Mexico weekly ledger., 1886-05-20
DUNCAN'S GOSPEL LESSONS.
REPLYING. 20.

DUNCANS UUSIEL LESSUNSs
REPLYING. 20.
Last week we learned that the
Savior, the Apostles Peter and
Paul all used the word baptize in
such sense as to make the meaning
of "dip or immerse" absurd and i'm
possible. We had before proven
that in the Secular Greek older than
the New Testament it never had such
signifcation as "dip," but that the
baptizing element or instrumentality
is always represented as moved and
brought upon, or in contact with,
the person or thing baptized. We
have shown that Paul, IN Heb. 9:l0,
says there were divers baptisms" in
the tabernacle service, where there
were absolutely no dippings and no
vessel or place to dip in; and the
only possible rites he could have
called 'bap,isms" were the "divers
sprinkling" of the ritual service of
the tabernacle.
We come now to consider some
other points. A very plausible argu-
ment is made by the dippers when
they say that "baptism represents the
complete change of the internal man
and should be represented by an
Overwhelming of the body in the
water" But in this they forget that
: they had already made the ordinance
of baptism "to symbolize' the burial
Ga fact (?) that never transpired) and
resurrection of the Lord" Now in
this argument they change the sym
bolism and make it represent the
spirits work in regeneration. Bu1
even then the argument is fallacious,
for the ordinance of circumcision
+ symbolized and represented the very
same complete and thorough chang
of the human soul by the spirit tha
| baptism does. This is proven b.
lDeut. 3O:6, "And the Lord thy Coz
, will circumcise thine heart and tn
@ heart of thy seed, to love the Lor'
thy God with all thine heart ant
v with all thy soul, that thou mayes
: live." And Rom. 2:28, 29, "For b
d is not Jew, which is one outwardly
neither is that circumcision which
o outward in the flesh. But he is
# Jew, which is one inwardly; and th
n circumcision is that of the heart, i
n the spirit, and not in the lette,
e whose praise is not of men but
e God" In symbolizing this complet
o and thorough change of heart th
Ie Lord Jesus appointed the "cuttin
d off" of a small piece of the fesl
According to the argument OF tn
immersers the child would have bee
fayed alive-its body skinned a
J. over!
e. The truth is, the work in the Sol
n is the work of the Lord by his ho
p spirit, and he appointed as the syn
xt boil of it the "cutting off, of sma
be bit of the flesh and the "sprinklir
e. of clean water" for the express pu
ay pose of diverting the attention
re men from the sign or symbol to Il
be thing signified. The heart OF man
It. uially proud and prone to depeI
nd on self and what self can do. Me
p weak and frail men, must preach t
be gospel, not flaming and mighty a
all gels. Paul says, "But we have Il
,ss treasure in earthen vessels, that t
lis excellency of the power may be
of God and not of u.s. So the Lord
ny supper-the real, great, spirit'
Id feast-is symhollzed by eating
nat small bit of bread and drinking
nd small sip of wine. The Corinthia
on once thought they would act on
an theory of the immersers-that gr'
no truths should be symbolized by gr'
rty symboIs-so they brought big loa'
The of bread and great quantity OF W
er. and made it physical feast, even
to drunkenness. But Paul show
tie them that they had so complet
cry perverted the design of the sup
lity that they did not eat the "Lor
supper" at all. 1st Cor. 1l:2o,
, So those who have been so zeal
at for s.much water" and for ''dipp
res over head and ears" have so
her verted the ordinance of baptism
ore they absolutely have no script
hat baptism at all.
we'd Baptism with water represt
'hy- what the Lord by his spirit doe:
cry the soul-cleansing, purifying,
om- tizing that soul into the one bod.
ics. the one Lord. 1t is symbol
properly and scripturally by spr
and ling of clean water, and in no o
ms. way. Whenever the subject