptures speak not only of baptized families, but of the church in the house ; for instance, the church in the house or family of Priscilla and Aquila (Rom. xvi. 5) ; so that, while in some baptized families we find merely the school of Christ, in others we find the Church of Christ — the church in the house or family. Children, after having been baptized and taught, became believers ; and to believing children the command would be appropriate, " Children, obey your parents in the Lord." Both parents and children were in the Ephesian church. Paul speaks to professing Christians, and " the address to children in a letter to the church presupposes that the apostle regards them as belonging to the Church." (Lange.) As baptism introduced both adults and infants into the outer kingdom of disciples, and not into BAPTISM OF LYDiA AND HER FAMILY. 345 the Church, we can see why it is that we do not read of the church in the house of Lydia, or of the church in the house of Stephanas. Yet we do read of the church in the house (or fan ily, oikov) of Pris- cilla and Aquila (Rom. xvi. 5) ; of bhe church in the liouse or family of Nymphas (Col. iv. 15), and of the church in the house or family of Philemon (Phil. 1). In short, where ^"^e read of family baptisms we do not read of family churches ; and where we read of family churches we do not read of family baptisms. The reason obviously is that the one was composed of young children, and the other of children old enough to believe. It is very important to notice this distinction between baptized families and churches in families. Baptism was not designed, in any case, to add to the Church, or inner kin; iom of evanjjelical believers. It therefore was not intended to mix the unrenewed with the renewed — the world with the Church. Those who have unwarrantably made this use of it have laid themselves open to the strong arguments used by the Baptists on that ground. But those arguments do not apply to infant baptism as used by the apostles to initiate into the outer school of disciples. It is the wrong view of the design of infant baptism that exposes to these objec- tions, and misleads the Baptists to imagine that they are the strongest advocates for the purity of the Christian Church. To advocate this is right, but to pronounce infant ' ptism to be unscriptural is wrong, fearfully wrong — opposing and counteracting the un- '5:? 346 lUPTIZlNCi AND TEACHING. repealed law of God respecting infant discipleship ; a law of venerable antiquity, which has been re- affirmed and perpetuated by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is worthy of observation that it is in connection with the ministry to the Gentiles that we find men- tion made of family baptisms. This plainly implies that it was not considered necessary to report the baptism of Jewish families. Every one in that age of the world knew that the Jews had for centuries been familiar with household circumcision, and that this meant infant circumcision. They would expect, as a matter of course, that the new covenant required the baptism of families, and therefore of infants ; as the old covenant reipiired the circumcision of families, and therefore of infants. The apostles baptized fami- lies without previous catechetical instruction, and without delay. A manifest departure from their prac- tice was made in post-apostolic times, when candidates for baptism were required to undergo a course of in- struction, which was continued " from a few months to three years, according to circumstances." (Dr. Hodge, The)., iii., p. 541.) It is now evident that the baptism of households agrees with our explanation of the great commission, and that it does not agree with the Baptists' explana- tion rtf that commission. Where in the journal and periodical accounts of Baptist missionaries do we meet with any record of that kind ? Where do we find a Baptist minister saying, " when she was baptized, and her family " ? {Dr. Wardlaw.) " A Baptist minister i^ f BAPTISM OF LYDIA AND HER FAMILY. 847 who becatne converted to Pedobaptist views said, that ' in all the Baptist missionary reports, we never read of the baptism of whole households at one and the same time.'" (Lathern, p. 118.) "The practice of infant baptism is an institution which prevailed in all sections of the ancient Church. Justin Martyr, writing A.D. 138, says that in his day there were ' many persons — some sixty and some seventy years old — who had been made disciples of Christ from their infancy.' Origen, born of Chris- tian parents in Egypt, A.D. 185, declares that it was the usage of the Church to baptize infants, and that the Church had received the tradition from the apos- tles. St. Augustine, born A.D. 358, declared that this * doctrine is held by the whole Church, not instituted by Councils, but always retained.' . It now prevails throughout the universal Church, with the exception of the modern Baptists, whose origin can be definitely traced to the Anabaptists of Germany, about A.D- 1537." (Dr. A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theol, p. 622, 623.) We conclude in the language of one of the articles of the Church : " The baptism of young chil- dren is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institutions of Christ." t w ill ^:. ! I ill \">l 3 ! I iM'i > ; I'i I 'li v' r'l 'R II II 348 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. CHAPTER XVI [. THE SAVIOUR'S TENDER FEELINGS TOWARDS LITTLE CHIL- DREN (MATT. XIX. 13-15; MARK X. 13-16; LUKE XVIII. 15-17). The instructive narrative mentioned in these verses places before us a ve. ^ interesting illustration of Christ's character in relation to children. It is there- fore frequently referred to in connection with the subject of infant baptism. Jesus was, at the time, at the east of Jordan, in Perea, and therefore "away from the great centres of Jewish ecclesiastical author- it}^ On this account He found a sphere of labour there, after He judged it best to retire from Galilee and Judea." (Lavge.) He had been rejected by many adults ; He therefore invites the children to His arms. He thereby teaches us that proper attention to these is the ground of hope for the world. He had gone through this section of country before, when journey- ing to Jerusalem to the feast commemorative of the dedication of the Temple. At that time " great multi- tudes followed Him ; and He healed their sick." (Matt, xix. 2.) On His second visit " many resorted unto Him, . . . and believed on Him there." (John x. 40-42.) They believed that He was a Great Teacher sent from God, because they saw the miracles which He wrought. It was some of these believers who brought their chil- dren to Him to be blessed. They did so in accordance } :i '1! Christ's feelings towards little children. 349 with a customary practice of the Jews. " Whenever a person of renown for learning, piety, etc., arrives in a place, even at the present day, Jewish parents and guardians bring their children to him to receive a blessing from his hand." (Rev. J. S. C. Frey, a converted Jew, now a Baptist ; quoted by A. Wiberg, Chr. Bap., p. 143.) The bringing of these children to Jesus was made the occasion of giving a beautiful illustration and most impressive proof of the unspeakably tender in- terest which He felt in children. That Jesus should feel thus is not to be wondered at, since mere men, when meditative, have been deeply interested in them, and have even felt something like veneration in their presence. The Rev. William Anderson, for instance, in one of his discourses, speaks of an infant in some such words as these : " There lies an infant in that cradle. Nothing in all nature besides to be compared with it for feebleness and helplessness ; and yet, such princi- ples and energies may be slumbering within that tiny form as shall send him forth, when developed in his manhood, to gladden and honour his father's house; not only so, but as a philosopher, to advance the sciences and arts ; as a poet, to charm all around with his song ; as a patriot, to conduct the counsels or arms of his country ; as a minister, to illuminate them that are in darkness, and to edify the Church ; and at last, as one of the nobler of redeemed spirits, to excite to higher rapture the anthems of eternity. Or, woeful alternative ! that babe may be developed as a demon of dailuiess, to 350 BAPnZING AND TEACHING. ■ i J rl i ■ \ m\\ I ■m anguish the hearts of his parents, to be the scourge of the earth, and at last to deepen everlastingly the wail- ings of them that have been banished forever from all that is pure and happy." How useful and noble the work of teaching and guiding aright the infant mind and heart ! How shameful and sinful to lead their unsuspecting minds into error and crime and ruin ! H such are the sentiinents of meditative man, with what words could we describe the peculiarly fond anticipa- tions of a mother's love ? And above all, who could describe the hopes or apprehensions of the unspeak- ably more interested and far-seeing Redeemer of all ? Looking with peculiar interest and delight upon the children that were now brought to Him, He approves of the object for which they were brought. It was that He might put His hands on them and pray. Im- position of hands was a rite which, from the earliest ages, had been in use by those who implored God's blessing upon others. It was used especially by pa- triarchs and prophets. Jacob laid his hands upon Ephraim and Manasseh ; and Moses laid his hands upon Joshua. (Gen. xlviii. 14 ; Num. xxvii. 18.) The disciples of Christ who were present felt opposed to His putting His hands on the children. They probably would have had no objection to see children brought to any of the Jewish Rabbis for such a pur- pose ; but they thought there were very grave ob- jections against bringing them to Christ. They could not suppose that He would be unv:illing to receive them. They had sejn Him take a little child and CHRIST'S FEELINGS TOWARDS LITTLE CHILDREN. 351 place it in their midst, and then take it up in His arms to illustrate what He was teaching. Their thought, probably, was that His valuable time should not be occupied in that way, that His attention should not be so diverted from matters of greater moment. It is not likely that their opposition arose from thinking that children did not need, or could not re- ceive, any spiritual blessing from God. They surely would not entertain thoughts that would, l^y necessary implication, leave unsaved the millions upon millions who had died in infancy, and that would leave the surviving millions without grace to obey their parents in the Lord, and without understandings opened to receive religious instruction in youth. It is more prob- able, as already intimated, that the apostles thought that the official work of Christ did not include any care of children. They probably deemed it inconsis- tent " with the sovereign dignity of Christ's person to allow any such familiarity on the part of the people, and such consideration to infants." (-Hibhard, p. 119.) They accordingly forbade those who brought the chil- dren, and whO; by so doing, showed that they had a different opinion of Christ. When doing this the apostles were at some distance from Christ. But Jesus knew what they did at a distance, as well as when in His immediate presence, and was " much dis- pleased with them." [The same word was used to ex- press the much indignation of the disciples at Bethany when the alabaster box was broken and the costly fra- grance poured upon the head and feet of the Saviour.] JB ^ it i ! I •Ji.'t 352 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. "Jesus felt no indignation when despised, and betrayed, and scourj^ed, and condemned, and crucified ; but He did feel it when the disciples rebuked those that brought their children to Him, and put their hands to hinder the cliildren." (Lathern, //(//>., p. 95.) The dis- pleasure of the disciples against those who brought the chikiren w^as thus quickly opposed by the displeas- ure of the Master against such disciples. It does not appear that anything during their whole attendance on Him was so highly displeasing as their conduct on this occasion. They did not mean to displease, or to do injury; but people may do harm ignorantly, or heedlessly, as well as intentionally. They may do so by vastly underrating the importance of Christ's receiv- ing and blessing children. The children here spoken of were little children. They are called infants, ra (ipecpri, in Luke xviii. 15. /jpe^of properly denotes that the child to which it is applied is one that is still nour- ished bj^ the mother — one that has not yet been weaned. These, thousih not weaned, w^ere able to walk ; for Jesus said, " Sutter them to come to Me." They had been brought part of the way. They were probably told to stand on the ground while those who brought them were in conversation with the apostles. They were then called to walk from where the apostles were to where Christ w^as. Christ, when He uttered these words, was manifest in the flesh, and near at hand. The coming of the children was, therefore, a literal coming — an act of walking to Him, of which they were capable. Christ was not in the invisible CHRIST'S FEELINGS TOWARDS LITTLE CHILDREN. 353 world when He uttered the invitation. It cannot, therefore, be supposed that He meant a figurative coming, performed by an act of evangelical faith. He was not in the invisible world addressing adults ; He was in the visible world inviting little children to walk to Him. He would surely receive such. There may have been adults whom He would not receive. The very next narrative recorded in some of the gos- pels mentions a " young man who came to the Saviour by the way, earnest, enthusiastic, correct in creed, and of unexceptionable deportment ; the Master looked upon him, and loved him, but could not receive him." (Lathern, Bap., p. 96.) He would not accept an adult who thought it " too hard to enter the kingdom of GoJ " on the terms prescribed. But He would receive all little children. " ' It is an acknowledged fact, that when any sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is com- manded.' Therefore the rebuke of Jesus was equiva- lent to a command " (Lathern) — a command to some to offer children to Christ, and to others to receive them in His name. " Whom Christ blesses man may receive." {Lathern, p. 96.) They who brought the young children to Christ brought them " that He should touch them," say Mark and Luke ; meaning, as Matthew says, " that He might put His hands on them, and pray." He approved of their object, but He did more ; He took them up in His tender and loving arms, as a father would a beloved child, and then, " disengaging His right arm, put His hand on them and blessed them." (Morrison.) And 23 . I 354 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ! I il;:i I iiiiiii N''-! He did thus in the case of every little child as it came to Him. " We read twice of our Lord taking persons in His arms or embracing them ; in both in- stances children were the objects." (Lange.) He did more than pray for them, He blessed them. Instead of interceding that His Heavenly Father should bless them, He Himself evorcised that Divine prerogative, and immediately c »*ed a blessing. The Father's willingness was mai i-ested in advance, and graciously superseded the fresh intercession of the Mediator in their case. Those who brought the children m_ay have had defi- nite thouyfht of the kind of blessine: that would be appropriate, but they did not expressly name it. They believed that His superior wisdom would instantly discern the very kind that little children needed, and of which they were capable. On the other hand, Jesus imparts the blessing, but does not describe it. Its nature, therefore, must be inferred from the state and circumstances of its recipients, from the nature of the kingdom to which they belong, and from the char- acter of the Giver. The Divine plan is to give present grace for present duty, He probably never gives more than this to anyone. The present duties of chil- dren, before they come to years of immediate account- ability to God, are all included under obedience to parents. Therefore little children like those that Christ took up in His arms may, in answer to the prayer of parents or friends, and by the blessing of C/hrist, get a disposition to render obedience to earthly I ,''i I CHRIST'S FEELINGS TOWARDS LITTLE CHILDREN. 355 ild as it 1 taking both in- He did Instead aid bless rotative, Father's raciously diator in had defi- tvould be it. They instantly 3ded, and er liand, scribe it. the state nature of the char- 3 present er gives s of chil- account- ience to se that ir to the ssing of earthly parents or guardians so willingly, cheerfully, and uni- formly, as to be pleasing to God. This blessing would make the duties of children practicable and delightful. And we are persuaded that one reason why so many parents find it impracticable to bring their children into due submission to parental authority, is that they have not brought them, and often brought them, to Christ, that He might bless them. The neglect is in- excusable, and the consequences are most lamentable. Those who have not learned to be loving and obedient to parents do not readily become respectful and obe- dient to teachers of schools and colleges, to employers, or to the powers that be in the State or in the Church. They are more likely to become law-breakers, and may probably have to be checked by the officers of justice. Parents and guardians are under obligation to train their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; but of this training the children will not be fully capable until they have received Christ's blessing. They need, as Mr. Watson says, " the gift of the Holy Spirit to prepare them for instruction in the Word of God as they are taught by parental care." They will not feel interest in religious truth without such influence, and will not try to understand it. If parents brought their children to Jesus in due time, they would be more disposed to listen to religious in- struction, to read the Bible, to attend Sabbath -school and to profit by it, to pray, etc. Who could adequately describe the lamentab' consequences of the many sinful omissions of this duty. To the neglect of this ' 'i •1 -I I ■ 356 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. may be traced the thoughtless rudeness, the unfeeling violence, the ungovernable tempers, of many youths that disturb our streets. The children were not brought to Christ to hear some words of instruction or of counsel. They were probably too young to understand it. As yet, loving looks and tones, and fond embraces, and skilful acts of kindness and care, may have been the only means of educatinff them. These infants were not brought to Christ for baptism, for He never administered the or- dinance of water baptism to any person of any age. Christ blessed both adults and children, but baptized neither. If Christ had been a baptizer, and if they had brought the children to be, by baptism, enrolled among the disciples of Christ, no opposition would have been shown by the apostles ; for they knew that Jewisli children had been made disciples of Moses during fifteen centuries, and that they were equally capable of being put into the school of Jesus, the prophet like unto Moses. As Christ's loving heart contained, so did His kingly office include, the most benevolent and tender care for children. " For of such is the kingdom of God." He speaks of a then existent kingdom, of which the chil- dren before Him were subjects already. It is plain that His meaninff is that these children are now in the kingdom ; not that they may be, or will be, at some future time. This kingdom was the kingdom of disciples. These children had been placed, by the rite of circumcision, under obligation to learn and obey the Christ's feelinos towards little children. 357 oracles of God They were not now brought as can- didates for discipleship ; they were accepted disciples, and acknowledged as such. The kingdom was at this time called the kingdom of God, because God the Father was, a^ the time here spoken of, in the office of Supreme King. Christ was now acting as the prophet of God. After doing so for a while He was invested with the authority of supreme and sole King of this kingdom. For the Father gave " all power in heaven and earth " to Him. See Chapter V. on Kingdom of Disciples.) The kingdom here mentioned is the kingdom of disciples. It is not the kingdom of glory, the state of future blessedness ; because, as Watson remarks, "All the children brought to Christ were not likely to die in their infancy." And they were not disembodied spirits; they were dwellers upon earth. To suppose that such little children, such infants as Christ addressed, were then, and even previously to Christ's blessing, meet for the everlasting kingdom, would involve a denial of the doctrine of hereditary sinfulness of disposition ; and hence, is a wrong supposition. For a similar reason, we cannot assume that the kingdom here spoken of means the Church of Christ. The Church of Christ, as distinguished from the Old Testament Church, was not yet organized. We must conclude, therefore, that they were recognized pupils in the kingdom of disciples, and were certainly made such by circumcision. These children were subjects of the kingdom before they were blessed by Christ, and they A 1 i 358 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I •■ t,i t. •J »":: 1 U.,-.; had received th(i initiatory rite before they were reckoned as subjects. Children, even in early youth, are naturally teachable in reference to what they ought to learn, and hence are proper candidates for admission into the kingdom of disciples. And when brought to Christ they are fit subjects to receive the blessintj of greater teachableness which Christ confers on such. " Of such." The word rendered " such " is a word which points directly to previously mentioned indi- viduals or objects, and indirectly and inclusively to others of similar character. The meaning is that the children which were then brought formed p:vt of this kingdom ; so also did children like them. Observe the difterence between the expression " of such," used in this place, and the expression "theirs," or "of them," used in Matt. v. 3 : " Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs " (of them) " is the kingdom of heaven;" that is, says Dr. Carson, "the kingdom of heaven is of the poor in spirit, and of them onl3^ There is none in the kingdom of heaven but the poor in spirit." Had " of them " been used in Matt, xix., instead of " of such," " it would have imported that none but children are members of Christ's kingdom here spoken of." (Carson on Bap., pp. 199, 200.) But " of such " is the expression used, and this means of them, and of persons like them. It does not mean of them only. Neither does it mean of persons like them oaly. They are w^'ong who suppose that " of such " refers to adults of a childlike disposition. For what Christ's feeltnos towards little children. 359 ':W kind of reason for permitting cliildren to come ^o Christ to receive His blessing could be found here if the meaning was that persons who are not children, but are of a childlike disposition, are the subjects of the kingdom of God ? The absurdity of tiiis mean- ins: is its own refutation, since " the reason for children being permitted to come must be found in themselves, and not in others." ( Watson, in., p. 418.) No interpreta- tion can be correct which deprives the Great Teacher's reasoning of all force and meaning. [What reason would He assign if He xneant to say, "Suffer these little children to come to Me, for though they are not of the kingdom of God, yet men and women who are like them in certain respects are members of the king- dom."] If Christ did not mean children themselves. He might as well have said : " Suffer little lambs, or doves, to come unto Me ; because those who resemble them in certain characteristics belong to the kingdom of heaven." This mode of interpreting the phrase plainly fails to bring out the evidently intended con- nection of thought. It would equally take away the rignt meaning of other passages in which the phrase occurs For instance, when Christ said, " The Father seeketli such to worship Him " (John iv. 23), did He not seek those who worship " in spirit and in truth," but only those who resemble them ? When the Jews said, respecting Paul, " Away with such, a fellow from the earth " (Acts xxii. 22), would it be correct to say that they did not mean away with Paul himself, that they merely mfc«*nt away with those that resemble I ,.^1 1 : 4 i ^1 :. 4- li'i if 360 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. him. Plainly they did not mean merely that. They surely meant to include Paul himself, for he was then the principal subject of their thoughts. And so, in our Lord's words, the children before Him were meant, for they were the principal subject of discourse. " The little children themselves were brought to Christ for His blessing. Upon thm the attention of all was fixed. To them the objection of the disciples related. And surely the words ' of such is the kingdom of God,' which Christ spoke in reply to that objection, must also have referred to therti ; especially as this reply was accompanied with a direction respecting them, in consequence of which the children themselves did come unto Him." " Do away with the doctrine that children belong to the kingdom of heaven, and you destroy the ground of the comparison, and the beauty of the metaphor." (Hihhard, p. 108.) For, as Mr. Wesley observes, "If they themselves were not fit to be subjects of that kingdom, how could others be so because they were like them." {Wesley s Works, Vol. VI., p. 18.) Jesus assigns as the reason why the little children should be brought to Him, that of such is the kingdom of heaven ; but if they themselves were not of the kingdom of heaven, it could not be the reason why they should be brought to Him. " The followers of Jesus in some respects resemble sheep (John x.), but that would be a ridiculous reason for brivgivg sheep to Christ ! " (Rev. N. Doane, Inf. Bap., p. 87.) " Besides, if they who are like little children belong to the king- Christ's feelings towards little children. 361 •^■•1 m dom, why should we for a moment duubt that the little children themselves belong to the kingdom?" (Morrison.) Otherwise Christ would have said, " You did right to hinder them, for little children do not be- long, but only adults who resemble them in some respects." He does not say, " Suffer these little children to come to Me," as if there were some peculiarity in their case. His words are of wider application ; all little children who are brought to receive His bless- ing may come to Him. Hence Mr. Maclean, a Baptist writer, referring to Mark x. 13-16, properly says: " Here are children brought to Christ, declared of His kingdom, and blessed." (Lect. VIII., p. 82, in Thorn's Sub. of Bap., p. 373.) And be it observed, the declara- tion that these children were visible subjects of the kingdom was made before they were blessed, not after they were blessed. But we cannot infer that it was said before they were ritually initiated. These little children had been initiated by circumcision. The meaning therefore is, " Of such initiated children, and of all other initiated persons, is the kingdom, of God." They had not only been initiated, but brought to Christ for His blessing; hence the meaning may be, " of these children, and of all who, like them, are brought to Christ for His blessing, is the kingdom of God." " It is an important rule of interpretation that no one word in any particular connection shall take a more general meaning than the whole of the particular subject to which it alludes." (Hibbard, BaiMsm, p. 112.) :'ii;; iwpi '^\ iV'l ■'I I, 362 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. !1 ''< fc'iiW I ) t I. ! :t 1 i '4 r ^ ' ^ ... ^ \ Now, those who were literally little children were the particular subject of Christ's discourse in Matt. xix. 13-15. When therefore He adds, without giving the least intimation of having changed His subject, "0/ Huch is the kingdom of heaven," He must be supposed to mean of these little children, and of any and all little children like them. But while this phrase does not expressly include any besides children, it does not prevent adults who resemble them in teachableness fiom being included by other Scriptures, or even by another part of the same discourse. " Verily, I say unto you. Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child he shall not enter therein." (Mark X. 15.) Others may receive it, but those others must receive it as a little child receives it. This plainly implies that a little child receives the kingdom, and that the others who are spoken of should receive it in the same way. They should receive it on the ground of childlike teachableness and humble submission to the appointment of Christ, without any idea of merit. This is the qualification for admission. If the ob- jectors thought that little children should wait to become adults before they could enter the kingdom of disciples, they must have been surprised to hear that instead of children Itaving to become adults, adults must become like children, in order to enter the king- dom. To be as teachable as children those adults must become penitent. Nothing but penitence will bring an adult back to the teachableness of a juvenile, to that humility which believes testimony on the 1 Christ's feelings towards little children. 363 authority of a competent teacher, even where it does not comprehend the subject ; which is content to re- ceive a statement of facts on the testimony of a Divinely accredited teacher ; admitting that they are as yet too feeble In mind, or too limited in knowledge, to com- prehend the philosophy of those facts. This childlike spirit is made the true pattern of normal discipleship, for God frequently " gives us facts without philosophy, and thus treats us, for the present, as little children who are unable to fathom the deepest questions of His moral government." (Hovey.) " The analogy to chil- dren," says Whately, " may be traced in the knowledge we possess and the duties we have to perform. In regar.l to knowledge: (1) It is relative in kind — children know chiefly what relates to themselves ; (2) in degree, it is scanty and imperfect ; but (3) it is practically sufficient for them, if they will make a good use of it." That children may be brought to Christ, and are capable of being blessed by Him, is clearly established by this passage ; and in this light it is of inestimable value. The Saviour here shows the relation in which He places children to Himself. Elsewhere the Divine- ly appointed mode of publicly and visibl}'^ introducing them into that relation under the new dispensation is stated, and so also are the duties and privileges con- nected with that relation. As already observed, the exceedingly important case before us shows that per- sons in early youth are susceptible of spiritual bless- ing ; and, accordingly, we find that youth at an early age are susceptible of religious instruction. Timothy, 364 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ,r,i'. ii:. lit'- 1 t 1 ; '''' i ■ :i'' ;! : i::i. i |.tsi!,i for instancB, was instructed in the Holy Scriptures and fiptipovc — from the time that he was a little child (2 Tim. iii. 15) — i.e., so soon as he ceased to be a little child. As little children are naturally teachable with respect to parental instruction, and are susceptible of spiritual blessing that can make them teachable with respect to spiritual instruction, they are fit candidates for baptism as well as circumcision ; for baptism puts the candidate into the school of Christ, with a view to subsequent instruction, and under obligation to hear the Great Teacher, and the parents and ministers who by His appointment teach what He commands Jesus was the first Great Teacher of men who gave child- hood a proper place in human thought, by showing the place children had in the Divine arrangements. " When He said, * Of such is the kingdom of heaven,' it was a revelation." (E. Egglestone, Christian Litera- ture. In the estimation of Infinite Wisdom, true glory, unlike the false glory of man, is to feel the most for the most dependent and helpless. To promote the best interests of infants is a work worthy even of the Son of God. He knew how valuable a human soul is. It has been well said, " It may be that any limited time or finite space may be nothing to Him who fills immensity and inhabits eternity ; but the present and future well- being of every human soul, young or old, is every- thing to Him who is infinite in love and in holiness." Christ deemed this a most important work ; and co- jliil snsity well- christ's feelings towards little children. 365 operation with Him in this is man's greatest work, the work productive of the most certain, most lasting, and most glorious results. "Our children Thou dost claim, And mark them out for Thine ; Ten thousand blessings on Thy name For goodness so divine." ' '' 1 II ■ ft ■ ■ If [ ; I \ r I' :llll ! ^11 1 :jg6 MAl'TIZIN(i AND TKACIlINCi. CHAITKR XVJII. CASKH WINCH NiLUSTIlATK THK DOCTIlINAIi IMI'OIIT OF HAITISM: (V) UAP'I'ISM OK TIIK IMIILIIM'IAN JAILOR AND AMi IIIH. This instructive narrative calls for careful examina- tion. It teaches .some important truths besides those that are immediately connected with our subject. Hut we can only l»riefly notice some of the former. Every sinner may hecomii a convinced sinm^r. Conviction of guilt is produced even in lieatlien minds by the Spirit sent to convince the world of sin, and of rijjfhteous- ness, and of judgnuint. Everywhere men are taui^ht that there is a difl'erence hetween right and wrong ; and that the wrong is punishable', and the right is rewardable ; and that there is a supernatural Power that thinks it right and im[)erative to deal out such punishment for wrong-doing, and such reward for well-doing. Hence, everywhere, men may be brouj^ht to fear that Supreme Power that stands pledged to punish sin if persisted in. Careless sinners may thus become awakened siimers. Further, men everywhere believe that the Supreme Being may, by some means, be rendered propitious — that is, disposed to ])ardon sin on certain conditions. Evidence of this propitious- ness of God is universally exhibited, that men may have faith in it. In heathen lands it is made known partly by the patience of God towards sinners after 1.1 I-' -Tfir |{AI»TISM OK TIIK I'llIIJl'PIAN .lAII-Oll. no? OUT OK JAII.OIt aiinna- S til OHO ,. But Every tion of Spirit iteouH- tauufht vroiig ; ^ht is Powor such 1 for OU<'l)t ad to thus ivhere loans, Dn sin ious- niay lown after th(! coinrnission of sin, ^ivin^ time to repent ; partly l»y tlie providential ^oodiKJSs of (Jod towards them, and which is manifestcid in order to l)rin<^ them to repentance ; partly l)y the Spirit, as the s|)irit of sup- plication, iiiclinin^ thc^m to hope; and pray for forj^ive- ness,an/ y /^ <1} <^,^» <^ I o^ 370 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. from his carelessness and impenitence. Paul did not withhold an answer that he might first ask the kind, or degree, or duration of the jailor's sinfulness, and then judge whether mercy was provided and reserv^ed for him or not. He knew that all manner of iniquity roQ,y be forgiven to every penitent who believes. He knew that God has " no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he should turn from his wickedness and live." Hence he pointed him at once to the remedy, knowing that " the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin." There was no cautious reserve in the directions given — " Believe, and thou shalt be saved." The apostle knew that the grace of God was will- ing and ready to do all that the jailor needed. And more, the jailor had made inquiry respecting his own salvation. The answer is, " Thou shalt be saved, and thy house " (oiko^ gov, thy family). The apostle does not 'mean that the jailor, by exercising faith for his own salvation, would save his family also ; he meant that, when saved himself, he could teach them to look for salvation in the same way, as soon as they were capable of doing so. " And they" {i.e., Paul and Silas) "spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house" (owta ayrov)— literally,- to all his domestics. These were distinct from his family. They spoke 0/ his family; they speak to his domestics. As the apostle did not speak the word of the Lor^ to the family, it is implied that they were yet too young to be taught by preaching. But the domeatios w^re old enough to receive instruction of this kin(^. BAPTISM OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILOR. 371 [So far we find no report or evidence that the jailor had as yet exercised this saving faith. The brief exhortation of the apostle was doubtless opened and explained.] When Paul and Silas spake to him and his domestics " the word of the Lord," reference would be made to the duty of the penitent. When the apostles, on the day of Pentecost, were asked by the convicted Jews, " Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" Peter said, " Repent, and be baptized." Paul would do like- wise ; he would show his awakened hearers that " the word of the Lord " included the commission given by the Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching them ; that the qualifica- tion for being put to school is teachableness ; and that the penitent adults are teachable, and so are all infant children. The jailor was ready to comply with these instruc- tions. But he considerately puts off asking them to baptize him, that he may first attend to their stripes. " And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes." A few hours previously the stern jailor was unmoved by the sight of blood. No recollection of it prevented his sleeping soundly. Now he can look upon it no longer ; he hastens to act the part of a kind host. The blood having been thus washed away, they were ready to attend to his baptism. It is said that the jailor took Paul and Silas, and washed their stripes; but it is not s: id that they took the jailor to a place for baptism. This was not ' ii 372 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. necessary ; where there was water enough to wash stripes, there was water enough for baptism. " And was baptized, he and all his, straightway " — i.e., all his children,. and all his domestics, for mention was previously made of both. The children were ob- viously young, for they were not spoken to when the word of the Lord was explained. So that here was a case, not of family baptism, but of the baptism of domestics also. These were baptized with water. Luke does not mention the baptismal element here, but in other places he does mention it, and puts in the instrumental dative, vSan (with water). It is implied that the baptism was administered in the place where the apostles' stripes had been washed, i.e., in the outer prison. Some have supposed, with the most violent improbability, that the jailor, who, in his unawakened state, felt the responsibility for the safe- keeping of his prisoners so fully that he was about to commit suicide rather than be suspected and charged with allowing them to escape, disregarded that responsi- bility as soon as he came under apostolic teaching ; that he with his domestics, as well as his infant children, went away from the gaol at night, taking two of the prisoners with him, and leaving the rest to take care of themselves ; that they went to a river, and allowed themselves to be put under water at night by two of the prisoners, still quivering from their stripes. The supposition is utterly incredible. The imagination borders on insanity. The jailor could not do so " with- BAPTISM OF THE PHILIPPIAN JAILOR. 373 out breach of fidelity and forfeiture of life." (Luther, p. 235.) Deeply affected by the interest they are takinj; in his welfare, he resolved to treat them with kind and generous hospitality. He led them into his own house, and set meat before them. They doubtless used the moments in imparting the teaching that was to follow the baptism. And as the truth as it is in Jesus was set before the jailor, " he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house ; " rather, he rejoiced on behalf of his family {rravoiKi) that he now believed in God, and not in idols, — TravoiKi is an adverb qualifying the word "rejoiced." This strikingly "impersonal word," as Stier calls it, shows that it was not the family that rejoiced, but that it was the jailor who rejoiced in their behalf. The phrase " with all his house " occurs also in the account of Crispus, but is there a transla- tion of different words, and has for this reason a dif- ferent meaning, as we shall soon see. It is after the jailor's baptism, and not previously, that we are told " he believed in God." Hence there appears to have been an observance of the order mentioned in the great commission. The baptizing was followed by teaching him, and the teaching was followed by his believing. The word translated " believed " is in the singular number, as well as the word translated " rejoiced." The parent only is said to have believed, and yet we find a record of family baptism. It was so also in the case of Lydia. She only attended to the words 61 ; ! :; I Lii ! ?: i si«i |:: '\n I \i i i 374 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. spoken by Paul, but she and her family were baptized. On the other hand, where we read of believing chil- dren we do not read of family baptism. For instance, it is said that " Crispus believed in the Lord with all his house " {ow oio tu oiku avrov). Here " with all his house " is a translation of very different words, and is properly used to signify that both parent and children believed in this case. But it is remarkable that in this case we have no mention of family baptism. Crispus is said to have been baptized, but it is ad- mitted that " nothing is mentioned concerning; the baptism of his household." (A. Wiberg.) It is observ- able, too, that though we find mention of the church in the house (ockov, family) of Priscilla and Aquila (1 Cor. xvi. 19) ; and of the church in the family of Nymphas (Col. iv. 15) ; and of the church in the family of Philemon (ver. 2) ; yet we find no reference to a church in the family of Lydia, or in the family of the Philippian jailor, or in the family of Stephanus. The baptized families were too young to be called a church. The other families were too old to be recorded as cases of family baptism. ["When we consider that old people are not easily converted, there is a strong probability that those ' families ' we have enumerated were comparatively young." (Benney's Compend.) And this renders it still more probable that there were in- fants in those families.] But, as already observed, in the case of Lydia and of the Philippian jailor, where the parent only is said to have believed, we do find a record of family b^iptism. And, as elsewhere re- fiAPTlSM OF THK PHlLlPPlAiN JAlLUU. 375 marked, these cases of family baptism are recorded in connection with the baptism of Gentile parents. It was not necessary to record the family baptisms that took place in the case of Jewish parents. Everyone acquainted with their usages would expect that they would have the family also initiated as disciples. We have said that in the cases of baptism which are called in Scripture by the name of family baptisms, there is no indication whatever that the family had passed the age of infancy or childhood. But even if we were for a moment to leave out of view this most important feature of those instances, and if we were merely to look at the fact that three whole families were baptized, without excepting a single member, it would, even from this view of the case, be altogether probable that infant baptism was administered ; be- cause it has been estimated that the inference that there is one infant, at least, in every three families, is much more probable than that all the children are adults. And the baptism of one infant will prove that all infants in the same circumstances ought to be baptized. But further, the instances of family baptism that are mentioned are stated in such a way as to make the impression that they were merely specimens of the apostles' mode of procedure in administering the ordinance ; just as the instances of adult baptism were merely specimens. Let us therefore take the whole number of baptisms that are particularly men- tioned, and inquire what proportion do the household baptisms bear to these. The number of baptisms re- ^ '1 ilL:. , 14 ,1 pi :!r lliii II: 376 HAPTIZINCJ AND TKACHING. corded under the head of household baptisms is three, viz., Lydia and her household ; the Philippian jailor and all his ; and the household of Stephanus (Acts xvi. 15, 33 ; 1 Cor. i. 16). The whole number of distinct cases mentioned in the New Testament is about twelve. Household baptisms, therefore, form one-fourth of the entire number of the instances that are recorded. Now, if this proportion obtained throughout the many myriads of baptisms not par- ticularly described, there must have been many thou- sands of baptized families. And in these there must have been many hundreds of infant children. It would therefore be of iiv, avail to say we have not absolutely demonstrated that there were little children in those three families ; for there must have been many in the thousands of families not particularly specified. " House, or family," says Dr. Carson, " includes in- fants as well as adults, if infants are in them." (Bap.y p. 190.) In some families there are adults as well as infants, and the word oiKog does not, independently of the context, determine whether the children were young or old. On this account some would like to argue that as the word does not of itself specify little children, therefore there were no little children in those families. But by this reasoning it would also follow that as the word otKog does not specify grown-up children, therefore there were no grown-up children in them. And then, uniting both inferences, it would appear that there were no children at all in them ; ■ I BAPTISM OP THE PHILIPPIAN JAILOR. 377 that Lydia was baptized alone, and the jailor alone, etc. The reasoning which leads to an evidently false conclusion must be unsound. [In the same way it may be shown that if nothing but express statement could prove that there were little children in that family, then nothing but express statement could prove that there were grown-up children there ; i.e., nothing could prove that there were either young or old there. But this, being a manifestly false conclusion, must result from false reasoning, or false assumption. Hav- ing circumstantial proof that the children were minors, we do not need express statement to that effect.] The interpretation of statements made respecting families is regulated by an obvious principle. If in- fants are universally understood to be capable of doing or receiving what is asserted, we understand that the statement is intended to include them ; on the other hand, if they are obviously incapable of either, it is known that they are impliedly excluded. This being understood, it is not necessary formally to mention the little ones in the one case, or expressly to exclude them in the other. If what is stated of a family, or a number of families, is something which little children are known to be incapable of receiving, appreciating, or doing, we at once infer that they are not included in the statement. When Paul sent a salutation to " the family of Onesiphorus " (2 Tim. iv. 19), he did not mean thp*^^ it should be given to infants, if there were any ; so, v jo, when we say of a family that it is an intellectual, benevolent, or religious family, we are not wm I M "S'^mr ■ \; 'I t II HI 1 i 1 !■ ! 'A 1: P : J |: ^ :^78 BAPTIZING i*Xl) TEACHINO. understood to apply this remark to infant children, if there are any, nor to imply that there are no infanta there. But little children are capable of receiving the baptismal rite. It is a thino; done to the candidate, not an act performed by him. Little children are teachable, and need to be taught, and hence may be made disciples by baptizing and teaching them ; hence in this case it would be unwarrantable to exclude infants from the statement that whole households were baptized. The important circumstance is that baptism is given to whole families, just as circumcision was. The other ordinance of Christianity is not said to have been given to families, but there is " repeated mention of whole houses baptized." {Lanye.) BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 379 CHAPTER XIX. THE SPECIAL IMPORT OF BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. (ACTS IL 1-4.) It is most important to understand its nature, and the relation which it bears to ritual baptism. Some of the illustrative cases to be brought forward make reference to both ; and unless both are rightly under- stood, we cannot clearly understand those cases. The communication of the Spirit by Christ to man is in two instances expressly " designated the baptism of the Spirit," as Ingham remarks. {Hand-book on Baptism, p. 7.) One of these took place in Jerusalem, on the Jewish day of Pentecost ; the other in Csesarea, on what has been called the Gentile day of Pentecost. (See Acts ii. 2-4; x. 44-46; compare with xi. 15-17.) In the former case the communication of the Spirit was attended with the visible descent of tongues of fire as its miraculous emblem, and in each case the given Spirit caused the tongues of the baptized to utter praises of the wonderful works of God in various dialects. From such an emblem, and such a manifes- tation, we learn that the special design of baptism with the Spirit is to give intellectual ability to teach or to learn spiritual things. For this reason it is equally needed by learners and teachers. This is what the inspired writers refer to when they speak of baptism t, ■ »■ it 380 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. |i !< r! with the Spirit. There is, besides this, a regenerating work of the Spirit in the heart of man, which results in the production of love — that love which is the ful- filling of the law of God. This work, too, is an exceed- ingly important one, and is needed by all, but is not called by inspired men the baptism of the Spirit. We agree with Ingham when he said : " To our being re- newed by ^^e Spirit we attach the highest import- ance, but do not feel authorized from the Word of God to denominate " this " a baptism of the Spirit." (Hand-book on Baptism, p. 7.) Jesus had received the baptism of the Spirit, but He did not receive or need regeneration or entire sanctification. The apostles needed and received both. In their case the baptism of the Spirit came after regeneration by the Spirit. We learn this from the fact that, at a previous period, when Christ called Himself the vine, He called His apostles the branches. (John xv. 5.) "He thus repre- sented them as virtually engrafted into Him long before they received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, for which they had to wait until Pentecost." (Lan- del's Pedobaptist Arguments Examined, p. 12.) The apostles previously to this day had partaken of the Lord's Supper. There was a spiritual Church before the day of Pentecost, and the apostles were members of it, and as such partook of the Supper ; if not, it would follow that the Lord's Supper is not an ordi- nance belonging to a spiritual Church. " No man by mere sanctification could be fitted to be an apostle." (Dr. Dale, Christie Bap., p. 79.) Sane- '' m BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 381 tification did not preclude the necessity of baptism with the Spirit ; for, as already remarked, even Christ the ioly One of God was baptized with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit thus given quickened t'le under- standing of His human nature to see the glory of spiritual and divine things more clearly and fully than the unaided human understanding could possibly do. The apostles had some instruction, but they needed to know many other things before they were fitted to teach the finished work and doctrine of Christ. To baptize, in the primary sense of the word (see Chapter XXVI.), means to bring a liquid element (or what is figuratively thought of as such) into abiding contact with a person or thing for the purpose of pro- ducing a contemplated result, the kind of which is indi- cated by the nature of the subject and of the element. When the Spirit is the baptismal element, the contact is eftected for the purpose of aiding the subject to learn, or to teach, the truth as it is in Jesus, or to specially adapt him to some special work for Christ. Under the Old Testament dispensation the Holy Spirit was given to persons for a little while ; but on the day of Pentecost it was given to dwell with them. John, the forerunner of Christ, w^as filled with the Spirit to aid him in learning. The Spirit was given to abide with Christ as a Teacher. He said, " The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach," etc. But since the day of Pentecost the Spirit may be obtained to abide with all teachers and with all learners ; not, however, to deal with all alike, but to :l it HHBI||H ' V ■-■-■ .382 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. m "divide to every man severally as He will." The Spirit is a Divine Person capable of teaching. He is the Third Person of the Godhead, and co-operates with the Divine Son and the Divine Father in carrying into effect the great remedial plan agreed on in gracious council. As a Person He comes, dwells with, and teaches men. He comes as the voluntary Agent of the Divine Immanuel, who is the Head of the New Theocracy on earth. He comes to reveal Christ more fully to the disciples of Christ. " He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." " He shall testify of Me." " He shall glorify Me," by causing men to see the truly Divine character of Christ, and His all- important work as Mediator and King. He did not come to take the place of Christ as King, for Christ Himself said, " Lo, I am with you alway, even '' '■^o the end of the world." Accordingly the Ac ^h-^ jv what Christ continues to do, as the gospels show lat " He began to do." The record of the Acts of th Apostles shows that those acts were directed by Christ Himself, who superintended the planting of His Church at one important centre of influence after another, beginning at Jerusalem, and ending at Rome. The true view of the case, then, is that the Spirit was given by Christ to His apostles to aid them in establishing Christ's kingdom on earth. That the baptism of the Spirit was intended to fit the apostles for teaching is plainly implied in the statement : "And they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." The first effect of the outpour- f. i't BAPTISM WFTH THE HOLY GHOST. 