o^<^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^- 1.0 I.I 1.25 ''■' II 2 8 liM 72 I. |2,0 '■ U 1. 1.8 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation \ K ...V riiAi{«;K the Joliotn'vif innjcs. — \\w .sHhstKHre ol" which, iVuiii tlu' pulpit, was Ijrst mUliTsscd to them, and wliicli, \>y iiMpu'st, is now publlsht'd. — (H'r rrsprrtfiinif Insrrihvd l»v fhrir Taslor. .1. LVniKKX. I„«'t «is walk by llic sanu' rule, W\ ns iiiiiul tin' saiiu' tlilnj;."— .S7. I'nul. ChaihMlclown, P. K. Island. ^ Mav ITIh. IS77. \ CONTENTS. '-■ »•<■ I I. Hai'tism with watkk, 1. Authority J. With Water :>. Divers iJaptisms,. 1. Prophetic Symholisin, II. Hai'Tism oi rm: \lo\.\ (Jii<»st, III. TlIK IJaPTISM ol KlKK, 1. Fire on the Karth, 2. Symhol-rreseiiee, .".. Tile " Spirit of Iliirnini'-," JV. MoDK OK HaI'TISM 1. The I)ai»tisiii ol" Peiileeost, . •i. (lod's IJaplisiii .'». Tlie l)ai>tisnial Tlaiiie, . •I. No Aiiihiiiuity, .... ;"). Tlnee Auree lii One, . V. Sri*..ii:« T.s OK I)A1'Tism, I. Covenanl-l'romise, '2. The Spliil of IMopliecy, . ;>. Kstahlished Testimony, I. "OrSiicli is (lie Kiniidoni of (lod, ;'). Household liaptisms, <;. Tosilive Authority, 7. Siiiu and Seal, .... s. Apostolic Alliruiatiou. . i I'AOK 10 II \:\ II) 20 21 22 2;^ ->') •)•) 20 27 28 2J) 80 80 82 82 87 88 w^"- VI. CoNCMSiows : litfvrviit'ml and cormlfn 1. /i(i/ih'z(it .... •J. Ih'iimon: The Lord's Sii|>|K'r, . ;l. '* One naplisiii," . \. Tlic ('(Uiniiissioii, ."). " niiiicd By linptisiii," r,. " or Water ami of the Spirit,*' 7. rraver tor Promised Ilaptisiii, VII. SriM'l.I.MKNTAKV NoTKS, 1. Chissie I'saiie, '2. Ilellenistie (ireek, ."». li(ii)h), ..... I. l*rvi>oslti. lihuiilizo, .... ('». Halhiiius and Washinus, 7 ratri>tie 'res|imtisinal Service (►(■ IVnleco K). " Wiliu'sses,"' . . 17. An ivxiiicncv, . . . . (live. ^t. 3H 89 40 in 44 4f; 4S oO .*)(» .•)1 ;').'{ iA 'U iU oM .")!) 0(1 ():( r.7 OS 70 i| f . AN ERRATUM. On Sth, '(til iiUi\ loth liius <>l ii'in.l pa^'c: for i-liildreii, undol', luul ahull— iviitl f/cncration, am, iiml t^houbl. \ [(—^■^ * "I imlri'd liiipti/.r you with wiilcr unto rcp<'nttiiico; Iml llr. that conicth itl'ti-r iiir is ini^litifr thiiii I. wliosr siiors I niii not wctrtiiy to hciir: He sliail l>!ipti/r yon witli tlic Holy (iliost iind with tire. "-Matt. iii. II. "For.lohii tiMily hapti/.ctl with water; but yr shall Ik; baptized with tlie Holy (ihost not many days hciuM-."— A<'ts i. ,"i. "Three that bear witness in »'arth." — Fohn v. s. •'Antl ye shall receivr the iril't of the Holy (ihost. K«ir the pronii.se is unto j-on, ami to your ehihlren."— .\<'ls ii • .'js, ;{!». " Haviufj; llrst stateil the hiKh/nijlriDirf of liis own baptism, liu proceeds to the baptism orilaineil by Christ, which was replete with an iiifjfahfc f^it't."— C'hrysostom. BAPTISMA; A THREE-FOLD TESTIMONY '< I mil ii«)t >li<»8t and • 'iipfizfil K«tr till! Ptisin, lit! M n'plcfc Wiit<'r-lla)>tisin, Si)irit-U:ii)ti«iiii. :\ui\ llic ISuiitism nf V\vo.. — w<-t. «>^<^:>» Jv-» M'^lII' h'stiinony of Jo'ui tlic I'.ipli^t. sii'j,"m-stivo of I u IhrcC'I'ald \ ii'W of l),i|»lisiii. is Vfiy explicit, nixl cnn iii'vcr lo>c' il> \;ilitlit_v. " I IixUhm! haptizo you with water; luit lie that eoinetli after ine is miiiiilier tliaii I, lie >h:ill Icipti/e you willi tlie Holy (iliost and witli lire." 'I'liis tliree-fold \ ii-w of ( 'hii>>liaii Itapiism, involviui»" Jill that is vital iu relation to mode, is sullieiently coin- l)i'ehi'nsi\ I' toian inlelliuent discns.vion of iluMpU'stion ; and what is of iniinitidy liieater moment we can rise with the sidijeet. l.eaviuLi' the visible si^n we pass on to the inward and spii-iliial u'i";iei'. riisatislied with Jhe shadow we >(-•■!< to coinpivliend and to I'.xpei'ieiu'O ii sul)>tantial lealit v. 1. r.AirisM WITH waii.!;. 1. Anfhoriff/. In ponderinii' this t(>stiniony of .John the Baptist, it is inipoi'tant to remeinhiT that 10 BAPTISMA ; 1 John's b:iptifaptized with the baptism of repentance, sayiui:^ unto the people that they should believe in him which should come alter him, that is, in Christ Jesus. When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jcsr.s. And when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, etc." The baptism of John was insufficient, and thus these twelve men were baptized into the faith of Christ, " in the name of the Lord Jesus." 2. " Baptism with water," the phrase of John the Bai)tist, in this testimony, carries with it the force of instrumentality, and implies, therefore, the ai>plication of the baptisnial element to the subject. It has been claimed, in discussions ui)on this (piestion, that the words in the Greek text : en hndati, ought to have been A TlllJKE-l-Ol.l) TKSTIMONV 11 renderiHl in wiiter. The iJreposition in this connectioii howc'VLT (foverns the ddtire. of the in.sfrnnicrif, jukI has been rendered in our version willi itropriety and witli •inuninafical accurac}'. SonietiTnes the prejiosition, en, iroverns tlie dative of locality — as in Matthew, the tirst verse of the second chaptei' : en Jief/tfeeni, in IJethh'lieni. The j)re|)osition also in other passaiies ooverns the dative of time— as in the lifteenth verse of the tenth chapter of 8t. Matthew's (Jospel : en Jieinevd /r/.sco.s', in the day of Judgment. A'ery fieipiently, however, as in the passage under consideration, the (ireek pre- position governs the dative of instiunientality. We have i>'ood exaniple of this in 1 Cor. iv. iM : e}i rludxht eltho pros htnnns, '* am I to come to you //•//// a rod The same c(nistruction we have in Luke \.\ii,lli: en, iii((eh((in<, u'i/k the sword. The ditference Itetwcen the dative of locality, and that of time and <»f instru- mentality will he sulliciently obvious to any iuijuirer. We do not need any vindication of our vei'sion, " [ indeed ]>ai)ti/e you triffi water,'* except what the struc- ics. This renderinii" is not only i^rammatically coirect, but it i.> that which, carried t'"rouuli the [)assaii'e, harmonizes with the hi.-toiic facts of Tentecostal liaptism : wilh the Holy Ghost and wifh lire. OV ture of parallel j)assaLies cleaidy ex<'mi)li( o. The tei'-timony of rJolin is in harmony with the estaJ)lished (H'dinanvcs and api)ointments of the Old Testament C'hui'ch; and, theruforc, I»aptism n'i/h water has been appropriately [>erpetuated in the Chi'istian Church. liUder the old covenant there weie vaiious l»urilications, of i^evites, of lepers, and of peisons who J 1 1 I \J IJAITISMA ; li:i(l been in contact with ilcad bodies, tliercfore ccrc- nioiilally and legally iinclcaii : and in all ca^cs the mode of pufillt-ation was divintdy dctcriniiuMl : " Spriid-clinc!; tile Uiielean .-and Hied 'lo Ilie pmilyinu' ot" tlii' llesli." Tlie inspiied writer ol" tlie ilpi>lle lo Ihi- I.ebi-ews was intimately ae(|nainted with appointed rites of the ancient Chnfch. He c()niprehi iideil nn(piestional)ly the nature and doiuii ol" Christian bM]ilisni. lie was ;n acconiplislu'd scholar. iua>ter of ( ireek lanufiiaii'c and literatur(\ and yet those pnriiications he ecdlec- tiv(dy speaks of as : - tisnis — in the Knu,r:>h text : "'divers wa>hinus."' Tnndnu' back to the re(|iui-enifnt of the f.aw for the l»nrificat ion of Lc\iles, we find that the hmu'iiaut' was specitic. "And the Lord >pake unto Moses, sayinu;: Take the Levites from amoni:' the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus ^lial' thou do unto them, to (deaiise tlu'ui : SpriuJ.lv iiuilvr o/' inirifjii ikj ttpoii ///I'lii, and h'l them shave their llesh, ami let them wash their clotho-, and so make Ihoniscdves clean."' In the law for the imriticat ion of lepers we have tlu' sanie reipiirt'inent : " And he shall .s/>y'////.7(' water ui>on him that is to l)e cleair»ed Irom t he le[>i*osy seven times, and shall pi'onouncc him clean, clc." And so in re^i'iird to ceremonial imi>urity iVoiu contact willi dead bodies: "Whosoever toucliclh the dead l)ody of any man that js dead, ami purifieth not Ifnnsclt", delileth tlu' taberna- cle of the Lord; and ///(// soul shall hv ml ojl' from /si'tnl; hccdiisc llm iratvr of scjxn'dlion tras not .spruihicd iijKni him. he sh:dl be umdean; his iinclean- ness is yet up(m him." Throunh all ancii'iit h'U'islation in the Old 'reslamcnl ("hui'ch. in which water Wits to A TIll.'I.K-l'OM) TKSTniONV i:; )!"(' CCIV- >rinkiiiio- r llcsh.-^ ■("AS W;is ol' the tioiial)Iy III' was iiiiTiiaoo \ CIS hap- V toi- the i.iii'i' was say i no;: )!■ Israel, ilo llic'in, itf/ vjum (.'111 wash ' III tlio lu' saiiK.' cr upon '11 liiiu's, 11 ri'uiird l)()(lics : nan that tabi'ina- ;//' J'rotii ''(i.s not iiH'h'aii- i'ishition y W..S to be ust'd as a iiicaiis ol" piuilication. /r/trnrrc}' inoilc. irns ,s/n'('(/i<'(f in (fid nmniniiKK wlu'iu'vci' an adininisti'ator was indicated, tlie aiti)rK'ati()n was to be tliat ofsprink- linu'. There were in such easi-s. in a'ldilion to tiie leci'ai ollicial administration. — the >|tri!dvlinL!," wiiieh saiietilied, as the aposth' tells ns, t(» the pnrifyinu' o/ tile niudean, — w.tshiiiii's and bathiiiLis and sjia\inus; l)iit tlu'si' were personal niatlfi's — piirdy <>1 cleanliness. In each case no mode was e\-ef s[>eeilied. Vet so stiinuent was the law of piirilicatioii that unless the water of separation \\a> sjiriiikled Ilial soul was eiil oil' from Israel. IIiTc thi'ii we lia\i' not siniidy snp]>(isition. We lia\e soinethinii' more than inference. We lia\c positixe authority. In I'veiy a|>i>licat ion of w:^iter t hat stiiK-IIJicd, the mode was sju'I n/Ji ikj : and the M'veral piirilicatioiis of which we ha\ e nost miniile e.\[danation are >peci" tically (h'sio-nated baptisms. "There are three," says .John the Divine, "that bear witness in earth, the spirit, the water and the lilood : and tlioe thine aLi'ree in one." They auree in one in rehdioii to their |aiiiiose; the in'cessity of purity; aiiil. also, in I'el'ereiice to mode, t lit- ^priiiklinu' of water which .sanctified hariiieakelli l)etler i1miil:'s. I. The testimony of .lojiii. " ba|t!isiii //•//// water."' is not only in harmonv with the ordinances and iiislf- t lit ions of the ('hiircli of ( iod ; but also in si liet accoi'd- ance wnii the whole t(nie and tenor of inspired teachini''. In the psalms and in the prophecies of the Old Testament, wati'r is lVe([iient ly s[»oken of; and the /p-" u 14 HAl'TISMA imairiM'y soinetiiiics is that of .subiiRTsion, oa'ctHow, the ni.sh of :i Avht'lininii* Hood ; and in many other cases the idea and iniai^ery are tliat of alfiision ; of s[)rinkling or pouring. Turnino- to figurative scriptures, in wliicli we find water alluded to as a Hood, we have one constant and only uniform and continued idea. " For thus saith the Ijord (iod when l shall make thee a desolate" city, like the cities that are not inhabited ; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shtill cover thee." " Woe to the nuiltitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of mighty waters!"' Take these passages, 'and others such as these, — what is the one uniform sustained idea? Jt is evil and not good. It iscalamitv, and not blessing. // /.s dedvadion, most supreme and striking manner, the idea of calamity and of overwhelming disaster: — the hosts of Pliaroah, his horses and his chariots en- gulphed in the Ued Sea. That memoral)le event of Hebi'cw historv was conseci'ated bv the most .t( red historic associations. There was there a great national baptism; "And were all baptizeil into Moses in the cloud and in the sea." The captivity of Israel was broken. From the land of bondage (hey were to be for ever sei)arate- up er thee." 1 make a isliiiic, of il others ustained , and not Prophet will melt, 1 it shall ed ((s hjj nld only manner, faster : — riots en- -'vent of t tcred national s in the •ael was re to bo tute the . Their A TIIKEE-FOLD TESTIMONY 1') passai^c throuoh the Red Sea was for them a baptism. What are the facts of that baptism? In what manner, on that niaht of niarvellons mii>hty deliverance, was the baptismal element bronoht into contact with the [)eople of Israel ? " And the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong" east wind, all that niaht, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea iil)on the dry oround, etc." Some other facts of that midniaht march through the mighty deep have been furnished to us by the Psalmist: "the clouds i)oured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad." Throuuh the dry t to which the proi)het refers. The Israelites were baptized. They were saved — oloiiouslv delivered. But whence came the baptismal eU'inent ? The clouds p(H/re(l out water. Only by allusion, by poui'ing or sprinkling, could the baptismal waters come into contact with the redeemed [)eoi)le. The Lsraelitea tcere h(//tfizetf; hut not hn- uiertieif. ' \ f J 16 IJAI'TISMA ; fU' III ! \\ ! The F(////)firnfs trere immersed : tlu' f.ord ovor- tlirt'W llu'in in Ihc midst of the soa : hut thvij wtrc vot hf(j)fize(f. Two fhiiiir^^ in tills ilhislration ol" the liiiurativc lanLi'iiaLT <>t' proplu'cy arr cU ir, as tho tacts of liistoi'v, llu' Ibrci' of laniniau'c, and llu- antliority of apostolic ti'achinjj: could make tlicin: tlic Israelites ■\vercr baptized under circumstances in which there could be no contact with the l)aplisn);il element except by ajf'nsioti: and the flood of Kiiypt could only mean calamity and not ble.ssinu' — dcstriictioh ami not .