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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25904-8.txt b/25904-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..74f076e --- /dev/null +++ b/25904-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6462 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, John the Baptist, by F. B. Meyer + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: John the Baptist + + +Author: F. B. Meyer + + + +Release Date: June 26, 2008 [eBook #25904] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN THE BAPTIST*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Transcriber's note: + + In the original book, each right-hand page had its own header. + In this e-book, each chapter's headers have been collected into + an introductory paragraph immediately following that chapter's + introductory poem. (The left-hand pages' header was the + chapter's title.) + + + + + +JOHN THE BAPTIST + +by + +F. B. MEYER, B.A. + +Author of +Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ +The Prophet of Hope +Saved and Kept +etc., etc + + + + + + + +London: Morgan and Scott +Office of The Christian +12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C. +And may be Ordered of any Bookseller +1911 + + + + +By Rev. F. B. MEYER, B.A. + + + THE "BIOGRAPHICAL" SERIES. + + ABRAHAM: Or, The Obedience of Faith. + ISRAEL: A Prince with God. + JOSEPH: Beloved--Hated--Exalted. + MOSES: The Servant of God. + JOSHUA: And the Land of Promise. + DAVID: Shepherd, Psalmist, King. + ELIJAH: And the Secret of his Power. + JEREMIAH: Priest and Prophet. + JOHN THE BAPTIST. + PAUL: A Servant of Jesus Christ. + + + + +Preface. + +The life and character of John the Baptist have always had a great +fascination for me; and I am thankful to have been permitted to write +this book. But I am more thankful for the hours of absorbing interest +spent in the study of his portraiture as given in the Gospels. I know +of nothing that makes so pleasant a respite from the pressure of life's +fret and strain, as to bathe mind and spirit in the translucent waters +of Scripture biography. + +As the clasp between the Old Testament and the New--the close of the +one and the beginning of the other; as among the greatest of those born +of women; as the porter who opened the door to the True Shepherd; as +the fearless rebuker of royal and shameless sin--the Baptist must ever +compel the homage and admiration of mankind. + +In many respects, such a life cannot be repeated. But the spirit of +humility and courage; of devotion to God, and uncompromising loyalty to +truth, which was so conspicuous in him, may animate us. We, also, may +be filled with the spirit and power of Elijah, as he was; and may +point, with lip and life, to the Saviour of the world, crying, "Behold +the Lamb of God." + + + + +Contents + + + I. THE INTEREST OF HIS BIOGRAPHY + II. THE HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS + III. HIS SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS + IV. THE PROPHET OF THE HIGHEST + V. THE FIRST MINISTRY OF THE BAPTIST + VI. BAPTISM UNTO REPENTANCE + VII. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MESSIAH + VIII. NOT THAT LIGHT, BUT A WITNESS + IX. "HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE" + X. THE KING'S COURTS + XI. "ART THOU HE?" + XII. "NONE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, YET..." + XIII. A BURNING AND SHINING LIGHT + XIV. SET AT LIBERTY + XV. THE GRAVE OF JOHN, AND ANOTHER GRAVE + XVI. YET SPEAKING + XVII. THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS + + + + +JOHN THE BAPTIST. + + +I. + +The Interest of his Biography. + + "John, than which man a sadder or a greater + Not till this day has been of woman born; + John, like some iron peak by the Creator + Fired with the red glow of the rushing morn. + + "This, when the sun shall rise and overcome it, + Stands in his shining, desolate and bare; + Yet not the less the inexorable summit + Flamed him his signal to the happier air." + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +John and Jesus--Contemporary History--Anticipation of the Advent. + + +The morning star, shining amid the brightening glow of dawn, is the +fittest emblem that Nature can supply of the herald who proclaimed the +rising of the Sun of Righteousness--answering across the gulf of three +hundred years to his brother prophet, Malachi, who had foretold that +Sunrise and the healing in His wings. + +Every sign attests the unique and singular glory of the Baptist. Not +that his career was signalized by the blaze of prodigy and wonder, like +the multiplication of the widow's meal or the descent of the fire of +heaven to consume the altar and the wood; for it is expressly said that +"John did no miracle." Not that he owed anything to the adventitious +circumstances of wealth and rank; for he was not a place-loving +courtier, "clothed in soft raiment or found in kings' courts." Not +that he was a master of a superb eloquence like that of Isaiah or +Ezekiel; for he was content to be only "a cry"--short, thrilling, +piercing through the darkness, ringing over the desert plains. Yet, +his Master said of him that "among them that are born of women there +hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist"; and in six brief +months, as one has noticed, the young prophet of the wilderness had +become the centre to which all the land went forth. We see Pharisees +and Sadducees, soldiers and publicans, enthralled by his ministry; the +Sanhedrim forced to investigate his claims; the petty potentates of +Palestine caused to tremble on their thrones; while he has left a name +and an influence that will never cease out of the world. + +But there is a further feature which arrests us in the life and +ministry of the Baptist. He was ordained to be "the clasp" of two +covenants. In him Judaism reached its highest embodiment, and the Old +Testament found its noblest exponent. It is significant, therefore, +that through his lips the law and the prophets should announce their +transitional purpose, and that he who caught up the torch of Hebrew +prophecy with a grasp and spirit unrivalled by any before him, should +have it in his power and in his heart to say: "The object of all +prophecy, the purpose of the Mosaic law, the end of all sacrifices, the +desire of all nations, is at hand." And forthwith turning to the True +Shepherd, who stood at the door waiting to be admitted, to Him the +porter opened, bowing low as He passed, and crying: "This is He of whom +Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, who was +for to come." + +Few studies can bring out to clearer demonstration the superlative +glory of Christ than a thoughtful consideration of the story of the +forerunner. They were born at the same time; were surrounded from +their birth by similar circumstances; drank in from their earliest days +the same patriotic aspirations, the same sacred traditions, the same +glowing hopes. But the parallel soon stops. John the Baptist is +certainly a grand embodiment of the noblest characteristics of the +Jewish people. We see in him a conspicuous example of what could be +developed out of eight hundred years of Divine revelation and +discipline. But Jesus is the Son of Man: there is a width, a breadth, +a universality about Him which cannot be accounted for save on the +hypothesis which John himself declared, that "He who cometh from above +is above all." + +In each case, life was strenuous and short--an epoch being inaugurated, +in the one case in about six months, in the other some three years. In +each case, at first, there was abounding enthusiasm, bursting forth +around their persons as they announced the Kingdom of God, like the +flowers which carpet their own fair land after the rains; but side by +side the unconcealed hatred of the religious world of their time. In +each case, the brief sunny hours of service were soon succeeded by the +rolling up of the thunderous clouds, and these by the murderous tempest +of deadly hatred, even unto death: "Their dead bodies lay in the street +of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." In +each case, there was a little handful of detached disciples, who +bitterly mourned their master's death, and took up the desecrated +corpse to lay it in the tomb; whilst they that dwelt in the earth +rejoiced and made merry, and sent gifts to one another, because they +had been tormented by their words (Rev. xi. 10). + +But there the parallel ends. The life purpose of the one culminated in +his death; with the other, it only began. In the case of John, death +was a martyrdom, which shines brilliantly amid the murky darkness of +his time; in the case of Jesus, death was a sacrifice which put away +the sin of the world. For John there was no immediate resurrection, +save that which all good men have of their words and influence; but his +Master saw no corruption--it was not possible for Him to be holden by +it--and in his resurrection He commenced to wield his wide and mighty +supremacy over human hearts and wills. When the axe of Herod's +executioner had done its deadly work in the dungeons of Machaerus, the +bond which knit the disciples of John was severed also, and they were +absorbed in the followers of Christ; but when the Roman soldiers +thought their work was done, and the cry "It is finished!" had escaped +the parched lips of the dying Lord, his disciples held together in the +upper room, and continued there for more than forty days, until the +descent of the Holy Spirit formed them into the strongest organization +that this world has ever beheld. + +John's influence on the world has diminished as men have receded +further from his age; but Jesus is King of the ages. He creates, He +fashions, He leads them forth; He is with us always, to the end of the +age. We have not to go back through the centuries to find Him in the +cradle or in Mary's arms, in the fishing-boat or on the mountain, on +the cross or in the grave; He is _here_ beside us, with us, in us, "all +the days." John, then, was "a burning and shining torch," lifted for a +moment aloft in the murky air; but Jesus was THAT LIGHT. As the +star-light, which fails to illumine the page of your book or the +dial-plate of your watch, is to the sunlight, as the courier is to the +sovereign, as the streamlet is to the ocean--such was John as compared +with Him whose shoe-latchet he felt himself unworthy to stoop down and +unloose. Greatest born of women he might be; "sent from God" he was: +but One came after him who bore upon his front the designation of his +Divine origin and mission, behind whom the gates of the past closed as +when a king has passed through, and at whose girdle hang the keys of +the doors and gates of the Ages. + +To read the calm idyllic pages of the Gospels, apart from some +knowledge of contemporary history, is to miss one of their deepest +lessons--that such piety and beneficence were set in the midst of a +most tumultuous and perilous age. Those times were by no means +favourable to the cultivation of the deepest life. The flock of God +had long left the green pastures and still waters of outward peace, and +were passing through the valley of death-shadow, every step of the path +being infested by the enemies of their peace. The wolf, indeed, was +coming. The national life was already being rent by those throes of +agony which betokened the passing away of an age, and reached their +climax in the Fall of Jerusalem, of which Jesus said there had been +nothing, and would be nothing, like it in the history of the world. + +Herod was on the throne--crafty, cruel, sensual, imperious, and +magnificent. The gorgeous Temple which bore his name was the scene of +priestly service and sacramental rites. The great national feasts of +the Passover, of Tabernacles, and of Pentecost, were celebrated with +solemn pomp, and attracted vast crowds from all the world. In every +part of the land synagogues were maintained with punctilious care, and +crowds of scribes were perpetually engaged in a microscopic study of +the law, and in the instruction of the people. In revenue, and popular +attention, and apparent devoutness, that period had not been excelled +in the most palmy days of Solomon or Hezekiah. But beneath this +decorous surface the rankest, foulest, most desperate corruption throve. + +To the aged couple in the hill-country of Judaea, as to Mary and Joseph +at Nazareth, must have come tidings of the murder of Aristobulus, of +the cruel death of Mariamne and her sons, and of the aged Hyrcanus. +They must have groaned beneath the grinding oppression by which Herod +extorted from the poorer classes the immense revenues which he +squandered on his palaces and fortresses and on the creation of new +cities. That he was introducing everywhere Gentile customs and games; +that he had dared to place the Roman eagle on the main entrance of the +Temple; that he had pillaged David's tomb; that he had set aside the +great council of their nation, and blinded the saintly Jochanan; that +the religious leaders, men like Caiaphas and Annas, were quite willing +to wink at the crimes of the secular power, so long as their prestige +and emoluments were secured; that the national independence for which +Judas and his brothers had striven, during the Maccabean wars, was fast +being laid at the feet of Rome, which was only too willing to take +advantage of the chaos which followed immediately upon Herod's hideous +death--such tidings must have come, in successive shocks of anguish, to +those true hearts who were waiting for the redemption of Israel, with +all the more eagerness as it seemed so long delayed, so urgently +needed. Still, they made their yearly journeys to Jerusalem, and +participated in the great convocations, which, in outward splendour, +eclipsed memories of the past; but they realized that the glory had +departed, and that the mere husk of externalism could not long resist +the incoming tides of militarism, of the love of display, and the +corrupting taint of the worst aspects of Roman civilization. When the +feasts were over, these pious hearts turned back to their homes among +the hills, tearing themselves from the last glimpse of the beautiful +city, with the cry, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" + +The darkest hour precedes the dawn, and it was just at this point that +Old Testament predictions must have been so eagerly scanned by those +that watched and waited. That the Messiah was nigh, they could not +doubt. The term of years foretold by Daniel had nearly expired. The +sceptre had departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his +feet. Even the Gentile world was penetrated with the expectation of a +King. Sybils in their ancient writings, hermits in their secret cells, +Magi studying the dazzling glories of the eastern heavens, had come to +the conclusion that He was at hand who would bring again the Golden Age. + +And so those loyal and loving souls that often spake together, while +the Lord hearkened and heard, must have felt that as the advent of the +Lord whom they sought was nigh, that of his messenger must be nearer +still. They started at every footfall. They listened for every voice. +They scanned the expression of every face. "Behold, he shall come," +rang in their hearts like a peal of silver bells. At any moment might +a voice be heard crying, "Cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the +stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Say ye to the daughter of +Sion, Behold, thy salvation cometh." Those anticipations were realized +in the birth of John the Baptist. + + + + +II. + +The House of Zacharias. + +(LUKE I.) + + "There are in this loud stunning tide + Of human care and crime, + With whom the melodies abide + Of the everlasting chime; + Who carry music in their heart + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart + Plying their daily task with busier feet, + Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." + KEBLE. + + +Early History of the Baptist--God's Hidden Ones--The Hill Country of +Judea--A Childless Home--The Forerunner Announced. + + +To the evangelist Luke we are indebted for details of those antecedent +circumstances that ushered John the Baptist into the world. He tells +us that he had "traced the course of all things accurately from the +first." And in those final words, "from the first," he suggests that +he had deliberately sought to examine into those striking events from +which, as from a wide-spreading root, the great growth of Christianity +had originated. Who of us has not sometimes followed the roots of some +newly-discovered plant deep into the black mould, intent on pursuing +them to their furthest extremity, and extricating them from the +clinging earth without injuring one delicate radicle? So this good +physician, accustomed by his training to accurate research and +experiment, went back to scenes and events anterior to any which his +brother Evangelists recorded. He compensated for the authority of an +eye-witness by the thoroughness and care of his investigation. + +What were the sources from which the third Evangelist drew his +information? We cannot be sure, but may hazard a suggestion, which is +supported by the archaic simplicity, the indescribable grace, the +almost idyllic beauty of his two opening chapters. Critics have +repeatedly drawn attention to their unique character, and insisted that +they are due to some other hand than that which has given us the rest +of the story of "the Son of Man." And why should we not attribute them +to "the Mother" herself? It has been truly said that mothers are the +natural historians of their children's early days--never tired of +observing them, they never tire of recounting their prodigies; and, in +an especial manner, Mary had kept all things, pondering in her heart +those wonderful circumstances which had left so indelible an impression +on her life. She who, in her over-welling joy, uttered "the +Magnificat," was surely capable, even judging from a literary and human +standpoint, of the language in which the story is told; and the facts +themselves would only stand out the clearer in her closing years, as +many another memory faded from her mind. The granite remains when the +floods have swept away the light soil that filled the interstices of +the rocks. + +It were a theme worthy of a great artist to depict! Mary's face, +furrowed by deep lines of anguish, yet glowing with sacred fire and +holy memory. Luke, sitting at his manuscript, now letting her tell her +story without interruption, and again interpolating an inquiry, the +words growing on the page; while, nearer than each to either, making no +tremor in the hot summer air as He comes, casting no shadow in the +brilliant eastern light--He of whom they speak and write steals in to +stand beside them, bringing all things to their remembrance by the Holy +Spirit's agency, even as He had told them. + +The story of John the Baptist was so clearly part of that of Jesus, +that Mary could hardly recall the one without the other. And, besides, +Elisabeth, as the angel said, was her kinswoman--perhaps her cousin--to +whom she naturally turned in the hour of her maidenly astonishment and +rapture. Though much younger, Mary was united to her relative by a +close and tender tie, and it was only natural that what had happened to +Elisabeth should have impressed her almost as deeply as her own +memorable experiences. So it is possible that from the lips of the +mother of our Lord we obtain these details of the House of Zacharias. + + +I. THE QUIET IN THE LAND.--God has always had his hidden ones; and, +while the world has been rent by faction and war, ravaged by fire and +sword, and drenched with the blood of her sons, these have heard his +call to enter their chamber, and shut themselves in until the storm had +spent its fury. It was so during the days of Ahab, when the eye of +omniscience beheld at least seven thousand who had not bowed the knee +to Baal. It was so in the awful days of the Civil War, when Puritan +and Royalist faced each other at Naseby and Marston Moor, and the land +seemed swept in a blinding storm. Groups of ardent souls gathered to +spend their time in worship and acts of mercy--like those at Little +Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, under the direction of Mr. Nicholas +Ferrar. It was so when the thirty years' war desolated Germany, and +"the quiet in the land" withdrew themselves from the agitated scene of +human affairs to wait on God, embalming their hearts in hymns and poems +which exhale a perfume as from crushed flowers. + +It was eminently so in the days of which we write. Darkness covered +the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. Herod's infamous cruelties, +craft, and bloodshed were at their height. The country questioned with +fear what new direction his crimes might take. The priesthood was +obsequious to his whim; the bonds of society seemed dissolved. Theudas +and Judas of Galilee, mentioned by Gamaliel, were but specimens of the +bandit leaders who broke into revolt and harried the country districts +for the maintenance of their followers. Greed, peculation, and lawless +violence, had ample and undisputed opportunity to despoil the national +glory and corrupt the heart of the national life. + +Is it to be wondered that the godly remnant would meet in little groups +and secluded hiding-places to comfort themselves in God? We are told, +for instance, that Anna spake of the Babe, whom she had probably +embraced in her aged trembling arms, "to all them that were looking for +the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke ii. 38, R.V.). What would we not +give to know something more of the members of this sacred society, +which preserved the loftiest traditions, and embodied in their lives +some of the finest traits of the religion of their forefathers! The +gloom of their times only led them more eagerly to con the predictions +of their Hebrew prophets, and desire their accomplishment. Full often +they would climb the heights and look out over the desert wastes to +descry the advent of the Mighty One, coming from Edom, with his +garments stained with the blood of Israel's foes. When they met, the +burden of conversation, which flowed under vine or fig-tree, by the +wayside or in humble homes, would be of their cherished hope. And as +they beheld the hapless condition of their fatherland, the land of +Abraham, the city of David, the cry must often have been extorted; "How +long, O Lord, holy and true, will it be ere He shall come whose right +it is who shall sit on the throne of his father David, and of whose +kingdom there shall be no end? Come forth out of thy royal chambers, O +Prince of all the kings of the earth! Put on the visible robes of thy +imperial majesty; take up that unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty +Father hath bequeathed Thee; for now the voice of thy bride calls Thee, +and all creatures sigh to be renewed." So our great Milton prayed in +more recent days. + +We are not drawing on our imagination in describing these true-hearted +watchers for the rising of the Day-star. They are fully indicated in +the Gospel story. There was Simeon, righteous and devout, unto whom it +had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death +before he had seen the Lord's Christ; and Anna, the prophetess, who +departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and +supplications night and day; and the guileless Nathanael, an Israelite +indeed, who had perhaps already commenced to sit at the foot of the +ladder which bound his fig-tree to the highest heaven; and the peasant +maiden Mary, the descendant of a noble house, though with fallen +fortunes, who, like some vestal virgin, clad in snowy white, watched +through the dark hours beside the flickering flame; and last, but not +least, Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth, "who were both righteous +before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord +blameless." + +For us, too, the times are dark. It is as though the shadows were +being thrown far across the fields, and the light were becoming dim. +Let the children of God draw together, to encourage each other in their +holy faith, and to speak of their great hopes; for He who appeared once +to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself shall appear a second time +without sin unto salvation. We are, as the French version puts it, +_burgesses of the skies_, "whence we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus +Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may +be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby +He is able even to subject all things unto Himself." + +But this attitude of spirit, which dwells in the unseen and eternal, +which counts on the indwelling of the Son of God by faith, and which +ponders deeply over the sins and sorrows of the world around, is the +temper of mind out of which the greatest deeds are wrought for the +cause of God on the earth. The Marys who sit at Christ's feet arise to +anoint Him for his burying. Take, for instance, the Moravian Church, +born and cradled amid the pietism of which Spener of Berlin and Franke +of Halle were the acknowledged leaders; and it has given to the world a +far larger number of missionaries in proportion to its membership than +any church of the age. Or take the followers of George Fox, who have +maintained through unparalleled suffering their testimony for +spirituality of worship; and it is undeniable that some of the greatest +reforms which have characterised the century recently closed have found +their foremost advocates and apologists from their somewhat meagre +ranks. Those who wait on God renew their strength. The world ignores +them, scorning to reckon their tears and toils amid its renovating +energies; but they refuse to abate their endeavours and sacrifices on +its behalf. They repay its neglect by more assiduous exertions, its +ingratitude by more exhausting sacrifices; content if, from out their +ranks, there presently steps one who, like John the Baptist, opens a +new chapter in the history of the race, and accelerates the advent of +the Christ. + + +II. THE PARENTAGE OF THE FORERUNNER.--As the traveller emerges from +the dreary wilderness that lies between Sinai and the southern frontier +of Palestine--a scorching desert, in which Elijah was glad to find +shelter from the sword-like rays in the shade of the retem shrub--he +sees before him a long line of hills, which is the beginning of "the +hill country of Judaea" (Luke i. 39). In contrast with the sand wastes +which he has traversed, the valleys seem to laugh and sing. Greener +and yet greener grow the pasture lands, till he can understand how +Nabal and other sheep-masters were able to find maintenance for vast +flocks of sheep. Here and there are the crumbled ruins which mark the +site of ancient towns and villages tenanted now by the jackal or the +wandering Arab. Amongst these, a modern traveller has identified the +site of Juttah, the village home of the priest Zacharias and his wife +Elisabeth. + +To judge by their names, we may infer that their parents years before +had been godly people. _Zacharias_ meant _God's remembrance_; as +though he were to be a perpetual reminder to his fellows of what God +had promised, and to God of what they were expecting from his hand. +_Elisabeth_ meant _God's oath_; as though her people were perpetually +appealing to those covenant promises in which, since He could swear by +no greater, God had sworn by Himself, that He would never leave nor +forsake, and that when the sceptre departed from Judah and the +law-giver from between his feet, Shiloh should come. + +Zacharias was a priest, "of the course of Abijah," and twice a year he +journeyed to Jerusalem to fulfil his office, for a week of six days and +two Sabbaths. There were, Josephus tells us, somewhat more than 20,000 +priests settled in Judaea at this time; and very many of them were like +those whom Malachi denounced as degrading and depreciating the Temple +services. The general character of the priesthood was deeply tainted +by the corruption of the times, and as a class they were blind leaders +of the blind. Not a few, however, were evidently deeply religious men, +for we find that "a great number of the priests," after the +crucifixion, believed on Christ and joined his followers. In this +class we must therefore place Zacharias, who, with his wife, herself of +the daughters of Aaron, is described as being "righteous before God." + +The phrases are evidently selected with care. Many are righteous +before men; but they were righteous _before God_. Their daily life and +walk were regulated by a careful observance of the ordinances of the +ceremonial and the commandments of the moral law. It is evident, from +the apt and plentiful quotations from Scripture with which the song of +Zacharias is replete, that the Scriptures were deeply pondered and +reverenced in that highland home; and we have the angel's testimony to +the prayers that ascended day and night. In all these things they were +blameless--not faultless, as judged by God's infinite standard of +rectitude, but blameless--because they lived up to the fullest limit of +their knowledge of the will of God. They were blameless and harmless, +the children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and +perverse generation, among whom they were seen as lights in the world, +holding forth amid neighbours and friends the Word of Truth. + +But they lived under the shadow of a great sorrow. "They had no child, +because Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in +years." When the good priest put off his official dress of white +linen, and returned to his mountain home, there was no childish voice +to welcome him. It seemed almost certain that their family would soon +die out and be forgotten; that no child would close their eyes in +death; and that by no link whatsoever could they be connected with the +Messiah, to be the progenitor of whom was the cherished longing of each +Hebrew parent. + +"They had no child!" They would, therefore, count themselves under the +frown of God; and the mother especially felt that a reproach lay on +her. What a clue to the anguish of the soul is furnished by her own +reflection, when she recognised the glad divine interposition on her +behalf, and cried, "Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein +He looked upon me, to take away _my reproach among men_" (Luke i. 25). + +But had it not been for this sorrow they might never have been +qualified to receive the first tidings of the near approach of the +Messiah. _Sorrow_ opens our eyes, and bids us see visions within the +vail, which cannot be described by those who have not wept. _Sorrow_ +leads us up the steep mountain of vision, and opens the panorama which +lies beyond the view of those who dare not attempt the craggy steep. +_Sorrow_ prepares us to see angels standing beside the altar of incense +at the hour of prayer, and to hear words that mortal lips may not utter +until they are fulfilled. _Sorrow_ leads us to open our house to those +who carry a great anguish in their hearts, who come to us needing +shelter and comfort; to discover finally that we have entertained an +angel unawares, and that in some trembling maiden, threatened by +divorce from her espoused, we have welcomed the mother of the Lord +(ver. 43). Shrink not from sorrow. It endures but for the brief +eastern night; joy cometh in the morning, to remain. It may be caused +by long waiting and apparently fruitless prayer. Beneath its pressure +heart and flesh may faint. All natural hope may have become dead, and +the soul be plunged in hopeless despair. "Yet the Lord will command +his loving-kindness in the morning;" and it will be seen that the dull +autumn sowings of tears and loneliness and pain were the necessary +preliminary for that heavenly messenger who, standing "on the right +side of the altar of incense," shall assure us that our prayer is heard. + + +III. THE ANGEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT.--One memorable autumn, when the land +was full of the grape-harvest, Zacharias left his home, in the cradle +of the hills, some three thousand feet above the Mediterranean, for his +priestly service. Reaching the temple he would lodge in the cloisters, +and spend his days in the innermost court, which none might enter save +priests in their sacred garments. Among the various priestly duties, +none was held in such high esteem as the offering of incense, which was +presented morning and evening, on a special golden altar, in the Holy +Place at the time of prayer. "The whole multitude of the people were +praying without at the time of incense." So honourable was this office +that it was fixed by lot, and none was allowed to perform it twice. +Only once in a priest's life was he permitted to sprinkle the incense +on the burning coals, which an assistant had already brought from the +altar of burnt-sacrifice, and spread on the altar of incense before the +vail. + +The silver trumpets had sounded. The smoke of the evening sacrifice +was ascending. The worshippers that thronged the different courts, +rising tier on tier, were engaged in silent prayer. The assistant +priest had retired; and Zacharias, for the first and only time in his +life, stood alone in the holy shrine, while the incense which he had +strewn on the glowing embers arose in fragrant clouds, enveloping and +veiling the objects around, whilst it symbolized the ascent of prayers +and intercessions not only from his own heart, but from the hearts of +his people, into the presence of God. "And their prayer came up to his +holy habitation, even unto heaven." + +What a litany of prayer poured from his heart! For Israel, that the +chosen people should be delivered from their low estate; for the cause +of religion, that it might be revived; for the crowds without, that God +would hear the prayers they were offering toward his holy sanctuary, +and, perhaps, for Elisabeth and himself, that, if possible, God would +hear their prayer, and, if not, that He would grant them to bear +patiently their heavy sorrow. + +"And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right +side of the altar of incense." Mark how circumstantial the narrative +is. There could be no mistake. He stood--and he stood on the right +side. It was Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, who had been +sent to speak to him, and declare the good tidings that his prayer was +heard; that his wife should bear a son, who should be called John, that +the child should be welcomed with joy, should be a Nazarite from his +birth, should be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, should +inherit the spirit and power of Elias, and should go before the face of +Christ to prepare his way, by turning the hearts of the fathers to the +children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just. + +He tarried long in the temple, and what wonder! The people would have +ceased to marvel at the long suspense, could they have known the cause +of the delay. Presently he came out; but when he essayed to pronounce +the customary blessing his lips were dumb. He made signs as he reached +forth his hands in the attitude of benediction; but that day no +blessing fell on their upturned faces. He continued making signs unto +them and remained dumb. Dumb, because he questioned the likelihood of +so good and gracious an answer. Dumb, because he believed not the +archangel's words. Dumb, that he might learn in silence and solitude +the full purposes of God, to set them presently to song. Dumb, that +the tidings might not spread as yet. Dumb, as the representative of +that wonderful system, which for so long had spoken to mankind with +comparatively little result, but was now to be superseded by the Word +of God. + +With the light of that glory on his face, and those sweet notes of +"Fear not" ringing in his heart, Zacharias continued to fulfil the +duties of his ministration, and, when his work was fulfilled, departed +unto his house. But that day was long remembered by the people, +prelude as it was to the time when their blessings would no longer come +from Ebal or Gerizim, but from Calvary; and when the great High Priest +would utter from heaven the ancient words: + + The Lord bless thee and keep thee. + The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. + The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. + + + + +III. + +His Schools and Schoolmasters. + +(LUKE 1.) + + "Oh to have watched thee through the vineyards wander, + Pluck the ripe ears, and into evening roam!