383 ing of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was to prompt them to bec^in to speak. Hitherto they had kept silence. " From the moment when the apostles saw their Lord ascend they were in full possession of all the external facts of which they were to bear witness. But they were not in possession of the spiritual meaning, relations, and consequences of those facts " {T. D. Bernard, D.D.) until the promised Spirit " bore witness " to them. Then they knew the Gospel, and preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. " When a man is tilled with the Spirit he cannot hold his peace." They were wonder- fully changed. Their perplexity and hesitancy dis- appeared. They felt conscious of the clearest and most firmly grounded faith, and they began to speak clearly and earnestly, but modevstly and discreetl3\ 'The Divine gift of speech could not be more appro- priately applied " {Lechler) than it was in aKocpBEyyeadat — uttering apothegms — i.e., wise, weighty, and sen- tentious speeches, respecting the wonderful works of God; dwelling especially, in all probability, on the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Christ. All languages should be employed in these themes. The utterance of these sentiments in various dialects was peculiarly appropriate on that day of Pentecost, because " there were then dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven." (Acts ii. .5.) . .To all these were no>v proclaimed tidings which, if believed, would reunite, in one Christian family all who were .dispersed by the confusion of tongues. t-i ¥! i 4 ;: 384 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. «:ii' II w: U If The baptism of the Divine Spirit imparted know- ledge in a miraculous manner to the first teachers ; for at that time the New Testament Scriptures were not written, and Christ, during His personal presence on earth, had not fully taught all the doctrines of the Gospel, because there were some things that the people were not prepared and able to bear. Hence the apostles and other primitive teachers needed plenary- inspiration in order to fit them to teach all things, and especially in order to complete the Bible by the addi- tion of the New Testament Scriptures. "But when the first churches were supplied with ministers quali- fied by this full inspiration, and when the New Testament was written and circulated, then persons had means to obtain religious knowledge without miraculous inspiration." From that time the Spirit merely undertakes to " open the understanding to understand the Scriptures," and to " attend " intelli- gently, earnestly, and teachably to those who expound them. But, as already stated, it was a source of plenary inspiration to the twelve disciples, to fit them for the apostleship. The cloven tongues which descended and sat upon them aptly pointed out those disciples as persons who were qualified to teach others all that Christ should command; and to speak these things "not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." (1 Cor. ii. 13.) It pointed them out as ones that were taught of God and fitted for the work of apostleship. When we come to examine the BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 385 baptism with the Spirit which took place in the house of Cornelius, we shall find that the Spirit is given to hearers to enable them to understand words whereby they may be saved. " But everyone who earnestly desires to do good is specially prompted, guided, and enabled to search the Scriptures, and speak or act effectively for Christ and for souls." The remainder of all flesh were to receive the baptism of the Spirit to enable them to understand what prophets were inspired to reveal, and teachers were commanded to teach. To hearers the Holy Spirit, when given by Christ, imparts ability to understand the word preached. When Peter, on a subsequent occasion* was preaching in the house of Cornelius, " the Holy Ghost fell on " his hearers when he " began to speak." They received the Holy Ghost when Peter began to speak words whereby they should be saved, and there- fore before they had exercised saving faith, and when they were simply desirous to receive instruction. But the Spirit did not descend on Peter's hearers on the day of Pentecost when he began to speak, for they were not then desirous to hear; but when they became so, he pointed them, as we shall see, to the promise, "Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The human mind in its unrenewed state specially needs the Spirit's aid. It can form some conception of spiritual things, but without the Spirit's aid it cannot discern their importance and their glory. An illustration to the following effect has been employed to explain this point: — Suppose 25 it' ' i f ^ ^mmmmmmmmmmm 386 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ■ I i I:- ;:| ■ !■:!■ ■Il ifili y *' M : 3?' 15 i: !• • j rvw ' '1 II that a piece of varied, beautiful and sublime scenery- is looked at by two persons ; it will be appreciated in a very small degfree by one who has little or no taste for beauty and sublimity. The knowledge which such a person has of such scenery is very defective compared with that of the other person, who has a fully developed and highly cultured perception and taste. Again, some pieces of music display the richest combi- nations of melody and harmony, but to a person who has no ear for music they seem little more than con- fused sounds. How different it appears to a person who can perceive and estimate the scientific skill of the composers, the developed talent which executes with ease and brilliancy the most critical parts, in- spiring into the whole the impassioned emotions which produce the intended result. So, though a mind in its natural state can form some notion of the nature and attributes of God, yet it cannot see the glory of His creating, preserving, and redeeming attributes, or the preciousness and exceed- ing desirableness of those things which God has pre- pared for them that love Him. These are very dimly seen till God "reveals them to us by His Spirit." In short, the natural mind needs more than clear teach- ing; it needs Divine assistance. "The things most mis- understood are the things which are revealed most clearly" (Dr. Angus) in the Scriptures, but are mis- apprehended when the readers or hearers have not sought the aid of the Spirit. The Spirit enables a man to see what he otherwise cannot perceive. "When BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 387 a telescope is directed to some distant landscape it enables us to see what we could not otherwise have seen, but it does not enable us to see anything which has not a real existence in the prospect before us." " Where the natural eye sees nothing but blue land stretching along the distant horizon, the eyeglass brings into view a charming variety of fields, and woods, and spires, and villages ; " yet it discovers nothing but what is there. {Dr. Chalmers.) And so the Spirit now enables us to see what is in the writ- ten revelation, but does not add anything to what He previously communicated by inspiration. The Spirit abides with those who continue to hear, to give them higher and higher capacity to receive further and fuller instruction. In the present day He does not give new revelalion.s to any, but He imparts increasing power to apprehend former revelations, whether given in part by prophets of old, or more fully by the apostles; and He brings suitable portions to remembrance on appropriate occasions. He shines in the heart to ffive " the ligrht of the knowledore of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" — the glory of redeeming grace, the glory of propitiated holiness, the glory of pardoning mercy and adopting love ; not mere general conceptions of these attributes, but distinct perceptions of their glory. He gives soul- transforming apprehensions of them — " We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." This makes III i f :»:, 'J. 't W'> til ' : ill i; :■■; i: I ii' 388 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. meditation delightful and profitable, and therefore fre quent. It makes us capable of recognizing the presence of God, and of holding " fellowship with the Father, and with the Son," who will " come and make their abode" with us, and "manifest" themselves to us. "If thef presence of great human minds " exercising " great thoughts, deep emotions, and vast energies of action," brings our natural powers into forms of activity other- wise impossible to us, how much more will the pres- ence of the inlinite understanding and divinely loving heart of God expand our thoughts, quicken our spirit- ual emotions, and energize our active powers. It makes us capable of bearing these high contemplations and glorious manifestations ; it strengthens with might the inner man, " that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." (Eph. iii. 1 f)-19.) This prepares us to enter more fully into the aevotions of the earthly periodical Sunday, and into the adorations of the heavenly and everlast- ing Sabbath. We should be very thankful that God gives His Spirit to aid us in thinking aright about these great subjects. We have now seen that every man who wishes to learn needs, and should ask, the abiding baptism of the Spirit to make him of quick understanding in reference to spiritual and divine things, that he may perceive and appreciate them more fully than unaided humanity could possibly do. But BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 389 the given Spirit would also impart gifts of various kinds. As the bodj' is an organization of many parts, with different offices for the several parts, so Christ's kingdom is an organized assembly including many offices. No one member has every office, and no single office is independent of others ; for " one cannot say to another, I have no need of thee." To fit men for these various offices the Spirit has gifts of various kinds, and divides them among different members to fit them for difierent departments of duty with reference to the good of the whole. It is thus that we are by, or with, "one Spirit bap- tized into" (eic) — with reference to — '"one body." It is obvious that eig is not here used to point to another element, but to denote the object or end which the Spirit aimed to produce — namely, to secure the unity of the body. Eig is here used in its telic sense. When the Spirit imparts these varied endowments, He has special re- spect to the unity of the body, to the relations of the members one with another, to their common relation to Christ, and to their harmonious co-operation in work- ing out the purposes for which the organization was established. These gifts of the Spirit are " according to the measure of the gift of Christ " — i.e., the Spirit imparts to each just what Christ, the Baptizer, intended for each. Even the apostles were not made inde- pendent of each other. These gifts should be used for the general welfare. And when they are not so used they are regarded as buried or misapplied. Every one should desire a gift; should ascertain what hia j 1 1 m »iii j ■1 i J I- i ■ i; f ■■ ! .J 1 '■■ ' 1 Mil i ! i : 1 ii m i:: :{ 1 ' ;j 1 ■^ , , 1 : w'ii ;■ ' IHBiHK r- ^^HB. 1. : 1 11 : 390 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. gift is, and what sphere of usefulness it points out ; and should exercise his gift in that sphere. And all should remember that the continued presence and aid of the Spirit is intended to mould the different members into one body, " one interdependent whole, manifesting the unity and promoting the edification of the body. The baptism with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was not given when persons were submitting to ritual baptism, but independently of that rite. Yet the patristic writers unhappily imagined that baptism with the Spirit was always to be associated in prac- tice with baptism with water. They thought that both elements were always " co-present, co-active, and co-efficient," and that the joint result would be the production of a regenerate state ; forgetting, says Dr. Dale, " that such interpretation dashed itself against the promise of the Father " (Luke xxiv. 49), in which there was no water ; and against the fulfilment of that promise in the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost, in which there was no water ; and against the like fulfil- ment at Csesarea, in which there was no water. "When baptism by water is spoken of (John iv. 2) as done in the presence and authority of Jesus, we are carefully guarded against the error of supposing that Jesus took any personal part in such baptism." {Christie Bap., p. 548.) But the Scriptures are as careful to teach that Jesus did baptize with the Holy Ghost. The baptism in the case of Simon the magician shows that the two are not co-active; and the case of Cornelius, that they are not co-present. Yet many have fallen into the error I BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 391 of connecting them, because they have misinterpreted Christ's words to Nicodemus, after improperly taking them '* from the sphere of Judaism, in which they were spoken, to that of Christianity, which was yet future." (Christie Bap., p. 487.) The error of confound- ing these two baptisms is an evil fountain " which has been pouring its poisonous streams through the Church for more than a thousand years.'' (Christie Bap., p. 487.) " How unutterably important is the right interpreta- tion of one passage of Scripture! What a millstone has been hung to the neck of the Church by adding one word (water) to the baptism of the Holy Ghost!" (Christie Bap., p. 487 ; see Appendix, Exposition of John iii. 5-7.) Some who say much on ritual baptism say very little about baptism with the Spiiit. Rev. W. Hamilton, D.D., received in 1880 a letter from Rev. Dr. James A. Dale (of Pennsylvania, U.S.), in which the following passage occurs : " I was much astonished on enquiring recently at the Baptist Board of Publi- cation for some treatise, book or tract on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, to be told that ' they had none.' I sent to Cincinnati to the Disciples Publication House, and my astonishment became amazement when told that they, too,'* had none except a solitary chapter in a large volume, which did not profess to give a thorough treatment of the subject.'" (Compend of Bap., "p. 154.) Still, notwithstanding some exceptions of this kind, it is believed that in no era of Church history since the primitive times has so much attention been paid to the work of the Spirit. Im '- ■- i 1 -• ( ■■''■■', J • ' ' ' i 392 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. i^! >".■■'■ t n -f -t To administer baptism with the Spirit is now the high prerogative of our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Son of Man He was baptized with the Spirit. As the Son of God He baptizes others with the Spirit. He was in- vested with all kingly power in heaven and on earth. Hence, when He ascended and was exalted to the right hand of God, He received of the Father (nafja, by the side of the Father, where Jesus sits) " the promise of the Holy Ghost," or the promised Holy Ghost, that He may communicate it to men to abide with them for educational purposes. He was the Baptizer on that grand occasion. Dr. Dale strangely failed to see this. He did good service in showing clearly that the word " baptize " points to the contemplated production of a change of state or condition ; but he did not clearly and steadily distinguish the act of the baptizer from the agency or influence of the baptismal element, literal or figurative. Hence he failed to distinguish that which Christ does in this baptism from that which the Holy Ghost does. He even thinks this baptism "may be indifferently ascribed to the Holy Ghost or to Christ." (p. 194.) He represents John as teaching "that the baptism of his Lord shall be such as is effected 'by the Holy Ghost.'" (Johannic Bap., p. 197.) His view is, that because Christ Hitnself was baptized by the Holy Ghost, He is, " through the in- fluence of the indwelling Spirit, invested with the power of the Holy Ghost; therefore able to baptize." The true view is that Christ is the Great Baptizer. He places the Holy Spirit, viewed as a figurative bap- HAiTisM With the holy ohost. im tismal element, in contact with the souls of the bap- tismal subjects, and then leaves it to the active power of the Spirit to produce the changes contemplated in effecting the contact. This view does not set aside the office and work of Christ, on the one hand, nor the office and work of the Spirit, on the other. Christ Himself was at one time the subject of baptism, and was then influenced by the Spirit and fitted for His prophetic office. But after He was translated from his prophetic chair to His kingly throne. He exercised the high prerogative of giving the Holy Ghost. [How is it that a Presbyterian minister who has given such searching and patient attention to this topic could fail to trace the Headship of Christ in this department as well as in others ?] The baptism of the Spirit took place on the day of Pentecost. The word rendered "Pentecost," though strictly a numeral, was used by the Greek-speaking Jews as a proper noun, and applied to the second of their three annual feasts, because it took place on the fiftieth day from the first day of the Passover. The first day of the Passover feast was observed as a Sab- bath. And from that "unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days." (Lev. xxiii. 16.) The day of Pentecost was therefore the first day after the Jewish Sabbath, the day that is now set apart as the Christian Sabbath, because on this day of the week Christ rose from the dead. It was on this Christian Sabbath the glorious baptism of I I 1; n ; I), i:i tU : ii I !;. f ■ i ( i i 394 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. the Spirit took place. As the Pentecost was to take place a week of weeks, or "st^ven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn" (Deut. xvi. 9),' it was at the conclusion of the grain harvest, and before the vintage. Accordingly, every Old Testament reference to its meaning seems "to bear immediately upon the completion of the grain har- vest." (SynitJts Dictionary.) It seems to have been regarded as a day of public thanksgiving for the ful- filment of the Divine promise in Deut. xi. 14 : "I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, . . . that thou mayest gather in thy corn." This was but a repetition of the promise that seed-time and harvest should not fail. For this reason it is evident that Pentecost could be observed by Gentiles as appropri- ately as by Jews. Accordingly, Moses tells us that " strangers " were to be among the attendants at this festival: "Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God. . . . And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger," etc. (Deut. xvi. 10, 11.) As both Jews and Gentiles, old and young, were welcomed to this festival, it may have been for this very reason that it was Divinely selected as the most proper time for commencing to fulfil the promise to pour out the Spirit upon all flesh. From the verses just quoted it appears that this fes- tival might be attended by women as well as by men ; and this fully accounts for the fact that women were Baptism with the holy ghost. 305 associated with the apostles when continuing in prayer and supplication as that day approached. As the other great feasts had " a historical as well as an agricultural reference, thereby recognizing the God of the theocracy as the God of nature " {Dr. Whedon), it is supposed that the feast of Pentecost also had a historical reference. Some of the most eminent Jewish commentators held that it was in- tended to commemorate the giving of the law. If so, it was probably to commemorate the giving of the law. not as spoken from Sinai with a voice that made them fly in terror " afar oft'," but to commemorate the law as afterwards given through Moses in answer to their united and urgent request that God would give them the words He spoke separate from the great, terrifying voice which had uttered them on Sinai. God graciously complied with their request, and with His finger silently wrote the words on two tables of stone, and handed them to Moses that he might read them to the people. But He did more than they asked for: He promised to remember that urgent prayer when sending His Divine Son to make further revela- tions ; He would cause Him to take upon Him human nature, that He may appear among them as a prophet like unto Moses, and that He would then put words into His mouth that He may speak them with the gentle ar 1 familiar voice of the Son of Man. The Father did accordingly send His Son ; but some things which He wished to say to them were things which the p^^ple were then not able to bear, and I ' I i |i- i;>i IS I;:;!,' I 1 iii 1"; :^i ' -^ ] II !i 396 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. which they could not fully understand until the gteat fact of His sacrificial death, and the great facts of His glorious resurrection and ascension, had been accom- plished. He was now going to put these remaining words into the mouths of His apostles, that they may speak them to the people as Moses did to their fathers, and as He Himself had done as far as was expedient. In accordance with this view is the symbol afterwards employed — namely, tongues of fire — a human organ conveying Divine truth to human understandi..gs and hearts. The place in which they met together is said to be a house, but its locality is not described"; "according to a very old tradition, it was upon Mount Zion." (Briggs.) Not satisfied with this, some have strangely conjectured that it was on Mount Moriah; and that it was one of the thirty halls which were around the principal building of the temple, and which Josephus (Antiquities, Bk. VIII., chap, iii., sec. 2) calls houses. But to those who take time for reflection it seems very unlikely that the apostles, in their peculiar cir- cumstances, would wish for, or venture to request, the use of one of the temple apartments, and still more un- likely that such a request would have been granted by the authorities who had so recently crucified their Great Teacher. The ancient tradition already referred to, that the house was on Mount Zion, is much more probable. If it took place here, it indicated that the new theocracy could act independently of the minister^ of the former one. SAULS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 397 CHAPTER XX. SAUL'S BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST (ACTS IX. 17, 18; XXII. 13-16; XXVI. 14-18). De. Dale remarks that in the texts here referred to the narrative of Saul's baptism is "given in terms differing from those used in any other baptism"; that *• a departure from the accustomed language of Scrip- ture has a reason for it, and should be made a subject of special study." God " departed from His ordinary ways in Providence and in grace" when He called Paul to follow Him. Whenever God does so " there is always a reason for it, and instruction to be derived from its study." (Christie Bap., p. 99.) We think that a careful examination will discover that Dr. Dale is right in stating that Saul's baptism was a baptism with the Holy Spirit, like that received by the other apostles on the day of Pentecost. It was administered in connection with his call to prepare to become an apostle of the Gentiles. Dr. Dale very properly compares the words which express Ananias' mission to Saul with those that note down the result — " Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." The mission con- templated " two specific results, the one physical, the 'i r.-r h si if- ifi 398 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. f'f other spiritual." Ananias went on this mission, and two things are mentioned as the result. After Ananias put his hands on him, "immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales ; and he received sight forth- with, and arose, and ivas baptized." " Are these two things those same two things for which Ananias was sent ? There can be no doubt as to the first, for it is stated in precisely the same terms ; but how is it as to the second, which is not stated in the same terms ? " Was Saul "filled with the Holy Ghost" when he " was baptized " ? If not, " the second thing which entered into Ananias' mission was left undone." If the second thing was done, then the statement that Saul was baptized asserts, in other words, that he was filled with the Holy Ghost. There is a baptism with the Holy Ghost, as well as a baptism with water. And the other apostles, when baptized with the Holy Ghost, were said to be " filled with the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 4.) So that, as Dr. Dale says, " the phrases are used interchangeably, and as of equal value, as shown by Acts i. 5 ; ii. 4." " It is said that Saul * saw and was baptized,' and not that he 'saw and was filled with the Holy Ghost,' simply because the two phrases have the same identical value" (p. 103). As already noticed, Paul was now called to be an apostle. The promise to the band of the apostles was that they should be " baptized with the Holy Ghost." The fulfilment of this promise is not verbally recorded as a baptism, but as being " filled with the Holy Ghost"; while, reversely, in the case of this last of the apostles, the promise was, SAULS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 399 be of )Ut that he should be " filled with the Holy Ghost," and the fultilment of the promise is described as a " bap- tism." The apostles were to receive power {6vva/uv) after "the Holy Ghost came upon them." Saul, after his baptism, like Peter, " straightway preached Christ," and he was clothed with power (eveSwafiovro) for that purpose. " How the double promise could be more clearly declared to have had its precise double accom- plishment, I cannot imagine. Everything entering into the specialty of the case makes imperative demand for a baptism by the Holy Ghost, and just as imperatively rejects a ritual baptism." {Christie Bap,, p. 103.) It does not appear that any of the apostles obtained the Christie rite of baptism. Christ only could train men for the apostleship, and Christ did not baptize with water. It would seem that Saul, like the other apostles, was left without ritual baptism, because this implies an obligation to hear human teachers, and no human teacher was qualified to train for the apostolic office. Hence Paul was "an apostle, not of man, nor by man." It must be remembered, however, that he was to be trained for the work by Christ, who said, " I will appear unto him." Like the other apostles, he was to be first a disciple of Christ, in order to be after- wards an apostle of Christ. Hence he was now bap- tized with the Holy Ghost to open his understanding to apprehend aright the revelation that Christ had made, and the further revelations that He promised to make to him. Paul's baptism with the Spirit did not " immediately 1 ' if' •' ^ i'-M till I ! I ! I I ! 400 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. fit him for the full work of the apostleship," as Dr. Dale supposes. If it did he would have no need of " those things in which Christ promised to appear to him again"; and Dr. Dale admits that "Saul, when baptized at Damascus, neither spake with tongues nor prophesied" (p. 114). If so, the Spirit did not im- mediately act on him in the precise manner that it did on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. There was no attendant emblem of cloven tongues when Saul was baptized with the Spirit — that is, there was then no emblem of " the power to speak in other languages," which. Dr. Dale says, was " one of the principal re- quisites of the apostolic office " (p. 80). He was first fitted to be a disciple. As the other apostles were disciples for three years before they were qualified for apostleship, so probably was Saul a "disciple during " the three years " that intervened between his leaving Damascus and his return to Jerusalem, and which he seems to have chiefly spent in seclusion in Arabia, {v. Gal. i. 17, 18.) But meantime, while still at Damascus, he proclaimed, as a disciple might do, that Jesus is the Son of God. The baptism of the Spirit fitted him, as it did Peter on the day of Pentecost, to proclaim and prove that Jesus is the Son of God. But it took further training to fit him to reveal all the doctrines and duties which the Son of God commands to be taught. " All that heard him " at Damascus " were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, SAULS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 401 the that be might bring them bound unto the chief priests ? But Saul increased the more in strength, and con- founded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ." He proved that Jesus is the long promised Messiah by " demonstrating the agree- ment between the Messianic predictions and the his- torical facts in the life of Jesus. He brought these to- gether {avfiliipai;o)v) and showed the connection." (Lange.) The Jews found themselves unable to meet him in argument, and therefore formed purposes to oppose him by craft and violence. " And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him : but their laying await was known of Saul. . . . Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket ; " so that he himself was the first Christian that fled from Damascus. How different was this from what he anticipated when he was leav- ing Jerusalem. Looking back to the circumstances of this baptism, we notice that God did not employ an apostle to lay his hands on Saul, and say, " Receive thy sight ; " He employed Ananias. We do not know whether he held any ecclesiastical office, or was simply a disciple. Noth- ing is known of him before or after this transaction. God can employ any agency, and cause His miraculous power to attend any chosen one. When Ananias said to Saul, " Receive thy sight " (look up, ava ^Xe^ov), the same hour he looked up upon him " immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales; ai d he re- ceived sight forthwith." This bodily cure was effected 26 II : •f, » . 402 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. u H i 1 I ^i il in answer to the prayer of Ananias. But it is not said that Saul was filled with the Holy Ghost in an- swer to the prayer of that disciple. On the other hand, he told him that he himself must pray for this. Tho New Testament baptisms are to be performed by one person on another. In this case the Lord Jesus was the Baptizer. Hence Saul was to call on the name of the Lord Jesus to baptize him with the Holy Spirit. poTTTiCu is here used in the middle voice, which is very unusual. " There must be a reason for it," says Dr. Dale. " A discriminating use of words in Scripture has always a reason for it, and our business is not to change the statement to make it accord with some other statement, but to accept it, and seek for the reason of it." (Christie Bap., p. 106.) The middle voice generally denotes that the action is done by the subject on or for himself; but not unfrequently, as Winer observes, it denotes that an action takes place at the " command or request of the subject." (Gram., p. 318.) It can be understood in this sense here. He could, by requesting it in prayer, obtain baptism with the Holy Ghost from the Lord Jesus Christ. Before he received sight he was in a sitting or reclining posture. The supposed wrong-doings of others were shut out from view, that he might think of his own conduct. But when Ananias had laid hands on him, and he received sight, ^^ was told to arise and pray to be baptized in that erect position, to indicate his readiness to obey whatever he was re- quired to do. "And wash away thy sins." In the SAULS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 403 Greek this verb also is in the middle voice. Hence Saul was to call on the name of the Lord for this too. Thus only could he wash away his sins. He was therefore to arise and pray for two things: (1) bap- tism with the Holy Ghost, and (2) remission of sins. These things are entirely distinct. It is evident that Ananias did not use the word " baptize " to mean to wash away or purify, for if it had this meaning the next words would be a needless repetition — Wash away, and wash away thy sins. "Two words with exactly the same meaning could not be thus conjoined." (Dr. Carson, Baptism, p. 462.) " The sins were to be washed away," says Guthrie, " not by his baptism, but by his calling on the name of the Lord." Hence Tyn- dale renders it : " And w^esshe away thy synnes in calling on the name of the Lord." " To the same pur- pose are the renderings of WicklifF, Cranmer, and the Geneva Bible." {Reply to Landels.) "The translation of this passage from the Syriac by Dr. Murdoch is as follows : ' Arise, be baptized, and be cleansed from thy sins while thou invokest His name.' Here the bap- tism and the cleansing from sin are to be secured by prayer, and ' while ' the prayer is being made." (Dale, Chinstic Bap, p. 107.) He immediately offered prayer for the baptism of the Spirit, for he was baptized im- mediately. But as the exhortation to be baptized comes before the exhortation to get his sins washed away, it may be that it was after he was enlightened by the Spirit that he learned the way of salvation, and what to believe in order to obtain it, and how to (',,!■ 404 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. pray far it. And when he did pray for it he obtained it also. At the time these exhoi'tations were addressed to him, Saul was convinced bv a miraculous vision that Jesus wUs the Great Teacher and Lord of all, and that he himself was a great sinner in opposing Jesus and His followers ; but he was not miraculously imbued with saving faith in Christ as the Mediating High Priest. If he had been he would not be exhorted afterwards to wash away his sins, for they would already have been washed away. The circumstance that Ananias called him " brother," therefore, did not indicate that he was a Christian brother, but that he was a Hebrew brother. Those who have wrongly supposed that ritual bap- tism is the one here spoken of have, of course, drawn wrong inferences respecting the rite. For instance, some are of opinion that ritual baptism is a necessary prerequisite to the washing away of sin; that without it no one can have the consciousness of salvation, or manifest the fruits of it; or, as Dr. Pusey puts it, " that baptism is in itself an efficient sacrament through which is obtained the Holy Ghost, the forgiveness of sins, the regeneration of the soul, and justification." This shows, as Dr. Dale remarks, that " initial error is the radiant centre of many errors." (Christie Bap., p. 111.) But there is here no foundation whatever for these inferences, because Saul's bap ism was not a ritual baptism, but a baptism with the Holy Spirit. "It is important to observe that the Lord Jesus selected the most learned and accomplished man to be SAULS BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST. 405 His missionary among the heathen, and thus estab- lished a m )st important precedent." {G. J. Jones.) A jjreat work was to be done — " Christianity was to be emancipated from the bonds of the synagogue." It was to be presented to those who had been " trained in Gentile habits of joining thought to thought," and hence by one who was " versed in the Greek tongue, which was then the universal vehicle of thought and argument." That its great truths may have mighty and extensive influence over mankind, God raised up Paul, who was partly prepared by natural capacity and education, but more fully by the Spirit's inspira- tion, to comprehend those truths with the clearest intellect, and to contemplate them with a most fervent heart, and to present and advocate them with intense emotion and untiring energy. "The Gospel is the greatest power that has ever operated on earth, and Paul was its greatest minister." " His was the most striking and important individual conversion between Christ's ascension and His return to judge the world. In its results, direct and indirect, it is the largest single fruit that has yet been gathered from the tree of righteousness" which the Lord planted in the world. " No mere man, before or since, has filled so great a space in the scheme of Providence, or left his mark so wide and deep upon the world." {Arnot.) . f PART IV. CHAPTER XXI. i,^!' 'i::i m f. .: IfT M: I H ■ i if: 1 I !l t' i ; ll THE MODE OF BAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT AS REPRE- SENTED IN THE SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE. To UNDERSTAND this aright it will be advisable to examine carefully the way in which it has been narrated by the inspired writer. When Christ had given th«; disciples His last charge previous to His ascension, and spoken His last promise, He lifted up His eyes and pronounced His last benediction. On that occasion He breathed on them, and said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The Spirit was then given for a temporary purpose, to impart a desire to j. ay and make supplication for the fulfilment of the promised baptism. From His throne in heaven Christ breathed again, and the sound of the mighty breathing fell upon their ears, and indicated that this impartation of the Spirit came from their risen and ascended Lord. The " same thought is conveyed by the phrase * the inspiration of the Holy Spirit * — from spiro, I breathe." (Lathern, Baptisma, p. 43.) Uwrj, the sound of breath- ing, was distinct from TrvEvjua, the Spirit. It was the sound which penetrated and filled all the apartment in which they were assembled. " The idea of filling the house with wind is not of Scripture, but of Dr. THE MODE OF BAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT. 407 Carson, T would have sceptics take notice," says Dr. Halley, " lest they should profanely ask, Was it ever empty of wind ? or, if a double quantity was put in, what kept the building together ? " {v. Compend of Bap., p. 102.) The disciples, hearing the sound of the breathing, look upward, and perceive that the audible sign is followed by a visible one. " There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire," i.e., having the appearance of fire, but were not fire. " They were luminous, but did not burn." (Meyer.) They were not electrical phenomena, but supernatural. " The word 'fire,'" says Rev. W. Arthur, "might have conveyed some idea of material burning to any people but Jews ; but in their minds it would awaken other thoughts. It would recall the fire which Moses saw in the bush, which shone, and awed, and hallowed even the wilder- ness, but did not consume ; the fire which came in the day of Israel's deliverance, as a light on their way, and continued with them throughout the desert journey." {Tongue of Fire, pp. 1, 2.) This miraculous emblem now rested, not on a house or tabernacle made by human hands, but on man himself, who is selected to be henceforth the temple of the Holy Ghost. The preternatural element like fire was the attend- ant sign of the Spirit's coming. At the beginning of this dispensation it was advisable to employ an emblem visible to the senses of men, and of a miracu- lous kind, to convince men of the present agency of Divine power ; otherwise the effects produced by the Spirit in the inner man would not be attributed to an i {■ I- M 408 BAFriZINO AND TEACHINQ. i If 'P ■Ml "■■ i^ L IN'' ■ l II invisible Divine agency. God, who made nature, has power over nature to work wonders in it for the pur- pose of awakening men to a sense of His providential action, or of calling earnest attention to teachers specially sent to announce the authoritative will of God. Such wonders and signs cm be reported to those who have not witnessed them. They are as capable of satisfactory proof from human testimony as any other events ; and the fact that good reasons can be assigned for their appearance, adds to their credibility. But when " the doctrine of a spiritual influence from God was sufficiently developed, those miraculous physical emblems would of course be dis- continued." (Biishnell.) This fire-like baptismal element was used only by Christ. Even the apostles were not permitted to use this sign. They were, however, allowed, as a peculiar sign of their apostleship, to indicate by laying on of hands the persons who would receive the power to speak with tongues. (Acts viii.) They saw the She- chinah fire assuming the appearance of tongue-like flames, separating from one mass of flame, and becom- ing distributed, so that one sat on each individual. " The word," says Bengel, " is not ax^i^oiiEvai, as if each were cloven ; nor Scaipovfievai, as if each were of a differ- ent kind; but an intermediate term, diafiepiCo/nevai, which here denotes the act of separating into distinct parts, and the act of distributing those distinct parts to distin t individuals, so that one tongue sat upon each person." The word translated "sat" is in the singular »il THE MODE OF BAPTISM WITH THE SPllUT. 409 number, and iinplio.s that only one of the ton^^nos sat on each person. "John sees P'iter's bead crowned witli fire; Peter sees James crowned with tire ; James soos Nathanael crowned with fire; and round and round the fire sits upon each of them." (Tongue of Fire, p. 34.) But none oi them saw himself crowned with fire. " It sat upon the head, the seat of intelligence." (Lathern.) The descent of the cloven tongues upon them was a literal baptism with fire, and became asso- ciated witli the invisible baptism with the Spirit in the fulfilment, as It had been in the promise. John said that the " Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." He taught that the same in- dividuals may receive the two baptisms ; not one or the other, but both. Some suppose that John's words are both a promise and a threatening. They interpret the words as meaning, " He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, or with fire" — meaning, as they think, that those whom John baptized into repentance would, if they did repent, be baptized with the Holy Ghost ; and if they did not repent, would be baptized with fire;" i.e., would be burned with the unquenchable fire pre- pared for the punishment of the wicked. But this notion wholly separates baptism from the class of ideas with which it is connected by the inspired writers. Everywhere else it is associated with the idea of teaching us to know, or binding us to do, our duty. Is future punishment of this kind ? Surely not. . • 1: if. ■ ll! : TC, w.* '' i 1 1 m$ [ ill Ij lilt ■i) i. , ):: I « 1^' i 111 i M I 1 1 ^ 410 BAPTIZING AND TKACHING. These signs came at an unexpected moment. Those assembled hoped for the fulfihnent of the promise — " knew that as surely as the promise is God's word, so surely will the fulfilment, which is God's act, occur at the proper time." {Dr. Le>'hler.) But they knew not when that time would be ; for it came to pass that the event prayed for took place suddenly {h(t>vij), that is, unexpectedly. " Two signs preceded the immediate advent of the Holy Ghost : first, a sound as of a rush- ing mighty wind, witliout a breath of movement in the air ; a sound sweeping down through the still sky from the upper heaven ; a sound heard in its down- ward course by many in the immediate vicinity, tak- ing the direction and entering into the very chamber where the disciples were sitting. The sound appealing to the ear was instantly followed by a light, as of flame, appealing to the eye. There was an appearance as of fire, but, like the bush at Horeb, there was no burning." (J. G. Butler.) At the moment of these miraculous manifestations, Christ baptized them with the Holy Ghost. And the mode of the baptism is plainly indicated by the statement that the Spirit was " poured upon them." The business of an interpreter is not to determine how baptism with the Spirit was really effected, but merely to explain the language which intelligence higher than human has used to foretell it and to nar- rate the fact. Peter, now an inspired teacher, quotes the prophecy of Joel thus : " I will pour out " ( mx^Ci) "of my Spirit;" and afterwards records the fulfilment THE MODE OF BAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT. 411 thus : " He hath shed forth " (e^exeF. rovro, poured out) "this which ye now see and hear." By a Divine act, "a real communication of the Spirit" {Dr. Carson, p. 105) was made to man. The narrator likens the Spirit to a baptismal element, and then speaks of the element as poured upon the subjects. The phrase " pour out upon" is obviously here used in a figurative sense. As no material element is here spoken of, there was no literal pouring upon. But the Divine Spirit was, in fact, communicated to these per- sons by a Divine action. The manner of this Divine action was known to the Son of God, and to the Spirit who inspired the narrators to attest the fact. It may not have been possible to ...nd in the languages of men words that would adequately describe it, or material symbols that would exactly represent it ; but assuredly the words in which Christ and His inspired followers speak of it, and the emblems with which they symbol- ize it, represent it better than any other figurative word or action could do. As God is not material, it is self-evident that He has no material action or material mode of action. But it does not follow from this that He has no kind of action, and no mode of action. To infer this would be to deny that He is the Creator, the Redeemer, etc. It would be, as the Rev. John Howe said, " to presume to compliment God out of this world, and make Him a mere epicurean Deity, dwelling remote from every sphere of action." God " worketh hitherto," and hath a mode of working. We must admit the fact, though the manner is beyond our com- ^ 1!' Iff'J'i 412 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. II i^l 1'; !l,.i iiiii'M: prehension. But, as we said, though the manner of the Divine action is not known to us men, it is known to the Son of God, and to the Spirit who inspired the sacred narrator to report it. "The word ' baptism,' in the phrase 'baptism of the Spirit,' is incontrovertibly founded on the rite of bap- tism," says Dr. Carson {Bap., p. 275). This is obvious from the way in which they are associated in Scrip- ture. " He that sent me to baptize with water, the same is He which baptizeth witli the Holy Ghost." (John i. 33 ; see also Matt. iii. ] 1 ; Mark i. 8 ; Acts xi. 16.) Hence the mode under whicli the figurative bap- tism of tlie Spirit is described nmst have been the mode literally employed in the associated discipling rite. The literal meaning of the word " baptism " is applied figuiatively to this case. But, as Dr. Carson observes, " words do not change their meaning when used figuratively." The figurative meaning must have reference to the literal meaning. It is only because a literal falling of water upon candidates would consti- tute a literal baptism, tliat the falling of a figurative element upon them could be called a figurative bap- tism. " A figure of speech inust arise from sow, real resemblance." An author would not figuratively say that "the sun of Napoleon's glory has set," if the literal sun was not spoken of as really setting. (A. W. Hamilton, D.D., Compend of Bap., p. 161.) So the bap- tism of the Spirit would not be described as a pouring upon, if ritual baptism was not properly effected by pouring upon. THE MODK OF IIAPTISM WITH THE SPIRIT. 413 ; real say the W. bap- iring Id by The mode of "pouring upon" may have been selected because it aptly represents the fulness of Deity, on the one hand ; and on the other, the very limited capacity of creature subjects compared with the infinite source from which the gift descends. The best definition of a word is to point to the object denoted by it. If I point to a lamp and say, " I call that a lamp," I define the word. Now, God has thus defined the word in question. He visibly applied tlie tongues of fire to the disciples, and He inspired men to call that application of that element a bap- tism. He says He poured the Spirit upon them, and He inspired men to call that act a baptism with the Holy Ghost. Christ poured the element on them. This is what the prophecy promised. This is what the historical record affirms. And it was the falling of the Spirit, on a subsequent occasion, on all them that heard the word, that reminded Peter that the Lord Jesus Christ said: "John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." (Acts xi. 16.) In a word, the minuteness and explicitness which characterise the accounts of this baptism "might," to use the words of Ingham on another occasion, " have been expected to render quibbling or doubting im- possible, did we not know the power of prepossessions to render unintelligible the plainest -utterances of the Divine Spirit." {Hand-hook on B ip., p. 331.) Baptism by affusion is clearly implied by the subsequent question which Peter addressed to the circumcised brethren who went with him to Cesarea : PTf ^^^^^ this )le 0^^ ritual as the con- pperly to the Jesus it was r bap- was bap- llirist's revolt It with disci- fpirit." Iptism, ig the thing promised ; not by doing a preparatory thing, or some other thing in its stead. " When we know how Christ baptized with the Holy Ghost we know how John baptized with water ; for he declared he was doing with water what Christ should do with the Holy Ghost : " I baptize, He shull baptize. When Christ baptized with the Holy Ghost, as we have seen, He shed forth the Holy Ghost ; He poured out the Holy Ghost ; He sent the Holy Ghost upon them ; the Holy Gho>t fell upon them. When John did the same with water — when he baptized, he shed forth water; he poured out the water; he sent the water upon them ; the water fell on them." (Dr. Wardlatv, quoted by Lathern, p. 40.) " Behold the pattern showed to thee when God Him- self baptized ! See that pattern when at Pentecost He baptized His disciples ! It was by affusion that blessed work was done ; and if thus it is that God baptizes us, is not this the way in which His ministers should bap- tize His people ?" (Dr. Whedon.) m M) !i - 420 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. • i i ii, |, CHAPTER XXII. THE MODE OF BAPTISM TAUGHT IN ROMANS VI. 3, 4. When considering this important passage for the purpose of ascertaining the design of baptism, we saw that baptism was instituted to be a commemoration of an event visible on the cross wliich w.is erected on Calvary, namely, a commemoration of Christ's baptism with the blood of martyrdom. As His baptism on that solemn and sacred occasion was by affusion of His own blood, it follows that baptism by affusion is the most suitable for a commemorative purpose. If baptism were designed to be merely a symbol of some spiritual truth or sentiment, one material mode of administering it might do as well as another ; but being in fact a commemoration of a visible event, namely, Christ's baptism by affusion of blood, it fol- lows that baptism by affusion of water is the most suitable for this purpose. Some say that " if any mode is used for an emblematical purpose, that mode is essential as really as the water." (Carson, Bap., p. 370.) If so, it follows that the only true baptism is that which is administered by pouring the element on the subject. It must be assumed that the views which Paul had held also by the other apostles. Pengelly, an Immersionist : on this subject were he Hence we might say wi u f THE MODE OF BAPTISM TAUGHT IN ROMANS. 421 r^'Tiv iiii is it on had itles. Inist : " If I find one sufficient proof of the mode of baptism in the days of the apostles, whatever that mode may be, I infer that I have ascertained what was their invariable practice. Because it cannot be imagined that the apostles, having all received the same instruc- tions from their Lord and Master, could be divided either in sentiment or practice ; . . . and consequently any departure from this practice is a departure from the revealed will of Christ ; and such an act cannot be viewed in any other light than an act of rebellion against the Divine authority " (p. 37). When he used these thoughts he did not perceive that they could be used with fatal effect against his own theory. The mode of Christ's baptism on Calvary was undoubtedly by affusion. It was not by immersion ; it could not possibly have been by that mode. There was not blood enough in His sacred body to immerse it in any place, much less when it was elevated on the cross on Mount Calvary. It would have required a deluge of blood to effect His immersion then and there. Some imagine that the words " burial " and " resur- rection " denote an act of immersion, but in thinking so they violently disturb and misplace the things which Paul put in comparison in this verse. As already stated in an earlier chapter of our book, these are '^'=' follows: — Paul's baptism is compared with Christ s baptism ; Paul's death is compared with Christ's death ; Paul's burial is compared with Christ's burial ; Paul's resurrection is compared with Christ's resurrection. On the one side are placed Christ's baptism with ;| ,'■ I II 422 BAPTIZING AND TEACH INO. blood, His real death, burial and resurrection ; on the other side are put Paul and his company's baptism, their figurative death, burial and resurrection. But the Immersionists referred to pay no heed to this inspired arrangement. They force its words into a wholly different comparison. They place on the one side baptism only (without the death, burial and resur- rection), and on the other hand th:y put death, burial and resurrection (without the baptism). Having thus wrested the words from their proper connection, they turn away from the scene on Calvary which the apostle had before his mind, and look to the Jordan. They then imagine that the words "death," "burial" and " resurrection " were intended to illustrate an act and mode of baptism there administered. But, unhappily for them, this meaning is inconsistent with the primary meaning and previous use of the word ; everywhere in previous usage " baptize " brings into contact and leaves in contact. The new meaning brings into con- tact and removes from contact : it does and undoes. The inspired writers did not use it in this sense. When they baptized into Christ they did not take out again. In baptism with the Spirit, the Spirit was poured on, but not taken off again. Unhappily for them, the apostle's words do not admit this sense, and when it is forced into them they do not agree with the apostle's other words in the same sentence. The terms " death," " burial " and " resurrection " are related terms ; and, taken as such, they will not describe any act or illustrate any mode Lm ,1 lary and con- loes. '^hen rain, on, not |they the and }uch, lode THE MODE OF BAPTISM TAUGHT IN ROMANS. 