made towards civilization, and let us hope towards Christianity as well, in Orissa, since its first occupancy as a mission field. Many of the cruel practices then in vogue among the people have been abandoned or abolished by law, and no small advance has been made in their desire for education and culture, A summing up of the forces at work and the results attained, so far as they can be expressed in figures, is also given, and affords ample evidence of earnest work done, and the divine blessing upon it. Would that our own Mission were in a condition to promise equal results on its sixtieth anniversary! I am not prepared to say that it will not in proportion to the number of agents employed, and the amount of funds expended, but in the matter of generous support they have greatly outdone us. They are by no means a wealthy denomination, and have less than one-third as many members as we have, and yet they gave, last year, three times as much as was contributed by our own churches. It required no small amount of courage in them to start a mission in India when numbering only about nine and a half thousand communicants. They have, perhaps, done less in some other directions than we have, and they may have some advantages for prosecuting the work of raising funds, but after all allowances, they have set us a noble example for imitation. Brethren, let us be provoked thereby to love and good works, and do more for this cause than ever before. It is worthy of note that the leading men among them are untiring and zealous in their efforts to bring their churches up to the full measure of duty. While truly catholic in spirit and action, they are intensely loyal to their own convictions of truth, and never ashamed to avow themselves General Baptists, but rather glory in the faith of their fathers, and do their work with a skill, courage, and enthusiasm worthy of the imitation of every Free Baptist minister in America. The results are heart-cheering. Let us go and do likewise, and may God bless us every one"" Foreign Letters Received. Received on account of the General Baptist Missionary Society from December 16th, Subscriptions and Donations in aid of the General Baptist Missionary Society will be thankfully received by W. B. BEMBRIDGE, Esq., Ripley, Derby, Treasurer; and by the Rev. W. HILL, Secretary, Crompton Street, Derby, from whom also Missionary Boxes, Collecting Books and Cards may be obtained. 070 The Place of Baptism in the Life and Teaching of the Church of Christ during the First Ten Years of its History.* I. THE GOSPELS present us with the following facts with regard to Baptism : (1.) Christ Jesus Himself was baptized by John, His forerunner, in the river Jordan, in order "to fulfil all righteousness." (2.) John, distinguished as the Baptizer, administered the same rite of baptism to crowds of Jews who came from Jerusalem and Judea, and all the region round about. (3.) And yet "Jesus Christ made and baptized more disciples than John," though He baptized not; but reserving to Himself the baptism of the Spirit, He delegated the baptism in water to His apostles, so making the rite independent of His personal presence.† Baptism in water was obviously a notorious and conspicuous feature in the work of the New Teacher and Reformer, compelling the attention of His foes to the magnitude of His influence, and the rapidity and breadth of His progress. (4.) The last and weightiest words of the Lord Jesus; the words spoken after His resurrection and immediately before His ascension to the right hand of the Father-words of unusual solemnity and importance concerning the special work of His apostles-contain a distinct and emphatic reference to this rite, and enjoin its observance in terms of significant urgency, and with sanctions of overwhelming force. "All power," said the Lord Jesus, "is given to me in heaven and in earth: go ye, make disciples of all the nations; do not restrict your work to Jerusalem, or to the Jews, but enrol disciples from all peoples and tribes, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you; and lo I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world!"‡ II. Various methods are open to us for discovering the meaning of these few facts contained in the gospel record.§ The plan I purpose adopting now is to ask what was the judgment of the first disciples of Christ upon them; what did those men think He wished;-the men who saw Him baptized in the Jordan; who baptized others at His bidding; who heard all His words about the founding of the church; and who saw His face and felt the solemn pressure of His spirit as He uttered * Delivered at Westbourne Park Chapel on the Sunday morning preparatory to the first administration of believers' baptism within the new building. Also published as a separate Tract, "The Place of Baptism," etc., No. 2, and may be had of the Leicester and London publishers of this Magazine, price One Penny. + Cf. Godet, John iv. 2. This cannot mean that ALL instruction is to follow the administration of the rite; or that Christ made disciples by the administration of baptism. Such an interpretation would be sacramentarianism pure and simple; and bad exegesis at the same time. You enrol a pupil in a school by taking him to the master. Men are made disciples of Christ by being brought to Christ. § See "The Place of Baptism in the Life and Teaching of Jesus: an Exposition and a Plea." By J. Clifford. Price One Penny, or Six Shillings per hundred. GENERAL BAPTIST MAGAZINE, MARCH, 1878.