-- + Followed, and known that in the twilight yonder + Legions of angels shone about thy home!" + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +Home-Life--Preparing for his Life-Work--The Vow of Separation--A Child of +the Desert + + +Zacharias and Elisabeth had probably almost ceased to pray for a child, +or to urge the matter. It seemed useless to pray further. There had +been no heaven-sent sign to assure them that there was any likelihood of +their prayer being answered, and nature seemed to utter a final No; when +suddenly the angel of God broke into the commonplace of their life, like +a meteorite into the unrippled water of a mountain-sheltered lake, +bringing the assurance that there was no need for fear, and the +announcement that their prayer was heard. It must have been like hearing +news that a ship, long overdue and almost despaired of, has suddenly made +harbour. + +It is not impossible that prayers that we have ceased to pray, and are in +despair about, will yet return to us with the words, _Thy supplication is +heard_, endorsed on them in our Father's handwriting. Not infrequently +dividends are paid on investments which we have given up as valueless. +Fruit that mellows longest in the sun is ripest. Such things may +transcend altogether our philosophy of prayer; but we are prepared for +this, since God is accustomed to do exceeding abundantly above all that +we ask or think. + +On his arrival in his home, the aged priest, by means of the +writing-table afterwards referred to, informed his wife, who apparently +had not accompanied him, of all that had happened, even to the name which +the child was to bear, She, at least, seems to have found no difficulty +in accepting the divine assurance, and during her five months of +seclusion she nursed great and mighty thoughts in her heart, in the +belief and prayer that her child would become all that his name is +supposed to signify, _the gift of Jehovah_. It was Elisabeth also who +recognised in Mary the mother of her Lord, greeted her as blessed among +women, and assured her that there would be for her a fulfilment of the +things which had been promised her. + +Month succeeded month, but Zacharias neither heard nor spoke. His +friends had to make signs to him, for unbelief has the effect of shutting +man out of the enjoyment of life, and hindering his usefulness. How +different this time of waiting from the blessedness it brought to his +wife's young relative, who believed the heavenly messenger. He was +evidently a good man, and well versed in the history of his people. His +soul, as we learn from his song, was full of noble pride in the great and +glorious past. He could believe that when Abraham and Sarah were past +age, a child was born to _them_, who filled their tent with his merry +prattle and laughter; but he could not believe that such a blessing could +fall to his lot. And is not that the point where our faith staggers +still? We can believe in the wonder-working power of God on the distant +horizon of the past, or on the equally distant horizon of the future; but +that He should have a definite and particular care for _our_ life, that +_our_ prayers should touch Him, that He should give us the desire of our +heart--this staggers us, and we feel it is too good to be true. + +During the whole period that the stricken but expectant priest spent in +his living tomb, shut off from communication with the outer world, his +spirit was becoming charged with holy emotion, that waited for the first +opportunity of expression. Such an opportunity came at length. His +lowly dwelling was one day crowded with an eager and enthusiastic throng +of relatives and friends. They had gathered to congratulate the aged +pair, to perform the initial rite of Judaism, and to name the infant boy +that lay in his mother's arms. Ah, what joy was hers when they came to +"magnify the Lord's mercy towards her, and to rejoice with her"! As the +people passed in and out, there was a new glow in the brilliant eastern +sunlight, a new glory on the familiar hills. + +In their perplexity at the mother's insistence that the babe's name +should be John--none of his kindred being known by that name--they +appealed to his father, who with trembling hand inscribed on the wax of +the writing tablet the verdict, "His name is John." So soon as he had +broken the iron fetter of unbelief in thus acknowledging the fulfilment +of the angel's words, "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue +loosed, and he spake, blessing God. And fear came on all that dwelt +round about them." All these sayings quickly became the staple theme of +conversation throughout all the hill-country of Judaea; and wherever they +came, they excited the profoundest expectation. People laid them up in +their hearts, saying, "What, then, shall this child be?" + +"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit." "And the hand of the +Lord was with him." + +There were several remarkable formative influences operating on this +young life. + + +I. THE SCHOOL OF HOME.--_His father was a priest_. John's earliest +memories would register the frequent absence of his father in the +fulfilment of his course; and, on his return, with what eagerness would +the boy drink in a recital of all that had transpired in the Holy City! +We can imagine how the three would sit together beneath their trellised +vine, in the soft light of the fading sunset, and talk of Zion, their +chief joy. No wonder that in after days, as he looked on Jesus as He +walked, he pointed to Him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God"; for, from +the earliest, his young mind had been saturated with thoughts of +sacrifice. + +When old enough his parents would take him with them to one of the great +festivals, where, amid the thronging crowds, his boyish eyes opened for +the first time upon the stately Temple, the order and vestments of the +priests, the solemn pomp of the Levitical ceremonial. The young heart +dilated and expanded with wonder and pride; but how little he realized +that his ministry would be the first step to its entire subversal. + +He would be also taught carefully in the _Holy Scriptures_. Like the +young Timothy, he would know them from early childhood. The song of +Zacharias reveals a vivid and realistic familiarity with the prophecies +and phraseology of the Scriptures; and as the happy parents recited them +to his infant mind, they would stay to emphasize them with impressive +personal references. What would we not have given to hear Zacharias +quote Isaiah xl. or Malachi iii., and turn to the lad at his knee, +saying--"These words refer to thee".-- + +"Yea, and thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High; for +thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." + +Would not the aged priest speak to his son in thoughts and words like +those with which his song is so replete; might he not speak to him in +some such way as this: "My boy, God has fulfilled his holy covenant, the +oath which He sware unto Abraham, our father; because of the tender mercy +of our God, the Dayspring from on high has visited us, to shine upon them +that sit in darkness, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." Then +he would proceed to tell him the marvellous story of his Kinsman's birth +in Bethlehem, and of his growing grace in Nazareth. "Blessed be the +Lord, the God of Israel," the old man said; "for He hath visited and +redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the +house of his servant David, as He spake by the mouth of his holy +prophets, which have been since the world began." Next the father would +tell as much of the story of Herod's crimes, and of his oppressive rule, +as the lad could understand; and explain how there would soon be +"salvation from their enemies, and from the hand of all that hated them." +And his young soul would be thrilled by the hopes which were bursting in +the bud, and so near breaking into flower. + +Sometimes when they were abroad together in the early dawn, and saw the +first peep of day, the father would say: "John, do you see that light +breaking over the hills? What that day-spring is to the world, Jesus, +thy cousin at Nazareth, will be to the darkness of sin." Then, turning +to the morning star, shining in the path of the dawn, and paling as they +gazed, he would say: "See thy destiny, my son: I am an old man, and shall +not live to see thee in thy meridian strength; but thou shalt shine for +only a brief space, and then decrease, whilst He shall increase from the +faint flush of day-spring to the perfect day." And might not the child +reply, with a flash of intelligent appreciation?--"Yes, father, I +understand; but I shall be satisfied if only I have prepared the way of +the Lord." + +_There were also the associations of the surrounding country_. The story +of Abraham would often be recited in the proximity of Machpelah's sacred +cave. The career of David could not be unfamiliar to a youth who was +within easy reach of the haunts of the shepherd-psalmist. And the story +of the Maccabees would stir his soul, as his parents recounted the +exploits of Judas and his brethren, in which the ancient Hebrew faith and +prowess had revived in one last glorious outburst. + +How ineffaceable are the impressions of the Home! What the father is +when he comes back at night from his toils, and what the mother is all +day; what may be the staple of conversation in the home: whether the +father is willing to be the companion of his child, answering his +questions, and superintending the gradual unfolding of his mind; how +often the Bible is opened and explained; how the weekly rest-day is +spent; the attitude of the home towards strong drink in every shape and +form, and all else that might injure the young life, as gas does +plants--all these are vital to the right nurture and direction of boys +and girls who can only wax strong in spirit when all early influences +combine in the same direction. + + +II. THERE WAS THE SCHOOL OF HIS NAZARITE-VOW.--The angel, who announced +his birth, foretold that he should drink neither wine nor strong drink +from his birth, but that he should be filled with the Holy Spirit. +"John," said our Lord, "came neither eating nor drinking." This +abstinence from all stimulants was a distinct sign of the Nazarite, +together with the unshorn locks, and the care with which he abstained +from contact with death. In some cases, the vow of the Nazarite might be +taken for a time, or, as in the case of Samson, Samuel, and John, it +might be for life. But, whether for shorter or longer, the Nazarite held +himself as peculiarly given up to the service of God, pliant to the least +indication of his will, quick to catch the smallest whisper of his voice, +and mighty in his strength. + +"Mother, why do I wear my hair so long? You never cut it, as the mothers +of other boys do." + +"No, my son," was the proud and glad reply; "you must never cut it as +long as you live: _you are a Nazarite_." + +"Mother, why may I not taste the grapes? The boys say they are so nice +and sweet. May I not, next vintage?" + +"No, never," his mother would reply; "you must never touch the fruit of +the vine: _you are a Nazarite_." + +If, as they walked along the public way, they saw a bone left by some +hungry dog, or a little bird fallen to the earth to die, and the boy +would approach to touch either, the mother would call him back to her +side, saying, "Thou must never touch a dead thing. If thy father were to +die, or I, beside thee, thou must not move us from the spot, but call for +help. Remember always that thou art separated unto God; his vows are +upon thee, and thou must let nothing, either in symbol or reality, steal +away his power from thy young heart and life." + +The effect of this would be excellent. It would give a direction and +purpose to the lad's thoughts and anticipations. He realized that he was +set apart for a great mission in life. The brook heard the call of the +sea. Besides which, he would acquire self-restraint, self-mastery. + +What is it to be "strong in spirit"? The man who carries everything +before him with the impetuous rush of his nature, before whose outbursts +men tremble, and who insists in all things on asserting his wild, +masterful will--is he the strong man? Nay! most evidently he must be +classed among the weaklings. The strength of a man is in proportion to +the feelings which he curbs and subdues, and not which subdue him. The +man who receives a flagrant insult, and answers quietly; the man who +bears a hopeless daily trial, and remains silent; the man who with strong +passions remains chaste, or with a quick sense of injustice can refrain +himself and remain calm--these are strong men; and John waxed strong, +because, from the earliest dawn of thought, he was taught the necessity +of refusing things which in themselves might have been permissible, but +for him were impossible. + +On each of us rests the vow of separation by right of our union with the +Son of God, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. +Remember how He went without the camp, bearing our reproach; how they +cast Him forth to the death of the cross; and how He awaits us on the +Easter side of death--and surely we can find no pleasure in the world +where He found no place. His death has made a lasting break between his +followers and the rest of men. They are crucified to the world, and the +world to them. Let us not taste of the intoxicating joys in which the +children of the present age indulge; let us allow no Delilah passion to +pass her scissors over our locks; and let us be very careful not to +receive contamination; to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of +darkness, but to come out and be separate, not touching the unclean thing. + +But while we put away all that injures our own life or the lives of +others, let us be very careful to discriminate, to draw the line where +God would have it drawn, exaggerating and extenuating nothing. It is +important to remember that while the motto of the old covenant was +Exclusion, even of innocent and natural things, that of the new is +Inclusion. Moses, under the old, forbade the Jews having horses; but +Zechariah said that in the new they might own horses, only "Holiness to +the Lord" must be engraven on the bells of their harness. Christ has +come to sanctify all life. Whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, +we are to do all to his glory. Disciples are not to be taken out of the +world, but kept from its evil. "Every creature of God is good, and +nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is +sanctified by the Word of God, and prayer." Natural instincts are not to +be crushed, but transfigured. + +This is the great contrast between the Baptist and the Son of Man. The +Nazarite would have felt it a sin against the law of his vocation and +office to touch anything pertaining to the vine. Christ began his signs +by changing water into wine, though of an innocuous kind, for the +peasants' wedding at Cana of Galilee. John would have lost all sanctity +had he touched the bodies of the dead, or the flesh of a leper. Christ +would touch a bier, pass his hands over the seared flesh of the leper, +and stand sympathetically beside the grave of his friend. Thus we catch +a glimpse of our Lord's meaning when He affirms that, though John was the +greatest of women born, yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater +than he. + + +III. THERE WAS THE SCHOOL OF THE DESERT.--"The child was in the deserts +till the day of his showing unto Israel." Probably Zacharias, and +Elisabeth also, died when John was quite young. But the boy had grown +into adolescence, was able to care for himself, and "the hand of the Lord +was with him." + +Beneath the guidance and impulse of that hand he tore himself from the +little home where he had first seen the tender light of day, and spent +happy years, to go forth from the ordinary haunts of men, perhaps hardly +knowing whither. There was a wild restlessness in his soul. A young +man, pleading the other day with his father to be allowed to emigrate to +the West, urged that whereas there are _inches_ here there are _acres_ +there; and something of this kind may have been in the heart of John. He +desired to free himself from the conventionalities and restraints of the +society amid which he had been brought up, that he might develop after +his own fashion, with no laws but those he received from heaven. + +Fatherless, motherless, brotherless, sisterless--a lone man, he passed +forth into the great and terrible wilderness of Judaea, which is so +desolate that the Jews called it the abomination of desolation. +Travellers who have passed over and through it say that it is destitute +of all animal life, save a chance vulture or fox. For the most part, it +is a waste of sand, swept by wild winds. When Jesus was there some two +or three years after, He found nothing to eat; the stones around mocked +his hunger; and there was no company save that of the wild beasts. + +In this great and terrible wilderness, John supported himself by eating +locusts--the literal insect, which is still greatly esteemed by the +natives--and wild honey, which abounded in the crevices of the rocks; +while for clothing he was content with a coat of coarse camel's hair, +such as the Arab women make still; and a girdle of skin about his loins. +A cave, like that in which David and his men often found refuge, sufficed +him for a home, and the water of the streams that hurried to the Dead +Sea, for his beverage. + +Can we wonder that under such a regimen he grew strong? We become weak +by continual contact with our fellows. We sink to their level, we +accommodate ourselves to their fashions and whims; we limit the natural +developments of character on God's plan; we take on the colour of the +bottom on which we lie. But in loneliness and solitude, wherein we meet +God, we become strong. God's strong men are rarely clothed in soft +raiment, or found in kings' courts. Obadiah, who stood in awe of Ahab, +was a very different man from Elijah, who was of the inhabitants of +Gilead, and stood before the Lord. + +Yes, and there is a source of strength beside. He who is filled and +taught, as John was, by the Spirit, is strengthened by might in the inner +man. All things are possible to him that believes. Simon Bar-Jona +becomes Peter when he touches the Christ. The youths faint and are +weary, and the young men utterly fall; but they that wait on the Lord +renew their strength: they who know God are strong and do exploits. + + + + +IV. + +The Prophet of the Highest. + +(LUKE I.) + + "Ye hermits blest, ye holy maids, + The nearest heaven on earth, + Who talk with God in shadowy glades, + Free from rude care and mirth; + To whom some viewless Teacher brings + The secret love of rural things, + The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, + The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale." + KEBLE. + + +Formative Influences--A Historical Parallel--The Burning of the +Vanities--"Sent from God" + + +"Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High"--thus +Zacharias addressed his infant son, as he lay in the midst of that +group of wondering neighbours and friends. What a thrill of ecstasy +quivered in the words! A long period, computed at four hundred years, +had passed since the last great Hebrew prophet had uttered the words of +the Highest. Reaching back from him to the days of Moses had been a +long line of prophets, who had passed down the lighted torch from hand +to hand. And the fourteen generations, during which the prophetic +office had been discontinued, had gone wearily. But now hope revived, +as the angel-voice proclaimed the advent of a prophet. Our Lord +corroborated his words when, in after days, He said that John had been +a prophet, and something more. "But what went ye out to see?" He +asked. "A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet." + +The Hebrew word that stands for _prophet_ is said to be derived from a +root signifying "to boil or bubble over," and suggests a fountain +bursting from the heart of the man into which God had poured it. It is +a mistake to confine the word to the prediction of coming events; for +so employed it would hardly be applicable to men like Moses, Samuel, +and Elijah, in the Old Testament, or John the Baptist and the apostle +Paul, in the New, who were certainly prophets in the deepest +significance of that term. Prophecy means the forth-telling of the +Divine message. The prophet is borne along by the stream of Divine +indwelling and inflowing, whether he utters the truth for the moment or +anticipates the future. "God spake _in_ the prophets" (Hebrews i. 1, +R.V.). And when they were conscious of his mighty moving and stirring +within, woe to them if they did not utter it in burning words, fresh +minted from the heart. + +With Malachi, the succession that had continued unbroken from the very +foundation of the Jewish commonwealth had terminated. Pious Israelites +might have found befitting expression for that lament in the words, "We +see not our signs: there is no more any prophet" (Psa. lxxiv. 9). + +But as the voice of Old Testament prophecy ceased, with its last breath +it foretold that it would be followed, in the after time, by a new and +glorious revival of the noblest traditions of the prophetic office. +"Behold," so God spake by Malachi, "I will send you Elijah the prophet +before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And he shall turn +the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children +to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. +iv. 5, 6). + + +I. THE FORMATIVE INFLUENCES BY WHICH THE BAPTIST'S PROPHETIC NATURE +WAS MOULDED.--Amongst these we must place in the foremost rank _the +Prophecies_, which had given a forecast of his career. From his +childhood and upwards they had been reiterated in his ear by his +parents, who would never weary of reciting them. + +How often he would ponder the reference to himself in the great +Messianic prediction--"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your +God.... The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; +make straight in the desert a highway for our God...." There was no +doubt as to the relevance of those words to himself (Luke i. 76; Matt. +iii. 3). And it must have unconsciously wrought mightily in the +influence it wielded over his character and ministry. + +There was, also, that striking anticipation by Malachi which we have +already quoted, and which directly suggested Elijah as his model. Had +not Gabriel himself alluded to it, when he foretold that the predicted +child would go before the Messiah, in the spirit and power of Elijah +(Luke i. 17)? And again his statement was confirmed by our Lord in +after days (Matt. xi. 14). + +Thus the great figure of Elijah was ever before the mind of the growing +youth, as his model and inspiration. He found himself perpetually +asking, How did Elijah act, and what would he do here and now? And +there is little doubt that his choice of the lonely wilderness, of the +rough mantle of camel's hair, of the abrupt and arousing form of +address, was suggested by that village of Thisbe in the land of Gilead, +and those personal characteristics which were so familiar in the +Prophet of Fire. + +But the mind of the Forerunner must also have been greatly exercised by +_the lawlessness and crime_ which involved all classes of his +countrymen in a common condemnation. The death of Herod, occurring +when John was yet a child, dependent on the care of the good Elisabeth, +had led to disturbances which afforded an excuse for the Roman +occupation of Jerusalem. The sceptre had departed from Judah, and the +lawgiver from between his feet. The high priesthood was a mere forfeit +in the deals of Idumaean tetrarchs and Roman governors. The publicans +were notorious for their exactions, their covetousness, their cheating +and oppression of the people. Soldiers filled the country with +violence, extortion, and discontent. The priests were hirelings; the +Pharisees were hypocrites; the ruling classes had set aside their +primitive simplicity and purity, and were given up to the +voluptuousness and licence of the Empire. "Brood of vipers" was +apparently not too strong a phrase to use of the foremost religious +leaders of the day--at least, when used, its relevance passed without +challenge. + +Tidings of the evil that was overflowing the land like a deluge of ink +were constantly coming to the ears of this eager soul, filling it with +horror and dismay; and to this must be traced much of the austerity +which arrested the attention of his contemporaries. The idea which +lies beneath the fasting and privation of so many of God's servants, +has been that of an overwhelming sorrow, which has taken away all taste +for the pleasures and comforts of life. And this was the thought by +which John was penetrated. On the one hand, there was his deep and +agonizing conviction of the sin of Israel; and on the other, the belief +that the Messiah must be nigh, even at the doors. Thus the pressure of +the burden increased on him till he was forced to give utterance to the +cry it extorted from his soul: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at +hand." + +But in addition to these we must add _the vision of God_, which must +have been specially vouchsafed to him whilst he sojourned in those +lonely wilds. He spoke once of Him "who sent him to baptize." +Evidently he had become accustomed to detect his presence and hear his +voice. Those still small accents which had fallen on the ear of his +great prototype had thrilled his soul. He, too, had seen the Lord high +and lifted up, had heard the chant of the seraphim, and had felt the +live coal touch his lips, as it had been caught from the altar by the +seraph's tongs. + +This has ever been characteristic of the true prophet. He has been a +seer. He has spoken, because he has beheld with his eyes, looked upon, +and handled, the very Word of God. The Divine Prophet, speaking for +all that had preceded Him, said: "We speak that which we know, and +testify that we have seen." + +In this we may have some share. It is permitted to us also to see; to +climb the Mount of Vision, and look on the glory of God in the face of +Jesus Christ; to have revealed to us things that eye hath not seen, nor +ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived. Let us remember that we are +to be God's _witnesses_ in the Jerusalem of the home, the Judaea of our +immediate neighbours, and to the uttermost parts of the earth of our +profession or daily calling. God demands not advocates, but witnesses; +and we must see for ourselves, before we can bear witness to others, +the glory of that light still flushing our faces, and the accent of +conviction minted in our speech. + +These are the three signs of a prophet: vision, a deep conviction of +sin and impending judgment, and the gushing forth of moving and +eloquent speech; and each of these was apparent, in an exalted and +extreme degree, in John the son of Zacharias. + + +II. AN ILLUSTRATIVE AND REMARKABLE PARALLEL.--As John came in the +spirit and power of Elijah, so, four hundred years ago, in the lovely +city of Florence, a man was sent from God to testify against the sins +of his age, who in many particulars so exactly corresponds with our +Lord's forerunner that the one strongly recalls the other, and it may +help us to bring the circumstances of the Baptist's ministry within a +measurable distance of ourselves if we briefly compare them with the +career of Girolamo Savonarola. It must, of course, be always borne in +mind that the great Florentine could lay no claim to the peculiar and +unique position and power of the Baptist. But, in many respects, there +is a remarkable parallel and similarity between them, which will help +us to translate the old Hebrew conceptions into our modern life. + +The physician's household at Ferrara, into which Savonarola was born on +September 21, 1452, was probably no more distinguished amid other +families of the town than that of Zacharias and Elisabeth in the hill +country of Judaea. + +And as we read of the invincible love of truth which characterized the +keen and intelligent lad, we are forcibly reminded of the Baptist, +whose whole life was an eloquent protest on behalf of reality. In one +of his greatest sermons Savonarola declared that he had always striven +after truth with all his might, and maintained a constant war against +falsehood. "The more trouble"--they are his own words--"I bestowed +upon my quest, the greater became my longing, so that for it I was +prepared to abandon life itself. When I was but a boy, I had such +thoughts; and from that time, the desire and longing after this good +has gone on increasing to the present day." + +We cannot read of Savonarola's saintly life, over which even the breath +of calumny has never cast a stain--of his depriving himself of every +indulgence, content with the hardest couch and roughest clothing, and +just enough of the plainest food to support life--without remembering +the camel's cloth, the locusts and wild honey of the Baptist. + +If John's lot was cast on evil days, when religion suffered most in the +house of her friends, so was it with Savonarola. The fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries witnessed the increasing corruption and +licentiousness of popes and clergy. The offices of cardinal and bishop +were put up to auction, and sold to the highest bidder. The bishop +extorted money from the priests, and these robbed the people. The +grossest immorality was prevalent in all ranks of the Church, and +without concealment. Even the monasteries and convents were often dens +of vice. "Italy," said Machiavelli, "has lost all piety and all +religion. We have to thank the Church and the priests for our +abandoned wickedness." + +As John beheld the fire and fan of impending judgment, so the burden of +Savonarola's preaching was that the Church was about to be chastised, +and afterwards renewed. So powerful was this impression on the +preacher's mind that it can best be described in his own words as a +vision. He tells us that on one occasion the heavens seemed to open +before him, and there appeared a representation of the calamities that +were coming on the Church; on another, he saw, in the middle of the +sky, a hand bearing a sword, on which words of doom were written. He +described himself as one who looked into the invisible world. + +The herald of Jesus possessed a marvellous eloquence, beneath which the +whole land was moved; and so it was with Savonarola. During the eight +years that he preached in the cathedral, it was thronged with vast +crowds; and as he pleaded for purity of life and simplicity of manners, +"women threw aside jewels and finery, libertines were transformed into +sober citizens, bankers and tradesmen restored their ill-gotten gains." +In Lent, 1497, took place what is known as the Burning of the Vanities. +Bands of children were sent forth to collect from all parts of the +city, indecent books and pictures, carnival masks and costumes, cards, +dice, and all such things. A pile was erected, sixty feet in height, +and fired amid the sound of trumpets and pealing bells. + +What Herod was to John the Baptist, the Pope and the magnificent +Lorenzo di Medici were to Savonarola. The latter seems to have felt a +strange fascination towards the eloquent preacher, tried to attach him +to his court, was frequent in his attendance at San Marco, and gave +largely to his offertories. To use the words of the New Testament, he +feared him, "knowing that he was a righteous man, and a holy" (Mark vi. +20). But Savonarola took care to avoid any sign of compliance or +compromise; declined to pay homage to Lorenzo for promotion to high +ecclesiastical functions; returned his gold from the offertories; and +when they ran to tell him that Lorenzo was walking in the convent +garden, answered, "If he has not asked for me, do not disturb his +meditations or mine." + +Like John, Savonarola was unceasing in his denunciation of the +hypocritical religion which satisfied itself with outward observances. +"I tell you," he said, "that the Lord willeth not that ye fast on such +a day or at such an hour; but willeth that ye avoid sin all the days of +your life. Observe how they go about--seeking indulgences and pardons, +ringing bells, decking altars, dressing churches. God heedeth not your +ceremonies." + +John's exhortation to "Behold the Lamb of God" finds an echo in the +noble utterance of this illumined soul, who, be it remembered, +anticipated Luther's Reformation by a hundred years. "If all the +ecclesiastical hierarchy be corrupt, the believer must turn to Christ, +who is the primary cause, and say: 'Thou art my Priest and my +Confessor.'" + +The fate of martyrdom that befell John was awarded also to Savonarola. +Through the impetuosity of his followers, he was involved in a +challenge to ordeal by fire. But by the manoeuvres of his foes, the +expectations of the populace in this direction were disappointed, and +their anger aroused. "To San Marco!" shouted their leaders. To San +Marco they went, fired the buildings, burst open the doors, fought +their way into the cloisters and church, dragged Savonarola from his +devotions, and thrust him into a loathsome dungeon. After languishing +there, amid every indignity and torture, for some weeks, on May 23, +1498, he was led forth to die. The bishop, whose duty it was to +pronounce his degradation, stumbled at the formula declaring--"I +separate thee from the Church, militant and triumphant." "From the +militant thou mayest, but from the triumphant thou canst not," was the +martyr's calm reply. He met his end with unflinching fortitude. He +was strangled, his remains hung in chains, burned, and the ashes flung +into the river. When the commissioners of the Pope arrived at his +trial, they brought with them express orders that he was to die, "even +though he were a _second John the Baptist_." It is thus that the +apostate Church has always dealt with her noblest sons. But Truth, +struck to the ground, revives. Hers are the eternal years. Within a +few years, Luther was nailing his theses at the door of the church at +Wittenberg, and the Reformation was on its way. + +There is a legend, which at least contains a true suggestion, that when +Savonarola was on his way to Florence from Genoa, as a young man, his +strength failed him as he was crossing the Apennines, but that a +mysterious stranger appeared to him, restored his courage, led him to a +hospice, compelled him to take food, and afterwards accompanied him to +his destination; but on reaching the San Gallo gate he vanished, with +the words, _Remember to do that for which God hath sent thee!