The Holt County sentinel., 1912-02-16
LESSON FOR FEBRUARY IS.
MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

The story Of John the Baptis.'s min.
istry, opening as 1t does with a
prophetic reference. connects the Old
and the New Testanents. showing the
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-
ccalcd. the New Is In the Old revealed.
Christ Is the theme and unifer OF both
Testaments. " he had not been com.
ing. the Old would not have been writ
ton: II he had not come. the New
WOULD not have been written.
! What n strange impression this fiery
preacher ~ the wilderness. John. must
have made upon his hearers His
dress. a. his message, bore the marks
Of the Wild. Strange. Is II not. that
such orc should be chosen 10 pre-
pare the way for the Messiah? We
might have chosen n different ins,rIi.
ment-a we'll dressed. polished. clio.
qucnt, silvcrtoniued orator.
The rariist'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 IL
not to invent gospel hut 10 proclaim
one already provided. The Bible IL tho
final critic Of the message.
Johns ministry was preparatory: Il
looked forward 10 the coming OF somc.
thing better. Just as John himself
! vnVa unp IN rbriyt o, bio v,aoyaaa nf
repentance made room for faith In
Christ. John ba tiled 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 Are Of the
Holy Ghost. John prepared; Jesus re-
generated.
The necessity for repentance cannot
be overlooked In this lesson. In q
sense. u In the f,rst step into the King.
dom. Roth John and Jesus began their
ministry with call 10 repentance.
Repentance Ia clearly defined In this
lesson rs . turning from . life Of sin
TO a life Of righteousness. There are
three elements In repentance: First.
the intellect 10 involved-it 10 .
change Of mind or viewpoint: second.
the emotions are involved-it means
10 have . care regarding the thing IN
question. 30 We find the words Sigh"
grief" substituted for repentance:
third, the will plays . prominent part
In repentance. for there 10 included In
the word the idea Of an after.thought.
resulting IN . change In ones course
OF action. Repentance IL not only
heart broken for sin. but also from sin.
That this Ia Johns meaning OF re-.
pentance Ia clear from bis exhortation
to those who asked him the meaning
Of his call to repentance-exact no
more than that which 10 appointed
you; do violence 10 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 90 40
not TO do II again"
John preached the wrath to come.
Evidently he believed In future pun.
ishment. He did not believe that tho
desire to escape future punishment
was sufhcient or the best reason why
men should receive Jesus Christ. And
II may be that no man really becomes
a Christian who seeks to be one only
that he may escape tho results Of his
Sin. We are saved that We may glori-
~ God In the 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 IL not an invention OF modern
theology. Christ believed In It and
taught II 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
q large part Of the Bible n We were
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 upon
helpless women and children, and then
see the ease and luxury and splendor
In which the perpetrators Of these
crimes live, We would be very sorry
TO be assured that there 10 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 the
other world you must place Q peni-
Tertiary.
Johns preaching drew the crowds.
and so will the preaching and teach.
Ing Of the Gospel today. whom pro-
claimed by men - consecrated to their
mission 40 John the Baptiser was to
his. The crowd have not tired Of the
Gospel. but only Of the average preach.
or OF the Gospel. The messenger. and
not the message. 10 at fault. Tho
hearts OF men with all their needs, a.
we'll 40 the Gospel Of Christ with all