knew the results depending on it, and these were so divinely glorious,
SERMON XIV
THE SURETY'S BAPTISM
"I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"—LUKE 12:50
IN this awful utterance of our Substitute, as he looked forward to the cross, we have,—
1. A longing for the baptism. He desired its accomplishment. He knew the results depending on it, and these were so divinely glorious, so eternally blessed, that he could not but long for it,—he could not but be straitened till it was accomplished. The cup was inexpressibly bitter, but the recompence for drinking it was so vast, that he could not but long for the hour when it should be put into his hands. Just as he said at another time, "With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;" so here he says, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"
2. The consciousness of fear and bitter anguish in contemplating it. He was truly man, both in body and soul. As man he shrunk from pain, he was weighed down with burdens, he was subject to sorrow; he looked on death as his enemy, and he made supplication with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death. His utterances in the Psalms are the fullest intimation of his feelings in these respects. Thus he cries, "Rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions;" "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure; for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart." … "My heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me: fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and terror hath overwhelmed me." … "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul; I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow