The announcement of the coming of the Lord Jesus as King was made to the
Jews, in a very striking and impressive manner. Clothed in sackcloth of
hair and subsisting on locusts and wild honey, John came in the
wilderness of Judea, crying to an apostate people,—“Repent ye; for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.... He that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost and with fire; whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”—Matt. iii, 2-12. The
baptizing office of Christ, as thus set forth, was the objective point
toward which the Old Testament baptisms directed the faith and hopes of
Israel; and the theme, as we have seen, of some of the most exultant
strains of prophecy. And to it, the baptism of the Christian church ever
looks up and testifies.
The intent of Christ’s enthronement is here stated to be that he may
“thoroughly purge his floor.” So Jesus himself explains the parable of
the tares. “The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity;
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.”—Matt. xiii, 41, 42. The
dimensions of his kingdom, to be thus purged, we have seen to be
coextensive with the universe of God; over which Paul declares that “he
must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”—1 Cor. xv, 25.
The same apostle further states that “it pleased the Father that in Him
should all fullness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of
his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, whether
they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”—Col. i, 19, 20.
In the execution of a work so vast and so momentous, the baptist states
two means to be employed,—the baptism of the Holy Ghost; and the baptism
of fire. By the one, Jesus gathers his wheat into the garner; by the
other, he will burn up the chaff. We will first consider the baptism of
the Holy Ghost.
In the blessed Triune Godhead there is one nature, one mind, and
purpose, and will; so that all concur, equally, and freely in the
eternal origination of the divine plan, and in every step of its
administrative fulfillment. Yet is there an essential and native order
of precedence and operation clearly traceable in the Scriptures. In this
order, the Father is the first, of whom the Son is begotten, and from
whom the Spirit proceeds. So, in the executive administration of the
sacred scheme, there is an order of precedence in the manifestation of
the Godhead, revealed with equal clearness. In it, the Son was sent by
the Father to humble himself under the law, in the form of a servant;
and he so performed the Father’s will as to be designated by him “my
righteous servant.”—Isa. liii, 11. In it, the Father put the anointing
Spirit upon the incarnate Son. (Isa. xlii, 1; Matt. xii, 18.) And, by
the Spirit thus given, was he directed in his entire ministry, until he,
“through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God,” a
sacrifice for sin. (Heb. ix, 14.)
But, upon the enthronement of the Lord Jesus as God’s great Baptizer,
there was a change in this order of administration. With the sceptre and
kingdom of the Father, the dispensing of the Spirit was given to the Son
of man. In this endowment, two great ends were accomplished. (1.) As the
third Person of the Godhead is essentially the _spiritus_, or breath, of
the Father (2 Sam. xxii, 16; Job iv, 9; xxxii, 8; xxxiii, 4; Matt. x,
20), “which proceedeth from the Father” (John xv, 26), so now, being
given to the Lord Jesus, and mediatorially subject to and sent forth by
him, as his Spirit, our Savior is thus constituted a likeness and
revelation of the Father, in that respect also; as he is, in being robed
with the Father’s glory, sitting on his throne, and swaying his sceptre.
This was signified by the Lord Jesus, when he came to the disciples
after his resurrection, and breathed on them, saying, “Receive ye the
Holy Ghost.”—John xx, 22. Thus, “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily.”—Col. ii, 9. (2.) This investiture with the Spirit, was
an essential qualification, without which it was impossible that the
Lord Jesus should have fulfilled the work assigned him, of purging the
Father’s floor and gathering the wheat into his garner. Among the
Persons of the Godhead, it is the office of the Spirit to be the author
and source of life, by whom only, therefore, dead souls are quickened
and dead bodies raised to life. Hence, Jesus, in announcing his
prerogative respecting these things, attributes it to the gift of the
Spirit of life conferred on him by the Father. “The Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He
doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.... For as the Father raiseth
up the dead and quickeneth them: even so the Son quickeneth whom he
will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son; that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the
Father.... Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming and now
is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he
given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, _because_ he is the _Son of man_.”—John v,
19-27.