^ulcd- tion. Hut then in the liii'urative hniuuaire of the Psalms and I*roph..'cies, in many metajthorical i)assau'es of the Old 'reslainent, in which water is sp!)ken of. the imaii'ery is that of sprinkliui:' — :is the on the mown .i^rass: as .showc-rs that water the earth."' A few such passaiies for illustrative j)urposes will be 8utticient : "As the ihnr of Ilermon. and as the dew that iU'Scende(l ui)on the mountains ot' Zion : for there the Lord commanded tlie blessinii", even life for ever- more." "Then." says the prophet, "shall we know, if we follow on to know tlu' Lord: his uoiui? forth is 'prepared as the morninu': and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latier and Ibruier rain unto the earth." "Thou <) (Jod," says the Tsahnist. in com- memoration of national visitation, "didst sendaplentl- ful rain, whereby thou didst conlirm thine inheritance, when it was weary." One more passa,i>e, and only one, I need to ([uotc; from the fiuurative lan,j:>ua£!:e of pro- phetic declaration : "And I will nud^e them and the A TI I IJKK-FOJ.I » TF.STI MON V 17 ovcr- / H'tre oi" ihe fuels y\\\ of •aclitcs could i'l>t l>y f-'((lcdom, to have ('(unprehended such an anomaly. The idea and the iinau'ei-y however havi' by means of evanucdieal pi'omise. and prophecy, fullilled only in our times, passc-d into ( 'hri>tianity : •* Then will I sprinkh' v\v\\\\ w;iter upon you and ye shall be clean: from all your fdlhiness, :ind from all your iijols will 1 cleanse you. A ni'W lu-arl also will I uive you, and a new spirit will L put within you, etc." The ureat savin"" samtit\ inii" oper:ilions ot" the Holy Si)iril ot' (iod are represenle(l a> the -i)rinklinu' of clean water. And, if the »/o^//'.v oynvv///'//of the work oftlu- Holy(!host. in the salvation and sanctitie:ition of the soul, can Justify the ithraseolony of the u'reat evan;ielical pronnse, sui'ely the outw:ii"d siun, the application of water in bai)tism, ounhl to coi-respond with the inward and .spiritual urace. 'iMien as candidates for admission to the' church i)resent themselves tor baptism, and as suitable subjects are in faith and i»rayer dedicati'd to God, with the assurance that of such is the Kingdom r ■! ! IS r.ArTis.MA of (lod, i>rayor may in coiilidcneo bo oirered that, simultaiJO()ii.mi)lishment : I will spri tilde clcdii irfdcr ian Kunnch was read- inii" when, driving in his chariot, he was joined by the 1 th <^ valine 1 1st I'liiiip on liis way tlironuh the Desert to (iaza. The thoronnhfare to that sonthernmost city of Palestine was thionuh a reition destitnte of dwellings, a waste land in which no man has ever fonnd tbaming Hood, or water dee[» enoniih for submersion, but which mioht atford sutlicient for baptism by atfusion. As rhilip expounded tlie scrii)lures, conceinini>" the sacri- licial work ajul redeeminii' purposes of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can readily understand that one expression of the Tropliet would most tbrcibly arrest his attention. He well knew the ex(;lusiveness, the severely local chai'acter of the ,Jewish religion; biit hei'e was an uttei-anci' which seemed to ovi'ileai) all barriers, and to comi)rehend within its raniie the scattered families of the earth. What does this mean, Philip? Does this refer to the conversiou and ba[)tism of (Jeiitile nations ? How the soul of Piiilip would take lire and his coun- tenance uiow with sulfused liuht as he ex[>atiated upon the universality of the (Josi)i'l — for Jew and (Jentile — for bond and free — loi'the rultured (Jrcek, the haui>hly P(unan, and the swarthy Alricau — Ibi' all nations and touLiiies of the earth. We do not wonder at the sur- prise and exclamation of this Kthio[)iin Kunuch: 1 A TIIK'KK-FOLl) TKSTIMOW. 10 that, e pro- tn'll \gn\- iitkle part it'ad- y tlio crt to 'Wy of '* Lo! Water.'''* Astlu' l)ap(isinal I'loint'ut was applied, in till' only way iJiohabk- or over post^ible in that desert, the Kvanu'elist, no (lonht, explained very I'nily the ameney and woi-k of the Holy Spirit, as the chief dis- tinction of this Christian dispensation, and as constitu- ting the most distini^Miished fnllihnent of the pi-oi)heti(; ntterance, the coidinnation and the consecration of tlu^ nnxle iniplie(l in ,Iohn"s ministry, peri)etnated in the C;imrch — I)ai)tlsm iritli watei-. Tims the Treasurer of (^neen Candace was enrolled amonust the tirst fruits of till' izreat prediction, i)assinii- on to its accom[)li;ih- ment, lie. sludl .^jtrink/e huiiiij in(lif the shadow \ we shall now \\\v\\ U) X\\L' siihslanro. — the glorious essence. The out- wart' and visil)le sian is in comparison with the inward and spiritual urace, a matter of suliordinate and se- condary consideration. " 1 indeed l)apti/e you with water unto repentance," said .John the IJaptist, "hut he that Cometh after me is miidilier than I: lie shall baptize you with the Holy (ihost and with lii'e.'" Can we foi- one moment stand in doid)t as to the import and a('comi>lishment of this declaiMtionP The limitation * The preposition c/s, "into," upon wiiicli j,M'(Mit stross has been iihiccd, iiml tiic ciiiUi^M's iiuiK, " ^vit li viiriatloiis '" of every ])()ssihh' Iviiid, is Miter all l)iit veiy slender ^roiinti on wliicl) to biise the wei^lit of arjiuiiient in favor of inniu-rsion. Th(! sain(3 l)reposili()n oeeui's no h'ss llian five times in tiiis .same narra- tive: c/.s', " nnto (ia/.a,— c/s, " to .Fernsah'ni,— c'/.s, "at Azotus,— <•/.><," to ('a'sar<'a." " 'i'liey went down," iVoni tim elia riot, '/">•, "/«the water."— Jnsl in tlu' same sense, as riiilii) afterwards came h> Ca'sarea." 20 IIAITISMA Wi^s (IcIcnniiKMl hv llic i-iscii Saviour, in his ];ist iiiU'r- vlcvv' with his (lisfii)I(' For floliii truly b.ipti/cd with walci": hut ye shall he liaptiziMJ with \hv Holy (Hiost nol )Htized with the Holy (ihost."' The niinntia' ot'this aceonii)lishnient we llnd in the historic record; and wilh what thrill, even at this distance ol time, do we I'ead of that I'entecostal baptism: ''And snddeidy tlieic came a sound iVoni lieaven as of a rushinn' miiihly wind.""— not wind sweep- inii" through door-way and casement, hut oidy sound as of wind, — "and it tilled all the liouso wliere they were .sittinii". And tiu-y wer(> all tilled witli the Ihdy (ihost, and ])t'a":in to s[»eak with tonu..es as the spirit U'ave them utterance."' The inlluence of the spirit, as if l)enl u[) for au'cs, accompanied by the likeness as of tire, a littinu" symbol. e\pressi\t' of tlu' bui'ninix energy of the Holy Spirit's oi)erations, was poured forth iu abundant utfusion : "(> 'fwiis !i inosl auspicious lionr, Sciisoii of ^riice snul sweet (leljiclil, Wlifii lie ciinic witli iiii;j,li1 y powcf, And liirlit of truth (livi:ifly bri^^-jit." III. TiiK I'.Ai'Tis.M OF inn: The nature of that baptism of the Holy (ihost finds ade(puite e.\i)lanation in the visi))le synd)ol by which it A TIIKKK-KOLI) TKSTIMOXV II iiilcr- ilizcd Il(.ly tcsti- «'in' ill iii'dom iioiis, llicin (1 tl r; lli tlie 'Ml wo , ('\('ll ■costal iVom wc'op- 1111(1 MS i' were [ihost, gave as if as of lU'l-o-y rtli ill liiids lieh it, was acc<)iii|)airK'(l. and without wliicli it could only have l)ci'ii impcrl'cctly understood. 1. 'I'hc clcincnt of lii'c in thai haptisin has Ixhmi. in some cases, l)y stranu'c' cxcui'sis. made tosyinholizedos- tniction. The Jar and recoil ot such an exiiosition wo feel in all the instincts and >en>iliililies of our Ix'inii". IJaptisin, in Clirisiianity, canii's with it the idea of alvation and not of death 1 imleed'" said flohii, " hapti/e you witli water." and that Wii> all the l»a[)tist could do for his dix-ipies; Itut he aiuiounceil a more o-lorioiis ministration, ••lie Ihat c()iii(th alh'r iiu' is miuiitier than I." He comes not to destroy men's livi's, hut to save them. He >hall accomplish that which no liiiman aiii'iny can elfect. " He shall l)aj>ti/.e you with the Il(dv (Jhost and with lire lu' Sa\iour also, in liis own ministry, um, tlu' mysterious cup l)resscd to his lijts, and then the baptism of his people. How tlu' deei) intense yearniiiL': of Christ comes out in that utteranci', which has been icndered 1 ai n come to send lire on tlu' earth."— the lire of salvation, — •' Oil! Ilidl II ii'crc (fln'(((lf/ 1,1 tidied.'' 2. 'I'he emblem of lire, by which the descent ol" tlu' Holy S})irit was accompanied, was indicative of pcr- sdiKililii — not merelv inlluence. Even amoniist the (Jreeks and Itomans the element of lire was siiuuestivc I I I ! ')•> 1 '.A 1 'TIS. MA ; and symbolical of a diviiu* prost'iicc and personality. IJut to the llt'hrt'w pioplc cspct'lally this symbol, was one of consccratcMl siunilicancc. When in tin- early time Abraham, stamlinu" by his altar, beneath the open sky, a solitary worshippi-r of fJehovah, asked some covenant siuii, wherelty he nnuht know that thonuh a stranu'er he shonid inherit the land, there passed before him, and bi'tween the two parts of the cleft sucrilice, a sniokinu' fnrnace and a buvninu- hunp. >Vhen the 'hen tlu' redceim'd pc()[de of (lod nuirched through the wilderness the Divine Presence accompanied them, for liuidance and di'lence, — a [>illar of cloud by day, and of luminous llame by niiiht. The brii4htnes.s of the Shekinah. which llamed above the Mercy Seat was, foraui's, the visible acknowledued symbol of the Thrice Ibdy One. At the dedication of the Temple, the lii'e of (Jod came down upon the altar, consumed the olfei-iiiiis, Ijllcd with its si)lendor the whole sanctuary, and the [)riests weie unable to minis- ter, becanse of the slory of (iod. In the maunitlcent imaijery of the Ai)ocalyi)se, in the midst of the Throne, ;L>"oroeous witli jasiier and sardine, around which livlni*' ones, in nnceasinii' service [lerpetually cry, Holy, holy, holy, are tlu; seven bui'ninii' lamps of lii-e: which are the seven spiriti- of (Jod, — synd)ols always suiioestivc of the seven-fAPTIS^IA ; I ! t ' the Lord wliom ye 8cek f^hall suddenly come to his temple, " IJut who may iibide tlie day of his eoi'/Jn^'? juid who shall stand when he appeareth ? tor He is like (I r<'Jiiiei'\-i Jive, and lie shall >lt as a rellner and purilier of silver: and he shall purity the sons ot {x;vi, juid i)urue them as H'old and silver, that they ma.,' otter unto the Lord an otierinii' i'l righteousness." Under this o-raeious disijcnsatiou ot the Son ot (Jod, the oi)erations ot the Holy Spirit are i-e[)rc'sented as the lire ot the reliner, and as the purityinu' ot silver. I have (^I'tcn f^ww the (U'e ot [jreeious metals as it has l)een duii' iVom the rich vein, and from the ritted rock. It is generally threaded through and throuii'h, ;ind encrusted with impure and worthless substances. By what means shall the pure ore ])c separated iVoni the crystallized rock? How sh.ill the di'oss be purilied from the silver ? 