ÆäÀÌÁö À̹ÌÁö
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

some fertile and happy land to repose in a pure and quiet silvery lake; but it made direct for the desert and the Dead Sea. The prophet drew on his memory for the entire topical costume of the vision. From the "pinnacle of the temple he had often looked down the valley of the Kedron and out upon the desert that bounds the Dead Sea, and had perhaps frequently asked whether any power on earth could render that dismal desert fertile, or heal the bitter waters of that sea of death. The natural stream that issued from the temple must of necessity take that direction, and no other. Descending into the Kedron at the fountain of Mary, thence past Siloam to the well of Job, and from that in the ever-, deepening gorge of Wady en-Nar (valley of fire) until it reached the sea. The prophet had further noticed that the stream, very small as it issued from the temple, was increased at the fountain of Mary, and grew still larger at Siloam, while below the well of Job it sometimes became a noisy mill stream, and beyond that it was swollen by other contributions, after long and heavy rains, to quite a river. The writer has himself witnessed these outgushings below Bir Eyûb, and was delighted to find the banks of the brook alive with old and young, in holiday dress, rejoicing at the occurrence, as a good omen that promised a fruitful year and abundant harvests. The prophet has apparently availed himself of these physical facts and phenomena to impart verisimilitude to his allegory. This mystical river was " to the ankles" at the first thousand cubits, "to the knees" at the second," to the loins" at the third thousand, and at the fourth "the waters were risen, waters to swim in; a river that could not be passed over." This, of course, corresponds to and illustrates the divinely chosen method in the extension of the kingdom of grace. At first very small, it enlarges ever as time rolls on. It is so historically and universally, and it thus grows also in every individual member of the kingdom. The Master has taught this in many ways, as in the parables of the leaven and the mustard seed, and elsewhere. We need not dwell on this elemental feature of the allegory, and therefore pass

to the effects produced by these waters from the sanctuary. When the prophet had returned to the bank of the river, "behold there were very many trees on the one side and the other"; and again, "on this side and on that, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." John saw this river in apocalyptic vision, many hundred years after Ezekiel: "And on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." The topographical indications of Ezekiel, however, impart special interest to his description. John says nothing about the desert, and the marvellous transfiguration of it into a paradise like unto the garden of Eden. Herein we find the most suggestive phenomena in the allegory, and the most beautiful. The effects are absolutely supernatural. Neither the rains from heaven, nor the ordinary brooks and fountains of the land, nor the bright sunshine, nor the toil of man, had ever been able to redeem that desert from its stubborn and frightful nakedness and sterility. But wherever these waters from the sanctuary came the transformation was immediate and miraculous. Notice here another phenomena, which strikingly illustrates the outgoing and onflowing of the river of divine love and mercy. The farther it penetrated the desert, and the more it sent forth to water the trees on either side, the deeper and broader it became. This is the very opposite of all natural streams that run out into the Desert. The writer has followed more than one of these brooks from their birth in powerful fountains among the hills to where they disappear entirely in sandy plains. The farther they go, the smaller they become. Their merry music ceases to cheer; vegetation becomes less and less along the banks, until finally the feeble runlet faints and fails altogether. Not so this divine river of the allegory; it grows as it flows, gets by giving,

the more it gives, the more it has to give. Now, who needs to be told that it is thus in the kingdom of grace and love? "Freely ye have received, freely give." "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over." This is the fundamental law laid down by the Master, everywhere and always obligatory. As well attempt to break the chain that binds the universe together, and all to God, as to set aside this law of the kingdom. Its very nature and issue is love, infinite, outflowing, and overflowing; and it must ever act like this mystical river, which, in obedience to its topographical surroundings, sets out at once on its mission of life to the desert and the sea of death.

And unto the Dead Sea it came, and therein wrought miracles of healing and transformation; for "everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither; for they shall be healed." To understand the greatness of the miracle, remember where and what that sea is. Down yonder, in its awful chasm, it smoulders like a huge caldron of bitumen and brimstone, so bitter that nothing that hath life can abide it; nor can the Jordan and other natural streams that flow into it mitigate its deadly poison. Tremendous type of an apostate and fallen world, dead in trespasses and sins! But even this shall be healed; and, greatest moral of all, around its heretofore desolate shores, from Engedi even unto Eneglaim shall fishermen stand, where none ever stood before; and there, where no fish were ever seen since the creation, shall men spread their nets, for "their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many."

It may safely be left to the imagination and heart of the Christian to fill out the picture of gospel growth and final triumph set forth in this grand and all comprehending symbolism. Ezekiel must have seen, in prophetic vision, the Great Master with his apostolic band of fishermen around

the lake of Tiberias. The net and the fishermen, with all that they signify and symbolize, have passed through a thousand verbal formulas, into the bosom of the universal church; and this day they represent the innumerable company of men and women that stand around the great Dead Sea of fallen humanity and fish for precious souls. With the telescope of prophecy we can see farther now than was possible for Ezekiel; and the outlook over the desert and the sea is animating and assuring in the highest degree. Ten thousand workers are busy opening new channels for these waters from the sanctuary, and, wherever they come, trees of righteousness spring up innumerable on either side; and ere long every desert shall blossom as the rose, and the day of final triumph will not be far off, when the vast host of workers shall congregate around the shores of this symbolic sea, and sweep the whole lost race into the mighty nets of gospel grace.

We have but touched and glanced along the line of this magnificent allegory, exhausting no part of it, and leaving unsaid much that thereunto belongs. And yet it is our hope that no one can rise from the contemplation of it, even thus feebly sketched, without assurance full and steadfast, that the whole is supernatural and divine. And to bring the matter within the compass of our special argument, we farther assert that the basis in nature is no less of God, and by his special providence arranged and fitted up, than is the superstructure which the inspired prophet has built upon it. No other spot on this globe of ours can be found that furnishes all the necessary conditions - physical, moral, and spiritual for just such a vision as this of Ezekiel. This river comes down from the mountain of the Lord's house; and we know that he is himself both temple and altar, priest and sacrifice, fountain-head and living stream; and all the phenomena of its flow and increase and operations in the desert and the sea, are in and by and through him-unto whom be ascribed all blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, forever and ever. Amen.

ARTICLE II.

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION; AS

SUPPOSED TO BE

TAUGHT IN THE WORDS OF JESUS: "BORN OF WATER
AND SPIRIT." JOHN III. 5.

BY REV. HENRY COWLES, D.D., OBERLIN, OHIO.

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION is essentially regeneration by means of the water of baptism—the water being held to be efficacious to the renewing which is expressed by "regeneration."

The question how much this efficacy of water depends on the Spirit of God working co-ordinately with it on the human soul, whether this dependence be much, little, or none at all, may be considered as subordinate, and not vital to our present discussion.

[ocr errors]

The doctrine now to be considered is, that regeneration, including the forgiveness of previously committed sin and the removal of innate or inherited sinfulness, is by water, and not without; that water when consecrated for the purposes of holy baptism becomes possessed of this virtue. The divine grace either enters into the water, or connects itself with this use of it in baptism. That thus "baptismal regeneration" is irrespective of the mental or moral state of the subject, is obvious from the fact that it takes effect upon infants so young as to preclude the supposition of mental or moral activity.

This doctrine appeared in the church at a very early period. Passing the somewhat unreliable Shepherd of Hermas, the earliest witness is Justin Martyr (middle of second century), whose words are: "We then lead them [the candidates for church membership] to a place where there is water, and then they are regenerated in the same manner as we also were; for they are then washed in that water in VOL. XXXIII. No. 131.

54

« ÀÌÀü°è¼Ó »