423 of baptism. "Death." tho first in order of these clo.>ieiy- related words, does not describe the first part of any act or mode of baptism. Seeing this, they adroitly change " death " out of the first place into the second place, and then slip " burial " out of the .-^econd place into the first. They then imagine a burial into death (which, as Meyer observes, is a " quite incongruous conception "), and think that this may describe an act of baptism. But such a change is an exceedingly wrong one. It throws the most important of all his- toric events — the death and burial of Christ — out of the true order of time, and into an order so different as to falsify the inspired history. Such a disarrange- ment represents Christ as having been killed by being buried alive, and impliedly charges His death on Joseph and Nicodemus, who buried Him. But even by forc- ing " burial " into the first place they cannot make out any likeness to any act of baptism ; for the burial of which Paul speaks is the burial of Christ's dead body in Joseph's sepulchre. It was, in fact, taken through a doorway into an apartment that had been hewn out of a rock. It was there laid on a long stone bench, on which two angels afterwards sat, one at the head and the other at the feet. In that kind of burial we cannot discover any likeness to any part of any act of baptism — none whatever. The mode of burial prac- tised by the Jews had not the most distant resemblance to dipping ; neither had that of the Romans or the Greeks, for they " always burned the dead bodies of their friends, and collected the ashes and bones that I h . r?'! ",' I I: I 4>U BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. remained into an urn. Such a burial had surely no resemblance to a dipping in water." (Immersion, by Rev. W. A. McKay, B.A.) As the death and burial here spoken of do not resemble any one part of any mode of baptism, so the resurrection here mentioned was not like any part whatever. It was a literal resurrection from the dead, effected by Almighty power. It was not performed by lifting up the corpse. To lift it off that stone bench would not put life into it. It could be revived while in the position in which it had been left. It had ample room then to stand up and walk toward the doorway when the angel was rolling back the stone that had been laid against it. But the Divine mode of operation when reanimating the sacred corpse cannot be even imagined. God never inspired anyone to explain it. What is wholly unknown cannot be illustrated. Dr. Carson admits this ; he says : " Noth- ing could afford a resemblance to the way of raising the dead." (Bajx, p. 153.) Some Immersionists, finding that they are not able to perceive in the burial of Christ in the sepulchre any likeness to any mode of baptism, have taken the position that it is not necessary to show the mode in this case, because in the matter of burying " the man- ner is nothing." (Dr. Fuller.) What then ? Do they also take the position that in the matter of baptizing the manner is nothing ? By no means ; this would be a suicidal concession. It is only in the matter of burying a corpse that they think the manner is non- be )th- iing ible |any the in lan- |hey sing be of ^on- THE MODE OF BAPTISM TAUGHT IN ROMANS. 425 essential. Well, then, what is the essential thing in burying ? They do not take time to tell us. But it is easy to see that the essential thing is the putting and leaving a corpse in such a state of seclusion as survivors deem proper. But a likeness to this essen- tial part of burying is not found in the mode which they practise. Those who put the candidate into the element do not leave him in when it is in their power to take him out. They at such times most carefully omit the thing that is essential to burying. If they most determinedly omit this in practice, what is the use of contending for it in theory ? These verses mention the burial and resurrection of Paul too. These had not literally taken place as yet, but they were anticipated by faith. Paul looks at a literal resurrection as future in his case — "We shall he also in the likeness of His resurrection." Paul then had not actually received the resurrection here spoken of; hence those who assume that Paul's burial was under water, imply that he was left at the bottom of some cistern, lake or river, and wrote there this wonderful Epistle. Not only so; that he accom- plished his extensive travels while under much water, which must have been furnished by a second deluge. Enough ! Any conception which involves such ab- surdity must be at utter variance with the sense intended by an apostle, who was " not mad, but spake forth the words of truth and soberness." There are other reasons, too, for concluding that the three terms, " death," " burial," and " resurrection," I w 426 BAPTISING AND TEACHING. ■^i IS m- hi '• li; f IP :1 were not intended to describe or allude to any act or mode of baptism. Paul uses the word haptisDia, which, like " all Greek nouns ending in ma, denotes a thing done, or a state brought about and permanent, but never the action or mode of doing the thing. Now» as Paul uses a word whos^ nominative ends in ma, he meant the former, and not the latter." {Rev. J. Geddes.) Further, look at the connection in which the apostle uses these three related terms, and it becomes evident at once that he did not use them to describe or illus- trate the act of baptism. He speaks of " baptism into death." He manifestly did not mean baptism into the first of the description of the act of baptism ? Would an inspired apostle speak thus ? Again, he speaks of being " buried by baptism into death." Did he mean that they were partly baptized by entire baptism into the first part of baptism ? Or, to put it more clearly, did he mean that the second part of the act of baptism was performed by entire baptism into the fi^rst pf 't ? Most assuredly he did not mean that. Any interpretation which by necessary consequence puts such utter nonsense into the words of inspired wisdom, must have utterly mistaken the meaning of the three related terms referred to. They evidently were not intended to describe the act or illustrate the mode of baptism. We have accordingly shown above that they really refer to events which occurred sub- sequently to baptism. Again, the apostle intended, when using these three terras, to teach the disciples in the city of Rome what THE MODK OF liAPTlSM TAUGHt IN UOMANS. 427 of ice Ired o£ [tiy Ithe >ve lub- Iree lat He supposes they did not yet know. (He had said to them, " Know ye not," etc.) To assume that he used them to describe the mode of baptism is to imply — what is wholly incredible — that disciples in the me- tropolis of the Roman empire did not know the mode of baptism which they had received, though many of themselves received the ordinance in adult age, because they were already adults when the commission to bap- tize first reached their city. Again, the apostle was answering the objection, May not the recipients of grace continue in sin ? But what argument would there be in his answer if he meant to say, You cannot continue in sin, because you have been baptized by the dipping mode of administering the ordinance ? There is no logic whatever in such an answer as that. The alleged allusion of these words to dipping is therefore utterly indefensible, wholly imaginary, and absurdly misleading. Indeed, we may properly P^pply to this what Dr. Carson says of another theory : " It is a mine of inconsistency that never could be exhausted. This is the necessary condition of all false theories" (p. 92). Such a theory, "when pusl 3d to its legitimate consequences, looks very like a caricature." But "no doctrine can be reduced to absurdity which is not intrinsically absurd." (Goldwin Smith.) I have thus reduced it because I agree with Dr. Carson, that "specious and popular error will never be abandoned till it is driven into extravagance" (p. 211). M mi'' I ! I 428 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. CHAPTER XXIII. RITUAL BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. (ACTS VIII. 35, ETC.) "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip;' while still in Samaria, "saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto" (eTTi, upon; "the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza." Gaza was one of the five cities of the Philistines, situated near the southern bound- ary of Canaan. As there were three roads from Jeru- salem to Gaza, the angel particilarly describes the one that he means — the one "which is desert" — because it was the one that the person to whom he was sent was travelling. "And he arose and went," without knowing as yet what he w^ould be required to do when there. In due time he discovered another traveller on that road. "And, behold, a man of Ethiopia," a Gentile proselyte of the Jewish religion, a eunuch and a court officer " of great authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians," etc. Ethiopia was the name of a country south of Egypt, including the modern Abyssinia. The word used to express the office of this eunuch "com- monly denotes an independent ruler," says Olshausen, and was probably selected to intimate that he was really, and the Queen but nominally, the ruler of the kingdom. In his African home he had probably been taught by Jews who sojourned there to recognise the God of Israel as the true God, and the worship of RITUAL BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. 429 the Dry fhe Im- len, ras bhe ien bhe of Jehovah as the true religion. He had made a long: journey to Jerusalem, in order to offer sacrifices in its holy temple, thus subordinating state affairs to the more important interests of eternity. Even a stranger in Jerusalem woui 1 soon be made acquainted with the things that came to pass there in those days " con- cerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people " (Luke xxiv. 18, 19), and yet was most strangely cruci- fied ■• y the Jewish riders, who were following out their plans by bitterly persecuting His followers. It may be that the decision of the Jewish Sanhedrim was assumed to be all right by this state officer. On his return journey he had with him a copy of the Scrip- tures; whether he brought it from home, or had just purchased it at Jerusalem, we cannot tell. He re- solves to read it when travelling — a duty which many neglect even in domestic leisure. He has opened on the place where the evangelical prophet Isaiah utters " perhaps the clearest and strongest of all the prophe- cies in the Old Testament." {Paley.) " He read it aloud, not merely to fix his attention as fully as pos- sible, but that his attendants may hear, — amyivuaiiEiv originally signifies to read to others." (Lange.) The Lord Jesus had said, " If any man will do " {i.e., wishes to do) " His will, he shall know of the doctrine." He saw that this Ethiopian was willing to know, hence He sent His angel to direct Philip the Evangelist to take a walk on the road the eunuch was travelling. " Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join i 1 \< li • |l> ill m 430 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him" (ran near to it) "and heard him read the prophet Esaias," (the Greek form for Isaiah), "and said to him," — «p« ye, yea but, i.e., it is well, thou art well employed, but " understandest thou what thou readest ? " This was an important question, for if we understand not we are not profited. And the eunuch, with frank humility, said, " How can I, except some man should guide me ? " Besides the word of God we need a human teacher, and the providence of God to bring a teacher to us. An inquirer " often needs a commentator, but never needs a pope." ( Whedon.) He should not reject the assistance of the one, or accept the dictation of the other. And he desired the foot traveller to come up and sit beside him in his chariot. Philip complied with the eunuch's request. The place, the section of Scripture which he read, was this : " He was led as a sheep to the slaughter ; and like a lamb dumb before his shearers, so opened He not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away," or, as the Revised Translation reads : " By oppression and judgment He was taken away. But His generation who shall declare ? His origin who shall unfold ?" ( Wilkin- son.) The fathers and Bode (and so Dr. Wordsworth) explain His generation of His eternal Sonship, and of His miraculous incarnation. Who will have faith to maintain that this was His origin, when they see the manner in which His life was taken away from the earth ? This prophecy was intended to teach that the Messiah in His first advent would be a suffering Mes- IP RITUAL BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. 431 a or, ind ^ho tin- :th) ot to ithe the the Les- siah, would " be despised and rejected of men," and be led through a mock trial to a martyr death. But the Jews had been expecting only a universally accept- ed and triumphant Messiah, because they overlooked the distinction between His first and second advent. Not expecting a suffering Messiah at all, they did not apply this prophecy to Him, and hence inquired, as the eunuch did, " I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this ? of himself, or of some other man ? " " Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus," showing that the prophecy spake of Him, and how it was fulfilled in Him. Judi^inor from the kind of remark that would be then suitable, and that would lead to the results that actually followed, we infer that Philip showed him that this Jesus was the Great Teacher who was to come, as "a prophet like unto Moses," that He may reveal the will of God in a way suited to the frailty of man, rather than in a manner adapted to the majesty of God, which would have been utterly overpowering to man. Jesus had taken upon Him human nature for this among other purposes. But when His teaching showed that He loved righteousness and hated iniqui- ty, the workers of iniquity among the Jews hated Him, suborned false witnesses against Him, and put Him to death in the flesh. God the Father Almighty, however, raised Him from the dead, and thus proved Him to be the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. Not only so, God exalted Him to His right hand, and thus more fully showed that He had truly proclaimed : i Pi! |S3 mi ' I Qjii ?■' 'IS 432 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. that He had "all power in Heaven and earth," and authority, therefore, to summon all into His school ; to appoint baptism as the ordinance for initiating His pupils ; to call and to qualify subordinate teachers to instruct the initiated respecting all that He com- manded. This is the preaching that would lead natur- ally to the results that followed. He probably showed him also that the Messiah's views overleaped the nar- row boundaries of Judaism, and extended to all the families on earth. He would draw all nations into His school, to be taught the way of salvation. This is the teaching that would lead to the results that- ac- tually followed. While this conversation was going on, they were travelling- down a descending part of the road (ctto- pevovTo Kara t?/v o6ou). The imperfect tense implies the continuance and progress of the act. " And as they went on their way " down this road " they came unto a certain water " — tpMov eki ti vSup, " they came upon some water"; — not eig, "to," but ein, "upon"; etti may mean " immediately adjacent to, or over." Here it ob- viously means " over some water," for, as we shall find, they stepped down from the chariot into the water. The expression n v6up, " some water," " suggests natur- ally the idea of a small degree or quantity." (Alex- ander.) This is what might be expected from the na- ture of the country through which they were passing. The expression " this is desert," whether it applies to the region or the road, shows a want of water. The eunuch was surprised to see water (as shown by his RITUAL BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. 43:j ley )on ^lay lob- ind, Iter, jur- lex- Ina- ing. to :he his exclamation, " See, here is water,") where it was not looked for. It was probably the noise made by driving through it that called the eunuch's attention to it, and to the opportunity for baptism which it gave. The promptitude and urgency of his application for baptism implied that if they passed by this spot no other such spot might be found on that desert road. "What doth hinder me to be baptized?" Philip saw no hindrance. There was no hindrance in his nationality, for the great commission spoke of dis- cipling all nations. There was no hindrance in his disposition ; he was teachable, and therefore a fit per- son to be initiated into the school of Christ. See- ing no hindrance, Philip intimated in some way that there was none. How Philip did so we know not, because the words in the 37th verse must be laid aside. They are entirely omitted in A, B, C, G, H (in D "there is here a hiatus" — De Wette), as well as in the Sinaitic MS.; also in more than sixty Minuscule MSS., in some ancient versions, and in some fathers. The Revised English Version rejects this verse from the text, but puts it in the margin, because it is found in some ancient manuscripts. Its rejection is approved by the learned English Baptist, Benjamin Wills New- ton, " because," he says, " it is universally admitted that the whole of this verse is an interpolation. Nor would the Scripture so speak. If such words were found in the Scripture, weak believers might long torment themselves with the question whether they believed with all their heart." (Newton on Bap., i. 9, S8 ) «. if I 434 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. in p.] mi ■ i 1 1 Pn ^ 1 ' mi .:: in Wolff on Bap., p. 133.) Even if this were a genuine part of Scripture, it would only prove that the eunuch believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God — a Di- vine and Divinely appointed Teacher. And to believe this, even with all the heart, would not be justifying faith. Many, like Nicodemus, believed that Christ was a Teacher sent from God ; and yet, like him, did not believe, and would not believe, the fundamental doctrines taught by that Great Teacher. Many who have assumed that the passage is genuine, and have supposed that it requires the exercise of justifying faith before baptism, yet do not act accordingly ; they think it sufficient to ask profession of faith, though, admittedly, this is often very different from believing with the heart. The other text on which the theory of believers' baptism rests (namely, Alark xvi. 16), stands under the same condemnation. It is not found in some of the oldest MSS. " He commanded the chariot to stand still." The chariot was stopped upon some water. The occupants of the chariot went down (stepped down) into some water. " No step beyond that which brought them down out of the chariot is mentioned in the record." Observe, it was from a chariot, and not from a house, that they went. Persons are never described in Scrip- ture as going from a house to a brook, or river, or pool, or lake, for the purpose of being baptized. A travelling chariot is the only place that was left to find water for baptism ; and in this exceptional case they merely descended from the chariot into water on RITUAL BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. 485 the travelled road. The people of those countries, as Matthew Henry says, " went barelegged," or wore only sandals ; and therefore could step down ?:roin a vehicle into shallow water without any preparation ; and no preparation is mentioned. " It might not be above their ankles," says VVesley. (Workfi, Vol. VI., p. 13.) In strict accordance with this conclusion is the state- ment of Jerome, who lived many years in that section of country. He says : " We often pass over such little brooks in our common road." (Quoted by Thorn, Mode of Bap., p. 304.) The word mrt'iiynav brings Philip down from the chariot, to which amftav-a had taken him up (v. 31). The former word had been used in the same sense. "Sisera lighted down off" (/io-f,:///, "stepped down from " — Septuagint) " his chariot." (Jud. iv. 15.) " And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water" {KamiSag, Peter having stepped down from the boat, walked upon the water). Xenophon {Eq. xi. 7) uses this word to express dismounting from a horse (iTriror Kara^aivErai). No other step is mentioned in the record. To imagine them " going down, step by step, from shallower into deeper water" ("two feet nine inches, at the least") "is the purest fiction." (D^'e, Christie Bap., pp. 185, 186.) The antithetic prt^ jsi- tion e/v may mean " out from," or " otF from," or " up from," or " out of." It is applied to the stone taken from the sepulchre, as well as to the body taken out of it (John XX. 1,2); to the chains that fell off from Peter's hands, as the Baptist version rightly translates, adding in a note, " Not out of, but from, his hands." \ do double duty. They think Christ not only came into the Jordan, but was baptized into the Jordan; denoting, as they think, that the baptizer put the baptized person into the water, and wholly immersed him. But if so, he was drowned, for the verb haptizo does not take out what it puts in, as it does not take off what it puts on ; as Jesus was not drowned, this was not the mean- ing of the inspired narrator. The inspired writers do I.' r 456 HAPTIZING AND TEACHIMG. not use l^aTTTi^u) £ig in connection with a physical element, but with a figurative element — " Baptized into Christ Jesus." ' Baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The meaning of this statement is considered elsewhere. John was not in the water of the Jordan, but within its banks. Within the outer and inner banks of the Jordan there is one-eighth of a mile of level strand wherein thou- sands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, could be accommodated without being troubled by the water when the river is not swollen. And this strand is so beset with bushes and trees, such as tamarisks, willows, olianders, etc., that you can see no water till you have made your way through them and get near the river-bed. When John was here he was said to baptize " in the wilderness," or " in the Jordan," mean- inor in what is sometimes called the bed of the Jordan. Maundsell, in describing the Jordan, says : " After having descended the outermost bank, you go about a fddong upon a level strand before you come to the immediate bank of the river." John's ministrations may have been performed upon this strand of the Jordan, without coming in contact with its stream, and yet be said to be performed in Jordan. Carson admits that a person may be said to be in the river although merely occupying the depressed grounds between the water and the remote outer banks. His words are, " He might be in the river, yet not in the water: all within the banks is the river" (p. 339). Saul, with an army of " two hundred thousand foot- men, and ten thousand men of Judah," came and " laid THE MODE OF JOHN S liAPTISM. 457 wait in the valley" — literally, in the brook — ento cheimarro. (1 Sam. xv. 5.) The name of a river often denotes, not merely the water, but the strand alongside, which sometimes is, and sometimes is not, covered by the water — i.e., all within the banks of a river. Thus David says, Shimei " came down to meet me " (etc tov Io/jJow?v) " into the Jordan" — i.e., within its banks. (1 Kings ii. 8, Septu- agint.) The ancients spoke in this way of other rivers. Elijah was commanded to hide himself " in the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan " — ^v rco x^if^appu xoppdd. (1 Kings xvii. 8, Septuagint.) Dr. Carson properly asks, "Could not the prophet take up his residence within the banks of the brook ?" He speaks still more explicitly in reference to a statement that "Ulysses, after escaping from shipwreck, watched all the rueful night" (ev ttotuiuu) "in the river." He says, " He might be in the river, yet not in the water : all within the banks is the river." When Saul went with thousands of men against Amalek, he " formed an am- buscade in the brook" — ev rw x^t/^m'V' (1 Sam. xv. 5). This, too, was of course within the banks of the brook. They spoke in the same way in reference to the Jordan. The Hebrews were directed to " stand still in the Jordan " — ev tu lopJav^. (Joshua iii. 8). But this did not mean in the water of the Jordan, for they were told that " when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the aik of Jehovah came in contact with the brim of the water, the water would flow away." (Dr. D de.) Those who followed stood there- fore on dry ground within the banks of the Jordan. *' 'Mi m■^ !; i 1 11 ll 458 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. That locality was John's home previous to his com- mencing to administer baptism. John is never repre- sented as leaving his place and leading a company to a river in order to baptize them. Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan — not because there was not sufficient water in Galilee, but " bjcause there was no John there." (Dr. Dale.) But even if John had travelled to a river for the purpose of performing baptism, it would be no proof of immersion, because, as Dr. Dale shows, " the Jews went down to running streams for purposes for which a handful of water would suffice." "And to do so was a common practice in various nations, in various ages, extending through thrice ten hundred years." (Johan- nic Bap., p. 338 ; also for particulars and authorities see pp. 332-334.) There is nothing, therefore, in the circumstances to overthrow the statement that John " baptized with water." In ancient pictures John is represented as baptizing by pouring upon. One presents the Sav- iour standing in the margin of the Jordan, partially in the water, and John on a rock, with a shell in his hand, pouring water on the Redeemer's head. It is a " representation in Mosaic . . . preserved in the church in Cosmedin, at Ravenna, which was erected in the year 401." Another picture on a plate of brass, partly engraved and partly in relief, shows Christ standing, not in the water, but near the stream, whilst John with a shell is pouring water on His head. The plate is of Greek origin, as is manifest from the in- scriptions, and is admitted to be of very ancient i.^31 The mode of john*s baptism. 459 workmanship. It is affixed to the door of a church on the Via Ostensis, at Rome. But the plate is much older than the door, which bears date 1070. " Form- ing the centre-piece of the dome of a baptistery at Ravenna, which was built and decorated in the year 454, we have another representation of the baptism of Christ. As in the one first named, He is standing partially in the water, and John, from a rock above, is pouring out water on His head. Of the genuineness and antiquity of these pictures there can be no reason- able doubt." (Seiss, pp. 231, 232.) And it has been thouffht that John himself referred to his usinc: such a measure of limited capacity, when he said that the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which God gave to Christ, was not " by measure " — e^ /lerpov, out of a measure. (John iii. 84.) That John's baptism was administered by pouring water upon the subject is inferable from its analogy to Christie baptism, which is also a discipling ordi- nance, and which, as we have seen, was administered, like the baptism of the Spirit, by pouring the element upon the subject. As Johannic baptism was in some respects distinct from Christie baptism, and was of temporary dura- tion, it is not necessary to examine more fully the scriptures that are supposed to indicate its mode. "After these things cariie Jesus . . . into the land of Judea . . . and baptized. And John also was bap- tizing in ^non near to Salini, for" vihra 7r«AAa r/v eksI — " there were many waters " {i.e., most probably, many springs or pools) — " there : and they came, and were 460 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. baptized." (John iii. 22, 23.) Dr. Dale observes that Tyndole regarded the two verses as parts of a single sentence ; that this arrangement indicates clearly that Jesus baptized in iEnon, and that John also baptized in ^non, because there were many springs there, and these could accommodate two distinct parties engaged in baptizing at the same time. The one party would not need to trespass on the spring selected by the other party. This seems to be the point intended to be indicated by the mention of the " many waters." The locality of iEnon has much perplexed geogra- phers. The Rev. Lyman Coleman, D.D., an accom- plished Biblical geographer, thinks that it was in the desert, about four or five miles north-east of Jerusa- lem, where " a succession of fountains for a mile or two gush out from rocky crevices under high cliffs, and form many pools deep enough for swimming," etc. They were away from the Jordan ; but it is probable that this would be the case at that season of the year. It was just after the Passover, in the first month of the ecclesiastical year. In this month of March the Jordan overflowed its outer banks. ** The Jordan may be said to have two banks, of which the inner marks the ordi- nary height of the stream, and the outer its elevation during the rainy season, or the melting of the snows on Mount Lebanon." These " swellings of Jordan " would drive John away from the position which he occupied within those outer banks. And as its sweep- ing flood would mix up all the unclean things that had for months been accumulating within its widely extended outer banks, he would naturally retreat to THE M(JI)K OF JOHN S BAPTISM. 4GI other waters during that season. He probably did so when baptizing at ^^non. Wherever it was, there were many, and probably moderately distant, springs there ; he could select some where he could engage in his work without inconveniencing the disciples of Christ, who were at other springs or pools in the neighbourhood. The translators unhappily rendered itoITm vdara " much water." And then interpreters, overlooking the con- text, which shows that Christ's party was in the neigh- bourhood, and thinking only of John, have been easily misled to suppose that the reference made to " much water" indicates that John needed water enough to dip his disciples. But this cannot be the design of the inspired narrator, because haptizo had not as 3'et ac- quired this meaning. It had never taken out what it put in. It sometimes put in and left in. But if John had done this he would have drowned all his disciples. He did not do this ; he therefore did not baptize by immersion. He baptized them with water at Mnon. {v. Chapter XXVI. on Baptizo.) NO NEED TO INQUIRE ABOUT THE OLD PURIFYING RITES. As our inquiry is. What is the mode of discipling baptism ? we do not need to examine the mode of the old purifying baptisms. Johannic baptism and Chris- tic baptism are associated not with purifying but with teaching. We shall, however, briefly notice one text that refers to the purifying rites, but has been strange- 462 lUl'TIZING AND TEACHING. ly supposed to allude to baptism. The text is Heb. X. 22. But as Rev. John Owen says, " it is evident that Christie baptism is not here referred to, because the apostle is instructing the Hebrews, who had been baptized, how they were daily to draw nigh to God." (Christie Bap., p. 382.) He was not telling them to get baptized again, much less to get baptized daily. He alludes to the old Jewish rites — to the sprink- ling of the blood of typical sacrifices and to the daily washings of the priests before entering the typical sanctua^3^ They had to wash their hands and their feet. [Thus both allude to Jewish rites. There is consistency in this interpretation. But there is great inconsistency when "the 'sprinkling of the heart' is based on a Jewish rite, and the * washing of the body ' is based on a Christian rite." (Christie Bap., p. 3S3 ) What is it, then, that corresponds to the washing in Christian times ?] " But we have no external sanctuary and no corporeal ablution to perform when drawing near to worship God The apostle does not command a repetition of the old rites, but something correspond- ing to them in nature." (Fairbairn, Hevin. Man., p. 130 ; Christie Bap., p. 382.) The blood of typical sacrifices did not touch the heart. " The heart is cleansed by sprinkling of the antitypical blood of Christ applied in faith. The bodj-^ is washed with pure water " (Chris- tie Bap., p. 383), or rather, when we get so cleansed by the spiritual power of the Divin? Spirit as to bo holy in body and soul. Those who had been baptized needed these things daily. PART V. CHAPTER XXVI, ^^ m A FUKSir IWKSTKJATION (1) OF TFIP] IMllMAUY MKAXING, AND (2) OF TIIK SKCOXDARY MKANINOS. OF liAPTIZO PllEVIOUSLY TO AM) IN THF \K\V TE8TAMKNT WRIT- INGS. The Greek word hcqdizo occurs in the great com- mission to baptize all nations which was given by our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our duty to endeavour to ascertain as accurately and as fully as possible the meaning of that Divine requirement. " The true sense of Scripture, that, and tliat alone, is Scripture." (Bp. IVordsiuorth.) The right understanding: of a Divine command is often dependent on the meaning given to one of the words employed. This is so in the case now before us. Its true primary meaning has not yet been found out and proved satisfactorily. The reason doubtless is tliat there has been a defective application of the right method for finding it. Both Baptists and Pedobap- tists have taken the right road for a few stages^, but all have stopped or turned aside before coming to the final station. The special inquiry which has to be made has not been kept steadily in view. It is this : What was " the ineaning of the word at the time of it?) Hrst application m. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4 // // y. '% 1.0 liiiZS ||||25 |iO ™^* lllll^^ 1^ 1^ III 2.2 I.I 1.4 1.6 1.25 P^^ /> <^ r /i 7 '^1 (? / /^. '^-'V^ T 464 liAPTIZING AND TEACHINC;. i to the ordinance ?" (Dr. Garsor), p. 243.) Words that have been lonor in use often acquire new meanings which were not connected with them in the earlier periods of their use. Hence Dr. Carson very properly says : " The meaning of the word in reference to the ordinance must be determined by its meaning at the time of its application to the ordinance. Its meaning in the ordinance must be determined by its sense in the language at the period of appropriation, not by its use in church history afterwards. Does not any one see that a secondary meaning conferred after the insti- tution of the ordinance can have no bearing on the question ?" (Baptism, p. 252.) Yet, strange to say, this correct and admitted statement has been soon forgot- ten and ignored. For instance, the learned Baptist, Professor T. J. Conant, D.D., when writing on Bap- cism, placed before him not merely the examples of the use of the word which were written previously to and contemporaneously with the issuing of the New Testament writings, but also all subsequent uses of the word. He says : " These examples are from every period of the Greek literature in which the word occurs. They include all that have been found by the lexicographers, and by those who have professedly written on the subject ; and these, with the examples added from my own reading, exhaust the use of the word in Greek literature." Now, why did he not con- fine himself to the examples of the use of the word which existed at the period of its application to the ordinance by Christ and His apostles ? Why did Dr. ' ■^^l THE PIUMARY MEANING OF BAPTIZO. 4G5 Conant — why do the Baptist writers generally — come down beyond that period of Greek literature ? Is it not because at later periods they can find quotations much more favourable to their theory. When, in po>t- apostolic ages, persons formed a very wrong view of the design of baptism, they supposed that dipping would be the best mode of administering the ordi- nance. Dipping accordingly was then put into the meaning of the word, and it was used in a way that showed this. Dr. Conant wished, therefore, to have the whole varying Greek literature before him, that he might have an opportunity to select some of these quotations, and put them out of chronological order in prominent places in the list of quotations in order to produce effect. This seems fair to the undiscerning ; but it is very unfair, when the question is, " What was the meaning of the word at the time of its first appli- cation by Christ and His apostles to the ordinance which Christ instituted ? " Theological writers and controversialists do not think that it would be fair to undertake to settle the mean- ing of the great commission by tracing the English word "baptize" through all English literature. Why? Because its meaning has been gradually changed so as to apply the word to any and every mods that has been practised. From numberless examples of the use of the word by respectable writers in the present day, it now means to initiate people into a religious society by a ritual use of water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and it 30 t »'1i 'IH!^ I ff^ iiii Ait m Mil 466 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. is equally used where the water is sprinkled upon the candidate, or poured upon the candidate, or where the candidate is dipped into water. The different modes that are now employed are connected with the English word " baptize." Baptists admit this, but forget it when it is convenient to do so. For instance, when Liddell and Scott's Dictionary says that in the New Testament the meaning of the Greek verb is " to bap- tize," they then forget the meaning of the English word " baptize." But may not the Greek word, too, have changed its meaning to suit changing practices ? We contend that it has done so. The Baptists assume that it has not, and then appeal to dictionaries which profess to go through the whole range of Greek literature, and which therefore examine what was written after as well as what was written before the time in which the New Testament writers used the word. The use which they make of dictionaries is grounded on the false assumption that the Greek verb has undergone no change of meaning throughout its history: Jn the post-apostolic era dictionary makers can find instances of dipping, and accordingly some of them give " to dip " as one of the meanings, and the Bap- tists are delighted. But did they not know that Dr. Carson Lad asked, " What have these subsequent meanings to do with the meaning of the word when used by Christ ? " On this account the attempt to det n-mine the meaning of baptizo in the New Testa- ment by the meanings given by lexicographers, by ■f THE PRIMARY MEANING OF BAPTIZO. 467 encyclopedias, by historians of the Christian Churcii, is most unfair. Dictionaries undertake to ^ive the meaning of the word in modern as well as in ancient times, and hence give "to dip" as one of its meanings- But this is no proof that it had this meaning when Christ used it. Yet l)aptists assume falsely that it is a proof. The result is that in all Christian literature nothing is more unfair than the use which Baptists are continually making of Greek dictionaries, of en- cyclopedias, and Church histories, for proving the meaning of the great commission. They are con- stantly parading triumphantly certain meanings given by these ; strangely unconscious that when so engaged they are taking for granted the point in dispute, and grossly deceiving themselves, and really, though un- intentionally, misleading others. The long quotations which they make from these sources do not touch the proper question ; we must go to the earlier usage. There are cases where dictionaries are not reliable. " The authors of dictionaries," as one remarks, " do not determine the meaning of words by authority ; they ascertain and define the sense in which they are used by respectable writers." {J. Mills.) They rarely attempt a full examination of all the uses of a word within a limited period as distinguished from its whole history. They sometimes place a very inadequate number of passages before them ; and sometimes they are not sufficiently patient and careful in the examina- 'tion of what they have in view. Accordingly, as Dr. Dale observes, their " conclusions are without author- i«ii III ii;: 'i '■' 't!,- 468 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ity, except as they may give a true interpretation of usacre." {Johannic Bap., p. 42.) Dr. Carson appealed from dictionaries to usage in reference to tlie word now before us. Ho found that the dictionaries gave tlie word a general sigiiilication. (See a digest of their meanings in Seiss' Baptismal System Examined.) Notwithstanding this, Dr. Carson thought it has a specific meaning. He says, "My position is that bap- tizo always signifies ' to dip ' — never expressing any- thing but moile. Noiu, as I have all the lexicographers and commentators against me in ih>s opinion, it will be necessary to say a word or two with respect to tlie authority of lexicons " (p. .5.5). He says, " They have been guided by their own judgment in examining the various passages in which a word occurs ; and it is still competent for every man to have recourse to the same sources " (p. oQ). The authority of use, therefore, " is competent to revise the decisions of all dictionaries," and "all critics"; "and whatever is agreeable to that authority is justified beyond impeachment" (pp. 46, 75). " Words considered simply as sounds have no meaning, for they are not the natural and necessary signs of things." " The connection between words and ideas is constituted by usage." Accordingly Car- son says, ' I assign no meaning till the occurrences of a word are ascertained and examined. Whether a word has one meaning, or several, 1 determine by this examination on philosophical principles." {Mode of Bap., p. 8G0.) " Nothing but examples from a lan- guage can be ultimate proof of the meaning of words. THE PRIMARY MKANTNG OF BAPTTZO. 469 IS The authority of lexicojj^raphers " (juithors of diction- aries) "and critics is only secondary " (p. 9). So said Dr. Carson, and he is highly esteemed by his breth- ren. Benedict, in his " History of the Baptists," calls him a man "of profound erudition, and perfect ac- quaintance with all the canons of philology," ic, with all the rules of criticism furnished by all the branches of learning connected with the study of languages. He, as already remarked, appealed from dictionaries to usage. To usage then let us go, that we may start from positions acknowledged by the Baptists, and thus " reason with, rather than at, them." We must place before us the passages which contain the word down to the date of its being employed by New Testament writers. These are " the witnesses that must decide the question. And as it is possible to tamper with evidence, the witnesses must be questioned and cross- questioned, that the truth may be ascertained without a doubt." (Carson, p. 24.) This very careful examina- tion is necessary, because " in the niceties of a dead langiiage there are continual plausibilities and incen- tives to the exercise of ingenuity that beguile the most candid and learned to an incalculable extent." (Curtis, Pro;/, of Bap. Principles, p. 201.) We sliall have to " ascertain the various meanings of the word in various sentences"; then, by a comparison of these meanings, we may discover the common idea that underlies every one, and " thereby be enabled to deter- mine the primary meaning " (p. 88) — the meaning which everywhere adheres to the word. We can thus 470 BAPTISING AND TEACHING. ■■' ' ;|!i M f' i t' ill I. II. §1: (listinofiiish what belongs to a word from those addi- tions to its meaning which are sometimes l^nt to it by other words placed in connection with it. Dr. Carson admits that it w^ould be wrong and misleading to pro- ceed, as some do, " on the absurd supposition that a word embraces in its meaning everything in connection with it in every occurrence " (p. 267). The meaning of a word by itself is called its primary yneaning, or its signification. The meaning of a word in a sentence or assemblage of words is by some critics called its sense. We are now inquiring after the primary mean- ing of baptizo. We do not need to go farther back and make preliminary inquiry after the root of bap- tizo, and after the meaning of that root. Because, as Dr. Carson properly observes, etymologists do not undertake " to regulate language by assigning mean- ings from origin, but from a comparison of actual ascertained meanings to assign a probable root " (p, 88). We must learn its use before we assign its root. " Not etymology, but use, must expound words," says Mr. Tombes (p. 146). It is not necessary that we should in the present day begin to collect the examples of the use of baptizo. This has been done already, both by Baptists and by Pedobaptists. Dr. Conant, as already remarked, has given in his work on " baptism " a list of quotations which he thinks exhausts the use of the word in Greek literature. The learned Pedobaptist, Dr. Dale, has made out a similar list. We avail ourselves of their collections, but shall need to use onlv some of ' "Jl THE PRIMARY MEANINCJ OF l?APTIZO. 471 them, because the piecise point of iiujuiry is not what meaning is connected with hdptizo through every period of Greek literature, but what is its meaning in books written previously to or contemporaneously with the New Testament, and in the New Testament itself. We have already seen that Dr. Carson admits this. He says: "The in(iuiry is not whether certain words afterwards chancjed their meaninor, but what is their meaning in the New Testament. This must still be their meaning to us. What has the meaning of a word in Scripture to do with after-changes in its meaning?" (p. 308) This is conceded by others too • '• No chanjje of usajje that miijht have occurred sub- sequently to the apostolic age could have any effect upon its meaning in the New Testament" (Macallan in Ingham's Hand-book on Bap., p. lcS4.) It is import- ant to remember this, because, as they admit, "in every successive period from the apostles to the middle ages words were chano-ed in their meaning to corre- spond with a change of ideas." {Rev. Barnabaf^ Sears.) " Many words, in the lapse of time, have undergone a very considerable change of signification in conse- quence of change in the customs of the people." (Ira Chase, D.D., in Wiberg's Christie Bap., p. 24o.) "It is a sin against chronology to bring a subsequent prac- tice to prove an antecedent practice." {Christie Bap., p. 263.) In such circumstances it is evident ihat the meaning of haptizo in Scripture cannot be determined by pointing to its meaning in subsequent literature, becau.se it may be, and we say is, among the " many !* ii I .;1 I :# 472 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. words" that diil subsequently undergo a change of meaning. We shall first examine a quotation which will illus- trate the method which Dr. Carson u.sed to find the primary meaning of haptizo. The quotation is taken from Polybius, an eminent historian, who died about 122 years before the Christian era. Polybius, speak- ing of certain men, said : They " made incessant attacks and baptized many of the ships." — na noUa rwr (r/co^wr EtSaTTTiaov. (Polybius, flist., Bk. !., chap. lvii.,sec. 0.) He admits that haptizo, as here employed in connection with other words, is "applied to the sinking of ships," as Dr. Carson says, and that these ships were destroyed. What then, does haptizo denote " destruction bj'' im- mersion"? (p. G6.) Dr. Carson admits that it will apply to this when in connection with some other words. But, applying his "philosophy," he says: "If there are some instances in which the verb is applied to cases in which there was destruction, and other instances in which there was not destruction, then destruction is no part of the meaning of the word " (p. 290). These quotations make it obvious that Dr. Carson sometimes applied the rule for finding the sig- nification of the word itself as distinguished from the different senses which are connected with it by other words in the passages in which the word is found. He and his friends, now and again, with rule in hand took a few steps in that direction ; but, for some reason, they stopped short before the remaining steps were trod. Some Pedobaptists also, like Dr. Dale, have THE PRIMARY MEANING OF BAPTiZO. 473 partially applied this rule ; but, as far as I have ob- served, it has not been by either party applied ex- pressl}', methodically, and thoroufj^hly. It is on this account that the primary meaninj^ of the word has not been settled, though three centuries of controversy have passed over the head of this noted word. " The question has remained unsettled, not because it has been discussed too nr.uch, but because tiie discussion has not been sufficiently radical and exhaustive." {E. Beecker.) Let it be remembered, then, that we are going to apply thoroughly the lule for finding the primary meaning of the word before us ; and that the primary meaning of a word is the meaning of the word itself, as distinct from the shades of meaning which are added hy other words when placed in con- nection with it. Interpreters, and even makers of dictionaries, often fail to make this distinction. " I admit," says Dr. Carson, "that the meaning which they " (certain writers to whom he referred) " take out of the word is always implied in the passage wdien the word occurs. But I deny that this meaning is expressed by the word." " They make the word express in its own meaning peculi irities contained or implied only in the context." (pp. 5G, 57, 296.) Hence he con- demns them as wanting in "critical exactness." Now, accepting this method of procedure, whicli has been adopted by the Baptists, we w411 go with them as long as they keep on that line ; but we will not stop where they do; we will undertake to follow on that track till every foreign admixture has been eliminated from the Il'fiil'l! r''i m ml i ■ ■/ Pl ■y , 1' ! :S! i iii ' 'inR i f % ' "'■ li 474 lUPTIZlNO AND TEACHING. meaning of the word. In a quotation already made it is said tliat certain "ships were baptized"; but it is manifest that they were not lifted out after going under water. It follows that to lift out is no part of the meaning of bn/ptizo. This conclusion is admitted by Dr. Carson. He says, " Whether a thing is taken up or allowed to remain is not expressed by the word " (p. 103). " Whether the baptized person is to rise up out of the water we learn not from the word " (p. 101). Observe, he knew that the Greek verb by itself did not denote taking up, yet he translated it by an Eng- lish word that does include taking up, and does so always. He said : " My position is that it always sig- nifies to dip" (p. 55. The italics are his). "It means dip, and nothing but dip, in all Gree^i literature." He knew that to dip implies a twofold act — first, the act of bringing a liquid and an object of another kind into contact by putting the latter wholly into the former; and secondly, the act of removing the oliject from contact with the liquid by lifting it out again. Or, more briefly, it means " to put a thing into a fluid and immediately withdraw it again." This meaning is accepted by chem : "Dipping usually implies that the object immersed is speedily drawn out, or by some other means speedily emerges." (Ingham, Hand-book on Baptism, p. 67.) And their practice illustrates this meaning, and this only; and yet Dr. Carson selected the word "dip" to convey the precise meaning of a Greek word that confessedly did not include taking up. Such a misleading use of terms in translation was very wrong:; THE PRIMARY MEANING OF RAPTIZO. 475 the and it was reprehen.siblo in one who witli unsparing severity condemned otliors for want of critical pre- cision. Others liad previously given this mean..-g. The Baptists in England, as early as 1044, asserted that baptizo means to dip. The}' took the position that " baptizing is dipping, and dipping is baptizing." This position was soon adopted by Koger Williams in America. And then for many j-ears it was contended by them on both sides of the Atlantic that " the pri- mary sense of the term is to dip." (Booth.) But now Dr. Carson concedes that the latter part of the two- fold act of dipping is not denoted by the Greek verb at all. Other Baptist writers have made the same con- cession For instance, Ingham says : " Whether the person rises again, or sinks fatally, we maintain to be no part of the meaning of the verb." {Hand-book on Baptism, p. 182.) Dr. Conant, too, was led to make the same concession. He says: "The idea of emersion is not included in the meaning of the Greek word." (Conant on Baptizein, sec. iii., par. 6.) After making the concession above referred to, it would be prudent when translating the word, and when defending his system, to use thenceforth the word " immerse," and to let the old favourite word " dip " drop into disuse. There was another reason for doing this* They had discovered that it was not suitable to their views, because it did not denote mode only. "It may be asserted," says Booth, "of our English term ' dip,' that it nowhere signifies to immerse, except as a mode of, or in order to, dyeing, washing, wetting, or liv M !; 476 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. .some other purpose." (Booth in Thorn's Mode of Bap., p. 109.) That it is only from words in connection, or from the circumstances or habits of the speaker, that Nve learn whether it means to wet, to wash, to d5''e> " t?o put in momentarily, to examine superficially, to take out a small quantity," etc. Thus, after using the word "dip" for two hundred 3'ears, they discovered that it did not properly translate the Greek verb, and that it did not deHnitely state the meaninir. They now prefer to translate haptlzo by the word " immerse." "The word 'imniprse,'" says Booth, "is usually adopted by us." '' Ba2)tizo has one single meaning, and that is immerse." (Walden, BajD. (ind Com., p. 12.) But ob- serve, they apply the word "immersion" to the very same ritual act that was previousl}^ called "dipping"; and by such application have connected with it the idea of taking up, as well as the idea of putting under; is making it an ambiguous word, and misleadinj_ *^ rs by using it as such. In administration they use to express the whole of the twofold act of dipping In translation they use it to mean only the first half of it. " Every one knows," says Dr. Carscm, " that we apply the word ' immersion ' to the most transient act as well as to cases in which the subject continues in a state of immersion" (p. 847). Ingham, too, admits that they use the word "immersion" when the emerslofi is "immediate, or distant, or when it never takes place." {Hand-hook on Bap., p. 67.) As soon as they retreat behind the word "immerse" they give it a double meaning, and use it so as often to deceive them- ^» -\m THE PRIMARY MEANING OF BAPTIZO. 