645 verted became exercised, abqut his bap tism . Hjs friend s rem onstrated w ith him and told him if he wa&.baptized he would lose his customers. “Well,” said, he, “ If it comes to t h a t .1 will sell ma On a m arble slab th a t m arks the bu rial place of a number of Iroquois Indians, in Cooperstown, N. Y„ is the following inscription: t “W hite men, greeting! We, n ear whose, bones you stand, were Iroquois, ■The. wide land which now is yours, was ours. Friendly hands have given back to us enough,for a tom b.” The Christian is almost, in the same position regarding th is earth ly sphere, only th a t a Christian does not need even enough for a tomb event ually, because he is buried w ith Christ into the death of th is old creation and raised w ith Christ into the new crea tion. 2 Cor. 5:17, “When th is vile body shall rise again, Purged by Thy power, from every tain t and stain, Delivered from all weakness and all pain, I shall be satisfied.— Amen. Philip Mauro says, “The existence; of, conflict on the subject of baptism fur-, nishes strong reason why every believer should settle the m a tte r for himself ... upon his knees, COMMENTS FROM . s e e k i n g God’s MANY SOURCES m ind upon it as K eith L. B rooks • expressed in the Bible. The de sire to avoid controverted subjects should not be perm itted to d eter those who have responsibilities, tow ard God1 and His people.” . The. ¡w ritings ,qf g reat Bible studen ts do pot as a rule dodge .the question of baptism , and. it m ust be said th a t practically the world of scholarship has rend ered its decision coos.” His faith triumphed. Baptism a Sign of Victory/
THE Z I N G ’S BUS I NES S w ater, ami,,is distinctly visible.” Many a young Christian has failed a t “ the w ater te st.” The T est of Discipleship. A wealthy, B rahm in lady accepted Christ, and came to the mission sta tion. H er people told h er th a t they would have to perform th e fun eral cere mony for her. But w ith ' tears the brave woman answered, “ I know I am dead to you, b u t I am alive to Christ, and will live to tell my people of Christ’s love for them .” Every friend and relative left her. When th e tim e came for h er to be baptized g reat crowds came around, w ithout fear or shame she stepped forw ard and began to sing. Baptism of th e Spirit. The scattered rays of the Old Testa m ent are gathered up in two sayings of John the B aptist: “Behold th e Lamb of God, etc.,” and “He shall baptize you, etc.” The first is the Gospel of A tonem ent and the other the .Gospel of your Regeneration and Christian char acter. One tells us w hat God has done for us in C h rist’s finished work; the o ther w hat God m ust be allowed to do in us. Note a baptism of courage. The disciples— tim idity left them— had bold ness. A baptism of power— they had eloquence, not as statem en bu t as w it nesses. A baptism of love— they re joiced in th e ir labors. A baptism of fire— a refinement of character. Baptism Defined. One w riter says, “Only w hat corona tion is in an earth ly way, baptism is in a heavenly way; God’s au tho ritativ e declaration in m aterial form, of a spir itu al reality ,” As W. D. Paden says, “W hat is baptism b u t a declaration of our m isery by sin, our need of Christ, and a badge of our belonging to H im .” “The faith th a t accepted Christ in P au l’s day was the faith th a t showed its acceptance, in baptism .”—-(S h iffe r). A Scotch, ; m ilkman who was con- “ Jesus, X my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee.”
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