'I'here can be but one certain eilicient j)roces,s. It is put into the liri' — into the criu-ilde — into the smeltiv(j fin'iKH-e. There it Hows down. The di'oss is purged. Tln' im[)urities are consumed. In a [)ure \vhite stream >t' molten ilanu' the uictal tlows into the ai>pointed mould. ApMrt iVom the solteiiiuii', subduing", penetrating operations and inlluenci's ot the Holy S[)irit, our hearts are hard and didl and cold. Hut He sits as a reliner and laii'ilier of sil\er. The threadings and incrustations of sin and sellishuess are consumed; and the soul, sot't and pla.-tic, melted into tenderness, takes the divine likeni'ss and im[)ress. W'iih scri[)tural a( (Miracy, thei'el'ore, we [)le;id : ** I{(vliiiiii,y lire ii'ii tlu'oii^Ii my licart, llliiniiiintc iii\' soul : Sfiittcr 1 liy li.'i'lit t 1w(»ii,!;1m\' r.\ iiail, And saiict il'\' 1 lie \\ iiiMf." SSPSISBHHIPBII^S^WSIJRBBBBB A TIIREK-FOLD TESTIMONY 2") IV. MODE OK r.ArTLSM. Rotnvnin^" to the (juestlon of mode wo hiivo, in tlio descent of the Spirit at IViiteeost, :iii irrefutable and irre.s'.^^table argument in favor of affusiou. The snb- jeet admits of positive proof. The demonstration is just as complete as the force of language and the well authenticated facts of liistoiy, by possibility, can make it. 1. John's l)aptism was with water; and the I)aptism of I'entecost was iritli the Holy (ihost and with lire "lint this," said the AiHjstle L'eter, with wondrous illumination, in undiminished freshness and undimin- ished [)ower, " is that which was spoken by the I'l-ophet Joel; And it sliall come to [)ass in tlu; last days, saith God, I will pour out my Si)irit upon all tlesh; and your sous and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.''' The baptisimil element came in contact with the dis(;iples : l)ut in what mode? AVere the disciples })lunged into the element P Did (he ba[)- tismal element How down upon the- disci{)U's? Have we any indication of mode? Any "Thus saith the Lord?" (Jould historic nan-ative ))e more intelligible? Could it be more transi)arent ? The Holy (Jhost was ^jo/^re^/ out— /(7/ on tliem — wws .slud down; and there- fore was baptism with the Holy (ihost. 'J. "When we know how ' Inist bai)ti/ed with thc> Holv (Jhost, Ave know how .lolin bai)ti/e(l with water. For he (leclarecl he was doing with watei" what ("hi'ist r. i; ' iMiWiLiwia ijai'TISMa; sliould do with (he Holy (Ihost : •! b:iplize; lie sluill ]);i[)tize' Wlu'U Christ l):ii)(izLMl witli tlie Holy (Jhost, as \vc have soon, Ho shod forth the Holy (Jhost; He poured out the Holy (ihost; He sent the Holy (Jhost upon them; the Holy (Ihost fell ui)oii them. When John did the same thini^' with water — when he baptized, he shod forth water; he poured out the water; he sent the water upon them ; the water toll on them. When I'oter said : 'He hath shed foi-th this,' did he mean he hath immersed in this which ye see and lu>ar? When Christ said : ' lU'hold I send the promise of .my Father u[)on you,' did he mean. ' I will immerse you in the i)romise of my Fatlu'r ?' AViien (Jod said : • 1 will pour out my Spii'it upon all llesli,' did He mean that He would innnorso all tlosh in his S[)ii'il ? ^^'hon I'etoi" said : ' 'I'ho Holy (ihost toll on thorn." did he moan to saA". 'When I ))o^an to speak, thov were immersed in the Holy (ihost as wo were at the be,i>innin,H' ? ' /miuer- sion is jiof (KlrnUiistered hij jiourina or xlieddhKi —httpthiu nvt.s. If to bai)tizo be a specitie term, always meaninu' one and the same act. that act is to pour out, to shed foi'th as the AVord of (iod is true. If it be a (/enen'c term, si^nifyino; the thing' done — as to piirify — Avithout reference to the manner of doin^' it, then the mode is lixed by other terms — as to pour out, to shed forth, to send upon, cVre. Whether it be six'cilie or lion- ei-le, the doctrine of imnu'rsioji utterly fails. "'• l\ 'A. Then in regard to the \isible symb(d, tne bap- tismal tlame by which the descent of the Si)irit was ac- companied, expressive oi' hvrin'iHf energy : were the dis- ciples pi un,i»ed into the fuel' Was the element of lire A TIIIIEK-FOLl) TF.STIMONV. '^i slKlII (Ihost, St; lie (ihost Wlu'Ji [>(i/A'(l, U' Sl'lll When liuidance and authority, the model baptism — the divinely promised bai)tism, — "baptism with tlie Holy (Jhost and with tire.'* Even if the ([uestion were involved in much greater ol)scurity, we would rather be in the dai'k with (iod, with this ex- ample clearly before us, than follow thi' linhts and the lamps of human teachiiiii" and the traditions of men. ' ol lu'e * Strikliif^fly iiiul sti'ictly oiK/Zr/Voy/.s to llic I'cntucostiil bnpfism was \\\v Hcont", in 1 lie temple vision, of in'oplielie suJietilieut ion. The ai)i)lieation l)y serai)liie agency, oC l)Hniiiiy: eoiils, and not a pluvgc into the ((lt(irfir<\\\i\s tiie means and t lie mode ot jiurilieation. The lips oflsaiali were tonehed with halloweil llaine : and he laid ■'it ujion my month and said, l-o! this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniipiity is taken away, and thy sin pnrfxefi. .tHUm '.■m<- : I ■2i^ iiArrrsMA ; 4. There is however no iimlfiu'iiity. Siip[)ose tliat Ji person ill peri)lexity ujxhi tlii.s point were invited to thiit npi)er room: and wei'e permitted to witness the promised biqUism of the Holy (iliost. The only tliinu; visible in connection with that rnsli of eneriiy, of which he l)ecomes conscions. is the tonuiie of lire — the likeness as of llame. Yes, he would say, 1 under- stand it now; I have l)een in doubt as to the Xew Testament uuMninij,' of that (li'eek vei'b hrtpfiza. I have l)eeM undecided in I'ldation to action and mode — im[)lied and re(piiivd. The ba[)tisin comprehends thinos of vital essential iui[)ortance, of which no ex- ternal syml)ol can allbiHl adequate intei'pretation ; but in relation to vtodc it is luminous as the llame upon the forehead. I understand it all now; the bai)tismal clement was ai)i>lied to the heads of the disciples. This anxious in(iuirer you next take down to the sea shore, to the rushinu' river, or to the somewhat impure waters of the deei> f(nit, into which the shiverinji' candidates are in succession thrust beneath the Hood. lie mioht say at once, T am peri>lexed more than ever. In that u[)per room all was clear; it is now confusion worse confounded. The mode is reversed, instead of the element beinij (tpplied lo fhc ('(tndidd/c, the candl- (biite is pluuyed into (he elevient. In contrast with that iininer.sion in water, we arc called to witness another baptisnial scene. The ser- vice is imi)ressive. There is no disturbinu" inlluencre. There is nothiuLi' to shock the sensibilities — even of the most retined taste, or of femijiine (Udicacy of feelini^'. The deei) silent hush has settled over the £ireat con- jirecration. 'fhe baptismal element Is ai)idied to the a r^Mx'etvflaxtjf-: A rilKKK-FoM) TESTIMONY. •29 J that ji ited to u's.s the y ihliio- rii'v, of re— the uiider- H' Xew lize. I mode — rehencis I no ex- on; but le upon il)tisin;il es. the sea impure !iivei-iiii>- le Hood. Ill ever. )iil"ii(-;ion ste(((l of 3 ccmdi- ^ve are 'lie ser- niienee. n of the feelini"-. at eoii- to the eaudifhiles. That is sufHeieiit for satisfaction. The eoircsj)ondeiiee is perfect. It liarinoiiizes roint)letely with (Jod's baptism. In tliat case it was Ure ; in tlii.s case water. The element dill'ers; hut tlie mode i« the same: baptism n-ffh water, and wi/h the Holy (Jhost, and if'ifh lire,* .'). Thus in relation to nicxfc we have a three-lbld testimony. Uiutnesi ionably loo much of reco,ii"nition, far too much in controversy has been accord<'d to a matter (• rather iiioi-ious?" The lienius ofour holy (Christianity, like the snon-whitc brilliant donie of the loftiest .Vl})ine mountain, towerinu' in ui'andeui' ai)ove mist and vapour, in it< maii'nilicence of si»iritual j'ealily, .standi far above the reiiion of shadow and (d" forms. *' For in Christ rJesus neither circumcision availelh anythiirti" i">>' nncircumcision, but a jiew creature. And as many a< walk according* lo (his rule, peace l)e on them and mercy, and u|»on the Nrael of (Jod." Hut, if, whih' satislied (hal otln'rs .sJionJd adojit the mode, which to them sctMn< jui't'erable, w<' ari' cl>allen!2,'ed for scriptui'al jn-oof, and (ency, we coulidendy apjiteal (o (he oracle of (Jod. "'J'o the * In ]t('rr(!ct<-niisK)ir,riicc itf '»i()(?<' w.is Uic hunt isnior t lit' S;iv ion r; *'iiiul .Icsiis Asiicn ilc ^\■■ls hjipt izcd wi'Ul up sti'aj.ulitway out of the wutiT." Till' i)i'c,i)()sitioii ajx) " out of," Itcin;;' Ihc sauic as in tlic i)ri'vious verse, " tVom" ajm " tlic \vratli to i-oiiic,"' would Ixj <'orr»'Ctly rciidcrcd tliis jKissiiJ^e *' Ironi tlic water'" and it decides uotliiiif;'; but llic descent ot'tlie spirit lias l)een ininntcly //.s.'«- *il Bynibol— not snf;;j;est ive, as in ininiersion, ol ])4issive inert ^'lenient acl<'d ii])on— ^/'.sv. yyr/cr/ \Y not nceordino- ?ht ill thoni." evidence ob- iiinipJiaiif and ^IH'NS. TlicM-c "'ith the Holy t'ady clncidji- <*:ifi()n or tjio xa three (Kjrec 't' witnesses," c\ ei',>- word >stle Petej- at rentecost — has Ix-en explicitly afHrmed by St. Paul in his Kpisth' to the (Jalatians: *'That the blessing of Abraham migiit fome ui)on the (ientiles through »Iesus ChriM, etc. For as many of yon as have beeu Ixiptized inlo Chrisl have i)ut. on <"hrist. There is neither Jew nhet : "For I will poui' water uixui him that is thirsty, aud iloods u])()n the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy f^v(H\, and my blessing ui)on thin« <)tls[M'ing/' Is there not a most profound and glorious sense in which the Church of Christ is built *' ujhjji the foundation of the Apostles and Piophets?" 1 ii 32 I'.Al'TIS.MA ; :5. Promise (Mil never in tlie Covenant oC God collide with coniniand : and, accordinu'ly, the " promise of the Fatlier,"' nnlblded by the Ai»oslIe at Penteeost, em- bodies and crystalizcs the very spirit and essence ol" former injunction: "For He established a testimony in Jacol), and ai)i)ointed a law in Isi-ael, which he com- manded our tathers lliat they should make them known to their childri'n: tliat lln' children to comu' nuiiht know them, under the JuJdi-en which should be born; who shall arise and declare them lo their children: That (hey miiiiit set h()i)e in (Jod, and not forget the woi'ks of (iod, but keep his commandments.'" 