ersons who group themselves about Jesus, the most dramatic
and picturesque figure is certainly that of John the Baptist. There is
in him a most extraordinary combination of audacity and humility. He
is bold, denunciatory, confident; but at the same time he is
self-effacing and preparatory in his work. He never thinks of his
service as final; after him is to come a man who is preferred before
him. There is always the larger work than his to follow. There are in
him the most beautiful humility and the most absolute bravery, and this
makes perhaps the rarest combination of traits which a character can
show. It is all summed up in his doctrine of the two baptisms: the
baptism by water, which John is to bring, and the baptism by the Holy
Ghost and by fire, which is to be brought by Jesus. Water is, of
course, the symbol of cleansing, the washing away of {72} one's old
sins, an expulsive, negative work. Fire is the symbol of passion,
enthusiasm, flame. It is illuminating, kindling, the work of the Holy
Ghost. One of these baptisms prepares for the other. First a man must
be clean and then he may be passionate. First, the fire of his base
affections must be washed away and then the fire of a new enthusiasm
may be lighted. And only that second step makes one a Christian. It
is a great thing to have life cleansed, and its conceits and follies
washed away. But that is not safety. The cleansing is for the moment
only. It is like that house which was swept and garnished, but because
it was empty was invaded by tenants worse than the first. The only
salvation of the soul lies in the kindling of a new passion, the
lighting of the fire of a new intention, the expulsive power, as it has
been called, of a new affection.

So it is in our associated life. We need, God knows, the baptism of
John, the purifying of conduct, the washing away of follies and sins;
but what we need much more is the fire of a moral enthusiasm to burn up
the refuse that lies in the malarious corners of our college life, and
light up the whole of it {73} with moral earnestness and passionate
desire for good. That is to pass from the discipleship of John to the
discipleship of Jesus, from the baptism by water to the baptism by
fire, from the spirit of the Advent season to the spirit of the
Christmas time.

{74}

XXIX

THE WISE MEN AND THE SHEPHERDS

_Matthew_ ii. 1-11; _Luke_ ii. 8-10.

One Gospel tells of one kind of people who saw