477 selves and to mislead their hearers. But the end is not yet. We proceed to »pply the rule in order to ascertain whether the first half of the meaning of the word " immerse " is found in the Greek word baptlzo when distins action particularly." (Classic Bap., p. 25.) He knew, for instance, that the word " to kill " denotes a definite result to be accom- plished by a general act ; but that it " does not throw one ray of light on a thousand different acts equally competent to reach that result." (Judaic Bap., p. 70.) How is i^t then that he did not see that the Greek word hapi'izo belongs to this kind of words. The word " baptize," as an English word, " coes not express any one definite act," says Dr. Conant. It is applied by some to the act of immersing the subject ; by others, to the act of pouring, or sprinkling the element upon the subject. That is, it denotes a general act, not a specific one. So the word haptizo expresses only a general act. It denotes that an object and baptismal element are to be placed in contact, but does not specify whether this is to be effected by moving the subject or by moving the element. It denotes a general action that may be fulfilled in some circumstances by one specific act, and in other circumstances by another of several specific acts. If it were a command to do a specific act, it could not be fulfilled by doing a diflferent specific act. If it definitely meant to pour upon, it could not de- finitely mean to put into. But it denotes a general act, and accordingly could be complied with by any of. several specific acts. Let us illustrate this point more fully by looking at other general and specific words. Ingham (Hand-hook on Baptism, p. 112) says : " There is nothing specific in the word 'move'; but there is in ' creep,' ' run,' * hop,' ' leap,' ' fly,' " etc. So " there is if' I I ,. Iri! 484 UAPTIZINO AND TEACHING. nothing specific in tlie word 'travel;' but there is in tlie words 'ride,' ' A^aliv,' 'swim,' 'sail,'" etc. So, too, "in the words 'cleanse,' 'purify,' 'sanctify,' there is nothing specitic." The word " wash " also belongs to this class. "The word 'wash,'" says McLean, "is a general word; it includes various modes." "A com- mand to wash," says Dr. Carson, " may be accom- plished by dipping or pouring " (p. 90). Yet a com- mand to dip could not be effected by pouring. So a child could not hop by creeping ; but he could " move " either by hopping or by creeping. A man could not "sail" by "walking"; but he could travel by either sailing or walking, or by one mode after the other in different localities. These instances show that there is nothing contrary to the usage of language in saying that the primary use of haptizo denotes a general act which may be fulfilled by any one of many specific actions. True, a general meaning is not very definite, but we have no warrant for assuming that our con- ception of the meaning of a general term should be as definite as that of a specific word. Take the word "man" for instance. We cannot definitely " conceive the idea of a man who is neither tall nor short, nei- ther old nor young, neither white nor black, and yet ,is all of these. So we can form no conception of a triangle that is neither acute, obtuse, nor right-angled, and yet is one and all of these at the same time." [Bev. Dan. Macafee.) But this indefiniteness does not pre- vent us from using general terms. Unhappily, Dr. Dale failed to find that haptizo denoted a general act, 1 iPj! THE PRIMARY MEANlNfl OF RAPTI^.O. 485 and hence ^ave unwise counsel when he urged those who incjuire into the meaning of hupt'izo " to aban- don act and adopt condition " as that in which the unity of a primary meaning could be found. To do so would, indeed, place us on different ground from the generality of Baptists ; but we could more eH'ect- ually oppose them from other ground, namely, from the position that the verb denotes a general and not a specific act. BaptizOy however, may bf placed in connection with other words in such a way as to indicate clearly that it should, in a given case, be carried into effect by some one specific act. What we have been contend- ing for is, that the word taken by itself does not specify any definite act. It does not mean to im- merse, or to sprinkle upon, or to pour upon. It means to bring the subject and element into contact. Further, the word does not designate that the con- tact must be made externally. In some instances it was used when the element was brought into contact internally. In the list of quotations we find cases of baptism by wine. Plato, for instance (born 427 before the Christian era), said, " I mj^self am of those who yesterday were baptized " by wine. In these cases of baptism by wine, the element was not applied externally; the wine was not poured upon the men; the men were not put into the wine ; the wine was put into the men. A baptism is effected where the element is brought into contact with the subject in- ternally, as well as when it has been brought into external contact. ? I, •'Wm' ii {iii: a 486 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. We have alreadj'' seen that the word haptizo ex- presses an act which effects the contact of a baptis- mal element antl a baptismal subject. We now further remark, it effects this contact for the accomplishment of a further purpose. It expresses an action that places a baptismal element in contact with an object, for the purpose of producing in the latter a change of condition, state, or character, such as the element so placed in contact is fitted to produce on the object ; and this change can be anticipated when the respec- tive natures of the object and element are known. The word haptizo was not used indiscriminately. Greek writers did not apply it to any subject and any element that could be brought into contact, but only in cases where the element was one which could exert a change-producing power, and when the sub- ject was susceptible of being influenced by such power. In proving this point Dr. Dale rendered very great service. The change-producing power is always found in the baptismal element. Baptism with the element of wine is for the purpose of intoxicating; baptism with ceremonial purifying water is for the purpose of making ceremonially pure, etc. ; ba,ptism with other elements was for the purpose of defiling. It sometimes made wet, as in the case of the baptized soldiers on their march ; it caused sinking in the case of the baptized ships ; it caused drowning, as in the case of certain persons who were pressed down into the water. To produce the contemplated change the object was THE PRIMAIIY MEANING OF HAPTIZO. 487 sometimes put into the element, because there are some elements which fully impart their characteristic qualities only when the ohject is enveloped within them for a lengthened period. But there are other elements which will do this equally well without en- velopment at all. Thus water will baptize — i.e., quench — a heated piece of iron, whether the heated object b^ enveloped in the water, or the water be poured over it. There are other elements which will not impart their characteristic quality by envelopment, but will do so in other appropriate ways without envelopment. Thus wine does not impart its intoxicating quality to a man when enveloped within it, but when he drinks it. A drug, too, will not impart its quality unless it comes in contact with the stomach. Thus some elements impart their characteristic qualities by one mode of contact, and some by another mode ; and on this account the word hapt'izo has a general meaning as to mode, not a specific one. It requires that an object and element be brought into contact, but it admits various modes of doing this. It may be effected by moving the element, either by sprink- ling upon, by pouring upon, or by flowing upon ; or it may be done by moving the object and putting it, partially or wholly, into the element. It is effected, not by pouring, but by pouring upon ; not by sprink- ling, but by sprinkling upon. So it is not effected by putting into, but by putting into a baptismal element. If pouring w^ere baptizing, then the water is baptized, not the subject. But if pouring upon is baptism, it 488 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. is not the element poured, but the thing poured upon, that is baptized. The word " baptize " was used not merely where the change-producing element was a material fluid. They saw that other things were capable of producing analogous changes. Hence they figuratively regarded them as being like baptismal elements. Literal lan- guage tells us what a thing is ; figurjitive language tells us what it is like. Tho.se other things were figuratively thought of as being like a material bap- tismal element, and were accordingly spoken of in laneruaore that made reference to the latter. The en- lightening and convincing Spirit of God was thought of as being like a baptismal element. Hence they spoke of baptism with the Divine Spirit, and repre- sented the figurative element as poured upon the subjects. Looking into the New Testament writings, we find a passage which speaks of this baptism with the Spirit (Acts ii.). Some overlook this very important and prominent case. Pengelly undertakes to give " the various portions of Scripture relating to baptism," yet never alludes to this Divine " baptism " on the day of Pentecost. {Seiss, p. 192.) In this case the figurative element is distinctly represented, both in the prophetic announcement and in the historic record, as applied to the subject by pouring it upon them. {v. Chapter XIX. upon this subject.) This implies clearly that the word is properly used where a figurative element is repre- sented as poured upon the subject. The word would T f^]] THE PRIMARY MEAxNlNO OP RAPTIZO. 489 evidently be as properly used in a case of literal bap- tism where the element was literally applied by affu- sion. We see the clearest evidence of this in the ex- amination of Rom. vi. 3, 4 (Chapter XXII.), which de- scribes a scene on Calvary — not at the Jordan — where Christ received a baptism with ^>lood, which was un- doubtedly by affusion, and couki not possibly have been by immersion. Dr. Carson examined the record of the baptism with the Spirit, but could not find his mode of administra- tion in connection with it. He therefore contended that the word here signified merely effect, and not mode. If it meant effect merely in case of figurative baptism, it may mean eft'ect merely in case of literal baptism. To suppose this is to assume that resultant state or condition is the primary meaning of the word, and to do this is to abandon " act." But Dr. Carson shrunk fiom this. He probably saw that it would degrade the verb to a noun, and thus trample on the clearest laws of language. Resultant state or con- dition is expressed by the noun haptisma; the verb baptizo expresses an act that causes that state. We have seen that Dr. Gale abandoned " act " and adopted "condition"; but the Baptists generally refuse to fol- low him in excluding all action from the verb. In this respect they are right ; but they err in contend- ing that the act which it denotes is a specific one namely, to put in or under water. In this they greatly err. Looking over the examples of the usage of the word |. u mil l^i if! ii m m 490 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. down to the time when it was used by the inspired writers of the New Testament, we see everywhere a baptismal subject and a baptismal clement. These were generally apart from each other before being brought into contact ; and in these cases the contact was not effected by tho element or by the subject, but by an agency or power that is called a baptizer. Hence we often discover a baptizer in addition to a baptismal elemenl and a baptismal subject. On this account, too, the effect which is immediately produced by the element is sometimes remotely attributed to the bap- tizer who applied the element for the purpose of pro- ducing the result. The word " baptism," as used in Scripture, very definitely implies the presence of a bap- tizing agent. John baptized multitudes with water. Paul baptized the household of Stephanas, etc. So the Lord Jesus baptizes with the Holy Ghost. Dr. Dale does not properly recognize the presence of a baptizer. Having set " act " aside from the meaning of the verb, he could find no place for an agent or baptizer. He had wrongly supposed that the word haptizo did not express the act of connecting the subject and the element ; he thereiore calls the bap- tismal element the only baptizer. The element, in- deed, is always the change-producing agency or instru- mentality ; but it is distinct from the administrator (or the agent) who effects the contact, without which no change would be produced. For this reason the administrator is probably called the baptizer. Not seeing this, Dr. Dale fails to perceive the precise mean- ■■t ; THE PRIMARY MEANING OF BAPTIZO. 491 ing of some texts. For instance, in the statement, " Christ baptizes with the Holy Ghost," he seems to see no work of Christ distinct from the work of the Holy Spirit. He represents Christ as " baptizing by the Holy Ghost." His explanation is that Jesus is "in the Holy Ghost, and therefore baptizes by the Holy Ghost " (p. 55). But, in fact, the work of Christ and the work of the Spirit form two distinct parts of the baptismal process. Christ, as a mightier baptizer than John, puts the Spirit into connection with man. " He hath shed forth this," etc. He then leaves it to the agency of the given Spirit to produce in man the contemplated change, which will be stated further on. We have now inquired into the primary meaning of baptizo, as determined by its usage previously to and at the time in which the great commission was issued, and have found that it has not the specific sense that Dr. Carson assigned it, nor any other specific sense for w^hich other Baptists have contended. We have thus completely overthrown the ground on which the Baptists place their chief dependence. Some seem to place their sole dependence on it. Dr. Carson laid little stress on anything except the meaning of haptizo. He argued that when one meaning and one only was found in the occurrences of the word down to "the time of the institution of the ordinance " (p. 492), then that meaning must be assigned it in a disputed place, unless there are objections from the difficulties of ap- plying it, and these difficulties amount to an impossi- bility ; and, generalizing his remarks, he says "a new !f -I' ii: Piii !. I 492 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. meaning of words should not be admitted while authen- ticated meanings will serve. Give up the axiom, and universal confusion and uncertainty will ensue in all subjects" (p. 272). Accepting this axiom, we must not admit that " dip "' was at this time a meaning of baptizo in any passage of the New Testament, because this was a new meaninof. It must not be tliouorht of unless we find it impossible to apply the primary meaning. But we find no difficulty whatever. Dr. Carson's own meaning is ruled out by his own axiom. Dipping, or immersing in the sense of dipping, must be rejected, because it is not found in the previous occur- rences of the word in the Greek language ; and not only so, but is inconsistent with what is found in them. It separates after uniting : it does not leave in abiding contact. We have seen that the word baptizo had one pri- mary meaning, expressing the general act of bring- ing a subject and an element into contact. But as the elements thus brought into contact were various, and accordingly produced various results, it is mani- fest that a free translation may use various English words to represent this diversity. In one case it may be translated to purify, because the element employed was of that kind and was used for that purpose. In another case, in consequence of an element of an oppo- site kind being employed, it may be translated to defile. They said, " Iniquity baptizes me" — i.e., defiles me. In other cases it may be translated to drown, because the element was used for that purpose. And T MjV THE PllIMARY MEANING OF BAPTIZO. 493 SO in other cases to sink or destroy, etc. Translators seek to give the sense of a word — i.e., the meaning which a w^ord Is used to convey in a certain assemblage of words — rather than the mere signification of a word as found in a dictionary, where it is independent of any particular connection. Even Dr. Conant uses "seven defining terms," as Dr. Dale remarks (Classic Bap., p. 7). Other terms are used by other Baptists. The Immersion Testament renders the word "undergo" in Mark x. 28 ; and in Luke xii 50 it renders it " endure." (Bowers.) Some of these words are used by them in several different senses. Taking the whole range of Greek literature, it has happened (as remarked by Thorn, if I remember correctly) that eminent scholars, in translating various Greek books that have no relation to the controversy about the mode of Christie baptism, have in fact translated the word b'iptizo by at least forty -tiuo different English words — a hard fact for those who strangely assert that the word has only one signification, and that a specific one. Bat these various renderings are readily accounted for when we perceive that it has a general and not a specific meaning, and that its general meaning may be variously modified by added words. Though the con- text never bestows a particle of the primary meaning of a word, it often makes additions to this meaning, and these additions underoro different variations in different connections. In this way usage has gradu- ally assigned many senses to the same word. This is ol'ten done " lest words should be infinitely multiplied, ::;-] I 494 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. and the difficulty of learning a langimge become too great." {Stricldand.) Hence " all languages by the same word express a multitude of thoughts more or less differing from one another." (Sir W. Hanulton, Logic.) " It will often happen that you will meet in books — sometimes in the same book, and perhaps on the same page of this book — a word used in senses so far apart from one another that it will seem to you at first almost absurd to assume as possible that there can be any bond of connection between them." (Trench, The Study of Words.) i' m- '!!'• THE SECONDARY MEANINGS OF BAPTIZO. We now proceed to remark, that while the wovd baptlzo had one primary meaning, expressing, as we have seen, a general act, it acquiied in the course of its early history some secondary senses. We shall be able to see how this came to be so when we have attended to the following remarks : — A general word may be frequently associated with certain other words which give it a special sense suited to certain circumstances. When this has been the case for a certain length of time, it will be thenceforth employed to convey that special sense when those other words are not expressed but understood. For instance, after English-speaking persons had used for some time the full expression, "He drinks intoxicating liquor until he becomes drunk," they soon began to abbreviate this into " He drinks intoxicating liquor," and then into " He drinks." Here "drinks" has absorbed the entire sentence, and ex- THE SECONDARY MEANINGS OF BAPTIZO. 495 presses the resultant condensed thought of the whole, viz , " He gets drunk." (Judaic Bap., p. 899.) A general word may be thus associated with other words, and absorb a portion of their meaning after being in fre- (juent connection with them. And thus a word may " acquire various secondary meanings." {Christie Baj)., p. 404.) Let us illu.strate this in the case of ^ann^u. This word was frec^uently employed by the Jews to signify to bring into contact with a ritual element for the purpose of purifying ceremonially. On this ac- count the word alone was after a time employed to denote an act of purification. For instance, a man was said to be " baptized " (i.e., purified) " from a dead body." Dr. Carson says, " Without doubt, purification was the thing in the mind of the writer " (p. 320). As "all common processes are usually expressed ellip- tically," he supposed that there is an ellipsis here, which he would supply thus, when one is baptized " in order to purify him from the touch of a dead body." After being frequently appropriated to that act, it by such appropriation acquired a secondary meaning, namely, "to purify"; and accordingly was now used with apo (from), a form of construction un- known to classic usajje. And, as Dr. Hallev observes, " the best proof of a change of meaning is a corre- sponding change in the syntax." In a similar way it may acquire other secondary meanings. The inspired writers of the New Testa- ment used this word in connection with distinguished teachers who had been specially commissioned by God. iii* i I I 496 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. By frequent use in connection with these it came to Lave another secondary meaning. Persons were now baptized with water to initiate them as pupils or dis- ciples into the school of a Teacher who has received a special Divine commission to teach. To baptize for such a purpose meant to initiate them into a school of disciples. Here the word was associated, not with purifying, but with teaching. This was the association that was made prominent by the great commission which commands "baptizing and teaching." Attention to tliis important fact is necessary if we would under- stand aright the design of the baptism pertaining to this dispensation. Teaching was regarded by the ancient writers as having, figuratively speaking, a baptizing power. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of " baptisms of teaching," for this is the literal and pro- per meaning of pmrTiafiuv 6i6axfjg, which words in the Authorized Version are incorrectly rendered " doctrine of baptisms" (Heb. vi. 1), as if f^aTrnafiuv 6i6axtjg stood for StdaxK fiaTTTta/iiuv. " But they do not," says Winer. " The former are best rendered * baptisms of instruc- tion ' (the elementary instruction of Christ), to distin- guish them from the purifying baptisms of the Jews. We dnd support for this in the fact that in the great commission teaching is placed after baptizing (Matt. XXviii. 19) — fSaTTTiaavTeg avrovg . . . SidaaKOVTsg avrovg." (^Wi7ie7\ pp. 234, 240, 690). Teaching, then, has a baptizing or change-producing agency, and by this means one per- -n, ,flj! THE SECONDAUY MEANINGS OF BAPTIZO. 497 son is baptized into another. Persons were baptized into Moses and into Christ. Baptism by teaching places under the influence of instruction respecting the person, character, thoughts, and acts of a distinguished teacher. In this way it places pupils under the enlightening and ennobling influence of that teacher. It is -in this sense that one person is baptized into another. Ritual baptism puts persons into Christ's school ; subsequent teaching places them under His influence, that they may become as- similated to His character, and " beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, be changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." Here Christ Jesus is represented as a flgura- tive baptismal element or change-producing agency, and teaching is the baptismal act that places pupils in contact with that figurative element. This explains the baptism of one person into another — a peculiar expression, which has perplexed many readers, and still perplexes many. Further, the Holy Spirit, being an eminent Teacher, is sometimes, as already remarked, figuratively thought of as a baptismal element, because He, too, is regarded as having a change-producing agency. He opens the understanding to apprehend instruction, to see and ap- preciate the beauty and glory of spiritujil and Divine things, and the iir* ortant relation which we bear to them. This figurative element is reprcsciited as poured upon the subject, and as abiding on him for this pur- posGj so that haptizj bewaujie associated with teaching 11 I': M '.'. V 408 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. in three distinct but related senses: (1) discipled by ritual initiation into the school of a great extraordi- nary teacher; (2) di^^ipled by human teaching; (3) discipled by the Divine act of opening the understand- ing to apprehend what is learned or taught in the school. But this term ''discipled," even with the addi- tional words above connected with it, does not express the fulness of meaning that is associated with the word haptizo as used in the New Testament ; hence the Greek word was properly adopted and placed in English letters. Baptists themselves acknowledge that a word, when thus appropriated to a special use, easily acquires a meaning which it w^ould be difficult or im- possible to represent fairly by any other single word. Dr. Conant, for instance, when speaking of the word "publican" (Matt. ix. 10), says: "It must be classed with such terms as Pharisee, Sadducee, and the like ; the import of which is to be learned from the circum- stances of the age to wdiich they belonged. All such terms require historical illustration ; and it is safer, in such cases, to use a word that excites inquiry for fuller information, than one that seems to convey the full meaning, and leaves the mind in error." So also when, instead of transferring the word " phylacteries " (Matt, xxiii. 5), he translated it " protectives," he added : " A knowledge of ancient customs is necessary (as in regard to many other things spoken of in the 5ible) to show what sort of protective was meant, and for what purpose it was used." What he says of these wordvS is equally true of haptizo, Robinson, in his TT^lfO^ THE SECONDARY MEANINGS OF BAPTIZO. 499 " History of the Baptists," says : " The English trans- lators did not translate ^he word ' l)aptize,' and they acted wisely; for there is no word in the English lan- guage which is an exact counterpart of the Greek word, as the New Testament uses it, containing neither less nor more." (In Carson, p. 22.) Many have tried to express its meaning by some one English word, and have failed. "Such failure," says Dale, "so nuinifest and so often repeated, constrains us to doubt, not the scholarship (Greek or English) of these writers, but the existence of any word in the English language which fully represents the broad and varied usage of the Greek word. This we shall consider, until better informed, to be incontrovertible truth." {Classic Bap., p. 129.) The translators of our English Bible were apparently of the same opinion ; for in some places they did not give the meaning, but transferred the word itself, by substituting English for Greek letters, and changing the final letter. A transferred word conveys no idea at all, except that of the explanation given in the context of the various passages in which it is u.sed ; and thus the danger of being misled by an unsuitable native word is avoided, {v. Whatelfijs Logic, p. 292.) Let it be remembered, then, that " we have adopted the Greek word on the declared ground that there is no word in the EnMish lan^uao-e of the same meanincj, with the same development, and the same peculiai' application, both as to form and subject." (Christie Bap., p. 594.) " The New Testament writings are a 13 ■ ! 1:11 m ?(!■ ' Ul '! ii. f ' J ! I I 500 BAITIZING AM) TEACHING. revelation of new ideas and relations, and hence the words and phrases through which these new thoughts are conveyed must be greatly modified in respect of their former heathen usage ; and " for the full depth and compass of iiieaning belonging to them in their new application we must look to the New Testament itself, comparing one passage with another, and viewing the language used in the light of the great things which it brings to our apprehension." (Dr. A. A. Hodge, Out- lines of TheoL, p. 610.) On this account the New Tes- tament meaning of a word soon becomes different from its previous classical use, as, e.g., in the case of ayyE/.oc, angel ; Trpea^ivTt:pot;, presbyter or elder ; cKKhjaia, church ; and as we have now seen, in the case of haptizo. Those who object to this modification of meaning in haptizo are not consistent. They admit such a modification had taken place in a word applied to the other ordinance of Christianity. They know that deipnon previously meant an evening repast, and denoted the largest and principal meal of the day. But when this term is applied to the Lord's Supper, they think they are at liberty to change the time from the evening to the noon or the morning, and to provide merely a bit of bread and a sup of wine for each communicant. They do not charge those who do this with having de- parted from the Divine command so widely as to be guilty of disobedience to it, and of distorting and vio- lating an ordinance of Christ. They do not act thus in reference to the word deipnon as used in the Holy Supper, yet they do think that they are under obii^a- ^-TfJI TIIR SKnoXDAin* MEANlNrJS OF nAPTTZO. aOl tion to adhere strictly to the previous import of hap- tizo when observinj^ the other ordinance. In writinc^ the forcf^oing remarks on the word hap- tho, we have kept before us what Dr. Johnson says respecting a dictionary: "It should not only fix the sense of words, but mark the progress of their mean- ing, and show by what gradations of intermediate sense they have passed from their primitive to their remote and accidental signification." We think that this has been carefully done for the word haptizo down to the time of its use in the New Testament. We submit that w^e have at the same time shown clearly that those who glory in taking this word as their name have utterly failed to reach the primary mean- ing of this important word, and that the explanation which we have given plainly proves that haptizo is not on their side at all, but is clearl}' on our side. Their chief stronghold .^ therefore wrested from them. The Scripture term which they have adopted as their distinctive name is used by them in an unscriptural sense. This is deceptive and misleading. It is utterly wrong to attempt to show in that way that they have footing on scriptural ground, and a presumption that truth is on their side. Thev have no riorht whatever to occupy this vantage ground. They ought not to be allowed to keep it. They are right in proving that Bapto contained their theory of dipping previously to the age in which the New Testament was written. They should therefore call themselves Baptoists. But regard for truth should lead them to give up the name n^'-i. pfji, nil I It !: ft ill fi< M il ; 502 BAI'TIZIN'G AND TKACHINO. oF Baptists, for hapt'izo at the time referred to did not mean to dip. They are Baptoists ; Baptists tliey are not. Cliristian courtesy recjuire.s us to acknowledge warmly their piety, their zeal for the Gospel, and for the purity of the Church, and for liberty of conscience, etc. But I cannot see that it warrants us to give them a scriptural name which they use in an unscriptural sense, and which gives them a vantage ground wliich induces them to magnify their relative position, and to presume that they are exempt from the rule not to re- frain from "enterinij into other men's labours"; to claim the right to follow reviv^als, if revivals do not follow them; to use tact and diligence in gathering all tlie fruit they can,. and enjoy all the resultant con- tributions that are thus diverted from the ministry of those who called them to salvation, to the ministry of their own Church, who, it may be, only called them to baptism. At such times, at least, they admit that to teach baptism is quite distinct from teaching the Gospel. The latter may be done successfully by those who have very different views of baptism, and very wrong views. Their view of baptism, even if they were correct, should not be made terms of Christian communion. We should hold fellowship with all who effectively preach the Gospel, who " have the mind that was in Christ, and walk as He w^alked," no matter how different our opinions on things not necessary to salvation. TFIE COVKNANT OK (JKACK MADK WITH AUKAIIAM. 508 CHAPTER XXVII. » '1)1 OOD MADE DISCIPI.es ClNDElt THE FORMER DISPENSA- TION OF THE GOSPEL. HE HAD THEN, AS NOW, A TWOFOLD KINGDOM. To PROVE this we must consider — (1) Tlie covenant ot:' grace made witli Abraham. We find a twofold ar- rangement of a similar kind in connection with the Gospel as preached under the old dispensation. For unto the Jews " was the Gospel preached, as well as unto us." Many have had strangely defective and erroneous views on this point. It therefore becomes necessary to .show plainly that THE covenant made WITH Abraham was the Gospel; that it w^as not superseded by the law that was added four hundred and thirty j^ears afterwards, but was confirmed of God in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, and was perpetuated by Him. (2) That circumcision was appointed soon after the Abrahamic Gospel was preached, and was employed to initiate persons into schools where this Gospel was in due time to be taur^ht diligently. " What is the profit of circumcision ? " said Paul. He replied, " Much every way : chiefly, that nnto them were committed the oracles of God." It put them to school. It committed to them the oracles of God, to be taught by some and studied by others, and to be obeyed faithfully and fearlessly. It pertained to the li 1 !| i hm ! n\ M .. jl;. t '. ;.|r'; (:* ll I i 1 i 1 i ,1 1 j i 504 BAPTi;^L\G AND TEACHING. system of making disciples by circumcising them and teacbinof tbeni. We will show, thirdly, that there was another company who had learned these oracles, and had obtained grace to ol y them, and who were more specially favoured of God — "Truly God is good to Israel, ev^en to such as are of a clean heart " It will be important for our purpose, as well as interesting and instructive, to show that these statements are a true interpretation of the Old Testament Scriptures. THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH AliRAHAM. First, we shall look at the covenant made with Abraham, and shall prove that it was the Gospel. We might go back further if we had time. For " the covenant of grace," says Pengelly, " existed from the beginning of the world." " If," says Guthrie, "we go back from Christ to Abraham, we find the Gospel already * a blown flower,' and if from Abraham we go back to Adam, we find it ' an undisclosed bud.' " This grand idea has been felicitously expressed by Auf,'us- tine : " The New" Testament lies concealed in the Old ; the Old Testament lies revealed in the New " — A'"o- I'um Testamentum in vetere Jatet, vetus in vovo patet (Quaest in Heptateuch, lib. ii. 73). As Noah was under the covenant made with Adam after the fall, but was favoured with a fuller form of it, so Abraham was under the covenant of grace as confirmed to Noah, and yet was privileged to receive a yet fuller dispensation of it. To this Abrahamic covenant the inspired writ- ers attach the greatest importance. On this through THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH AP.RAHAM. 505 T'l^'lfljl man}* succeeding generations lioly inon grounded tlieir faith and erected their hopes. The writers of the New Testament frequently refer to it, an '■' ' '< r^ ,! . «l I'll 'I 'I n 't 522 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. structed or resurrection bodies. " And they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding' great arniy." This was a proplietic vision of a literal resurrection. And this scene w.-is exhibited to the prophet to teach him and liis people that God would raise the pious dead of His people, in order to give them the everlast- ing inheritance promised to their fathers ; and thus to show that the hope of Israel was a good hope, that the people of Israel were wrong in saying, " Our hope is lost : we are cut off for our parts " of the inheritance. " The word signifies rest, habitation, possession, inheritance." {Harkness.) He goes on to say that they and their children should dwell in the land for ever ; that " My servant David shall be their prince for ever;" that God's " tabernacle shall be with them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Ezek. xxxvii. 21-28.) [So, too, when God heard a voice "in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping ; Rachel weeping for her children, . . . thus said the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, . . . they shall come again from the land of the enemy, . . . thy children shall come again to their own border." (Jer. xxxi. I.u-17.)] The Abrahamic covenant thus embraced the Gospel preached to Abraham ; and that Gospel, true to its name, offered pardon, holiness, and everlasting life to enjoy an everlasting inheritance, just as our Gospel does. Not only so; the Abrahamic covenant offered these promises to Gentiles as well as to Jews. Both might II ! » w THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH ABRAHAM. 523 become partakers of the faith of Abraham, " who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations." (Rom. iv. 16-17.) And both might be equally taught to keep the way of the Lord. " I know him," said the God of Abraham, " that he wnll command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of tlie Lord." By giving free admission to proselytes, it showed how all the families of the earth miojht be blessed in Abra- ham's seed with pardon, holiness, and everlasting lif..-. Further, faith in the everlasting Gospel preached to Abraham warranted Gentile proselytes to look also for an everlasting inheritance. For Abraham was made " the heir of the world." As the father of pious Jews he was made the heir of Palestine ; as father of be- lievers in many nations he was made heir of the world. There will be a new earth, and not merely a new Canaan. But" while the Gospel offers the same pardon and the same holiness to both Jews and Gen- tiles, it seems to make a difference when placing them in the everlasting inheritance. The Abrahamic cove- nant made him, as father of the Hebrews, the heir of Canaan. According to this view the eternal mansions of the saved Jews will be together in one part of the new earth ; the mansions of the saved Gentiles will be in the other parts of the new earth. The whole of the new world will be equally fitted for spiritualized bodies, and for occupations exclusively pertaining to one eternal Sabbath. But the part promised to Abra- ham and his Jewish heirs is the part that ha become i » W ■ ns ; con- is manifest that while that sentence of expulsion re- mained in force none of Adam's descendants would have the right to enter there. And if any did enter without Divine permission, they could not by for- bidden occupancy gain a title to possession, as they might have done by entering some unforbidden terri- tory. Intruders could be justly driven out. On this supposition, too, the grant of that land to Abraham appears as a repeal of the prohibition so far as he was concerned. And if the patriarch, when led into it, recognized it to be the site of the Adamic Paradise, he would understand that the promise of an everlasting possession of it was, by necessary implication, a promise that Paradise should be restored ; that the world should end, as it began, with Eden. Such an association would be an important addition to those that greatly enhance that part of the everlasting inheritance. The Abrahamic covenant, when given, was "con- firmed," so as not to be annulled by any subsequent laws. The apostle tells us that its stability may be illustrated by that of similar arrangements among men. " Brethren, I speak after the manner of men " (when, in transacting secular business, they execute a bond, a deed, or a will) ..." no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed — i.e., signed, sealed and ratified — no man makes it void by adding new conditions or stipulations. How much more assured, then, may we feel that the covenant which was made by God, and piiii %v^ I'-V, v; y i% ti' ] f. ; ; I i I ■ill I 526 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. which, when made, was confirmed with respect to Christ, was not and could not he made of none effect by a law that was given four hundred and thirty years afterwards. " And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." The word by which the apostle expresses its confirmation is a word which, as Muirhead remarks, '' imports such ratification as i endered the covenant pleadable at the bar of law and justice, and irreversible by any subsequent arrangement." As the Abrahaniic covenant and the added law were distinct, and were intended for distinct purposes, it followed, of course, that the Jews, from the time of Moses to the time of Christ, were under the covenant of Abraham and the added ceremonial law. They were under both at the same time. And properly so, for these aimed at different objects. The object at which the added law aimed was to preserve Israel after the llesh, distinct from Gentiles after the flesh. But the older covenant sought to have all who were born after the fiesh, whether of Jewish or Gentile flesh, born again — born of the Spirit. It tried to make all the families on earth believers, and to unite all believers in one visible church, and in one ever- lasting inheritance. In reference to worship God said : " Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country : for I am the Lord your God," THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WJTII AlillAHA.M. 527 aw were (Lev. xxiv. 22.) "And if a stranger .sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord ; as ye do, so he shall do. One ordinance sliall be both for you of the congregation" (" For the assembly there shall be one statute for you "' — Revised Version), " av\d also for tlie stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord." (Num. XV. 14, 15.) Accordingly, after the ritual law was given, the continued stability of the Abrahamic covenant was shown by an oath made by God to the Hebrews in the time of Moses. Moses said : "Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God ; . . . your little ones, vour wives, . . . that thou shouldest enter into cove- nant with the Lord thy God, and into His oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day : that He may establish thee to-day for a people unto Himself, and that He mav be unto thee a God, as He hath said unto thee, and as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Deut. xxix. 10-13.) David knew that the Abrahamic covenant still con- tinued in force. In the psalm which he composed for the opening service of the tabernacle on Mount Zion he says: " Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word which He commanded to a thousand orenerations ; even of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac ; and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an ever- ?i'!li» t w ■t m ■It ;.«j ■i 3 f 1 ll 111 i 528 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. lastinf^ covenant." (1 Chron. xvi. 15-17.) Here He says, " Be ye mindful ;" and in Psalm cv. 8 he tells us that God is mindful of it : " He hath remembered His covenant for ever," etc. Solomon, too, clearly understood that the spiritual covenant, which was intended to bless all the families on earth, continued in force after the time of the added law. This is evident from part of the great prayer which he offered at the dedication of the temple : " Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for Thy name's sake (for they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched out arm) ; when he shall come and pray towards this house ; hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for : that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel." (1 Kings viii. 41-43.) Isaiah, too, had the same view of the continuance of the general covenant when he was inspired to testify : " It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." And so taught the Saviour when He said in the temple : " Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations a house of prayer?" or, as the margin reads, "an house of prayer for all nations." The Abrahamic Gospel was perpetuated. Christ was " a minister of the circumcision, to confirm the THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH AURAHAM. 529 ^'Ifir • { ere He tells us imbered ;piritual families of the ie great of the at is not country hy great stretclied ards this >lace, and to Thee ly name, ings viii. itinuance ipired to one new another, aith the said in shall be )r, as the Ions. Christ itirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy." This plainly refers to the Gospel that was intended to bless all the families on earth. Peter, addressing the Jews soon after the day of Pentecost, said, " Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds" ("families" — Rev. Ver.) " of the earth be blessed." (Acts iii. 25.) When casting oif the Jews God did not cast them away indiscriminately. . He did not cast away those who had obtained grace by faith in the Abrahamic covenant. He perpetuated the covenant, and con- tinued such believers as branches of the old stock. Those who were connected with that root merely by circumcision He cut off. Those who were joined to it by personal and saving faith He did not break off. These branches still adhered to the original stock. And when other branches were grafted in amons: these into the same stock, they were "of the same body " or church. The covenant of grace made with Abraham was made with prospective reference to Christ. Christ ac- cordingly came " to confirm the promises made to the fathers." (Rom. xv. 8.) He confirmed the covenant of promise by ofi'ering the expiatory sacrifice, for the sake of which, as seen in prophetic prospect, it had been made, and without which it could not be actually con- firmed. The Scripture expressly affirms the necessity of the death of Christ, as the Mediator of the new i !li ■ »iaL III _iM:t 'iiM iliii :> I 530 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. covenant; declaring that wiiere a covenant is, there must also of necessity be the death of the appointed victim. (Heb. ix. 16; cf. Macknight in loco; Kitto, Cyclop.) As is remarked in the margin of the Revised Version, " the Greek word here used signifies both covenant and testament." Our word " testament " in some respects is better. It has the sense of "cove- nant" in the previous verse — Heb. ix. 15 : "He is the Mediator of the new testament " (covenant), " that by means of death, for the redemption," etc. (compare the same expression in chap. viii. 8) ; and in a following verse — ver. 20 : " This is the blood of the testament " (covenant) " which God hath enjoined unto you," said Moses to the Hebrew fathers. If this sense of (hadtjKr^ was brought out in the intermediate verses, they would read thus: "For where a covenant {,5ia6>/Kr/) is, there must also of necessity be cpepeadai — adduced or declared — the death of tov diaSefievov — the appointed or covenantal sacrifice. For a covenant is of force over vsKpoig — dead sacrifices (slaughtered sacrificial victims) — whereas it has no force at all — has it? (sKei juz/rrore) — while the cove- nantal sacrifice liveth. Hence not even the first cove- nant was confirmed without blood." The Gospel of this dispensation is not essentially new, but only circumstantially new. It is at once old and new, just as the commandment to love one another is at once an old commandment which was "from the beginning" (1 John ii. 7), being the second great commandment of the law of Moses, and as old as the law of nature, and yet is " a new commandment " THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH AHUAHAM. 531 ^ (John xiii. 34) ; because as soon as it was illustrated and enforced by a new and perfect example, even that of Christ, it seemed new. When Christ, who was made under it, showed by His obedience that its re- (juirements were vastly more full than some had pre- viously apprehended (for instance, that it required man to care for the spiritual necessities of his fellow- man, as well as for his temporal wants), and made that nev/ly apprehended fulness of meaning binding by new motives, saying : " This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you," it seemed a new commandment. So our covenant is called a new covenant, because the Redeeming Love that framed the covenant is more fully unveiled, and is seen not to spare even His only begotten Son, but to deliver Him up to make the required covenantal atonement. This reveals a far higher degree of love than was before thought of, and makes a far stronger appeal to our gratitude and love in return. So the promise of the everlasting inheritance is seen to be far richer and more glorious. It will be prepared for Jesus as the Heir, and therefore will be far more glorious than if prepared for any human creature. The hope of glory, which the Jews formed under the old covenant, seems to have been derived from the fact that they were the children of Abraham, God's friend. They seemed not to understand that their relation by faith to Abraham, as the father of be- lievers, and the adoption of believing Gentiles to be the children of Abraham, were merely typical of 11 1 1' (:]■', If ■ 'i '^m "Y I !.'r I w I ■■ .•-, V. • ( '( rt .