The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-07

Among the pleasant fields of Holy Writ,
 I might despair. -Tennyson.
 First Quarter. Lesson II. John 1. 10-34. January s. 1905.
 THE WITNESS OF JOHN THE BAP- FIST.
 The current average notion of the forerunner, as, indeed, of the other prophets, is probably too mechanical: | to wit, that at an exact period and fixed place he appeared. and having spoken | certain prescribed words, moved off l the stage again. That reduces to an | automation one of the freest beings who ever drew breath. and to a piece of acting one of the most genuine and | fateful contests of history. John was
 intensely human. He had like passions
 with others. The glory of 1t is that | with these he yet acted divinely in a great national crisis. And that not | because irresistibly impelled by a power external to himself. His ascetic life was a rational protest to the vo- righteousness of his age. His solitari- 1 ness rebuked the self-interested combt- nations in Church and State. He sought | the desert that he might think to d | finish patriotic course of conduct, and
 might fortify his soul with those ma . tured convictions of truth which would l inure him even to martyrdom. When
 at length he felt that he was ready to speak and some at least ready to hear
 him. he went to the place where the most people would naturally congre- gate.
 He was granted an immediate and as | tonishingiy large auditory. It had been l five hundred years since a prophets voice had fallen upon Israers ear and
 the reading of the ancient prophets in the synagogue was perfunctory. It was uninterpreted by sympathetic ac
 cent, and so was spiritless and with
 out effect. The conjunction of man and message in John was recognized in stantly. In this sense he was a man come from God" The Jews. with their
 social instincts hated the desert, but
 they recognized it as the birthplace of their deliveTers. And John had come from the desert. That predisposed them
 in his favor. Again he was of priestly parentage, but of a parentaSe untainted
 with the vices incident to the hier- archy. Finally matters had come to such a pass through the naughty intol- erance of the Roman Governors and tho low cunning fawning of puppet priests
 that revolution was in the air. To some 1t seemed that darkest hour, which presages dawn. However, the
 Baptist avoided all political entangle
 ments. He affiliated with no party. He was found to be solely a preacher of righteousness. He sought the regen- eration of his nation. He made him. self a father confessor He called for words of repentance and deeds to match them. He made the Jews themselves submit to the sign which they enforced upon heather proselytes to Judaism. He
 baptized them.
 The ecclesiastical rulers at Jerusa- lem could no longer maintain their complacency. They could not ignore the incident. All Jerusalem and Ju- dea, and later Perea, Samaria and Gal flee were going out to Johns preach ing and baptism. Who could tell what the end would be? The Sanhedrim suddenly asserts itself. It sits in Moses seat to determine who are true and who are false teachers No one can teach without It's authority. John is already in their view an usurper. At least they will now test his doctrine and demand his credentials. This is the meaning and intent of the sending of the delegation.
 It Is a psychological moment. Hu- manly. speaking 1t is Johns opportu- nifty. He already has vast and ever increasing clientele. He has the sense Of power. The acute conditions of the national lie would seem 10 justify an assertion of himself If not tempted at this moment he was more than hu.