Chapter LXIV: Section LXII: Christ is enthroned as the Baptizer

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.”