The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-03-07
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
HOW COULD THEY DO IT?
BY REV. H. H. HALVES.
No 2

The third feature Of the position noted IN
the former article was the suppOsitiOn that
"baptism sets forth the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ" If SO, then John
the Baptist did not administer Christian bap-
tism nor did any of the disciples do so, pre-
vious to the ascension of Christ. For
a. It must be admitted by all that he
who administers a sacrament must know
what he is doing, sud what such sacrament
means. John knew what his baptism meant.
The disciples, under the eye of 3sus, John
iv: /, p knew what they were doing in bap
tizing. A Christian minister now knows
what the significance of baptism, aud the
Lords Supper is when be administers them.
True, some do drag in errors and in them
With toe truth. Yet the real significance
they know. If then, John and the disciples
administered the Christian baptism, they
knew what it meant But if "it sets forth
the death, burisl and resurrection of Christ,
they could not and did not administer it
For
t2.J 5atI after de resarreetloa Of Christ
not one of the disciples understood anything
about HIS death, burial or resarrectIOn.-
Again and again Jesus had instructed them
thus The son of man must suffer many
things, and be rejected of the Elders, and of
the Chief Priests and SCribes, and be killed,
and after three days, rise again" Mark
viii: 81. And how was this revelation re-
ceived With objections, misunderstood
logs and ignorance. Peter ". 32 rebuked
Him for that saying. Il was spoken "Open-
ly, so that all heard it, yet none received
it. In the next chapter Gx: 3D. He repeats
the declarations. "Bus ". S2) they under
stood not thas saying, and were afraid to ask
him." Ia K: "a. He once more tells them
what is to be. But it produces no impres
SION whatever. In xiv: 28, He refers to it
again; but none realize what he is saying
The last chapter of Mark shows that even on
the dag appointed for resurrection, believ-
Ing" women sought the sepulchre for the
purpose of amounting the dead body of Jesus,
s0hic1 they expected to find stiU IA the tomb.
And when they found that He was indeed
risen, they hasted to tell His disciples. But
even then, these disciples "belieyed not that
Jesus was alive sgsin-xTi: IL. After that
Jesus appeared to two of them ". ~ and
they went and told the others, but atill, were
not believed, Y. 13 Jesus had promised to
meet them in Gailee after his resurrection.
But they thought nothing of it. Luke TX:
A, As, shows that Jesus sought to impress
these sayings upon them. Let these say,
ings sink down into your ears. "But they
understood not this saying, and it was hid
from them, and they perceived it not" So
Luke xviii 50, 81. They neither under
stood, nor saw nor knew "the things which
were spoken" His enemies remembered,
Matt. xvii: 63) but the disciples did not,
even after all was over. Mary Magdalene
John 20) told Peter and J)hn that Christ
was risen. They ran to the sepulchre, veri
fed her repOrt-but ". 81 "As yet they
knew not the scripture, that he must rise
sgain from the dead" Aud after all others
had believed, because they had actually seen
the risen Lord, Thomas ". 25) refused pos
itively to believe all or any of them; and
only the sight of J3sus convinced him that
the Lord was indeed risen.
Now, who will say, after all this, that those
disciples could have administered Christian
baptism, if il, as 'ImmersiOnists' are always
teaching, sets forth the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ ?" Evidently, if those
disciples did administer such baptism, they
did not know what they were doing. And
no church of this or any other age would
have such administrators in it. The above
facts of Holy Writ settle the matter, and
are more to be relied upon than any modern
wisdom. Let US conclude
g. With glance at Rom. vi, and Col
ii. It is enough to notice that the baptism
here spoken of is: (a) Into Jesus Christ
and unto His death, not into nor with water
o. That those receiving this baptism ar,
positively sausd. 1t ''Cruolfed" them (Rcm
vi: g. aud killed them ", 8 and raised then