4. The relation of childi'en to this economy of orace is very explicitly set foilh in the i)ersonal minis- try of Chi'ist. Hebrew i)arents brought their children to Christ,- and were ]-ebuked l)y the disciples. The disciples were apparently as contracted in their views as some christian i)e()i)le of our own times, "lint when Jesus saw it He was much displeased." In one or two other passages that word efjanaliese, was dis- pleased, is used by the Evan^xdists : when at IJethany, the alabaster l)ox was broken and the costly fragrance poured upon the head and feet of the Saviour, the disciples had mnch indignation; and when, at the triumphal entry into »lerusalem. the children shouted Hosanna : the Priests and Pliarisees were displeased. Only once, however, is this word ai)plied to Jesus : not wlien i.espised and betrtiyed and denied and scourged and condemned and crucified; but, wdien the discii)les rebuked those that Iirought their children, Jesus cyanaktese — "was displeased" — had. as rendered in A Til KKK- FOLD TKSTI.MoXY. Ha (.'ollidu o of the st, cin- onco of ^(iinoii}' u> COII)- known miiilit t' I)oni ; ildrcii : m't the >iiiy of iiiinis- liihli-eii ;. The r A'iew.s "But In one as (li.s- itliany, i^i'aiice ir, the at tlie lonted eased, s : not •Hi-o-ed ;ei|)k\s Je.siis cd in . the otlier passage, " much indlunation.''' He said unto them : "Sutler the little ehildren to conic unto me and forbid (hem not : for of sxch is the kinly inlerence, but explicit authoritative statement. We are t'ucoura<>ed and au- thorized to receive llu' liltle ones, by the initiatory rite of bai)tism. into the Kingdom of Cod upon eartli ; and we are ti.ssui'e(l that, if taken from us by death, as thousands are, in virtue of the free gift which has come upon all, of theii* sahation into the Kinii'dom of (iod in heaven. The l)lessinL:' of .lesus was no sentimental unmeaning act ; and whom Christ b/esses inan may rcccirc. Ju the very ut'xt narrative, in each of the svnoptic Cospel.s, wt' read (^f the vounii' man who came to the Saviour by the way. Earnest, enthusiastic, cor- rect in creed, and of unexceptionaljle deportment; the ]\laster looked ui)on him and loved him: but he could not receive him. He could not l)less him as lie blessed the little ones. Tn their relation to the Kingdom there was fundamental ditference. The children were wel- * "UCsucli is till' Kingdom oflicuvcii; not ot'sucli only !is\V(U'o ///t'e tliL'So iulunls. For W'thcij themselves Averc, not lit to be sub- jects of thiit Kiiiijdoni, liow coubl otluns bo .so Ijocauso thoy were like. tlK-ni':' " — ff'estei/. Tbe altoniiitive oxpliuiiUion correctly stated, would put into the ijiouth of the (ireiit Teacher the purely' absurd proposition ; " SulT'er the ciiildreu to come unto me beeausi," believiui^ adults, who resend)le them in moral disposition, are proper subjects of tlic Kinji:dom of (iod." The Saviour was not fuvnishin.w<.i«;^<> ii. r>-f/i.>f v<'/. iif />i.,i /.<. III. ti..- "One morninix. Just at dayhreak. durinu" the home Avard journev we were accosted l>v a band of Indians, who, having heard from some hiintei's that the mission- !irv had passed that way a few davs before, had come and encamped at a nanow pass throuuii which our route lay for the purj)ose of having their children baptized. We respondeil to their signals to land ; and there ui)()ii the barren rocks, with the blue lu'avens above us lor covering, and the rushing stream as our font, we performed the solemn rites. A father and mother l)rought their little girl a distance of two hun- dred miles for this i)urpose. We gladly bai)ti/.ed the little one, giving her the name of Elizabeth, after which the i)ai-ents immediately started olf on their long homeward journey." Could that scene have been displeasing to the Lord of Glory, who folded little ones in his arms, and laid his hands upon them and blessed themP Could " any man for])id water that these should )iot be baptized ?'' >'). 'J'hroughout the Acts of the A})ostles we lind that, whenever co/if/ref/dtioiKil ministry is the subject of sacred history, and the liospel was for the lirst time A thim;k-F(»M) tksti.monv. ;].') ily say it > toiicliin.r , JiOer ->ii their he Lord ind laid d " any zed I^" ve lind snhject st lime l)rcaclied in a city, the first record of l)ai>tisins, as at Samaria, and as in all new missionary stations up to the present time, is tliat of men and women. lint wherever tlic minis! ry of the Apostles had to do wltli liome-life, Ave have then the church in the house, and the narrative of savinu' worlv includes the facts of houseiiolds. Heads of families were conveiled and l)ai)tized, and their /loiiscliold.s wvw. )jai)ti/ed with them — the JaiU'r (uuf all his straiuhtway — Lydia and her hofisehold — Crispus with all his household — the household of Stephanas. Households may t)e found without children ; but tlie meml)ershii> of children in the family is the general law of life, and their a])sence the excei>tion. Upon the supposition that exclusion was the new Testament idea: Lookinu' upon house- holds of the New Testament in their rei)resentative character, no laniruaae could have l)ecn more calculated to mislead or to pervert the right ways of the Lord. (). Positive authority lor tlie admission of children into recognized relationshii) to the Christian chuicli, we have from the lii)s of flesns. Mistakes may bo made in the reception of adult candidates into church membership; but in regard to the other class there can be no possibility of deception. It is (tuestional)le if language would admit ot a declaration more distinct and positive than that of Christ, introduced with the solemn formula: "Verily I say unto yon, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall 7iot enter therein."' What could be more decisive than the Saviour's memorable manifesto: " except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.'^ .)!» liAl'TlSMA ; Evon, if tlu'Vc were no such cxiicf and explicit clo- f'laratioii. llic evidence allii'iiialivc of tlie <[Uestiou is aiiiple and incontotable. Tlie clianiie from Circnm- cisi(;u to I>ai>tisni, tlie initintory rite of tlie clnirch lu passing' from one dispensation to anotlier. i-ests oni'tdy on tlie same lironnds and ciwries witli it [»rL't:i.sely tiu; same nn >sui'e oi" antiioi'ily, as fhc ohscmi iirc of t}u', Soblxiflt — clniii'i'i'd, liy Apostolic antliority, from tlic sevontli to till' lii'st ^\\\\ of the \veel<. (irantinu', moicovei'. tlie identity ot the Cliristian Chnrch— deiiKHistrated by (lie Apostle Tanl, in his masterly and conclnsixi' aiuuiiieiit of the ()li\'e Ti-ee, in which, thon!j,!i oriuinal branches were brokt'ii olf becanse of nijbeiiel. and, npon a cori'esi»ondini»' itrin- ^ci[)le of faith, m v; ones Li'rafted in, tliroii'jli all de\el()p- ments and transitions the tniiik and roots remained unchanii-ed — its essential identity unimpaired — there was, nixm the snpi>osition of rc.rL'rtidI in relationship of children, an imi>erativi' ncvvf^sity for f/ie rejtad of fonner lair. Ihit the total silence of llevcdatlon, in rei^'ard to any co\enan(-chanu'e in this direction, atfoi'ds the strono'est presnmiitive evidence of the Divine i»nr- l)Ose to [lerpetnate lormer riuht and i)rivileue; ami theri' was therefore no lU'cessity for additional enact- ment. What force in court of law, in a case involving" the right of infants and minors, and their U\o-al status in this Island, W(Mild there be in the [dea : we are under a new and more extensive political dispensation; and since Confederation there has been no direct and posit- ive legislative for the benelit| of the class concerned: therefore their status and their legal lights arc nihil? Jf there has been no act of repeal the old statute law A ririM:i;-roM) TLsriMnw • I I it'>^M()ii is ('ii'ciiin- liiiich ill s iiiircly •^' of flu; ■'•oiii (lie ti-isliaii . ill Jiis \(' 'IVcc, iili" J')-in- ('\'('i()j). L^niained I — (lici'e tioiisliij, 'i>C((l. of tion, ill u/rord.s lie ]uii-- c'; aiul fiiac't- I'olviiio- status ' under 1 ; and ! posit- 'nied : nihil p e law of Mie colony I'cinilns in Inll torcc nmlcr Ihc new rctj- i7ne:\\\\y\ acconlinu' to its in-ovisions and stiinilalions adJiKlicaHon will be made and lighls .sacredly vindi- (^ated. 7. The ohjecdon thai childicn siil)se(iueii( to their dedi(ralion to (iod in oaptisin fall into sin — equally and l)ainfnlly true also in too many ca-es (»f adnlt baptism — sijrinixs tVoin a fnndamenlal mis-conception of the iiatnre and (lesion ol i)a[)tisin as a covenant-si_<4'n — tlie ol)rn>ation and i>i'i\ ileui' ol which, at the littinii' time and place, by [>ul)lic profession of faith in Christ aie recognized and acknowledm.d. Were the tlu>oiT of baptismal reii'cneration, or a ii'iilcr-solrdtion, in ([iies- tion the objection woidd then be a valid and lei4itimate one. Circumcision in the ancient Church could not save; but it indicated covenant-relationship, and, as evidence; of (Jod's care and concei'ii for the little ones of the fainili<'s of Israel, could not l)ut produce salutary impression ui)on the minds of devout and thouijfhtful parents. P>a[)tismal reiieneiatiou, as a scriptural doctrine, we do iH)t accept. The a[>i)lication of water washes away no stain, and in iisidf secures no blessins:; but infant baj)tism, as a siij,n and seal of the relation- ship of children to this dispensation of salvation, we iTi^ard as a sacred ordinance of God. Tuder this economy of redemi)tiou, because of the free gift of rigiiteousness which hath come ui)on all, where sin abounded grace doth much more a])ound ; and, though " ])orn in sin and shapen in ini(iuity,'" the li'tle ones arcf not excluded from gracious (;ommunication. The provisions of redeeming mercy are commensurate with ^m msmmmmmmmmmmmm P.8 r.ATTISMA ; the race ami, meotlng us at the threshold of lite, run parallel with all the lines of human existence. In the '- doni, of the range and rights of sul)Ject.s, of the con- ditions of evangelical a('cei)t:ince, and of the terms of family relationshi[), the A[)ostle Peter, at a time when passover meuujries — the .sy>r//#/.7(,v/ blood, the salvation of their children, the destroying angel, passing over the dwellings of Israel, and smiting the llrt-t-born of Egyi)t, — recently solemnized, were fresh in their recollection, — emi)haticaHy atlirmed : The pnjvil.se is unto f/on AM) TO Vni K CUIILDKKN. * VI. c-ONCLisioxs : Iiifere)iti<(l and Con'ohoraiive. 1. The Xew Testament meaning oft he verb Jiapfizo, around which so much of controveisy has gathered^ '. viB A TIIIJKE-FOLD TKSTniONV. r»o life, run hi th(! iineiit of . us tlie L'lvently ate coii- ''iiii and vcrliillv ^rtiiiiitv, inspired »v, lith'd I? nooii- 'S'i\ .'ind iisiition, H^ ki no- lle COJl- ci-iiis of t' wlicu Iviition ^tissino- ■t-boi-H i tiioir fjiisc I'.S ft ire. 'ptizo, liorcd juulxjyliicli li;is so often been made the l)attle ground of lieree disputation, we luive been u])le to determine in the New Testament sense. The ehissie iisa^e of this word, iiotwithstandina- ei'udite and (daborate investi- ♦4'ation in tiiat direction, is of eomparatively little value in this ([uestion ; and the results of learned dis- ([uisition are of no material iniportanee. Stich words as (((/(/e/os, ehlclA'shi, pi.slis, almost all theological uPtd descriptive terms, have in* the (lospel changed their meaning. They are used not as by old (Jreek Avriters; but with a New Testament sense. The onl}' valid iiKiuiry in relation to such words, so far as the teacliin£>"s of Christianity are concerned, is that by which their force and signilicanceasused In' the inspired Avriters of the New Testament, can be ascertained. The baptism of Pentecost deti'rmines the meaning of this word — so much dis|)uted ; and settles the question of mode: ''with the Holy (ihost and wilh tire.''' There was atfiision but no iDnncyxion ; for the Spirit was poured out upon the waiting disciples, and upon each liead Hdt the ])ai)tismal tlame, 2. The agitation to which tlie Churches have been subjected upon the vexed l)ul com[)arativel3' insig- nilicant (|uestion of mode in the administration of bap- tism, may, by means of parallel instituted between this sncrainent and that of the LorcVs Supper, ])e made to stand out in its true light. The Lord's sui)i)er was solcmidv instituti'd. We have a veiy full account of the lirst celelu'ation. The discii)les, as they took the (dements of the broken body and shed blood, did not sit or kneel as with us ; but reclined upon their couches. 