Middletown transcript., 1922-10-14
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
St11nldaySchool 2
' Lesson '
tBy REV. p. B. FITZwATER, D. D..
Teacher OF English Bible In the Moody
Bible Institute of Chicago)
Copyright. 1929, wes.ern Newspaper Union
LESSON FOR OCTOBER IS
THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE
BAPTIST

bAP IiST
LESSON TEXT-Luke 3:1-22
GOLDEN TEXT-Repent ye, for the
Kingdom of heaven is at hand.-Matt. 3:2.
REFERENCE MATERIAL-Matt. u:2-
IL: Phil. 2:6-11.
PRIMARY TOPIC-What John Said
About Jesus.
JUNIOR TOPIC-John Preaching and
Baptizing.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
"A Fearless Reformer.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Repentance: What 1t Is and What 1t
Does.
|. The oeseneracy Of the Times
wv. l, y.
The Jews had sunk to a very low
level of civil, moral and religious life.
Luke carefully enumerates the civil
and religious rulers in order to show
the protiigacy of tie times, and there
fore the eed Of a messenger to call
the people back to God and virtue.
Herod, the son of the Great, was a
murderer. Annas and Caiaphas were
corrupt ecclesiastical rulers.
~. ittC VI JOIiil .
wv. 3-6).
In the wilderness he underwent a
discipline which fitted him for his
task Out of the wilderness he flashed
forth preaching the baptism of re-
pentence for the remission of sins ".
81. This ministry is declared to be "A
fultilment of Isaial.s prophecy. The
message was described as one calling
upon the nation to prepare for the
coming of the Messiah. This prepara-
tion was presented under the figure of
a monarch of the East about to make
journey. A servant was sent before
to prepare the highway. Valleys
needed to be filled, mountains and
hills needed to be lowered, crooked
places needed to be made straight and
rough places needed to be made
smooth. Today before the nations will
receive Christ the valleys need to
be filled with righteous deeds, the ex-
ceeding high mountains of sin and
lniquity need to be brought low, the
crooked dealings of the business world
must be Strengthened out, and the
rough ways Of nations and individuals
must be smoothed out. Men must re-
pent of their sins before they can
receive Christ. Despite the great
wickedneSs of the nation. John de-
clared that all flesh shall see the sal
walton Of God. This is the note Of
hope needed today. The only hope
for the world is Gods salvation
through Jesus Christ. Let men accept
Christ and all war and contention will
end Men will then love each other
instead of hate each other.
Ill. The Content of Johns Message
wv. T-lS).
l. Pronunciation of Sin wv. 7, 81.
He called them IA generation of Vi
pers." This shows that he charged
them with deccitfulneSs and wicked
ness. knowing the subtle hypocrisy
OF these Jews, he demanded evidence
Of their sncerity-the genuineness of
their repentance was 10 be demon
St:ated by their works.
=. Announcement of Judgment (E.
o>. He declared that the axe was laid
al the root of the tree and that the
tr,e not bringing forth fruit was to be
hewn down and cast into the fire.
John made 1t very plain that for their
sins they should be called into iudg
ment Paul's preaching of "A judg-
ment to come made Felix tremble
(Acts 24 ;25).
8. Instructions to the Inquirers
wv. lO-14. (D The people wv. 10,
lD. Each man WAS to turn from his
hesetting sin and show love and kind
ness to his fellow men. Clothing and
food were to be given those who had
need. They were to turn from life
of seltishness and greed and do unto
others as they would be done by. (2)
PublicanS wv. t., 13). These tax
gatherers who were guilty of greed
and oppression were not asked to give
up their occupation. but to exact only
that which WAS appointed by law. CD
The soldiers ". l4. These We're likely
the policemen of that day-at least
men ON military duty. He told them
70 eXtort money from no man, to ac.
cuse none falsely, and to be content
with their wages. To all these classes
he made 1t clear that they should
hcnceforth perform their duty from
IA motive of love instead of selfish
ness and greed.
i. Testimony to Jesus wv. 15-1S).
The people were muSing in their
hearts as to whether John was indeed
the Messiah. When John perceived
this he with fine humility declared
that his mission was SO lowly in com
parison with ChriSt's that he would
be unworthy to perform the mental act
of Il slave in looSing the latchet of
His shoes. John baptized with water.
but Christ, he declared, would bapti2e
with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
". Johns Imprisonment wv. 10,
2O).
Because of his reproot of IIerod for
his wicked leWdneSs ana other sins
John went to the dungeon. The preach
er of righteousness must become n
martyr. Gods faithful prophets are
usually despised by the world. even
cast into prison, burned or beheaded.