^ 1 li * \ ; 1 i., ^ I 1 '' 11 1 !i 532 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. a more important act of adoption into the Divine family. Looking at the relations between man and man, it is evident that the hope of getting special favours from a man, merely because you were the child of his friend, would be far lower than the hopes which you would have if you knew yourself to be his own adopted child. A great difference must be made even when the adopting father is human. Of course, a much greater difference would be made if the adopting father was God, and if the adopted children were made the brethren of the human nature assumed by God's own and only Son. Now, the new covenant gives this higher concep- tion, as quoted in Rev. xxii. 7 : " I will be his God, and he shall be My son," and not merely one of My people. It leads us to hope for the exceedingly higher glor}^ that may be expected from an act of adoption, which makes us the brethren of the humanity assumed by God's own proper and eternal Son. To adopt is to give one who is not a son by nature access to the present privileges and future hopes of one who is a child by nature. In view of this, the Lord Jesus, using wonderful words, asked the Father that " the love wherewith He loved Him may be in them, and He in them," that His adopted brethren may share the perpetual radiancy of that unspeakable love ; and that this may cause in them a returning iove more grateful, more fervent, more adoring, than that of angelic beings. Again, our knowledge of adoption wonderfully heightens our view of the glory of the everlasting inheritance. It is now understood that THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 533 Jesus is the Heir of the inheritance ; that saints are graciously made joint heirs with Him; and that in pre- paring the inheritance for Him, Divine wisdom will employ its utmost skill, Divine power exert its utmost effort, Divine goodness will furnish its utmost re- sources ; and everything beautiful, useful, and good, will be arranged into one complete system, conformed to the Divine ideal of goodness and happiness. The perfections of that new creation will discover all their splendours under the light of the glory of God, which, like the shechinah glory in the Holy of holies, will light up the new earth, when " the tabernacle of God shall be with men ; and God will dwell with them, and be their God." No wonder that Peter should rapturously exclaim, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and un- defiled, and that fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 3, 4.) What fulness of meaning is in the apostolic exclama- tion, "Christ in you the hope of glory." THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION FORMED A SCHOOL OF DISCIPLES IN CONNECTION WITH THE ABRAHAMIC GOSPEL. The covenant of circumcision was connected with the Abrahamic Gospel. Circumcision, said Christ, was not from Moses, but from the fathers. It is very im- 4\ 1 > "'li O.S4 ftAPTIZINO AND TEACHlNf4. i" ' 1 1 I portant to have right views of this, and of its relation to the coven.ant of grace made with Abraham. It was appointed twenty-four years after the other covenant. This subsequent appointment is evident, not only from the order in which they are mentioned in the histor- ical narrative, but from the statement of Paul that Abraham had reposed faith in the Gospel covenant before he was commanded to be circumcised. He says that in Abraham's case the sign of circumcision (that is, " the mark which circumcision always left in the flesh " — Bloomjield on Roin. iv. 1) was " a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised." This inspired statement shows also that circumcision was related to the covenant of grace, and therefore properly comes under our consideration now. Paul teaches us that the chief profit of circumcision was that " unto them were committed the oracles of God." Observe, Paul does not say, " unto them were committed the blessings promised by the oracles"; no, but " unto them were committed the oracles of God." The ceremony was the means of initiating them into a school in which they were to be taught what the oracles of God directed. The first lessons are to be given by the lives and looks of parental love and kindness. These will be followed in due time by teaching obedience to parents. Hence persons were to be initiated into this school in childhood, as early as possible — at eight days old. " This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed i THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 535 11 after thee ; Every man child among you sliall be cir- cumcised ... he that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised." Education begins with life. Hence the obligation to educate aright begins that early. The appointment of this initiatory rite showed that the Abrahamic covenant had special relation to children. The covenant, says D wight, " is proposed as a law, and our obligations to conform to its terms arise solely from the command of God," and its seal is, by Divine command, to be placed on all who are teach- able, as a sign that the law of the covenant is binding on them, and that God requires them to learn and obey. And to keep this distinguishing feature of God's covenant before the attention of men is an important design of infant circumcision. It reminds us that God's laws are made binding on the children of men by His supreme authority solely, and hence independently of any self-binding act on the part of man. Now, when the reference is to laws, to which even adults are placed under obligation without their consent, what inconsistency is there in placing children under obliga- tion to these laws without their consent ? If a parent is not at liberty to neglect obedience to God's com- mands until he has chosen to deliberate and decided to consent, has a child more right to resist God's author- ity, and more power to make void God's laws, than the parent has? Surely not. As, then, the covenant laws are binding on every human being previously to the making of a covenant promise, so the covenant rite may be applied before the making of a covenant 536 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. I! }i \l in promise. And it should be previously applied to chil- dren for the purpose of denoting this previously exist- ing obligation. Yea, on this account its application is more appropriate. Then it is specially and fully appropriate. As it is of vast importance that we should be plainly and constantly reminded that the Divine command, and not human consent, is the son se of obligation in reference to our duties towards God, so the administration of the initiatory rite of the cove- nant to infants is specially designed and is admirably fitted for this purpose. [As baptism is now the initia- tory rite, it follows that baptism may be administered to infants in full accordance with the terms of the new covenant.] Not merely was it right to circumcise in infancy : " infant circumcision, as might be expected, soon be- came the custom, and adult circumcision the rare ex- ception." From the days of Abraham to the days of Joshua it is probable that not a single Hebrew had ever been circumcised in adult age. All that came out of Egypt were circumcised ; but their children that were born in the wilderness remained uncircumcised until they passed over Jordan, when the rite was per- formed by Joshua. (See Joshua v.) The reason of the omission of tVi- rite on thousands of males, from eight days to the age of forty years, for a time, appears to be this : it was during that time superseded by bap- tism into Moses, as their one great religious teacher. All who came out of Egypt " were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." (1 Cor. x. 2.) And all THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 537 11 who were afterwards born in the wilderness durinjj forty years were probably, as Thorn sugc^ests, made by baptism in infancy the disciples of Moses, as their fathers had been. But Moses died, and -being a mere man could no longer teach them personally. And then circumcision, which had reference to an invisible God and His written oracles, was again practised. Accordingly, after Moses' death, Joshua, the successor of Moses, is Divinely commanded to "circumcise again' the children of Israel, that is, to renew the rite of cir- cumcision, which had been omitted apparently for the reason referred to above. We cannot suppose that it was omitted because Moses was less zealous than Joshua to promote the observance of this rite. This is wholly improbable, especially after his narrow escape from the death threatened for not circumcising his own son, before he led the people out of Egypt. We can therefore account for the omission of the rite in the wilderness under Moses only in the way already indicated, viz., by supposing that it was for the time set aside legitimately by the baptism into Moses. This view is rendered more probable still by the fact that circumcision was afterwards wholly removed by baptism into Christ Jesus. Circumcision was appUed to families. It solemnly constituted the family a religious school. It made an abiding mark which reminded parents that they were under obligation to teach, and children that they were under obligation through life to learn, the covenant of grace. Successive generations were commanded to 1 1 mi I') , ;'/ iff ! 'II ;; ■■ 538 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. teach with all diligence and iidelity those who had been circumcised. " These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart : and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (Deut.vi.6,7.) "Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law.'' (Deut. xxxi. 12.) " Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law." (Deut. xxxii. 46.) "There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conver- sant among them." (Josh. viii. 35.) "For He estab- lished a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children : that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children : that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.' (Psalm Ixxviii. 5-7.) Obeying these precepts, " Solomon in the character of a father, gave wise instructions which form a very important part of Holy Scripture (Prov. i.-vii.) ; and his directions to THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 539 parents, as to the religious and moral treatment of their children, are copious and explicit. (Pro v. xiii. 24 ; xix. 18; xxii. 15 ; xxiii. 13; xxix. 15, 17.) 'Train up a child in the way he should go ' (or as the marginal ren- dering is, ' catechise a child in his way ') : ' and when he is old he will not depart from it.' (Prov. xxii. 6.) Mothers also manifested pious fidelity in the fulfilment of this sacred trust, as is evident from the mother of Timothy, who taught him from a child to * know the Holy Scriptures.' " (Thomas Jackson, Introduction to Training and Conversion of Children, by Samuel Jackson, p. viii.) It was because it was an initiatory rite that "no previous instruction was ordained, no profession re- quired, no examination instituted, no delay allowed." (Noel in Thorn's 8uh. of Bap., p. 346.) Of course, those who were already adults when the rite was appointed had to be initiated in adult age ; but it was the inten- tion that in all other cases initiation should take place in early childhood. As circumcision was a discipling ordinance, we* see why it was proper to administer that rite to the infant Jesus, who was " made under the law " and " increased in wisdom." It placed Him under obligation to know and do the will of God. It made one " a debtor to do the whole law." This dis- tinguished circumcision from every other ritual action. Christ, being holy by nature, was able to comply with this obligation without seeking the circumcision of the heart. But He alone was in this position. Others must not only learn in order to know, but be regener- 1 ' ■/ J i , •' I \ 540 RAPTi;^IXG AND TEACHING. ated in order to do ; and hence in these cases it places under obligation to seek the needed and promised grace in order to be able to perform the commanded duty (Deut. x. IG ; xxx. 6), knowing that they must be a holy people to obtain the full Divine blessing (Deut. vii. 6; xiv. 2-21 ; xxvi. 19; xxviii. 9). In such cases circumcision denoted that " an obliga- tion of faith in the promises made to Abraham, and an obligation to holiness of life and to the observ- ance of the Divine laws, was contracted" (Watson^a Inst, Vol. III., p. 407.) It placed children as pupils or disciples in a school where the previously made Gospel covenant was to be taught, and put them under obligation to learn its doctrines. It placed them in the family school as their earliest training place. But not only so : it " admitted the child to the temple wor- ship, to the teaching of the rabbins or priests, to the passover and other festivals, to association with the chosen people, to the use of all the means of instruc- tion then in the world, from which the uncircumcised were excluded." (Noel, p. 282, in Thorn'.<5 Sub. of Bap., p. 539.) This Bible school was a spiritual kingdom of God — a kingdom in which God sought to write His law in the minds and hearts of men; to govern the con- sciences of men by the power of truth, the conviction of responsibility, and the influence of motives. Hence they were called God's people. God calls the descend- ants of Abraham His people, even when they were persons whom He had to reprove for their wickedness. He says : " My people have forgotten Me " (Jer. ii. 32) ; THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 541 "have committed two great evils" (Jer. ii. 13); "ask counsel at their stocks " (Hos. iv. 12) ; " are laden with iniquity" (Is. i. 4); "I will destroy My people, since they return not from their ways" (Jer. xv. 7). This adoption pertained to Israel " according to the flesh "; for in Rom, ix. 8, 4, Paul says : " For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsinen accoi'ding to the flesh : who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption," etc. Here it is plainly taught that the adoption belonged at some period of their life to the Israelites after the flesh — not merely to Israelites who served God in spirit and in truth, but to those who were " ignorant of God's righteousness," and who were filling up the measure of their iniquities by rejecting Him whom God sent unto them ; for it is only such as these that would cause the great and continued sorrow of heart which the apostle suffered, and which he describes in the second verse. Now, to such it belonged in infancy. In consequence of this adoption, manifested by com- manding their circumcision in infancy, God called them His sons. His children, etc. SoEx. iv. 22: "Israel is My son, even My firstborn," and Isaiah i. 2 : "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have re- belled against Me." " What if some did not believe the oracles committed unto them ? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God of none efi'ect ? Shall the unbelief of some make the faith of God, the sincerity of God in His oiFers, the fidelity of God in His promises, of no effect to m III ill 542 BAPTIZING AND TEAOHINO. ill.; .>'' ' ( ;} , 1 f II fe others who do believe?" (Burkett.) No; on the con- trary, " let God," the Maker ot* the Divine covenant, " be true " (be acknowledc^ed to be faithful to His covenant proposals), though every man be " a liar " — though every human maker of a covenant be unfa' ful to his covenant promises. "The whole histoi^ . the Israelites goes to prove that God was ivith His covenant people in a sense and to an extent He was with no other cotemporary nation or people ; and He employed on their behalf means of grace more numer- ous, and to a much greater extent, than was employed anywhere else upon earth." To preserve His covenant people from sin, or to reclaim them after falling into sin, He will do all that He can, " without forcing the will of man or destroying the conditionality of salvation." As the covenant with which circumcision was con- nected was intended to bless Gentiles as well as Jews, so the covenant rite was to be administered to both Jews and Gentiles. When Abraham was circumcised jO were the men of his household, and in every age proselytes were admitted by circumcision. Those who had the oracles of God might administer the initiating rite to all the families on earth. " And when a stran- ger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. . . . One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." (Ex. xii. 48, 49.) So that proselytes vrere constantly admitted by cir- cumcision to all the privileges of the temple worship and the synagogue instruction, and their children were ^ THE COVENANT OV CIUCUMCISION. 543 admitted in the same way to all the privileges of Hebrew children. One of these ordinances, however, was not intended to qualify for admission to the other* for circumcision preceded the passover by four hun- dred years. It is worthy of notice that when God wished to append a rite to the general covenant. He chose circumcision, which had been in general use among other people ; but when it was advisable to raise a wall of partition as far as marriage relation- ship was concerned, the Jews were put under the cere- monial law, which commanded them to refrain from rites that were practised by other nations. Circum- cision was not instituted for the purpose of distin- guishing the natural offspring of the patriarchs, as has been supposed by some who wish to get rid of its spiritual import. It was not administered to the natural offspring of Abraham only ; it was appointed from the very first to be given to Gentile proselytes. As it was not intended to mark distinction of race, so it was not designed to mark distinction of nation. It was not intended as an initiatory ordinance for admission into the body politic of Israel of old, for in point of fact they had no national polity for hundreds of years after circumcision was instituted. It was under the civil laws given through Moses that the "commonwealth of Israel" was formed; but f'^'T hundred and thirty years previously they had re- ceived the "covenant of promise," to which circum- cision was shortly afterwards annexed as an initia- tory note. iviU- III ilii 544 HAFnZING AND TEACHINCJ. Circumcision was not the token of a Divine con- tract to give circumcised persons a temporal possession of the land of Canaan, because neither Abraham him- self, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any one of their circum- cised descendants during the first four hundred years, ever got such a contract fulfilled. They never owned more than a field for a burying place, and that was secured by their own act of purchase, and not by Divine gift. Besides, Ishmael was circumcised, and yet never got reason to hope that a temporal posses- sion of the land would be given to any of his descend- ants, no matter how remote. We therefore must conclude that circumcision was not intended as a guarantee of a temporal inheritance in Canaan. " For upwards of four hundred years from the institution of circumcision, Abraham's posterity did not enjoy Canaan ; and millions of infants died without having enjoyed it. To these, then, circumcision could not be a sign of their enjoyment of that land. If it is said that though they did not possess it they had a right to it, I reply that they had no right to it more than possession, for God would not do wrong in depriving , them of their right. . . . What sort of a right is a right to possess what is never designed to be given?" (Carson, Bap., p. 224.) It is nowhere said that the neglect of circumcision was the cause why some did not obtain such inheritance ; or of the repeated banish- ment into captivity of those who did obtain possession. As circumcision was not a mark by which the seed of Abraham may claim a temporal possession of the land, 1 ')! ■ , I THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION. 545 it furnishefs nj ground for supposing that a claim of that kind is still in force, if there are st I any unful- tilled promises of temporal possession. It is plain, then, that the rite of circumcision had no relation to a temporal covenant. It was, as already stated, connected with an everlasting covenant — a covenant that promised spiritual and everlasting bene- fits. Hence, when God told Abraham, " He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy. money, must needs be circumcised," He added, " And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant." (Gen. xvii. 13.) Circumcision was a sign that he who had faith in the covenant of grace was authorized to expect pardon and renewing grace. In this sense it was applied to Abraham, who relied on the Abrahamic gospel before the Mosaic law was added. It demonstrated the righteousness of his faith, i.e., that his faith was right in asking and hoping for the blessings which are offered to the believer. Some speak of the folly of faith. They say when a man has incurred punishment he must suffer it; that there is no such thing as pardon or regeneration. But the Scripture, on the ccatrary, speaks of the " righteous- ness of faith," indicating that faith is right in asking and hoping for pardon and regeneration from a God who has been propitiated by a mediating High Priest. As the righteousness here spoken of is a property of faith in relation to the Gospel method of salvation, it therefore is not that righteousness which has relation to the moral preceots, of the law. The circumcision ,f W. 11 111 Hi |i' :i-ii » -«.(..-.' u ■ '"* M^ 1 i 546 BAI'TIZINC; AND TEACJHING. of Abraluiin was intended to attest tlie f^eneral truth that salvation is ^ivon to every one who exercises faitli, independently of any observance ol" rites and cennnonies, or of any works or sullerin^s of our own devising, Jn A})rahani's case it was also a seal of existin<^ faith in the covenant of <^^race. J>ut lie was Divinely pointe) vm^m lis i 'U ' liii^ ' i 554 BAPTTZING AND TEACHING. the daughters of Caiiraan." (Gen. xxxvi. 2.) Rebekah was afraid that her son Jacob might do the same. She said, " If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?" (Gen. xxvii. 46.) Jacob was dissuaded from doing so, but his son Judah took " a daughter of a certain Canaanite." (Gen. xxxviii. 4.) These statements indicate ^ tendency that had to be counteracted. To check '^his tendency, and thus secure the fulfilment of previous promises, was the object of the added law. This brief state- ment must be unfolded that it may be properly apprehended. The love of God resolved to send a Redeemer to the world ; " and the faith of Abraham secured to him the honour of being the progenitor of the human nature of that Redeemer." (Oshon.) This gave occa- sion for certain acts of Divine election. Abraham was first chosen. As only one man in each genera- tion could be elected for this purpose, Isaac was next chosen from among his father's children. Of Isaac's two children, Jacob is chosen to form one of the series of ancestors of the promised Seed. And these in- stances of election were distinctly pointed out. But God did not immediately point out which of Jacob's sons was to be in tliat distinguished line. To do so might have interfered with the Divine plan to keep together all Jacob's descendants. This would help to keep them distinct from other races. But this alone was not enough. They were therefore led down to I THE ADDED MOSAIC LAW. 555 Egypt, whose inhabitants would make no marriage alliances with them, and would not even eat with them; for to eat with the Hebrews is "an abomina- tion unto the Egyptians." (Gen. xliii. 32.) But as the Hebrews were oppressed in Egypt, God took them by the hand to lead them into the land of Canaan, and make them an independent nation. But after being for so many years hereditary bondsmen to the Egyp- tians, they lost the spirit to be free. Hence, having gone but a little way, they " turned in their hearts unto Egypt, and said. Make us gods to go before us," i.e., into Egypt again. Had they carried out their purpose they would, in all probability, have relapsed into Egyptian idolatry (for they had served idols in Egypt). Not only so, they would have become Egyp- tian proselytes, and would then be likely to inter- marry with them, and so cease to be a distinct people. Hence God was so angry with them as to purpose to destroy theui, with the exception of Moses and his descendants. He proposed to spare these and take them as His people. But Moses took the position of a mediator between God and the Hebrews, and secured an alteration of the proposed change, and a renewal of the purpose to take them as the subjects of the proposed nation. Having done so, it became necessary to appoint special and strong means for keeping them a distinct race. And for this purpose the ceremonial law was added. This is Paul's explanation of the case to the Galatians: " Wherefore then serveth the law ?" (" What then is w ^« III •11 •' l-i V r I IK il i III * t! flr iii^ If 550 JUPTIZING ANl) TEACHlNO. the law, i.e., what is the object of the law?" — Elli' cott.) "It way added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come" (until the Seed shall have come — axi)ti or e?.6//) " to whom the promise" of the previous Abrahamic convenant " was made." " The past is con- templated by the writer as a present, from which, as it were, he is taking his survey of what would be their future, though now past." (EUicott.) The nature oi' the transgressions that needed to be checked may be seen from the nature of the law ap- pointed to check them. It was a law that kept them from mingling with the rest of mankind. To gain this object it subjected them to many peculiar usages, which proved to be the "middle wall of partition" between them. It enforced the precept, " Neither shalt thou make marriages with them." (Deut. vii. 3.) " The laws with regard to food and ceremonial pollution, the institutions directly opposed to the prevailing customs of the surrounding nations, and the express prohibi- tion to form alliances with heathen nations, — all these formed a more powerful barrier to commixture with the surrounding nations than any physical separation of mountains, or seas, or distance could have done." (Dr. J. Brown on Gal. iii.) The law said : " Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you : ... ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean." (Lev. XX. 23, 25.) " The wisdom of this provision, consider- ing the end ia view, is most admirable. 'Intimate THE ADDKI) MOSAIC LAW. 557 friendships,' observes a sajracious writer (Michelet, Com., Art. 203), ' arc in most cases formed at table ; and with the man with whom I can neitlier eat nor (h'ink, let our intercourse in business be what it may, I shall seldom become as familiar as I can with him whose guest 1 am and he mine. If we have besides, from education, an abhorrence of the food which each other eats, this forms a new obstacle to closer inti- macy. Nothing more eti'ectual could possibly be de- vised to keep one people distinct from another. It causes the difference between them to be ever present to the mind, touching, as it does, upon so many points of social and every-day contact. . . . The effect of it may be estimated from the fact that no nation in which a distinction of meats has been enforced as a part of its religious system, has ever changed its religion.'" (Wines, 6V?/i. Laivs of Anc. Heh., p. 407.) To make these differences in social habits still more effectual other diverse ceremonies were enjoined. In Leviticus xix. 27 it is said, " Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard "; as the Ar. \s cut their hair round in honour of Bacchus, who is represented as having worn his in that manner. The Idumeans, Moabites, Ammonites, etc., are called " circumcised in the corners," that is, of the head. Differences in religious rites, too, were enjoined. In Exodus xxiii. 19 it is said, "Thou shalt not seethe" (boil) "a kid in his mother's milk," as the ancient heathen did, that they might sprinkle with it their ^%. ^"^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ,% '^^y y >^ ^^^^<^ L 658 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. trees, fields, gardens, and orchards, thinking thereby to make them more fruitful. They were forbidden to wear "garments mingled of linen and woollen," as the priests of the idolatrous heathen did, that their sheep might produce more wool, and their fields better harvests. It was said, " The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment " (Deut. xxii. 5) ; in opposition to " a widely difi'used custom of men and women wearing a habit different from that of their sex in performing religious rites." (Wines, Com. Laws of Anc. Heh., pp. 460-463.) In short, this law contained commandments about ordinances. It, on the one hand, commanded the Israelites to refrain from ordinances that were sacredly kept by heathen nations ; and, on the other hand, it enjoined them to observe things that the heathen avoided as profane. For these reasons the added law served as " a middle wall of partition " between Jew and Gentile. (Eph. ii. 14.) It was admittedly so re- garded by the Jews. The Gentiles, too, formed a simi- lar judgment of its character. This is evident from what Haman said unto king Ahasuerus : " There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom ; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws : therefore it is not for the king's profit to suffer them." (Esther iii. 8.) Similar is the testimony of Tacitus. This celebrated Latin historian J !> il THE ADDED MOSAIC LAW. 559 r thereby i mingled idolatrous luce more hat which . put on a )Osition to in wearing jerforming ;. Heh., pp. ents about landed the re sacredly er hand, it le heathen added law tween Jew edly so re- ned a simi- ident from There is a rsed among lordom; and either keep r the king's nilar is the iin historian states that " Moses established religious ordinances altogether new, and opposite to those of all other men and countries. Whatever we " (i.e., we citizens of the Roman empire) " esteem holy is with them profane. Again, they permit many things as lawful which to us are forbidden and impure." The character of the law being now known, it is easy to see the kind of transgressions it was fitted to restrain. It was plainly directed, as we have said, against that proneness to form intermarriages and other close alliances with the heathen, which the descendants of Abraham frequently manifested in the early part of their history. This proneness could not be allowed to remain unchecked, because such alliances transgressed the will of God in reference to them. And it was all-important that they should remain distinct until there should be raised up that Prophet, Priest, and King, who, according to the flesh, was to be "the son of Abraham " (Matt. i. 1) ; while, according to the Spirit of holiness, " He was the Son of God with power"; and who, as uniting both in one person, was to be "God manifest in the flesh "; and whose coming was necessary in order to bestow the highest blessings on all nations. As the added ceremonial law was distinctively Jew- ish, the Jews soon began to attach to it other mean- ings and uses. And, on the other hand, as the Abra- hamic covenant was not distinctively Jewish, but contemplated benefitting all nations, they or this account began to undervalue it in that respetfc, and _,. ■»■ til:: III III 11 i1 560 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. tried to give it a more Jewish aspect by representing the fulfilment of its promises as dependent on the observance of the added ceremonial law. Hence they began in Isaiah's time to refuse fellowship in spirit- ual privileges to Gentile proselytes. On this account the latter poured their complaints into the ears of the Most High. In answer, God told the evangelical prophet to say to them : " Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from His people. . . . For thus saith the the Lord . . . The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and rnake them joyful in My house of prayer : their burnt offer- ings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar ; for Mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people." (Isa. Ivi. 8-7.) Thus God tried to check the exclusive spirit of the Jews. It was prob- ably for the same end that a new court was added to the temple — the court of the Gentiles — that Gentile proselytes were permitted, after the return from Babylon, to become tenants of the Jewish land (Ezek. xlvii. 22). But these checks were soon unheeded. The doctrine that Gentiles should be fellow-heirs of Gospel blessings was rejected and set aside until it became hid from ages and generations. When Christ came, however, it was again * revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should " m THE ADDED MOSAIC LAW. 561 :esenting ; on the mce they in spirit- 5 account 5 ears of an^^elical m of the rd, speak, from His . . The bhe Lord, ord, to be bath from ant; even 1 make irnt offer- pon Mine of prayer tried to was prob- added to it Gentile arn from nd (Ezek. ided. The of Gospel it became rist came, y apostles les shouW >m be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel," (Eph. iii. 5, 6.) When Christ did come in the flesh the added law was no longer needed. Hence the Jews became " dead to the law by the body of Christ " by the very fact that Christ had come of the seed of Abraham. The added law had no connection with the law of typical sacrifices. This pertained to the Abrahamic Gospel. When Christ, the true High Priest, had offered the great antitj^'pical sacrifice, the law of typical sacri- fices was superseded, and God by His providence put it out of the power of the Jews to continue offering them. The typical sacrifices were, by express Divine appointment, to be offered at a particular place which the Lord should choose. And the last place which the Lord chose for this purpose was the temple at Jerusa- lem. Thenceforth it was only there that typical sacrifices could be lawfully made. This precautionary arrangement manifested the depth of the wisdom of God ; for should the Jews feel unwilling to discontinue the typical sacrifices, when fulfilled and set aside by the true Sacrifice, they could be compelled by the providence of God to discontinue them against their will. And this has in fact been done. Divine Provi- dence has scattered the Jews from the only appointed place of typical sacrifice, and caused Jerusalem to be trodden down of the Gentiles for about eighteen cen- turies. " And it is remarkable," says the author of '■ Lessons on the Truth of Christianity," " that the religion of the Jews is the only religion that has been, 36 M .' I I ; m->^ i 1 ■■( ; i;. H||^|d 1. i Pn. '' ' ■' "^^^^^^B I , i 1 '■ '?'-■ '■■ it 1 ■• \\ pi „ 1 li li ,, ■ 5% ■ i 1 1- 1 [III j :£'''' 9 H "i ' ^9 '■ • '■i^^^IiAtri (m^^JB '. ! ' ^^^H ^^^^^^^^1 \ : i' ■ \'- ' Ijttj: li,^' -li; j 1 ^^^^^^^^H * j Hh^H 1 M ii'li^^^B H^^B^I 1 i 1 I' HK' 'Hh 1 ^^^H^kV ' ''vBh :t ll ^KL Mw ' i ^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^UP ' J ^1 i 1 -ra :. ,_e_- 562 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. or that could be, thus abolished against the will of the people themselves, and while they resolved firmly to maintain it." Pagan religions could not be destroyed by burning any particular temple — pagans would offer their idolatrous sacrifices elsewhere. Christianity could not be destroyed by burning its present churches — Christians would worship God with the same accept- ance in other houses, or in other countries. Even Jewish sacrifices could not have been thus prevented before they were made dependent on the posses- sion of a particular place. " Hence," says the author just referred to, " it seems to have been designed and contrived by Divine Providence that, as their law was to be brought to an end by the Gospel (for which it was a preparation), so all men were to perceive that it did come to an end, notwithstanding the obstinate rejection of the Gospel by the greater part of the Jews. It was not left to be a question and a matter of opinion whether the sacrifices instituted by Moses were to be continued or not ; but things were so ordered as to put it out of man's power to continue them." Alas ! the great majority of them will not entertain the thought that their sacrifices have been set aside because the antitypical sacrifice of Christ has been ofiered. They still hope that a national restoration will permit them to resume the oflfering of their sacrifices ; and those who die without witnessing this, utter the fatally erroneous language of the Jewish Confession : " My death must be an atonement for my sins." {Leila Ada, p. 135.) ^^r AN INNER KINGDOM FORMED. 563 ill of the firmly to lestroyed 3uld offer lity could lurches — le accept- 3S. Even prevented e posses- tie author ligned and ir law was : which it live that it obstinate art of the [ a matter by Moses were so 3 continue n will not have been of Christ a national offering of witnessing the Jewish ent for my CHAPTER XXVIII. GOD FORMED ALSO AN INNER KINGDOM OF RE(jlENERATE PERSONS UNDER THE COVENANT OF GRACE MADE WITH ABRAHAM. This spiritual kingdom contained those who obeyed from holy and enlightened love. The circumcision of the flesh initiated into the outer kingdom. The cir- cumcision of the heart by the Divine Spirit initiated into the inner kingdom, the church of the true " Israel, even such as are of a clean heart." God said, " I will circumcise thy heart to love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." A human circumciser could not do this. It is the work of God only. Thousands all through Jewish history were circumcised in flesh that were not cir- cumcised in heart. In Jeremiah's time God said, " All the house o.t Israel are uncircumcised in heart." (Jer. ix. 26.) The circumcised in heart were not distin- guished from the uncircumcised in heart by any visible mark of separation further than " their more reverent observance of the Sabbath day, their more godly lives, and their more habitual and sincere ottering of sacrifice to God." {Brechenridge.) A church could be formed in a family. There was such a church in the family of Abraham. "I know him," saith God, " that he will command his children and his household after him, 564 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. m^ 5 n r"' and they shall keep the way of the Lord." So said the Searcher of hearts who requires to be served in spirit and in truth. So the Israelites " served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua." (Jud. ii. 7.) Such a spiritual church we find in David's time assembling in the tabernacle prepared by David as a patriarch. Smith, in his '•' Harmony of the Divine Dispensations," has a chapter on this subject which we take to give the correct interpretation, and a very interesting one. The following remarks give the substance of his views : — Here pious worshippers had immediate access to the ark of God which David set " in the midst of the tabernacle " which he built on Mount Zion. This tabernacle had not separate apartments like the Mosaic one. It had but one large apartment. And we are told most explicitly and particularly that they ''brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it." (2 Sam. vi. 17.) Be it remembered that the ark, when kept in the Mosaic tabernacle, was placed in a secluded part called the "most holy place," which no one was permitted to enter but the high priest, and which he could enter only once in the year. But the patriarch David placed the ark in the midst of an undivided tabernacle, where a large number of persons had ac- cess to it. And the shechinah glory was still present between the cherubims that formed part of the golden lid of the ark. The presence of that miraculous emblem of the Divine favour is clearly implied in the language used to describe the aik at the time of its 1 , ■'■ T-TFjr AN INNER KINGDOM FORMED. o65 So said served in the Lord ihe elders spiritual \g in the . Smith, ns," has a Cfive the iting one. ce of his iate access e midst of ion. This the Mosaic ve are told " brought ace, in the ed for it." ark, when a secluded [10 one was which he e patriarch undivided ns had ac- bill present the golden miraculous lied in the time of its I removal. It is called " the ark of God," which " is called by the name of the Lord of Hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims." (2 Sam. vi. 2.) There were now two tabernacles, with a distinct service in each. In the Mosaic tabernacle at Gibeon typical sacrifices were offered by Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests. But in the tabernacle of David on Mount Zion there were no sacrifices after the opening service. Here they dwelt on the inefhcacy of mere typical sacrifice. They sang, " Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou pre- pared me : in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure," They referred to the prophetic coming of the antitypical High Priest, " Lo, I come ... to do Thy will, God " — to ofler the true and efficacious sacrifice, and to take away the ineffi- cacious typical ones. Here the Gospel was preached : "Be ye mindful always of His covenant; the word which He commanded to a thousand generations ; even of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath unto Isaac; and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant." Here the simple Abrahamic Gospel was preached and the way of salvation by faith shown forth. Here the patriarch David preached righteous- ness to a great congregation, and said, " I have not refrained my lips, Lord, thou knowest." (Psa. xl. 9.) He was assisted in this ministry by the Levites as his assistant preachers. Here penitent inquirers came to seek salvation. For " of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her." (Psa. Ixxxvii. 5.) Here 5 fir, HAPTIZlNfi AND TEACHING. those who obtained salvation said, " Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." (Psa. Ixvi. 16.) Here the spiritual psalms were sung with devoutness and with the aid of skilfid musicians. The effect was wonderful ; the report of it reached to heathen nations, who said to the Jews when taken into captivity, " Sing us one of the songs of Zion." The Abrahamic Gospel here preached, the religious experience here related, the de- vout and skilful singing, made Zion the central point of attraction on earth for the pious Jews. They said, " Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God. (Joel ii. 23.) " Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion : for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." (Isa. xii. 6.) To be an attendant at Zion tabernacle was the highest ambition of the devout Hebrews when in their own land. And when separated from it by being taken with the wicked into captivity, they said, " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion," etc. (Psa. cxxxvii. 1-3.) They wept that her Sabbaths were forgotten, and that her foundations were burned down. It is thus evident that Zion, as placed before us by the Scripture writers, is associated with their highest ideal of spiritual religion, and that this was exemplified in the worshippers who assembled in the tabernacle on Mount Zion. Here was a spiritual church. Here was the communion of saints. Here was sacred fellow- ship with God who dwelleth in Zion. Here was a ministry who successfully preached the Gospel. AN INNER KINGDOM FORMED. 567 and hear, ,t He hath e spiritual bh the aid ierful ; the ho said to njx us one [ospel here ied, the de- ntral point They said, joice in the and shout, 3 Holy One I To be an st ambition land. And a. with the le rivers of svept, when -3.) They nd that her »efore us by heir highest exemplified tabernacle urch. Here cred fellow - Here was a Dspel. This spiritual church met in the tabernacle on Mount Zion during about thirty years of the reign of David, and until the third year of the reign of Solo- mon, the builder of the temple. When the temple was ready for its reception, the ark was taken from the tabernacle of David and put in the most holy place of the temple on Mount Moriah. It was doubtless prudent to do this. If the Jews continued to have the privilege of immediate access to the ark and shechinah, it would probably lead to neglect of the typical sacrifices that were to be ofiered year by year continually until the time came for the one ofiering of the antitypical Sacrifice. But though the ark was taken, it seems that the tabernacle of David was per- mitted to remain. The services which were held there could be continued without the presence of the ark. It is probable, therefore, that it was still used by the pious Hebrews after the removal of the ark. But soon after David's time true piety declined for a season ; and none but the truly pious could take an interest in such services as were held on Mount Zion. Hence the tabernacle was neglected and suffered to fall into ruin. But God foretold that there would be a rebuilding of the tabernacle of David, and conse- quently a revival of its spiritual services, and that this would be done by the establishment of the Christian Church. This was not to be a continuation of the typical services conducted in the temple on Mount Moriah, but a revival and continuation of the spiritual services of the tabernacle on Mount Zion. When the question arose whether members of the Christian r^ w li !i ^ 1 . 1. f ' '■ j : : 1 f' • i 1 1; 1 1! 1 IP :• • ^ It ■■ i mt ■ "• 50.S BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Church should be "circumcised after the manner of Moses " the matter was laid before the Council at Jeru- salem, because they took special interest in it. They had forgotten what the Great Teacher stated, that cir- cumcision was not from Moses but from the fathers ; that it belonged to the Abraham ic Gospel for about four hundred and thirty years before it was connected with the cerem( ial law, and that this law was to be repealed, while the Gospel was to be perpetuated. And the question was settled chiefly by appealing to the prophecy that in establishing Christianity God was rebuilding the tabernacle of David, in which, after the opening services, there was no observance of Mosaic sacrifices or rites, and these, therefore, could find no place in it when restored. This argument was so strong that it settled the disputed question. Again, it was the patriarchal throne of David in the tabernacle of David, and not the civil throne of David, that Christ was to ascend. " He shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David." And He was to ascend this for the purpose of regulating the spiritual services of the Christian Church, which were to be after the manner of the services in the tabernacle of David, and not after the manner of the .services of the typical temple. When the civil throne of David was tottering to its fall, and every national institution trembled on the brink of ruin, there still was hope that David would have a son to fill his patriarchal throne. " Thus saith the Lord ; If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should ^^' AN INNER KINGDOM FORxMED. 569 ) not be day and night in their season ; then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not ave a son to reign upon his throne ; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured : so will E multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me." (Jer. xxxiii. 20-23.) As God's covenant to perpetuate day and night is not broken, the promise to give a Son to fill the throne of David is true and faithful, and is being fulfilled in Christ, the Son of David. Here David's throne is represented as being surrounded with Levites. The reference, therefore, is to th-. throne of David in the tabernacle of David, where the Levites acted as minis- ters of God in that sanctuary. It is also the seed which David here begot as a preacher of righteous- ness that were to be multiplied. This seed of David is the same as the seed of Abraham, the father of all believers. As Christ comes in the room of David, so Christ's people come in the room of David's subjects. The Levites of the tabernacle of David were preachers of the Gospel. They accordingly have their successors in the great company of Christian ministers ; and it was by this great multitude of Christian ministers that the seed of David were to be multiplied. The seed of David cannot mean the natural descendants of David, for these have not been multiplied ; they are not now known among men. Observe how different the language applied to the Levites from that which a previous verse applies to :. ij;! ht:- k 'f i Hi; 1-1- "■■• lit-! i i r ;■ l i A ; ■ '. .:! f li 3 U •_. ^'-if ^ 670 HAPTIJiING AND TEACHING. the priests. While it is said that the Levites should be multiplied, it is only said that the priests should not want a man. They typified a single person, Christ ; and Christ was to be a Priest that would perform His priestly work alone and unassisted, like Melchisedec, and who would abide a Priest continually. " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteous- ness to grow up unto David ; and He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she" (whereby He) " shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. For thus sahih the Lord ; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; neither shall the uicr cs the Levites want a man before Me to offer bu^m; ferings, and to kindle meat offerings" (thank off' ags), "and to do sacrifice continually." (Jer. xxxiii. ,^4-18.) This was fulfilled in Christ, who was at once the prophetic Son of David and the anti- typical and continually abiding Priest. His priestly work was really antitypical work, but is referred to in typical language, "it being common in the pro- phetic style to speak of future times in the language and according to the ideas of the present." (Bishop Chandler.) In these quotations the Levites are called priests (v. 31), because in the set'vices of the taber- nacle of David the Levites had a higher office than the priests. So it is said "the priests the Levites" mm » 'I w AN INNER KINGDOM FORMED. 571 because the priests had a lower office than the Levites in the tabernacle of Davi'l : they acted merely as trum- peters to summon the congregation to hear the Levites preach. When God said that He would make the Jews, if obedient to His will, "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Ex. xix. 6), He probably meant that they would all have been favoured, and always favoured — as some were in the reiijn of David — with immediate access to the habitation of God. These prophecies were to be fulfilled in Christ, who was to be the Son of David as lie was the Son of God. "And shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever : and of His kini^dom there shall be no end." (Luke i. 31-33.) Thus the Son of God assumed the humanity that was to descend from David and sit upon the throne of David. These prophecies were not to be fulfilled in reference to the other seed of David, or to his civil throne. It was, indeed, at one time thought that prophecy included both ; for the author of the 89th Psalm, after quoting the words of God, "Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me," etc., adds: "But Thou hast cast oft* and abhorred, Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed. Thou hast made void the cove- nant of Thy servant : Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground." (Psa. Ixxxix. 35-39.) David himself knew, at least before his death, that 1 i ill ii'i 572 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. his kingdom that was of this world would cease. This seems further evident from his last words : " Although . my house be not so with God " (or, as Julius Bate ren- dered it, " is not right with God ") ; " yet " (comforting himself with a sure prospect that from him would arise another H r, a perfect Ruler over men, that Son of David whose kingdom should never ^ cease) "He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure : for this is all my salvation, and all my desire." (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) When was Christ to ascend to the throne of His father David ? A plain answer to this question was given by the inspired Peter. The apostle teaches us that Christ, im- mediately after His ascension to heaven, was inaugu- rated as king on the prophetic throne of David. He says that David, " knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh. He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne ; he seeing this before spake of the resurrec- tion oi Christ" (Acts ii. 30, 31) — not of his own resur- rection, " for David is not ascended into the heavens," but of Christ's resurrection, for Christ has been raised, and has been "by the right hand of God exalted." And it was respecting this exaltation of Christ by the right hand of God that David said : " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool." "Therefore," said Peter, " let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye " (Jews) " have crucified, both Lord and Christ " (vv. 34-36). PART VI.— APPENDIX. CHAPTER XXIX. T-rp EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS: (a) 1 COR. VII. U. " Else were your children unclean; but now are they holy." These worrls have often been quoted in con- nection with infant baptism To understand whether they are rightly quoted or not we must examine very carefully the train of thought with which they are connected. Some members of the Corinthian church had written to Paul to make inquiries relating to Christians who were married to unbelievers. The apostle replies that this case was not dealt with by " the Lord " — that is, by Christ — in those discourses which He delivered, and which have been recorded in the Gospels : but that it was a case with which he himself, as an inspired apostle, had authority to deal. Hence his language: "I say" ("I, not the Lord," as Alford translates his words). "If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away" (part from her, n(piETu). "And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him " (part from him, rtr/)/^™) ; though she could do so by the law of the land ; for " by the Greek as well as by Roman customs the wife had the Ill HI ^^' f 'a m W I ii t V. i, : t 574 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. power of effecting a divorce." {Smitit?. Diet, in Alford.) It is important to notice that stress is laid on the circumstance that " the unbelieving one is pleased to dwell with the believing one." Where this was not the case, where the unbelieving party was not pleased to do so, the apostle advised to " let him depart." A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases. " God hath called us to peace," to live in peace. Rather than endanger this peace let him be separated off. Let there be separation from a husband rather than from Christ. But the unbelieving party, when w illing to remain, should not be put away, as already stated. He assigns a reason for this. For the unbelieving hus- band is sanctified" (j^yiaGTai, per. ind. pas., has been sanc- tified) "by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is" (has been) "sanctified by the husband." The sanctification here referred to was effected by man, and did not re- move unbelief. It accordingly did not make spiritu- ally holy, as the sanctifying work of the Divine Spirit does. The meaning, then, must be that the believing party had in prayer dedicated the unbelieving one to God, and had resolved to use friendly intercourse for the purpose of influencing that one to make a personal consecration : for believing husbands or wives who act thus have reason to hope that they may be the means of the conversion of unbelieving partners who are pleased to dwell with them. For this reason they should continue to live with them. It is clearly im- plied that this was the object, for it is expressly stated on the other hand that the reason why believers should ^^m w EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 575 allow the separation of those that desired separation, is, that they had no ground for expecting the conver- sion of those who are so strongly prejudiced against Christianity as to desire a dissolution- of the marriage union. " For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband ? Or how knowest thou, man, whether thou shalt save thy wife ? " He does not say " whether thou shalt not save," but " whether thou shalt save " {ei auaeig, not El /i7) auaeiq). So that the meaning is, as Alford says (after Lyra, Meyer, etc.): Let the unbeliever depart if he is not pleased to dwell with you ; " hazard not for an uncertainty the peace in which you ought to be living as Christians ; for what assurance hast thou, O wife, whether thou shalt be the means of thy husband's conversion ? Or what assur- ance hast thou, O husband, whether thou shalt be the means of thy wife's conversion ? " Now, since he al- lowed separation where there was no hope of conver- sion, it is implied, as already said, that there was hope of conversion wdiere he advised them not to separate ; and that when the believing ones are said to have "sanctified" the unbelieving, the meaning is that they consecrated them to God in prayer, and purposed to continue to live with them, that by kind and Christian influence they may become the means of their conver- sion. The apostle knew, however, that there were at Corinth some Christians who condemned the course taken by such forbearing brethren and sisters; because, in their opinion, believers should in all cases separate i; t I Mi ■ff't III tl !•' !.!:.