Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1912-02-15
INTERNATIONAL.
SUNDMSQ1OOL
LESSON
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 10.
MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
~ Rev. william Evans, d. p, Director Bible Cous,
Moody Bible institute, Chicago.

-
MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.
LESSON TEXT-Mark 1:1-s; Luke 3:1-2o.
MEMORY VERSES-Luke 3:s. 9 or 16.
II.
Kingdom Of heaven Is at hand.-Matt. 80.
The story Of John the Baptist's min.
istry. opening as It does with a
prophetic reference. connects the Old
and the New Testaments. showing the
New to be the fulfllment 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
would 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 1t 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 a gospel, but to proclaim
one already provided. The Bible is the
final 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 ba -tized 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 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 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 nc
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: ut means
being sorry enough for a thing so as
not to do 1t again"
John preached the wrath to come
Evidently he believed in future pun
ishment. He did not believe that the
dnotrn ~ ncnonn fnpnra n,tntvhpoa ~
was sufficient or the best reason why
men should receive Jesus Christ. Ant
It may be that no man really becomes
a Christian who seeks to be one onl,
that he may escape the results OF hl'
sin. We are saved that We may glori
fly God In the life that now Is as wei
as to be delivered from the wrath IL
come. He who does not serve Chris
here will not dwell with him II
heaven.
The fact Of wrath and future punish
ment Is not an invention OF moderI
theology. Christ believed in 1t ant
taught 1t when he referred TO thu
worm that dieth not, and the Ar,
that is not quenched," and pictured
the ungodly being cast into "everlast
ing Are" We should have TO blot on
a large part Of the Bible II We wer,
to blot out all the Scriptures which
teach future retribution for sin
When We consider the fearful atroci
ties perpetrated upon the sons Of men
the frightful iniquities practiced upor
helpless women and children, and thel
see the ease and luxury and splendoI
in which the perpetrators Of thes,