CHRIST the BAPTIZER: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11). William Arthur writes: Suppose we saw an army before a granite fort, and they told us they intended to batter it down. We well might ask them, “How?” They point to a cannon-ball. But there is no power in that; it is heavy, but if all the men in the army hurled it against the fort, they would make no impression. They say, “No; but look at the cannon.” Well, there is no power in that. A child may ride on it, a bird may perch in its mouth. “But look at the powder.” Well, there is no power in that—a sparrow may peck it without fear. Yet this powerless powder and powerless ball are put into a powerless cannon. Then one spark of fire enters it and, in the twinkling of an eye, that powder is a flash of lightning, and that ball a thunderbolt. So is it with our Church machinery in this day: we have all the instruments necessary for pulling down strongholds. But oh for the baptism of fire!
