Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-01-15
JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS

JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS
LESSON TEXTLLuke S:1-e. 1917. 81.
o.
GOLDEN TEXT-Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee am well pleased.-Luke
1922
IA reed shaken with the wind?"
No. "A man clothed in soft raj
ment?" No. "A prophet? Yea, l
say unto you. and more than
prophet For this is he, of whom it
is written. Behold, send my mes
senger before thy face. =. Verify
say unto you, Among them that are
born of women there hath not risen
greater than John the Baptist"
Such was the testimony Of Jesus
Matt. 11:7-1D about the man who
in our lesson of today bears his tes-
timony concerning Jesus.
I. John: the Preacher Of Repent
ance wv. 1-S).
The times in which a man lives
will often make or break him. If
times are dark and difficult most
men submit to the burden of the day
without protest or effort. But not so
with John. The period in which he
lived is graphically brought before
us as we consider the names Of civil
and religious leaders mentioned in
verses / and 2. Tiberius Caesar,
the emperor, was virtual dictator,
talented. ambitious. cruel, licen-
tious, infamous, inhuman" wan
Doren. PLATE was the governor of
Judea, who later condemned Jesus
to the cross. Herod was a seducer
and murderer. Annas and Caiaphas
shared the infamy into which the
priesthood had fallen.
God needed a man with a fam
ing message of judgment, and He
had him ready out in the wilder
ness. far from decadent Rome and
spiritually dead Jerusalem. Upon
this man John came the message,
word from God" Repent" which
stirred the whole countryside. But
he had even a greater mission.
II. John-the Forerunner Of Jesus
wv. 4-6).
He humbly Identifies himself as
the voice in the wilderness prophe-
sled by Isaiah His was the ilmpor-
tant duty Of preparing the way for
the coming of the Lord Jesus.
The picture is that of the prep
aration for the coming Of an orien-
tai monarch. When he was about
to make journey, servant was
sent before him to prepare the high
way. Valleys needed to be filled.
hills lowered, crooked places made
straight, rough ways made SMOOTH
Thus, before men would be ready
to receive Christ, moral obstacles
must be removed, men must repent
OF their sins and turn from them
(Erdman).
Isaiah says that "an flesh shall rs
see the salvation of Cod" some
thing which God has made posi-
BILE, but which we have not even yet
fully carried out. The gospel is uni b
versal in its character-for all man.
kind. This prophetic word will, of
course, have its complete fulfllment
when the King comes to reign. Then
they shall teach no more every
man his neighbor. and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord:
for they shall all know me, from
the least of them to the greatest
of them" (Jer. 31:34).
III. John-the Follower of Jesus
wv. 15-1O.
The humility Of the man, his rec
ignition of true greatness in Christ,
his willingness to efface self, is seen
in the words of these verses and in
such other passages as John 1929
30, where he directed his disciples
to Jesus, whom they followed, and
John 3:26-30. where in response to
the effort to make him jealous of
Jesus because his (John's) disci-
pies followed Him, John replied,
HE must increase, but must de-
crease" He was glad to be the
friend of the Bridegroom who re-
joiced when the bridegroom came
(John 1920. He declared himself Z
unworthy to loose the latchet of
Christ's shoe duke 3:16).
The Christian virtue of humility
is evil spoken Of by a world of force
and hatred, but it is still precious
In the sight Of God, and the orna-
ment par excellence of Christian
character. BE clothed with humil-
ity: for God resisteth the proud and
giveth grace to the humble" Il Pet.
$50.
AS he put himself In the back
ground, John put Christ forward as
the one whose baptism would not be
a material element, water, indicat-
ing the inward change of repent
ance, but would be with Holy Ghost
fire, cleansing and transforming life.
However. the Christ who comes as
Saviour to the repentant one,
comes also as the flaming fire of
judgment upon the impenitent.
There is wheat and chaff in the
world Of men, and the fan of Christ
will soon separate the wheat which
goes into His eternal garner from
the chaff which He will burn with
uncomfortable fire.