40 r.APTiSMA ; The consecrated name by which the apostle (le-sig-nated this sacrament of the body and l)lood of fJesus was delpnon — whi(th in chissic usage meant the chief meal of the day. To observe this ordinance litci'ally we ono'ht, in the nii>-ht time, in an upper room, reclining upon sofas, or couches, to take a full meal, and the Lord's Sui)per ought to be celel)rated as a grand festal entertainment. Would any tlioughtl'ul Christian man ever dream of commencing a crusade against the Churches because dcipnou, the Sui)i)er, meant the princi[)al meal of the da}'; and because in the adminis- tration of this sacrament we use only Mie smallest quantity of bread and wine. It would not be diliicult, upon the basis of su(;h a i)arallel, to constiMu^t a coiudus- ive reductio ad absurdinn argument; but the simple suggestion, in the dire(;tion of consistency in dealing with the two sacraments ot the Church, and of making the same law of interi)retation to sweep the whole circle, shews sulliciently the supreme folly of attempting to build ui) a lofty fabric upon so slight a ibundation.*- P). There is one Lord, one faidi, one haplisDi; the grand essential l)aptism of the tlu^ Holy (Jhost — of which the application of water is only the symbol. -11 * Ciuiuom- for external rite is iissociiittMl witli iiml consti- tutes ii distinctive fealnre of some of the ieiist repnluble of all religious or,i>'anizations. In the riiapsody iind rho(h)nionta(le ((f Mornionite ])rea(!h(^rs, listeneil to from nM)tives of curiosity in other (lays, there was little of ))oly,iAainy, of t lie land of i)ronus(% or of any other peculiarity of Mornionisni ; but a most strenuous and vociferous contention Un' inimcrsion. IMoruinnite converts, l)erv(U'ts, wei'c exultin,^:Iy led down into tlie li(iuid grav<^ li: ^ttl A TIIKEK-FOLl) TESTIMONY. 41 irit of Christianity and it would be .strangely at variance with the logical se({aence of the passage: "there is one, and one spirit, even as ye are (tailed in one hope of your calling; one I^ord, one faith, one baptism, one (iod and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all". The force and beauty of the text arc brought out in the noI)le hymn, on the '* CommHiiion, of S((i/ifs." A single stanza will' be suflicient for illustration : ; I " IJiiild US ill tlic ()0(lj' Tip, CiiUM in Ihe liigli cullinjj^'.s lioiic: ()n(! tlio Spirit whom we claim ; One fliejmre Ixiptlamal jlame: One 11i<^ liiith iuul common T.onl ; ()i)(! tlio Fiillicr lives iKlorctl, Ovt'i', tliroiij^^li iUul in us all ; (Sod ineoinpri'Jn-'nsi ()!('." Kather than )>e a party to strife in which onhvard service should be undrdy exalted in the Church at Corintli, the apostle Paul, who exulted in the one T)aptism of the Holy (Jhost. was prepared to sink the symbol and to abandon the rite, and with vehemence exclaimed for Christ .sent me not to iKipfizc, Otit to preach the (roapeJ. " I do not know what (iod intends to do with me,'" said one of the most distinguished l>ai)tlst ministers, whom I have l)een privileged to know, in these Eastern I'rovinces, — with whom, in his last si(!kness I had much inter(;oiirse, " I do not know what God intends do Vvith me," he said, with all the energy of which he was capal)le, just before death. A TIIUEK-KOI.D TKSTIMONY. 43 c most 111 be tx uld 1)0 of the ye are c faith, above cc and hynm, /a will' I ward r(!h at e one Ilk the iieiiee lift to itends lished ed to- ill his know II the Icath, " but if I should be Viiised u^) and be permitted io ])reach a2:ain, two themes now seem to me only worthy of consideration. I shall feel that I have a si)ecial mission to preach holiness and the iynportanre of the one r/lorlons baptism of the Holy (jho.st.''' 4. The sacramentdl nature of baptism as an ordi- nance of the Cliuich c()i-i-es})()nd.s very closely with the essential idea of baptisift with the holy (ihost. The element of water api)lied to the (tandidate for church memberslii[) is a very sn])ordinate part of the service. Tlie Saviour in the (ireat Commisfsion said nothing' of water. Tliat command, to disci[)le, matheteH.sdte, all nations, was liiven at a time when the one abs()r))ino- theme was the advent of tlu' Spirit ; and it cannot, even in thought, l)e separated from the last i)romise: "Ye shall be bai)tized with the Holy (ihost not many days hence." The command must ])e interi)reted in the light of the i)romise. There was silence in ivgard to mode; hwt tiot 7U(injj \ llomans, for whom this ci)istle was written. " :i handful of dust thing upon a corpse was held to be a legal ritual burial," and accustomed also to the practice of haruing their dead, of which the ashes were collected and deposited in tomb or urn, the appositeness of this allusion to the Spirit's baptism, — which alone could be meant in this connection, a baptism of fire, an element of searching, dissolving, i)urifying, (piickening energy — would be at once apparent, and the illustration would carry and command conviction and intelligent acceptance of the important truth. Hi spiritual crucilixion the old nature gradually dies, as in the Roman mojle of death upon the cross, the victim after exci'uciating pain and linger- A TllHKK-FOM) TESTIMONY 45 odiiccs Christ hat so Christ |\vo arc h: tliat le giory cwness into the LMJOSS of man is 1)0 (k's- ^lieiisivo aws and is nol)le noiiagc, , buried oni til is upon a il," and Mr dead, )sitcd in n to the t in this archiniiN dd 1)0 at irry and e of the d nature til upon il liutior- \ ini];" aii'ony at last expired. Tn burial, b)/ Ixiptism of ike llolll Ghost, — for the whole process is one of spiritual chanii'e and aeknowledaed canons of criticism, shut us u[) to one law of interpretation, — the soul of the believer crucilied with Christ, dyin,i:>' unto the world, nevertheless lives and, (|uickened, purilied, saved and sanctilied, is thi-illed and pervaded by the pulsation and power of a new life. The metaphor of planting is also cmi)loye(l in this [)assage to work out the same thought — a lite of faith rooted in Christ Jesus. This bai)tism ijito Christ's death, by the agency and oi)era- tion of the Holy (ihost, fullils every conception of the mind and meets, and satislies every ca[)acity of the re- newed nature. Conscious of insutlicient religious life and ]>ower, we meet occasionally with cases of doubt and i>er])le.\ity. It cannot, in Aiew of well-authenti- cated facts, be regarded as anv violation of the law of Christian charity to make the assertion that the policy and practice of some religionists, always troublesome neighbours, meddling and nmddling, is for the sake of propounding a solution, to confuse and disturb the .sinii)le-hearted and unwary ones. In such cases the success is sometimes worthy of a better cause, anil Immersion in water is vainly resoiled to — because of the assurance, conlidently l)ut fa-sd't/ given, that such an act in itself must be accom[)anied by great and signal blessing. Not in any such resource can rest and satisfactioji be tbund. Some time ago the Baptist chur(;hes of one of our metropolitan cities were Jubilant ovei- the accession to their nnnisterial i-anks of a clergyman from an inlluential Episcopal church; l)ut the result was chagriji and I)itter disapjtointment: he 'I il k; 1 5. \ I 'TIS MA ; soon scvcreil his coiiiicctioii with lii.s new associjites and £>'av(.' in his adliorence to another relijxions organization . In such circunistances it is always bette?' to (jive than to rece've. Only in the baptism of the Holy Ghost can we find centi'al bliss, stability and certainty of spiritnal life. That richer etfusion therefore with faith and fervor we invoke : * ii I'll II " Cmno, Holy (jliost, all-qnick'iiinfjf i\vv, ! Conic and our liiill()\v(!(l lionrts insjiii'o, / Si)iinl TlvSTIMONV 47 hites and niziitioii. e than to \\\OHt can spiritiiul hith iiiul n'aiid and )unced by 'ound nnd rered and , except a igdoni of ing car of 1 that rc- rds of the 3 was no ty of this " — Amen, e born of kingdom , h rn if from the polvc of a iibol was pillar of tire 111 the wilderness, and the Shekinah clond were the conseeration and the explanation: so of this lii^iir- ative- ntterance of the Saviour, b rn of water. Its ened fountain, that mingled current." But, while the ashes from the sacrilicial altar, sug- gestive ot^ pardon, pointed to the " cross and i»assion" of our blessed Uedeemei", the wtdcr from the running brook, ty[>ical of pur ty, in perfect corres[>ondence, as a symbol, with the bai)tismal element, has direct reference to the saving, sanctifying operations of the ever-blessed spirit of (iod. Thus we have not only relative change, reconcilia- tion through Christ; but rer^/ change : regeneration by the Holy (ihost — b rti of the Spirit. There is mystery in this change — this renewal of the heart by the Holy 8j.)irit — this transformation of the soul into a living temple for (iod. liut there are myi-teries in the world around us, — that something which w^e call speech, a mere wave of sound, a [udsation of the almos[there, ■I ! II ! will ti'ansmit tVom one mind to a thousand the same thoughts. An operator at Valencia, sitting at the end of a eable, the other end of which is in the depths of the vast Atlantic Ocean, tinds himself, at midnight, watching intently the delicate magnet, disturbed by the inlluences of the sea, by a tiny tiash of light, sud- denly placed in communication with men separated from him by a vast expanse of stormy waves. There is, mystery in such coinnmnication, but the fact is none the less real. " The wind bloweth," the Saviour said, in this midnight interview upon the Mount of Olives : the wind moaned through the Valley of Kedron, rustled amongst the branches of the grove, beat coldly upon the brow of Nicodemus, but who could explain the law of that midnight breeze? The laws which govern the motions of winds and the courses of storms have been closely investigated, and are partially understood, but the rising and falling of gentle breezes, and their frequent changes, will, probably, forever remain a mystery. — "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth : *■) is every cne that is born of the Spirit.'''' " The Spirit answers to the blood." 