■ m I 'i'li ill I r fes It r. I m '■:\ 1 ii i i '' 1 ! ' i h^ U^ ilL 570 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. from unbelievers. They knew that the Jews had been accustomed to regard all Gentiles as too unclean for fellowship, so they thought all Christian believers should so regard an unbeliev^ei*, evon if a husband or a wife. To this objection the apostk makes a reply to this effect : If you go by that rule, you should go a good deal farther than you propose to go. If un- belief renders a husband unclean, in tht sense of being unfit to keep company with a believing wife, then, for the same reason, unbelief renders " your children " unclean, unfit to be admitted into your company. "If the one follows, the other follows." (Tlteodosia.) But the objectors were not consistent ; they did not apply their rule to the case of their children and put them away. " But now are they hoh^ " — i.e., you have dedicated them to God, and accordingly admitted to fellowship. If they carried out their own principle they would have regarded their own children as unclean, and " put them away from the very birth without makin"- any provision for their protection, support, or religious education." But they did not do so. They sanctified their children, as the believing husband had done in the case of the unbelieving wife, and regarded them as "holy," as dedicated to God, and to be carefully treated with the hope of their being converted to Him. The apostle said " your children," not their children ; because the parties who wrote to him on the subject were not the parties who had unbelieving partners that were pleased to dwell with them ; " for Paul speaks to the former of the ' ifW I) EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 577 had been iclean tor believers usband or es a reply should go 0. If un- je of being Arit'e, then, • children " company. Theodosia.) ey did not m and put g., you have admitted to principle children as very birth protection, did not do believing eving wife, ,ed to God, Ipe of their ,aid "your arties who ^arties who led to dwell Imer of the e latter. He had just said, * let him not puc her away '; 'let her not leave him.* And had he intended to refer only to the children of such cases, he would have said, ' else were t/ieir children unclean.' " (Rev. J. L. Dagg, D.D.) Hence what the apt :tle wished to show was this, that the principle which the objectors applied to the unbelieving husbands and wives spoken of would, if sound, equally apply to children, and to the children of the objectors, i.e., to children who had two pious parents, as well as the children who had only one. Hence, says the apostle, it would apply to "your chil- dren " and make them unclean. You therefore do not apply to your own case the rule which you apply to the case of others, " else were your children unclean." But you have treated them very differently, for " now are they holy"; you have dedicated them to God, and resolved to train them for Him, and you were right in doing this, though done inconsistently with your own reasoning. Those who admit that unbelieving chil- dren, when dedicated to God, may live with the believ- ing parents who dedicated them, should admit also that an unbelievinnr husband who is dedicated to God may live with the believing wife who has so dedicated him. Such a dedication is an imperative duty, hence it is assumed that it has been attended to, and nothing is said of the case of those who have neglected to do so. The " holiness " ascribed to children was obviously the result of such a "sanctifying" act as was previ- ously spoken of; it was one that was performed by a fellow-creature in obedience to an appointment of 87 1 iMiffi'i 11 ;; 578 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. God. The parents may have performed it when handing their children to an administrator of baptism to be placed in the school of Christ for subsequent instruction ; for under Christianity this is the author- ized mode of dedicatin^ij such to God. But this is not involved in the statement, because this was not done in the case of the impenitent. It is only adults who are so far penitent as to be like teachable children, that may be baptized. But even the impenitent may be dedicated in prayer on their behalf. But the word " holy," taken in the sense here used, does not prove or imply that such children were, or should be, mem- bers of the inner kingdom or Church of Christ. For, as Landells says, " If the holiness of the children proves them to have been in the Church, the holiness of the unbelieving husbands and wives will prove that they were in the Church also. If these were not, nei- ther were those." (Pedobaptist Arg. Exam., p. 9.) As the holiness here spoken of is the result of a human act of dedication to God, to aflBrm that children have such holiness is not inconsistent with the teach- ing of those other texts which show that children are individually born in sin, and individually need the spiritual renewing of the Holy Ghost to fit them for a spiritual church and for the everlasting inheritance. The children were holy, not before, but in consequence of, the sanctifying act referred to. The children were holy, not because they had believing parents, but because such parents had dedicated them to God, and had most probably done so in the ordinance of baptism, M w. EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 179 CHAPTEll XXX. EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS: (6) JOHN III. 5 (HORN OF WATER); (c) TITUS IIL .5 ^WASHING OF REGENERA- TION). The meaning and design of baptism, as presented in the preceding chapters, is manifestly distinct from the theory of baptismal regeneration. This theory, however, has widely prevailed, and on this account is entitled to a careful examination; but no human interpretation, however widely prevalent, can rightly demand uninquiring assent. It is well known that this theory is supposed by different persons to be fairly deducible from certain texts of Scripture that we have not yet examined, but which we now proceed to investigate. The passages which we shall first place before us for this purpose are John iii. 5 — " Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Ex- cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can- not enter into the kingdom of God " — and Titus iii. 5 — " He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." We shall afterwards examine Mark xvi. 16. These texts are in themselves specially important. They do not contain the term " baptism," but the opinion was very prevalent among ancient writers that they refer to Christie baptism, and that they teach the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. Many moderns have adopted these views in part or in 580 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. M whole. An opinion so prevalent has a claim to ex- amination, but cannot claim nnenquiring assent. The opinion is supported, not by the authority of right in- terpretation, but by (1) the authority of antiquity ; (2) the authority of numbers ; (3) the authority of great names. 1. The authorit}' of antiquity is not a sufficient guarantee of truth ; because, as Dr. Carson says, " a thing might be coeval with Christianity, and not be Christian." When Christianity was introduced, wrong opinions and practices were already in existence. Of these many have been perpetuated. Besides, there was an early falling away from the truth as it is in Jesus, so that "the apostles saw the apostasy commence." (Dr. J. BernarJ) "And immediately after the death of the apostles," says a writer quoted by Eusebius, "the conspiracy of error began to discover itself with open face." (Daille in The Fathers, p. 25.) In one respect it seems surprising that this should have been per- mitted; yet that a "portion of mankind should have corrupted the Gospel is not more surprising than that a much larger portion should have rejected it. The mystery of this does not date from the origin of the Gospel, but from the origin of evil." [The teachings of antiquity are sometimes inconsistent and contradictory. The opposing parties have antiquity on their side, but both cannot truly represent primitive interpreta- tion. Therefore, as did the Irish convert in argument with a priest, we appeal from " uninspired fathers to the inspired grandfathers of the Church," — the apos- EXAMINATION OK MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 581 L to ex- it. The right in- lity ; (2) of great sufficient says, " a Ld not be ed, wrong ,ence. Of there was i in Jesus, ommence." the death 3bius, "the with open >ne respect been per- ^ould have than that >d it. The "igin of the teachings of ttradictory. their side, interpreta- argument fathers to I— the apos- tolic men who spoke and wrote " as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." He who undertakes to show the truth of his tenets by their antiquity, ought to make the most ancient writings the most prominent; and ought, therefore, to prefer the writings of the apostles to those that came after them, though it may be at the shortest distance of time ; and much more to those who followed after two, three, or four centuries.] Those who quote ancient ecclesiastical writers as authority for certain opinions are not consistent. They themselves, whether Protestants or Romanists, very frequently set aside other statements of equal antiquity if not suited to their taste. For instance, those who boast that they follow the ancients in reference to bap- tismal regeneration, do not imitate all their usages in administering the ordinance, as for example, their plan of leading the subject naked into the water, and then dipping the head three times; nor do they imitate at- tendant ceremonies, — the clothini^ with white vest- ments, the feeding with milk and honey, and the cus- tom of ordinarily administering the rite only on the eve of Easterday and Whitsunday. Many do not perceive, and hence do not guard against, the ambiguity of the word " antiquity." An old ecclesiastical belief really signifies a belief formed in the infancy of the Church. "The succession of men from one period to another," says Pascal, in a passage which applies as strictly to theology as to philosophy, " should be considered as one man always subsisting, and continually learning." "Who does not see that ^ ,. I. ■■I If,-' 582 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. the old a 'G of this universal man must be souf^ht, not in times nearest his birth, but in those at the greatest distance from it ? They whom we designate old were really young in every respect, and formed properly the infancy of mankind; and as we have combined with their attainments the experience of succeeding ages, it is in ourselves that we find the antiquity which we levere in others." (Pancvd, Thoughts.) "Let our ancestors have all the esteem and gratitude to which they are entitled ; but that esteem is much misplaced if it leads us to follow them in anything in which they have not followed Christ." (Carson, Bap., p. 234.) " You are not of St. Chrysostom's faith, nor St. Augustine's,'' said Dr. Smith to Latimer. He replied, " I am of their faith when they say well, and bring Scripture for what they declare ; and further than this St. Augustine deserveth not to be believed." (Taylor, English Martyrs.) The uninspired understanding of men in ancient days W£LS just as fallible as the unaided luman under- standing of the present day. To put the human rea- son of ancient times in the place of the Bible is a species of rationalism. Cyprian rightly said, " Tradi tion without truth is only antiquated error." (F. W. Farrar, History of Interp., p. 182.) [Hence we con- clude that "the authority of men, though learned and pious, is worthless when set against the authority of God." (J. Stacey, The Sac, p. 17); and that if "Chris- tians submit their reasonings to influence others, these reasonings must be tried by the most rigorous test of truth." (Carson, p. 261.)] EXAMINATION Ot' MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 583 2. The authority of numbers is pleaded by that "strange genus of ecclesiastical humanity that virtually says: All right if we have the majority; but if not, then all wrong." (Spicer.) "A great part of niankind move only with a crowd before them. They do not ask is an opinion right, but is it held by others ; at least they weigh the arguments for it onl}^ by the numbers it has already convinced. They act like sheep : if one jumps over a fence into good pasture they all follow ; but if one jumps overboard into the sea they follow likewise. In the world the greatest part has always been the least reflective." (Daille.) The assertions of thousands may be merely so many echoes of a single assertion hastily made by some wrong-headed indi- vidual. The Romanists plead their majority over the Protestants, and the Chinese plead their majority against the Romanists. Others plead their majority over the Chinese, but they are not therefore right. No theory is right merely because believers in it are more numerous than those who hold a different theory. " The many may be right, but not because they are the many." (J. R. Pitman, in Ingham's Hand-book on Bap., p. 540.) "As a rule the history of the world will show that majorities are in the wrong." (S. Martin, in Ingham's H. on B., p. 540.) " Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil ; neither shalt thou speak in a, cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest judg- ment." (Ex. xxiii. 2, Rev. Translation.) In such a world as ours " truth must not be put on the issue of a popul**" vote. If we cannot acknow^ I I'i T 1 1 i M -< 2 t 1 ii II! 584 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ledge her except in a majority, we must inevitably have gone with the world of the ungodly, and pro- nounced Noah a wrong-headed agitator. How could we have espoused the cause of the Redeemer Him- self against all the dignitaries of the ancient Church, or have taken part with early Christianity when the Jews called it heresy, and the Greeks despised it as foolishness, and the Romans- denounced and drove out its professors as atheists and enemies of the human race, and it was everywhere spoken against." {People's Friend, Oct. 2, 1858, in Ingham, H. on B., p. 540.) 3. They say men of great names are in favour of the interpretation referred to. But this is not decisive. Great names are ranged on opposite sides of many points at issue. Learned men become opponents. But learned opponents cannot both be right. Hence the mere fact that some learned men affirm a certain in- terpretation of a certain passage is no proof that it is correct. The fact that some affirm the opposite is no proof that it is wrong. " What absur.dity is there," says Dr. Brown, " which has not had the support of a learned man?" Learning should be shown, not by its assertions, but by its arguments. The use, by any uninspired man, of " any authority but that of argu- ment, is the essence of popery," says Carson. We want their arguments if they can present any. And when given, w^e want to test them. Without these we cannot know^ whether they gave attention to all the facts and circumstances of the case under considera- tion before forming their conclusions. They may not EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 585 have done so, for " man's power of perception does not resemble a mirror, which must take up all the rays that fall on it ; it rather resembles the living eye, which can open and shut itself, turn itself hither and thither, and can even render itself incapable of seeing the light of the sun." (Ehrard.) For this as well as for other reasons it is harder to estimate the degree of importance that ought to be attached to the bare as- sertions of a learned man than to settle the original question. Good men, as well as learned men, may make inju- dicious assertions and injudicious concessions. Accord- ingly these men, too, are found ranged on opposite sides. Hence their mere assertions or concessions are not decisive. " Men of sincerity and men of God," says Carson, "may be in error as to the meaning of Scripture." (In Ingham, Hand-hook on Bap., p. 355.) "A good conscience is a good thing, but a good con- science may be married to very bad logic." (Carson on Bap., p. 380.) " The exercise of free inquiry may be obstructed by denominational prejudice, even in men who would not for the world recant a truth or sub- scribe an acknowledged error." (Robt. Hall.) It is probably true that the majority of men are less governed by reason than by the authority of great names. But it is also true that an advantage has been taken of this tendency in the human mind. The words of great men have been wrested into a »desired shape, and even fabricated statements nave been put into their books; yea, as Mosheim, the ecclesiastical his- j^E ^m IIP I ■ IS I' 'n-> i'l 586 BAPTISING AND TEACHlNa torian, observes, " a great number of books have been falsely attributed to certain great men," because it was observed that to oppose "illustrious namf^s and re- spectable authorities " to the attack of adversaries was the most effectual way to defeat them. But he who demands that I surrender my judgment to authorita- tive names, " denies to me, and therefore abjures for himself, the right of private judgment." (Guthrie.) " The investigation and defence of truth universally appear to us to demand that mere names and authori- ties be placed upon their proper level. . . . Far be it from us to trifle with the rights and immunities of a well-earned reputation, or in any department — civil, ecclesiastical or literary — to refuse honour to whom honour is due ; but when lofty character in +he walks of authorship, instead of merely commending certain views to respectful consideration, is employed for the purpose of laying an arresting hand on the spirit of free inquiry, it becomes a solemn duty to employ all legitimate means for breaking the spell of mere au- thority, and subordinating the influence of names to the supremacy of truth." (Wilson on Baptism, p. 66.) Bishop Butler says that in his time it was asserted that people of discernment regarded Christianity as no longer *' a subject of inquiry." Had he and^others yielded to this kind of authority, Christianity itself might now be a thing of the past. Had such sources of authority been uniformly heeded, every kind of "epi- demic nonsense " would have been perpetuated ; but w EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 587 true Christianity would now be a thing of the past, having long since ceased to be " a subject of inquiry." Thus neither the authority of time, or of numbers, or of great names can set aside the wisdom and duty of personally investigating the true meaning of the Word of God. [" The Word of God is ' not yea and nay.' It does not accommodate its doctrine to suc- ceeding periods of time, nor to the changing tempers, humours or fashions of place, but, like its Divine Au- thor, it is the same yesterday, to-day and forever." (Archibald Hall, Gospel Church, p. 52, in Ingham, Ha7td-hook on Bap., p. 481.)] The age of thorough and fearless sifting has come, " when ancient traditions, time-honoured observances, venerated creeds and accredited doctrines must all be upheld or rejected just so far as they are found to be in accordance, or otherwise, with the one standard from which there is no appeal." (H. Craik, in Tes. of Em. Peed., p. 2, in Ingham, Hand-book on Bap., p. 489.) Such sifting we do not and need not fear, for it but "signifieth the removing of the things that may be shaken, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain." (Evangel. Repository, 1865 ; T. D. Morrison.) " Prove all things," or " test all things," as Sir W. Hamilton translates the original. This is the counsel of infinite wisdom and the charter of religious liberty. We protest, therefore, in the name of liberty against every kind of human authority that aims to restrict the searching of the Scriptures and to revive the anti- quated maxim, " Believe, and ask no questions." " The i i ' 588 liAPTIZlNG AND TEACHING. im T errors of mankind have been the consequence of de- parting from the ScriMtures. There is no remedy but in returning to the Scriptures." {Dr. W. H. Stowell.) "Fallibility and uncertainty are stamped on every other source of information. We must have the basis of all that we believe and practice in the Word of God itself." {Dr. Innsf^.) " The Bible and that only (inter- preted by our best reason) is the religion of Protes- tants." (Bishop Hurd on Prophecy, Vol. II., p. 217.) The inspired writers are more ancient than the so- called fathers. They are the grandfathers ; let us see what their views were. The words recorded in John iii. 5 were uttered before those in Titus were written. They do not contain the word " baptism." Why should they be supposed to refer to it ? They were spoken before Christie baptism was instituted or any notice given that it would be instituted. Nicodemus, to whom they were first spoken, for these reasons could not un- derstand them to refer to baptism. It was not possi- ble for him to understand it thus, because he had no means of knowing anything about Christie baptism. The Great Teacher, however, tells him he ought to have known what the words did mean. Hence their meaning was wholly distinct from baptism, and may have been understood by a Jew still connected with the Jewish dispensation. Again, if we suppose that the phrase " born of water" meant baptized with water, then to be consistent we should have to suppose that the phrase " born of the Spirit " would mean baptized with the Spirit. If so, it EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 589 would follow that this passage does not teach regenera- tion at all ; for the baptismal work of the Spirit is wholly diiferent from His regenerative work, and ironi His entirely sanctifying work. Christ was baptized with the Spirit, but was never regenerated or entirely sanctified by the Spirit. The apostles were regener- ated before they were baptized with the Spirit, as is evident from their being previously called " true branches in the true vine." On the other hand, if this passage does teach the regenerating work of the Spirit, as it undoubtedly does, then it does not teach baptism with the Spirit ; for, as has been shown in the chapter on Baptism with the Spirit, this is an entirely distinct work. H it does not refer to baptism with the Spirit it does not refer to baptism with water either. The words teach regeneration, but do not assert that regeneration was effected by any rite administered by man. It is admitted that there was no regenerating ceremony under the Jewish dispensation. There was a rite for ceremonial purification, but it used water and blood, or water and the ashes of a heifer, and these were applied by a human sprinkler. But here water and Spirit are spoken of. The clean water was ap- plied by a Divine sprinkler. Nicodemus ought to have known the scripture which says, " I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you," etc. (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26.) I 590 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. This promise obviously meant something other than the old purifying rites, for it makes God the sprinkler, and hence denoted a spiritual cleansing by a Divine agency. There was not merely a ceremonial cleans- ing, but a spiritual cleansing, under that dispensation. And this spiritual cleansing was effected by a Divine agency. In the promise just quoted this Divine agency is represented as doing a twofold work : (I) as cleans- ing from sinful impurity ; (2) as giving a new heart and a new spirit. This we understand to be the two- fold work referred to in John iii. 5 and in Titus iii. 5. In the former passage the cleansing is done by water applied by a Divine sprinkler. The new life is im- parted by the Divine Spirit. Paul when writing to Titus notices this twofold work. He calls one the " washinor of refjeneration " and the other the "renewing of the Holy Gliost " (that is, the washing which is effected by regeneration, and which is very different from the erroneous interpreta- tion which represents regeneration as effected by wash- ing, and the renewing which is effected by the Holy Ghost). Therefore this text does not refer to baptism at all, but to the Holy Spirit, who is the efficient cause of both the cleansing and the renewing. When He regenerates He puts them through a twofold process : (1) a cleansing process, removing impurity ; (2) a re- newing process, imparting purity ; and Go'^ alone can remove the one or impart the other. The children of God are " born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh " (whether of Jewish or Gentile de- mp^ EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 591 scent ; the will cannot, by forming purposes of amend- ment, renew the heart), "nor of the will of man" (acting as the administrator of a religious ordinance), " but of God." God only can forgive sin ; God only can cleanse away sinfulness ; God only can impart spiritual purity and life. We accordingly think that Archbishop Whitgift was right in maintaining that "in John iii. 5 the word ' water ' does not mean the material water of baptism, but represents the cleansing efficacy of the Spirit's in- fluences." (Goode on Bap., p. 238.) Without this a man cannot enter into the spiritual kingdom of God. "But if we understand these words of the water of baptism," says Dr. Robt. Lome, " what shall we say of the Emperor Valentinian, who went to Ambrose, the Bishop of Midiolanum, to be baptized, and was slain in his journey before he came to Ambrose ? Shall we condemn him for want of baptism because Christ said to Nicodemus, ' Except a man be born of water,' etc. ? " {Goode, p. 364.) And shall we condemn all others who have not been ritually baptized, no matter to what the omission may be owing ? To our mind, for the rea- sons which have been presented, the two texts that are now under consideration do not refer at all to the ordinance of baptism, but teach regeneration by the sole agency of God. I had appended to these remarks a pretty full exposition of the need of regeneration, of the nature of it, etc., etc., but want of space has com- pelled me to lay them aside. m, '4 WM l| III 592 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. CHAPTER XXXI. AN EXAMINATION OF MARK XVI. 16. We have examined the great commission recorded in Matt, xxviii. 18-20, and we have interpreted it in- dependently of the words found in Mark xvi. 16, because we saw strong reason for doing so. In the first place, we could not assume without evidence that they refer to ritual baptism at all. "It must be universally admitted," says Dr. Dale, "(1) That the passage does not declare a ritual baptism by ex- press statement. (2) It contains no statement which involves a ritual baptism as a necessary inference. As there is a real baptism with the Spirit as well as a ritual baptism, we should have some reason for saying that it is the one and not the other that is referred to in this * elliptically stated baptism.' " {Christie Bap., p. 393.) If we could find reasons for settling this question, it would be of no practical importance to do so. The baptism referred to is made dependent on conditions which are utterly impracticable in the present age of the world. It makes baptism and salvation dependent in every case on the previous exercise of miracle- working faith, not on justifying faith, as some have erroneously assumed. When we examine the 16th verse in the light of "'-r w EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 593 recorded ited it in- c xvi. 16, e without Ltall. "It /'(I) That sm by ex- lent which rence. As well as a for saying referred to is tic Bap., the closely related context whicli follows it, we see plainly that the faith of which it speaks is miracle- workinj^ faith ; and the miracles are particularly de- scribed. The proof of this statement is very clear. The context referred to says : " And these signs shall follow '■ (TrapaKolovOeiv, shall accompaiiy) " them that be- lieve : In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues " (i.e., languages that had not previously existed, Kaimig y?,uaaig); "they shall take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (vv. 17, 18). This passage places miracle-working faith before baptism. If the former is prerequisite to the latter, the latter is unattainable. If this passage contains the lavv respecting ritual baptism, no one during the last seventeen hundred years has exercised this mir- acle-working faith, hence no one in any denomination during all that time has been rightly baptized. If the order of words in this passage makes the faith spoken of a necessary prerequisite to ritual baptism in every case, the same order makes the same faith equally necessary to salvation in every case. " He that believeth" (with the faith described in the subse- quent context) . . . "shall be saved." If this is the Scripture plan of salvation, then no man during the past seventeen or eighteen centuries has obtained bap- tismal regeneration, if this is what is referred to. And if everlasting salvation is what is meant, then not a single man, woman, or child, in any denomination, 38 * r ir-i ■t J 694 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. during all tlmt time, has been made a partaker of " the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." And no one in the present generation has any reason whatever to hope for the salvation spoken of. To what purpose would it be to preach to every creature a Gospel whose conditions of salvation are such as no creature could perform without super- natural aid of a kind that has been fu'^nished to no one for centuries ? And according to this pas- sage, baptism cannot save the unbeliever. For "he that believeth not," i.e., with miracle-working faith — "whether he be baptized or unbaptized" (Arch. Usher) — " shall be damned " (condemned). Besides, to assert that this passage teaches that ritual baptism is necessary to salvation, is to overthrov/ the funda- mental doctrine of salvation by faith only. One fact will prove by example that ritua! baptism " is not necessary to salvation. The thief who believed on the cross was saved without baptism." (Carson, Bap.^ p. 477.) Again, as the belief spoken of here has reference to salvation as well as to baptism, it cannot rightly be supposed to mean a mere profession of faith ; for a mere profession of faith could not save. This text does not say, "He that professes to believe, and is baptized,, shall be saved." But if it .places faith, and not mere profession of faith, before salvation, it equally places faith, and not mere profession of faith, before baptism. So that if these words be taken as the law of ritual baptism, then the adminis- EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 595 ,rtaker of )h eternal ration has on spoken h to every vation are out super- i*"nished to o this pas- .. For "he rking faith zed" {Arch. Besides, to il baptism is the funda- y. One fact Asm " is not believed on Sarson, Bap., , reference to 3t rightly be faith ; for a .. This text Llieve, and is I .places faith, Je salvation, it Iprofession of lese words he the adminis- trator must have evidence, not merely that candidates profess, but that they really have, miracle-working faith, before he administers the ordinance to them. And the evidence of this, which the context requires, is the working of certain specified miracles. To repre- sent outward profession of faith and submission to an outward ceremony as beino- sufficient for salvation, would expose the candidates to delusion of a most ensnaring and fatal kind. It would lead them " to rest satisfied without any further concern, without faith or piety, to live in the hypocrite's hope, and perish with a lie in their right hand." (Pengelly, Scrip. Guide, p. 85.) Such being the circumstances, it is surely right to point to a fact which may remove the impediment which these w^ords put in the way of salvation. The words which raise this difficulty are part of a series of verses which, in the Revised Version, are " marked off by a considerable space from the rest of the Gospel," and made to assume the appearance of an anonymous appendix. And the following explanatory note is placed on the margin : " The two oldest Greek manuscripts, and some other authori- ties, omit from ver. 9 to the end." Let us look at this significant fact more fully. Fred. H. Scrivener, M.A., in his full collation of the Codex Sinai ticus with the received text of the New Testament, says : " The whole paragraph containing the last twelve verses of Mark is omitted by the united testimony of Codex Sina- iticus and Codex Vaticanus," Now then, united testi- mony on any point is regarded to be very valu- i 596 BAI'TIZING AND TEACHING. I |iH< I,. m If II ■ i' ! il' I able. In the last mentioned Codex the omission is a peculiarly marked one. In it the Gospel of Mark ends with the eighth verse, which is written on the second colunm of the page. The third column is left vacant, " being the only perfectly vacant column throughout the whole volume." {Scrivener.) Tiiis vacancy seems to indicate that the exemplar before the copyist ended here ; that he knew, however, that some other copy did not end here, but had an addition to it which he regarded as an unauthorized addition, and hence would not insert. Further, the Syriac version in the British Museum (" perhaps the oldest and most important of all the versions," says Alford,) does not contain the passage. It omits from verse 8 to verse 17. On the other hand, in the Codex Ver- cellensis, an ancient version made in the fourth century, the passage is found ; but it appears here as an addition made by a different hand from that which wrote the preceding part of the Gospel. About thirty of the later or cursive manuscripts contain the whole passage, but mark it with an asterisk, or append scholia, which throw more or less doubt upon it. (Scrivener.) When entering on this line of remark we are, of course, aware that some good men are greatly dis- pleased with any writer who calls attention to the occasional imperfections of the work of the uninspired transcribers and translators of the Scriptures, lest it should weaken men's veneration for the Scriptures. "But surely," says Dr. J. Brown, "he must be very Ji '. EXAMINATFOX OK NflSAPVMED TEXTS. r»07 r \^ irjnorant who needs to be told that translations " (and the same is true of transcriptions) " are the work of uninspired men, and tlierefore must bear the traces of the imperfections of their authors ; and if any man among us is so deplorably iii^norant as not to know this, it is surely desirable that without loss of time he should be better informed. And I cannot satisfy myself that a Christian teacher acts an honest part who, though he is persuaded the translation " (or version) " he in common with his audience is using, does not in a particular place accurately express the mind of the inspiring Spirit, yet conceals this from them, and leaves them uninformed or misinformed about the mind or will of God in that particular passage, for the purpose of preserving unbroken their undue veneration for the work of great and good, learned and pious, but still fallible, men." (Exposition of Hehreius, Vol. II. p. 354.) In taking Holy Scripture as the rule of faith and practice, we mean Holy Scrip- ture as it came from the pen of inspiration, not as modified by improperly inserted or omitted words or sentences, or by incorrect translation. We unhesitatingly proceed with our remarks. Some ancient writers make no reference to it ; for instance, Clement, Bishop of Rome (A.D. 91-100), and Justin Martyr (flourished A.D. 194). Others notice it to pro- test against it. This protest was made by Eusebius, Bishop of Cesarea (A.D. 315-340). He composed a harmony of the Gospel narratives. A correspondent, named Marinus, proposed to him some questions that i,i 598 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. *■ :fr f-r. fi '; : ' ?) were related to this point. Among them was the following : " How is it that in Matthew the Saviour appears as having been raised up late in the Sabbath, but in Mark early on the first day of the week?" Eusebius replies : " The solution of this difficult prob- lem, may be twofold ; for one man, rejecting the pas- sage itself — the section which makes this statement — will say that it is not current in all the copies of the Gospel according to Mark. That is, the accurate copies determine the end of the narrative at the words of the young man (v. 8); for at this point the end of the Gos- pel according to Mark is determined in nearly all the copies uf the Gospel according to Mark. Whereas what follows, being but scantily current in some, but not in all copies, will be redundant (I.e., such as should be discarded), and especially if it should contain a con- tradiction to the testimony of the other evangelists." {Hort.) A man who admitted the weight of such docr- mentary evidence would see that no contradiction was proved. He would set aside the section that suggest- ed it. But another man may not be willing to admit evidence against anything that is in smy way current in any of the copies ; hence for such persons Eusebius tried to reconcile the statements by altering the punctuation of verse 9. He would put a stop after " was risen," and then suppose that the resurrection took place at the time mentioned by Matthew. Whe- ther this change of punctuation is admissible or not we shall not now discuss, because it is not the point Examination of misapplied texts. 599 before us. The first reply which Eusebius gave to the difficulty was made by others also. This might have been expected, for as Dr. J. Conant says {Sunday School Times, Vol. XXIV., No. 49), "The authority of Eusebius, the historian of the Church, and the most eminent defender of the faith of the Church, was predominant in his own time, and long after. It is but natural that he should be followed by others." He was thus followed by Jerome (flourished 378-420 A.D.) Jerome wrote an epistle to Hedibia to answer twelve queries on biblical difficulties (in A.D. 406 or 407). One of his answers to one of these questions is, " We do not receive the testimony of Mark, which is contained in very few gospels, r 3arly all the Greek manuscripts not having it, especially when it (Mark's testimony) seems to narrate things diverse and con- trary to the other evangelists." This statement was apparently a repetition of that made by Eusebius. Similar repetitions were made by Gregory of Nyssa, and Severus of Antioch, etc., etc. [Jerome inconsist- ently admitted the words into the Vulgate, because they were found in some Latin MSS. ; but twenty- four years afterwards he admitted they were not to be " found in nearly all the Greek MSS."] The state of the case, then, is this : The passage before us is not found in the two best manuscripts now in existence, and is absent also from some of the other manuscripts. In the time of Eusebius, the Church historian (A.D. 270-333), it was absent from the great majority of manuscripts known, directly or indirectly, to him. 1 i '■ ij u i 600 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. And ho expressly says it was absent from " the accu- rate " manuscripts, and was found only in manuscripts which were few in number and were regarded as inac- curate ones. HeMce he concluded and argued that the testimony of this section should be set aside when it opposed the other evangelists. Alford remarks that, "Disputed readings should be judged with reference (1) to external manuscript authority, and (2) internal probability combined." Now, we have shown that external evidence is against it. Tischendorf accordingly rejects it from his cor- rected Greek Text. Alford thinks it must be ad iiii Ki- ted that it was not written by Mark, but " added by some other hand"; and that it must remain "wholly uncertain " whose that hand was. We have also seen that the his/her criticism of internal evidence is against it. Its teaching is wholly at variance with the commission which is recorded in Matthew ; and it is inconsistent with the analogy of evangelical truth. It makes miracle-working faith to be pre- requisite to baptism, and necessary to salvation ; and thereby represents both as unattainable since the age of miracles passed away. It is important to look also at the bad use that has been made of these words by those w^ho have accepted them as part of Mark's Gospel, and who undertake to carry them out to their logical consequences. 1. Some have perceived that this passage makes faith necessary to salvation. This statement, they think, was not made respecting adults only, but chil- EXAMINATION OP MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 601 dren also. If they admitted that children may be saved without faith, they could not consistently oppose their being baptized without faith. They seek consistency, therefore, by denying that the Gospel makes provision for the salvation of children. They on this account sup- pose that there may be some other plan of taking chil- dren to heaven. Dr. Carson takes this position. lie says, " The Gospel saves none but by faith. The Gos- pel has nothing to do with infants. By the Gospel NO INFANT CAN BE SAVED. . . . Were it true that infants could not be saved but by this ' new ' covenant, none of them would be saved" (pp. 173, 215, 216). This statement shows that Dr. Carson grossly mistakes the terms of the new covenant. This covenant, according to the Epistle of the Hebrews, has reference to those who are as yet untaught and unrenewed. Its language is, "I w411 put My laws into their mind, and into their hearts luill I write them." Dr. Carson thinks that children are to be saved by " ANOTHER Gospel." But what did Paul say upon the subject of "another Gos- pel"? "Though we, or an angel from heaven," says he, " preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let fiim be accursed" (Gal. i. 8, 9.) "Yet, to keep departed babes out of hell" {Seiss, pp. 315, 316), "the Baptists are driven to con- jecture that there is 'another Gospel'" But if the revealed Gospel does not teach the salvation of infants, there is no Divine authority to hope for the salvation of a single infant ; nothing but a humanely suggested conjecture that there may in the Divine bosom be un- fll^ k 602 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. ft-- covenanted mercies that may rescue them from the damnation of the unbelieving? Is this fjlimmering rushlight of human conjecture our only substitute for the infinite sunshine of a Saviour's promise ? Does Christ's revealed remedial plan " take in and reach only one half of humanity in every generation "? 2. Some claim that these words are so thoroughly precise that interpreters must exclude those who are not specifically included. They intended by this to exclude children from baptism; but they did not see that it equally follows that they must exclude women as well as children from both baptism and salvation ; because these words speak only of men — " He that believeth " (« TnaTevaac). By this method of interpreta- tion, women, both old and young, are excluded both from baptism and salvation. [The circumstance that faith is mentioned before baptism may not have been intended to indicate the order of thinjis. Romans x. 9 puts confession before faith; yet no one concludes that we must confess with the mouth before we be- lieve with the heart, in order to get salvation.] 3. In Mark xvi. IG the participles Kiarevcag and j3aK- Tiadeig are in the aorist tense, and mean, " he that has once believed, and been once baptized, shall be saved." From this it might be inferred that a momentary act of faith and momentary submission to an outward ceremony, though followed by long years of apostasy, would secure future salvation. 4. This passage in Mark xvi. has misled many to form the opinion that, as Luther expresses it, " No other !:i EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 603 Q from the glimmering bstitute for lise ? Does and reach tion " ? thoroughly )se who are by this to did not see lude women i salvation ; — " He that I interpreta- cluded both istance that t have been Romans x. concludes 'ore we be- ion.] iffof and jSa Tr- ie that has 1 be saved." nentary act an outward of apostasy, ed many to t, " No other E judgment shall pass at the last day than that upon him who hi*th believed, or who hath not believed." (In Stier on Mark xvi. 15-18.) That is, that final judgment is incurred, not by transgressing the law, but by rejecting the Gospel ; or, as Stier says, " That he who is doomed receives his sentence only upon this guilt, that he believed not." (On Mark xvi. 15-18> p, 362.) This makes void the law. Again, if " without the preaching of the Gospel going before, no man can be, or may be, conclusively condemned, then it follows, by implication, that the Gospel must be preached to all ; and that if this has not been done in the present life, it must necessarily take place after death." (Stier on Mark xvi. 15-18.) They thus infer that the economy of forbearance and salvation will extend into the intermediate state; thus denying that the state of probation is termin- ated by death, and after this the judgment. But if the words are spurious this inference is utterly unre- liable. This passage has led others to the conclusion that all who have not heard the Gospel must remain un- saved ; that the heathen are all lost because left with- out the means of salvation. 5. Some, accepting these words as part of the Gos- pel, and therefore as addressed to all n)en and all Christians, "have asked. If so, where is it said that the promised signs which should follow those who be- lieve, referred only to the Christians of the first age?" (In Stier on Mark xvi. 16, p. 372.) Finding no such 1 1 1 1^ i ! i: . ! i Iff trill 604 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. limitation, they have aspired to work miracles. After beinof thus misled some have pretended to work them, and others seem to have sold themselves to Satan to obtain power to exhibit " signs and wonders." 6. If these words are to be assumed as genuine, they make miracle-working to be not merely a privilege of some believers, but an inseparable accompaniment of saving faith in all cases. They thus not only deny the salvation of those who have not such faith, but give a representation of the design of miracles wholly different from that of Paul's. They make them a continual sign for them that believe ; wherean Paul teaches that they are " not for them that believe, but for them that believe not." (1 Cor. xiv. 22.) The first hearers could not try Christianity by its fruits till it had time to bring forth fruit. It could bring forth fruit only in believers. To get the first hearers to believe, therefore, some other evidence had to be presented. They were accordingly convinced by miracles of the Divine origin and authority of Christianity. In these believers were soon seen the fruits of righteousness; and to such fruits all subsequent hearers were to be pointed, and it was to be said to them, " If ye know that God is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him." Miracles, there- fore, were soon allowed to pass away, but these fruits of righteousness were to be for "an everlasting sign that should not be cut oflf." But the passage in Mark xvi. 16 makes miracles the everlasting sign. Its teach- EXAMINATION OF MISAPPLIED TEXTS. 605 ;les. After jvork them, to Satan to s. nuine, they a privilege jmpaniment t only deny 1 faith, but acles wholly ike them a herean Paul believe, but ;.) The first fruits till it g forth fruit •3 to believe, e presented, acles of the V. In these •7 o-hteousness ; were to be If ye know !ry one that racles, there- these fruits rlasting sign age in Mark Its teach- ing, therefore, is here again out of harmony with other scriptures. To these objections must be added the evil use that has been made of the doctrine of baptismal regenera- tion, which some have inferred from this passage. This will be stated in another chapter. The man who cannot fairly set aside these objections cannot pru- dently make this passage the basis of any doctrine, much less a warrant for despising, repelling, or excom- municating all who differ about the topic on which it treats. If anyone should yet succeed in proving that the words were added by proper authority, he will only prove that they were to be a rule of faith and practice as long as the age of miracles lasted. To suppose they were intended to have force to the pres- ent would be to suppose, as already stated, that no one has rightly believed, or been rightly baptized, or saved baptismally or otherwise, since the apostolic age passed away. So that whether this passage be genuine or not genuine, it furnishes no present rule of faith or practice in reference to ritual baptism or everlasting salvation. We think these remarks are abundantly sufficient to sustain the position we have taken re- specting the Royal commission to make disciples of all nations, as recorded in St. Matthew's Gospel, namely, that it must be interpreted independently of the words so strangely appended to the 16th chapter of Mark. No part of the latter can be prudently used to change in any degree the meaning of a sijigle clause or word U^'i — ' l! !| 1 1' 1 1 ;il ■1 il ■' 1 1 • j ii; ; 1 '. \ 1 ' ; l' ■" '. ' : i !' 1 606 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. of the former. We cannot harmonize it with those parts of Scripture which have admitted authority. We must therefore learn the meaning and require- ments of the great commission from the undisputed words in which Matthew has placed it on record, and which in a preceding chapter we have examined care- fully. And the results of that examination we have tried to present clearly, coherently and impressively. m iai -^ '^^ •rm vith those authority, d require- mdisputed record, and [lined care- m we have ipressively. BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 007 CHAPTER XXXII. EXPOSITION OF JOHN III. 5-7: BORN OF THE WATER WHICH IS APPLIED BY THE DIVINE SPRINKLER -OR AS STATED IN TITUS, THE WASHING PERFORMED BY REGENERA- TION-FOLLOWED BY THE RENEWING WHICH IS EF- FECTED BY THE HOLY GHOST. What is the true meaning of this important text ? A short time before the narrative here referred to, Christ had addressed the people collectively. He now shows that He deemed it important to deal with them individually also. The paschal feast had been held, and every Israelite when preparing for this feast had to observe the ceremonial purification of himself and his house. Besides this, Christ had cleansed the Jewish temple by driving out the traders, after protesting against their making His Father's house a house of merchandise, instead of a place for grateful and rever- ential worship. Next comes this conversation about the cleansing of the human soul. The need of this was not superseded by that formalism and external - ism which were the most conspicuous features of the national religion. It was not enough to see the typ- ical temple and to be ceremonially purified in order to enter it for prayer and worship. It w^as necessary to see the kincrdom of God in connection with that temple, and to have the heart purified and renewed i 41' -it*/ .11 .51 P^ hi if . SI m kL 1 ■ ' H 1 i :iiii ^ 11 "' III 1 1'' ' , ■lli'! feHtli^ t^ -L^- ■■■ 608 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. into obedience to the will of God, who is t^ie Ruler in that kingdom. These words, as we understand them, place before us the doctrine of regeneration by the sole agency of the Divine Spirit, as a preparation fur admission into God's inner spiritual kingdom. We propose to reflect intelligently upon the words which present it, and then to present for others the results of such an ex- amination, as clearly and coherently as we can do under present circumstances. Nicodemus was a frequent namo. among the Jews as well as among the Greeks ; but as Meyer remarks, " We know nothing certain of the Nicodemus here men- tioned, beyond what is stated by John in two or three places of his Gospel. He was a distinguished teacher and a member of the Sanhedrim." (John vii. 50.) It providentially happened that Nicodemus wit- nessed som.e miracles which Christ wrought to con- vince the Jews that He was a Divinely commissioned and a Divine teacher. The result was that Nicodemus became convinced that He who wrought them was so commissioned. This conviction was strong enough to overcome his Jewish prejudice against Christ because of His Galilean origin, and because of His being un- schooled by Jewish rabbis, and to induce him to seek a personal interview. The time of his visit is repeat- edly mentioned ; there must be some special reason for his choosing it. (John vii. 50 ; xix. 39.) It is possible that he thus indicated that the prominent men among the Jews had shown a disposition to stand aloof from ^ BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 609 Jesus. He may have thought it wouhl he humiliating for him, a teacher (or rather " the teacher," the specially distinguished and well-known teacher in Israel, and well advanced in years), to appear as a learner at the feet of a Teacher who was young, even if Ho was specially commissioned by God. We have no direct means of ascertaining the moral character of Xicode- mus at this time. Christ when conversinjj: with him mentioned that men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. But He may not have said this with reference to Nicodemus, though His discourses were generally shaped by the person, or scene, or incident that presented itself to Him at the time He was speaking. [It was when Nicodemus came to Jesus by night that it was said, " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John iii. 19-21.) This may account for the fact that the attention of Nico- demus was directed to the need of regeneration.] How did it happen that there was an opportunity to approach Jesus by night ? It is probable that on that occasion, as often afterwards, " the Son of Man had not where to lay His head"; and that on this account he had retired to the Mount of Olives for rest. Nico- demus may have noticed or heard that this was the 39 ,1 610 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. case, and inferred that it might give an opportunity for a private interview. To come even privately to a teacher of truth is better than not to come at all, and "examples of notable in({uirers are worth record- ing." We are told that he addresses Christ as "Rab- bi," though this dignified name wfis not conferred by Jewish authorities. He alf^o frankly admits his initial conviction that Jesus had wrought undoubted miracles; and that such miracles are a proof of a Divine mission ; and he intimates that similar conclusions had been formed by some other witnesses of the miracles. " We know that Thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which Tliou doest, except God be with him." " Nicodemus had only uttered the preface to what he had it in his mind to say; the ques- tion itself was to have followed ; but Jesus interrupts him." {Meyer) The Great Teacher anticipated him, it would seem, by introducing the very subject on which he was chiefly anxious to make inquiry. " In St. John's Gospel," as Bishop Ellicott observes, "our Lord especially appears before us as the reader of the human heart. He accordingly often answers the thoughts rather than the words of the inquirer." {Life of Christ, p. 125.) From the answer of Christ on this occasion we infer that Nicodemus, being a ruler of the Jews, was thinking about the Divine kingdom whose coming was announced to be " at hand." John, the forerunning herald of Christ, had made announcement respecting it in the wilderness of Judea, at a few miles (distance from Jerusalem. He had stated also that n t mum . II BORN OF WATER AND OF THK SPIRIT. 