In his last discourse with his disciples, the night of the betrayal,
Jesus was very explicit on this subject. Fully to appreciate his
statements on that occasion, it is necessary to keep in view the general
features of the divine economy which were about to culminate in Christ’s
exaltation. Inasmuch as Satan, in his insolent scorn of the human race,
sought, through its weakness and ruin to cast contempt upon God, and to
involve his government in chaos, God in the mystery of his glorious
love, saw fit, in honor of the human race, to place his government upon
the shoulders of the child of that very woman whose weakness Satan
betrayed, and to appoint him to redeem her and her seed from the
usurper’s power, and avenge her wrong upon the betrayer’s head; and
ordained him, _because_ he is the Son of man, to rectify all the evil
that Satan has done,—to baptize this earth and yonder heavens from the
defilement and dishonor that he has wrought, through sin, and to
“reconcile all things to the Father, whether they be things in earth or
things in heaven.” It is manifest that in the fulfillment of such a
plan, the Son of man must take actual possession of the scepter, before
full entrance can be made upon its manifested execution. It is further
to be remembered that the entire discourse in question was addressed to
the apostles, with distinct reference to their commission and
qualification to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. The statements and
promises therein contained do not, therefore, have immediate respect to
the ordinary graces of the Spirit, in the hearers of the word, but to
his comforting, enlightening and directing influences in the
apostle-witnesses.
“I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter that he
may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth.... These things
have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance
whatsoever I have said unto you.... When the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.... It is expedient
for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you; but if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness,
because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because
the prince of this world is judged. I have many things to say unto you,
but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of
mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are
mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it
unto you.”—John xiv, 16, 17, 25, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7-15.
In these passages, there is a very remarkable order of progress in the
statements concerning the mission of the Spirit. “I will pray the
Father, and _he_ shall give you another Comforter.” “The Holy Ghost,
whom _the Father_ will send _in my name_.” “The Comforter whom _I_ will
send unto you _from the Father_.” “If I go not away, the Comforter will
not come unto you: but if I depart _I will send_ him unto you.” As the
Spirit essentially proceeds from the Father, so, primarily, in the
manifestation of the Godhead, he is sent forth by the Father, and in all
his work of grace to man, is sent through the mediation of the Son.
Hence the form of the first statement:—“I will pray the Father, and he
shall give.” In the next passage, he indicates that whilst, in the
concurrence of the Godhead, the Father is the primary source of the
Spirit, the mission spoken of, is in the name, and for the purposes of
the Son, namely,—to remind the apostles of his words, and interpret them
to their understandings and hearts. “Whom the Father will send in my
name,”—that is, to do my commission,—to utter my words. In the next
clause he assumes to himself and asserts the prerogative conferred on
him, and says,—“When the Comforter is come, whom _I will send_ unto you
from the Father.” And since the mission thus promised was to be a
testimony on his own behalf, he goes on to mark that the testimony of
the Spirit is that of the Father, also, since essentially and eternally,
he proceedeth from and is the Spirit of the Father. “Even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me; and ye
also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the
beginning.” Compare John v, 36; Heb. ii, 4.
Next, since the triumphs of the gospel were reserved to honor the
scepter of the Son of man, Jesus declares that he must ascend to heaven
and assume that scepter, before the apostles could receive the gifts
which would qualify them for spreading those triumphs.—“If I go not away
the Comforter will not come unto you, but, if I depart, I will send him
unto you.” He declares the Spirit’s offices, toward the world and toward
them, whom he “the Spirit of truth” should “guide into all truth;” and
emphasizes the fact that in fulfilling these offices, he will act
strictly as an interpreter. Christ is the Word of God; and the Spirit
sent by him, “shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak.”—“He shall glorify me; for he shall take of mine
and shall shew it unto you.” And lest the unlimited purport of this
declaration should not be fully appreciated, he adds, “All things that
the Father hath are mine; therefore said I that he shall take of mine
and shall show it unto you.” As essentially the Father’s, but given to
the Son;—such is the aspect in which the Spirit shall reveal them to the
glory of the Son.
