The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-01-06
The SABBATH SCHOOL
International Lesson Comments For
January 10.
Subject: The Preaching OF John the Baptist,
Matt ILL.,, I.l2-- Golden Text, Matt Ill.,, 2
Memory Verses, 46--Conmen'
tary ou the Days Lesson.

H. a can to rcpeatance Tvs. l.O. an
those days" The eno is defined in Luke
3: l. 1t was time OF moral dearsh. All
lsrael had become barren. wilderness.
cruel. Herod and PLAT. were little ict.
ter. The priesthood was flied with cor.
rupt men. and even Caiaphss. the hxh
priest. was coarse and brutal. Under
such leaders the people had sunk ints a
very low and degraded moral condition.
It had been four hundred years since they
had. heard prophetic warnings, when sud.
denly John appeared upon the scene.
John the Baptist" So named by Mark
and Luke and by Josephus, who mentions
his great influence and speaks of the
crowds, that fiocked to hear him preach.
Preaching" Heralding, word suggest.
iay the proclamation Of King. John wos
John preached in the wild, thinly M
habited region lying west OF the Jordan
and the Dead Sea US far north as Euon,
two-thirds OF the wRy to the Sea of Gai.
lee. and on both sides of the lower Jor.
dan"
.. "Repent ye." Repentance includes.
]. Conviction. 2. Contrition. 3. Con.
fession.. 4. Reformation. and leads to
conversion. John, Jesus, Peter and Paul
all preached repentance. Kingdom of
Heaven" As Jesus is the Messiah. that is.
the Anointed. the King. 90 His gospel is
II.
The kingdom Of Heaven and kingdom of
God in the New Testament mean one and
the same thing and generally have refer
eDce to the spiritual kurdom which Christ
acts nm in the hearts OF His followers. AT
hand" The Jews expected great national
deliverer. The meaning here is that the
coming of the Messiah to begin His domin-
ion on earth, under the Christian economy,
is Mt hand
8. "E.aias." The Greek form for Isaiah.
The reference here is to Isaiah 40: SIS: also
see Luke 8: 4.G. "The Voice" The prouh-
ecy draws attention TO the work rather
than to the worker. The voice of the
prophet wa. loud and distinct. "Prepare
ye.p The idea is taken from the practice
of Eastern monarchs. who. whenever they
took jouruev, sent harbinters before them
to prepare the way. The Jewish church
was the desert country. Paths straight"
This is f1purative language. The words
gospel. There must be thorough prep.
aration before God, our King will come
to IS. The self-iine must bs brought
low" The crooked dishonest life must
be "straightened." Let Us remove the OBJ
s.rustions of uubelief and earnal desires.
g. Had hi. raiment.'', etc; The sp-
great prophet Elijah in the popular mind
He was clothed in the coarse. rough cloth
called sackcloth in the Scriptures. 1t
was cheap, but admirable for keeping out
the heat. cold and rain. This mantle was
girded around him with n leather girdle OF
undrcssed hide. His food consisted OF
locusts. closely resembling our grasshop-
pers, and of wild honey. All this was
natural as well a. simple mode OF living
in those days in the wilderness. Meat"
Food. 'Locusts" The law of Moses gave
permission to eat locusts Qev. Il: 2D.
John here represents the symbols OF the
l.
sient customs. The hair or saclicloth,
the fasting and the solitude, We're the
ordinary outward sign. OF deepest humilia.
tior
H. Many confessions made Tvs. 5, 6).
5. Went out" Left their homes and
went to the desert, where John, was
preaching He was very successful and
the heart Of the whole nation was stirred.
Even Herod, the King, heard him gladly
and did many things" MARK 9: 20). "All
the region" The crowds must have been
enormous. John was very popular, but
opularity had no effect upon such as he.
,. "Confessing." Confession OF sin is one
Of the marks Of true repentance. See
III. A thorough reformation demanded
Tvs. 7-lO). 7. when he Gw.' Men
honor a lofty and fearless soul, seeking
no selfish object, but braying all opposi-
ton for the nob.est ends. John had moth.
ng but tho faithful discharge of his duty
'Pbarisees." Tho name signifies sep.
,ratists. They held tenscously to a lit
.ral obedience Of the written law and an
unwritten tradition. "Saddueees." They.
adhered to the written law of Moses, bat
refused to give much weight to tradition.
They did not believe in a future life, an
gels or spirits. "Said unto them" The
were the Pharisees, ssdoucees and Es.
;enes, and he hand ed them with terrible
severity. He came into the forest OF Dad
laws, absolute customs, social inequalities,
religious bisotries,. licentionsness and in,
crying, Reform! Repent ye brood Of
vlpers." The reformer was thorough.
1here, was no compromising with the
lion OF vipers." Brood OF yipers; This
denotes persons dscoitful and malicious.
8. "Tbink not TO say etc. The natural
impulse of the unregenerate heart 10 to
seek out excuses and subterfuses, when
the conscience is touched. John shatters
two common errors; The first, that bap'
tism would be sufficient to turn thu wrath
of God away, and second, that bseause
they are children OF Abraham, therefore
they arc safe. These stones" Undoubt.
eddy reference to the calling OF the Gen.
tiles. Out of these hard, unregenerate
hearts God 10 able TO make hearts OF flesh
and children of Abraham. 10. The ak
10 laid" "There is an allusion here to
. woodmAn, who, having marked tree
for sxciaon, lays his AK at it's roots, while
he lays of his outer garment, in order that
= At