611 oven Jewish hearers needed a preparation for the ap- proaching kingdom. He told them all that they must repent — Jewish birth is not enough, Jewish education is not enough, outward connection with the Jewish Church is not enough. 'Every distinction was levelled. Pharisee and Sadducee, outcast, publican and senri- heathen soldier, were represented as on common ground." {Edersheirn, i., p. 27o.) NicodeiDus may have thought — Is John correct in thus placing them ? Undoubtedly he was ; and the Great Teacher adds, " They must be put on a level in yet another respect." They all alike need to be regenerated in order to enter the kingdom spoken of. Repentance is not enough. Regeneration is needed indispensably and universally. Jesus answered and said, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again" {avofkv, from above), " he cannot see the kini^dom of God." The word nvioOev is somctimes taken in a temporal reference, and translated "anew"; and sometimes in a local refer- ence, and translated " from above." The latter is, per- haps, most in accordance with the usage (verse 31), and general teaching of St. John. (Ellicott, Life of Christ, p. 124.) Edersheim is of opinion that in the fourth Gospel the word avudev has always the uican- ing "above" (John iii. 3, 7, 31 ; xix. 11, 23). {Eder- sheim, i., p. 384.) It means, " a being born of God." And St. John afterwards speaks of this Divine birth. (John i. 13; 1 John ii. 29; iii. 9; iv. 7 ; v. 1, 4, 18.) The meaning is, " Except a man be transformed by God into a right state of heart so as to lead a right y.v^ *•!(■■ I'h- b'i .1 ,.r. m;!t I'm Wl^ 612 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. life, he cannot see the kingdom of God, i.e., as a par- taker of it." Regeneration is not the production of moral agency. Man, even in his imrenev/ed state, is a proper subject of moral government. Man has free-will ; there may be ^'»'eedom to will where there is not power to do. Man has intelligence and con.science. He has it in his power to hear the word which God sent him by His holy prophets. By attending to that word he can see that there is a difference between things material and things spiritual ; that he is related not merely to the former, but to the latter ; that his conduct in that relation to other persons should be regulated by the holy and authoritative law of God. He can see that he is under the highest obligation to obey this moral law ; that obligation to obey supposes that ability to obey is either possessed by nature, as in the case of angels, or obtained by making application to the grace of God ; that in these circumstances each may ask and obtain ability ; that if they have not ability, it is because they have not asked it; that they are responsible, therefore, for the present want of ability. Sinful predispositions are not beyond our control, since we can ask God to remove them and give us right predispositions, and since God will do so if we ask aright. Regeneration does not consist in the production of repentance. Repentance precedes regeneration. Let us look at the reason for making this distinction be- tween repentance and regeneration. The natural mind BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 613 is enmity to God. Under the influence of this enmity man has formed wrong views of God's character, and of the service which He requires, and the ends He wishes us to aim at. Now, the misrepresentations of enmity may be removed by a different process from that which is necessary to remove the enmity itself. The misrepresentations of enniity may b6 removed by the teaching that leads to repentance ; the enmity it- self is removed by regeneration. Regeneration does not consist in the production of faith. Regeneration follows faith, and therefore does not precede it, or produce it. " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Repentance and faith are effected by the truths which give a rijjht conception of what we are, of what God is, of what we ought to be. The truth furnishes the materials for consideration, and when we give that consideration, the Spirit makes it effectual in persuading us to re- pent and believe. Repentance and belief are produced by the influence of truth. But regeneration is effected by the direct and immediate agency of the Divine Spirit. A holy character is necessary in order to ad- mission to heaven. By nature we have not this holy character, and we are unable to produce it within our- selves. Hence we must be born from above if we would enter this kingdom. Regeneration introduces into a new world — " Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new." The world no longer appears as a place to find carnal pleasures or to get gain, but as a place in which rriF 9 . l' Hi yi 1^ ill »t il^^ It 1 ■. m^ iii 614 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. to love and serve God, and to promote the best inter- ests of our fellow-beings — a place in which the king- dom of God has been established, and is to be honoured and obeyed. Men need especially two things " light and love." Light as to the true character and excellency of God ; light as to the true nature of holiness and sin ; light as to the use which should be made of this world — that it is a place to do good in, rather than a place to get rich in, and find pleasure in ; light as to the world to come, where the occupations are all holy, and the treasures sure and unfading. These may be ob- tained from the Word and convincing Spirit of God. But we may have light without love, and love is obtained only from the regenerating agency of the Divine Spirit. Regeneration is the production of love — love to our Creator, Redeemer, and Benefactor ; love to the breth- ren (1 John iii. 14); a love to obey the law and do righteousness (1 John ii. 29) ; an aversion to sin, so that we do n t commit it (1 John v. 4); a zeal for holy activity. Regeneration is the production of love as an abiding predisposition, not as a transient act. This predisposition inclines us to active love when our thoughts are directed to Him ; but not otherwise, for we never feel about any thing that we do not think about. Without some exercise of the intellect there is no exercise of the affections ; as the one attends, the other feels. For this reason the first holy exercises after regeneration are not in all cases the same. The BORN OF WATER AND OP THE SPIRIT. 615 thoughts of different persons are not immediately directed to the same objects and truths, but to different ones. One person thinks of the love of God towards him, and feels filial gratitude and love to Him. An- other person thinks of the brethren, and feels fraternal love to them. Another thinks first of unconverted friends, and feels compassion for them, and a desire to win them to Jesus. When our hearts are right, right thoughts will awaken right feelings. Again, this predisposition, like other predispositions, does not manifest itself directly to our consciousness when we are not giving attention to their related ob- jects. Hence it could be changed by the regenerat- ing Spirit without our being conscious of it at the moment. If regeneration were the production of a volition, or of a particular feeling, or of an action, we would be immediately conscious of it. But it is not such. It is the production of a predisposition to right thinking, feeling, and acting in reference to spiritual and Divine things. We get the former before we exercise the latter. A predisposition of this kind is something new to man in his natural state, hence its production is sometimes called a " new creation," or a " new birth.'' And as it takes place after a natural birth, it is called a regeneration or second birth. The Spirit can produce in us good predispositions by an immediate act. We need not wonder that He can do this, when we ourselves can form predispositions of another kind by frequently repeating certain acts. The good predisposition given by the Spirit may b« i / 'A 1 : : 1 (I ^ : ' irill !' : 1 f H 1 1 . t ii t III"' iiilM'^ ■i: !■'*■ =1 1} i 11^: II It ill , ! I i f;; ; 616 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. confirmed by our acting in accordance with it, thus " perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord "; and it may, on the other hand, be weakened by our refusing or neglecting suitable action. Regeneration, as we have said, imparts a disposition to love God ; but that disposition is not at first capable of love in the highest possible degree. It admits of growth, and that forever, because there is no perfec- tion of degrees. To love God is one thing; to love Him more than we love any or all things else is another. Regeneration gives the former ; entire sanc- titication imparts the latter. It enables us to love God with all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength ; and therefore more strongly than we love any or all things else. Still, regeneration enables us to love God, and will enable us to render acceptable obedience to a certain extent. When we rightly estimate the re- quired change we can then estimate aright the power requisite to accomplish it. God only could effect such a change as we have spoken of. Regeneration pre- cedes obedience to the law of holy commandments: " I will give them one heart, and I will put a new Spirit within them ; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh ; that they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them." Thus principle precedes practice and prepares for it. And here we admire the plan of the Gospel. "To make the fruit good it makes the tree good; to cleanse the stream it purifies the fountain. It renews the nature, and the life becomes 1"! in 1 1 1 BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 617 :h it, thus d " ; and it ir refusing disposition rst capable t admits of no perfec- 12 ; to love ngs else is entire sanc- tolove God d strength ; 3 any or all to love God, Bdience to a ate the re- the power effect such ration pre- andments : pat a new itony heart .rt of flesh ; keep Mine e precedes admire the ,d it makes lurifies the Ife becomes holy of course." (Jay.) " The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth." Let us never lose sight of the test that " by their fruits ye shall know them." It is not that you hear and are delighted ; it is that you hear and do. " This is the ground upon which the reality of your religion is discriminated now ; and on the day of reckoning this is the ground upon which your religion will be judged, and that award be passed upon you which will fix and perpetuate your destiny forever." (Dr. T. Chalmers.) The T::oral and spiritual change which is wrought in man by the Spirit of God is called by Christ a " gener- ation," because it produces in man a likeness to God's true, holy, and righteous moral character. Hence men are said to be " born of God," and are called " the chil- dren of God." If this term were used alone, unwarranted infer- ences might be drawn from it. Hence other terms are sometimes used, which remind man that he is but a creature of God. On this account the change referred to is called a " creation." " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature." He is said to be " created in Christ Jesus unto good works." But the use of the previous term, namely, " generation," confers more honour upon man. " He begat us that we should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures." These terms, however, were not intended to assert the production of what had previously no existence of any kind. To prevent an inference of this kind the :Mi ill i 618 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. change wrought is at other times called a "regenera- tion," and a " renewal " — a restoration of fallen man to the original image in which he was created, bringing man back into conformity to the original idea of man in the Divine mind. Other terms indicate that the change may not be completed at once. The process may include two stages T-sanctification and entire sanctification. And the latter of these still leaves room for growth, for being " changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Christ differed widely from those contemporary teach- ers who, under the influence of Jewish traditionalism reduced their dispensation to a system of externalism which employed outward things that could affect the outer man only. But Christ knew that as the Divine law addressed itself to the inner man — to man as a moral being, to his heart and conscience ; and as the spring of all moral action is within, so the power that can renew man must act within. " Not from without inwards, but from within outwards ; such was the principle of Christ's teaching. . . . There is nothing from without the man that, entering into him, can defile him ; the things which proceed out of the man, those are they that defile the man." (Edersheim, Life of Christy ii., p. 22.) And accordingly the agency that can renew him must act on what is within him, not on his outward frame. The Jews commonly and firmly supposed " that all Israel had part in the world to come, because of their connection with Abraham," BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 619 , " re genera- alien man to ied, bringing idea of man ate that the The process and entire J still leaves ato the same the Spirit of iporaryteach- iraditionalism if externalism )uld affect the as the Divine -to man as a ;e ; and as the e power that from without mch was the re is nothing nto him, can of the man, ersheim, Life e agency that ,hin him, not immonly and in the world ith Abraham," or with the people of God, the Jewish Church. " Juda- ism had no conception that a spiritual renovation was necessary to fit them for the duties of God's spiritual kingdom." {Edersheim.) But Christ affirmed that it was indispensably necessary — " Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "The Holy Spirit is able so to act. He possesses the attributes of personal existence, intelligence and agency, and is associated with the Father and the Son in conferring Divine blessings." (Hamilton, Conipend of Baptism.) To hope for regeneration by Him is not to expect an effect without a sufficient cause. It can effect an inward change, a supernatural change, a twofold change, removing sinfulness and imparting holiness. This twofold change is denoted by being " born of water and Spirit." " The words being with- out the article are first used generically. But there is a more definite allusion made in the next verse to the concrete term, * the Spirit.' " (Meyer.) This twofold state reappears in the subsequent expressions, " born of the fiesh " and " born of the Spirit." Those who have been born of the flesh need the washing to remove moral impurity. They need to have also the fife of holiness that is given to those who are born of the Spirit. Natural birth, indeed, can introduce us to natural things, and give us capacity to see them and to have desires and aversions, hopes and fears, sorrows and joys, respecting them ; and to engage in corresponding i^l W:i 620 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. labours and pursuits. But there must be a spiritual birth to introduce us to spiritual and Divine things, making us capable of difjcerning their surpassing im- portance and glory, and making us capable also of feeling spiritual desires, affections, hopes, joys and sympathies, and of engaging in spiritual service and obedience. Nicodemus seems to have thought that it was, at all events, unreasonable to demand so great a change in persons who have become bound by long-standing and confirmed habits. " How can a man be born when he is old ?" — when he is an old man, like me ? The require- ment seemed to be, in his case, utterly perplexing. Hence he thinks that another meaning of the word avuffev may be the intended one ; that it may here mean " again," and not " from above." He replies as if Christ used this word with reference to time, and not to place — as if He meant a repetition of natural birth by Jewish parents. But this, too, seems equally impossible. " Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born ?" He thinks he cannot. But Jesus did not mean this kind of birth. " Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Christ repeats the assertion that man needs regen- eration, but states that it includes a twofold opera- tion. He needs to have impurity cleansed away, and purity imparted. If a thing that was inwardly pure was outwardly defiled, by some accident, washing may BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 621 be sufficient. But man is not only defiled but im- pure, hence a twofold process is necessary in his case. As already observed, Paul, when writing to Titus, ^ives a similar twofold view of this subject. He calls it the " washing of regeneration " and the " renewing of the Holy Ghost." " Observe," says Sutcliffe, " that the apostle speaks of a recjeneration that washes, not of a washinc: that regenerates." As, from the structure of the following clause, it is evident that " the renewing of the Holy Ghost" means the renewing which the Holy Ghost accomplishes ; so, in the preceding clause, " the wash- ing of regeneration " means the washing effected by regeneration. The washing and the renewing are equally effected by the operation of Divine saving power — "He saved us." It was God that saved by the twofold process referred to. A twofold work has to be done — to cleanse and to renew. (1) He has to remove the indifference, the ingratitude, the enmity to God, that is not subject to the law of God, but is the source of wrong feelings, and hence of wrong thoughts respecting God, His law, and His people. (2) He has to impart the disposition to love our Divine Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer ; to wor- ship Him, to obey His law, to hold fellowship with His children, and to co-operate with them in promot- ing the interests of His kingdom. The washing is effected by regeneration, and therefore by the God who saves us. The renewing, too, is effected by the Holy Ghost. " h:m Ifl li!' ' m;i :'i 622 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. God had promised : " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your fjlthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you," etc. (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 2G) ; and Nicodenuis ought to have known the existence and meaning of this promise. "There was no regenerating ritual under the old economy," says Dr. Halley ; " but were no persons then recjenerated ? Is regeneration a blessing which no Jew, no patriarch, no prophet, enjoyed ? Is it more than the righteousness of faith which Abraham attained ; more than the Divine communion of Moses, the rapturous devotion of the Psalmist, the evangelical spirit of Isaiah, and the sanctity of the ancient mar- tyrs, of whom the world was not worthy, could ever attain ? If they entered heaven without regenera- tion, what is the worth of a grace which is not a quali- fication for entrance into glory ? " But if they re- ceived regenerating grace immediately and directly from God Himself, why suppose that under Chris- tianity God would do — through rites and ceremonies — what even under Judaism He had done without. It was " God that saved." It was not the adminis- trator of a ceremony and God conjointly. When God said, " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you," He did not mean, " I will get men to sprinkle it." When He added, " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you," He did not mean that He would do it by man, or conjointly with him. It is not man who saves us by baptizing us. It is God BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 623 who saves us by a regenerative washing and a Divine renovation. " We are saved by a washing such as regeneration effects, and a renovation such as the Holy Ghost effects — the regeneration being no less the work of the Holy Ghost than the renovation." (Ghr. Bap., p. 380.) The new creation is a more difficult work than the original creation. " The gift of being to nothing- ness meets no obstacle. To give new being and life to that which is corrupt, perverse, reluctant, opposed, wayward, and wilful, is a work wholly against obsta- cles." (Hudson, Future Life, p. 402.) From other passages we learn the " power " (e^ovmav, privileged permis.sion) "to become the .sons of God" is given to them that receive Christ, " even to them that believe on His name." And those who have received this permission are made the sons of God by the re- newing agency of the Spirit, and by this only ; for it is added, " Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John i. 12, 13.) "We are not born of blood." By nature none are good, no, not one. Tiiere is even no germ of holiness that may be developed by natural means. " We are not born of the will of the flesh." Regeneration is not effected by volition of the human will. No man can change his own disposition. No change of purpose can regenerate the soul. The will has directive power over the faculties ; taking them as they are, it cannot change their predispositions or their nature. The tree must be made good before it can bring forth good fruit. As sin is something more £ ■! 3;: V :l I 624 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. than a series of sinful volitions, so holiness is some- thing more than a series of holy volitions. Regenera- tion does not consist in being willing to do what God requires. Paul said, " To will is present with me ; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans vii. 18.) There is a wide distinction between freedom to will and power • to do. The former is pro- duced by repentance, the latter by regeneration- Regeneration is preceded by acts of volition or of purpose, which are connected with the repentance that precedes regeneration, and by prayer, which is the natural language of the sense of helplessness. We are not born "of the will of man." No fellow-man can regenerate us. He cannot do it by instructing us, by reasoning with us, nor can he do it by administer- ing a ceremony and repeating a prescribed or conven- tional form of words. " But of God," who acts on the soul that is placed in His hands as the potter acts on the clay when moulding it into the desired shape, and fitting it for the intended purpose. Regeneration is not produced by our own feelings or emotions. It is not by a moral earthquake, but by the Spirit's gentle power. Regeneration is never produced in the human heart by moral suasion — i.e., by the mere influence of truth and motives, as the Pelagians affirm. If truth were the medium, dying infants could not be regen- erated. It has been well remarked that " it is an instructive fact that the Great Teacher gave special prominence to the need of regeneration when addressing those liOHN OF WATKK AND (>K TIIK Sl'llMT. (\2r-> jss is some- Uegenera- what God b with me; 1 find not." Dion between )riner is pro- regeneration- olition or of )entance that vhich is the less. Jo fellow-man nstructing us, w administer- ed or conven- 10 acts on the jotter acts on •ed shape, and veneration is riotions. It 1^ [spirit's gentle in the human ■e influence of Inn. If truth not be regen- I an instructive i\ prominence Iressing those who helonijed to tlie most monil nnd host (Mlucjitcd classes of men." To Nicodenius, tlie teacher of Israel, he said most enpliatically, "Marvel not tliat 1 said unto tkee, Ye must be horn again." He afterwards said to the young man who kept all tlie cominand- nients of the second tahle of the law fr(;m his youth up, " One thing thou lackest," etc. "Except" (rig) "any one" of the human race. In the original the word "man" {nvfiiM-in;) is not here expressed, nor is the idea of adult age implied in the word employed. " Except any one " — young or old, though of Jewish parentage and having outward con- nection with the Jewish religion, even an educated, cultured Jew, he needs to be born from above. The Jews helieved that a person might be changed from the state of a heathen to that of a Jew ; but some of them could not suffer themselves to think that a Jew could be changed to a higher state. Nicodemus was of this class. But Jesus corrects this proud mistake : "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born a^^ain." Here the emphatic word is " ye " — ye Jews as well as yonder Gentiles. He does not say "we must be born again." " Our Lord did not, could not, say this of Himself." {Alford.) Jesus was not born of the flesh in the same manner as others, and hence did not need to be born of the Spirit at all. But He says it of all the rest of the Jews as well as of all the Gen- tiles. Without regeneration, birth, privileges, personal talents or efforts are ciphers. They signify nothing unless regeneration be the figure put before them," 40 f li ''I i 62G BAPTIZING AND TEA.CII1XG. J ■ I!' >^- Nicodemus may have belonged to that class of per- sons who do not admit the doctrine of regeneration because they do not see the need of it. They do not see the greatness of the chani»;o that is required ; h ice they do not see the need < f Divine agency to aci- jnplish it. Some think th"- / do not need so great a ci.j^ge because they are r. jt inclined to commit every bin. But no man h no inclined. Some are not disponed to be misers, because they are spendthrifts ; others d^ not wish ^o be openly profane, because they are hypocrii/c , ...uers do not follow certain sins, be- cause they are too cowardly or too lazy to do so. That they keep from such sins, from such causes, is no virtue, no credit. The need of regeneration does not arise merely from some defect in the conduct of man towards his fellow-man. Some unrenewed men have few defects of this kind. Their self-love is not wholly detached from love to their neighbour. Some un- renewed men are kind and hospitable, true and just and honourable in their dealings. Men who pursue the same calling are so dependent one on another that they cannot accomplish their purposes without the observance of common laws. Hence many observe strictly the laws of honour among themselves and the laws of honesty, and abhor unfaithfulness in these matters. Even thieves and pirates have their laws of honour with respect to each ( ther. But those conven- tional rules are based on sellish principles and are of limited range. In matters tl'-.t lie beyond these they can act dishonourably, meai^-, avariciously, lewdly, BORN OV WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 627 ass of pev- weneration They do s required ; 5 agency to ed so great to commit ome are not pendtbrif ts ; )ecause they )ain sins, be- 5y to do so. causes, is no ,ion does not iduct of man id men bave not wholly Some un- rue and just who pursue another that without the lany observe jlves and the ess in these their laws of ,bose conven- les and are of id these they lusly, lewdly, IS and violently. They can excuse these inconsistencies, or vindicate them by calling evil good. (v. Bromley on Rom. V. 10.) Their self-intvU'ested and partial goodness is not enough : " For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye ? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, wuat thank have ye ? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye ? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again." (Luke vi. 32-34.) So that depraved and selfish sinners may observe some laws of honour and of commerce, and yet in other matters manifest selfishness and wickedness, and therefore need regeneratir •. They may be even uniformly kind and just to fellow-beings, and yet not love and obey God. I think it is Dr. Chalmers who asks, " Might not friendship perform its services, and patriotism earn the gratitude of its country, and honour maintain itself entire and nntainted, and all the softenings of what is amiable, and all the glories of what is chivalrous and manlj'-, blend in one etlulgenco of moral accomplishment" around men w!io are without love to their Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer ? They may in public occa- sionally " give God their compliments, but daily and uniformly they give the world their hearts." It may be that they treat God with utter inditlerence, and are fully inclined and contented to remain in this un- loving and reltellious state. This sense of guilt and danger can be fully produced : ■;' • ir V 'If '' 1 • ^' ': 'V ! 1 f'=l: ii 628 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. only by fully maintaining the holiness and sacredness of the law. The law being designed to produce con- viction of sin in the soul, in order to prepare it to re- ceive the Gospel and love a spiritual Saviour, it could not answer these ends fully if it were less holy; it could not answer them at all if it were unholy. The soul could not feel guilty Or in danger for what the law does not condemn. But the law, being the will of a holy and unchangeable God, cannot become unholy or less holy; it remains perfectly holy, and thus sin by the commandment becomes exceedingly .sinful, and the least sin in the soul is discovered. And when the in- fluence of the justice of God has thus convicted him of guilt and danger, and of inability to free himself, he is prepared to feel and respond to the intluence of the grace of God which proposes to pardon sin and to renew the heart. When we speak of the need of regeneration we look chiefly at the conduct of men in their relation to God. By examining man on this side we find proof that all have belonged to one fallen family. There is no un- renewed man who admiringly, adoringly, obediently loves the holy and true God. Even those of them who are studiously friendly to fellow-men do not de- sire to please God. Of some of these you may perhaps say that God is the only being they do not care to please — at least, the only one they treat with cold in- difference, with studied neglect. They mark Him out as the only one to be intentionally disregarded. They forget Him easily and frequently ; they are ready to I ; ( ■ BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 629 ^acreflness )duce con- •e it to re- ir, it coui. ■ 1 1 I Ml I ; i 1 ., , Ij ; ! • 1 .(' .i .\ ■ :j .;;-■■. 1 • i i Jii. >^ !■ L yiHnl L^ i 1* li ;: 1 630 HAPTIZING AND TEACHING of the flesh needs to be born again of the Spirit, in order to be fit for a spiritual kin,f,nloin. " That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and tliat vvhicli is born of the Spirit is spirit." The words "' flesh " and " spirit " are here used in a theolocrical, not in a physiological, sense. " * Flesh' and ' spirit/ in the physiological sense, are the prope*. constituents of man. It is no sin in the good man to have ' flesh' in this sense. It is no virtue in the bad man to have 'spirit.' " But in the theological sense "flesh" means that sinful predisposition that is derived by hereditary descent from fallen Adam — that aversion to a holy God and to His holy law and His obedient servants, and that preference for seliish grati- fications and interests, which characterize man's unre- newed mind. This is called "flesh," to indicate that, like the body of flesh, it is the result of hereditary descent. There is a hereditary predisposition to sinful thoughts, words and acts. And this predisposition cannot be changed except by the regenerative power of the Spirit. Outside changes may be effected without the two- fold process connected with regeneration ; but out- ward reformation does not supersede regeneration. " When the fault is in the foundation of a house, it cannot be mended by plastering or roughcast." " If the works of a watch are out of order, it is of no use to be continually setting the hands ; they will soon be wrong again. You must go to the watchmaker and ask him to repair the interior mechanism. So it is of little use for a vicious man to be now and then attempting fiORN OI WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 031 3 Spirifc, in [hat which 1 is born ot' nd " spirit " [lysiological, otrical sense, no sin in the , is no virtue te theological sition that is Adam— that law and His sellish grati- e man's unre- iudicate that, of hereditary ition to sinful predisposition jrative power some little reformation in outward conduct ; he must pray for the renewal of his heart." (Salter.) Whc^n a man gets a right view of the greatness of the cliange to be wrought, he will see the need of coming to the Divine agency that was appointed to accomplish it. The doctrine of regeneration by the Spirit aston- ished the aged Nicodemus. But Christ said, " Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." You must be ; and not merely you yourself, but your Hebrew br::thrcn and your fellow-men, no matter what their nationality, rank, or office. Some have denied the need of so ijreat a chani^e as regeneration, because they think that to admit the need of this would assume that the essential sub- stance of the soul is wrong, and that if this were so, the Divine Creator would be the author of sin. They contend, therefore, that wrong can be found only in the conscious acts of the soul, and that a change of acts is all that is neces ;.iry. Their error arises from supposing that sinfulnt s.-, can be attributed only to the substance, or to the rx'K'i of the soul — that there is nothing else in man to which it could be attributed. But there is something else in man — there is a pre- disposition to sinful acts. This predisposition is not found in his acts merely, for he has it when not acting. It is not found in the essential substance of the soul, for it was introduced by means of Adam, who could not change the essential substance of the soul. Adam, by one act, induced a predisposition of a sinful kind, in some such way as we ourselves, by oft-repeated •I I' ()82 HAI'TIZINCi AND TKACHINO. It ■ •J . m II acts, can form preLlispositioiis of another kind — those predispositions which we call habits. Man cannot chaiii^e the substance of the soul, but he can form habits. The man who has formed habits has them wlien not actino- as well as when he is actinsf. We find then, in fact, that besides the substance of the soul and its acts, there are predispositions to act. Those predispositions whicli we have by hereditary descent from Adam may be called a disease of the soul. It does not form part of the essential nature of the .soul. If it did, God the maker of our spirits would be the author of sin. It was acquired by the conduct of Adam and transmitted to his descendants. Those predispositions which are received in this way cannot be removed by any personal act of our own. There are some natural healing processes in our bodily organization, but there are none in our souls. They, however, are not beyond control, when we can ask God to remove them and" to give us right dispositions, and when God will do so if we ask aright. He can, in answer to prayer, remove the predisposition to sin, and give a predisposition to holiness. He can produce this disposition immediately. We need not wonder at this when we ourselves can produce other predisposi- tions of the same kind. The good disposition given by the Spirit may, however, be confirmed by man's own acts, thus 'perfecting holin38s in the fear of God," or it may be wea-vened by neglect. Some deny that there has been any fall of the race. Thev take the iji'ound that the moral constitution of 111 BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 638 man is as good as the nature of finite free agency will allow; and that a process of sinning is indispensable to a finite free agent. "They forget that if man must sin because of his finite character, then the idea of sin and responsibility is destroyed." {E. Beecher.) If an entrance into sin is necessary in order to give room for a self-conscious return to good, then, as Ma^hler observes, " evil itself is exalted into goodness." Evil, however, is not necessary to develop finite minds. This is plainly shown by the case of the unfallen angels. Some, forgetting or denying the fact that we are descended from fallen parents, argue on the assump- tion that we are new-created beings. And then they proceed thus : " The principles of honour and right demand that the Creator confer on new-created beings natures in a normal and well-balanced state, tending to good, and needing only development in a natural direction. Since God is honourable and just, it fol- lows," they say, *' that He does confer on all new-born minds such natures;" and that they only need devel- opment and culture, and that teaching and exhorta- tion are the only aids that are requisite for this end. Nicodemus may have fallen into this error. Dr. Chal- mers once based his ministerial efforts on the latter part of this theory. He held up before his congrega- tion the meanness, the villainy, the injuriousness of sin ; the beauty, the excellency, and utility of holiness. For twelve years he eloquently presented such con- siderations and motives before one contxrejjation. But a I. Ii mm 684 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING, his efforts were an admitted failure. He tells us ho never ascertained that " all the vehemence with which he urged the virtues and proprieties of social life had the weight of a sinii'le feather on the moral habits of his hearers." He began to reflect that during that time he omitted to point them to the atoninij work of Christ, and the renewinfj work of the Spirit. He apprehended that this omission may ac- count for his failure, and judged that he had better try in future the Gospel methods. He did so, and soon witnessed great success, and came to the ronclu- sion that "to preach Christ is the way to ]II r 'i I I i' i i !H lilt I 11 itii m fi 636 liAI'TIZlNO AND TKACHINO. as received Him, to them ujave He power" (piivilej^ed right) ■' to become the son.s of Goi'. even to them that believe on His name." Those wlio hear the promise made to the praying penitent i)elieve; those who be- lieve are re^ nerated by tlie Spirit in answer to pray- ing faith, ..lie promise is, " Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." The Holy Spirit does not force the will to submit the soul to be regenerated. He does not destro}^ or manacle the will. There is a scripture which says : " Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power"; but there is no scripture which says they shall be iiufle willin*,'. To make willing without motive or reason would be to produce an anomalous action of the will. The preparatory willingness may be produced by motive or reason, but the subsequent regeneration is not effected by motives, but by the Spirit. " If to save was to make willinij, what would be the wisdom of saying 'All men may be saved if they will.' It would mean all men may be saved if they are saved. And, on that supposition, the invitation * Whosoever will, let him come,' would mean * Whosoever is regenerate, let him come.' " In the preceding repentance, faith, and prayer, the soul is active, and beseeches God to do for it what it cannot do for itself, and what no fellow-being can do for it. In the duties which follow regeneration, the soul is again active in all holy exercises ; but at the instant that regeneration takes place, no will operates but that of God. BORN OF WATEIl AND OF THE SPIRIT. 037 " The author or efficient cause of reireneration is God. The power of God concerned in regeneration is supeinatural, as compared with the power of any cre- ated a<^ent ; as above the p'lwer of any law of nature, or natural efficacy of truth atid motive, in the ordi- nary operation of cause and efiect, natural or moral ; as distinguished from the stated operations of Divine power." (Beecher, ViewH on Theology, pp. 200-202.) It is an interposition to accomplish a change in the atiections of men which never takes place without Divine agency. "The truth is, it is this supernatural agency promised in the Scriptures which chietiy dis- tintfuishes the Christian religion from all other reli- gions. These other systems may be considered under two general divisions : (1) Paganism, and (2) Natural Religion (Deism, etc.). Paganism, perceiving the uni- versal depravity of man, and being ignorant of any remedy, tolerated what it could not cure, and allowed, na}', even embodied in its religious services, the vilest indidgences of passion and appetite." " Natural reli- gion seeks to remove sinfulness by prescribing obedi- ence to a holy and perfect rule of life ; but it offers no supernatural aid to enable man to keep those rules, and hence requires impossibilities. It is the Egyptian requiring the full tale of brick without the straw. It counsels compliance with Divine requirements with- out the aid of r'^generation ; it offers pardon without an atonement, and salvation without an adequate Saviour." Christianity alone offers supernatural aid to " make the tree good that the fruit may be good ?. '.i i r 0' |! U' ttll \W4 ii I: I 638 l{APTlZlN(i AND TEACHING. also." A true form of Christianity shows that this aid may be obtained by callini,' on tlie name of tlic Lord, and tells how to call so as to obtain this salva- tion. God does not regenerate us irrespective of our concern about it — irrespective of repentance, faith and prayer. God deals with man as a free ai^ent in carrvino; out the plan of salvation. He does so by using Divine influence only in inclining nian to be willing to be saved, and to pray for salvation; for influence can accomplish this consistently with man's free agency : and God employs Divine power only where there is willingness to receive and prayer to obtain what that power confers. The Divine influence is not suflicient for regenera- tion, but it is suflficient to incline to prayer for regen- eration. We do not say that when God gives this common Divine influence He does no more," but leaves it entirely to the human will to decide whether re- generation shall be obtained or not. We say that for the man who prays He does do more ; for the man who does not pray He does not do more. If without any preliminaries God brought out His supernatural power, and used it to make man " cease resistance," to force him to be willing to be saved, in- vincibly to impart faith, and irresistibly dictate prayer as well as to do what has been so prayed for, "it would be manifest that such operations would not be adapted to man's free agency, and that its results would not be the acts of man's own agency. Enforced HORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 039 \villin<^ne.ss is not willingness. Forced prayer is not prayer. It is a contradiction in terms. Why bring in t 3 semblance of free agency among the results of a power distinctively Divine ? If we admit that man is a free agent, and that God deals with him as such, then we must say, Divine influence inclines man to pray, and human prayer inclines Divine power to act in conferring what has been prayed for. We have seen that man's fallen condition is such as to require the forth-putting of a power distinctively Divine, in order to change it from an un regenerate into a regenerate state ; and that, in putting forth this renewing power, " God does for the saved man what He has not done for the man who is not in a state of salvation." But this doctrine has been held by both Arminians and Calvinists. Some Calvinists have thought that this is peculiar to Calvinism, and "the essential germ of Calvinism, from which the whole system can be developed. For instance, they ask : * Why does the Divine 'power regenerate one man and not another'? To them it seems that the only reason is, that there was election in the one case, and that there was not in the other ; though they are unable even to conjecture why the one should be elected and the other not." (See a recent pamphlet by Dr. Middlemiss, called Mis- representations of Calvinism.) The doctrine of regen- eration is not peculiar to Calvinism. The Calvinistic peculiarity is, that regeneration is unconditionally and irresistibly imparted, and that it is the first thing MM T — V Bjf 1 ' fln ' I i^ ii 11 11 J ' ' If ' ii • i r f i H '4 640 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. which God does when undertaking to give personal salvation. It' these things were so, regeneration by- Divine power would iniply election by Divine sov- ereignty. But things are not so. Regeneration does not come first in the order of experience. It is, in fact, preceded by repentance, faith and prayer in the case of adults under the Gospel dispensation. In man's experience regenera- tion is preceded by faith and prayer, and these are preceded by repentance. And, accordingly, the exer- cise of supernatural power is preceded by that of supernatural influence on God's part. 1. That faith precedes regeneration is evident. " But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name : which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John i. 12, 18.) The Scripture order is, "Believe, and thou Hhalt be .saved." And this is recog- nized in the great Protestant doctrine, that " salva- tion is by faith " ; and the Scripture plainly says, " Whosoever shall call on ^he name of the Lord shall be saved." But whence comes this prevenient faith. It comes in part from hearing a Gospel oflfer based on a general atonement; because this is the only view of the atonement that can be brought into relation to saving faith at the time now spoken of. "^he view that the atonement is not cjeneral, but made for the elect only, qnQt be used i 1 \ ' i i i'^ i i ■ . III i. BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT. 641 at all by a person when seeking salvation. At the time when saving faith is first exercised it is admitted that no man has any means of knowing that he is one of the elect. No man, therefore, can believe, at that time, on that ground, that the death of Christ secured salvation for him, and that he accordingly is author- ized to place his reliance on it, and to plead it on his own behalf. Dr. Middlemiss sees this difliculty in his theory, and virtually admits it to be an impossible one ; because he places before the anxious inquirer a very different theory. He says: "It is needful only that a man see, or be satisfied, that Christ, in alvinists repeatedly use the word in a wrong sense, and thus deceive themselves, and mislead others to think that they believe that there are conditions of salvation. They do not believe it in any proper sense to pass," are said prehensive concat( are dependent on Conditions and ir mr^ h ' f ,' 1 ^ I ! W,l ii 648 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. of the word. If God has also "decreed all conditions, all means, and ends," then there are no conditions dependent on man. There are no probabilities, though men regard them as "the very guide of life." ' There are no contingencies, notwithstanding so many appear- ances to the contrary. There is no room for human deliberation or human purposes. Their syst' 7)i leaves no " 'om ivhatever for human free a-jencij. Their t^^eory of God's purposes, and of the procedure of .His power in executing those purposes, makes God the only free agent in the universe. Many Calvinists admit that this is so. They maintain with Dr. Emmons, that "as God by His decree determines, and by His providence effects, everything which comes to pass, He is actually the only real agent in the uni- verse." (Dr. Hodge, Outlines of Theology, pp. 210, 211.) They should consider the logical consequences of this assumption. From this position reason argues thus: — "That only Agent, being infiniteh wise, cai:not err ; being inlinitel}^ good. His acts must all be right ; hence there is no such thing as sin in any part of the universe. If no sin, there is nothing to be atoned for. If nothing to be atoned for, there could have been no atonement. The Gospel of the atonement must there- fore be a fable." So one of them did reason, and then immediately abandoned Christianity. Again, if a man who holds avowedly, or by plain implication, that God is the only agent in the universe, should yet say that there is such a thing as sin, he then makes God the only sinner in existence ! They do not counteract this when they call the only BORN OF WATER AND OF THK SPIllIT. 649 sinner holy, just and good. To call a thief an honest thief would not make him an honest man. Neither would the Author of sin be made holy by calling Him a holy being. Nicodemus ought to have known something of the doctrine of regeneration by the Spirit. Yet Nicodemus did not know what he should have known. He said, " How can these things be ? " He apprehended neither the need nor the mode of the Spirit's operations. He even questioned the correct- ness of Christ's statements respecting it. His words of unbelief were inconsistent with his previous ad- mission that Christ was "a teacher come from God." Such words were discouraofinor to the Great Teacher's desire to make further communications. " If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things " — of things which are seen, felt and done in the invisible and eternal world. To help him to believe, Christ said, " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know." He united with preceding prophets in pro- claiminor the need and nature of rejjeneration bv the Spirit. We are confident of the fact, though you may doubt it. "And ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things " (things w^hich take place on earth, not in heaven, i.e., about the spiritual renova- tion of man's natural state), "and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ?" — if J tell you about the Divine counsels and plans in regard to the salvation of the world by a propitiating Media- tor — counsels which at the time now spoken of were not as yet accomplished on earth, and were therefore f IS 1 650 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. at this time difficult to be understood. It would be in My power to reveal to you these heavenly things, and no other person can do so at this moment. " No man hath ascended up to heaven" to ascertain them, ahd no one could in any other way get there, exce])t " the Son of Man who is in heaven," because He unites in Himself a Divine nature which dwells in heaven and a human nature which sojourns on earth. • Having thus exhibited the ground of faith in Himself, He proceeded to show the great importance and blessed- ness of believing in Him. For He would be lifted up on the cross, the propitiatory altar of the world, that men niay obtain eternal life by lookin ; to Him and believing in Him ; as men at a former time were restored to health by looking at the elevated serpent. (v. Meyer.) He then proceeds to point out the original source of this plan of salvation — the love of God for the human world ; love so intense and overflowing as to give His only begotten Son, to pass through the sufferings which He endured on the cross, in order to open the way of salvation by faith. But this great and glorious topic we have no room here to unfold. (See The One Mediator, by Rev. J. S. Evans.) The Great Teacher saw the propriety of introducing this topic here, for it was only through the promised priestly mediation of the Son that the Holy Spirit could approach men under the former dispensation, for the purpose of regenerating them. And it is only through the accomplished mediation of the Son that the Spirit can continue His regenerating work under the present dispensation, ki k J 1 1 1 1 i^ THE DOGMA OF HAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 651 CHAPTER XXXIII. CRITICAL NOTICES OF PROMINENT POINTS IN THE HIS- TORY OF THE DOGMA OF RAPTISMAL REGENERA- TION. "The post-apostolic age from tlie destruction of Jerusalem to the middle of the second century is the darkest, that is, the least known, in Church history." (P. Schaff, Tedcliiny of the Twelve Apostles, p. 12.) This darkness has been cleared up a little by a book which has been recently discovered in the Jerusalem monastery at Stamboul. It is called " The Didache ; or, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," but is with- out apostolic authority. It shows that at the close of the first century there was a change made in the scriptural order of baptizing and teaching: teaching was now put before baptizing. This book says, as regards baptism, " Baptize in this manner : having first Gfiven the preceding instruction " (on the way of life d the way of death), " baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," etc. (p. 30). This change led to another : baptism, which the apostles used as an initiation of persons into the outer school of disciples to be taught, was now used as an initiation into the Church. Being used for this pur- pose it was easy to suppose that it was a regenerating instead of a discipling ordinance, and that the re- f v] <^ /a 7 w'^f 7 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 ^m iiM ■^ 1^ 12.2 u 1.4 2.0 1.8 1.6 4- V ;v \\ 9> O^ L: then supposed to have some import- ant relation to spiritual regeneration. It followed, of course, that the similar words found in Titus iii. 5 were also applied to Christie baptism. An iii^h M . I fi I depend less and less on the fathers, and more on the sufficiency of Scripture. And at length he contended for '' the supreme and final authority of Scripture itself, aj;.art from all ecclesiastical authority or inter- ference." He said, " The Church cannot create articles of faith ; she can only recognize and confess them as a slave does the seal of his Lord." He said, " Let us not heap to ourselves fathers, councils, doctors, decre- tals, and the slough of human traditions and opinions." (F. W. Farrar, Hist, of Interp., p. 326.) " I ask for Scripture," he said, "and Eck oflf'ers me the fathers. I ask for the sun, and he shows me his lanterns." Thus the Reformers tried to turn away the attention of men from regarding the clergy as the source of inspiration, and pointed them to the Bible as the supreme and sole rule of faith and worship ; and they then pointed them to Christ, and taught them that in matters of conscience they should render allegiance to God only. This was the great and lasting benefit of the great Reformation in the sixteenth century. To give the knowledge of these things was to furnish the means of regaining light, first on one point and then on another, until the shining light increases unto the perfect day. But this was greatly counteracted by accepting substantially the Roman dogma of baptismal regenera- tion, on which, as we have seen, the power of the Roman clergy was chiefly based. Luther, by searching the Scriptures, saw that the doctrine of justification by faith should not have been laid aside by Rome. THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 673 He accordingly embraced it, and tried to disseminate it everywhere. But unhappily he did not uncom- promisingly oppose the Roman theory of sacramental justification. The theories are mutually repugnant The Bible says, " Believe and thou shalt be saved." Now, a man may believe before he is baptized, and may therefore be in a state of salvation before bap- tism. " Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth," etc. (Jas. i. 18.) " Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God." (1 Peter i. 23.) In adults regeneration is indis- solubly connected with faith. " When this is denied the doctrine of justification by faith is plucked up by the roots." (Goode on Ba^)., p. 313.) But if the doc- trine of justification by faith is true, the sacraments are not necessary for justification. " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." (Rom. v. 1.) " It cannot be answered that faith justifieth but in part, for that is perfect justification which worketh peace of conscience in us ; but faith bringeth such justification ; ergo, it justifieth perfectly." (Dr. Andrew Willett.) Luther should have said : " We are not saved by the reception of the sacraments. But if we shall confess with our mouth the Lord Je«us, and shall believe in our hearts that God hath raised him from the dead, by that of itself we shall be saved." (Dr. Walter Haddon in Goode, p. 359.) He should have said this ; but He did not. Luther admitted the dogma of baptismal regeneration, but tried to combine it with the doc- trine of justification by faith. He supposed that he 43 'i I li 674 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. could unite them by holding the baptismal regenera- tion of believers. He was in some respects strangely inconsistent. " He made a very energetic use of lib- erty, and yet revived the Augustinian theory of the annihilation of liberty." He " denied metaphysical freedom, and yet claimed ecclesiastical liberty." So he taught that salvation is by faith, and yet, that baptism is an efficient means of salvation. He thought he could remove the inconsistency by holding "that its efiicacy depends upon the faith of the subject, and that this efficacy resides, not in the water, but in the word, and in the Holy Spirit in the word. This is his view as presented b}^ his followers, (v. Krauth's Con- servative Rpforination, pp. 545-584, quoted by Dr. A. A. Hodge, Outlines of . heology, p. 626.) If baptism spiritually regenerates adults^ it must be supposed that it spiritually regenerates children also. Luther accordingly believed that the child was "re- generated by water and the Holy Ghost, and forgiven all its sins" (p. 433.) But further, if in the case of adults it regenerates them only as believers, then it can regenerate only believing children. " There must be in children something to correspond with that which is required in adults for the attainment of that blessing. The cases must come under one governing principle." Luther therefore thought " that baptism itself wrought faith in infants, or that they get from the Spirit a certain beginning of faith, according to their measure and proportion, which we are ignorant of." (Goode, p. 176.) Not only so, that the minister is THE DOGMA OF BAPl'ISMAL REGENERATION. 