_ + +The story recalls forcibly the words with which the evangelist John +introduces his notice of the Forerunner--"There was a man sent from +God, whose name was John." Men are always coming, sent from God, +specially adapted to their age, and entrusted with the message which +the times demand. See to it that thou too realize thy divine mission; +for Jesus said, "As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." +Every true life is a mission from God. + +And when we read the words of the apostle Paul about John "fulfilling +his course," we may well ask for grace that we may fill up to the brim +the measure of our opportunities, that we may realize to the full God's +meaning and intention in creating us: and so our lives shall mate with +the Divine Ideal, like sublime words with some heavenly strain, each +completing the other. + + + + +V. + +The First Ministry of the Baptist. + +(LUKE III.) + + "Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing, + Stirs on the earth and trembles in the air! + Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing? + Is it the music of his people's prayer? + + "Surely He cometh, and a thousand voices + Shout to the saints, and to the deaf and dumb; + Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices, + Glad in his coming who hath sworn, I come." + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +The Preaching of Repentance--His Power as a Preacher--His +Message--Warning of Impending Judgment--The Wages of Sin + + +Thirty years had left their mark on the Forerunner. The aged priest +and his wife Elisabeth had been carried to their grave by other hands +than those of the young Nazarite. The story of his miraculous birth, +and the expectations it had aroused, had almost died out of the memory +of the countryside. For many years John had been living in the caves +that indent the limestone rocks of the desolate wilderness which +extends from Hebron to the western shores of the Dead Sea. By the use +of the scantiest fare, and roughest garb, he had brought his body under +complete mastery. From nature, from the inspired page, and from direct +fellowship with God, he had received revelations which are only +vouchsafed to those who can stand the strain of discipline in the +school of solitude and privation. He had carefully pondered also the +signs of the times, of which he received information from the Bedouin +and others with whom he came in contact. Blended with all other +thoughts, John's heart was filled with the advent of Him, so near akin +to himself, who, to his certain knowledge, was growing up, a few months +his junior, in an obscure highland home, but who was speedily to be +manifested to Israel. + +At last the moment arrived for him to utter the mighty burden that +pressed upon him; and "in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, +Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, +Annas and Caiaphas the high priests, the word of God came unto John, +the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness." It may have befallen thus. +One day, as a caravan of pilgrims was slowly climbing the mountain +gorges threaded by the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, or halted +for a moment in the noontide heat, they were startled by the appearance +of a gaunt and sinewy man, with flowing raven locks, and a voice which +must have been as sonorous and penetrating as a clarion, who cried, +"Repent! the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." + +It was as though a spark had fallen on dry tinder. The tidings spread +with wonderful rapidity that in the wilderness of Judaea one was to be +met who recalled the memory of the great prophets, and whose burning +eloquence was of the same order as of Isaiah or Ezekiel. Instantly +people began to flock to him from all sides. "There went out to him +Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan." The +neighbourhood suddenly became black with hurrying crowds--as Klondike, +when the news of the discovery of gold began to spread. From lip to +lip the tidings sped of a great leader and preacher, who had suddenly +appeared. + +He seems finally to have taken his stand not far from the rose-clad +oasis of Jericho, on the banks of the Jordan; and men of every tribe, +class, and profession, gathered thither, listening eagerly, or +interrupting him with loud cries for help. The population of the +metropolis, familiar with the Temple services, and accustomed to the +splendour of the palace; fishermen from the Lake of Gennesaret, dusky +sons of Ishmael from the desert of Gilead; the proud Pharisee; the +detested publican, who had fattened on the sorrows and burdens of the +people--were there, together with crowds of ordinary people that could +find no resting-place in the schools or systems of religious thought of +which Jerusalem was the centre. + + +1. MANY CAUSES ACCOUNTED FOR JOHN'S IMMENSE POPULARITY.--_The office +of the prophet was almost obsolete_. Several centuries, as we have +seen, had passed since the last great prophet had finished his +testimony. The oldest man living at that time could not remember +having seen a man who had ever spoken to a prophet. It seemed as +unlikely, to adopt the phrase of another, that another prophet should +arise in that formal, materialistic age, as that another cathedral +should be added to the splendid remains of Gothic glory which tell us +of those bygone days when there were giants in the land. + +Moreover, _John gave such abundant evidence of sincerity--of reality_. +His independence of anything that this world could give made men feel +that whatever he said was inspired by his direct contact with things as +they literally are. It was certain that his severe and lonely life had +rent the vail, and given him the knowledge of facts and realities, +which were as yet hidden from ordinary men, though waiting, soon to be +revealed; and it was equally certain that his words were a faithful and +adequate presentation of what he saw. He spoke what he knew, and +testified what he had seen. His accent of conviction was unmistakable. +When men see the professed prophet of the Unseen and Eternal as keen +after his own interests as any worldling, shrewd at a bargain, +captivated by show, obsequious to the titled and wealthy; when they +discover the man who predicts the dissolution of all things carefully +investing the proceeds of the books in which he publishes his +predictions--they are apt to reduce to a minimum their faith in his +words. But there was no trace of this in the Baptist, and therefore +the people went forth to him. + +_Above all, he appealed to their moral convictions, and, indeed, +expressed them_. The people knew that they were not as they should be. +For a long time this consciousness had been gaining ground; and now +they flocked around the man who revealed themselves to themselves, and +indicated with unfaltering decision the course of action they should +adopt. How marvellous is the fascination which he exerts over men who +will speak to their inner-most souls! This has always been the source +of power to the great orators of the Romish Church--men like Massillon, +for instance--and to refuse to use this method of approach is to forego +one of the mightiest weapons in the repertory of Christian appeal. If +we deal only with the intellect or imagination, the novelist or +essayist may successfully compete with us. It is in his direct appeal +to the heart and conscience, that the servant of God exerts his supreme +and unrivalled power. Though a man may shrink from the preaching of +repentance, yet, if it tell the truth about himself, he will be +irresistibly attracted to hear the voice that harrows his soul. John +rebuked Herod for many things; but still the royal offender sent for +him again and again, and heard him gladly. + +It is expressly said that John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming +to his baptism (Matt. iii. 7). Their advent appears to have caused him +some surprise. "Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from +the wrath to come?" The strong epithet he used of them suggests that +they came as critics, because they were unwilling to surrender the +leadership of the religious life of Israel, and were anxious to keep in +touch with the new movement, until they could sap its vitality, or +divert its force into the channels of their own influence. + +But it is quite likely that in many cases there were deeper reasons. +_The Pharisees_ were the ritualists and formalists of their day, who +would wrangle about the breadth of a phylactery, and decide to an inch +how far a man might walk on the Sabbath day; but the mere externals of +religion will never permanently satisfy the soul made in the likeness +of God. Ultimately it will turn from them with a great nausea and an +insatiable desire for the living God. As for _the Sadducees_, they +were the materialists of their time. The reaction of superstition, it +has been said, is to infidelity; and the reaction from Pharisaism was +to Sadduceeism. Disgusted and outraged by the trifling of the +literalists of Scripture interpretation, the Sadducee denied that there +was an eternal world and a spiritual state, and asserted that "there is +no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit." But mere negation can +never satisfy. The heart still moans out its sorrow under the darkness +of agnosticism, as the ocean sighing under a starless midnight. +Nature's instincts are more cogent than reason. It was hardly to be +wondered at, then, that these two great classes were largely +represented in the crowds that gathered on the banks of the Jordan. + + +II. LET US BRIEFLY ENUMERATE THE MAIN BURDEN OF THE BAPTIST'S +PREACHING.--(1) "_The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand_." To a Jew that +phrase meant the re-establishment of the Theocracy, and a return to +those great days in the history of his people when God Himself was +Lawgiver and King. Had not Daniel predicted that in the days of the +last of the great empires, prefigured in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the +God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should never be +destroyed--which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand +for ever? Had he not foreseen a time when One like unto a son of man +should come to the Ancient of Days to receive a dominion which should +not pass away, and a kingdom which should not be destroyed? Had he not +foretold that the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven +should be given to the saints of the Most High? Surely, then, all +these anticipations were on the eve of fulfilment. The long-expected +Messiah was at hand; and here was the forerunner described by Isaiah, +the prophet, saying:-- + + "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, + Make ye ready the way of the Lord, + Make his paths straight." + + +But some misgiving must have passed over the minds of his hearers when +they heard the young prophet's description of the conditions and +accompaniments of that long-looked-for reign. Instead of dilating on +the material glory of the Messianic period, far surpassing the +magnificent splendour of Solomon, he insisted on the fulfilment of +certain necessary preliminary requirements, which lifted the whole +conception of the anticipated reign to a new level, in which the inward +and spiritual took precedence of the outward and material. It was the +old lesson, which in every age requires repetition, that unless a man +is born again, and from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. + +Be sure of this, that no outward circumstances, however propitious and +favourable, can bring about true blessedness. We might be put into the +midst of heaven itself, and be poor, and miserable, and blind, and +naked, unless the heart were in loving union with the Lamb, who is in +the midst of the throne. He is the light of that city, his countenance +doth lighten it--from his throne the river of its pleasure flows, his +service is its delightful business; and to be out of fellowship with +Him would make us out of harmony with its joy. Life must be centred in +Christ if it is to be concentric with all the circles of heaven's +bliss. We can never be at rest or happy whilst we expect to find our +fresh springs in outward circumstances. It is only when we are right +with God that we are blest and at rest. Righteousness is blessedness. +Where the King is enthroned within the heart, the soul is in the +kingdom, which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; +nay, perhaps more accurately, that kingdom is in the soul. And when +all hearts are yielded to the King; when all gates lift up their heads, +and all everlasting doors are unfolded for his entrance--then the curse +which has so long brooded over the world shall be done away. The whole +creation groaneth and travaileth for the manifestation of the sons of +God: but when they are revealed in all their beauty, then judgment +shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall abide in the +fruitful field, and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the +effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever; and the +mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water +(Isa. xxxii. 15, 16; xxxv. 7, R.V.). + +(2) Alongside the proclamation of the kingdom was the uncompromising +insistence on "_the wrath to come_." John saw that the Advent of the +King would bring inevitable suffering to those who were living in +self-indulgence and sin. + +There would be careful discrimination. He who was coming would +carefully discern between the righteous and the wicked; between those +who served God and those who served Him not: and the preacher enforced +his words by an image familiar to orientals. When the wheat is reaped, +it is bound in sheaves and carted to the threshing-floor, which is +generally a circular spot of hard ground from fifty to one hundred feet +in diameter. On this the wheat is threshed from the chaff by manual +labour, but the two lie intermingled till the evening, when the grain +is caught up in broad shovels or fans, and thrown against the evening +breeze, as it passes swiftly over the fevered land; thus the light +chaff is borne away, while the wheat falls heavily to the earth. +Likewise, cried the Baptist, there shall be a very careful process of +discrimination, before the unquenchable fires are lighted; so that none +but chaff shall be consigned to the flames--a prediction which was +faithfully fulfilled. At first Christ drew all men to Himself; but, as +his ministry proceeded, He revealed their quality. A few were +permanently attracted to Him; the majority were as definitely repelled. +There was no middle class. Men were either for or against Him. The +sheep on this side; the goats on that. The five wise virgins, and the +five foolish. Those who entered the strait gate, and those who flocked +down the broad way that leadeth to destruction. So it has been in +every age. Jesus Christ is the touchstone of trial. Our attitude +towards Him reveals the true quality of the soul. + +There would also be a period of probation. "The axe laid to the root +of the trees" is familiar enough to those who know anything of +forestry. The woodman barks some tree which seems to him to be +occupying space capable of being put to better use. There is no undue +haste. It is only after severe and searching scrutiny that the word +goes forth: "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" But when once +that word is spoken, there is no appeal. The Jewish people had become +sadly unfruitful; but a definite period was to intervene--three years +of Christ's ministry and thirty years beside--before the threatened +judgment befell. All this while the axe lay ready for its final +stroke; but only when all hope of reformation was abandoned was it +driven home, and the nation crashed to its doom. + +Perhaps this may be the case with one of my readers. You have been +planted on a favourable site, and have drunk in the dews and rain and +sunshine of God's providence; but what fruit have you yielded in +return? How have you repaid the heavenly Husbandman? May He not be +considering whether any result will accrue from prolonging your +opportunities for bearing fruit? He has looked for grapes, and lo, you +have brought forth only wild grapes; He may well consider the +advisability of removing you from the stewardship, which you have used +for your own emolument, and not for his glory. + +For all such there must be "wrath to come." After there has been +searching scrutiny and investigation, and every reasonable chance has +been given for amendment, and still the soul is impenitent and +disobedient, there must be "a certain fearful looking for of judgment +and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries." + +The fire of John's preaching had its primary fulfilment, probably, in +the awful disasters which befell the Jewish people, culminating in the +siege and fall of Jerusalem. We know how marvellously the little +handful of believers which had been gathered out by the preaching of +Christ and his disciples were accounted worthy to escape all those +things that came to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. But the +unbelieving mass of the Jewish people were discovered to be worthless +chaff and unfruitful trees, and assigned to those terrible fires which +have left a scar on Palestine to this day. + +But there was a deeper meaning. The wrath of God avenges itself, not +on nations but on individual sinners. "He that believeth not the Son +shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." The penalty +of sin is inevitable. The wages of sin is death. The land which +beareth thorns and thistles, after having drunk of the rain which +cometh often upon it, is rejected and nigh unto a curse, its end is to +be burned; under the first covenant, every transgression and +disobedience received a just recompense of reward; the man that set at +nought Moses' law died without compassion, on the word of two or three +witnesses--of how much sorer punishment shall he be judged worthy who +hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of +the covenant a common thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of +grace! + +Even if we grant, as of course we must, that many of the expressions +referring to the ultimate fate of the ungodly are symbolical, yet it +must be granted also, that they have counterparts in the realm of soul +and spirit, which are as terrible to endure, as the nature of the soul +is more highly organized than that of the body. Fire to the body is +easy to bear in comparison with certain forms of suffering to which the +heart and soul are sometimes exposed even in this life. Have we not +sometimes said, "If physical suffering were concerned, we could bear +it; but oh, this pain which is gnawing at the heart--this awful inward +agony, which burns like fire!" And if we are capable of suffering so +acutely from remorse and shame, from ingratitude and misrepresentation, +in this life where there are so many distractions and temporary +alleviations, what may not be the possibility of pain in that other +life, where there is no screen, no covering, no alleviation, no cup of +water to slake the thirst! Believe me, when Jesus said, "These shall +go away into eternal punishment," He contemplated a retribution so +terrible, that it were good for the sufferers if they had never been +born. + +All the great preachers have seen and faithfully borne witness to the +fearful results of sin, as they take effect in this life and the next. +These threw Brainerd into a dripping sweat, whilst praying on a cool +day for his Indians in the woods; these drew John Welsh from his bed, +at all hours of the night, to plead for his people; these inspired +Baxter to write his _Call to the Unconverted_; these drew Henry Martyn +from his fellowship at Cambridge to the burning plains of India; these +forced tears from Whitefield as he preached to the crowding thousands; +these burn in the memorable sermon by Jonathan Edwards on "Sinners in +the hands of an angry God." The notable revival which broke out at +Kirk o' Shotts was due, under God, to Livingston congratulating the +people that drops of rain alone were falling, and not the fire of +Divine wrath. The sermons of Ralph Erskine, of McCheyne and W. C. +Burns, of Brownlow Northland Reginald Radcliffe, in the last +generation, were characterized by the same appeals. Though, on the +other hand, because God is not confined to any one method, the +preaching of the late D. L. Moody was specially steeped in the love of +God. It is for want of a vision of the inevitable fate of the godless +and disobedient, that much of our present-day preaching is so powerless +and ephemeral. You cannot get crops out of the land merely by summer +showers and sunshine; there must be the subsoil ploughing, the +pulverizing frost, the wild March wind. And only when we modern +preachers have seen sin as God sees it, and begin to apply the divine +standard to the human conscience; only when our eagerness and yearning +well over into our eyes and broken tones, only when we know the terror +of the Lord, and begin to persuade men as though we would pluck them +out of the fire, by our strenuous expostulation and entreaties--shall +we see the effects that followed the preaching of the Baptist when +soldiers, publicans, Pharisees, and scribes, crowded around him, +saying, "What shall we do?" + +All John's preaching, therefore, led up to the demand for repentance. +The word which was oftenest on his lips was "Repent ye!" It was not +enough to plead direct descent from Abraham, or outward conformity with +the Levitical and Temple rites. God could raise up children to Abraham +from the stones of the river bank. There must be the renunciation of +sin, the definite turning to God, the bringing forth of fruit meet for +an amended life. In no other way could the people be prepared for the +coming of the Lord. + + + + +VI. + +Baptism unto Repentance + +(MARK I. 4.) + + "The last and greatest herald of heaven's King, + Girt with rough skins, hies to the desert wild; + Among that savage brood the woods doth bring, + Which he more harmless found than man, and mild. + + "His food was locusts and what there doth spring, + With honey that from virgin hives distill'd, + Parch'd body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing + Made him appear, long since from earth exiled." + W. DRUMMOND, of Hawthornden. + + +Repentance: its Nature--Repentance: how Produced--Repentance: its +Evidences--Repentance: its Results--John's Baptism: from Heaven + + +At the time of which we are speaking, an extraordinary sect, known as +the Essenes, was scattered throughout Palestine, but had its special +home in the oasis of Engedi; and with the adherents of this community +John must have been in frequent association. They were the recluses or +hermits of their age. + +The aim of the Essenes was moral and ceremonial purity. They sought +after an ideal of holiness, which they thought could not be realized in +this world; and therefore, leaving villages and towns, they betook +themselves to the dens and caves of the earth, and gave themselves to +continence, abstinence, fastings, and prayers, supporting themselves by +some slight labours on the land. Those who have investigated their +interesting history tell us that the cardinal point with them was faith +in the inspired Word of God. By meditation, prayer, and mortification, +frequent ablutions, and strict attention to the laws of ceremonial +purity, they hoped to reach the highest stage of communion with God. +They agreed with the Pharisees in their extraordinary regard for the +Sabbath. Their daily meal was of the simplest kind, and partaken of in +their house of religious assembly. After bathing, with prayer and +exhortation they went, with veiled faces, to their dining-room, as to a +holy temple. They abstained from oaths, despised riches, manifested +the greatest abhorrence of war and slavery, faced torture and death +with the utmost bravery, refused the indulgence of pleasure. + +It is clear that John was not a member of this holy community, which +differed widely from the Pharisaism and Sadduceeism of the time. The +Essenes wore white robes, emblematic of the purity they sought; whilst +he was content with his coat of camel's hair and leathern girdle. They +seasoned their bread with hyssop, and he with honey. They dwelt in +brotherhoods and societies; while he stood alone from the earliest days +of his career. But it cannot be doubted that he was in deep accord +with much of the doctrine and practice of this sect. + +John the Baptist, however, cannot be accounted for by any of the +pre-existing conditions of his time. He stood alone in his God-given +might. That he was conscious of this appears from his own declaration +when he said, "He that sent me to baptize in water, He said unto me." +And that Christ wished to convey the same impression is clear from his +question to the Pharisees: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven or +from men?" Moreover, the distinct assertion of the Spirit of God, +through the fourth Evangelist, informs us: "There came a man, sent from +God, whose name was John, the same came for witness, that all might +believe through him." "The Word of God came unto John, the son of +Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came." + + +I. THE SUMMONS TO REPENT.--John has a ministry with all men. In other +words, he represents a phase of teaching and influence through which we +must needs pass if we are properly to discover and appreciate the grace +of Christ. With us, too, a preparatory work has to be done. There are +mountains and hills of pride and self-will that have to be levelled; +crooked and devious ways that have to be straightened; ruggednesses +that have to be smoothed--before we can fully behold the glory of God +in the face of Jesus Christ. In proportion to the thoroughness and +permanence of our repentance will be our glad realization of the +fulness and glory of the Lamb of God. + +But we must guard ourselves here, lest it be supposed that repentance +is a species of good work which must be performed in order that we may +merit the grace of Christ. It must be made equally clear, that +repentance must not be viewed apart from faith in the Saviour, which is +an integral part of it. It is also certain that, though "God +commandeth all men everywhere to repent," yet Jesus is exalted "to give +repentance and the remission of sins." + +Repentance, according to the literal rendering of the Greek word, is "a +change of mind." Perhaps we should rather say, it is a change in the +attitude of the will. The unrepentant soul chooses its own way and +will, regardless of the law of God. "The mind of the flesh is enmity +against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, +can it be; and they that are in the flesh cannot please God." But in +repentance the soul changes its attitude. It no longer refuses the +yoke of God's will, like a restive heifer, but yields to it, or is +willing to yield. There is a compunction, a sense of the hollowness of +all created things, a relenting, a wistful yearning after the true +life, and ultimately a turning from darkness to light, and from the +power of Satan unto God. The habits may rebel; the inclinations and +emotions may shrink back; the consciousness of peace and joy may yet be +far away--but the will has made its secret decision, and has begun to +turn to God: as, in the revolution of the earth, the place where we +live reaches its furthest point from the sunlight, passes it, and +begins slowly to return towards its warm smiles and embrace. + +It cannot be too strongly emphasized that repentance is an act of the +_will_. In its beginning there may be no sense of gladness or +reconciliation with God: but just the consciousness that certain ways +of life are wrong, mistaken, hurtful, and grieving to God; and the +desire, which becomes the determination, to turn from them, to seek Him +who formed the mountains and created the wind, that maketh the morning +darkness and treadeth upon the high places of the earth. + +Repentance may be accounted as the other side of faith. They are the +two sides of the same coin: the two aspects of the same act. If the +act of the soul which brings it into right relation with God is +described as a turning round, to go in the reverse direction to that in +which it had been travelling, then _repentance_ stands for its desire +and choice to turn from sin, and _faith_ for its desire and choice to +turn to God. We must be willing to turn from sin and our own +righteousness--that is _repentance_; we must be willing to be saved by +God, in his own way, and must come to Him for that purpose--that is +_faith_. + +We need to turn from our own righteousnesses as well as from our sins. +Augustine spoke of his efforts after righteousness as splendid sins; +and Paul distinctly disavows all those attempts to stand right with God +which he made before he saw the face of the risen Christ looking out +from heaven upon his conscience-stricken spirit. You must turn away +from your own efforts to save yourself. These are, in the words of the +prophet, but "filthy rags." Nothing, apart from the Saviour and his +work, can avail the soul, which must meet the scrutiny of eternal +justice and purity. + +Repentance is produced sometimes and specially by the presentation of +the claims of Christ. We suddenly awake to realize what He is, how He +loves, how much we are missing, the gross ingratitude with which we +respond to his agony and bloody sweat, his cross and suffering, the +beauty of his character, the strength of his claims. + +At other times repentance is wrought by the preaching of John the +Baptist. Then we hear of the axe laid at the root of the trees, and +the unquenchable fire for the consuming of the chaff: and the heart +trembles. Then we are led to the brink of the precipice, and compelled +to see the point at which the primrose-path we are travelling ends in +the fatal abyss. Then our faith in our hereditary position and +privilege is shattered by the iconoclasm of the preacher; and we are +levelled to the position of stones which are lapped by the Jordan, but +are insensible to its touch. It is at such a time as this that the +soul sees the entire fabric of its vain confidences and hopes crumbling +like a cloud-palace, and turns from it all--as Mary from the sepulchre, +where her hopes lay entombed, to find Jesus standing with the +resurrection glory on his face and radiant love in his eyes. + +For purposes of clear thinking it is well to discriminate in our use of +the words Repentance and Penitence, using the former of the first act +of the will, when, energized and quickened by the Spirit of God, it +turns from dead works to serve the living and true God; and the latter, +of the emotions which are powerfully wrought upon, as the years pass, +by the Spirit's presentation of all the pain and grief which our sin +has caused, and is causing, to our blessed Lord. We repent once, but +are penitents always. We repent in the will; we are penitent in the +heart. We repent, and believe the Gospel; we believe the Gospel of the +Son of Man, and as we look on Him, whom our sins have pierced, we +mourn. We repent when we obey his call to come unto Him and live; we +are penitent as we stand behind Him weeping, and begin to wash his feet +with our tears, and to wipe them with the hair of our head. + +If John the Baptist has never wrought his work in you, be sure to open +your heart to his piercing voice. Let him fulfil his ministry. See +that you do not reject the counsel of God, as it proceeds from his +lips; but expose your soul to its searching scrutiny, and allow it to +have free and uninterrupted course. He comes to prepare the way of the +Lord, and to make through the desert of our nature a highway for our +God. Of course, if, from the earliest you have been under the nurture +of pious parents, and your young heart turned to God in the early dawn +of consciousness, you will not pass through these experiences as those +must who have spent years in the service of Satan. For these there is +but one word--Repent! They must, in a moment of time, take up an +entirely different attitude to God and holiness, to Christ and his +salvation. + +II. THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF REPENTANCE.