-VOL. LXXX.-N. S. No. 99. the words of "the Great Commission ?" I wish to treat the first eleven chapters of the Acts of the Apostles as an authoritative key to the baptismal facts contained in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This method is not only extremely fair, but it is full of great promise, for (1.) We are sure the disciples were perfectly loyal to their Master, passionately devoted to His purposes, and would do their utmost to carry out His wishes, fearing no man's frown, courting no man's favour, resolutely hazarding their lives for the sake of doing faithfully and thoroughly all that they believed to be His will. They would omit nothing through fear; they would add nothing through lack of reverence. (2.) Moreover they were promised the gift of the Holy Ghost to bring to mind all that He had said to them, to guide them into all truth, to save them as leaders from error, to set them free from the narrowness to which their prejudices held them,* and to qualify them in all respects for the momentous task of forming and developing the young life of the new Christian society. So that if we had any lingering doubt as to the import of Christ's own act in being baptized; or as to His habit of having His disciples baptized; or His words about baptism in His farewell sayings, we should have clear, distinct, and authoritative guidance as to that meaning from the Spirit-inspired action of the church of Christ within the first few years of its history. Fresh from the presence of the Master, chivalrously devoted to Him as their sole Lord and Leader, guided in all things by His Spirit, their speech and action are an infallible witness to His will, and an unerring index to the meaning of His example and His edicts. If we can make sure of what they did, we can easily determine what our Lord taught and commanded. Victor Emmanuel, the first King of United Italy, dies, and the loss of the brave, devoted, and patriotic leader gives a shock to the heart of every Italian. The nation is plunged into grief, and reads, with a quivering sorrow, the proclamation of his son, King Humbert, who says: "Italians!-The greatest misfortune has suddenly befallen us. Victor Emmanuel, founder of the Kingdom of Italy and its unity, has been taken from us. I received his last sigh, which was for the nation, and his last wishes, which were for the felicity of his people. His voice, which will always resound in my heart, imposes upon me the task of vanquishing my sorrow, and points out to me my duty. At this moment there is but one consolation for us possible, namely, to show ourselves worthy of him; I by following in his footsteps, you by remaining devoted to those civic virtues by the aid of which he succeeded in accomplishing the difficult task of rendering Italy great and united. I shall be mindful of the grand examples he gave me of devotion to our country, love of progress, and faith in Liberal institutions, which are the pride of my house. My sole ambition will be to deserve the love of my people. "Italians! Your first King is dead; his successor will prove to you that institutions do not die. Let us unite in this hour of great sorrow; let us strengthen that concord which has always been the salvation of Italy." * Cf. the vision given to Peter Acts x. DURING THE FIRST TEN YEARS OF ITS HISTORY. 83 The chief solace of Italy, in this hour, is in the devotion of the son to the father, in the certainty that he will execute his father's wishes, and complete his father's work. The will of Victor Emmanuel rings in every line of that proclamation, and the greatest stranger to the Italy of the last twenty years might learn from it what have been her passions, her hopes and fears, her struggles and her victories. How much more, then, may we expect to find the will of Christ in the preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost, and in the house of Cornelius the leader of the Italian band of soldiers at Cesarea! With what greater distinctness and emphasis will the mind of our King be revealed in the FIRST ACTS of His brave and heroic followers after His Ascension! Again we say, if we can only settle clearly what they said and did, we shall know what He wished and willed! Take, as an example, the washing of the feet of the disciples on the memorable occasion of the Last Supper. Did the Lord Jesus wish that touching deed to become a part of the perpetual ritual of His people, and to be strictly and literally imitated in the case of all His followers; or was it merely intended as a rebuke to the pride and self-seeking of the apostles, and a symbolical and dramatic appeal in favour of the perpetual obligation and incorruptible dignity of lowly service? Suppose we could not get at the drift of the event from the gospel account, yet the bare fact that Peter, James, and John, and the rest of the apostles, and of the hundred and twenty, did not, on any occasion, nor at any time, treat it as part of the law of the Lord Jesus for His church, is itself an all-sufficient warrant for us to say that Christ never meant a rite like that of feet-washing to have a place in His kingdom; but He did mean to inculcate, in this most impressive and powerful way, the grand principle that power and greatness in the kingdom of heaven are always given for generous, lowly, and self-denying service.