7. We live under the dispensation of the spirit. The great substantial blessings of Pentecost are un- exhausted and inexhaustible, and we believe to us and ours : "The apostolic promise given." According to the sacred record when, at the inau- gural of Christianity, the baptism was lirst received, ,1 .' A THHKI-M'OLU TESTIMONY' 49 e same the end pths of d night, bed by ht, Jsiid- parated There is none 111" said, Olives: Kedion, it coldlv explain s which f 8tornis >artially gentle robably, bloweth thereof, lither it ?. spirit. are un- > us and le inau- eceived, "they were all tilled Avith the Holy Ghost;" and, indicative of undiminished privilege, the Apostle Paul, writing to the Church at Ephesus, earnestly enjoined upon them: to ''heJiJlel with the Sprit.''' We have thus, in the i)hraseology of insi)ired exhortation, an ample vindication of the form of supplication, in re- lation to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to which we are iiccustomed in services of prayer. Who shall dare to place limitation where the terms of gospel are without restriction? The great promise of this dispensation, " I will pour out my si)irit upon all tlesh," has not yet received its full accompllsi-incnt; and, until then, we are justitied in asking and expecting in richer plentitude : " Until the si)irit be poured upon us from on higl>, and the wilderness be a fruitful lield, and the fruitful field be counted as a forest." One more promise from the lofty and magnilicent predictions of Isaiah, who by the go!'l;n-mouthed Chrysostom was spoken of as " the cloud of God," will be ami)ly sutlicient in illustration of exalted privilege, and of confident expectation: "And the Lord will create upon every dAvelling place of Mount Zion and upon all her assemblios a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a tlaming tire; for ui)on all the glory shall be a defence." The Imagery of such promises and predictions, involving in their accomplishment a glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost and of tire, has by a natural transition passed into Christian language and literature; and, in the hymns of the church, has found fitting application : ** O that he now from iK'aveu might fuU, And all our sins consume ; Come, Holy Ghost, for Thee we eaiJ, Spirit of burning come." ■•i' 60 surn.KMKNTAin notks. VII. SLl'l'LKMKXTAUV N(JTK8.* /. Clff.snic (Jsafic. WIrmi Alcxiuulor inarcliod lil.s urmy a fool of Mount (Jliniiix, in Lycia, the sea haviui? covered the patli : " the troops," says Strabo. " were in the waters a whole day, l)ai)tized (l)ai)ti/oinenon) np to the mid- dle," — wadino- up to the waist a whole day, the soldiers were baptized but not immersed. riularch cites the Sybilline verse, a i>redictioii of Athenian fortunes, ' ' (i.skos bapt i zc dii iiui de t / ufhemia edi, " as a bladder thou may'st he b(ii>tized, but thou art not destined to siid\." The city woidd Ije subjected to disaster, but like the bladder tloating lightly upon the surface of the waters, would surmount them ail, — baptized but not sunk : no immersion. Describing- the slaughter of (Jleobulus, in his six- teenth book of the llVmd Homer tells that Ajax " struck him in the neck with his hilted sword, and the whole sword was warmed with 1)100(1." A (ireek commenta- tor on Homer, Dionysius, remarks on the clause: " In this he expresses greatei* em[»hasis, as the sword being so baptized (Jjapti.sthcnios) as even to Jjc warmed." The hilted sword of the mighty Ajax was baptized iir * Tlx! citations, in tho notes wliifli lollow, are from tlic best known, and nioHt tliorouyhly reliablo works upon tin; (tuestion. An L^vliuustivc treatment, for those wlio desire it, will be found in such worlvs as those of Dab;, Wilson, ILbbard, &c. I liavc also great satisfaction in comnuniding tho catecliism of Jtev. D. D. Currie, as a capital compendium of the subject. I SlPri.KMKNTAUV NOTKS. Ol foot of ovorod the 10 wateivs ;i o the iiiid- the .sohliers edic'tioii of i n themis I. but thou »e .subjected ghtly upou them all, — in hi.s .six- ux " struck the whole COUHlK'lltU- iiuse: "In ivord beinsf Wiirnied." iMptized iir oiii the best lu! (luestion. riU be found &c. I have ism of Jtev. t. blood llowing from a wound in the neck of his fallini'" foe : that was baptism, but no immersion. A youth, in the company of Soi)hists, was l)ewildered with the subtle (iuestions, and iliat is said to be si bap- tism : /iV/o (juoiis baptlzemenou to meir((kion — "I knowinff the youth l)aptized'' — Plato, Juif/it/d. There was baptism by (piestiouing, but no immersion. Elaborate and exhaustive investiLTation, l)y »ompetent .scholars, has shewn that the essentitd i(k'a of the verb baptizo is not viodc, l)ut condition, no matter by what means eflected . — clui iKjed condi ion. 11. llellenutic Greek. ••The language of the New Testament" according to the lexicographer and eminent Biblical scholar," Dr. Robinson, "is the later (Jreek language, as spoken by foreigners of the Hebrew stock, and applied by them to subjects on which they had never been employed by native Greek writers.^' The literature to which appeal can be most legitimately made for the interpretation of New Testament Greek, the version of the Seventy and the Apocrypha, exhi))its suggestive illustration of baptizo. 1. SKPTUAfiiNT : The only exjimple of the verb with Ji literal meaning, is in the account of the miracu- lous cure of Naaman's leprosy: "And Naaman went down, — Kai ebaptisato en to J rdane — and ba[)tized himself in, or at, the Jordan, seven times, accoi'd- ing to the saving of Elisha." The authorized version is, that Naaman went down and dipjied himself. He was commanded by the prophet to wash seven times. wrf . ■.- -.-^ffi-^.^'ijji'* y^KV-n ?^':i?^ffl"i I J - tnagint, in which washiH(/s and bathimis are com- manded : " In ancient vases, in which persons are re- presented bathing-, we never llnd sinything cor- responding to a modern ])atli, in whicli persons can stand or sit: but there is always a round or oval basin, {louter or louterum) resting in a stand, by the side of which those who are bathing are repra^ented standiny undreHned and washing themselves.'" The disease of Naamaii was local. " 1 thought," he wrathfully ex- claimed, " that he would strike his hand over the place." But instead of striking with his hand, the I'rophet in harmony with Divine requirement for purification of lei)rosy, the sprinkling of water, and ill accordance with Oi'iental idea and usage, i)re- s(;ribe(.l the application of water to the place. Seven times, as in the version of the seventy, the Syrian (jJeneral ])aptized himself and as the result there was u completely changed condition. l\\ one other pass^e only does hapt'zo occur in the Se[)tuagint. Instead of the rendering of the autho- rized version, in Isaiah xxiv ; iv, " tearfulness hath atfrighted me" the (Jreek of the seventy has he anoiiiia vie bapfizei; " Ini(piity ba[)tizes me." The use is ligurative and extended discussion unnecessary. One such passage abundantly refutes the erroneous assertion that the verb means " to d\[) and only to dii), through all (ireek literature." m S U rr LKM K N T A U Y NOT KS . 5J] |ii Ji])[)e;ilL'(l It ion, tVoMi be cnrriod of the 8c'i)- Mi'e c'om- oiis are re- tliiJio- cor- ei-soiis cjiii oval basin, the side of I fit audi) Kj disease of thfiilly ex- 1 over the hand, (he cnienb for water, and isao-e, j)i-e. ee. Seven lilt' Syrian there was ^enr in the ^he aiitho- ness hath \ has he ne." The iiecessai-y. erroneons iiiid only 2. ArociiYPiiA : Two passapfc^s only afford example and illnstralion of the use of the verb hapt'to in the jipoeryphal books. And she went out every niixht to the valley of Bethulia and baptized herself {etxiptizeto) in the camp at the fountain of water. Judith xii. 7. "The unseemliness of a lady," says Prof. ^Vil^()n. "sub- mitting to nightly immersion, in the midst of a camp, and at the fountain from which, it is consider- ed probalde, an army derived its sui)i)ly of water, has staggered most interpreters and tested the nerve of the majority of Controversialists. " The " wisdom of Siracli" asks "when one is" — fjapti ome/tns (ipo 9?e/i/'0tt— baptized from a dead body, and touches it again of what avail is his washing?" The apriitk- liny of the unclean, which, according to insi)ired teaching sanctitletism. . TTT. liHptu. Bapto is never in any of its forms, in the New Testament, ai)plied to l)ai)tism as an ordinance of]/" the Christian Church. Bai)ti/o is always used; the, verb ba[)to never; and therefore the discussion to\ which it has given rise, has no value — except that Avhioh( is iid'erential and illustrative. Two or three exam[)lesj of the use of this verl), without attaching import- ance to them, may be given. In the Battle of tlie Fro(/.s, a mock heroic poem, sometimes ascribed to Homer, one of the chami)ions called Crandjophagus was mortally wounded: "He fell and the lake (eprdtteto) was tinged with l)lood.'" Was that baptism, the lake in the blood of a fr<>g. Vii i i i ierji_aMM* < i&» 'il fe-y^r^^^ SB!S,"5!«». 54 SlIl'ri.EMINTARY Nf)TES. it.! an immersion? In the Boolv of Daniel, iv, 33. we read of the Judgment of iS^ebuehadnezzar : " and his body was Avet with the dew of heaven." Tlie Septn- agint has eLap?ie for wet — was baptized. Tlie ques- tion is one of onode not of (quantity. Was there an immersion? Was the insane King pluncjed into dew or did the dew descend? There is one passage in the New Testament in whicli the verb hapto occurs, wliic^h calls for special attention : '• and he was clothed with vesture dipi)ed {hebammenoi)) in blood.'' Rev. xix. 13. Tliere is no ([uestion but the verb was used in its secondary sense, and that the lit- eral rendering would be; "vesture stained in l)lood.'" liut what of mode? The passage is one of the few ivhich admits of /fos tire proof. In the parallel passage of Isiindi, the conqueror coming " fi'om Kdom with dyed garments from Bozrah" speaking in rigliteousness, mighty to save, declares of his foes: "their blood shall ))e .sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." According to (irove, the Greek lexicogi-apher, hapto signifies, " to dip, plunge, immerse; to iras/i; to wet. mo'sten, sprinkle; to steep, imtme; to dye, stain, color. The use of ba2)to, in the secondary sense of to .staiii, is accounted for; and the mode is ex- pressly said to be sprinkled. IV. Prepositions. (Considerable discussion has been carried on, all along the line, concerning the meaning of (certain pre- positions. " AVe lind" says the learned and labor- ious English writer, Thorn, " from a careful in- 33. we aiul his Se])tii- 10 ques- lei-e an to dew isjio-e in occurs, K' was blood." e verb the lit- ned i n is one In the comino" P>ozi-ah" loci a res d upon inient." , bapto to wet. stdiu, 3nsc of is ox- )n, all in ])ie- labor- iil in- Siri'LEMKNTA \\\ NOTES. Or) vostigation of the point in dispute that in our version of the New Tostainont the translatois have render- ed (ipo by fro7ti — three hundred and seventy four times; eh by to or unto — live hundred and thirty e?ght times; ek hy from, — one hundred and eii^hty six times; en l)y at, in or trlth — three hundred and thirteen times.-' One or two specimens of the use of prepositions may atford satisfaction to those who have been accustomed to hear intt (eis) out of (el) enunciated with an emphasis which was intended to 1)0 conclusive. "Jesus went away a,o*ain beyond Jordan, hifo (eis) /he ptare where John at liist ])apl ized, ami there abode.'''' John X. 40. if Inio, at, or beyond Jordan, meant under water- that for a considerable tinu3 was the ])lace of the Saviour's abode. When Peter and John " ran both together," towards the sepulchre, "the other discli)le did outrun Peter and came Jirst to (eh) the sei)ulchre;" and yet it is said expressly: "yet went ho nol in.'" — John 20: iv. o. The meaning of eis is clear; they went to the sei)ulchre. " He risoth/rom (ek) sui)per." — John xlii. 4. If the preposition cVr must necessarily mean "out of," w(; have to read : "He riseth aid of sui)per. So of other passages. V. lihandzo. The (lueslion has been asked: If theie be not a uord in (Jreek literature for sprinlle? Yes! we say rhantizo means to sprinkle ; ami there is another word, r)6 SUrPLEMENTARY NOTES. cheo, which means, to pour. Then if sprinkling or pouring- be the Sciiptural mode in the application of the baptismal element, why it is demanded, in tone of triumph, were not rhantizo and cheo employed by the sacred writers. It may be sufficient to ask in reply, if baptism meant " mode, and only mode," dip, and only dip, why were not biUhizo, dupto, epikluzo, or pontizo used for the sacrament of baptism? The ftict is that the verb baptizo, consecrated by inspiration, means a (jreat deal more than words which simply im- ply mode. A man going" out in a shower of rain, without an umbrella, will be sprinkled ; hut that is not baptism. An excursionist upon the lake on a sum- mer evening, may be immersed by falling out of his boat into the water ; bnt that immersion is n t bajitism. To baptize means to produce an etfect without specify- ing mode, or change corresponding in character and completeness with the agent or element employed ; and hence its exact and excpiisite adaptation to *^hc Christian ordinance. Jf in opposition to all canons of criticism and of common sense the modal meaning must still be insisted upon ; it may be pardonable to apply another test. The word plunye is used as an equivalent of immer- sion : — John the plunger — the plunging of repentance — he shall plunge you in fu'c — plunged with the plunging that I am plunged with — the plunging of cups and pots, of brazen vessels and tables (beds or couches) — they eat not except they plunge — plunged into Moses — plunged into Jesus Christ! " The absurdity is at once apparent. SI rVLE:Ml<:NTAKV NOTES. .')