--(1) _Confession_. "They +were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." What +this precisely means it is not possible to say in detail; but it is not +improbable that beneath the strong pressure of inward remorse and +bitterness of spirit, men of notoriously bad life, as well as those who +had never abandoned themselves to the mad currents of temptation, but +were none the less conscious of heart and hidden sins, stood up, +"confessing and declaring their deeds," as in a memorable scene long +afterwards (Acts xix. 17-20). + +The formalist confessed that the whited sepulchre of his religious +observances had concealed a mass of putrefaction. The sceptic +confessed that his refusal of religion was largely due to his hatred of +the demands of God's holy law. The multitudes confessed that they had +been selfish and sensual, shutting up their compassions, and refusing +clothing and food to the needy. The publican confessed that he had +extorted by false accusation and oppression more than his due. The +soldier confessed that his profession had often served as the cloak for +terrorizing the poor and vamping up worthless accusations. The +notoriously evil liver confessed that he had lain in wait for blood, +and destroyed the innocent and helpless for gain or hate. The air was +laden with the cries and sighs of the stricken multitudes, who beheld +their sin for the first time in the light of eternity and of its +inevitable doom. The lurid flames of "the wrath to come" cast their +searching light on practices which, in the comparative twilight of +ignorance and neglect, had passed without special notice. + +Upon that river's brink, men not only confessed to God, but probably +also to one another. Life-long feuds were reconciled; old quarrels +were settled; frank words of apology and forgiveness were exchanged; +hands grasped hands for the first time after years of alienation and +strife. + +Confession is an essential sign of a genuine repentance, and without it +forgiveness is impossible. "He that covereth his transgressions shall +not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain +mercy." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So long as we +keep silence, our bones wax old through our inward anguish; we are +burnt by the fire of slow fever; we toss restlessly, though on a couch +of down. But on confession there is immediate relief. "I said, I will +confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest me the +iniquity of my sin." + +Confess your sin to God, O troubled soul, from whom the vision of +Christ is veiled. It is more than likely that some undetected or +unconfessed sin is shutting out the rays of the true sun. Excuse +nothing, extenuate nothing, omit nothing. Do not speak of mistakes of +judgment, but of lapses of heart and will. Do not be content with a +general confession; be particular and specific. Drag each evil thing +forth before God's judgment bar; let the secrets be exposed, and the +dark, sad story told. Begin at the beginning, and go steadily through. +Only be very careful to leave no trace of your experiences for human +eyes or ears. To tell this story to another will rob it of its value +to yourself and its acceptableness to God. It is enough for God to +know it; and to tell Him all is to receive at once his assurance of +forgiveness, for the sake of Him who loved us and gave Himself a +propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for those of the +whole world. Directly the confession leaves our heart, nay, whilst it +is in process, the Divine voice is heard assuring us that our sins, +which are many, are put away as far as the east is from the west, and +cast into the depths of the sea. + +But such confession should not be made to God alone, when sins are in +question which have injured and alienated others. If our brother has +aught against us, we must find him out, while our gift is left +unpresented at the altar, and first be reconciled to him. We must +write the letter, or speak the word; we must make honourable reparation +and amends; we must not be behind the sinners under the old law, who +were bidden to add a fifth part to the loss their brother had sustained +through their wrong-doing, when they made it good. The only sin we are +justified in confessing to our brother man is that we have committed +against him. All else must be told in the ear of Jesus, that great +High Priest, whose confessional is always open, and whose pure ear can +receive our dark and sad stories without taint or soil. + +(2) _Fruit worthy of Repentance_. "Bring forth, therefore, fruit +worthy of repentance," said John, with some indignation, as he saw many +of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism. He insisted that +practical and vital religion was not a rule, but a life; not outward +ritual, but a principle; not works, but fruit: and he demanded that the +genuineness of repentance should be attested by appropriate fruit. "Do +men gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles?" + +Probably that demand of the Baptist accounted for the alteration in his +life of which Zaccheus made confession to Christ, when He became his +guest. The rich publican lived at Jericho, near which John was +baptizing, and he was probably amongst the publicans who were attracted +to his ministry. How well we can imagine the comments that would be +passed on his presence, as each nudged his neighbour and whispered. +"Is not that Zaccheus?" said one. "What is he doing here?" said +another. "It is about time _he_ came to himself," muttered a third. +"I wish the Baptist could do something for him," said a fourth. + +And something touched that hardened heart. A great hope and a great +resolve sprang up in it. He may have joined in the confessions of +which we have spoken, but he did more. On his arrival at Jericho he +was a new man. He gave the half of his goods to feed the poor; and if +he had wrongfully exacted aught of any man, he restored four-fold. His +servant was often seen in the lowest and poorest parts of the old city, +hunting up cases of urgent distress, and bestowing anonymous alms, and +many a poor man was delighted to find a considerable sum of money +thrust into his hands, with a scrap of paper signed by the rich +tax-gatherer, saying, "I took so much from you, years ago, to which I +had no claim; kindly find it enclosed, with fourfold as amends." +Should any ask him the reason for it all, he would answer, "Ah, I have +been down to the Jordan and heard the Baptist; I believe the Kingdom is +coming, and the King is at hand; and I want to make ready for Him, so +that, when He comes, He may be able to abide at my house." + +You will never get right with God till you are right with man. It is +not enough to confess wrong-doing; you must be prepared to make amends +so far as lies in your power. Sin is not a light thing, and it must be +dealt with, root and branch. + +(3) _The baptism of repentance_. "They were baptized ... confessing +their sins." The cleansing property of water has given it a religious +significance from most remote antiquity Men have conceived of sin as a +foul stain upon the heart, and have couched their petitions for its +removal in words derived from its use: "Purge me with hyssop, and I +shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." They have +longed to feel that as the body was delivered from pollution, so the +soul was freed from stain. In some cases this thought has assumed a +gross and material form; and men have attributed to the water of +certain rivers, such as the Ganges, the Nile, the Abana, the mysterious +power of cleansing away sin. + +There was no trace of this, however, in John's teaching. It was not +baptism _unto remission_, but _unto repentance_. It was the expression +and symbol of the soul's desire and intention, so far as it knew, to +confess and renounce its sins, as the necessary condition of obtaining +the Divine forgiveness. + +It is not necessary to discuss the much-vexed question of the source +from which the Baptist derived his baptism--some say it was from the +habits of the Essenes, or the practice of the Rabbis, who subjected to +this rite all proselytes to Judaism from the Gentile world. It is +enough for us to remember that he was _sent_ to baptize; that the idea +of his baptism was "from heaven"; and that in his hands the rite +assumed altogether novel and important functions. It meant death and +burial as far as the past was concerned; and resurrection to a new and +better future. Forgetting and dying to the things that were behind, +the soul was urged to realize the meaning of this symbolic act, and to +press on and up to better things before; assured as it did so that God +had accepted its confession and choice, and was waiting to receive it +graciously and love it freely. + +It is easy to see how all this appealed to the people, and specially +touched the hearts of young men. At that time, by the blue waters of +the Lake of Galilee, there was a handful of ardent youths, deeply +stirred by the currents of thought around them, who resented the Roman +sway, and were on the tip-toe of expectation for the coming Kingdom. +How they spoke together, as they floated at night in their fisherman's +yawl over the dark waters of the Lake of Galilee, about God's ancient +covenant, and the advent of the Messiah, and the corruptions of their +beloved Temple service! And when, one day, tidings reached them of +this strange new preacher, they left all and streamed with all the +world beside to the Jordan valley, and stood fascinated by the spell of +his words. + +One by one, or all together, they made themselves known to him, and +became his loyal friends and disciples. We are familiar with the names +of one or two of them, who afterwards left their earlier master to +follow Christ; but of the rest we know nothing, save that he taught +them to fast and pray, and that they clung to their great teacher, +until they bore his headless body to the grave. After his death they +joined themselves with Him whom they had once regarded with some +suspicion as his rival and supplanter. + +How much this meant to John! He had never had a friend; and to have +the allegiance and love of these noble, ingenuous youths must have been +very grateful to his soul. But from them all he repeatedly turned his +gaze, as though he were looking for some one who must presently emerge +from the crowd; and the sound of whose voice would give him the deepest +and richest fulfilment of his joy, because it would be the voice of the +Bridegroom Himself. + + + + +VII. + +The Manifestation of the Messiah + +(JOHN I. 31.) + + "Before me, as in darkening glass, + Some glorious outlines pass, + Of love, and truth, and holiness, and power-- + I own them thine, O Christ, + And bless Thee in this hour." + F. R. HAVERGAL. + + +The Herald's Proclamation--The Meeting of John and Jesus--Christ's +Baptism--"It Becometh Us."--"My Beloved Son." + + +John's life, at this period, was an extraordinary one. By day he +preached to the teeming crowds, or baptized them; by night he would +sleep in some slight booth, or darksome cave. But the conviction grew +always stronger in his soul, that the Messiah was near to come; and +this conviction became a revelation. The Holy Spirit who filled him, +taught him. He began to see the outlines of his Person and work. As +he thought upon Him, beneath the gracious teaching of Him who had sent +him to baptize (John i. 33), the dim characteristics of his glorious +personality glimmered out on the sensitive plate of his inner +consciousness, and he could even describe Him to others, as well as +delineate Him for himself. + +He conceived of the coming King, as we have seen, as the Woodman, +laying his axe at the root of the trees; as the Husbandman, fan in hand +to winnow the threshing-floor; as the Baptist, prepared to plunge all +faithful souls in his cleansing fires; as the Ancient of Days, who, +though coming after him in order of time, must be preferred before him +in order of precedence, because He was before him in the eternal glory +of his Being (John i. 15-30). + +It was this vision of the Sun before the sunrise, as he viewed it from +the high peak of his own noble character, that induced in the herald +his conspicuous and beautiful humility. He insisted that he was not +worthy to perform the most menial service for Him whose advent he +announced. "I am content," he said in effect, "to be a voice, raised +for a moment to proclaim the King, and soon dying on the desert air, +whilst the person of the crier is unnoticed and unsought for; but I may +not presume to unloose the latchet of his shoes.... There cometh after +me He that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not +worthy to stoop down and unloose." + +John was not only humble in his self-estimate, but also in his modest +appreciation of the results of his work. It was only transient and +preparatory. It was given him to do; but it would soon be done. His +course was a short one, and it would soon be fulfilled (Acts xiii. 25). +His simple mission was to bid the people to believe on Him who should +come after him (xix. 4.) He was the morning star ushering in the day, +but destined to fade in the glory of ruddy dawn, flooding the eastern +sky. + +But our impression of the sublime humility of this great soul will +become deeper, as we consider that marvellous scene in which he first +recognised the divine mission and claims of his Kinsman, Jesus of +Nazareth. Consider the meeting between the Sun and the star, and take +it as indicating an experience which must always supervene on the +cleansed and holy soul, which desires and prepares for it. + + +I. OUR LORD'S ADVENT TO THE JORDAN BANK.--For thirty years the Son of +Man had been about his Father's business in the ordinary routine of a +village carpenter's life. He had found scope enough there for his +marvellously rich and deep nature; reminding us of the philosopher's +garden, which, though only a dingy court in a crowded city, reached +through to the other side of the world on the one hand, and up to the +heaven of God on the other. Often He must have felt the strong +attraction of the great world of men, which He loved; and the wild +winds, as they careered over his village home, must have often borne to +Him the wail of broken hearts, asking Him to hasten to their relief. +On his ear must have struck the voices of Jairuses pleading for their +only daughters; of sisters interceding for their Lazaruses; of halt and +lame and blind entreating that He would come and heal them. But He +waited still, his eye on the dial-plate of the clock, till the time was +fulfilled which had been fixed in the Eternal Council Chamber. + +As soon, however, as the rumours of the Baptist's ministry reached Him, +and He knew that the porter had taken up his position at the door of +the sheepfold, ready to admit the true Shepherd (John x. 3), He could +hesitate no longer. The Shechinah cloud was gathering up its fleecy +folds, and poising itself above Him, and moving slowly towards the +scene of the Baptist's ministry; and He had no alternative but to +follow. He must tear Himself away from Nazareth, home, and mother, and +take the road which would end at Calvary. "Then cometh Jesus from +Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him." + +Tradition locates the scene of John's baptism as near Jericho, where +the water is shallow and the river opens out into large lagoons. But +some, inferring that Nazareth was within a day's journey of this +notable spot, place it nearer the southern end of the Lake of Galilee. + +It may have been in the late afternoon when Jesus arrived. An +expression made use of by the evangelist Luke might seem to suggest +that all the people had been baptized for that day at least (Luke iii. +21); so that perhaps the crowds had dispersed, and the great prophet +was alone with one or two of those young disciples of whom we have +spoken. Or, Jesus may have arrived when the Jordan banks were alive +with the eager multitudes. But, in either case, a sudden and +remarkable change passed over the Baptist's face as he beheld his +Kinsman standing there. + +Picture that remarkable scene. The arrowy stream, rushing down from +the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea; the rugged banks; the shadowy +forests; the erect, sinewy form of the Baptist; and Jesus of Nazareth, +as depicted by the olden traditions, with auburn hair, searching blue +eye, strong, sweet face, and all the beauty of his young manhood. At +the sight of Him, note how the high look on the Baptist's face lowers; +how his figure stoops in involuntary obeisance; how the voice that was +wont to ring out its messages in accents of uncompromising decision +falters and trembles! + +John said, "I knew Him not" (John i. 31); but this need not be +interpreted as indicating that he had no acquaintance whatever with his +blameless relative. Such may have been the case, of course, since +John's life had been spent apart from the haunts of men. It is more +natural to suppose that the cousins had often met, as boys and +afterwards. But the Baptist had never realized that Jesus was the +Messiah whose advent he was sent to announce. He had not recognised +his high descent and claims. It had never occurred to him that this +simple village Carpenter, so closely related to himself, whose course +of life was apparently so absolutely ordinary and commonplace, could be +He of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write. In this sense +John could truly say, "I knew Him not." + +But John knew enough of Him to be aware of his guileless, blameless +life. The story of his tender love for Mary; of his devotion to the +interests of his brothers and sisters; of his undefiled purity, of his +long vigils on the mountains till the morning called Him back to his +toils; of his deep acquaintance with Scripture; of his speech about the +Father--had reached the Baptist's ears. He had come to entertain the +profoundest respect amounting to veneration for his Kinsman; and, as He +presented Himself for baptism, John felt that there was a whole heaven +of difference between Him and all others. These publicans and sinners, +these Pharisees and scribes, these soldiers and common people--had +every need to repent, confess, and be forgiven; but there was surely no +such need for Him, who had been always, and by general acknowledgment, +"holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." "I have need," +said he, "to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (Matt. iii. +14). + +There may have been, besides, an indescribable presentiment that stole +over that lofty nature--like that knowledge of good men and bad which +is often given to noble women. He knew men; his eagle eye had searched +their hearts, as he had heard them confess their sins; and at a glance +he could tell what was in them. A connoisseur of souls was he. Among +all the pearls that had passed through his hands--some goodly ones +among them--none had seemed so rare and pure as this; it was a pearl of +great price, for which a man might be prepared to part with all he +possessed, if only to obtain it. There was an indefinable majesty, a +moral glory, a tender grace, an ineffable attractiveness in this Man, +which was immediately appreciated by the greatest of woman-born, +because of his own intrinsic nobility and greatness of soul. It needed +a Baptist to recognise the Christ. He who had never quailed before +monarch or people, directly he came in contact with Christ, cast the +crown of his manhood at his feet, and shrank away. The eagle that had +soared unhindered in mid-heaven seemed transfixed by a sudden dart, and +fell suddenly, with a strange, low cry, at the feet of its Creator. "I +have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" + + +II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRIST'S BAPTISM.--"Suffer it to be so now: +for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness"--with such words +our Lord overruled the objections of his loyal and faithful Forerunner. +This is the first recorded utterance of Christ, after a silence of more +than twenty years; the first also of his public ministry: it demands +our passing notice. He does not say, "I have need to be baptized of +thee"; nor does He say, "Thou hast no need to be baptized of Me." He +does not stay to explain why the greater should be baptized by the +less: or why a rite which confessed sin was required for one who was +absolutely sinless. It is enough to appeal to the Baptist as his +associate in a joint necessary act, becoming to them both as part of +the Divine procedure, and therefore claiming their common obedience. +"Thus it becometh us (you and me) to fulfil all righteousness." + +In his baptism, our Lord acknowledged the divine authority of the +Forerunner. As the last and greatest of the prophets, who was to close +the Old Testament era, for "the law and the prophets prophesied until +John"; as the representative of Elijah the prophet, before the great +and notable day of the Lord could come; as the porter of the Jewish +fold--John occupied a unique position, and it was out of deference to +his appointment by the Father, and as an acknowledgment of his office, +that Jesus sought baptism at his hands. + +John's baptism, moreover, was the inauguration of the Kingdom of +Heaven. In it the material made way for the spiritual. The old +system, which gave special privileges to the children of Abraham, was +in the act of passing away, confessing that God could raise up children +to Abraham from the stones at the water's edge; and demanding that +those who would enter the Kingdom must be born from above, of water and +of the Spirit. It was the outward and visible sign that Judaism was +unavailing for the deepest needs of the spirit of man, and that a new +and more spiritual system was about to take its place, and Christ said, +in effect, "I, too, though King, obey the law of the Kingdom, and bow +my head, that, by the same sign as the smallest of my subjects, I may +pass forward to my throne." + +There was probably a deeper reason still. That Jordan water, flowing +downwards to the Dead Sea, was symbolical. In the purity of its +origin, amid the snows of Hermon, and in the beauty of its earlier +course, it was an emblem of man's original constitution, when the +Creator made him in His own image and pronounced him very good; but in +these sullied and troubled waters hurrying on to the Sea of +Death--waters in which thousands of sinners had confessed their sins, +with tears and sighs--how apt an emblem was there of the history of our +race, contaminated by the evil that is in the world through lust, and +meriting the wages of sin--death! With that race, in its sin and +degradation, our Lord now formally identified Himself. His baptism was +his formal identification with our fallen and sinful race, though He +knew no sin for Himself, and could challenge the minutest inspection of +his enemies: "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" + +Was He baptized because He needed to repent, or to confess his sins? +Nay, verily! He was as pure as the bosom of God, from which He came; +as pure as the fire that shone above them in the orb of day; as pure as +the snows on Mount Hermon, rearing itself like a vision of clouds on +the horizon: but He needed to be made sin, that we might be made the +righteousness of God in Him. When the paschal lamb had been chosen by +the head of a Jewish household, it was customary to take it, three days +before it would be offered, to the priest, to have it sealed with the +Temple seal; so our Lord, three years before his death, must be set +apart and sealed by the direct act of the Holy Spirit, through the +mediation of John the Baptist. "Him hath God the Father sealed." + +"It becometh us"--I like that word, _becometh_. If the Divine Lord +thought so much about what was becoming, surely we may. It should +not be a question with us, merely as to what may be forbidden or +harmful, what may or may not be practised and permitted by our +fellow-Christians, or even whether there are distinct prohibitions in +the Bible that bar the way--but if a certain course is becoming. "Need +I pass through that rite?" _It is becoming_. "Need I perform that +lowly act?" _It is becoming_. "Need I renounce my liberty of action in +that respect?" _It would be very becoming_. And whenever some +hesitant soul, timid and nervous to the last degree, dares to step out, +and do what it believes to be the right thing because it is becoming, +Jesus comes to it, enlinks his arm, and says, "Thou art not alone in +this. Thou and I stand together here. It becomes us to fill up to its +full measure all righteousness." Ah, soul, thou shalt never step forth +on a difficult and untrodden path without hearing his footfall behind +thee, and becoming aware that in every act of righteousness Christ +identifies Himself, saying, "Thus it becometh _us_ to fulfil all +righteousness." + +A friend suggests that the Lord Jesus was here referring to the sublime +prophecy of Daniel ix. 24. That He might make an end of sin and bring +in everlasting righteousness, it was essential that the Lamb of God +should confess the sins of the people as his own (see Psa. lxix. 5). +This was his first step on his journey to the Cross, every step of +which was in fulfilment of all righteousness, in order that He might +bring in everlasting righteousness. + +"Then he suffered Him." Some things we have to _do_ for Christ, and +some to _bear_ for Him. Active virtues are great; but the passive ones +are rarer and cost more, especially for strong natures like the +Baptist's. But, in all our human life, there is nothing more +attractive than when a strong man yields to another, accepts a deeper +interpretation of duty than he had perceived, and is prepared to set +aside his strong convictions of propriety before the tender pleadings +of a still, soft voice. Yield to Christ, dear heart. Suffer Him to +have his way. Take his yoke, and be meek and lowly of heart--so shalt +thou find rest. + + +III. THE DESIGNATION OF THE MESSIAH.--It is not to be supposed that +the designation of Jesus as the Christ was given to any but John. It +was apparently a private sign given to him, as the Forerunner and +Herald, through which he might be authoritatively informed as to the +identity of the Messiah. To say nothing of the impossibility of +ordinary and unanointed eyes beholding the descent of the Holy Spirit, +John's own statements seem to point clearly in this direction. He +says, "I knew Him not" (_i.e._, as Son of God), "but He that sent me to +baptize with water, He said unto me, 'Upon whomsoever thou shalt see +the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, the same is He that +baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen, and have borne +witness that this is the Son of God" (John i. 32-34). The same thought +appears from putting a perfectly legitimate construction on the words +of the first evangelist: "Lo, the heavens were opened unto him" +(_i.e._, the Baptist), "and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a +dove, and coming upon Him" (Matt. iii. 16). + +What a theophany was here! As the Man of Nazareth emerged from the +water, the sign for which John had been eagerly waiting and looking was +granted. He had believed he would see it, but had never thought to see +it granted to one so near akin to himself. We never expect the great +God to come to us! And the exclamation, Lo, indicates his startled +surprise. He saw far away into the blue vault, which had opened into +depth after depth of golden glory. The vail was rent to admit of the +coming forth of the Divine Spirit, who seemed to descend in visible +shape--as a dove might, with gentle, fluttering motion--and to alight +on the head of the Holy One, who stood there fresh from his baptism. +The stress of the narrator, as he told the story afterwards, was that +the Spirit not only came, but _abode_. Here was the miracle of +miracles, that He should be willing to _abide_ in any human temple, who +for so many ages had wandered restlessly over the deluge of human sin, +seeking a resting-place, but finding none. Here, at least, was an ark +into which this second Noah might pull in the fluttering dove, unable +to feed, like the raven, on corruption and death. + +The voice of God from heaven proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was his +beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased; and the Baptist could have no +further doubt that the Desire of all Nations, the Lord whom his people +sought, the Messenger of the Covenant, had suddenly come to his temple +to act as a refiner's fire and as fullers' soap. "John bare witness, +saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; +and it abode upon Him." "John beareth witness of Him and crieth" (John +i. 15, 32). + +How much that designation meant to Christ! It was his Pentecost, his +consecration and dedication to his life-work; from thenceforth, in a +new and special sense, the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and He was +anointed to preach. But it was still more to the Baptist. He knew +that his mission was nearly fulfilled, that his office was ended. He +had opened the gate to the true Shepherd, and must now soon consign to +Him all charge of the flock. Jesus must increase, while he decreased. +He that was from heaven was above all; as for himself, he was of the +earth, and spake of the earth. The Sun had risen, and the day-star +began to wane. + + + + +VIII. + +Not that Light, but a Witness. + +(John I. 8.) + + "Nothing resting in its own completeness + Can have worth or beauty; but alone + Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness, + Fuller, higher, deeper than its own. + + "Spring's real glory dwells not in the meaning, + Gracious though it be, of her blue hours; + But is hidden in her tender leaning + To the summer's richer wealth of flowers." + A. A. PROCTOR. + + +Resentment of the Sanhedrim--The Baptist's Credentials--Spiritual +Vision--"Behold the Lamb of God"--The Baptism of the Spirit + + +The baptism and revelation of Christ had a marvellous effect on the +ministry of the Forerunner. Previous to that memorable day, the burden +of his teaching had been in the direction of repentance and confession +of sin. But afterwards, the whole force of his testimony was towards +the person and glory of the Shepherd of Israel. He understood that for +the remainder of his brief ministry, which perhaps did not greatly +exceed six months, he must bend all his strength to announcing to the +people the prerogatives and claims of Him who stood amongst them, +though they knew Him not. "There came a man, sent from God, whose name +was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the +Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but +came that he might bear witness of the Light." + +Our subject, therefore, naturally divides itself into two divisions: +John's admissions about himself, and his testimony to the Lord. And it +is interesting to notice that they were given on three successive days, +as appears from the twofold use of the phrase, "On the morrow." "On +the morrow" (_i.e._, after he had met and answered the deputation from +the Sanhedrim), "he seeth Jesus coming unto him..." (i. 29). "Again, +on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples..." (35). + +These events took place at Bethany, or Bethabara, on the eastern bank +of the Jordan. The river there is one hundred feet in width, and, +except in flood, some five to seven feet deep. It lies in a tropical +valley, the verdure of which is in striking contrast to the desolation +which reigns around. + + +I. THE BAPTIST'S ADMISSIONS ABOUT HIMSELF.--When the fourth Evangelist +uses the word _Jews_, he invariably means the Sanhedrim. John had +become so famous, and his influence so commanding, that he could not be +ignored by the religious leaders of the time. In their hearts they +derided him, and desired to do with him "whatsoever they listed." His +preaching of repentance, and his unmeasured denunciation of themselves +as a brood of vipers, were not to be borne. But they forbore to meet +him in the open field, and resolved to send a deputation, which might +extract some admission from his lips that would furnish them with +ground for subsequent action. "The Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem +priests and Levites to ask him, 'Who art thou?' ... 'Why baptizest +thou?'" The first question was universally interesting; the second +specially so to the Pharisee party, who were the high ritualists of +their day, and who were reluctant that a new rite, which they had not +sanctioned, should be added to the Jewish ecclesiastical system. + +It is a striking scene. The rushing river; the tropical gorge; the +dense crowds of people standing thick together; the Baptist in his +sinewy strength and uncouth attire, surrounded by the little group of +disciples; while through the throng a deputation of grey-beards, the +representatives of a decadent religion, makes its difficult way--these +are the principal features of a memorable incident. + +There was a profound silence, and men craned their necks and strained +their ears to see and hear everything, as the deputation challenged the +prophet with the inquiry, "Who art thou?" There was a great silence. +Men were prepared to believe anything of the eloquent young preacher. +"The people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts +concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ" (Luke iii. 15). If +he had given the least encouragement to their dreams and hopes, they +would have unfurled again the tattered banner of the Maccabees; and +beneath his leadership would have swept, like a wild hurricane, against +the Roman occupation, gaining, perhaps, a momentary success, which +afterwards would have been wiped out in blood. "And he confessed, and +denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ." + +If a murmur of voices burst out in anger, disappointment, and chagrin, +as this answer spread from lip to lip, it was immediately hushed by the +second inquiry propounded, "What then? Art thou Elijah?" (alluding to +the prediction of Malachi iv. 5). If they had worded their question +rather differently, and put it thus, "Hast thou come in the power of +Elias?" John must have acknowledged that it was so; but if they meant +to inquire if he were literally Elijah returned again to this world, he +had no alternative but to say, decisively and laconically, "I am not." + +There was a third arrow in their quiver, since the other two had missed +the mark: and amid the deepening attention of the listening multitudes, +and in allusion to Moses' prediction that God would raise up a Prophet +like to himself (Deut. xviii. 