Such were the testimonies with reference to which Jesus, after his
resurrection, commanded his apostles to “wait for the promise of the
Father, which ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water;
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”—Acts
i, 4, 5. Of it, on the day of Pentecost, Peter said, “Being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.”—Acts
ii, 33. What the promise was, Peter, here distinctly indicates. It was
fulfilled in giving the Holy Spirit to the Lord Jesus, that he might of
his royal prerogative shed down that Spirit upon his people.
The relation thus existing between the enthroned Mediator and the Holy
Spirit, was very remarkably intimated by Jesus the night after the
resurrection. He came to the assembled disciples with the
salutation,—“Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send
I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”—John xx, 21, 22. Thus by anticipation,
he interpreted the gift of Pentecost, as an imparting to them of the
Holy Spirit, which was now given to and dwelt in him, as his Spirit, the
breath of his life.
Dr. Dale, in his invaluable treatises has overlooked the distinction
here pointed out, between the endowment of the Spirit which Jesus
enjoyed in the performance of his earthly ministry, and that which
belongs to him as Baptizer on the throne. Discussing John i, 33,—which
he translates,—“This is he that baptizeth _by_ the Holy Ghost,” he says,
“He upon whom the Holy Ghost descended and on whom he remained, ‘without
measure’ was thus qualified for his amazing work, and qualified to be
[_‘o baptizōn en Pneumati Agiō_] the Baptizer who was himself _in_ the
Holy Ghost, and being _in_ the Holy Ghost was thereby invested with
power to baptize _by_ the Holy Ghost.—The Lord Jesus Christ—_‘o baptizōn
en Pneumati Agiō_,—is ‘the Divine baptizer, _being in_ the Holy
Ghost.’... The passage is to be understood as announcing the peculiar
character of the Lord Jesus Christ as baptizer. This is done by
exhibiting him in a two-fold aspect: 1. As being personally _en Pneumati
Agiō_. 2. As a consequence of being _en Pneumati Agiō_, being invested
with the power of baptizing by the Holy Ghost.”[78]—In another place he
says,—“The original author of this baptism is the Lord Jesus Christ; the
executive Agent is the Holy Ghost; the giver of the Holy Ghost is the
Father.... Does not the Dative and _en_ announce the Agent in whom the
power to baptize resides?”[79]
Footnote 78:
“Christic Baptism,” pp. 53, 56, 57.
Footnote 79:
Ibid, p. 76.
1. The anointing of the Lord Jesus at his baptism did not qualify him as
Baptizer. Else, neither He nor the apostles need have _waited_ “for the
promise of the Father,” which was fulfilled at the ascension, and
demonstrated on Pentecost. (See Acts i, 4; ii, 33.)
2. As the water is the immediate efficient cause of the cleansing, in
washing, so the Spirit is the immediate efficient cause of the grace
wrought in the spiritual baptism. But to describe him as the executive
Agent of that baptism, is the same error which should represent the
water in that capacity, in ritual baptism.
3. Jesus was “in the Spirit,” that is under the pervasive influence and
control of the Spirit, during his entire earthly life. But it was
precisely herein that he filled the character of being God’s “righteous
servant.”—Isa. liii, 11. It was characteristic of his humiliation, to be
thus subordinate. But upon his exaltation, the order was reversed. It is
no longer Christ in the Spirit, fulfilling the service and work
appointed him. But it is the Spirit in Christ, subject to his control,
speaking his words and doing according to the will of Jesus, the Lord.
And Jesus does not baptize _by_ the Holy Ghost doing it for Him, but
“_with_ the Holy Ghost,” as his Spirit and instrument; as he so clearly
intimated, when he breathed upon his disciples and said, “Receive ye the
Holy Ghost.”