THE K I N G ’S BUS I NES S coming Lamb of God confess th e use lessness of all attem p ts a t b etterm en t of th e old n atu re and en tire dependence upon th e work of Him who was an nounced. Doubtless many of them did not a t th e tim e realize th e full signific ance of th e ceremony b u t afte r the bu rial and resu rrection of th e Saviour it was quickly explained. They did know, however, th a t it was coupled w ith a confession of sin and stood for a cleansing from sin which was to be made actual th rough th e Lamb of God. The Baptism of Jesus. Many have puzzled over the fact th a t Jesus should have required baptism since baptism was connected w ith confession of sin. John knew th a t from th is standpoint Jesus should not be in th a t company fof He “ forbad H im ” (Mt. 3 :1 4 ). Jesu s’ answer was, “Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Note th a t it was no t said He was baptized “ confessing His sins,” fo r He had none to confess. His baptism had a g reater significance. It identified Him w ith the work of God by which all righteous ness was fulfilled. It indicated His w illingness to assume the burden of th e race (Heb. 2 :17 ) and comm itted Him to th e accomplishment of th a t work th rough th e sufferings of th e cross (Luke 12:50; Jno. 1 9 :30 ). "Jesu s w ent up straigh tw ay ou t of th e 1Water.” His emergence from the bu rial w aters pictured His resu rrec tion, It was an event of some import ance for it was signalized by a rem ark able occurrence. The Holy Spirit de scended, th e F a th e r’s voice spoke from th e open skies, and th e T rin ity thu s appeared together. Our Lord’s com mand in today’s lesson calls for bap tism in th e nam e of th e T rin ity (not “ nam es” b u t th e “ nam e” of F ath e r, Son and Holy Ghost). The Apostolic Baptism . The prac tice of th e Apostles as shown in the second portion of our Scripture lesson (Acts 8:26-40) conformed to the com mand of the Lord.
642 We have before us in th is lesson the g reat commission o f ' Christ w ith em phasis laid upon a portion of it th a t h a s come to be much neglected, for m any in our day have lost sight of the Im portance of th e m a tte r of baptism . According to th e place given it in the New Testam ent, and th e stress laid upon it by our Lord Jesus, it is to be regarded as one of th e most im po rtan t ordinances of th e church, connected as it is to the doctrine of salvation. I t is tru e th a t th e re has arisen a con flict of teaching as to th e mode of bap tism. This raises th e question: should th e C hristian on th is account seek to wholly avoid th e subject? Is th is not all th e more reason why th e believer should prayerfully seek to know God’s will for his own life? And how shall one settle any such question of belief to th e satisfaction of his own con science, except by searching th e Scrip tu res? I. H istory of Baptism . Jo h n ’s Baptism . The significance of baptism as having to do w ith th e con fessing of and forsaking of sin was made known th rough Jo h n ’s m inistry. (Mt. 3 :5 -6 ). Jo h n ’s calling was “ to prepare th e way of th e Lord.” The fact th a t John was designated by the Holy S pirit as “ John the B aptizer” is a powerful testim ony to th e importance of baptism . The “way” which John was to prepare was to be a way of death and resurrection. I t was to be death and resu rrection for Christ and it was to be death to sin and resu rrection to newness of life for th e believer. Before C h rist’s way could be opened up to sin ners, th e n a tu ra l man m ust take the place of death (Isa. 40:6-8) confessing him self “ dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2 :1 ; Mt. 3 :6 ). John in symbol pu t confessed sinners into th e w aters of bu rial and th u s th e way was clear for th e new hum an ity which was to be made possible as th e resu lt of th e cross and resu rrection of Christ. Thus did th e believer in Jo h n ’s message of the
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