Chapter LXVIII: Section LXVI: The Manner of the Pentecost Baptism

In all the expressions and statements concerning the baptism of Pentecost, there is a prominence given to the manner of it which can not be casual, nor devoid of special significance. The attendant phenomena are described as “a sound _from heaven_, as of a rushing mighty wind,” which “filled all the place where they were sitting.” “Cloven tongues, like as of fire, sat upon each of them.” “And they were all _filled_ with the Holy Ghost.” The facts are by Peter described as a fulfillment of the prophecy,—“I will _pour out_ of my Spirit _upon_ all flesh.”—vs. 17. He further tells the assembly, that Jesus “_shed forth_ this which ye now see and hear.”—vs. 33. Of the similar scene in the house of Cornelius, it is stated that “the Holy Ghost _fell on_ all them which heard the word,” and that “_on_ the Gentiles was _poured out_ the gift of the Holy Ghost.”—Acts x, 44, 45. Peter also, in giving account of this scene to the church at Jerusalem, stated, with reference to these facts, that as he began to speak, “the Holy Ghost _fell on them_, _as on us_ at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how he said, ... Ye shall be _baptized_ with the Holy Ghost.”—Acts xi, 15, 16.

After the same conception is the language of Paul.—“According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he _shed on us_ abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.—Tit. iii, 5, 6. “Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God (_ekkechutai en_) _is poured_ out on our hearts (_dia_) _through_ the Holy Ghost given us.”—Rom. v, 5. In these places, the words, “shed,” and, “poured,” which are interchangeably used in the translation, represent one in the original.

The first point, here, is the manner in which the phenomena of the occasion were introduced. “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” That this was designed to be a significant sign, would seem certain in the presence of all the other significant features of the occasion. And its meaning is not obscure. From the Greek verb, _pneo_, to blow, are derived two nouns, _pneuma_ and _pnoē_. These words are nearly identical in meaning, except that _pneuma_ is by the sacred writers appropriated to designate the Holy Spirit. It, and the Hebrew _ruagh_, which is appropriated in a like manner, both mean, primarily, the air, the wind; and hence, the breath, the soul of man, a spirit, the Spirit of God. In all these significations, they are found, the one in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, and the other in the Greek of the Septuagint version. We have seen how largely the figure of water is used as a symbol of the Spirit. Its chief propriety as thus employed appears in its effects upon the earth and the creatures, penetrating and fertilizing the soil, washing away defilement, and refreshing the thirsty; while as rain from heaven, it traces the descent of the Spirit from the throne of God. In wind, or air in motion, or the breath, we have another symbol, familiar in the Scriptures, and equally interesting and significant. Its peculiar fitness consists in its relation to its source, as representing the Third Person as the _Spiritus_ or breath, “which proceedeth from the Father;” and in its nature, as essential to sustain life in the animate creation. Says the Psalmist, “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath (_tō pneumati_, by the Spirit) of his mouth.”—Ps. xxxiii, 6. The word, _pnoē_, is that which designates the “rushing, mighty _wind_” of Pentecost. It is used in the Septuagint in the sense of wind, stormy or violent wind, the breath, the soul, the spirit. Its relation to _pneuma_ may be seen in such places as follow.—“He that giveth _breath_ (_pnoē_) to the people upon it and _spirit_ (_pneuma_) to them that walk therein.”—Isa. xlii, 5. “The _spirit_ (_pneuma_) should fail before me, and the souls (_pnoēn_) which I have made.”—Ibid. lvii, 16. “At the _blast_ (_pnoēs_) of the _breath_ (_pneumatos_) of His nostrils.”—2 Sam. xxii, 16. “All the time my _breath_ (_pnoēs_) is in me, and the _Spirit_ (_pneuma_) of God is in my nostrils.”—Job xxvii, 3. “The _Spirit_ (_pneuma_) of God hath made me, and the _breath_ (_pnoē_) of the Almighty hath given me life.”—Job. xxxiii, 4. In the New Testament, we have the words of Jesus to Nicodemus,—“The _wind bloweth_ (_pneuma pnei, the Spirit breatheth_), where it listeth.”—John iii, 8. And in this same book of the Acts, is the testimony of Paul to the Athenians that—“He giveth to all, life and _breath_ (_pnoēn_), and all things.”—Acts xvii, 25. Significant to the same purpose is the word, _theo-pneustos_ (_God breathed_), which describes the Scriptures as the dictate of the Spirit in the prophets. (2 Tim. iii, 16.) Turning now to another word,—says Dr. Alexander, “The word (_pheromenē_) translated rushing, is a passive participle, meaning _borne_, or _carried_, and is properly descriptive of involuntary motion, caused by a superior power; an idea not suggested by the active participles, _rushing_, _driving_, or the like; which seem to make the wind itself the operative agent.”[84] Compare 1 Peter i, 13,—“The grace that is to _be brought_ (_pheromenēn_) unto you;” and 2 Peter i, 21.—“Holy men spake as they (_pheromenoi_) _were moved_ by the Holy Ghost.” With these notes, let us compare that action of Jesus, in which he _breathed_ on his disciples, and said to them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”—John xx, 22. This we must understand as designed by him for an interpretation of Pentecost. It can mean nothing else. For not till then was the Spirit to be given.

