The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1889-01-05
JOHN TIE BAPTIST.
LESSON |, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 6.

Stearns-
| Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly, by per
| mission of II. s. Hoffman, publisher, Philadel
| Phla.
|. The beginning of the Gospel OF Jesus
! Christ, the Son of God" We shall now be
| privileged for six months to study again the
earthly life, or rather the uuearthly life on
/ this earth, of our Lord Jesus Christ; for al
/ though lie was perfect man, yet He was an
unearthly man, at homo among men, gym
/ pathisng With all men, and yet ever speak
! ing of and pointing men TO q home from
which He had come and to which He WAS re-
/ turning. Hi. thirty-three or four years on
/ earth as n man among men was but an event
/ III life which had no beginning and shall
/ have no end. FOR He was in the beginning
with God, all things were made by Him and
( for Him, and He shall subdue all things unto
| Himself. Although it Is over eighteen hun
| dred years since He was on earth, yet He is a
real man today, unchanged ard unchanGe-
able, and We read of Him in the Gospels,
| SO are to think Of Him, saving, healing,
! sylnpathiZing, comforting; calling US to fol-
! low Him, serve Him. wait and look for Him
| while We yield our bodies unto Him that He,
! by His spirit, may live His life over again in
| each of Ills followers. In the Old Testament
! He was foretold as not only tho seed Of the
/ "oLlli "uO suOuIu DTulSe Inc lSsltl,
but also as the seed of Abraham i'll whom nll
nations should be blessed, the Son of David
/ who should sit on Davd's throne, the servant
| of God doing all His pleasure. the Son Of
/ Man subduing all things unto Himself and
restoring the dominion lost by Adam and
! the Son of God, equal with God and reveal
] ing God to man In Matthew's gospel we
! learn of Him as Son of David, Son of Abra-
! ham, King OF the Jews; while in this gospel
/ we see Him rather as the servant spoken OF
| in ISa. xiii, l, ''Dehold my servant also
! Isa. xxx, 6; ILL., II; Eek. 1xxvii, 24, 25;
| Zech. iii, s, etc. There is one word in this
! gospel which peculiarly points Him out as
! the servant; it is used about eighty times III
! the New Testament, and half that number OF
! times it is found il this gospel; ten or eleven
| times it is found Ill tins first chapter and is
! translated Immediately" ''straightway,"
! FORTHWITH" ''anOl," but in the Revised
! Version it is always "straightway.n While
/ each gospel has its distinctive features, We
/ also fud more or leSs OF each in them all, and
/ this first verse brings before Us Jesus, the
! Saviour, who saves not only from tho wrath
( to come, but also from our sins; Christ, the
/ Messiah, the anointeI King of Israel, and
the Son Of God, equal with God, one with the
( Father. The beginning Of the gospel or glad
I things IN my soul was when | received Him
/ as my own Saviour and blessed be God while
/ there was a beginning there shall be no end.
/ ,. ''As it is written in the Prophets" The
/ whole history Of His humiliation, sufferings,
/ death. resurrection and future glory is all
written in the Prophets, for they al spako Of
Him, the Holy Spirit speaking through
/ them.
behold l send my messenger before Thy
/ face who shall prepare Thy way" This is a
/ quotation from Malachi iii, l, and refers to
/ John the Baptist as the herald Of Jesus Christ
! Observe carefully Gabriels announcement
/ concerning him III Luke j, 13-l7, and his
/ fathers utUerauce by the Holy Spirit in Luke
/ i, 1G-1l.
I 3. The voice Of one crying In the wilder
ness" This is a quotation from Isaiah xl 3,
and carries US beyond the first coming Of
/ Christ, when lie came to suffer, to His second
! coming, when lie Shall comfort Jerusalem,
/ pardoning her iniquity and cause all flesh to
see the glory of the Lord; when lie shall ap-
pear il lis glory to build up Zion (Ps eli, 1G)
! when He shall appear the second time with
! out sin unto salvation tHeb. TX, 2S) the saliva
/ ton ready TO be revealed at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Il Pet. i, ), :, i3)
/ A. The baptism of repentance for, or unto,
the remission of SINS" Such was the preach
/ ing Of John, and such was the commission
TO and the preaching Of the apostles luke
| xiv, A.; Acts iii, -; V, 81, with this diff
| ference, that John pointed to a Saviour
about to come, while the apostles pointed to
Saviour who had come, suffered, was cluci-
! fed, risen, assembled, and would me again
to restore all things of which the prophets
! had snnEon acts III, 13-2D.
Tho first essential to present happiness
and future glory is the forgiveness OF our
hot ty-a I,r-
/ pentance-that is, n true turning from sin to
God, or, rs our catechisrn has it, "a change
OF mind toward God, the effect of the con-
VIctlon of sin wrought by the Holy Ghost"
D. There went ont unto him oil Judea"
Great muititudeS came to him confessing
their sins and desiring baptism, but his esti-
mate of their sincerity and true repentance
we may gather frcni his preaching duke iii,
is No outward form or mere say so is
worth anything whatever in the matter Of
repentance, or faith, or service, nothing but
rea Chonest heart work is OF any avail, and
john gave them to understand that unless
! their lives proved their sincerity they would
like chatf come to the unquenchable fire
t. Clothed with canels hair John was
no fashionable preacher, either as to person
or style; food and raImeut were matters Of
small Importance to him, and us to his
God. Gabriel had said that he would come
in the spirit and power of Elijah duke l. y,
and although he was not Elijah John i, 2Il,
he was wonderfully lie lrn -'.5--' -
Z. "One mghter than l." And John did
not consider himself worthy to be privileged
TO unloose Ills shoes. Gabriel himself would
coVet such an honor, and what angel in
Heaven would not rejoice to do Linn the
lowllest service, But the is so mighty in
most Of US that Johns ''mightier than l."
whom he SO delighted to honor. finds US but
poor witnesses. lilo is THE Mighty God. tho
Everlasting Father, the FRINGE of Peace:p
and If we only believed what We profess to
believe, that we are joint heirs with Linn
who Is Heir of Gil things, and are thus e1-
altcd through lis sufierIngS, our devotion 10
HIM would be such that a thought of self
would not he tolerated. We would say with
Paul, For me to live in Christ and to die IS
sam; let Him be g!orificd either. By my lie
or DEATH (Phil. i, -, FL.
.. lie SHAH baptlzo you with the Holy
Ghost. Unless We have this baptism we shall
never amount to anything III CErist's service.
y. Jesus was baptized Of John in Jordan
lsead the more fall account of this event in
Mali ~, lG-lt; John /, .9-3A Jesus had no
SIN 10 confess; lie needed no repentance but
he said 70 john, suffer it to be so now, Tor
thus 1t becoiGe-5 Us 10 fIltiil all righteous.
ness"
10. The Heavens oneued, and the Spirit.
Ike q dove, descending upon Hiai." Oh lust
seven different occasions do sc read in Scrip
turc Ct Heaven beng o!rened, and each tine
II IS 10 slew Us Jesus either ia hum !iatiou or
glory. v EeI lie becomes the center Of orr
life on earth, Is lie Is thu center of all life in
Lc1Fcn, tleu we VIII have Heaven on earth.
H. Il Voice from Heaven Three times
daring lis earthly ministry does this voice
TESTIFY 70 llim. at Itis baptism, at lis trans
Isl-ia--ol, a.a just UCt--e dis cruciExiou.