15; Acts iii. 22; vii. 37), they said, +"Art thou the Prophet?" and he answered, "No." + +The deputation was nonplussed. They had exhausted their repertory of +questions. Their mission threatened to become abortive, unless they +could extract some positive admission. They must put a leading +question; and their spokesman, for the fourth time, challenged the +strange being, whom they found it so hard to label and place on any +shelf of their ecclesiastical museum. "They said therefore unto him, +'Who art thou?--that we may give an answer to them that sent us.' What +sayest thou of thyself?" "He said, 'I am the voice of one crying in +the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the +prophet.'" + +How infinitely noble! How characteristic of strength! A weak man +would have launched himself on the flowing tide of enthusiasm, and +allowed himself to be swept away by its impetuous rush. What a +mingling of strength and humility! When men suggested that he was the +Christ, he insisted that he was only a voice--the voice of the herald, +whom men hardly notice, because they strain their eyes in the direction +from which he has come, to behold the King Himself. When they +complimented him on his teaching, he told them that He who would winnow +the wheat from the chaff was yet to appear. And when they crowded to +his baptism, he reiterated that it was only the baptism of negation, +_of water_, but the Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with +fire. + +Why was this? Ah, he knew his limitations! He was the greatest-born +of woman, yet he knew that his bosom was not broad enough, nor his +heart tender enough, to justify him in bidding all weary and +heavy-laden ones to come to him for rest; he could not say that he and +God were one, and include himself with the Deity, in the majestic +pronoun, we; he never dared to ask men to believe in himself as they +believed in the Father: but there came after him One who dared to say +all these things; and this is the inevitable conclusion, that either +Jesus was inferior to John in all that goes to make a strong and noble +character, or that Jesus was all that John said He was, "The Son of +God, and King of Israel." There is no third suggestion possible. We +must either estimate Jesus as immeasurably inferior, or incomparably +superior, to the strong, sane, Spirit-filled prophet, who never wearied +in declaring the impassable chasm that yawned between them. + +Such humility always accompanies a true vision of Christ. If we view +it from the low ground, the mountain may appear to reach into the sky; +but when we reach the mountain-top, we are immediately aware of the +infinite distance between the highest snow-peak and the nearest star. +To the crowds John may have seemed to fulfil all the essential +conditions of the prophetic portraiture of the Messiah; but _he_ stood +on the mountain, and knew how infinitely the Christ stood above him. +This is apparent in his reply to the final inquiry of the Sanhedrim, +"And they asked him, and said unto him, 'Why, then, baptizest thou, if +thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the Prophet?'" And +John said in effect, "I baptize because I was sent to baptize, and I +know very well that my work in this respect is temporary and transient; +but what matters that? In the midst of you standeth One whom ye know +not, even He that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not +worthy to unloose. The Christ is come. Have not I seen Him, standing +amid your crowds, yea, descending these very banks?" + +The people must have turned one to another, as he spoke. What! Had +the Messiah come! It could hardly be. There had been no prodigies in +earth or sky worthy of his advent. How could He be amongst them, and +they unaware! But it was even so, and it is so still. The Christ is +in us, and with us still. There may be no transcendent symptoms of his +blessed presence, as He stands in the little groups of two and three +gathered in his name; but the eye of faith detects Him. Where others +see only the bare cliffs of Patmos, or the mines with their gangs of +convicts, the anointed gaze beholds a face brighter than the sun, the +purged ear catches the accents of a voice like the murmur of waters on +the still night air. Remember how He said, "He that loveth Me shall be +loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to +him." As the Holy Spirit revealed Him to John, so He will reveal Him +to us, if only, like John, we will be content with nothing less, and +wait expectant with the heart on the outlook for the manifestation of +the Son of God; for so He promised, saying, "He shall take of mine, and +shall declare it unto you." And when the child of faith speaks thus, +with the accent of conviction, of what he has seen, and tasted, and +handled, of the Word of life, it is not strange that the children of +this world, whose eyes are blinded, begin to question and deride. What +is there to be seen that they cannot see? What heard that they cannot +detect? Ah, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of +God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, +because they are spiritually discerned." "There standeth One among +you," said the Baptist, "whom ye know not." + + +II. THE BAPTIST'S WITNESS TO THE LORD.--Six weeks passed by from that +memorable vision of the opened heaven and the descending Spirit, and +John had eagerly scanned every comer to the river-bank to see again +that divinely beautiful face. But in vain: for Jesus was in the +wilderness, being tempted of the devil, for forty days and nights, the +companion of wild beasts, and exposed to a very hurricane of temptation. + +At the end of the six weeks, the interview with the deputation from the +Sanhedrim took place, which we have already described; and on the day +after, when his confession of inferiority was still fresh in the minds +of his hearers, when some were criticising and others pitying, when +symptoms that the autumn of his influence had set in were in the air, +his eye flashed, his face lit up, and he cried, saying: "This is He of +whom I said, 'After me cometh a man who is become before me, for He was +before me.' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the +world." + +Did all eyes turn towards the Christ? Was there a ripple of interest +and expectancy through the crowd? Did any realize the unearthly beauty +and spiritual power of his presence? We know not. Scripture is +silent, only telling us that on the following day, when, with two +disciples, he looked on Jesus as He walked, and repeated his +affirmation, "Behold the Lamb of God," those two disciples followed +Him, never to return to their old master--who knew it must be so, and +was content to decrease if only _He_ might increase. + +Let us notice the successive revelations which were made to John, and +through him to Israel, who, you remember, held him, as they had every +warrant for doing, to be in the deepest sense a prophet of the Lord. +This conviction has been definitely endorsed by succeeding ages, which +have classed him as one of the six greatest men that ever left their +mark on the world. + +(1) _He rightly conceived of Christ's pre-existence_. "He was before +me" (John i. 30). The phrase resembles Christ's own words, when He +said: "Before Abraham was, I am." In John's case it developed soon +after into another and kindred expression: "He that cometh from above, +is above all" (John iii. 31). With such words the Baptist taught his +disciples. He insisted that Jesus of Nazareth had an existence +anterior to Nazareth, and previous to his birth of the village maiden. +He recognised that his goings had been of old, even from everlasting, +that He was the mighty God, the Father of the Ages, and the Prince of +Peace. As for himself, he was of the earth, and of the earth he spoke; +as for this One, He came from above, and was above all. It is not +surprising, therefore, that one of his disciples, catching his Master's +spirit, wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with +God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. +All things were made by Him." + +(2) _He rightly apprehended the sacrificial aspect of Christ's work_. +"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Was +it that his priestly lineage gave Him a special right to coin and use +this appellation? It was, without doubt, breathed into his heart by +the Holy Spirit; but his whole previous training, as the son of a +priest, fitted him to receive and transmit it. An attempt has been +made to limit the meaning of these words to the personal character of +Jesus, his purity, and gentleness; but, to the Jews who listened, the +latter part of his exclamation could have but one significance. They +would at once connect with his words, those of the Law, the Prophets, +and the Psalms. "The goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities +unto a solitary land." "He bare the sin of many." "He is led as a +lamb to the slaughter." + +From the slopes of Mount Moriah, a young voice has expressed the +longing of the ages, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the +lamb?" This has been the cry of the human heart in all generations. +From the days of Abel men have brought the firstlings of their flocks, +laying them on the altar, and consuming them with fire; but there was +always a sense of failure and insufficiency. Through the ages, and in +every clime, priest after priest offered the lamb upon the altar, but +by the very fact of continual repetition, bore witness to the +insufficiency of its propitiation. "Every priest, indeed," is the +comment of inspiration, "standeth day by day ministering and offering +oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins." +Must not the hearts of hundreds of saintly priests have been filled +with the same inquiry, Where is the lamb? As the prophets understood +more clearly the nature of God's dealing with man--as, for instance, +Micah saw that even the offering of the first-born could never atone +for the sin of the soul--may we not suppose that from their lips also +the same inquiry was elicited, Where is the lamb? Nature cannot answer +that cry. She is fascinating, especially when she dimples with the +smile of spring, and unveils her face in summer to receive the caresses +of the sun. But with all her beauty and fascination she cannot answer +the entreaty of the conscience that the penalty of sin may be removed, +its power broken, so that man may walk with God with a fearless heart. +Animals at the best are only symbols of the complete solution to the +ever-recurring problem of human sin: thus from all the ages goes forth +the cry, Where is the lamb? Then from his heaven God sends forth his +Son to be the sufficient answer to the universal appeal: and the +heaven-sent messenger, from his rocky pulpit, as he sees Jesus coming +to him, cries, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of +the world." + +Dear soul, thou mayest venture on Him. He is God's Lamb; on Him the +sin of our race has been laid, and He stood before God with the +accumulated load--"made sin"; the iniquity of us all was laid upon Him; +wounded for our transgressions; bruised for our iniquities; chastised +for our peace; stricken for our transgression; bearing the sin of many. +As the first Adam brought sin on the race, the second Adam has put it +away by the sacrifice of Himself. Men are lost now, not because of +Adam's sin, nor because they were born into a race of sinners, but for +the sin which they presumptuously and wilfully commit, or because by +unbelief they contract themselves out of the benefits of Christ's +death. The servant who had been forgiven by his king, but took his +brother by the throat, brought back upon himself the full penalty from +which the royal warrant had freed him; and if any one of us cling to +sin, rejecting and trampling under foot the Saviour's work on our +behalf, we cancel so far all those benefits of our Saviour's passion +which otherwise would accrue, and bring back upon ourselves the +penalties from which He would fain have delivered us. + +(3) _He understood the baptism of the Holy Spirit_. "The same is He +that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." As Son of God, our Saviour from +all eternity was one with the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the blessed +Trinity; but as "the one Man," He received in his human nature the +fulness of the Divine Spirit. It pleased the Father that in Him should +all the fulness of the Godhead dwell, that He might be able to +communicate Him to all the sons of men who were united to Him by a +living faith. Thus it fell that He was able to assure his disciples +that if they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, as John +baptized with water, they should be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts +i. 4, 5). + +The term _baptism_, as applied to the Holy Spirit, had better be +confined to those marvellous manifestations of spiritual power which +are recorded in Acts ii., viii., x., xix., whilst the word _filling_ +should be used of those experiences of the indwelling and anointing of +the Divine Spirit which are within the reach of us all. Still, we may +all adopt the words of the Baptist, and tell our living Head that we +have need to be baptized of Him--need to be plunged into the fiery +baptism; need to be searched by the stinging flame; need to be cleansed +from dross and impurity; need to be caught in the transfiguring, +heaven-leaping energy of the Holy Spirit, borne upon his bosom into the +rare atmosphere where the seven lamps burn always before the throne of +God. The blood of the Lamb and the fire of the Holy Spirit are thus +inextricably united. + +(4) _He beheld the mystery of the Holy Trinity_. For the first time +this was made manifest to man. On the one hand there was the Father +speaking from heaven; on the other the Spirit descending as a dove--and +between them was the Son of Man who was proclaimed to be the Son of +God, the beloved Son. Surely John might say that flesh and blood had +not revealed these things, but they had been made known to him by a +divine revelation. + +The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a profound mystery, hidden from the +intellect, but revealed to the humble and reverent heart; hidden from +the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. Welcome Jesus Christ as +John did; and, as to John, so the whole wonder of the Godhead will be +made known to thy heart. Thou wilt hear the Father bearing witness to +his Son; thou wilt see how clearly the Son reveals the Father, and +achieves redemption; thou shalt know what it is to stand beneath the +open heaven and behold and participate in the Divine anointing. Of +what good is it to reason about the Trinity if thou hast no spiritual +appetite for the gifts of the Trinity? But if this is thine, and thou +openest thine heart, thou wilt receive the gift and understand the +doctrine. + +(5) _He appreciated the Divine Sonship of Christ_. "I have seen and +have borne witness that this is the Son of God." This witness counts +for much. John knew men, knew himself, knew Christ. He would not have +said so much unless he had been profoundly convinced; and he would not +have been profoundly convinced unless irrefragable evidence had been +presented to him. What though, when on the following day he repeats +his exclamation, his whole congregation leaves him to follow the Man of +Nazareth to his home? The heart of the Forerunner is satisfied, for he +has heard the Bridegroom's voice. The Son of God has come, and has +given him an understanding that he might know Him that is true. + + + + +IX. + +"We must increase, but I must decrease." + +(JOHN III. 30.) + + "Where is the lore the Baptist taught, + The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue? + The much-enduring wisdom, sought + By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among? + Who counts it gain + His light would wane, + So the whole world to Jesus throng?" + KEBLE. + + +The Moral Greatness of the Baptist--Thoughts on Envy--Christian +Consecration--The Baptist's Creed--The Voice of the Beloved + + +From the Jordan Valley our Lord returned to Galilee and Nazareth. The +marriage feast of Cana, his return to Jerusalem, the cleansing of the +Temple, and the interview with Nicodemus, followed in rapid succession. +And when the crowds of Passover pilgrims were dispersing homewards, He +also left the city with his disciples, and began a missionary tour +throughout the land of Judaea. + +This tour is not much dwelt upon in Scripture. We only catch a glimpse +of it here in the 22nd verse, and again in the address of the apostle +Peter to Cornelius, where he speaks of Christ preaching good tidings of +peace throughout all Judaea (Acts x. 36, 37). How long it lasted we +cannot tell; but it must have occupied some months, for He tarried from +time to time at different points. + +It is not likely that our Lord unfolded his Messianic character, or +taught with the same clearness as in after days. For the most part, He +would adopt the cry of the Baptist. Of the commencement of his +ministry it is recorded: "Jesus came, ... preaching the Gospel of God, +and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: +repent ye, and believe in the Gospel'" (Mark i. 14, 15). But his deeds +declared his royalty. + +Wherever He went He was welcomed with vast enthusiasm. The scenes +which had occurred a few months before to inaugurate the Baptist's +ministry were re-enacted. The progress of the heaven-sent Teacher +(John iii. 2) was accompanied by immense throngs of people, who, +wearied with the tiresome exactions of Pharisee and scribe, turned with +eagerness to the humanness and holiness of the True Shepherd. It is +said that cattle, sick and harried with the voyage across the Atlantic, +will show signs of revival as they sniff the first land breezes laden +with the breath of the clover fields. + +During all this time the Baptist was continuing his preparatory work in +the Jordan Valley, though now driven by persecution to leave the +western bank for Aenon and Salim on the eastern side, where a handful +of followers still clung to him. "John was not yet cast into prison," +but the shadow of his impending fate was already gathering over him; +and so he was baptizing in Aenon, near to Salim, where the Jordan +sweeps out into broad sheets of water, eminently suitable for his +purpose. Thither they came and were baptized. The morning star +lingers in the same heavens with the sun, whom it has announced; but +its lustre has paled, and its glories are shorn. + +It would appear from the R.V. (ver. 25) that a Jew, probably an +emissary of the Sanhedrim, brought tidings to that little circle of +true-hearted disciples of the work that Jesus was doing in Judaea, and +drew them into a discussion as to the comparative value of the two +baptisms. It was acknowledged that Jesus did not, with his own hands, +perform the rite of baptism, probably for reasons afterwards cited by +his great apostle (iv. 2; compare 1 Cor. i. 14-17): but it would be +administered by his disciples, at his direction, and with his +countenance, and therefore it could be reported to the Baptist by his +disciples, who came to him with eyes flashing with indignation, and +faces heated with the excitement of the discussion: "Rabbi, He that was +with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, the same +baptizeth, and all men come to Him" (ver. 26). + +It was as though they said, "Master, is it not too bad? See how thy +generous testimony has been requited! In the day of thy glory thou +wert too profuse in thy acknowledgments, too prodigal in thy +testimonials. Now this new Teacher has taken a leaf out of thy +programme; He too is preaching, baptizing, and gathering a school of +disciples." But there was no tinder in that noble breast which these +jealous sparks could kindle. Nothing but love dwelt there. He had +been plunged into the baptism of a holy love, which had burnt out the +selfishness and jealousy, which were as natural to him as to us all. +It was as when a spark falls into an ocean and is instantly +extinguished. Thus his reply will ever rank among the greatest +utterances of mortal man. The Lord said that of those born of woman +none was greater than John; and, if by nothing else, by these words his +moral stature and superlative excellence were vindicated. He seemed +great when his voice rang like a clarion through Palestine, attracting +and thrilling the mighty throngs; great, when he dared to tell Herod +that it was unlawful for him to have his brother's wife, uttering words +which those palace walls must have been startled to hear; great, when +he baptized Him for whom the world was waiting, and who was declared to +be the Son of God with power; but he never seemed so great as when he +refused to enter into those acrimonious altercations and discussions, +and said simply, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him +from heaven." + + +I. JOHN COUNTED INFLUENCE AND POSITION AS DIVINE GIFTS.--What +startling differences obtain among men--Peter and John, Calvin and +Melancthon, John Knox and Samuel Rutherford, Kingsley and Keble! Each +of these has left his imprint on human history; each so needful to do +his own special work, but each so diverse from all others. We are +sometimes tempted to attribute their special powers and success to +their circumstances, their times, their parents and teachers; but there +is a deeper and more satisfactory explanation. Adopting the words of +the Forerunner, we may say--They had nothing that they had not received +from heaven, by the direct appointment and decree of God. + +It was thus that the Baptist reasoned: "Whatever success and blessing I +had are due to the appointment of Him who sent me to preach his Gospel +and announce the advent of his Son. Every man has his work and sphere +appointed him of God. If this new Teacher meet with such success, we +have no right to be jealous of Him, lest we sin against God, who has +made Him what He is. And if we have not the same crowds as once, let +us be content to take this, too, as the appointment of Heaven, glad to +do whatever is assigned to us, and to leave all results with God." + +This is a golden sentence, indeed!--"A man can receive nothing, except +it be given him from heaven." Hast thou great success in thy +life-work? Do crowds gather around thy steps and throng thy +audience-chamber? Do not attribute them to thyself. They are all the +gifts of God's grace. He raiseth up one and setteth down another. +Thou hast nothing that thou hast not received; and if thou hast +received it, see to it that thou exercise perpetually the faculty of +receptiveness, so that thou mayest receive more and more, grace on +grace. The river in its flow should hollow out the channel-bed through +which it flows. Be thankful, but never vain. He who gave may take. +Great talents bestowed imply great responsibility in the day of +reckoning. Be not high-minded, but fear. Much success can only be +enjoyed without injury to the inner life by being considered as the +dear gift of Christ, to be used for Him. + +Hast thou but one talent, and little success?--yet this is as God has +willed it. He might have given more had He willed it so; be thankful +that He has given any. Use what thou hast. The five barley loaves and +two small fishes will so increase, as they are distributed, that they +will supply the want of thousands. Do not dare to envy one more +successful and used than thyself, lest thou be convicted of murmuring +against the appointment of thy Lord. Here, too, is the cure of +jealousy, which more than anything else blights the soul of the servant +of God. To an older minister, who has passed the zenith of his +popularity and power, it is often a severe trial to see younger men +stepping into positions which he once held and has been compelled to +renounce. He is mightily tempted to disparage their power, and condemn +them by faint praise; or, if he praise, to add one biting comment which +undoes the generosity and frankness of the eulogium. Why should this +younger man, who was not born when his own ministry was at full tide, +now carry all before him, while the waves are quietly withdrawing from +the margin of seaweed they once cast up! Thoughts like these corrode +and canker the soul; and there is no arrest to them, unless, by a +definite effort of the Spirit-energised will, the soul turns to God +with the words: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from +heaven. I had my glad hours of meridian glory, and have still the +mellow light of a summer sunset. It was God's gift to me, as rest is +now; and I will rejoice that He raises up others to do his work. I +will rejoice that the Kingdom is coming, that Christ is satisfied, that +men are being saved; this shall be my joy, and it shall be fulfilled." + +How much misery, heart-burning, and disappointment would be saved if, +at the beginning of life, each of us inquired seriously what that +special work in the world might be to which he was called, and for +which he is fitted. Then, instead of being poor imitations, we might +be good originals. Instead of spending our time in going off on side +issues, we might bend all our strength to the main purpose of our +existence. God has meant each of us for something; incarnating in us +one of his own great thoughts, and equipping us with all material that +is necessary for its realization. We may probably discover its meaning +by the peculiarities of our mental endowments or the advice of friends; +by the necessity of our circumstances or the prompting of the Holy +Spirit. Otherwise we must be content to go on making each day +according to the pattern shown us--not as a whole, but in detail--sure +that some day each bit and scrap, each vail and hanging, will find its +place, and the tabernacle of our life stand complete. + +Every name is historic in God's estimate. The obscurest among us has +his place in the Divine plan, his lesson to learn, his work to do. The +century opening before us can no more dispense with us than an +orchestra with the piccolo. A pawn on God's chessboard may take a +knight, or give check to a king. "We are his workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before prepared (R.V.), that +we should walk in them" (Eph. ii. 10). + + +II. JOHN CAUGHT SIGHT OF A FULLER AND RICHER IDEAL THAN HIS +OWN.--Tidings had, without doubt, been brought to him of our Lord's +first miracle in Cana of Galilee. We know that it had made a great +impression on the little group of ardent souls, who had been called to +share the village festivities with their newly-found Master; and we +know that some of them were still deeply attached to their old friend +and leader. From these he would learn the full details of that +remarkable inauguration of this long-expected ministry. How startled +he must have been at the first hearing! He had announced the +Husbandman with his fan to thoroughly winnow his floor; the Baptist +with his fire; the Lamb of God, holy, harmless, and separate from +sinners. But the Messiah opens his ministry among men by mingling with +the simple villagers in their wedding joy, and actually ministers to +their innocent mirth, as He turns the water into wine! The Son of Man +has come "eating and drinking"! What a contrast was here to the +austerity of the desert, the coarse raiment, the hard fare! "John the +Baptist came neither eating nor drinking." Could this be He? And yet +there was no doubt that the heaven had been opened above Him, that the +Dove had descended, and that God's voice had declared Him to be the +"Beloved Son." But what a contrast to all that he had looked for! + +Further reflection, however, on that incident, in which Jesus +manifested forth his glory, and the cleansing of the Temple which +immediately followed, must have convinced the Baptist that this +conception of holiness was the true one. His own type could never be +universal or popular. It was not to be expected that the mass of men +could be spared from the ordinary demands of daily life to spend their +days in the wilderness as he had done; and it would not have been for +their well-being, or that of the world, if his practice had become the +rule. It would have been a practical admission that ordinary life was +common and unclean; and that there was no possibility of infusing it +with the high principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. Consecration to God +would have become synonymous with the exclusion of wife and child, of +home and business, of music and poetry, from the soul of the saint; +whereas its true conception demands that nothing which God has created +can be accounted common or unclean, but all may be included within the +encircling precincts of the Redeemer's Kingdom. The motto of Christian +consecration is, therefore, given in that remarkable assertion of the +apostle; "Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, +if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the +Word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5). + +John saw, beneath the illuminating ray of the Holy Spirit, that this +was the Divine Ideal; that the Redeemer could not contradict the +Creator; that the Kingdom was consistent with the home; and the +presence of the King with the caress of woman and the laughter of the +child, and the innocent mirth of the village feast. This he saw, and +cried in effect: "That village scene is the key to the Messiah's +ministry to Israel. He is not only Guest at a bridegroom's table, but +the Bridegroom Himself. He has come to woo and win the chosen race. +Of old they were called Hephzibah and Beulah; and now those ancient +words come back to mind with newly-minted meaning, with the scent of +spring. Our land, long bereaved and desolate, is to be married. Joy, +joy to her! The Bridegroom is here. He that hath the bride is the +Bridegroom. As for me, I am the Bridegroom's friend, sent to negotiate +the match, privileged to know and bring together the two parties in the +blessed nuptials--blessed with the unspeakable gladness of hearing the +Bridegroom's manly speech. Do you tell me that He is preaching, and +that all come to Him? That is what I have wanted most of all. This my +joy, therefore, is fulfilled. 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'" + + +III. JOHN HAD ENLARGED PERCEPTION OF THE TRUE NATURE OF CHRIST.--It +has been questioned whether the paragraph which follows (John iii. +31-36) was spoken by the Baptist, or is the comment of the Evangelist. +With many eminent commentators, I incline strongly to the former view. +The phraseology employed in this paragraph is closely similar to the +words addressed by Christ to Nicodemus, and often used by Himself, as +in John v.; and they may well have filtered through to the Baptist, by +the lips of Andrew, Peter, and John, who would often retail to their +venerated earliest teacher what they heard from Jesus. + +Consider, then, the Baptist's creed at this point of his career. He +_believed_ in the heavenly origin and divinity of the Son of Man--that +He was from heaven and above all. He _believed_ in the unique and +divine source of his teaching--that He did not communicate what He had +learnt at second-hand, but stood forth as one speaking what He knows, +and testifying what He has seen--"For He whom God has sent, speaketh +the words of God." He _believed_ in his copious enduement with the +Holy Spirit. Knowing that human teachers, at the best, could only +receive the Spirit in a limited degree, he recognised that when God +anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit there was no limit, no +measuring metre, no stint. It was copious, rich, unmeasured--so much +so that it ran down from his head, as Hermon's dews descend to the +lonely heights of Zion. He _believed_ in his near relationship to God, +using the well-known Jewish phrase of sonship to describe his +possession of the Divine nature in a unique sense, and recalling the +utterance of the hour of baptism, to give weight to his assurance that +the Father loved Him as Son. Lastly, He _believed_ in the mediatorial +function of the Man of Nazareth--that the Father had already given all +things into his hand; and that the day was coming when He would sit on +the throne of David, yea, on the mediatorial throne itself, King of +kings, and Lord of lords, the keys of Death and Hades, of the realms of +invisible existence and spiritual power, hanging at his girdle. + +To that creed the Baptist added a testimony, which has been the means +of light and blessing to myriads. Being dead, he yet has spoken +through the ages, assuring us that to believe on Jesus is to have, as a +present fact, eternal life, the life which fills the Being of God and +defies time and change. Faith is the act by which we open our heart to +receive the gift of God; as earth bares her breast to sun and rain, and +as the good wife flings wide her doors and windows to let in the spring +sunshine and the summer air. Ah, reader, I would that thou hadst this +faith! The open heart towards Christ! The yielded will! Thou needst +only will to have Him, and He has already entered, though thou canst +not detect his footfall, or the chime of the bells around his garment's +hem. And to shut thy heart against Him not only excludes the life +which might be thine, but incurs the wrath of God. + +_There are two concluding thoughts_. First: The only hope of a +decreasing self is an increasing Christ. There is too much of the +self-life in us all, chafing against God's will, refusing God's gifts, +instigating the very services we render to God, simulating humility and +meekness for the praise of men. But how can we be rid of this accursed +self-consciousness and pride? Ah! we must turn our back on our shadow, +and our face towards Christ. We must look at all things from his +standpoint, trying to realize always how they affect Him, and then +entering into his emotions. It has been said that "the woman who loves +thinks with the brain of the man she loves", and surely if we love +Christ with a constraining passion, we shall think his thoughts and +feel his joys, and no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him. + + "Love took up the Harp of Life + And smote on all its chords with might; + Smote the chord of self, that trembling, + Passed in music out of sight." + + +Second: we must view our relationship to Christ as the betrothal and +marriage of our soul to our Maker and Redeemer, who is also our +Husband. "Wherefore, my brethren," says the apostle, "ye also were +made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be +married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we +should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4). + +The Son of God is not content to love us. He cannot rest till He has +all our love in return. "He looketh in at the windows" of the soul, +"and showeth Himself through the lattice." Our Beloved speaks, and +says unto us, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." And, as +our response, He waits to hear us say: + + "My Beloved is mine, and I am his; + He feedeth his flock among the lilies. + Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, + Turn, my Beloved!" + + + + +X. + +The King's Courts + +(MARK VI.) + + "The number of thine own complete, + Sum up and make an end; + Sift clean the chaff, and house the wheat; + And then, O Lord, descend. + + "Descend, and solve by that descent + This mystery of life; + Where good and ill, together blent, + Wage an undying strife." + J. H. N. + + +Under Royal Surveillance--"It is not Lawful."