* BAPTISM AT JERUSALEM. III.—But now look at the matter of BAPTISM; and test the teaching of the gospels by the interpretative facts recorded concerning the action of the church of Christ within the first ten years of its history in and out of Jerusalem. Assuredly if the Master has said nothing about baptizing in water, we shall not find any word concerning it in the first public preaching, in the first public witness-bearing, and in the first public acts of the new-born church. Ay! but there it is. The church is full of the Holy Spirit, baptized into, immersed in the Holy Spirit; apostles and members alike, men and women alike, are all filled with the Holy Ghost. The promise of the Father is fulfilled, and in the exercise of newlydescended power the church begins its redeeming work. A mighty wave of religious enthusiasm, starting from the praying few, passes on . to and overwhelms the listening many. Peter preaches with superhuman force his words are quick and powerful, sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing into the quivering and sensitive consciences, till the people cry out with pain, "Men and brethren, what shall we do? Counsel us. We are undone. Guide us, we know not which way to *It is not till the fourth century that this rite is introduced; and that fourth century is the hot-bed of corruptions. A more glaring and ghastly farce than the Pope washing the feet of twelve old men in St. Peter's even Popery does not present. take." "Repent," says he, "repent, every one of you; repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins." Baptism is the second word in his preaching, and it is like the first, followed by the promise, "ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."* So baptism in water appears definitely, distinctly, and prominently, in the very first day's public work of the church of the Lord Jesus. Fresh from the prayer-meeting they preach baptism; fresh from the face of their ascending Lord, and with His last words still ringing in their ears, they preach baptism; freshly inspired by the Holy Ghost they preach baptism: and preach it definitely, distinctly, and prominently, and preach it as the second word of their teaching. The same Spirit- the Spirit of the Lord Jesus who guided them to preach and teach Christ as the sinner's only hope, Redeemer, Justifier, and Lord; to preach repentance for sin and faith in the Saviour as the only way of salvation, guided them to preach baptism, not as John preached it as a profession of present repentance, but as a sign of the actual acceptance of God's present and offered remission of sins, in and by Christ Jesus the Lord. Here, then, we have not one witness, but a dozen; not a dozen only, but ten dozen; not a private attestation, but a most public and pronounced one, showing that baptism has passed over from the ministry of Christ recorded in the gospels into the teaching and deeds of the Church as recorded on the opening page of its history. This is the first appearance of the Church amongst men: and the most striking sign given of its distinct organic existence, of its relation to the despised and crucified Nazarene, of its laws and constitution, is this act of baptism in the name of Jesus. Verily if we believe at all in Jesus we must believe (1.) That these men and women did precisely as Jesus wished them when they baptized the three thousand who gladly received Peter's word. (2.). We must believe that they did as Jesus wished them when they put baptism second and not first; not before instruction, but after it; not in front of repentance and faith, but behind them. Both the act of baptism and its place were due to that Christ who, though He had gone up on high, was still the Guide and Ruler of His church.† BAPTISM IN SAMARIA. IV. Before the church had passed through its second year, many and serious troubles overtook it, and threatened not only its peace but also its existence. The enormous increase of the new sect, and the growing splendour of its pure fame irritated and incensed the defenders of the *Acts ii. 41, "were baptized"-" not necessarily at once after the discourse, but naturally during the same day if we unite the next clause closely with this. But the compendious form of the narrative would allow us, with some editors, to place a colon between the two clauses; and then the baptism could be regarded as subsequent to the addition, taking place at such time, and under such circumstances, as the convenience of the parties might require. It is proper to add, that the pools so numerous and so large which encircled Jerusalem, as both those still in use and the remains of others testify at the present day, afforded ample means for the administration of the rite. The habits of the East, as every traveller knows, would present no obstacle to such a use of the public reservoirs."-Prof. Hackett, Acts, p. 55. Note the beautifully suggestive fact that Luke says that in his gospel he had narrated all that Jesus began to do and teach; in this appendix to the gospel he tells us what Jesus continues doing. |