Evening star., 1923-06-30
Sunday School Lesson

fraternal communistic order that had
their monastaries in that section, but
there is no satisfactory proof of 1t.
der the guidance of the spirit of the
living God. Finally, when his prin-
ciples had become fixed and his char
call Of God and entered upon his min
istry. 40.
seriousness that God had given him
definite mission. lifted his voice
in the suburbs along the Jordan, he
nation. The personal appearance of
the messenger Of God, with his rai-
ment of camels hair fastened by
leather girdle, was strikingly sug-
fore had pointed out the nations in
fidelity and restored the worship of
God. Johns demand of repentance
and his warning for them to prepare
for the kingdom Of God gripped the
multitudes who flocked from the
cities to hear the lay preacher attack
with his pungent and pointed SER
mons the sins Of the nation.
His demand for repentance called
for more than sorrow for sin, which
may produce repentance. Cody sor-
row. which is the result of the con-
temptation of the goodness Of God.
always produces conversion, or
change of mind. which is the New
Testament meaning of repentance.
John required the evidence of their
change In their lives He sought to
eradicate the selfish, profiteering
spirit by insisting that there should
be a division of personal property,
both of food and clothing. to be dis
tributed among them that lacked.
His message to the soldiers was in
dividualistic and not national. He
condemned the militaristic spirit of
his day that looked upon the army
as a means of making profit by
violence and forcing anything wrong
fully. He charged the soldiers to
agreed to 1t. when you went into
the service: let it serve you"
Phillips Brooks has defined preach
ing to be the presentation of truth
through personality. 1t was the man
behind the message that made the
Baptist a. preacher of power. His
simplicity. courage and spiritual In
sight made him an interpreter of
the passion OF his age. He was en-
dued with power from on High
movement that reached the con-
science of men and aroused them to
their personal danger, so that they
repented and made a public confess
sion of their sins before being bap-
tized.
Possibly the most distinguishing
grace possessed by John was his
humility. He referred to himself as
a voice. showing that he expected to
pass out of sight and out of mind
like voice that dies upon the air
and Is forgotten. He revealed his
humility when. in the zenith of his
power. he waved aside the applause
of men when they desired to accept
him as the Messiah. He had vision
that enabled him to see beyond his
~ wi t.,h H. H.
superficial because of its negative
character, when he pointed to the
coming of the One who would prove
His Messiahic claims by baptizing
with the Holy Spirit He claimed
that he was not worthy of being
slave to the Messiah.
He was attracted to Jesus by his
moral character. He recognized by
his spiritual vision the Masters sin
lessness. The Baptist's clearsighted-
ness enabled him to see more than the
purity of Christ's humanity. for he
recognized the Lords divinity when
he saw the Spirit of God descend
upon Him in the form of dove at
his baptism. He. testified that Jesus
was the Son of God. which has been
Testament the title referred to a IA
vorite of God, but in the Thought OF
John 1t probably referred not only to
the Master being the Messiah, but His
divinity. His inner spiritual con-
science enabled the Baptist to detect
a change in the appearance of the
Christ after His forty days tempta-
ton in the wilderness. He saw the
fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in
Christ's sacrificial death, when he
pointed Him out as "the Lamb of
God" The real test of his greatness
came when one of His disciples OBJ
jected to Jesus growing popularity
as a preacher and His disciples also
Of baptizing. A small man would
have been peeved. but John again
showed his humility by pointing out
that he had served the Lord as groom
to help win the nations love for
Jesus. whom he pointed out as the
bridegroom
The tragedy of the life of the Bap-
tist is seen in the fact that while he
was in prison his faith wavered
Jesus had not done what he expect
ed. SO he sent a delegation to the
Master with question that was al
most one of faith. Christ sent a re-
ply that He judged would comfort
John and fill him with courage born
of confidence in Jesus as the Mes
stah who fulfilled the prophecy of
the prophets concerning His word
and work. Evidently there broke
upon John the truth that the Man of
Mercy was the Messiah, so that when
death suddenly confronted him, as a
young man of thirty. whose life ended
In the midst Of his greatness, he died
with an unshaken faith in the Lord
Jesus, who had called the multitudes S
attention to the fact that the uncom-
promising prophet of righteousness,
who refused the opportunity to cash
in" on his greatness, was the greatest
of all the prophets.