--The Revenge of +Herodias--The Upbraidings of Conscience--Devotion to Truth--"A Sin unto +Death." + + +Our story brings us next to speak of the Baptist's relations with Herod +Antipas, son of the great Herod, a contemptible princeling who +inherited a fourth part of his father's dominions (hence known as the +Tetrarch), ruling over Galilee and part of Perea. For the most part he +lived at Tiberias, in great state, which he had imported from Rome, +where he had spent part of his early life. From an early age he had +been entrusted with despotic power, and, as the natural and inevitable +result, had become sensual, weak, capricious, and cruel. + +It is of the collision between this man, whom our Lord compared to a +fox, and John the Baptist, that we have now to treat. We need only +notice here that every great character on the page of history has had +his vehement antagonist. Moses, Pharaoh; Elijah, Ahab; Jeremiah, +Jehoiakim; Paul, Nero; Savonarola, the Medici; Luther, the Emperor +Charles V.; John Knox, Queen Mary. + + +I. THE CAUSE OF THE COLLISION.--All the world had flocked to see and +hear John the Baptist. Every mouth was full of his eccentricities and +eloquence. Marvellous stories were being told of the effect which he +had produced on the lives of those who had come under his influence. +All this was well known to Herod. His spies were present in every +great gathering, and served the purpose of the newspaper of to-day; so +that he was well informed of all the topics that engaged the popular +mind. + +For some months, also, Herod had watched the career of the preacher. +When he least expected it, he was under the surveillance of the closest +criticism. A fierce light, like that which beats about a throne, fell +strongly on his most secret actions. And the result had been perfectly +satisfactory. Herod felt that John was a true man. He observed him, +and was satisfied that he was a just man and a holy. Reasons of state +forbade the king from going in person to the Jordan Valley; but he was +extremely eager to see and hear this mighty man of God: and so, one +day, at the close of a discourse, an argument with the Pharisees, or +the administration of the rite of baptism, John found himself accosted +by one of the court chamberlains, and summoned to deliver his message +before the court. Herod "sent for him." + +We might wonder how it could happen that a man like Herod, who +notoriously lived in a glass house, so far as character went, should be +so willing to call in so merciless a preacher of repentance as John the +Baptist was--before whose words, flung like stones, full many a glass +house had crashed to the ground, leaving its tenant unsheltered before +the storm. But it must be remembered that most men, when they enter +the precincts of the court, are accustomed to put velvet in their +mouths; and, however vehement they may have been in denouncing the sins +of the lower classes, they change their tone when face to face with +sinners in high places. Herod, therefore, had every reason to presume +that John would obey this unwritten law; and, whilst denouncing sin in +general, would refrain from anything savouring of the direct and +personal. + +Another reason probably actuated Herod. He knew that the land was +filled with the fame of the Baptist, and it seemed an easy path to +popularity, and likely to divert attention from his private sins, which +had made much scandal, to patronize the religion of the masses. At +this point he probably entertained much the same feeling toward the +desert-prophet that led Simon the Pharisee to invite Jesus to eat with +him. "Yes, let John the Baptist come. Court life is dreary and +monotonous enough. It will make a little diversion, like a breath of +fresh air on a sultry day. It is worth risking a little roughness in +his speech, and uncouthness in his manner, if only he while away an +afternoon. Besides, it will please his following, which is +considerable. Let him come, by all means." + +We are reminded of a similar scene in Old Testament history, when, at +the solicitation of Jehoshaphat, Ahab sent for Micaiah. "The messenger +that went to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, 'Behold, the words of +the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth; let thy word +therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.'" + +One interpretation of Mark vi. 20 suggests that the Baptist's first +sermon before Herod was followed by another, and yet another. The +Baptist dealt with general subjects, urged on the King's attention some +minor reforms, which were not too personal or drastic, and won his +genuine regard. We are told that he used to hear (the _imperfect +tense_) him gladly, and "did many things." It was a relief to Herod's +mind to feel that there were many things which he could do, many wrongs +which he could set right, while the main wrong of his life was left +untouched. Ah! it is remarkable how much men will do in the direction +of amendment and reform, if only, by a tacit understanding, nothing is +said, or hinted at, which threatens the one sin in which the heart's +evil has concentrated itself. But John knew that his duty to Herod, to +truth, to public morality, demanded that he should go further, and +pierce to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and +marrow; and therefore on one memorable occasion he accosted the royal +criminal with the crime of which men were speaking secretly everywhere, +and uttered the memorable sentence which could not be forgiven: "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." + +We can imagine how some room in the palace, which had often been the +scene of wild riot, would be improvised as an audience chamber, filled +with seats, and crowded on each occasion of the Baptist's appearance +with a strange and brilliant throng. In the midst, the king and the +woman with whom he was living in illicit union; next them her daughter, +Salome; around them courtiers and ladies, nobles and pages, soldiers +and servants. On all sides splendid dresses, magnificent uniforms, +rare jewels, luxurious upholstery, added light and colour to the scene. + +The sermon began. As was John's wont, he arraigned the sin, the +formalism, the laxity of the times; he proclaimed the advent of the +Kingdom, the presence of the King; he demanded, in the name of God, +repentance and reform. Herod was, as usual, impressed and convinced; +he assented to the preacher's propositions; already he had settled +himself into his usual posture for hearing gladly. It was as when we +watch summer-lightning playing around the horizon; we have no fear so +long as it is not forked. + +Presently, however, John becomes more personal and direct than ever +before. He begins, in no measured terms, to denounce the sin of men in +high places, and holds up the dissoluteness which disgraced the court. +As he proceeds, a breathless silence falls on the crowd sitting, or +hanging around him, their dresses in curious contrast to his severe +garment of camel's hair, their nervous dread in as great contrast to +his incisive and searching eloquence. Here were the people clothed in +soft raiment, and accustomed to sumptuous fare, bending as reeds before +the gusts of wind sweeping fiercely across the marsh. + +Finally, the preacher comes closer still, and pointing to the princess +who sat beside Herod, looking Herod in the face, he exclaims: "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." + +We need not dwell on all the terrible details of that disgraceful sin. +But every circumstance which could deepen its infamy was present. +Herod's wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of Arabia, was still living; +as was Philip, the husband of Herodias. The _liaison_ commenced at +Rome, when Herod was the guest of his brother Philip, while apparently +engaged on a mission of holy devotion to the religious interests of the +Jewish nation. + +The ground of John's accusation calls for a heavier emphasis than +appears in a superficial consideration of the words. He might have +said: "It is not expedient; your wife's father will rise in arms +against you, and threaten the Eastern border of your kingdom. It is +not expedient to run the risk of war, which may give Rome a further +excuse against you." He might have said: "This is an unwise step, as +it will cut you off from your own family, and leave you exposed to the +brunt of popular hate." He might have said: "It is impolitic and +incautious to risk the adverse judgment of the Emperor." But he said +none of these things. He took the matter to a higher court. He +arraigned the guilty pair before God; and, laying his axe at the root +of the tree--calling on Herod's conscience, long gagged and silent, to +take part in the impeachment--he said, in effect: "I summon you before +the bar of God, and in the pure light which streams from his holy +Oracle, your consciences being witnesses against you, you know +perfectly well that it is not right for you to be living as you are +living. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'" + +Every hearer stood aghast. A death-like hush fell on the assembly, +which probably broke up in dismay. So paralyzed was every one that no +hand was laid on the preacher. We are expressly told that "Herod _sent +forth_ and laid hold upon John" (Mark vi. 17); from which we infer that +the fearless preacher passed out through the paralyzed and +conscience-stricken assemblage, leaving dismay, like that which befell +the roysterers in Belshazzar's court, when the hand of the Almighty +traced the mysterious characters on the palace wall in lines of fire. + +The first feeling of awe and conscience-stricken remorse would, +however, soon pass off. Some would hasten to condole with Herodias; +some to sympathize with Herod. Herodias would retire to her +apartments, accompanied by her high ladies, vowing fiery vengeance on +the preacher--a very Jezebel, thirsting for the blood of another +Elijah. Throughout Herod's court there would be an effort to dismiss +the allusion as "Altogether uncalled for;" as "What might have been +expected from such a man;" as "A gross breach of manners," as "An +affront against delicacy of taste." + +But Herodias would give her paramour no rest; and, perhaps one evening, +when John had retired for meditation and prayer, his disciples being +off their guard and the people absent, a handful of soldiers arrested +him, bound him, and led him off to the strong castle of Machaerus. + + +II. JOHN'S IMPRISONMENT AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES.--The castle of +Machaerus was known as "the diadem," or "the black tower." It lay on +the east side of the Dead Sea, almost on a line with Bethlehem. The +ruins of the castle are still to be seen, in great masses of squared +stone, on the top of a lofty hill, surrounded on three sides by +unscaleable precipices, descending to such depths that Josephus says +the eye could not reach their bottom. The fourth side is described as +only a little less terrible. Wild desolation reigned far and near. A +German traveller mentions the masses of lava, brown, red, and black, +varied with pumice-stone, distributed in huge broken masses, or rising +in perpendicular cliffs; whilst the rushing stream, far below, is +overgrown with oleanders and date-palms, willows, poplars, and tall +reeds. Here and there, thick mists of steam arise, where the hot +sulphur springs gush from the clefts of the rocks. + +On this impregnable site, Dr. Geikie tells us that Herod had erected a +great wall, enclosing the summit of the hill, with towers two hundred +feet high at the corners, and in the space thus gained had built a +grand palace, with rows of columns of a single stone apiece, halls +lined with many-coloured marbles, magnificent baths, and all the +details of Roman luxury, not omitting huge cisterns, barracks, and +store-houses, with everything needed in case of a siege. From the +windows there was a magnificent view of the Dead Sea, the whole course +of the Jordan, Jerusalem, Hebron, the frowning fortress of Marsaba, and +away to the north, the wild heights of Pisgah and Abarim. Detached +from the palace was a stern and gloomy keep, with underground dungeons +still visible, hewn down into the solid rock. This was the scene of +John's imprisonment. + +The Evangelist says expressly that they _bound_ the child of the +desert-wastes, with his love for dear liberty--sensitive to the touch +of the sunshine and the breeze, to the beauty that lay over the hills, +accustomed to go and come at his will--as though it were the last +indignity and affront to fetter those lithe and supple limbs, and place +them under constraint. Ah, it is little short of a sin to encage a +wild bird, beating its heart against the bars of its narrow cage, when +the sun calls it to mount up with quivering ecstasy to the gates of +day; but what a sin to bind the preacher of righteousness, and imprison +him in sunless vaults--what an agony! What a contrast between the gay +revelry that reigned yonder within the palace, and the slow torture +which the noble spirit of the Baptist was doomed to suffer through +those weary months! + +Is there anything like that in your life, my reader? In many an old +castle the attention of the visitor is directed to a haunted room, +where ghosts are said to walk at night; but in how many hearts there +are dark subterranean apartments, where conscience, gagged and bound, +lies imprisoned! Outwardly there is the gaiety and mirth as of a +palace; but inwardly there is remorse, misery, unrest. In lonely hours +there is a voice which pierces the thickest walls of your assumed +indifference, and rings up into the house of your life, where the soul +seeks to close its ear in vain. It is a sad, monotonous, +heart-piercing cry which that voice repeats: "It is not lawful, not +lawful, not lawful." Whenever there is a moment of silence and +respite, you hear it--"Not lawful, not lawful." And nothing can stay +it but repentance, confession, restitution, so far as may be, and the +blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, which cleanseth from all sin. + +From time to time it would seem as though the strictness of John's +imprisonment was relaxed. His disciples were permitted to see him, and +tell him of what was happening in the world without; but stranger than +all, he was summoned to have audiences with Herod himself. + +Another rendering of Mark vi. 19, 20, which is perfectly legitimate, +and is favoured by the R.V., suggests that the king was ill at ease, +and swept to and fro by very different currents. + +First, he was deeply incensed. As he thought of the manner in which +the Baptist had treated him, denouncing him before his court, the fire +of anger burnt fiercely within his breast; and he had beside him a Lady +Macbeth, a beautiful fiend and temptress, who knew that while the +Baptist lived, and dared to speak as he had done, her position was not +safe. She knew Herod well enough to dread the uprising of his +conscience at the appeals of truth. And perpetually, when she saw her +chance, she whispered in Herod's ear, "The sooner you do away with that +man the better. You don't love me perfectly, as long as you permit him +to breathe. Unmannerly cur!" "Herodias set herself against him, and +desired to kill him; but she could not." + +On the other side, Herod was in fear. He feared John, "knowing that he +was a righteous man and a holy." He feared the people, because they +held him for a prophet. And, beneath all, he feared God, lest he +should step in to avenge any wrong perpetrated against his servant. + +Between these two influences he was "much perplexed" (Mark vi. 20, +R.V.). When he was with Herodias, he thought as she did, and left her, +almost resolved to give the fatal order; but when he was alone, the +other influence made itself felt, and he would send for John: + +"I would like to see him again, chamberlain--tell the gaoler to send +the Baptist hither; let his coming to my private room be, however, kept +secret. I don't want all my court blabbing." + +And the gaoler would come to the cell door, and call to his prisoner, +with a mixture of effrontery and obsequiousness, "Up, man; the king +wants you. Put on your softest speech. It will serve you better than +that rasping tongue of yours. Why cannot you leave the king and his +private affairs alone? They are no business of yours or mine." + +And might not Herod attempt to induce the prophet to take back his +ruthless sentence? "Come," he might say, "you remember what you said. +If you unsay that sentence, I will set you free. I cannot, out of +respect for my consort, allow such words to remain unretracted. There, +you have your freedom in your own hands. One word of apology, and you +may go your way; and my solemn bond is yours, that you shall be kept +free from molestation." + +If such an offer were made, it must have presented a strong temptation +to the emaciated captive, whose physique had already lost the +elasticity and vigour of his early manhood, and was showing signs of +his grievous privation. But he had no alternative; and, however often +the ordeal was repeated, he met the royal solicitation with the same +unwavering reply: "I have no alternative. It is not lawful for thee to +have thy brother's wife. I should betray my God, and act treacherously +to thyself, if I were to take back one word which I have spoken; and +thou knowest that it is so." And as he reasoned of righteousness, +temperance, and a judgment to come, the royal culprit trembled. + +John could do no other; but it was a sublime act of devotion to God and +Truth. He had no thought for himself at all, and thought only of the +choice and destiny of that guilty pair, from which he would warn and +save them, if he might. Well might the Lord ask, in after days, if +John were a reed shaken with the wind. Rather he resembled a forest +tree, whose deeply-struck and far-spreading roots secure it against the +attack of the hurricane; or a mighty Alp, which defies the tremor of +the earthquake, and rears its head above the thunder-storms, which +break upon its slopes, to hold fellowship with the skies. + +How many men are like Herod! They resemble the superficial ground, on +which the seed springs into rapid and unnatural growth; but the rock +lies close beneath the surface. Now they are swayed by the voice of +the preacher, and moved by the pleadings of conscience, allowed for one +brief moment to utter its protests and remonstrances; and then they +feel the fascination of their sin, that unholy passion, that sinful +habit, that ill-gotten gain--and are sucked back from the beach, on +which they were almost free, into the sea of ink and death. + +You may be trying, my reader, to steer a middle course between John the +Baptist and Herodias. Now you resolve to get free of her guilty +charms, and break the spell that fascinates you. Merlin will +emancipate himself from Vivien, before she learn his secret, and dance +with it down the wood, leaving him dishonoured and ashamed. But, +within an hour, the Syren is again singing her dulcet notes, and +drawing the ship closer and closer to the rocks, with their black +teeth, waiting to grind it to splinters. Oh that there might come to +you the voice that spoke with such power to Augustine, and that like +him you might now and here yield yourself to it; so that when the +temptress, whatever form she may assume, approaches you with the +whisper: "I am _she_, Augustine," you may answer: "But I am not _he_!" + +So John was left in prison. Month after month he languished in the +dark and stifling dungeon, wondering a little, now and again, why the +Master, if He were the Son of God, did not interpose to work his +deliverance. But of that anon. + + +III. HEROD'S INEVITABLE DETERIORATION.--Again and again John was +remanded to his cell. Probably twelve months passed thus. But each +time the king failed to act on the preacher's remonstrances; he became +more impervious to his appeals, more liable to the sway of passion. +Thus, when a supreme moment came, in which he was under the influence +of drink and unholy appetite, and the reign of such moral nature as +remained was greatly enfeebled, it is not to be wondered at that +Herodias had her way, and before her murderous request the last thin +fence of resistance broke down, and he gave orders that it should be as +she desired. + +The story does not end here. He not only murdered John the Baptist, +but he inflicted a deadly wound on his own moral nature, from which it +never recovered, as we shall see. Ultimately he had no thought in the +presence of Christ other than to see Him work a miracle; and when his +desire was refused, set him at nought with his mighty men, mocked his +claims to be the King of Israel, did not scruple to treat Him with +indignity and violence, and so dismissed Him. + +Is it wonderful that our Lord was speechless before such a man? What +else could He be? The deterioration had been so awful and complete. +For the love of God can say nothing to us, though it be prepared to die +on our behalf, so long as we refuse to repent of, and put away, our +sin. We remember some solemn words, which may be applied in all their +fearful significance to that scene: "There is a sin unto death; not +concerning this do I say that he should make request." + + + + +XI. + +"Art Thou He?" + +(MATTHEW XI.) + + "He fought his doubts and gathered strength, + He would not make his judgment blind, + He faced the spectres of the mind + And laid them;--thus he came, at length, + + "To find a stronger faith his own, + And Power was with him in the night, + Which makes the darkness and the light, + And dwells not in the light alone." + TENNYSON. + + +John's Misgivings--Disappointed Hopes--Signs of the Christ--The +Discipline of Patience--A New Beatitude + + +It is very touching to remark the tenacity with which some few of +John's disciples clung to their great leader. The majority had +dispersed: some to their homes; some to follow Jesus. Only a handful +lingered still, not alienated by the storm of hate which had broken on +their master, but drawn nearer, with the unfaltering loyalty of +unchangeable affection. They could not forget what he had been to +them--that he had first called them to the reality of living; that he +had taught them to pray; that he had led them to the Christ: and they +dare not desert him now, in the dark sad days of his imprisonment and +sorrow. + +What an inestimable blessing to have friends like this, who will not +leave our side when the crowd ebbs, but draw closer as the shadows +darken over our path, and the prison damp wraps its chill mantle about +us! To be loved like that is earth's deepest bliss! These heroic +souls risked all the peril that might accrue to themselves from this +identification with their master; they did not hesitate to come to his +cell with tidings of the great outer world, and specially of what He +was doing and saying, whose life was so mysteriously bound up with his +own. "The disciples of John told him of all these things" (Luke vii. +18, R.V.). + +It was to two of these choice and steadfast friends that John confided +the question which had long been forming within his soul, and forcing +itself to the front. "And John, calling unto him two of his disciples, +sent them to the Lord, saying, Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for +another?" + + +I. JOHN'S MISGIVINGS.--Can this be he who, but a few months ago, had +stood in his rock-hewn pulpit, in radiant certainty? The brilliant +eastern sunlight that bathed his figure, as he stood erect amid the +thronging crowds, was the emblem and symbol of the light that filled +his soul. No misgiving crossed it. He pointed to Christ with +unfaltering certitude, saying, This is He, the Lamb of God, the Son of +the Father, the Bridegroom of the soul. How great the contrast between +that and this sorrowful cry, "Art Thou He?" + +Some commentators, to save his credit, have supposed that the embassy +was sent to the Lord for the sake of the disciples, that their hearts +might be opened, their faith confirmed--and that they might have a head +and leader when he was gone. But the narrative has to be greatly +strained and dragged out of its obvious course to make it cover the +necessities of such an hypothesis. It is more natural to think that +John the Baptist was for a brief spell under a cloud, involved in +doubt, tempted to let go the confidence that had brought him such +ecstatic joy when he first saw the Dove descending and abiding. + +The Bible does not scruple to tell us of the failures of its noblest +children: of Abram, thinking that the Egyptians would take his life; of +Elijah, stretching himself beneath the shadow of the desert bush, and +asking that he might die; of Thomas, who had been prepared to die with +his Lord, but could not believe that He was risen. And in this the +Spirit of God has rendered us untold service, because we learn that the +material out of which He made the greatest saints was flesh and blood +like ourselves; and that it was by Divine grace, manifested very +conspicuously towards them, that they became what they were. If only +the ladder rests on the low earth, where we live and move and have our +being, there is some hope of our climbing to stand with others who have +ascended its successive rungs and reached the starry heights. Yes, let +us believe that, for some days at least, John's mind was overcast, his +faith lost its foothold, and he seemed to be falling into bottomless +depths. _He sent them to Jesus, saying, Art Thou He that should come_? +We can easily trace this lapse of faith to three sources. + +(1) _Depression_. He was the child of the desert. The winds that +swept across the waste were not freer. The boundless spaces of the +Infinite had stretched above him, in vaulted immensity, when he slept +at night or wrought through the busy days; and as he found himself +cribbed, cabined, and confined in the narrow limits of his cell, his +spirits sank. He pined with the hunger of a wild thing for liberty--to +move without the clanking fetters; to drink of the fresh water of the +Jordan, to breathe the morning air; to look on the expanse of nature. +Is it hard to understand how his deprivations reacted on his mental and +spiritual organization, or that his nervous system lost its elasticity +of tone, or that the depression of his physical life cast a shadow on +his soul? + +We are all so highly strung, so delicately balanced. Often the lack of +spiritual joy and peace and power in prayer is attributable to nothing +else than our confinement in the narrow limits of a tiny room; to the +foul, gaseous air we are compelled to breathe; to our inability to get +beyond the great city, with its wilderness of brick, into the country, +with its blossoms, fields, and woodland glades. In a large number of +spiritual maladies the physician is more necessary than the minister of +religion; a holiday by the seaside or on the mountains, than a +convention. + +What an infinite comfort it is to be told that God knows how easily our +nature may become jangled and out of tune. He can attribute our doubts +and fears to their right source. He knows the bow is bent to the point +of breaking, and the string strained to its utmost tension. He does +not rebuke his servants when they cast themselves under juniper bushes, +and ask to die; but sends them food and sleep. And when they send from +their prisons, saying, Art Thou He? there is no word of rebuke, but of +tender encouragement and instruction. + +(2) _Disappointment_. When first consigned to prison, he had expected +every day that Jesus would in some way deliver him. Was He not the +opener of prison-doors? Was not all power at his disposal? Did He not +wield the sceptre of the house of David? Surely He would not let his +faithful follower lie in the despair of that dark dungeon! In that +first sermon at Nazareth, of which he had been informed, was it not +expressly stated to be part of the Divine programme, for which He had +been anointed, that He would open prison-doors, and proclaim liberty to +captives? He would surely then send his angels to open his +prison-doors, and lead him forth into the light! + +But the weeks grew to months, and still no help came. It was +inexplicable to John's honest heart, and suggested the fear that he had +been mistaken after all. We can sympathize in this also. Often in our +lives we have counted on God's interfering to deliver us from some +intolerable sorrow. With ears alert, and our heart throbbing with +expectancy, we have lain in our prison-cell listening for the first +faint footfall of the angel; but the weary hours have passed without +bringing him, and we have questioned whether God were mindful of his +own; whether prayer prevailed; whether the promises were to be +literally appropriated by us? + +(3) _Partial views of Christ_. "John heard in the prison the works of +Jesus." They were wholly beneficent and gentle. + +"What has He done since last you were here?" + +"He has laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them; has +gathered a number of children to his arms, and blessed them; has sat on +the mountain, and spoken of rest and peace and blessedness." + +"Yes; good. But what more?" + +"A woman touched the hem of his garment, and trembled, and confessed, +and went away healed." + +"Good! But what more?" + +"Well, there were some blind men, and He laid his hands on them, and +they saw." + +"Is that all? Has He not used the fan to winnow the wheat, and the +fire to burn up the chaff? This is what I was expecting, and what I +have been taught to expect by Isaiah and the rest of the prophets. I +cannot understand it. This quiet, gentle life of benevolence is +outside my calculations. There must be some mistake. Go and ask Him +whether we should expect _another_, made in a different mould, and who +shall be as the fire, the earthquake, the tempest, while He is as the +still small voice." + +John had partial views of the Christ--he thought of Him only as the +Avenger of sin, the Maker of revolution, the dread Judge of all. There +was apparently no room in his conception for the gentler, sweeter, +tenderer aspects of his Master's nature. And for want of a clearer +understanding of what God by the mouth of his holy prophets had spoken +since the world began, he fell into this Slough of Despond. + +It was a grievous pity; yet let us not blame him too vehemently, lest +we blame ourselves. Is not this what we do? We form a notion of God, +partly from what we think He ought to be, partly from some distorted +notions we have derived from others; and then because God fails to +realize our conception, we begin to doubt. We think, for instance, +that if there be a righteous God, He will not permit wrong to triumph; +little children to suffer for the sins of their parents; the innocent +to be trodden beneath the foot of the oppressor and the proud; or the +dumb creatures to be tortured in the supposed interest of medical +science. Surely God will step out of his hiding-place and open all +prisons, emancipate all captives, and wave a hand of benediction over +all creation. Thus we think and say; and then, because the world still +groans and travails, we question whether God is in his high heaven. +Like John, men have a notion, founded on some faulty knowledge of +Scripture, that God will act in a certain preconceived way, in the +thunder, the whirlwind, and the fire; and when God does not, but +pursues his tender, gentle ministries, descending in summer showers, +speaking in soft, still tones, distilling in the dew-drops, winning his +empire over men by love, they say--"Is this He?" + +II. THE LORD'S REPLY.