THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NE S S
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man who was very rich was outwardly very religious but not a Christian. He had in his employ an old Christian gardener who tried to show his master that religion without Christ was of no use. There was a tree in the garden that bore no fruit. One day the pro prietor was walking in his garden and he saw upon this barren tree some beau tiful fruit. He was surprised and more so when he went to pluck some and found it was'tied on. The gardener had done this in order to point out the dif ference between the real and the sham. Christ is always real in what He was and did, and commanded others to do. Baptism Does Not Save. If it did millions would be unhappy who died in infancy and never under went this rite. No one ever dared hang God’s mercy on an outward rite. When we compare Simon Magnus and the Ethi opian we find as Dr. Guthrie says that “ The one after baptism proved himself to be in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity; the other proved him self to be a Christian before his bap tism, by believing with all his heart that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.” “ That man must have been in the army or in a military school,” said Mr. Moody to a friend once. “ Yes,” he said, “ how did you know?” “ By the way he walks.” In this way you can tell a real Christian from an unreal one. Baptism of Fire. Those who follow Jesus in water Bap tism should also follow Him in the Baptism of fire. A true confession of Christ always means a trial for Christ. If we have a cannon it is powerless. If we have a cannon ball it is powerless. If we have a keg of powder it is power less. But put them together and touch with a spark; instantly your powder is a flash of lightning, your cannon ball a thunderbolt. The Christian is power less, the Bible is powerless, but when the two are touched by the Baptism of the Spirit of God they are invincible.
Golden Text Illustration. The story is told of Dr. J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. One day he was writing a let ter and someone asked him why he took so much care to write the letter so well. He replied, “ I feel that God is looking over my shoulder to see how I do it and I do it to please Him.” Jesus was fighting a battle in the wilderness that the world knew nothing about. It was probably greater than the battle of the Marne. During the naval conflict between the Monltpr ana the Merrimac, some soldiers on the shore stood watching the struggle. The cannonade was visibly raging with re-, doubled intensity; but to their amaze ment not a sound was heard by them. A strong wind was blowing away from them; they could see every flash of the guns and the white smoke, but not a single report was audible. Some of the fiercest battles, like this one in the wild erness, are fought in thé silent secrecy of our hearts. 3:13. Came to be baptized. Some things were necessary to be done by Christ in the time of His humiliation which otherwise would not have be come the dignity of His person.— Dick son. v. 16, Jesus was baptized. Could anything make more plain the impor tance of water baptism? Jesus was baptized with water to fulfill all right eousness. G o d COMMENTS FROM :commands water MANY SOURCES. baptism as the Keith Ii. Brooks. form by which sinful man shall publicly confess his renunciation of sin. Jesus was not a sinner but He took the sinner’s place and was made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), at Jordan (the water) and Calvary (the blood— 1 Jn. 5 :6).— Torrey. Went up out of the water. It is curious that when the great lesson of this incident has stood confronting the church, instead of considering what is the real meaning of baptism, men have gone to discussing the question of whether the water should be applied to
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