The true northerner., 1896-01-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ~, FIRST QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 10

stsarns.
lb. "And as the people wero I'm sxpecta-
tion and all men unused In their hearts Of
John, whether he were the Christ or not"
John was In the deserts till the day 0f his
showing unto Israel (chapter 4, s0). Then
In Gods appointed time the word Of God
came unto John In the wilderness, ard he
went forth to preach the baptism Of re-
pentance for the remission Of sins (chapter
iii, 2, 81. The effect upon many Of the
people was simply that Of suspense and
debating as to whether John was the
Christ or not. See margin. Some Of
them asked him II he was the Christ or
Elijah or that prophet. They need not
have debated the question, nor have re-
manned In suspense had they been subject
to the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, nor
would they have reasoned much as to who
John was had they been truly expecting
Him whom John preached.
10. "John answered, saying unto them
ALL indeed baptize you with water, but
one mightier than cometh the latchet Of
whose shoes am not worthy to unloose.
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire." John said that he was
neither Elijah nor Christ nor the prophet,
but only voice-to be heard and not seen
crying, MAKE straight the way of the
Lord" And so he cried, "Behold the
Lamb of God'' John 1, 21, 90, 30, 36.)
When afterward they told John that all
were following Jesus, he said: "This my
Joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must in
crease, but 1 must decrease" John Iii, go,
30). This beautiful spirit of John which
seeks nothing for self, but aims only to
magnify the Lord, is very much to be de-
sired and is within our reach, for it is the
Spirit of Christ Himself, who never sought
His own will nor His own glory John v,
30; vi, 3S; viii, 50) He is ready to fill us
with His Spirit duke XII, 13), and He will
when we are ready by His grace to live
His life (II Cor. iv, 10, III.
II. Whose fan is in His hand, and He
will thoroughly purge His floor and will
gather the wheat into His garner, but the
chaff He will burn with fire unquench-
able" The baptism of Israel with the
Holy Spirit and with fire will be at the
harvest time, the end of this age (Math.
xiii, 40-43; Isa. Xiv, 3; Nal. iii, y, but
individual believers may and should be
filled with the Spirit now, and they may
also know somewhat of the experience of
fire. for there is much dross in us to be
consumed. The unquenchable fire Is, how
ever, the same as the Lord Himself re-
ferred to in Mark TX, 43-4S; Math. xiii, AZ.
See also Rev. xiv, Gil.
49, And many other things In his ex-
hortation preached he unto the people. I"
In John Ill, 1886, we find that, among the
other things, John preached that Jesus is
the Son of God (see also chapter /, 34)
that He was sent of God; that He spake
the words Of God; that whosoever receives
the Son hath life, but he that receives not
the Son hath no life, but abides under the
wrath Of God; that man can receive
nothing except it be given him from heav-
en-, and that 1t is great honor to be u
friend of the Bridegroom, even of Jesus
| Christ. Elsewhere He taught that repent
ance Is nothing unless it is proved to be
real by works corresponding thereto. We
may listen 10 preaching as sound and
Christ honoring as that Of John, but we
read that even the word of God will not
profit those who hear it unless they believe
it Heb. iv, %.
10. But Herod, the tetrarch, being re-
| proved by him for Herodias, his brother
| Philips wife, and for all the evils which
Herod had DONE" The particulars of this
will be found in Mark vi, 1920, where it
is also written that Herod believed John
gladly and did many things. Some would
say, therefore, that John might have done
more for Herod If he had kept his favor
and been gentle with him and not rebuked
his sin, but the true servant of God has no
thought of pleasing men so as to keep
their favor, even though they be as great
as Herod (Gal. l, 10). Our one and constant
aim must be to please Him who has given
us SO great trust as His gospel QI Thess
ii, A..
20. added yet this above all-that he
shut up John in prison. This was no
new experience for prophet Of the Lord,
as king of Judah put Hanani in prison
because OF the Lords message through
him. Micaiah was smitten, put In prison
and fed on bread and water because he was
faithful to God. jeremiah also was smitten
and imprisoned in the dungeon CI Chron.
xvi, 10; xviii, 23, 26; Jer. xxxvii, 15) The
Lord Jesus told His apostles very plainly
that they must not fear tribulation, i'm
prisOnment or even death John xvi, /, 2,
33; Rev. ii, 10; Math. K, 2s). In JAS v,
10, we read that the prophets are to us an
example of suffering, affliction and of pa
thence, and in III Pet. ii, 2l-23, our Lord
| Himself Is spoken of as our example in
these things.
81. Now, when all the people were bap-
tized, 1t came to pass that, Jesus also be-
ing baptized and praying, the heaven was
opened" Luke Is the only one who speaks
of Jesus praying at His baptism. He rnent
much time in prayer. How can we do His
works without its Matthew tells us that
John at first objected to baptizing Him on
account Of his (John's) greater need, but
that Jesus replied, saying. "Suffer 1t to be
so now to fulfill all righteousness (Math
iii, IA, 15). Jesus was and is righteousness
itself and becomes our righteousness when
we accept Him from. K, 4; III Cor. v, 21)
See heaven opened in John 1, Acts vii, K !;
Rev. iv, xix, and Eek. 1.
20. "And the Holy Ghost descended in
a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and
a voice came from heaven which said
Thou art My beloved Son. In Thee am
well pleased He was and is the true
ark, where only the dovelike Spirit finds
perfect rest. At Pentecost we read OF
tongues of fire in connection with the
| Spirit coming upon the disciples, but
Christ needed no fire. He was always and
in all things well pleasing to God. IL we
are willing to live His life, He will by His