--"In that hour He cured many of diseases, and +plagues, and evil spirits; and on many that were blind He bestowed +sight." Through the long hours of the day, the disciples stood in the +crowd, while the pitiable train of sick and demon-possessed passed +before the Saviour, coming in every stage of need, and going away +cleansed and saved. Even the dead were raised. And at the close the +Master turned to them, and with a deep significance in his tone, said, +"Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; the +blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and +the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings +preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall find none +occasion of stumbling in Me." + +(1) _It was Indirect_. He did not say, I am He that was to come, and +there is no need to look for another. Had He done so, He might have +answered John's intellect, but not his heart. After a few hours the +assurance would have waxed dim, and he would have questioned again. He +might have wondered whether Jesus were not Himself deceived. One +question always leads to another, so long as the heart is unsatisfied; +hence the refusal on the part of our Lord to answer the question, and +his evident determination to allay the restlessness and disquietude of +the heart that throbbed beneath. + +God might, had He so willed, have written in starry characters across +the sky the Divine words, "I am Jehovah, and ye shall have no other +gods beside Me"; or He might have flashed it, and obliterated it to +flash it again, as the electric cylinders which serve the purposes of +advertisements in our large cities by night. This might have awed the +intellect, but it would not have convinced the heart. Were this God's +method, we should miss the benediction on those who have not seen and +yet have believed. We should miss the discipline of waiting until our +doubts are dissolved by the Spirit of God. The intellect might be +temporarily overpowered with the evidence; but the soul, the heart, and +the spirit, would miss the true knowledge that comes through purity, +faith, and waiting upon God--the deepest knowledge of all. Besides, +though one were to rise from the dead, and come to men with the awe of +the vision of the other world stamped on his face, they would not +believe. The evidence of the unseen and eternal must be given, not to +the startled physical sense, but to the soul. Some other deeper method +must be adopted; the heart must be taught to wait, trust, and accept +those deep intuitions and revelations which establish the being of God. + +(2) _The Answer was Mysterious_. Surely, if He were able to do so +much, He could do more. The power that healed the sick and lame and +blind, and cast out demons, could surely deliver John. It made his +heart the more wistful, to hear of these displays of power. He had to +learn that the Lord healed these poor folks so easily because the light +soil of their nature could not bear the richer harvests; because their +soul could not stand the cutting through which alone the brilliant +facets which were possible to his could be secured. It was because +John was a royal soul, the greatest of woman born, because his nature +was capable of yielding the best results to the Divine culture, that he +was kept waiting, whilst others caught up the blessing and went away +healed. Only three months remained of life, and in these the +discipline of patience and doubt must do their perfect work. + +That is where you have made a mistake. You have thought God was hard +on you, that He would help everybody but you; but you have not +understood that your nature was so dear to God, and so precious in his +sight, and so capable of the greatest development, that God loved you +too much to let you off so lightly, and give you what you wanted, and +send you on your way. God could have given you sight, made that lame +foot well, restored the child to health, and opened the iron prison +door of your circumstances. _He could_; but for all eternity you will +thank Him He did not, because you are capable of something else. We +are kept waiting through the long years--not that He loves us less, but +more; not that He refuses what we ask, but that in the long strain and +tension He is making us partakers of his blessedness. John's nature +would presently yield a martyr and win a martyr's crown: was not that +reason enough for not giving him at once the deliverance he sought? + +(3) _The Answer was Sufficient_. Together with the works of +beneficence, the Lord drew John's attention to words he seemed in +danger of forgetting; "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the +feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong; fear +not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of +God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be +opened; and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the +lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in +the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." +"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed +Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the +broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of +the prison to them that are bound." The Lord strove to convince the +questioner that his views were too partial and limited, and to send him +back to a more comprehensive study of the old Scriptures. It was as +though Jesus said, "Go to your master, and tell him to take again the +ancient prophecy and study it. He has taken the sterner predictions to +the neglect of the gentler, softer ones. It is true that I am to +proclaim the day of vengeance; but first I must reveal the acceptable +year. It is true that I am to come as a Mighty One, and my arm shall +rule for Me; but it is also true that I am to feed my flock like a +Shepherd, and gather the lambs in my arm." + +We make the same mistake. We have but a partial view of Christ, and +need to get back to the Bible afresh, and study anew its comprehensive +words; then we shall come to understand that the present is the time of +the hiding of his power, the time of waiting, the time of the gentler +ministries. Some day He will gird on his sword; some day He will +winnow his floor; some day He will ride in a chariot of flame; some day +He will sit upon the throne and judge those who oppress the innocent +and take advantage of the poor. We have not yet seen the end of the +Lord: we have not all the evidence. This is our mistake. But our +Saviour is offering us every day evidences of his Divine and loving +power. Last week I saw Him raise the dead; yesterday, before my eyes, +He struck the chains from a prisoner; at this hour He is giving sight +to the blind; to-morrow He will cast out demons. The world is full of +evidences of his gracious and Divine power. They are not so striking +and masterful as deeds of judgment and wrath might be--they need a +quicker eye, a purer heart to discern; but they are not less +significant of the fact that He liveth who was dead, and that He is +alive for evermore. And these are sufficient, not only because of the +transformations which are effected, but because of their moral quality, +to show that there is One within the vail who lives in the power of an +indissoluble life. + + +III. A NEW BEATITUDE.--"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended +in Me." Our Lord put within the reach of his noble Forerunner the +blessedness of those who have not seen and yet have believed; of those +who trust though they are slain; of those who wait the Lord's leisure; +and of those who cannot understand his dealings, but rest in what they +know of his heart. This is the beatitude of the unoffended, of those +who do not stumble over the mystery of God's dealings with their life. + +This blessedness is within our reach also. There are times when we are +overpowered with the mystery of life and nature. The world is so full +of pain and sorrow, the litany of its need is so sad and pitiful, +strong hearts are breaking under an intolerable load; while the battle +seems only to the strong and the race to those who, by some mysterious +providence, come of a healthy, though not specially moral or religious, +stock. And if the incidence of pain and sorrow on the world be +explained by its ungodliness, why does nature groan and travail? why +are the forest glades turned into a very shambles? why does creation +seem to achieve itself through the terrific struggle for survival? + +God's children are sometimes the most bitterly tried. For them the +fires are heated seven times; days of weariness and nights of pain are +appointed them; they suffer, not only at the hand of man, but it seems +as though God Himself were turned against them, to become their enemy. +The heavens seem as brass to their cries and tears, and the enemy has +reason to challenge them with the taunt, "Where is now your God!" The +waters of a full cup are wrung out in days like these; and the cry is +extorted, "How long, O Lord, how long?" + +You and I have been in this plight. We have said, "Hath God forgotten +to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up his tender mercies?" From our +prison-cell we send up the appeal to our Brother in the glory: "Help +us; for if Thou leavest us to our fate, we shall question if Thou art +He." We are tempted to stumbling. We are like to fall over the +mysteries of God's dealings with us. We are more able than ever before +to appreciate the standpoint occupied by Job's wife, when she said to +her husband, "Curse God, and die." + +Then we have the chance of inheriting a new beatitude. By refusing to +bend under the mighty hand of God--questioning, chafing, murmuring--we +miss the door which would admit us into rich and unalloyed happiness. +We fumble about the latch, but it is not lifted. But if we will quiet +our souls like a weaned child, anointing our heads, and washing our +faces, light will break in on us as from the eternal morning; the peace +of God will keep our hearts and minds, and we shall enter on the +blessedness which our Lord unfolded before the gaze of his faithful +Forerunner. + + + + +XII. + +None greater than John the Baptist, yet... + +(MATTHEW XI.) + + "Search thine own heart. What paineth thee + In others, in thyself may be; + All dust is frail, all flesh is weak; + Be thou the same man thou dost seek! + + "Where now with pain thou treadest, trod + The whitest of the saints of God! + To show thee where their feet were set, + The light which led them shineth yet." + WHITTIER. + + +Christ's Appreciation--His Independence--The Simplicity of his +Life--His Place in the Devine Economy--The Spirit of Meekness--The +Greatness of Humility + + +While John's disciples were standing there, our Lord said nothing in +his praise, but as soon as they had departed, the flood-gates of his +heart were thrown wide open, and He began to speak to the multitudes +concerning his faithful servant. It was as though He would give him no +cause for pride by what He said. He desired to give his friend no +additional temptation during those lonely hours. We say our kind +things before each other's faces; our hard things when the back is +turned. It is not so with Christ. He passes his most generous +encomiums when we are not there to hear them. Christ may never tell +you how greatly He loves and values you; but while you lie there in +your prison, with sad and overcast heart, He is saying and thinking +great things about you yonder. + + +I. THE TIME CHOSEN FOR THE LORD'S COMMENDATION OF THE BAPTIST.--It was +when John had fallen beneath his usual level, below high-water mark, +that Jesus uttered his warmest and most generous words of +appreciation--"Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen +a greater than John the Baptist." + +"But, dost Thou really mean, most holy Lord, that this one is the +greatest born of woman?" + +"Certainly," saith Christ, in effect. + +"But he has asked if Thou art really the Messiah." + +"I know it," saith the Lord. + +"But how canst Thou say that he is to be compared with Moses, Isaiah, +or Daniel? Did they doubt Thee thus? And how canst Thou say that he +is not a reed shaken with the wind, when, but now, he gave patent +evidence that he was stooping beneath the hurrying tread of gales of +doubt and depression?" + +"Ah," the Master seems to say, "Heaven judges, not by a passing mood, +but by the general tenor and trend of a man's life; not by the +expression of a doubt, caused by accidents which may be explained, but +by the soul of man within him, which is as much deeper than the +emotions as the heart of the ocean is deeper than the cloud-shadows +which hurry across its surface." + +Yes, the Lord judges us by that which is deepest, most permanent, most +constant and prevalent with us; by the ideal we seek to apprehend; by +the decision and choice of our soul; by that bud of possibility which +lies as yet furled, and unrealized even by ourselves. + +There is a remarkable parallel to this incident in the Old Testament. +When we are first introduced to Gideon, the youngest son of Joash the +Abi-ezrite, he is not in a very dignified position. He is threshing +wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the hosts of Midian, which +devoured the produce of the entire country. There was no moral wrong +in eluding the vigilance of the Midian spies, in transporting the wheat +from the open country, where the wind might fan away the chaff, to the +comparative seclusion and unlikeliness of the wine-press; but there was +nothing specially heroic or inspiring in the spectacle. Yet, when the +angel of the Lord appeared unto him, he said, "The Lord is with thee, +thou mighty man of valour." + +"Mighty man of valour!" At first there is an apparent incongruity +between this high-sounding salutation and the bearing of the man to +whom it was addressed. Surely such an address is far-fetched and +fulsome; yet subsequent events prove that every syllable of it was +deservedly true. Gideon was a mighty man of valour, and God was with +him. The heavenly messenger read beneath the outward passing incident, +and saw under the clumsy letters of the palimpsest the deep and holy +characters which were awaiting the moment of complete discovery. + +Is not this, in fact, the meaning of the apostle, when he says that +faith is reckoned to us for righteousness? In the fullest sense, of +course, we know that to each believer in Jesus there is reckoned the +entire benefit of his glorious person and work, so that we are accepted +in the Beloved, and He is "made unto us ... Righteousness." But there +is another sense in which faith is reckoned to us for righteousness, +because it contains within itself the power and potency of the perfect +life. It is the seed-germ from which is developed in due course the +plant, the flower, the bud, the seed, and the reproduction of the plant +in unending succession. God reckoned to Abraham all that his faith was +capable of producing, which it did produce, and which it would have +produced had he possessed all the advantages which pertain to our own +happy lot. There is thus the objective and the subjective: in virtue +of the first, through faith in Jesus, all his righteousness is +accounted to us; in virtue of the second, God reckons to us all that +blessed flowering and fruitage of which our faith will be capable, when +patience has had its perfect work and we are perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + + +II. THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF JOHN'S CHARACTER AND MINISTRY TO WHICH +OUR LORD DREW ATTENTION.--(1) _His Independence_. "What went ye out +into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken with the wind?" The +language of the Bible is so picturesque, so full of natural imagery, +that it appeals to every age, and speaks in every language of the +world. If its descriptions of character had been given in the language +of the philosopher or academist, what was intelligible to one age would +have been perplexing or meaningless to the next. Remember that the +long gallery in the Pyramids, which was directed to the pole-star when +they were constructed, is now hopelessly out of course, because the +position of the pole-star, in relation to the earth, has so entirely +altered; and what is true among the spheres is true in the use of +terms. But the Word of God employs natural figures and parables, which +the wayfaring man, though a fool, comprehends at a glance. + +Who, for instance, on a gusty March day, has not watched the wind +blowing lustily across a marsh or the reedy margin of a lake, +compelling all the reeds to stoop in the same direction? Has one +resisted the current or stood stoutly forth in protesting +non-compliance? Has one dared to adopt an unbending posture? Not one. +They have been as obsequious as were all the king's servants that were +in the king's gate to the imperious Haman when he happened to enter the +palace. + +Thus, when our Lord asked the people whether John resembled a reed +shaken by the wind, and implied their answer in the negative, could He +have more clearly indicated one of the most salient characteristics of +John's career--his daring singularity, his independence of mere custom +and fashion, his determination to follow out the pattern of his own +life as God revealed it to him? In this he resembles the good +Nehemiah, when he refers to the usual practice of men of his position, +and says, "So did not I, because of the fear of the Lord"; or the three +young men who, when all the myriads fell down and worshipped +Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, remained erect. In the singularity of +his dress and food; in the originality of his message and demand for +baptism; in his independence of the religious teachers and schools of +his time; in his refusal to countenance the flagrant sins of the +various classes of the community, and especially in his uncompromising +denunciation of Herod's sin--he proved himself to be as a sturdy oak in +the forest of Bashan, or a deeply-rooted cedar in Lebanon, and not as a +reed shaken by the wind. + +Many a saintly soul has followed him since along this difficult and +lonely track. Indeed, it is the ordinary path for most of the choicest +spirits of these Christian centuries. I do not say of all, because the +great Gardener has his violets and lilies in sheltered spots; but +certainly most of the trees of his right-hand planting have not stood +thickly-planted in the sheltered woodland, but have braved the winds +sweeping in at the gates of the hills. + +You, my reader, admire, but feel you cannot follow. When your +companions and friends are speaking depreciating and ungenerous words +of some public man whom you love; when unkind and scandalous stories +are being passed from lip to lip; when a storm of execration and hatred +is being poured on a cause, which in your heart you favour and +espouse--you find it easier to bow before the gale, with all the other +reeds around you, than to enter your protest, even though you stand +alone. Yet the reed thrust by the soldiers into the hands of Christ +may become the rod of iron with which He rules the nations. He can +take the most pliant and yielding natures, and make them, as He made +Jeremiah, "a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, +against the whole land." Thou canst not; but He can. He will +strengthen thee; yea, He will help thee; yea, He will uphold thee with +the right hand of his righteousness. Keep looking steadfastly up to +Him, that He may teach thy hands to war, and thy fingers to fight; for +thou shalt be able to do all things through Him that strengtheneth thee. + +(2) _His simplicity_. A second time the Master asked the people what +they went forth into the wilderness to behold; and by his question +implied that John was no Sybarite clothed in soft raiment, and feasting +in luxury, but a strong, pure soul, that had learnt the secret of +self-denial and self-control. Too many of us are inclined to put on +the soft raiment of self-indulgence and luxury. We are the slaves of +fashion, or we are perpetually considering what we shall eat, what we +shall drink, and with what we shall be clothed: or we act as though we +supposed that life consisted in the number of things we possessed, and +the variety of servants that waited upon us: whereas the exact contrary +is the case. The real happiness of life consists not in increasing our +possessions, but in limiting our wants. + +To all my young brothers and sisters who may read this page, and who +have yet the making of their lives in their own hands, I would say, +with all my heart, learn to do without the soft clothing and the many +servants which characterise kings' courts. At table have your eye on +the simpler dishes, those which supply the maximum of nutriment and +strength, and do not allow your choice to be determined by what pleases +the palate or gratifies the taste. A young friend stood me out the +other day against some article of diet, which was acknowledged to be +the more nutritious (it was whole-meal bread), because another was +sweeter and more palatable (some white, light French rolls, from which +all the nutriment had been extracted). This is the deliberate +preference of the fare of kings' courts to Daniel's pulse and the +Baptist's locusts and wild honey. Please note, here, that there was +nothing inconsistent in his taking honey. We are not to refuse a +certain diet because it is pleasant; but we are not to choose it +because it is so. + +So with dress. Our Master does not require of us to dress grotesquely, +or to attract notice by the singularity and grotesqueness of our +attire. We must dress suitably and in conformity with that station in +life to which He has called us. But what a difference there is between +making our dress our main consideration, and considering first and +foremost the attire of the soul in meekness and truth, purity and +unselfishness. They who are set upon these may be trusted to put the +other in the right place. But, on the whole, the truly consecrated +soul should study simplicity. It should not endeavour to attract +notice by glaring colours or extravagant display. It ought not to seek +a large variety of dresses and costumes, but be satisfied with what may +be really needed for the exigencies of climate and health. Let it take +no pleasure in vying with others, because dress is a question of +utility and not of pride. On the whole, we should set our faces +against the soft raiment which enervates the health, and unfits us to +stretch out our hands in ready help to those who need assistance along +the highways of life. + +So with service. It is not well to depend on others. If it is part of +our lot to be surrounded by servants, let us accept their offices with +grace and kindliness, but never allow ourselves to lean on them. We +should know how to do everything for ourselves, and be prepared to do +it whenever it is necessary. Of course, with some of us, it is +essential that we should have servants, that we may be set free to do +the special work of our lives. Nothing would be more unfortunate than +that those who are highly gifted in some special direction should +fritter away their time and strength in doing trifles which others +could do for them equally well. To think of a physician whose +consulting room was crowded with patients needing help which he alone, +of all men living, could give, spending the precious morning hours in +the minutiae of household arrangements, blacking his boots, or +preparing his food! Let these things be left to those who cannot do +the higher work to which he is called. + +This is the secret of making the best of your life. Discover what you +can do best--the one thing which you are called to do for others, and +which probably no one else can do so well. Set yourself to do this, +devolving on voluntary or paid helpers all that they can do as well as, +and perhaps better than, yourself. It was in this spirit that the +apostles said, "It is not fit that we should forsake the Word of God +and serve tables. Look ye out, therefore, men ... whom we may appoint +over this business; but we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in +the ministry of the Word." + +It is specially the temptation of Eastern life, where the climate is +enervating and service is cheap and plentiful, to seek the soft raiment +and the large assistance of attendants, and it is almost impossible to +yield to one or the other without relaxing the fibre of the soul. The +temptation is always around us; and it is well to look carefully into +our life from time to time, to be quite sure, lest almost insensibly +its strong energetic spirit may not be in process of deterioration--as +the soldiers of Hannibal in the plains of Capua. If so, resolve to do +without, not for merit's sake, but to conserve the strength and +simplicity of your soul. + +(3) _His noble office_. "But wherefore went ye out?--to see a prophet? +Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet." Nothing is more +difficult than to measure men while they are living. Whilst the +fascination of their presence and the music of their voice are in the +air, we are apt to exaggerate their worth. The mountain towers so far +above us that we are apt, in the absence of other mountains, or in our +too great proximity to it, to think of it as the greatest of all the +mountain-range. But it is not so, as we discover when we remove +further. But subsequent ages, so far from correcting, have only +confirmed our Saviour's estimate of his Forerunner. We are able to +locate him in the Divine economy. He was a prophet, yes, and much +more. To employ the predictive words of Malachi, he was Jehovah's +messenger, the courier who announced the advent of the King, the last +of the prophets--for all the prophets and the law prophesied until +John--and the herald of that new and greater era, whose gates he +opened, but into which he was not permitted to enter. + +But our Lord went further, and did not hesitate to class John with the +greatest of those born of woman. He was absolutely in the front rank. +He may have had peers, but no superiors; equals, but no over-lords. +Who may be classed with him, we cannot, dare not, say. But probably +Abraham, Moses, Paul. "There hath not arisen a greater than John the +Baptist." No brighter star shines in the celestial firmament than that +of this brief young life, which had only time enough to proclaim the +advent of the Lord, and after some brief six months of ministry by the +Jordan, followed by twelve months in the gaol, waned here to shine in +undimming brilliancy yonder. + +There was a further tribute paid by our Lord to his noble servant. +Some two or three centuries before, Malachi had foretold that Elijah, +the prophet, would be sent before the great and terrible day of the +Lord came; and the Jews were always on the outlook for his coming. +Even to the present day a chair is set for him at their religious +feasts. This is what was meant when they asked the Baptist, at the +commencement of his ministry, if he were Elijah. He shrank, as we have +seen, from assuming so great a name, though he could not have refused +the challenge, had it been worded to include the spirit and power of +the great prophet of Thisbe. But here our Lord went beyond John's own +modest, self-depreciating estimate, and declared, "If ye are willing to +receive it, this is Elijah which is to come." As He descended from the +Mount of Transfiguration, He returned to the same subject: "And they +asked Him, saying, The scribes say that Elijah must first come. And He +said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all +things.... But I say unto you that Elijah is come, and they have also +done unto him whatsoever they listed, even as it is written of him" +(Mark ix. 9-13). + + +III. THE MASTER'S RESERVATION. Let us again quote His memorable +words: "Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a +greater than John the Baptist; yet he that is but little in the Kingdom +of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. xi. 11, R.V.). + +The greatness of John the Baptist shone out in conspicuous beauty in +his meek confession of inferiority. It is always a sign of the +greatest knowledge, when its possessor confesses himself to be as a +child picking up shells on the shores of a boundless ocean. And the +Baptist's greatness was revealed in the lowliness of his self-estimate. + +When the Lord Jesus summarized his own character He said, "I am meek +and lowly in heart." In doing so He expressed the character of God; +for He was the Revealer of God, "the brightness of his glory, and the +express image of his person." He was "God manifested in flesh." He +was not only the Son of God, He was God the Son: "He that hath seen Me +hath seen the Father. I and the Father are one." The greatness of +John was proved in this, that like his Lord he was meek and lowly in +heart. Neither before nor since has a son of Adam lived in whom these +divine qualities were more evident. No sublimer, no more God-like +utterance ever passed the lips of man than John's answer to his +disciples: "A man can receive nothing except it have been given him +from heaven. He must increase, but I must decrease" (see the whole +passage, John iii. 27-36). The very same spirit of meekness was +speaking in John as acted in his Lord, when, knowing that the Pharisees +had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John +(though Jesus Himself baptized not, but his disciples), "He left Judea +and departed into Galilee." What divisions might have been avoided in +the Church had his people followed his example! But there was no man, +not even the apostle John or Paul, whose spirit accorded more exactly +with the Master's than his faithful and self-effacing herald and +forerunner, John the Baptist. It might well be said, that of them that +were born of women there had not arisen a greater than he. + +But what was in our Lord's thought when He made the reservation, "_Yet +he that is but little in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he_"? +It has been suggested that the Lord was speaking of John not only as a +man, but as a prophet, and that this declaration applies more +particularly to John as a prophet. The words of the evangelist Luke +are noticeable--"There hath not risen a greater prophet than John the +Baptist": because to balance the sentence it seems needful to supply +the word _prophet_ in the second clause--"The least prophet in the +Kingdom of heaven is a greater prophet than he." John could say, +"Behold the Lamb of God"; but the least of those who, being scattered +abroad, went everywhere proclaiming the word of the Kingdom, preached +"Jesus and the resurrection." + +But there is another way of interpreting Christ's words. John ushered +in the Kingdom, but was not in it. He proclaimed a condition of +blessedness in which he was not permitted to have a part. And the Lord +says that to be in that Kingdom gives the opportunity of attaining to a +greatness which the great souls outside its precincts cannot lay claim +to. There is a greatness which comes from nature, and another +greatness from circumstances. The child on the mountain is higher than +the giant in the valley. The boy in our village schools knows more on +certain subjects than Socrates or Confucius, the greatest sages of the +world. The least instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is privileged to +see and hear the things which prophets and kings longed and waited for +in vain. The least in the higher dispensation may know and understand +more than the loftiest souls of the dispensations that have preceded. + +And may there not be even more than this? The character of John was +strong, grand in its wild magnificence--like some Alpine crag, with the +pines on its slopes and the deep dark lake at its foot; he had courage, +resolution, an iron will, a loftiness of soul that could hold commerce +with the unseen and eternal. He was a man capable of vast heights and +depths. He could hold fellowship with the eternal God as a man speaks +with his friend, and could suffer unutterable agonies in +self-questioning and depression. But is this the loftiest ideal of +character? Is it the most desirable and blessed? Assuredly not; and +this may have been in the Saviour's mind when He made his notable +reservation. To come neither eating nor drinking; to be stern, +reserved, and lonely; to live apart from the homes of men, to be the +severe and unflinching rebuker of other men's sins--this was not the +loftiest pattern of human character. + +There was something better, as is manifest in our Lord's own perfect +manhood. The balance of quality; the power to converse with God, mated +with the tenderness that enters the homes of men, wipes the tears of +those that mourn, and gathers little children to its side; that has an +ear for every complaint, and a balm of comfort for every heart-break; +that pities and soothes, teaches and leads; that is able not only to +commune with God alone in the desert, but brings Him into the lowliest +deeds and commonplaces of human life--this is the type of character +which is characteristic of the Kingdom of heaven. It is described best +in those inimitable beatitudes which canonize, not the stern and +rugged, but the sweet and tender, the humble and meek; and stamp +Heaven's tenderest smile on virtues which had hardly found a place in +the strong and gritty character of the Baptist. + +Yes, there is more to be had by the humble heart than John possessed or +taught. The passive as well as the active; the glen equally with the +bare mountain peak; the feminine with the masculine; the power to wait +and be still, combined with the swift rush to capture the position; the +cross of shame as well as the throne of power. And if thou art the +least in the Kingdom of God, all this may be thine, by the Holy Spirit, +who introduces the very nature of the Son of Man into the heart that +loves Him truly. "He that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater +than he." + + + + +XIII. + +A Burning and Shining Lamp. + +(JOHN V. 35.) + + "Men as men + Can reach no higher than the Son of God, + The Perfect Head and Pattern of Mankind. + The time is short, and thus sufficeth us + To live and die by; and in Him again + We see the same first starry attribute, + '_Perfect through suffering_,' our salvation's seal, + Set in the front of His humanity...." + MRS. HAMILTON KING. + + +The Rest-Day--The Light of Life--Shining, because Burning--"Let your +Light Shine"--A Light in the Darkness + + +Our Master, Christ, was on his trial. He was challenged by the +religious leaders of the people because He had dared to heal a man and +to command him to carry his bed--his straw pallet--on the Sabbath day. +He was therefore accused, and, so to speak, put in his defence. + +Of course we must not for a moment think that our Lord was lax in his +observance of the Sabbath, but simply that He desired to emancipate the +day from the intolerable burdens and restrictions with which the Jewish +leaders had surrounded it. It was his desire to show, for all after +time, that the Sabbath was made for useful purposes, and specially for +deeds of mercy, beneficence, and gentle kindness. The Lord Jesus was +maligned and persecuted because He was the Emancipator of the Sabbath +day from foolish and mistaken notions of sanctity. + +It is of the greatest importance that we should do what we may to +conserve one rest-day in seven to our country and our world; and I +cannot help noticing in the story of the life of the great statesman +and Christian, who recently passed from us, how careful he was to guard +the day from unnecessary intrusion. It has been attested by those who +knew him well, that physically, intellectually, and spiritually, the +Lord's day to him was a priceless blessing. Let your rest on the one +rest-day consist, not in lolling idly and carelessly, but in turning +your faculties in some other direction; because the truest rest is to +be found, not in luxurious ease, but in using the fresh vigour of your +life in other compartments of the brain than those which have been worn +by the demands of the six days. Then, fresh from the Sunday-school +class, the worship of the church, and the sermon, you will return to +the desk or office, or whatever may be your toil, with new and +rejuvenated strength. + +There is a great distinction between shining and burning: shining is +the light-giving, the illuminating, that comes forth from the enkindled +wick; but it cannot shine unless it burns. The candle that gives light +wastes inch by inch as it gives it. The very wick of your lamp, that +conducts the oil to the flame, chars, and you have to cut it off bit by +bit until the longest coil is at length exhausted. We must never +forget that, if we would shine, we must burn. Too many of us want to +shine, but are not prepared to pay the cost that must be faced by every +true man that wants to illuminate his time. We must burn down until +there is but an eighth of an inch left in the candlestick, till the +light flickers a little and drops, makes one more eager effort, and +then ceases to shine--"a burning and shining light." + +Obviously, then, we have first _the comparison between John and the +candle, or lamp_; then we have _the necessary expenditure, burning to +shine_; and, thirdly, we have _the misuse that people may make of their +opportunities_. + + +I. THE LORD'S COMPARISON.