The Red Cloud chief., 1912-02-15
INTERNATIONAL,
SUNDNSC[1O0L
LESSON
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 19.
MINISTRY OF JOHN TIE BAPTIST.
By Rev. William Evans, n. ~, Director Blble Course
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.

GOLDEN TEXT Repent yc: for tho
Kingdom OF heaven Is at hand.-Matt 81.
The story Of John the Baptlst's min
istry. opening as It does with
prophetic reference, connects the Old
and the New Testaments. showing tho
New to be the fulfillment Of the Old.
Thus We say: The Old is in the New
contained, the New is In the Old ex-
planned; the Old is in the New con.
cealed, the New Is in the Old revealed.
Christ is the theme and unifier of both
Testaments. II he had not been com.
Ing. the Old would not have been writ.
ten; II he had not come, the New
woul6 not have been written.
What a strange impression this fiery
preacher Of the wilderness. John, must
have made upon his hearers! His
dress. as his message. bore the marks
OF the wild. Strange. is It not, that
such a one should be chosen to pre-.
pare the way for the Messiah? We
might have chosen a different instru.
ment-a we'll dressed. polished, elo.
quent, silver.tongued orator.
The Baptist's message had its basis
In the word Of God--"The word of God
came unto John in the wilderness"
That is where every pulpit message
ought to come from. The business of
the preacher and teacher Of Christ is
not to invent gospel, but to proclaim
one already provided. The Bible Is the
6nal critic Of the message.
Johns ministry was preparatory: It
looked forward to the coming Of some.
thing better. Just as John himself
gave way to Christ, 80 his message Of
repentance made room for faith in
Christ. John baptized with water un.
to repentance. The Baptists's ministry
went no farther than that. Jesus
Christ turned the water Of Johns bap-
tism into steam by the fire of the
Holy Ghost. John prepared; Jesus re-
generated.
The necessity for repentance cannot
be overlooked in this lesson. In a
sense. It is the first step into the King.
dom. Both John and Jesus began their
ministry with call to repentance.
Repentance is clearly defined in this
lesson as a turning from q life Of sin
to life Of righteousness. There are
three elements in repentance: First.
the intellect is involved--it is a
change Of mind or viewpoint; second.
the emotions are involved-it means
to have a care regarding the thing in
question. so We find the words "sigh,"
"grief" substituted for repentance: :
third. the will plays a prominent part
In repentance. for there is included In
the word the idea Of an after-thought.
resulting in a change In ones course
Of action. Repentance Is not only a
heart broken for sin, but also from sin.
That this is Johns meaning OF re-
pentance is clear from his exhortation
to those who asked him the meaning
Of his call to repentance-exact no
more than that which is appointed
you; do violence to no man. neither
accuse any falsely; bring forth. there
fore, fruits worthy Of repentance. A
little boy was once asked the meaning
Of repentance. He replied: 1T means
being sorry enough for thing so as
not to do 1t again"
John preached the wrath to come.
Evidently he believed In future pun.
lshment. He did not believe that the
desire to escape future punishment
was sufficient or the best reason why
men should receive Jesus Christ And
1t may be that no man really becomes
Christian who seeks to be one only
that he may escape the results Of his
sin. We are saved that we may glori-
fy God in tho life that now Is as we'll
as to be delivered from the wrath TO
come. He who does not serve Christ
here will not dwell with him in
heaven.
The fact of wrath and future punish
ment is not an invention Of modern
theology. Christ believed in it and
taught 1t when he referred TO the
"worm that dieth not. and the fire
that is not quenched," and pictured
the ungodly being cast into "everlast.
Ing fire" We should have to blot out
large part of the Bible II we were
to blot out all the Scriptures which
teach future retribution for sin.
When We consider the fearful atvoci.
ties perpetrated upon the sons of men,
the frightful iniquities practiced upon
helpless women and children, and then
see the ease and luxury and splendor
In which the perpetrators OF these
crimes I've, we would be very sorry
to be assured that there is no future
retribution for the perpetrators OF
such deeds. Give the justice of heaven
the same degree of common sense
consideration that you give to the jus.
tice OF earth. and somewhere in tho
other world you must place q peri.
tentiGry.
Johns preaching drew the crowds,
and so will the preaching and teach.
Ing of the Gospel today, when pro.
claimed by men as consecrated to their
mission as John the Baptizer was to
his. The crowd have not tired of the
Gospel. but only of the average preach.
er of the Gospel. The messenger, and
not the message, is at fault. The
hearts OF men with all their needs, as
we'll as the GOspel Of Christ with all