675 lal regenera- cts strangely c use of lib- iheory of the metaphysical liberty." So md yet, that He thought bolding "that ,e subject, and 3r, but in the d. This is his Krauth's Con- )ted by Dr. A. ilts» it must be children also. ihild was "re- ,, and forgiven in the case of lievers, then it "There must ,nd with that nment of that one governing "that baptism Ithey get from 1, according to e are ignorant the minister is to entertain " the hope and persuasion that the child certainly believes." (Goode, p. 482.) As Luther and others had spoken of an infantine faith, thus impoverishing the meaning of faith, so others proceeded to minify the meaning of regenera- tion. When it is supposeu that the thing signified is regeneration, and that the recipient must be capable of the thing signified, the result is that the meaning of regeneration has dwindled down to an infantine re- generation corresponding to this infantine faith. They make it to be a mere ablution of original sin, with- out spiritual regeneration ; sufficient for salvation if they die in infancy, but not sufficient if they pass the infantine state and become adults. But see what follows : " If baptism be the remedy that takes away original sin, then children dying without baptism are damned." (Goode, p. 357.) After reflection Luther himself was not satisfied with the form for the baptism of infants which he first published in 1523. He would have liked to have made some changes in a subsequent edition ; but he said, " I leave the most part unchanged, lest weak con- sciences complain that I have instituted a new bap- tism, and lest those already baptized complain that they are not rightly baptized." Influenced by this charitable regard for the feelings of others, he retained much of that which had long been in use. Unhappily Luther thought that Rome had departed little from the true doctrine of baptism. This was a tremendous error; and it resulteu in his adopting substantially 676 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. the Roman view of this doctrine. As Luther had erroneously made faith preliminary to baptism, he of course awakened objections afjainst infant baptism. It was said, " If only believers may be baptized, chil- dren should not be baptized at all, because they have no faith." Faith "cometh by hearin^^, and hearing by the word of God." Faith presupposes intellectual knowledge of God's promises, conlideuce in their truth- fulness, and expectation of their fulfilment. It is manifest that children have not this faitli. Tiiey erro- neously assumed with Luther that faith was requisite to baptism, and then, to be consistent, rejected infant baptism. They unwisely adopted the Roman dogma that baptism is very closely connected with regenera- tion ; but while the Romanists said, " We are the children of God, we are baptized," they said, " We are baptized because we are the children of Go 1." Ro- manists represented baptism as preliminary and con- tributory to salvation. They said, " It is confirmatory of salvation." The Romanists said, '• Baptism as a means and instrument confers salvation." They said, " Baptism as a sign and seal attests salvation." But the latter is as untrue as the former opinion, and is fitted to produce very injurious effects. If baptism were intended to be a confirmation that salvation has been already conferred, it would not be etitrusted to uninspired a'lministrators. No uninspired man is qualified or authorized to give visible assurance of salvation to his fellow-man. Such assurance mav often be given to false professors, and act most disas- THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 677 Luther had iptisin, he of int baptism, aptized, chil- sc they have (I hearing by i intellectual [1 their truth - ment. It is 1. They erro- was requisite QJected infant Ionian dogma nth regenera- " We are the Isaid, " We are of Gol." Ro- nary and con- confirmatory ^>aptism as a ," They said, Ivation." But •pinion, and is If baptism salvation has entrusted to ipired man is assurance of ,ssu ranee may ,ct most disas- r> trously in their minds. Baptism alone would be taken as a sufRcient proof of personal salvation, and a suffi- cient evidence of a regular, true, and lawful church. When a seal is used God is the sealer, and the Spirit is tl ^ seal. (2 Cor. i. 21, 22.) When the Spirit is grieved away the seal is removed and the mark of God's acceptance is gone. The proper assurance of the love of God to sinners, which every sinner may spe- cifically apply to himself, is the gift of God's own Son, whom He hath given for the life of the world; and to this no minor assurance can add any confirmation. "A ritual ordinance ofiers no assurance, no word of en- courao'cment to us in our unbelief ; and in our belief the verbal and express assurance of God in the Bible is the object, the all-siifiicient object, of our faith." Calvin unwisely adopted, to a great extent, the Romish view of baptism. He supposed "that the thing represented by baptism is regeneration" (Inst. iv. 16, 4) — i.e., spiritual regeneration as mentioned in his catechism. He accepted also the further thought " that the sign and the thing signified must be so con- nected together as not to make the sign empty or inefficacious"; that baptism, consequently, is God's ordi- nary instrument to wash and renew us, and moreover to communicate salvation to us. (Op., Vol. VIII., p. 258.) But to be consisten' with his other opinions he inferred that the sacraments are of avail to God's elect only, and "do not profit all without distinction, but the elect of God only." (Gootv^, p. 164, 165.) Hence he attributed to " the efficacy of the Spirit the power 678 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. of baptism to cleanse and regenerate " (p. 166). He thus avoided " magnifying the sign so as to take away from the Holy Spirit what belongs to Him." But he retained the idea that baptism is appointed to be the ordinary means of regeneration. [Note — We might here remark that this view of baptism has been adopted by the Confession of Faith of the Reformed Churches.] It is affirmed in ch. xxviii., sections 5 and 6 : " That by the right use of this ordinance " (baptism) " the grace promised is not only offered, but really ex- hibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto." Yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it as that no person can be regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated. "They think that baptis- mal grace is not necessarily connected in time with the administration of the ordinance. And that it depends upon two things: (1) The right use of the ordinance; (2) the secret purpose of God." (Dr. Hodge.) Th's was a modification of the Roman theory, instead of a rejection of it, as there ought to have been. There is no foundation whatever in Scripture for the opinion that baptism confers saving grace in any case. It has been remarked that "though the word * grace ' occurs one hundred and twenty-eight times in the New Testament, there is not one text in which the word occurs in any connection with either of the sacraments." (Wilson in McClintock and Strongs Cyclopedia.) THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 679 The Anglican Reformers, too, did their work in a very defective manner. The greater number of the Anglican clergy about that time accepted the dogma of predestination, as taught by Calvin. (See Goode on Bap., p. 86.) And they presented it so as to leave no proper perception of a holy moral government of the world. They by plain implication made God the author of sin, and freed wicked men from all sense of responsibility. This furnished Popery with strong objections against the Reformation theology ; objec- tions which are repeated to the present day. They accepted also in great part the Roman dogma of baptismal regeneration. They did not examine it, as they would have done if they had noticed the prominence which the Papacy gives to this doctrine. " It is placed primarily on the list of Roman Catholic sacraments, because they regard it as the origin of spiritual life, as the door of entrance into the Church, as the qualification for partaking of the other sacra- ments." (Elliott's Delineation of Romanism, p. 111.) Bellarmine (Bapt., i. 4) represents the question in controversy between Catholics and Protestants to be this, " Whether baptism is necessary as a means of salvation, so that he who is not baptized perishes," etc. {Winer.) "The priesthood," says Schlegel, "stands or falls with faith in the sacraments." Yet the Reform- ers unwisely thought that the least corrupt part of the Roman theology was its theory of baptism. They supposed that this part had least need of a reforming hand. They accordingly made but little change at fTT" n V m 680 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. this point ; so little that they still " entertained essen- tially the same view of the nature of baptism as Rome had done." (Hazenbach, Hist, of Doc, ii., p. 364.) Being Calvinists they had to make some modification. It was easy to see that if there was election, as they supposed, and if baptism is the ordinary instrument of regeneration, as they unwiselj^ conceded, then it followed that they should take the position that bap- tism is an instrument of regeneration in the case of the elect, and in their case only. They accordingly denied that part of the Roman doctrine which asserts that the administrators of baptism can dispense God's grace to anybody they please in infancy. " No man holding the doctrine called Calvinistic, on the subject of election and final perseverance, can consistently hold that the universal efi'ect of baptism in infants is to produce spiritual regeneration (in the full and proper sense of the term)." (Goode, p. 255.) If there be election in the Calvinistic sense of the word, and if baptism be intended for the elect, it can be of no benefit to the non-elect. They therefore said, " There is no necessity that we should tie the working of God's Spirit to the sacraments more than to the Word." The promises of salvation are offered to all by the Word, and yet are not conveyed to all hearers by the Spirit. So the Spirit does not convey inward grace to all who receive the outward elements. They contended, ac- cordingly, that when a gracious effect is produced, it is done by the power of the Holy Ghost accompanying the administration, and not by any virtue infused THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 681 I I lined essen- baptism as , ii., p. 364.) lodification. ion, as they instrument led, then it )n that bap- the case of accordingly /-hich asserts spense God's "No man (I the subject consistently n in infants the full and .) If there word, and if ,n be of no aid, "There ing of God's Word." The »y the Word, the Spirit. :e to all who tended, ac- ■oduced, it is Icompanying tue infused into the water that is used, or by any power given to the words that are pronounced. But after making these distinctions they proceeded to make them of none effect by acting on what has been called the hypothetical principle, that all whom they baptized were elect persons, and therefore that they may regard all these as baptismally regenerated ; that on this account they may use, respecting the bap- tized, the language appropriate to the regenerate, which is found in the Prayer Book. Dr. Moyer says also, " Our Church doth not usurp the gift of prophecy, to take upon her to discern which of her children belong to God's unsearchable election, but in the judg- ment of charity embraceth them all as God's inherit- ance; and hereby teacheth every one of us so to believe of ourselves by faith, and of others by charity." {Goods, p. 473.) Archbishop Lawrence went so far as to lay aside all mental reservations connected with such gen- eral expressions, and to make " the monstrous state- ment that all in the visible Church are to be considered as the elect." (Goode on Baptism, p. 104.) Baptism was regarded as the external seal of pre- conferred election. Richard Hooker did not speak so strongly. He only said baptism is " a seal, perhaps, to the grace of election before received." {Goode, p. 370.) But others did not say " perhaps." They used the lan- guage of presumptive belief ; on this principle of pre- sumptive belief they acted generally. Not only the form of infant baptism, but the burial service, and, in short, every service in the Book of Common Prayer, is 1 ii ■ ■ \\m ^ II ,'i ; ,' ■;■'■, 682 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. drawn up on the supposition or charitable presumption that the person interested is one of the elect, and as such is, or will be, saved. They admitted that the judj^ment of charity is dis- tinct from the judgment of certainty; yet they used the language of the latter to express the former, and even exhorted the baptized to feel assured that they were made the children and heirs of God. They justified the use of such language by a misap- plication of Paul's statement, " Charity believeth all things." The apostle meant that Christian love in- clines a person to form favourable opinions and hopes respecting the conduct of men towards their fellow- beings, when there is no evidence to the contrary. He did not mean that a liberal inclination to put the best possible construction on things may form the measure and standard of doctrinal truth, and of evangelical faith. To use the judgment of charity as they did was an unwise and unsafe expedient. They sometimes, indeed, admitted that their charitable judgment might be mistaken. To do so enabled them consistently, as they thought, to resist the popish view that baptism always regenerates, and to deny that it is indispen- sably necessary to salvation. The}'' held that some persons may be saved without it, because they argued as Calvinists that, " No elect person can be damned ; but some elect are unbaptized, therefore some unbap- tized cannot be damned. Hence salvation is not tied to baptism." (Bishop Babington in Goode on Bap., p. 322.) But for the same reason they supposed that THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 683 resumption ect, and as ,rity is dis- b they used Eornier, and a that they by a misap- )elieveth all Lan love in- is and hopes ,heir fellow - 3ntrary. He put the best the measure evangelical hey did was Y sometimes, gment might nsistently, as ,hat baptism is indispen- l that some they argued be damned; some unbap- n is not tied le on Ba'p., p. apposed that faith is not necessary to salvation. They said, "It is easy to distinguish between the gift convoyed and the manner of conveying it. Faith is not of absolute necessity to all God's elect, but only to those to whom God affords means of believing. It is the application of Christ's righteousness that justifieth us, not our ap- prehending it." (Archbishop Usher in Goode, p. 350.) They tried to keep themselves l^y such reasonings from going back fully to the Roman theory. But, un- happily, they had accepted not only the substance of the Roman theory, but a good deal of Roman phrase- ology respecting baptism, when compiling the formu- laries of the Church of England. In doing so they yielded to the circumstances in which they were placed. They prepared a book of prayer in English to take the place of the old Latin one. The new book, like the old one, was to be for the whole nation, who were to consider themselves bound to worship accord- ing to the prescribed national ritual. To secure this unity of public worship the compilers were instructed not to introduce a new form of worship, but to correct and amend the old one, and yet to make no unneces- sary alterations. Hence, though they put out some things, they left in so much that the Book of Common Prayer, as revised in 1559, was quietly accepted by all parties in the nation — by those who had not been won over to the Reformers' opinions, as well as by those who had been. "All parties attended divine service in the church without any contradiction or show of misliking for about eleven or twelve years." (Blunt, m i !s ■;i « 684 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Diet, of Sectfi, pp. 490, 493.) Not only so, the Pope (Pius IV.) offered to regard the new book as authentic, and not repugnant to truth, though not containing as much as might conveniently be ; and that he would allow it, without changing any part, it* Queen Eliza- beth would acknowledge to receive it from him, and by his allowance." (Blunt, Diet, of Sects, p. 504.) The main point of difference between the Church of England and the Pope, at the period now referred to originally consisted in the claim made by the Pope, on the one hand, to exercise jurisdiction over the clergj^ and laity of England ; and the denial of that claim, on the other, by the clergy in convocation, and the sover- eign, prelate, and laity in parliament." Henry VIII. revolted against this claim. And when Queen Eliza- beth refused to re-acknowledge it, the Pope, by a bull, excommunicated and deposed her, and cursed those who would obey her. And it is stated that " he offered to bestow her kingdom on any prince who should attempt to conquer it." This led to a separa- tion. Those who were not won over by the Reformers now separated themselves from the national worship ; but they did not form a separate community until the bull was followed by the Jesuits. These first came to England in 1581. They proceeded to organize the Recusants, as they were called, into a Roman cor • munity, numbering, it is thought by some, not more than sixty thousand, or about one per cent, of the whole population. The Calvinistic party, feeling that the wording of THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 685 the Pope authentic, taining as he would leen Eliza- n him, and 504.) s Church of referred to he Pope, on • the clergj^ at claim, on d the sover- lenry VIII. ;)ueen Eliza- e, by a bulh ursed those that "he prince who to a separa- e Reformers lal worship ; _ty until the irst came to rGfanize the ,oman coi ■ e, not more ;ent. of the wording of the Prayer Book on the point now before us was against them, wished to get a review, for the purpose of putting out or altering what had a popish taint. But they found a strong party opposed. They took the Arminian side of what have been called the "five points," but did not accept Arminius' view of bap- tism, and were averse to any change in the episcopal form of church organization. This party had become influential enough to counteract the efforts of the Oalvinistic party to get certain changes made in the Prayer Book. Not only so, they succeeded in making the book a^ little more popish than it was. A few words were slipped in in one place and left out in another, and altered in a third, so as to take off' the edge of expressions that might tell against their op- ponents, and to introduce what might serve them." (Goode on Bap., p. 419, et alibi) The Arminians continued to increase until they greatly outnumbered the other party, as we learn from a statement made by the Earl of Chatham in the House of Lords. He said, '' We have a Calvinistic creed, an Arminian clergy, and a popish liturgy." He might have added, a popish baptismal service. And, unhappily, the popish view of the ordinances counter- acted and overlaid both the Calvinistic and the Armin- ian view of the Gospel. A High Churchman truly remarks, " Articles of faith are weak compared with liturgical forms." Liturgical forms, and other forms of service, have, as a general thing, more influence on the public mind. In the case before us, the error of nif! 1 I'li^ \n^ i'li U-i 686 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. baptismal regeneration embodied in the baptismal form of service prevailed over the Calvinistic articles on the one hand, and the Arminian theology on the other. Those who used baptism to do the Spirit's work embraced the opinion that the Spirit of God had virtually departed from the world. " The theory was that in the first ages of Christianity the Spirit had gone with the apostles, working miracles, and that in virtue of these miracles Christianitv was believed. After a time the Spirit withdrew from the Church, and miracles ceased. The Bible, or according to another theory, the Church, took the place of the Spirit." (Hunt's History of Religious Thought in England.) " Thus Christianity without the Spirit was regarded as being simply a republication of natural religion, accredited by the historic evidence of miracles. Paley said the only purpose of Christianity was to afford a more certain assurance of a future life." (D?'. Crooks.) Lecky says that the theologians who were contemporary with Wesley, "beyond a belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, and a general acknowledg- ment of the Gospel narratives, taught little that might not have been taught by the disciples of Socrates or Confucius." (Dr. Crooks.) These thinsfs need not have been so. A Calvinistic Whitefield and an Arminian Wesley held to some extent the traditional dogma of baptismal regenera- tion ; but they held also the revised Scripture doctrine of salvation by faith. And they did not magnify the former so as to set aside the latter. They gave promi- THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 087 nence to the Gospel and preached it with great and glorious efficiency. But other ministers magnified baptism so as to set aside the Spirit and to set aside the Gospel. The prevalent tlieory respecting the Divine Spirit was not accepted by Wesley. He saw that the Bible asserted the continual presence and agency of the Spirit. He accordingly gave special prominence to this doctrine. Persons in other denominations have noticed this. Dr. Dale, a distinfjuished Cons-refjational minister, when making a fraternal address to the British Conference in 1879, said, " There was one dis- tinctive thought, as it has always seemed to me, in the teaching of the illustrious founder of your Society, of which I venture to remind you. I think I am right in saying that the doctrine of the Holy Ghost had a position in John Wesley's teaching more conspicuous than that which it held in the teaching of any of his contemporaries. How much John Wesley did for you and for us by that part of his teaching it is impossible to assume." [Note. — The name of Wesley is often thus briefly given, on the principle implied in the following illus- tration : An English officer, in conversation with a Prussian one, heard the latter mention the name of Wellington, and remarked : " You might have said, ' General Wellington.' " " Oh," replied the Prussian officer, " We never say ' General Caesar.' " In the case of very distinguished persons, the idea of their rank jwj TT 1 i ■'i '11 ii-^ V >i i M it \- ; Jy. J i ail 1 1 1 i " i ■ ■ '■ 1 j i ^^^1 i i Ml ' ' ■pBt 1 ■■ t ... 1 I 1 688 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. or office is inseparably associated with even their shortest name.] Wesley being a minister of the Church of England, was, as might be expected, influenced to some extent by its views of baptism, and by its interpretation of certain texts that were alleged to refer to this ri^e. He believed that the teaching of the Church of Ene:- land is, that baptism is the appointed means whereby God grants remission of sins, and a new and spiritual birth ; that all who are baptized in their infancy are at the same time born again. He saw, however, that many baptized children " became af^-erwards the chil- dren of the devil, and therefore must be born again." He believed, too, that in the case of adults a man may be possibly born of water who is not born of the Spirit. He concluded that baptism was not the new birth; they are not one and the same thing. Wesley asserted " that baptism is not the new birth." {SevTYion on the Neiv Birth.) He affirmed that " baptism is not any part of the new birth." When writing to the Rev. Mr. Potter, in the year 1758, he said, " It is impossible it should be. The outward sign is no more a part of the inward grace than the body is a part of the soul." He says in his notes on John iii. 3, " No ceremonial ordinances can entitle any to the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom," and affirms that " an entire change of heart as well as of life is necessary for that purpose, and that this can only be wrought in man by the power of God." He had learned, however, with special clearness, that salva- THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL JlEGENEilATlON. 689 even their >f England, ome extent )retation of bo this r:*-e. 'ch of Enor- ns whereby ,nd spiritual infancy are )wever, that rds the chil- born again." s a man may born of the not the new ot the new affirmed that rth." When 3ar 1758, he 'he outward ice than the his notes on entitle any ' and affirms as of life is can only be He had that salva- n >> tion by faith may be obtained independently of bap- tism; and was, in fact, so obtained by thousands in his (lay. He saw that his followers, who for several years preached salvation by faith, without administering either of the sacraments, were the means of leading thousands into the way of salvation. He therefore saw plainly that many were regenerated independently of baptism. On the other hand, he saw with equal clearness that many who were baptized were not re- generated, even when those who administered the rite were appointed to do so by those who claim to be in apostolical succession. He saw that if all baptized members of the Church of England were Christians, then there were " drunken Christians," " cursing and swearing Christians," " lying Christians," " cheating Christians." He could not accept this. He told such persons that they must be born again before they could enter the kingdom of God. It was thus made manifest that John Wesley had in a great measure freed himself from the Anglican opinions respecting baptismal regeneration. But, un- happily, he did not get wholly away from them. He still regarded baptism to be related to regeneration. He thought it was " the outward sign of an inward and spiritual regeneration"; hence he sometimes used language which implied that he thought they were intended to go together, and that they sometimes did so. But, as already remarked, he knew well they often did not ; because many baptized persons did not exhibit the scriptural evideno«s of regeneration! And 44 690 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. he believed that those who had not the marks ot* it should be ur^ed to seek it ; hence he preached ser- mons on salvation by faith, but, as one has observed, " never did he preach one on salvation by baptism." He and his fellow-labourers revived the doctrine of justification by faith — the great doctrine of the Lu- theran era ; and he and they gave special prominence to the important doctrine of regeneration by the Spirit, which is the equally characteristic doctrine of the Methodist era. The apostolic doctrine of the Spirit's continual pres- ence, and of regeneration by the Spirit, having been thus revived, many of the Anglican clergy accepted it, and preached in some measure as Mr. Wesley did. But others merely returned to the medieval opinion that regeneration resulted from a peculiar and supernatural conjunction of the operation of the Divine Spirit with' the human application of the baptismal fluid; that these are not two distinct operations, but two parts of one operation, or rather, a joint operation of the Divine Spirit and the human baptizer. This theory is advo- cated by the High Church party. But they lay special stress on the outward ordinance and on its efficacy. They contend that baptism, when administered by those who have been duly ordained for the purpose, must al- ways be effectual in the accomplishment of regeneration. They hold, accordi ^gly, that the Prayer Book teaches that every child is in baptism born again by a new and spiritual birth, such as cannot be repeated, and which makes a man spiritually regenerate for the rest THE DOCJMA OF liAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 691 in arks of it i-eachod ser- aa observed, )y baptism." doctrine of > of the Lu- prominence bion by the J doctrine of »ntinual pres- having been y accepted it, sleydid. But opinion that supernatural le Spirit with * lid; that these parts of one >f the Divine eory is advo- ey lay special its efficacy. ,ered by those lose, must al- regeneration. iBook teaches in by a new ■epeated, and for the rest of his life. They hold that the spiritual benefits of baptism are immediately conferred ; that they are not suspended till the baptized persons attend to certain conditions, as another party in that Church thinks. They contend earnestly for immediate results. They contend that the water and the grace are inseparably connected, so that spiritual regeneration is always conferred upon infants in baptism ; that this effect is universal and unconditional. They are indisposed to tolerate even an Anglican minister 'vho differs from them on this point. The Bishop of Exeter, for in- stance, in 1848, refused to admit an Anglican clergy- man to a benefice in his diocese unless he could give an afiiirmative answer to the following questions: — " Does our Church hold, and do you hold, that every infant baptized by a lawful minister, with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is made by God in such baptism a mem- ber of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ? Does our Church hold, and do you hold, that such children, by the laver of regenera- tion in baptism, are received into the number of the children of God, and heirs of everlasting life ? Does our Church hold, and do you hold, that all infants so baptized are born again of water and of the Holy Ghost?" (Blunt's Diet of Sects, p. 198.) " These advocates of baptismal regeneration, without committing themselves to the Romish theory of an opus operatvurri, hold that baptism is God's ordained instrument of communicating the benefits of redemp- mi''i Si: j..liH i J' i, lljl ;(! I 692 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. tion in the first instance ; that whatever gracious ex- periences may be enjoyed by the unbaptized are un- covenanted mercies ; that by baptism the seed of ori^^- inal sin is removed, and the Holy Ghost is given, whose effects remain like a seed in the soul, to be actualized by the free will of the subject, or neglected, and hence rendered abortive : that every infant is regenerated when baptized. If he dies in infancy the seed is actu- alized in paradise. If he lives to adult age its result depends upon his use of it." (Blunts Did. of Tkeol., Art. Baptism ; Outlines of TheuL, by A. A. Hodge, p. 627.) As in the Roman so in the High portion of the Anglican Church, the dogma of baptismal regenera- tion has set aside the doctrine of justification by faith. It was rendered unnecessary, as Gardiner objected, in a Church which believed that persons were justified when baptized in infancy, {v. Goode, p. 198.) The High Church party say it is not an apostolic doctrine. They say Paul referred to " the un regener- ate Jew or heathen" when he preached this doctrine and " promised free and entire pardon through the atoning blood." But, say ih^y, " there is an essential difference between their unregenerate state and that of baptized Christians." Hence they contend that to be justified means "to be made righteous in the sight of God by baptism," and that after baptism the only justification is by faith and works ; that such persons are justified by " a righteousness which is really in- herent in them, though wrought by God's grace." (Blunt's Diet of Doct TheoL, Art. Justification.) They THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 693 think, with Rome, that we are justified by a faith that worketh by charity or love. But as Cranmer said, " Paul teaches that we are justified by faith without all the works of the law : charity is a work of the law : ergo, we are justified without charity." {v. Goode, p. 197.) They say that "justification by faith, in the Lutheran sense of the words, is an anti-Christian doc- trine." {Glossary of Eccles. Terms.) They virtually hold salvation by sacraments. They undervalue the preachinf^ of the everlasting Gospel. " The sacraments," says Bishop Doane, of Al- bany, "are the life and glory of the EngPsh Church, and preaching is but an adjunct." (Manual of Chris- tian Doctrine.) The holders of this theory do not deny the work of the Spirit, but they arrogate partnership with Jehovah in the work of regeneration. Not only so ; they claim to be the leading, managing partners, having the power to make God work with them as often as they will to administer a ceremony. And they think that this delegated power would not become ineflScacious if they should fall into any error in doctrine or in life. A dis- tinguished expounder of the Tractarian creed tells us that in their opinion " the sacraments are the chief and central fountain of the vital infiuences of religion when the Church is in health and vigour ; their never wholly obstructed source when she is overspread with the frost of indifference ; their last and innermost fast- nesses when latent infidelity gnaws and eats away the heart of her creed, and of all he collateral ordinances." ^^f i Mt ><\'- :tllf -.11,1 :.- ■11 n mc^ 1 i^ >:| Mi.^ I mm > (!?; fj-ui! 694 Baptizing and teaching. {Church Principles, p. 183, quoted by Stacey in The Sacraments, p. 292.) So, too, they think that those who receive baptism at their hands are not only placed in a state of salvation, but are " sealed with a mark which subsequent sin cannot efface." {Dr. Pitsey.) Such teaching is no part of " the truth that is accord- ing to godliness." It makes void the law. It finds a substitute for holiness. It implies that men may unite the practice of sin with the hope of salvation. It thus prevents that confession and forsaking of sin without which God will not pardon past transgressions. Their views of baptism are intimately connected with their views of the Church. They say the Church is the company of them that are regenerate. This would be true if they meant the company of them that are regenerated by the Divine Spirit. But if they mean that the Church is the company of them that are baptized, they sadly err. Baptism does not initiate into the Church. No company can form the body of Christ when they do not take Him for their Head. They do not form the sheepfold of Christ when they do not " hear His voice and follow Him." They are not regenerated by the Spirit when they do not ex- hibit the fruits of the Spirit. These fruits may be known by man as well as by God. The doctrine of baptismal regeneration held by the Church of England is as destitute of the fruits of right- eousness as is the popish form of the dogma. Some try to account for this inefficacy by arguing that it is dependent on conditions which are not fulfilled. Its THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 695 efficacy, we are told, is partly or wholly dependent on some one or more of the following conditions, which may or may not be present. On condition that it be administered (a) in a certain prescribed mode, or (b) to persons that belong to the elect, or (c) to persons whose faith is foreseen by God, or (d) to persons whose faith is promised by sponsors, or (e) to persons on whose behalf the Church exercises faith, or (/) to those who have believing parents. To the absence of one or other of these alleged conditions different persons attribute the failure of baptism to regenerate. But they have not proved, and cannot prove, that these are Divinely appointed conditions of regeneration. We regard them as human devices for avoiding a humiliating objection. Others hold that the efficacy of baptism to regener- ate depends on present personal faith. But those who have personal faith would be regenerated independ- ently of baptism ; hence the case of those believers who are regenerated at the time of baptism does not prove that baptism was the instrumental means of their regeneration. They were regenerated then be- cause they then believed, not because they were then baptized. To make ritual baptism equally necessary to salvation is to overthrow the fundamental doctrine of salvation by faith only. One fact will prove by example that ritual baptism " is not necessary to salva- tion. The thief who believed on the cross was saved without baptism." (Carson, Bap., p. 477.) We are aware that all Anglican ministers have not supposed that baptism confers immediate regeneration. if I ' II it W" ;ij ,'! "lil'i |::'f|ilt^^M:fl|! ill!' 090 BAPTIZING AND TEACHINO. Some think tliat it confers it remotely — that it gives federal regeneration by giving a federal admission into Christianity. They regard baptism as the act by which a Gospel covenant between God and man is signed and sealed, in which therefore the engagement on God's part is to be met by a corresponding engage- ment on the part of man, if they would be benefited by baptism. Adults are to profess true faith and re- pentance, and vow that they will observe and adhere to the whole Christian religion. The Church then is charitably to presume and hope that the profession and vow are sincere. But if not, baptism is not effica- cious ; for, " though man may have to treat profession as a reality, God is not to be thus mocked." When the persons are too young to exercise this faith and repentance, a promise is made for them by sponsors that they will exercise these, which promise they are bound to perform. This seems to imply that if the Church could foresee that this promise will never be fulfilled, she would not give baptism to them ; for it is given on this condition and understanding, and it is only when such promise is performed that bap- tism can be considered to be efficacious. They can only charitably hope that the covenant may be a valid one. The full baptismal blessing is therefore not real- ized in infancy, on this theory, uriless " it is granted on the ground of foreseen faith and repentance." (v. Goode on Bap., pp. 409, 402, et alibi.) Some expressions in the Prayer Book imply that some of the compilers had this federal view of baptism. Hence the committee .-jS5.a«i^ THE DOGMA OF liAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 697 of the Privy Council that considered the Gorham case, above referred to, judged that it is not unlawful for an Anglican minister to hold that the benefits of baptism are suspended till conditions have been attended to. This theory, too, involves the popish principle that a mediating clergy is necessary to salvation ; that with- out it no covenant could be made between God and man. This theory of baptism involves still a basis for sacerdotal mediation and usurpation. The Society of Friends reject altogether baptism with water, because they seem to have associated it inseparably with the dogma of baptismal regeneration. If they saw that it is associated with teaching, and not with regenerating, they would probably discontinue their opposition to the ordinance. We might here notice the error of the Campbellite Baptists. They erroneously adopt the opinions of the Pelagians and Romans, that baptism is the means of conferring remission of sins. They think it was ap- pointed to stand in the same relation to remission of sins as repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only so ; they say to all who believe and repent, " Be immersed, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Bap- tism is supposed by them to be equally necessary to salvation, and this supposition completely overthrows the fundamental doctrine of salvation by faith only. It is a fundamental principle of this truth as it is in Jesus, that nothing which one man can give to or take S«-B .i. .... . . M I. i I i! r- jiiliiMn .! ■ i;;! m if ., ii ii It 5^ 'it 698 iBAPtlZlNG AND TEACHING. from his fellow-man can convey salvation. " Each soul by its own act of faith attaches itselfc* directly to Jesus, without any intervening object, visible or invisible." And he that believeth obtains salvation immediately from God himself. " Who can forgive sins but God only ?" But to believe that baptism is an efficacious means or channel of salvation is a false and dangerous doctrine. If life or death, and that forever, depends on an outward rite, and if the administering of that rite is the work of a fellow-man, " the intervention of a human mediator between God and man is estab- lished" {North British Review, Aug., 1857), and a foundation is laid on which to build ministerial usur- pation and tyranny, which in time may rival that of Popery. We are surely warranted in concluding that a dogma which has directly tended to bring in such perilous errors, such hierarchical arrogancy, such inquisitorial tyranny ; which has dared to put the Holy Spirit out of office, and to find a substitute for the Gospel — a dogma which has done such things for ages, to a fearful ex- tent, cannot possibly be a right interpretation of the truth that is in Jesus, and that is according to godli- ness. We close our remarks by mentioning one very lam- entable and dangerous result of the teaching of bap- tismal regeneration. Those churches, as some have observed, " have lost hold of great masses of men," and are doing so more and more. Those masses of men are the ones who are now plotting to overthrow the ■■»!<» J THE DOGMA OF BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 699 existence of all rule, authority and order, and seem ready to commence at any moment the tremendous upheaval. Those churches had not taui^ht those masses the Gospel of Christ that is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto personal salvation, and that can teach the saved to be benevolent and useful mem- bers of society. The Church did not teach it to them when it had a long opportunity. They suppose, there- fore, the Church knows nothing about such a plan. They think that if social wrongs and miseries are to be remedied, they must look for that remedy in the direction of communism and socialism. Some would begin by pulling down everything that man has built up, and would then begin to build on some new plan of their own, after having deprived all the. rest of their money and estates. These lawless men are at the bid- ding of leaders still more lawless and revolutionary, but seem strangely counteracted by the wonder-work- ing providence of God. God, however, may be merely giving those churches who do know the Gospel of God time to go in among them with the pure Gospel, that faith may come by hearing ; and faith calling on the name of the Lord may obtain salvation. This is be- ing done to some extent, but with perilous slowness. It should be done with all diligence ; nothing else may entirely avert the impending overthrow of all that contributes to public safety and civil and religious liberty. iir^rr .ia*. 1 i i - 1., ii ■- !^ii • ■' i: .1 ! f i i. 700 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. "Thou shalfc love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy n»ind. This is the first and ^reat commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neif^hbour as thyself." (Matt. xxii. 37-89.) These words of the Great Teacher worthily claim our best attention. They convey instruction of the highest importance to every person throughout all generations. Preparatory to their examination we may notice the occasion of their utterance. The Lord Jesus Christ when tabernacling among men was approached by some of the Sadducees who thought they could argue with Him. They were soon put to silence, however. A listening Pharisee was doubtless pleased to perceive the force of Christ's reasonings with His opponents, and that as a Teacher He raised men's thoughts above the body and its rela- tion to material forces and to their modes of operation. He doubtless had his attention drawn to higher themes respecting the soul and its relation to the spiritual world, and to the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and to the commandments which a personal Lawgiver has proclaimed for the guidance of intelligent free-agents. He understands that moral law is a Divinely-given commandment. THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 701 1 with all thy 1 all thy n«md. ent. And the thy neif^hbour words of the ttention. They 'tance to every ^Preparatory to :casion of their n tabernacling the Sadducees In. They were nins Pharisee rce of Christ's as a Teacher y and its rela- s of operation, higher themes the spiritual |f all flesh, and Lawgiver has t free-agents, ivinely-given The scribe knew that these were commandments, and thouiiht that some would be greater than others ; and he wished to know which was the great command- ment. Some of his companions probably thought that the law of ceremonies was the greatest ; but he may not have been satisfied with their opinion. It may be that he supposed that the precepts of the law were too many for any one person to observe them all ; that each person, therefore, should select one or two im- portant ones and obey these on the assumption that such obedience would excuse the transgression of the other precepts. In the opinion of some of the Jews the law of sacri- fices was the greatest. But they did not properly understand that the great object of Christ's sacrifice was to make an end of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness. God's plan of redemption is a most important one ; but he established also the means of renewing men unto obedience to His law. Some of the Jews thought it very important to have certain chosen texts written on bands, which, during prayers, were to be worn on the forehead or on the arm in such a manner that the arm may touch the flesh, and thus place the writing next to the heart- Others had difl'erent opinions ; and in this diversity the Pharisee washes to know which, in Christ's esti- mation, is the great commandment. The Great Teacher was fully qualified to answer this important question, and He did so with remark- able simplicity and brevity. He replied by quoting t:^ ' » h I !;:l i' ii : iii.i iH i li f!'i,li Sill 702 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. Deut. vi. 4 — " Hear, O Israel : The Lord our God is one Lord." The word translated " Lord " being singu- lar, and the word translated " God " being plural, it follows that the words just quoted make reference to the unity pertaining to the blessed Trinity. The Per- sons of the Godhead possess the highest possible same- ness of essential attributes and properties, and yet a distinction of Persons in a manner unrevealed, perhaps because incomprehensible by our minds in this early stage of our career. The heathen believed in one supreme God and other inferior ones. The Scriptures teach that there are no inferior gods. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength," and " love thy neighbour as thyself." In Christ's estimation the great commandments are not those which pertain to mere outward acts and ceremonies, but those which specially address them- selves to the inward dispositions, and seek to regulate the highest affection of which the human soul is capable — the affection of love. The two great com- mandments in this respect are alike : they concern themselves with the inward emotions more than with the outward actions, and with love as the greatest and highest principle of action. It is clearly seen that " the ideal of greatness which Christ presented to us is of a different character from that which has chiefly fixed the enthusiastic gaze of man. His ideal of great- ness is associated with goodness rather than with power or intellect." (Edinburgh Review on Pascal.) THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. 703 In His opinion, without love man is not truly great. " The standard of greatness in His kingdom is not physical prowess or mental superiority, wealth, or power," but holy and active love. This is to be the essential attainment of all true Christians. It is not restricted to a few favoured individuals. " If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cym- bal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge ; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 1-3, Revised Version.) Our imperfect knowledge shall be done away by that which is perfect : but " faith, hope and love abide, and the greatest of these is love." The commandment which enjoins love is " great." A command to love presupposes one of two things, either that we have already the ability to love, or that we may obtain it. Law can direct love where it is, but cannot produce it where it is not. *' If man has duties, he must either have in possession the power of fulfilling them, or may obtain the power." Kant's well-known canon, " I ought, therefore I can," may be accepted if interpreted in this sense. An imperative thou shalt necessarily implies a corresponding thou canst. It is not enough to have conviction of right and wrong, a knowledge of what is commanded or forbidden, a sense of obligation to do the one and to leave undone the other, a disposition to attribute merit or demerit to the doer. There must also be I .. d'ilii IHii^i -I I. iiii 'I im ^i!, ■♦ ■<,' %iHli 11 704 JUPTIZINO AND TEACHING. love to the Lawgiver in order to secure proper, full and stea' f u 714 BAPTIZING AND TEACHING. but to know God's will and to do it ; to know God's designs and to co-operate with Him in the fulfilment of them " as far as they are committed to us. It is not enough to have reverential contemplations, grate- ful thanksgivings, and hopeful anticipations. There must be energetic service. Love is a disposition to please God by hearkening to His Word and acting accordingly. Madame Guyon was greatly mistaken when she supposed that " a continual act of contempla- tion and love might be substituted for all other acts of religion." Love is not a mere sentimental emotion, it is a practical principle. " There are four kinds of religion upon the earth assuming the power to eftect great objects : that of sentiment, that of form, that of feeling, and that of principle." (Dr. Barnes in The Right Religion.) " The religion of principle consists in the intelligent adoption of a rule of right " (the will of God) " and adhering to it" at all costs. "A simple and entire yielding up- of the heart and life to the sole direction of God's Word and Spirit." {Mr. Goodell.) The law does not require the creature to possess every possible good quality. All these do not pertain to human nature. God only possesses these ; and no created person or thing possesses or needs every good quality. The law does not require that oui* love be perfect in degree. There is no perfection of degrees in the love of finite beings. There may be eternal progression in degree, and that progress may be perfect progress. know God's he fulfilment to us. It is ations, ^rate- :ions. There jsposition to 1 an