/ kling or !ation of 1 tone of (1 by the reply, if Jip, and einkluzo, 111? The piration, mply im- of ruin, it that is Dii a snni- )ut of his ' bajjtlsin. it specify- •acter and oyed ; and i Christian •im and of be insisted jther test, of inimer- lentance — 2 plunging cups and ijouc'hes) — to Moses — ; is j^t once , VL Baihhujs and Washuuis. In the personal acts of ))a(hiiig and washing, which, in addition to the olticial ,y)i'in/ilui(/ of the unclean, which mnctrfied aud saved, were required in the Jewish laws of ],)uriLicatiou, of which we have a full account in the Book of I^eyiticus, the Hebrew word used is JiaJiatii, which means simply to wash, it is translated chielly by louo and nipio in tlu^ Septuagint, by lavo in the Latin, and by hullie and ivaah in the authorized version. "Those who read the Knglish version,"' notes Dr. IJeecher, "might suppose ihat where the direction to hdtUe occurs, iuunersion is enjoined; but in <^\{i\'^- such case the oriii'inal word denotes onlv to waaJi. if anv doubt whethei" this be the true view of the import of rahot.s, let him take a Hebrew coiicordance, and trace it through Ihe whole of the Old Testament, and he will have a))undant proof." " It is reuiai'kable," says Tiiokni:, " thai these hnvs of puritication were given to the Hebrews, in a wilder- ness, where Ihei'e was cou)para(ively no waler; and yet Avhat Moses enjoined A\as never obiected to as im]K)ssible, through scarcity of watei'."'' For forty years, in tluit waste howling Avilderness, wash'ng by immersion, dally, great multitudes of peoi>le in waler, nnist have been utterly impracticable. 17/, J*a/j'/s//(- Te.stimo)ii/. The testimony of (ireek writers, e.\[)atiating upon Christian themes, chiims special consideration. "Wonder not," said Chiysostom of the golden- mouth, "tl)al I call mai-fyi'dom a /jcjj/i.sjj/, for there t)H SVrVl.T.M ENTA IJY NOTES. filso ilie Sfii'lt descends in rich abundance.'''' — Horn. The ltin,o;iiage of the elo(iiicnt Greek jn-eacher is in pure and perfect accordance with tlie in.sx)ired account of Pentecostal bapti>im. Cj'ril of Alexandi'ia, in alln.sion to ancient purifica- tions, says: "We have been bajjtlzel, not with nicrc water, nor yet with the ashes of a hc'fer, bnt with the Holy Spirit and fire?." Strange baptism: that of ashes/ Compared with the well-known passage in Hebrews — " Tiie ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctilled to the purifying of the llesh " — it i.s perfectly explical>le. Origen, in his commentary, in a passage frequently cited, si)eaks of the pouring of water upon the altar on Mount Carmel, in the minislry (»f Klijah, as a hajiHsm,. VTTI. Versions. *' Tn the eaj'licst Laliji versions of the New Testament, •as for exami)le the lt(da, which Augustine regarded as the best of all, and which goes back apparently to the second centnrv and to usage connected with the Apostolic Age, the (Jieek verb is unijonnli/ given in the Latin form b^iptizo, and is never translated by numergo, or any like word ; sliowing that there wa?^ something in the rite of l)aptism to which the latter did not correspond."— Robinson's Lexicon. " The ])ai)tismal fonts," says Dr. Robinson in the same article, in discussion of b tptizo, " still found among the ruins of tlie most ancient (}reek (churches in l*alestine, — as at Tekoa and Gophna, and going back apparently to very early times, — ai'e not large enough -Horn, is in u'covint urilicii- 1 mere it with that of age iii iiig the 1 ^'— it i!4 (iucutly he altar h, as a i^tanicnt, •cgardcd 'cntly to ivith the given in ated by lere wa» le latter \ in the 11 found uchos in ing back 3 enough SUrrLEMENTAllV NOTFS. r>!) to admit of the baptisui of adult persons by immersion ; anc; were obviously never intended for that use." — See Bibl. lies. IX. Authorized Ter.s'iow. The fidelity of the venerable men who translated the English lii)>le has been again and aa'ain called in ({ucstion ; because (Jreek words, noun and verb, were only transferred in the Anglicized forms of baptism and ba[)tize. But does not the sanu^ principle lie at the v.'ry foundation of English literature? More than any other, the English language is eclectic. It has been enriched from all souix-es; and, especially in the class of words to which ba])tism belongs, has been Indebted to the unrivalled language ami literature of ancient Greece. Even supposing that we were pre- pared to admit that baptize meant only viode, and that the mode was to put under water, the Anglicized Latin words linmers'on and immerse do not coi'rectly and fully express all that is meant by putting the candidate into svater, in the ordinance of baptism. Tliey simply speak of putting wuc/er — withont having anything whatever to say of any subse'iuent action — raising ui) from the water — an important i)art of the transaction. There is a Saxon word dh), which, as if "to the manner born,"'' conveys, with the utmost accuracy and precision, the meaning and the mode contended foi'f but it is difticult, without a seeming burlesque upon tlie sacred words of , Jesus, to cariT dip as an e(iniva- lent of baptize through the New Testament : " Are ye i.ihle to he (lipped Willi \lte dipp)UHf ihitisui,"' f^UlM'LK^t KNTAllY NOTES. r,i cured pre- 2. InJ'uul Baptbhi. — " The tbllowino- resume of the priiR'ipiil i)atris(,ic evidence is corroborated by tl»e testimony ol' the ('ata(,'onibs. Justin Mtirtyr, about A. J). IIH, speaks of persons sixty and seventy years ohl wlio liad been made discii)les ot Christ {emtdhefea- Ihenan — the very word eniph)ycd in. Mattliew xxviii, ID) in their iiii'auey. Iren;eus exi)ress]y speaks of ' infants, little ones, children, youth, and the a.^ed, as regenerated unto (iod,' which phrase he elsewhere ai)plies to bajttism: Difioies at pawn Jos, e' piieros, et, Jnve'ics, et senioreif. TertuUian, indeed, in the third century, recomuu'uds the delay of baptism, especially in the case of infants: CaRctdtio bapt'.siiii. ictUior es-, prcBeipue lamen eirca jari'idos — an indication of the iMontanist heresy, into which he fell, whicli reg'arded post-baptisuial sins as inex[dable. The practice, how- ever continued, and Oriu'cn ex[>ressly asserts that little children wei'e ba))tized for the reniisvsion of sijis; P, and which have been largely aided liy the I'und.s of the British Government, have resulted in most important discoveries. An account of these excavations and discoveries, with numerous and val- uable illustrations, has just now ))een published in a splendid and scholarly volume. The work of jNIr. Wood has commanded un({ualified approl)ation. "The Discoveries," savs an able reviewer in the British Qadrterljf, " will occupy a place in archtelogical lore Avhich will hand hfs name and fame to posterity." Amono-st the objects found in digging' on the east side of the form was u large basin of stone {breccia), tifteen feet in diameter, raised upon a pedestal. It is ligured in the book, and shcAVs a shallow receptacle for water — about nine IncJica deep. It is supposed by i\lr. Wood, whose sagacity and scholarship, tested through many years, have rarely been at fiiult, that it was used in early Christian times for the ])aptisni of converts to Christianity ; and he uses it as aw argu- ment^ cKjalnst baptism bi/ immersion in the third century. As the most recent discovery, and the latest contribution to the elucidation of a controverte^i sub- ject, that Ephesian baptismal basin, possibly with i\ history of its own, — previous to con»^:3rsion for use in the Christian CJlmrch, it may have ))ecn employed for purposes of aspersion in the great Ephesian Temple of Diana itself, — has for us a special interest. Evidence from such a discovery, if standing alone, could not bo much depended upon, exce]_>t in a very incidental and Ml ri'LKMKNTAin NoTKS. \):\ »IlCS({.S l.y the ted ill tliu.se id vul- (1 ill a lot" My. 'The British III lore terity." Lf^t side 'cccta), . It }H 'cptacle o^^ed by tes^tt^d , that it >ti>«Jiii of 11 ars of Jltpti.siii, John bapti;?ed in Jordan; the Valley of Jordan was the scene of his ministry. He baptized also in the wilderness. A Methodist minister has for years been stationed in the River Jolni Circuit, and he baptizes there, but does not immerse, John bapthe I in Knon, because there was {hudata polhi — many springs) much water there. AVas not the place .selected by John, to whose ministry a great concourse of people gathered, for the same reason that the travelling caravan seeks an encampment near some fountain at the present day? The children of I>;rael, in their inarch through the wildernes-s, *' came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water, and three score and ten palin- Ircesi and ihef/ eucampel ihere by the wnters.'''' But, of all localities s[)ecilled in the New Testament, at which l)a[)tism was administered, only in two was there an abundant supply of water. Baptism was administered in the city, in the desert, in the hou!re[)ara- tion. When the Lord (Iod came down anioni;st the l)eoph>, at Sinai, tln^v were rcNiuired to sanetity tliem- «elves. A service ol" solemn ceremonial pi"ei)anitioii was held. That covenant into which (iod then entered with the nation had its s(\il and its symbol: " For when Moses liad spoken every i»ieeept to all the peoi)le, accordin!4" to the law, he took the l>lood ol" calves and noats, tn'th irater, and scarlet wool, and liyssop, and i^prinlded both the book (iiid all the 2^(ioph',P At the advent of Jesus, in whose sn i '- 'al work all altar-otfering's wen^ to have f '' idfilment, the only symboli(;al service which r^ >ed in Jole "s ministry was the application of w. r. John bai>- tized with water, and, from the fact tlia' such an immense concourse throniicd to his ministi-y, it is incr(!dible that any other mod(i should have l)een prac- ticaltle. "Then Avent out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region about Jordan, and were ba|)- ti/ed of him in Jordan.'