The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of ChristianityOrr, Charles Ebert
Religion
The Gospel Day; Or, the Light of Christianity
Orr, Charles Ebert
Christianity
All Jerusalem, and Judea, and the region about Jordan, were baptized of
John in Jordan. Mat. 3:5, 6. Jesus baptized by proxy. John 4:1, 2. He
commissioned his ministry to preach baptism unto all the world. “Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Mat. 28:19. “Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:15, 16. Those who have undertaken
the dangerous and Christ uncommissioned task of freeing Christians from
the obligations of this ordinance, hold high aloft the following texts:
Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14, 15; Col. 2:20. Since the Savior’s commission to his
disciples was forty days after his resurrection, such teachers are driven
from this position, and to substantiate their doctrine they flee to a more
fatally exposed one when saying that the baptism of this commission was
the baptism of the Spirit. It is a pity that precious time must be taken
for the correction of such erroneous teaching. How can men baptize with
the Holy Spirit? God alone can do that.
It is evident that the apostles understood this baptism to be with water,
since they taught it and practised it throughout their ministry. We shall
take time and space to refer to but two or three instances of the
administration of this ordinance recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The
first is that of a Christ commissioned preacher by the name of Philip, who
was sent by an angel to preach the gospel to a Scripturally ignorant man
of Ethiopia. Unlearned as he was, he readily understood from the preaching
of Philip the importance of water baptism; therefore when they came to a
certain water he said, “See here is water; what doth hinder me to be
baptized?” Acts 8:36. By reading the following verses you will learn that
this man was baptized in water and God witnessed to his approval by
sending him rejoicing on his way. Obedience to the commands of God brings
a joy to the Christian heart.
The second instance of baptism to which we wish to invite your attention
is that of the devout Cornelius. He sent for Peter to learn more
concerning the ways of the Lord. Peter came and told them of Jesus, of his
resurrection and his power to save. As he spoke the Holy Ghost fell upon
all them which heard his words. Then said Peter, Can any man forbid water
that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as
well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.
How can an instance of water baptism be more plainly recorded? This
occurred some eight years after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. To
teach the abolition of this ordinance at the cross, in the face of these
plainly stated instances of baptism, only proves to us the blinding and
deceptive power of the spirit of error.
Mode Of Baptism.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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