Footnote 84:

Alexander on the Acts, _in loco_.

The same figure is fully developed in the prophecy of Ezekiel (xxxvii, 1-14), of the valley of dry bones. “There were very many in the open valley; and lo, they were very dry.” At the divine command, Ezekiel prophesied to them,—“O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.... And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind.... Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” The vision is interpreted to the prophet. “These bones are the whole house of Israel.... Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you and ye shall live.” Ezek. xxxvii, 1-14. Throughout this passage, the words, “wind,” “breath” and “Spirit,” are in the original the same (Hebrew, _ruāgh_, Greek, _pneuma_), and the word, “breathe,”—“Come from the four winds, O breath, and _breathe_ upon these slain,”—is the same that describes the action of the Lord Jesus, just referred to. If now, in the light of these illustrations, we return to the account of the Pentecostal scene, we read that “suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of an outbreathed, mighty breath, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.... And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Thus was signified the Spirit of Christ, as the breath of His life, by Him breathed into His disciples. So distinctly and profoundly was this idea impressed on the mind of the primitive church, that it became the occasion of one of the unwarranted forms which were at an early age added to the Scriptural rite of baptism. After the interrogation and immediately before the baptism, there was an exorcism, with an insufflation or breathing in the face of the person baptized; which Augustine calls a most ancient tradition of the church.[85] It was meant to signify the expelling of the evil spirit, and the breathing in of the good Spirit of God.

Footnote 85:

Augustinus de Nupt. et Concup. II, 29.

In the outbreathing of Pentecost we have the only phenomenon of the day, that was expressive of the actual performance of the baptism by the Lord Jesus. It was the specific symbol of the manner of it. Comparing it with the various other statements above quoted, it appears that of that baptism, the element was the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; the administrator was Jesus seated on the throne of glory; the manner of it was an outbreathing from him; its coming was by descent,—a shedding down from the height of his throne to his disciples in Jerusalem; in its reception, it was a falling upon them; and the result was that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, as the breath of their lives. For, in the symbol as described, they were surrounded as it were with an atmosphere of the Spirit. “It filled all the house where they were sitting;” so that they could breathe no other breath.

In this account, the chief interest centers on the source of the outpouring. And, in fact, the very purpose of the forms of expression used and of the sensible phenomena which they describe was to direct the attention of all, upward to that source. To the same effect, was the whole argument of Peter’s discourse to the multitude. Each position in it, has this as the end.—“Ye men of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth ye know, for him ye crucified. Him God raised from the dead and exalted to his own right hand, and gave the Spirit in all fullness to him. That Spirit hath he shed down upon us, as ye now see and hear, and thus is shown his exaltation and power. Therefore let all the house of Israel know, assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ,—both sovereign over all and that Anointed One who was promised to David, and heralded by all the prophets, as he that should sit on David’s conquering throne.”

We have seen how Paul labors to exalt our imaginations to some proportionate conceptions of the unapproachable height of the throne of Christ’s glory. And now, in our times, from the day of Pentecost unto the end, it is signalized in the exercise by him of that highest prerogative of God, the sending forth of the infinite Spirit. It is shed down by him from yonder height to this low earth,—down to us worms in the abyss where we lay, strown in the upas valley of death, to breathe life into the dead and give salvation to the lost. And to signalize that height of his exaltation, the depth of his condescension, and the measureless immensity of his matchless love, the Baptism of Pentecost was given, its miracles were wrought, and its myriad trophies of salvation gathered. All these point upward and cry,—“Behold! on high! Far above all powers and dominions, Jesus fills the throne! Thence he breathes forth the Spirit of God! Thence he sheds down salvation!”