The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-02-16
INTERNATIONAL
LESSON
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 10
MINISTRY OF JOHN THE sAPTIs1-
~ Rev william Fvans, u d., Director Bible ,s',r,s
bVudJ Bible Institute, Chicago

GOLDEN T~ENT-Nppent ye: for the
Kingdom Of heaven IL at band. Matt ~
The story Of John the BAptist's min
istry, opening az II does with ~
prophetic reference, connects tho Ola
and the New TestRments, showing he's
New 10 be the fulhlIment Of the Old
Thus we say; The Old 10 IN the New
contained, the New II In the Old eN'
planned; the Ola Ia IN the New con
cealed. the New 10 In the Old revealed.
Christ ia the theme and uniler Of both
TeStamentS. II he had not been com
ing, the Ola would not have been wrlt-
ten; II he had not come, the New
would not have been written.
What n strange impression this n0rJI
preacher Of the wilderness, John, must
have made upon his bearers! lih
dress. as his message, bore the marks
of the Wild. Strange, Ia II not, has
such a one should be chosen TO pre-.
pare the way for the Messiahf W"
might have chosen a different iBstrn-
ment-a we'll dressed. polished, elO'
Quent, Eil~ver.tongued orator. We
might have despised such a man ma
John. But God uses the weak things
OF the world TO cQnfound the mighty
the foolish, TO silence the wise n
worm, to thrash n mountain. that mo-
flesh should glory in his sight. HOW
rugged, fearless, searching, was the
message Of this solitary man! Just
such u prophet 10 needed to be In the
midst Of so much hid glove preaching
today,
The Baptist's message Ind It's basiH
In the word of God~-"The word OF God
came unto John IN the wilderness
That ia where every pulpit messag"
ought to come from. The business ~
the preacher and teacher OF Christ n
not TO invent a gospel, but TO proclaim
II already provided. The bible IL the
final critic OF the message.
Johns ministry was preparatory It
looked forward 20 the coming Of m
thing better. just rs John himsolf
a v way to Christ, 30 hia message oY
repentance made room for faith I'M
Christ. John baptized with water un'.
TO repentance. Tho Baptists's ministry
went no farther than that. JGsas
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, II Ia the first step into the King
dom. Both John and Jesus began their
ministry with a call TO repentance.
Repentance is clearly defined In this
lesson as a turning from a life Of Sin
to a life Of righteousness. There are
three elements in repentance; First,
the intellect Is ~involved--it 10 a
change Of mind or viewpoint; second,
the emotions are i~uvolved--it means
TO have a are regarding the thing IN
question, 30 W. 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 sfter-thought.
resulting in a change In ones course
Of action. Repentance Is not only a
heart broken for sin, but also from cir
We must forsake what we would have
God remit. No amount Of knowledge
that a thing Ia wrong, and no amount
OF weeping over that wrong. consti'
tutes repentance, unless In addition to
this there Ia a definite turning away
from the thing that causes the sorrow
That this 10 Johns meaning Of re-
pentance Is clear from bis exhortatiou
to those who asked him the meaning
of his call TO repantance-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 4
little boy was once asked the meaning
Of repentance. He replied: 1T means
being sorry enough for a thing no az
not to do Il again"
Fine pedigree, a magnificent ances
try. good social and religious STANDING
did not, in the mind Of the Baptist, ey
empt his hearers from the necessity Of
repentance. That which is born %
the flesh--no matter how fine, cultured
and educated II may be--is stin nesh.
A man must be born again, he must
receive a new nature before he can
enter into the Kingdom. II a man te
born but once he dies twice--physlc-
ally and spiritually; II born twice
once OF the flesh, ana once Of the spirit
he dies but once, physically, the sec,
ond death has no power owe him.
John preached the wrath to come
Evidently he believed IN future pun
ishmeDt. He did not believe that tho
desire to escape future punishment
was SUFFICIENT or the best reason why
men should receive Jesus Christ. And
II may be that 10 man really becomes
a Christian who seeks TO be one only
that he may escape the results Of hia
sin. We are saved that WI may gl0ri-
fy God in the life that now IL as well
as 10 be delivered frem the wrath 10
come. He who does not serve Christ
here will not dwell with him IN
heaven.
The fact Of wrath and future punish
ment IL not an invention Of modem
theology. Christ believed in It and
taught Il when be referred 10 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 ont
a 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 atrocL
ties perpetrated upon the sons Of men
the frightful lniquities practiced upon
helpless women and children, and then
gee the eaaA and luxury and HplendOT