Chapter LXXV: Section LXXIII: Christ’s Baptizing Administration

Thus Jesus fills the throne in the heavens, and possesses all power and prerogative for accomplishing the purposes of the Godhead, concerning the human race—the redeemed and the lost; concerning Satan and his angels, and the whole universe of God, moral and physical, as inseparably connected with the moral history and destinies of these. And thus, in every aspect of his work, as it progresses, from the day of Pentecost to the final consummation and glory, he is in the exercise of that office wherein he was announced by his herald John, as he that should baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire,—that office of the gracious aspects of which as toward his people, the baptism of water has been, for all ages, the symbol and seal. For, on Pentecost, Jesus only began to fulfill the prophecy and promise,—“I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh.” Not even yet is the breadth of its meaning accomplished. He will continue to breathe his Spirit into his people, till all are gathered in. So, of them, individually, the purifying, although assured by the first baptism which they respectively receive, is brought to fruition only through the daily breathings of Christ’s life in them, the influences of his Spirit quickening them continually; as the leper was not cleansed by one affusion, but was sprinkled seven times. And while the idea of baptism has special reference to the first act of grace in bestowing the Spirit, it views that act as comprehensive of the whole process of grace, which is potentially involved in, and secured by it.

It is not for us to know the times and seasons “which the Father hath put in his own power.”—Acts i, 7. But, respecting some things of vital interest as to the order and issue of coming events, in the history of Christ’s baptizing office, we do know by the testimony of God.

1. Whatever, to our limited and carnal apprehensions, may be the mysteries of the past history of the gospel in the world, there has been no lack of power in the baptizing scepter of Christ, nor mistake in its exercise. The Baptizer is that Son of man in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and who is the personal Wisdom of God, and the Power of God. His blood paid the price of salvation. His arm overcame and his heel crushed the serpent, during the days of his humiliation in the flesh. And now, enthroned in power, he doeth in his wisdom according to his pleasure. If the heathen of old could say, “The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine,” well may we confide in our King, that he need not make haste, in the fulfillment of his purposes. “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”—2 Pet. iii, 8. Four thousand years rolled by, before the promise made to the fallen woman in the garden was fulfilled, in the virgin birth of the babe of Bethlehem. And now, “the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it shall speak and not lie; though the promise tarry wait for it; because it will surely come; it will not tarry.”—Hab. ii, 3.

It does not fall in with the purposes of the present discussion to enter into the prophetic question, as to the time and manner of the future developments and glory of the Redeemer’s kingdom. Respecting it, one thing is certain. The past has been a time of the hiding of his power; but the light of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will yet cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Branch of Jesse “shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glorious.”—Isa. xi, 10.

2. Every soul to whom the grace of God has come, from the day of Pentecost to this hour, has received it from the immediate hand of Jesus, baptizing him with the Holy Ghost. And so it will be to the end. Thus, each one so redeemed is a new proof and pledge that Jesus fills the throne,—that Satan and all the powers of darkness are under his feet; and that the hearts of men are in his hands, to give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him.

3. When the end shall come, and the mystery of God shall be finished, it will appear that in every aspect of the issues joined with Satan, triumph and glory crown the head of the Son of man. Nor will it be the mere force of physical omnipotence crushing the feebler powers of Satan. But the glory of perfect righteousness, of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and fear of the Lord, in the Head and leader of the salvation,—a perfection, not merely of moral excellence but of all gifts and endowments, tried and proved, first, in the form of a servant under the law, in obedience and sufferings, amid the temptations of the world and the flesh, the wiles of the devil, and the inflictions of God,—a perfection then shown upon the throne of glory, in administering with perfect wisdom and perfect skill the vast and various affairs of God’s boundless empire, thwarting and turning to confusion the plots and policies of Satan and his angels, rectifying the disorders wrought by the enemy, and vindicating God’s glory impeached through man.

It will be a moral triumph revealed in each one of the redeemed, once a prostrate slave of Satan and sin, baptized and quickened, and aroused to struggle for liberty, and made more than conqueror, in the conflict, through the grace and Spirit of Christ, over Satan and all his powers without, and indwelling sin and corruption,—each one scarred with the wounds of battle, but all—the crushed serpent writhing beneath their feet,—wearing the white robes of triumph and waving the palms of victory;—all clothed in the righteousness of One, and each grown to the stature of Christ, in the perfection of holiness and beauty, after the image of God.

It will be the moral triumph of the whole ransomed host, by one Spirit baptized into one body, her garments of wrought gold and needle-work, received and revealed, spotless and complete in all divine perfections,—the bride of the Lamb, the glory of her husband, as he is the image and glory of God. (1 Cor. xi, 7.) In them shall the principalities and powers in the heavenly places behold and study and admire the reflected likeness of the unapproachable glory of the infinite Invisible.

It will be the triumph involved in all this revelation of glory and blessedness in contrast with the spectacle of Satan and his followers and work, exposed before all intelligences, in shame and everlasting contempt;—his achievements seen in discord and darkness, in sin and suffering and sorrow, in lamentation and woe, in the loss to him and to his of all the divine perfections in which they were created, and in distortion, deformity and discord, possessing and pervading them all; his confident wisdom and power turned to imbecile folly, and his conspiracies and wiles made the occasions and means of fulfilling God’s plan which he opposed, and crowning the Son of man with glory.

The true dignity and significance of the rite of baptism can only then be adequately realized when we appreciate this comprehensive extent and grandeur of the baptizing office of Christ, signified by it. In the fulfillment of that office he now orders all things; and its exercise must be continuous to the end. The Great Baptizer must breathe the Spirit of life into all that mighty multitude, out of every generation and race, whom the Father has given Him. He must send fire upon the earth, and divide between his people and his enemies, and vindicate the Father’s sovereignty and grace in all his dealings with the wicked. He must, at last, by the quickening virtue of the baptism of His Spirit, raise up his saints,—their bodies glorious as his own glorious body, and their souls perfect in holiness,—and place them on the throne of judgment with himself; judge and cast the wicked out of his kingdom; confirm the holy angels in rectitude and blessedness, and cast Satan,—thwarted, defeated and bound in chains of darkness,—into the gulf of fire,—him and his angels and followers. He must purge the earth and heavens with fire, from the defilement which Satan and sin have wrought, and out of them create and adorn the new heavens and the new earth, the abode of righteousness, the home of the holy and the blessed,—where the many sons shall dwell with God and the Lamb. He must make all things new.

Then may the triumphant Son of man proclaim his work accomplished, and his office ended. Then may he,—not now from the cross, but from the throne,—cry, “It is finished!” “The former things are passed away, and behold I have made all things new.” Sin and the curse are abolished;—tears, and death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain are no more; and in life and immortality the earth-born sons of God possess the glory.

“It is done!” The floor is purged; the garner filled; and the chaff burned. The baptism is accomplished. Then shall the Son, his commission fulfilled, deliver up the kingdom to God even the Father, and shall himself also be subject to Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. xv, 24, 28.)