** " Such lu'odigious nun\bers," •*In Iho Ka8t Indies tlicro is stiid to he jiHcctc.'ilIinfjrtlioniselvi^H tlu! "(ljscii)l(!s of .lolin tlic liuptist," avIio iiiiniiiiUy repeat iiiul veitiu'atc llic service of haplisiii. "'I'liey jiroceed in ii ])ody," says Norber^, as (luoted by a late writer, "to the water, and anionf? them on(! bears a standanl; also, the priest dressed in liis earners hair ornament, holding a vessel oi" water in his liand, l>o sprinkles eiieh person us he singly eouies out of tlic river." SI ri'l.KMirNTAUV NOTKS, Gt> Miys We.ski/, m his "iiotcs''' on this pjissu^'e, *'c()iihl hardly be l)ai)li/('(l by iiimu'riiiiiq' their whole bodies under water: nor can we tliink they Avere provided with ('han*j:e of raiment lor it, whieh was scarcely practieabh! lor such ji vast nnilti' alont*' before tliem, cast water iii>on tlicir lieads or faces; l)y which means he niijiht baptize many tliousands in a day. And this way most strikinuiy si,<4'nilied C.'hrist's ])ai»ti/in,ii' them " with the Holy (ihost and with lire," whicli Jolin si)oke of as i)reli,i4ured by his bai)lizin<^ with w'ater, and which was eminently fullilled when the Holy (ihost sat upon the disciples in the ai)pearance of tongues or llames of lire." Xry. The SaviOur\s Jhiptisrn. Was (he ])aptism of Jesus an example for his people? To youthful converts, full of fervour, and as yet im- perfectly Instructed, there; is something' exceediuf^ly l)lausible, far more [)otent than ai'^umeut, in the ex- hortation: "follow the l)lessed Saviour.'" " Ho lihns(!]f in .Jordan's riv(U', Was imnuirscd l)cneuth the stream." It seems so easy, so natural, so satisfying to the sense to follow in the footstep of the blessed Jesus. It is well, however, that piety should rest upon an hilellifioit basis. The most strenuous advocates for following' the Saviour literally, do not act out their profession. " Yc cull me master and Lord," said Jesus, on the eve of his 66 SU PPL K?.l EN T A U Y NOTES . m^ I l! :.»^ 'JT^' l)assioii, " for so I urn. If I then yonr Lord and master have washed your feet; ye ou,£>'ht also to wash one anotlier's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye shouhl do as 1 have done unto vou." If follow- ing Jesus implies literal compliance with his example and tcacbings. then the oriental Avashing of feet ought to be perpetuated through all time and in all Istuds. The Saviour was not baptized until he was thirty years of age: ]\[ust obedience in our case be deferred? In the (iospel of Luke, we learn "when all the people were bapt'zed, it came to i>ass that Jesus also being baptized : " — He was not with the tirst applicants, — the baptism of Jesus was at the close : must we linger and wait, and, instead of leading tlie way, seek to fall in the last place. AV"e can surely adopt a more rational and more consistent princii>le of exegesis. The Saviour was the sinless one. lie was separate from sinners. Ul)on an ass, ''whereon never yet man sat," he made his public entry into Jerusalem ; and he was buried in anew sepulchre, " wberein was never man yet laid." In his bai)tisni also there was a sacred sense in which Jesus was uLone. The distinction was well understood by the Bai)tist: "John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and coinest thou to me ? lint fFesns answering said unto him : Sulfer it to ])e so .:ow, for thus it becometh u.s to fullil all righteousness. Then he sneered him.''' The righteousness of every dispensation of the law and the iM'ophets, and, that there might be no defect in obedience of Tohn's minis- try, the Saviour was pledged to fuhil : But can we be baptized with the bai>tism that he was ba|)(iz(Ml with P . Lord jind Iso to wash 111 example, Iff'ollow- il.s example feet oiiQ'hC I all IvtiuLs. thirty years erred ? In / the people also being licaiits, — the c linger and ek to fall in lore rational The Saviour rom dinners. at," lie made vas buried in lan yet laid." Dse in whieli II understood ^ing, I have tlion to me ? er it to be so gliteousncss. less of every ts, and, tliat ^ohn's minis- Fiut can Ave vas ba|)ti>:ed SL'ri'LE.MKNTAHV NOTK8. XV. The Uaptismal Service of Venleeost. 07 The more we ponder the facts of conversion at Pen- tccost, the greater the impro))a])ilities of baptism, by immersion, will appear. Ditficulties must have been all but insuperable. It would be difficult, even to- day, in the heart of a croAvded Avestern meti'opolitan city, Avith all the prejudices and prepossessions of the people in favor of Christianity, to make arrange- ment for the baptism of three thousand peoi>ie, by immersion, in the afternoon of a single day, — though Avater is vastlv more abundant, and more accessible than in oriental cities. In few places. i)er- haps, could fewer facilities have been found than in Jerusalem. It Avas at the driest season of the year, — Avhcn the Avatcrs of the bi-ook Kcdron failed. There Avere tAvo pools in the city Bethesda and Siloam, but tliev Avere under the direct control of the authorities — the bitterest op[)onents of Jesus of Nazareth. The l)ool of Bethesda, used for t)ie Avashing of sacrilices, Avas in the precincts of the Temple, and certainly could not have ])een given up to the followers of the "Nazarone." The i)Ool of Siloam was three-fourths of a miie distant Iron) the city; and ye. Ave hear of no procession to the pool. Nudity 'ii the administration, in a prouiiscuous asseuiblage, could not have ])een tUought of; thei'e Avas no time for providing Ijathing dresses; and (he art and elaboration of uiodern im- mersionist services had not been invcuted. luimersion at Pentecost, in vicAV of the insu[>eral)le difficulties in- A'olved, nuist have been a sheer impossibility. .<'j'^-i.M»tf!asteai .^m^^siie^v^HMm^ 08 SLTl'LKAl KNTA KY NOTES. xvi. Witnesses.'''' ^ Wkslkv : * The oitiuloiis of the venerable John Wesley' have been adduced at dillerent times, in coiilitleut and 0{ AngHeiUi Cliui'eli, and, in religious service, an extreme ritualist. JSelievini;- tliat tlie IJnbrie of the Clmreh of Kniifland favored itnnuMsion, lie attemi)te\\- and of woi'siup, as lo fall hack n]>on IIh; early h from dead works, aiul oi'faitU toward IJod, of the doctrines (»f Ixijitinwi,^' etc. SUPrLEMENTAHY NOTES. 69 John incs, ill utliig ;i It, .SHjfl- jjver his ci-.s who ci'luturc brcc or ' ze and W'v. used iiul that I in the ng'ed ill shall be (1 witlf dipiK'd, ity, \v!is a II Cluirc'li, viiij,' tliiit ;u'sion, l\c', ,i('\vs. Jt 111, iiiul to ont to tlio , find tlmt I proof of liil), us to viiiiKcIist, lis, us uvi- s ol' fiiitli \\\V <1()(.*- 1() of his ic fouiidii- fil (jiod, of but onl}' sprinkled and washed with their own blood. Aii'ain we read (Mark vii., 4) of the baptisms of pots and cups, and tables or beds. Xow, pots and cups are ]iot necessarily dii)i)ed when they are washed— the riiarisees washed the outside of them only. And, as for tables or beds, none could suppose that they could be dipped. Here, then, the word bfiptinm, in its nat- ural sense, is not taken for dijjping, but for washino- or cleansing. iVnd, that this is the true meaning- of the word Ixiptize is testified by the greatest scholars and most proper judges on the matter. It is true we read of being ' buried with Christ in baptism.' But nothing can be infened from such a ilgurative expres- sion. Nay, it held exactly, it would make as nmch for sprinkling as for plunging; since, in burying, the Ijody is not plunged through the substance of the earth, but rath"r, earth is sprinkled ui)on it.'" — Trea- tiae 0)1 Baptism. I)u. Ai)a:m Clakke: "It is in'obahle,'^ says this learned commentator, following pi'evious expositors, Avho supposed that there might be allusion to an ancient i)ractice of immersion, •' that the Apostle here alludes to the mode of administering ))aptism by im- mersion, the whole body l)eing put under water." To an intelligent audience of this (>ity, the above sentence was quoted as an embodiment of I)i-. Clarke's opinion. To the important (lualilication of the passage which Ibllows immediately, there was not the faintest allu- sion. The bulk of the i)eople present at that time, not having the Commentary for reference, could only carry away one impression. Hut what must have been the feeling of indignation, with the; few who consulted and comi)ared authorities, wlu-n they came to read the whole passage — calling for special attention because 'i.»»«iiJ«.«4au««»iBjt«(«yi«'88lij^^ WMsmmw'J.fm'isfg'jf^^^rw^ 70 SUrrLKM ENTAllY NOTKS. cin})ha.sized by the use of italics: " I say it is probable that the Apostle alludes to this mode of iininersion ; but it is not aljsolutely cer/^'vi that he does so, as some iuuigine; for in the next verse, our being ineorpor- ated into Christ by baptism is also denoted l)y our being p/r/x^e?, oi* ratlu'r yrafted tcxjether in the likeness of his death; and Noah's Ark, Jtoatinf/ u[)on the water, and sprinkiel by the rain from heaven, is a Ji(jure corresponding to tjapt'sm.'''' The great Wesleyan Commentator generously made the concession, that there was prohaljle allusion to immersion, because^ lie tells us, " some do imafjine'''' it ; and the concession is quoted without any cognizance of the accompanying argument: sulhciently cogent and 7>os7i^'e, we should say, to balance all prubabilities that rest only ui)on imagination. XVir. An Exigency. The first pastoral duty called for, after exposition of the 8ul)ject of baptism, early on the following morning, was the administration of bai)tism to one who, sup- posed to be dying — not by any means a solitary instance — could not by possibility have been baptized, exce[)t by atfusion — with water. The fact, in relation to spiritual interests involved, is not one of vital importance. Salvation is not a matter of mere ritual. The dying thief, who first reviled and then believed, though baptism was out of the (luestion, passed away froui the cross of shame to the paradise of (iod. Even in regard to the bai»tism of the disciples of .Tesus Christ, the silence of Scripture is complete. Simon M((g)(s, though txfpfizcd by a.}i. si:fi*lk:«entat?y notes. < 1 Aposlle, was afill in (lie (/all of bitterness and in the bond of iniquitij; and Cornelius and his friends, without any application of water, 7'eceived the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The bi'iirino- of the fact, previo\i!^ly iiuUcated, w\)o\\ the question at issue, however, must be sutlicieutly evicUnit. Can we a(huit, in harmony Avith our convictions of tlie inlinitc wisdom of the Redeemer, that, if immersion were the only valid mode of baptism, an ordinance should meet us, at the threshold of the ( hristian Church, with which, in the case of thousands, com[)liance was an utter im- l)ossiblity ? The glorious dreamer John Bunyan, thouiih a liap- tist, in his areat alleuorv, followim? closeh' the word of God, took his pilgrims all the way from the city of destruction to the celestial city, am], in all their jyro- (/ress, wc meet with no Hood until, in the deep dark river of death, they finished their earthly i)ili>i-ima,oe, Avere welcomed by the shining ones, and then went up through the golden gates into the city of the Great King. Very apposite to the subject, in view of numerous assumptions,* looked at from this and other stand- points, are the eloquent words of the illustrious l?ai)tist Minister, Robert Hall : — slightly softened in this closing ({notation — "Let him retlect on the enormous impi'o- ])rietv of d.,Mnanding a greater uniformitv amono- candi- ^Oiic of llic, most aniiiihlc iind cloiiiiciit ministctrs 1 hav«! known, vcuturod when foiirah'seint 1o ])rf!ic'li on Ilic Sabbatli, iind al'ttirwariis loiidinini.stci'llic rUi; olbiii)ti.sui, by iinuit rsion ; till' iiL'xt day, in lay goldt-n piiuK', he died. 72 SIirrLEMKNTAHY N( )TF.S. dates for sulinlssion into the Clinreh militant, than is requisite for a union with the Cliureli triumphant — of chiiming from tlie faitliful, while encompassed with, darkness and imi)erfection, more harmony an^i'^if''i nothuuj more revolting to the dictates of common sense. VV\Mv>\ liv (i. II> IIASKArtn, 5l Wiiti'V Wlliet. niwillLllitown, Vi V., I»l:ili.l, r^