Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1910-04-14
The Question of John
the Baptist
sssaay Seheel Lesson for April IL, 1910
Specially Arranged for This poper
Specially Arranged for This Piper

'A 80
DRY verses, 4, 5.
GOLDEN TExT.-"But the witness
which I have is greater thar that of
John; for the works which the Father
hath given mo to accomplish, the very
works tina I do. bear witness of me,
that the Father hath sent ~me."-John
6:36.
TIME.-rerhnps in the summer of A.
d. 2S, before our last lesson.
PLACE.-Jesus was In Gal
lice. According to Luke. he had Just
raised the son of the widow at Main.
John the Baptist was in prison at Castle
Eachaerus. on the east OF the Dead sea.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
Christ's Answer TO Honest Doubt
Who was this doubtcr, this John the
Baptist? He was the last man in the
world n might have expected to en-
terrain doubts regarding Jesus. He
was his cousin according to the flesh,
born only n short time before our
Lord. lie was brought up as n Naz.
arite like Samson and Samuel, and
his pure and simple life gave him fne
insight into spiritual matters.
II. The Doubt.-Vs. 1-3. Under
what circumstances did John begin to
doubt the M~essiahship of Jesus? lie
had been cast into prison as q pun
ishment for his bold condemnation Of
the sin of Hcrod Antipas. IIcrod had
sent away his own wife and had per.
suaded his brothers wife to become
his.
What was the sensible curse that
John took to rid himself of doubt? He
sent directly TO Jesus by 1.-TWO of his
disciples" who had remained faithful
to him in all his trials. The message
was, art thou he that should comc,'
a common and MISUNDERSTOOD de.
scription Of the Messiah,-"or do we
look for %another?"
Illustration. "A weaver who had
an elaborate piece OF tapestry hung it,
stretched upon the tenter- hooks, in his
yard. That night II was stolen. A
piece of tapestry was found by the
officers which seemed to answer the
description, but as the pattern was not
unlike that OF other fabrics, there
must be definite proof. II was brought
to the weaver's yard and there the
p~erforations in the fabric were found
to correspond precisely to the tenter.
hooks. This was demonstration. In
like II we place the life and
character of Jesus over against all the
prophecies of Messiah in Scripture, in
the sacred books of the false relig-
ions, and In the universal longings OF
the race. we shall find that there ia
a perfect correspondence point by
pOint."-David James Farrell, ID. D..
III. D.
Christ's Answer to the Doubt.-Vs.
46. Luke tells us duke 7:2D that
when Johns message vas delivered
Christ proceeded at once to work
many miracles Of healing. including
the cure of demOniacs and of the
blind. Not until he had done this did
he give the messengers his reply.
Christ gave two credentials OF his
Messiahship: what was the first? His
miracles, the undoubtcd fact that "the
blind receive their sight, and the
lame walk, the lepers are clcansed,
and the deaf hear, the dead are raised
up"
WIN "tIdt bIShliINdit thlOI IitiOIi
did Jesus close his message to John?
blessed Is he whatsoever shall not be
offended In me-"
Christ's Estimate Of the Honest
Doubter.-Vs. tbs. Why did our Lord.
as soOn as Johns messengers depart,
ed, tell the crowd what he thought OF
John? Because they might think that
Johns question implied a weakness
in him at which Christ would be OF.
Tended. AS John had exalted Jesus,
so Jesus would exalt John.
Christ's Estimate Of Dishonest
Doubters.-Vs. 1919. John was ready
to receive Jesus, as sOOn as his mind
could be convinced; that Is, he was an
honest doubter. Christ now turns Sc,
verely upon a set Of men, the Phari.
sees and lawyers CLuke 7:3O), who
showed plainly that they were dis
honest doubters. being unwilling to
receive the truth no matter how much
evidence was given them.
To what does he compare them? TIC
children playing in the market.places
at marriages and funerals, ~trifinf
with the greatest things OF life. Some
are pretending to play the flute, like
the hired musicians that headed the
wedding professions followed by other
children will not join In the piping OF
the wailing at the right times &c
please them. These last. of course
are Jesus and John.