--"John was a burning and shining lamp." In +the original a great contrast is suggested between _lamp_, as it is +given in the Revised Version, and _light_. The Old Version put it +thus: "He was a burning and shining light"; but the Revised Version +puts it thus: "He was a burning and shining lamp"; and there is a +considerable difference between the two. In the first chapter of the +Gospel, the apostle John tells us, speaking of the Baptist, that he was +not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light, that all +men through him [John] might believe. "That was the True Light, which +lighteth every man coming into the world." + +Jesus Christ is the Light of the World; and I believe that in every age +He has been waiting to illumine the hearts and spirits of men, +reminding us of the expression in the Book of Proverbs--and it is +wonderfully significant--"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." + +Here is a candle, yonder is the wick; but it gives no light. The air +may be full of luminousness, but as yet it has found no point on which +to kindle and from which to irradiate. But, see, of a sudden the light +gathers to the candle-wick, which had stood helpless and useless, +touches it, and it begins to shine with a light not its own. It is +borrowed light, caught from some burning cone of flame. + +Men are born into the world like so many unlighted candles. They may +stand in chaste candlesticks, all of gold or silver, of common tin or +porcelain. But all are by nature unlit. On the other hand, Jesus +Christ, the Light of men, waits with yearning desire, and, as each +successive generation passes across the stage of human life, He is +prepared to illumine the spirits which are intended to be the candles +of the Lord. In these ages He illumines us with the Gospel; but I +believe that all moral intuitions, all instincts of immortality, all +cravings after God, all gropings in the dark for the true Light, all +helpful moral revolutions which have swept over mankind, have been the +result of his influence, who, as the true Light, lighteth every man +coming into the world. Whenever and wherever a man has flamed up with +unusual fervour and spiritual power, with a desire to help his fellows, +and has shone like a torch, we must believe that he was illumined by +the Son of God, the Wisdom of the Book of Proverbs, whom he may not +have known, but whom he would recognise as soon as he crossed the +portal of the New Jerusalem. He lighteth every man; He is willing to +illumine every man that comes into the world. + +This conception casts a considerable light on some of the enigmas of +human experience. We have known illiterate, uncultured men, without +many gifts of style or grace of speech, yet they have shone to such an +extent that every one in their neighbourhood has been lit by the +radiance that has streamed from them. On the other hand, we have met +men who have passed through a college course and been carefully trained +for their life-work; important pulpits and opportunities of great +usefulness have been opened to them; but their lives have been a +disappointment. Why? Ah, the answer is easy. The former class were +as candles, made of ordinary wax, and placed in inconspicuous +candle-sticks, which had been ignited by the fire of God through the +Holy Spirit; and the latter were like exquisitely prepared +candlesticks, the candles in which had never been kindled by the fire +of God. There are hundreds of professing Christians, and some may read +these pages, who have never really been kindled; who have never been +touched by the Son of God; who do not know what it is to shine with his +light and to burn with his fire. + +What is the process of lighting? The wick of the candle is simply +brought into contact with the flame, and the flame leaps to it, kindles +on it, without parting with any of its vigour or heat, and continues to +burn, drawing to itself the nourishment which the candle supplies. So +let Jesus Christ touch you. Believe in the Light, that you may become +a child of the Light. Take off the extinguisher; cast away your +prejudice; put off those misconceptions; have done with those unworthy +habits; putting them all aside, let Jesus kindle you. "Arise, shine; +for thy light is come." "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the +dead, and Christ shall give thee light." + +We were kindled that we might kindle others. I would like, if I might +have my choice, to burn steadily down, with no guttering waste, and as +I do so to communicate God's fire to as many unlit candles as possible; +and to burn on steadily until the socket comes in view, then to light, +in the last flicker, twenty, thirty, or a hundred candles at once; so +that as one expires they may begin burning and spreading light which +shall shine till Jesus comes. Get light from Christ, then share it; +and remember that it is the glory of fire that one little candle may go +on lighting hundreds of candles--one insignificant taper may light all +the lamps of a cathedral church, and yet not be robbed of its own +little glow of flame. Andrew was lit by Christ Himself, and passed on +the flame to Simon Peter, and he to three thousand more on the Day of +Pentecost. Every Christian soul illumined by the grace of God thus +becomes, as John the Baptist was, a lamp. But there is always the same +impassable chasm between these and the Lord. They are derived; He is +original. They need to be sustained and fed; He is the fountain of +Light: because, as the Father hath life in Himself, He hath given to +Him also to have life in Himself, and his life is the light of men. + + +II. THE INEVITABLE EXPENDITURE.--"He was a burning and shining lamp." +_If you would shine, you must burn_. The ambition to shine is +universal; but all are not prepared to pay the price by which alone +they can acquire the right to give the true light of life. There are +plenty of students who would win all the prizes, and wear all the +honours, apart from days and nights of toil; but they find it a vain +ambition. Before a man can become Senior Wrangler he must have burnt, +not only the midnight oil, but some of the very fibre of his soul. +Conspicuous positions in the literary and scientific world are less the +reward of genius than of laborious, soul-consuming toil. The great +chemist will work sixteen hours out of twenty-four. The illustrious +author acquires, by profound research, the materials which he weaves +into his brilliant page. Such men shine because they burn. + +But this is pre-eminently the principle in the service of Christ. It +was so with the Lord Himself. He shone, and his beams have illumined +myriads of darkened souls, and shall yet bring dawn throughout the +world; but, ah, how He burned! The disciples remembered that it was +written of Him: "The zeal of thy house hath eaten Me up." He suffered, +that He might serve. He would not save Himself, because He was bent on +saving others. He ascended to the throne because He spared not Himself +from the cruel tree. Pilate marvelled that his death came so soon, and +sent for the centurion to be certified that in so few hours He had +succumbed. But he did not realize that in three short years He had +expended his vital strength so utterly, that there was no reserve to +fall back upon. There had been an inward consumption, an exhaustion of +nervous power, a wearing down of the springs of vitality. He shone +because of the fire that burned within Him. + +It was so with the great apostle, who said that he filled up that which +was lacking in the afflictions of Christ, not of course that there was +any lack in the work of propitiation which required his further help, +but that the saints are called to share with their Lord his sorrows for +men, his tears, to lift the burdens and crosses of others, to give of +their very life-blood for the replenishing of the exhausted fountains +of human faith, and hope, and love. Paul gave freely of his best. He +shone because he never hesitated to burn. Remember how he affirmed +that he was pressed down, perplexed, pursued, and always bore about in +his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be +manifested in his mortal flesh. The price paid for the life that +wrought in the hearts of his converts was that death should work in +himself. + +All the saints have passed through similar experiences. They knew, as +Cranmer said, that they could never hope to kindle a fire that should +never be put out, unless they were prepared to stand steadily at the +stake and give their bodies to be burned. But they counted not their +lives dear unto them, if they might but finish their course with joy, +and the ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify +the Gospel of the grace of God. The men and women who shine as +beacon-lights across the centuries are those whose tears were their +meat day and night, whose prayers rose with strong cryings and tears; +while, as with Palissy, the Huguenot potter, the very furniture of the +house was brought out to feed the flame in which the precious glaze was +being precipitated. + +If the Christian worker longs to benefit the poor slum district in +which he is located, he must be prepared to live amongst the people and +expend himself. Presently, in his hollow cheeks, his sallow +complexion, his attenuated form, his diminishing strength, you will see +that he is paying the price for his 100-candle illuminating power, +because he is being consumed. Every successful worker for God must +learn that lesson. You must be prepared to suffer; you can only help +men when you die for them. If you desire to save others you cannot +save yourself; you must be prepared to fall into the ground and die, if +you would not abide alone: there must be with you, as with Paul, the +decaying of the outward man, that the inward man may be renewed day by +day. You must be prepared to say with him, "Death worketh in us, but +life in you." + +_If you burn, you will shine_. The burning and the shining do not +always go together; often the burning goes on a long time without much +illumination resulting from the expenditure. Those who are rich in +gifts and natural endowments cast in much, and the poor cast in all +their living; this they continue to do, year after year, and none seems +to heed the awful cost at which their testimony is given. Moreover, to +use a well-known phrase, the game hardly seems worth the candle. The +area they influence is so limited, the souls affected so few, the +glimmer of their light, like a street-lamp in a fog, hardly reaches +across the street or to the ground. Sometimes it appears only to make +the darkness denser and thicker. In many cases, the saints of God have +burnt down to the last film of vital energy and expired, and there has +been no shining that the world has taken cognisance of. Their bitter +complaint has been, "I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength +for nought, and in vain." But even these shall shine. They shall +shine as the stars for ever and ever in that world where all holy and +faithful souls obtain their due. + +Let us see to the burning; God will see to the shining. It is ours to +feed the sacred heaven-enkindled flame with the daily fuel of the Word +of God and holy service; and God will see to it that no ray of power or +love is wasted. He will place reflectors around us, to catch up and +repeat the influences that proceed from us. "The Lord was with Samuel, +and did let none of his words fall to the ground." It is ours to keep +in company with the risen Lord, listening to Him as He opens to us the +Scriptures, until our hearts burn within us; then, as we hasten to tell +what we have seen, tasted, and handled of the Word of Life, there will +be a glow on our faces, whether we know it or not; and men shall say of +us: "They have been with Jesus." If we think only of the shining, we +shall probably miss both it and the burning. But if we devote +ourselves to the burning, even though it involve the hidden work of the +mine, the stoke-hole, and the furnace-room, there will be the raying +forth of a light that cannot be hid. Where there is the burning heat, +there must be the soft, gleaming light. Let there be but summer, and +the flowers cover the land. + +_For the burning and the shining, God will provide the fuel_. The fire +which burnt in the bush needed no fuel; "the bush was not consumed." +With us there is perpetual need for the nourishment of the fire of love +and the light of life by the administration of appropriate fuel. The +oil must be supplied to the lamp. The fire cannot be kept burning on +the altar apart from the incessant care and attention of the priests. +But be of good cheer; He who hath begun a good work in you will perfect +it unto the day of Jesus Christ. All grace will be made to abound +towards you, that you may have all sufficiency for all things, and +abound to every good work. The Lord will give grace and glory; no good +thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. God will supply +all your need, according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. It +is especially helpful to ponder the full import of the phrase--"the +supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." It is as though we had access +to one of those oil-wells of the west, which seem practically +inexhaustible. + +It is a wonderful thing how often God puts his lighted candles in the +cellar. We would have supposed that He would have placed a man like +John on a pedestal or a throne, that his influence might reach as far +as possible. Instead of that He allowed him to spend the precious +months of his brief life in prison. And the lamp flickered somewhat in +the pestilential damp. It may be that this is your place also. In the +silence of a sick chamber, in the obscurity of some country parish, +amid obloquy and hatred, you are doomed to spend your slowly-moving +years. It seems such a waste. Loneliness and depression are hard to +endure; but the consciousness of accomplishing so little, though at +such cost, is very painful. This is your cellar-life, your dungeon +experience. Remember that Joseph and Rutherford, John Bunyan and +Madame Guyon, have been there before you. Probably, because the cellar +is so very dark, God wants to station a candle there, and has placed +you there because you can accomplish a work for Him, and for others, of +priceless importance. Where is the light needed so much as on a dark +landing or a sunken reef? Go on shining, and you will find some day +that God will make that cellar a pedestal out of which your light shall +stream over the world; for it was out of his prison cell that John +illuminated the age in which his lot was cast, quite as much as from +his rock-pulpit beside the Jordan. "I would have you know, brethren," +said the apostle, "that the things which happened unto me have fallen +out rather unto the progress of the Gospel, so that my bonds became +manifest in Christ throughout the Praetorian guard" (Phil. i. 12, 13, +R.V.). + + +III. CHRIST'S WARNING AGAINST THE MISUSE OF OPPORTUNITIES.--"Ye were +willing for a season to rejoice in his light." The Greek word rendered +_rejoice_ has in it the idea of moths playing around a candle, or of +children dancing around a torch-light, as it burns lower and lower. It +is as though a light were given to men for an hour, for them to use for +some high and sacred purpose, but they employ it for dancing and +card-playing, instead of girding up their loins to serious tasks. "You +were willing," says the Master, in effect, "to rejoice, to dance and +sing, in his light. You treated his ministry as a pastime. As long as +he spoke to you about the coming Kingdom, you listened and were glad; +but when he began to call you to repentance and warn you of wrath to +come, you left him." He is now like an almost extinguished lamp. His +hour is all but done. The brief space he was sent to occupy has been +fulfilled. "Behold, the night cometh, when no man can work." + +The ministry of the Gospel is but for "an hour." The story of man may +be compared to a brief day (1 Cor. iv. 3, _marg._, R.V.); and in that +day the proclamation of the good news from God occupies but a very +limited space. The hour-glass was turned when Jesus ascended, and it +is more than likely that the last grains are running through; then the +cry of the herald shall be hushed, and the servants' voices will be no +more heard in the streets inviting to the marriage supper, and there +shall be none to break or distribute the bread of life. + +With what eager care men should prize these fleeting opportunities, not +listening to the preacher's voice, as of one that can make a pleasant +sound from the harp or organ--not seeking merely the delight of the ear +or intellect; but taking heed to hear for eternity, receiving in meek +and retentive hearts the precious grain as it falls from the sower's +hand, and giving diligence that the best possible results may accrue. + +Oh, children of the sunny market-place, playing giddily throughout the +long afternoon, take heed lest your opportunities of preparing for the +serious work of life slip away unimproved, and you find yourselves face +to face with death and judgment without a screen, without hope, and +without God. John murdered in prison; Jesus nailed to the cross; the +apostles and martyrs done to death on the scaffold and at the +stake--and the ship drifting on the rocks, without a warning voice to +arouse the thoughtless crowd of dice-throwers and dancers to the +certainty and nearness of their doom! + + + + +XIV. + +Set at Liberty. + +(MARK VI. 27.) + + "Hush my soul, and vain regrets be stilled; + Now rest in Him who is the complement + Of whatsoe'er transcends our mortal doom, + Of baffled hope and unfulfilled intent; + In the clear vision and aspect of whom + All longings and all hopes shall be fulfilled." + ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. + + +The Genesis of a Great Crime--The Strength of Evil Influences--An +Accomplice of Satan--The Triumph of Hate--The Baptist Beheaded--A Place +of Repentance + + +The evangelist Mark tells us, in the twenty-first verse of this +chapter, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the +high captains, and the chief men of Galilee. Now, of course, Galilee, +over which Herod had jurisdiction, and where, for the most part, he +dwelt, in the beautiful city of Tiberias, the ruins of which are still +washed by the blue waters of the lake, was a considerable distance from +the Castle of Machaerus, which, as we have seen, was situated in the +desolate region on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. There would +probably, therefore, have been a martial and noble procession from +Galilee, which followed the course of the Jordan to the oasis of +Jericho, and then branched off to the old, grim fortress, which, like +one of those ruined castles on the Rhine, had been for many years the +scene of brigandage, pillage, and bloodshed. + +It is not difficult to imagine that sumptuous and splendid retinue. +Roman soldiers and officials in all the splendour of their +accoutrements and mounting; carriages conveying the royal consort, +Herodias, Salome, and their ladies; large numbers of native soldiers; +swarthy Bedouin and Greek traders; priests and levites, who lived on +the smile of the Court; court officials, camp-bearers, a motley +following of servants and slaves. In the front of the cavalcade, +Herod, on a magnificent steed. The line of march, enlivened by the +sound of martial music, and the flaunting of innumerable banners. +Slowly they made their way through those desert solitudes, across the +pasture-lands, and finally swept up through the little village that lay +at the foot of the hill to the castellated fortress which covered the +summit, edging its mighty walls to the brink of the steep cliffs. Soon +the last straggler would be lost to view, the heavy portcullis fall, +and the massive iron gate swing to, and the first step would be taken +towards the tragedy, which lay right before Herod's path. One +sometimes wonders whether the whole of these circumstances had not been +planned by the cunning device of Herodias. In any case, nothing could +have been arranged more exactly to suit her murderous schemes. + +The days that preceded the celebration of Herod's birthday were +probably filled with merry-making and carouse. Groups of nobles, +knights, and ladies, would gather on the terraces, looking out over the +Dead Sea, and away to Jerusalem, and in the far distance to the +gleaming waters of the Mediterranean. Picnics and excursions would be +arranged into the neighbouring country. Archery, jousts, and other +sports would beguile the slowly-moving hours. Jests, light laughter, +and buffoonery would fill the air. And all the while, in the dungeons +beneath the castle, lay that mighty preacher, the confessor, +forerunner, herald, and soon to be the martyr. + +But this contrast was more than ever accentuated on the evening of +Herod's birthday, when the great banqueting-chamber was specially +illuminated; the tables decked with flowers and gold and silver plate; +laughter and mirth echoing through the vaulted roof from the splendid +company that lay, after the Eastern mode, on sumptuous couches, +strewing the floor from one end to the other of the spacious hall. +Servants, in costly liveries, passed to and fro, bearing the rich +dainties on massive salvers, one of which was to be presently +besprinkled with the martyr's blood. + +In such a scene, I would have you study the genesis of a great crime, +because you must remember that in respect to sin, there is very little +to choose between the twentieth century and the first; between the sin +of that civilization and of ours. This is why the Bible must always +command the profound interest of mankind--because it does not concern +itself with the outward circumstances and setting of the scenes and +characters it describes, but with those great common facts of +temptation, sin, and redemption, which have a meaning for us all. + +This chapter is therefore written under more than usual solemnity, +because one is so sure that, in dealing with that scene and the +passions that met there in a foaming vortex, words may be penned that +will help souls which are caught in the drift of the same black +current, and are being swept down. Perhaps this page shall utter a +warning voice to arrest them, ere it be too late, and be a life-buoy, +or rope, or brother's hand reached out to save them as they rush past +on the boiling waters. For there is help and grace in God by which a +Herod and a Judas, a Jezebel and a Lady Macbeth, a royal criminal or an +ordinary one, may be arrested, redeemed, and saved. + +In this, as in every sin, there were three forces at work:--First, the +predisposition of the soul, which the Bible calls "lust," and "the +desire of the mind." "Among whom," says the apostle, "we also all once +lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of +the mind, and were by nature children of wrath." Second, the +suggestion of evil from without. Finally, the act of the will by which +the suggestion was accepted and finally adopted. + +It is, in this latter phase, that sin especially comes in. There may +be sin in being able and disposed to sin. The possession of a sinful +nature needs the atonement and propitiation of the precious blood. +There may be sin, also, in dallying with temptation, in not +anticipating its advent at a further distance. But, after all, that +which is of the essence of sin is in the act of the will, which allows +itself to admit and entertain some foul suggestion, and ultimately +sends its executioner below to carry its sentence into effect. + + +I. THE PREDETERMINATION TOWARDS THIS SIN.--The word "lust" is now +universally employed and understood in one direction only. It is a +pity and a mistake; because we fail to appreciate many of the warning +signals which the Spirit of God stations along our path. Any +inordinate desire for sensual and pleasurable excitement, whether fixed +on a right object, or directed towards a wrong one, comes under the +denomination of "lust." Strong and ill-regulated desire or passion, in +whatever direction it expresses itself, will work our ruin, and not +that alone of impurity, to which this old word is now specially +confined. + +In dealing with temptation and sin, we must always take into account +the presence in the human heart of that sad relic of the Fall, which +biases men towards evil. Every one that has handled bowls on the green +is familiar with the effect of the bias. The bowls are not perfect +spheres, and are weighted on one side in such a way that, as they leave +the hand, they will inevitably turn off from a straight course; and on +this account the greater skill is required from the hands that +manipulate and impel them. Such a bias has come to us all: first, from +our ancestor Adam; and, secondly, by that law of heredity which has +been accumulating its malign and sinister force through all the ages. +God alone can compute the respective strength of these forces; but He +can, and He will, as each separate soul stands before his judgment bar. + +Herod was the son of the great Herod, a voluptuous, murderous tyrant; +and, from some source or other, he had inherited a very weak nature. +Perhaps, if he had come under strong, wholesome influences, he would +have lived a passably good life; but it was his misfortune to fall +under the influence of a beautiful fiend, who became his Lady Macbeth, +his Jezebel, and wrought the ruin of his soul. It is a remarkable +thing, how strong an influence a beautiful and unscrupulous woman may +have over a weak man. And for this reason, amongst others, weakness +becomes wickedness. The man who allows himself to drift weakly before +the strongest influence is almost certain to discover that, in this +world, the strongest influences are those which make for sin; these +touch him most closely, and operate most continuously, and find in his +nature the best _nidus_, or nest, in which to breed. + +The influences that suggest and make for sin in this world are so +persistent--at every street corner, in every daily newspaper, among +every gathering of well-dressed people, or ill--that if my readers have +no other failing than that they are weak, I am bound to warn them, in +God's name, that unless they succeed in some way, directly or +indirectly, in linking themselves to the strength of the Son of. God, +they will inevitably become wicked. Remember that the men, and +especially the women, who are filling our gaols as criminals, were, in +most cases, only weak, but they therefore drifted before the strong, +black current which flows through the world, and have become objects +against whom all parents warn their children. With all my soul--and I +have had no small experience of myself and of others--I implore that if +you are conscious of your weakness, you shall do what the sea-anemone +and the limpet do, which cling to the rock when the storms darken the +sky. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." + +Herod was reluctant to take the course to which his evil genius urged +him. He made a slight show of resistance, as we have seen--but he did +not break with her; and so she finally had her way, and dragged him to +her lowest level. Here was the cause of his ruin, as it may be of +yours. You, too, have become allied with one who is possessed by a +more imperious will, and dominated by a stronger passion, than yours. +You suppose, however, that you can act as a make-weight, a drag on the +chariot-wheel; that you will be able to keep and steady the pace; and +that, when you like, you may arrest the onward progress. Ah, it is not +so! Herodias will have her way with you. You may be reluctant, will +falter and hesitate, will remonstrate, will resist, but ultimately you +will drift into doing the very sins, the mention of which in your +presence brings the red blood to your face. + +Beware, then, of yourself. If you are so impressible to John the +Baptist, remember that you may be equally so to evil suggestion: take +heed, therefore, to guard against anything in your life that may open +the gates of your sensitive nature to a temptation, which you may not +be able to withstand. If you are weak in physical health, you guard +against draught and fatigue, against impure atmosphere and +contagion--how much more should you guard against the scenes and +company which may act prejudicially on the health of your soul? Of all +our hours, none are so fraught with danger as those of recreation. In +these we cast ourselves, with the majority of Gideon's men, on the bank +of the stream, with relaxed girdles, drinking at our ease, without a +thought of the proximity of the foe; and, therefore, in these we are +more likely to fall. The Christian soldier is never off duty, never +out of the enemy's reach, never at liberty to relax his watch. The +sentries must always be posted, and the pickets kept well out on the +veldt. + +It was the most perilous thing that Herod could do, to have that +banquet. Lying back on his divan, lolling on his cushions, eating his +rich food, quaffing the sparkling wine, exchanging repartee with his +obsequious followers, it was as though the petals and calyx of his soul +were all open to receive the first insidious spore of evil that might +float past on the sultry air. That is why some of us dare not enter +the theatre, or encourage others to enter. This is not the place to +enter into a full discussion of the subject; but, even when a play may +be deemed inoffensive and harmless, the sensuous attractions of the +place, the glitter, the music, the slightly-dressed figures of the +actors and actresses, the entire atmosphere and environment, which +appeal so strongly to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and +the pride of life, break down some of the fortifications, which would +otherwise resist the first incidence and assault of evil. The air of +the theatre, the ball-room, the race-course, seem so impregnated with +the nocuous germs and microbes of evil, that it is perilous for the +soul to expose itself to them, conscious as it is of predisposing bias +and weakness. It is this consciousness, also, which prompts the daily +prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." + + +II. TEMPTATION. In the genesis of a sin we must give due weight to +the power of the Tempter, whether by his direct suggestion to the soul +or by the instrumentality of men and women whom he uses for his fell +purpose. In this case Satan's accomplice was the beautiful +Herodias--beautiful as a snake, but as deadly. She knew the influence +that John the Baptist wielded over her weak paramour, that he was +accustomed to attach unmeasured importance to his words, and do "many +things." She realized that his conscience was uneasy, and therefore +the more liable to be affected by his words when he reasoned of +righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. She feared for the +consequences if the Baptist and Herod's conscience should make common +cause against her. What if her power over the capricious tyrant were +to begin to wane, and the Baptist gain more and more influence, to her +discredit and undoing? She was not safe so long as John the Baptist +breathed. Herod feared him, and perhaps she feared him with more +abject terror, and was bent on delivering her life of his presence. + +She watched her opportunity, and it came on the occasion we have +described. The ungodly revel was at its height. Such a banquet as +Herod had often witnessed in the shameless court of Tiberius, and in +which luxury and appetite reached their climax, was in mid-current. +The strong wines of Messina and Cyprus had already done their work. +The hall resounded with ribald joke and merriment. Towards the end of +such a feast it was the custom for immodest women to be introduced, +who, by their gestures, imitated scenes in certain well-known +mythologies, and still further inflamed the passions of the banqueters. +But instead of the usual troupe, which Herod probably kept for such an +occasion, Salome herself came in and danced a wild nautch-dance. What +shall we think of a mother who could expose her daughter to such a +scene, and suggest her taking a part in the half-drunken orgy? To what +depths will not mad jealousy and passion urge us, apart from the +restraining grace of God! The girl, alas, was as shameless as her +mother. + +She pleased Herod, who was excited with the meeting of the two strong +passions, which have destroyed more victims than have fallen on all the +battlefields of the world; and in his frenzy, he promised to give her +whatever she might ask, though it were to cost half his kingdom. She +rushed back to her mother with the story of her success. "What shall I +ask?" she cried. The mother had, perhaps, anticipated such a moment as +this, and had her answer ready. "Ask," she replied instantly, "for +John the Baptist's head." Back from her mother she tripped into the +banqueting-hall, her black eyes flashing with cruel hate, lighted from +her mother's fierceness. A dead silence fell on the buzz of +conversation, and every ear strained for her reply. "And she came in +straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that +thou forthwith give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist." + +Mark that word, "forthwith." Her mother and she were probably fearful +that the king's mood would change. What was to be done must be done at +once, or it might not be done at all. "Quick, quick," the girl seemed +to say, "the moments seem like hours; now, in this instant, give me +what I demand. I want my banquet, too; let it be served up on one of +these golden chargers." The imperious demand of the girl showed how +keenly she had entered into her mother's scheme. + +It is thus that suggestions come to us; and, so far as I can +understand, we may expect them to come so long as we are in this world. +There seems to be a precise analogy between temptation and the microbes +of disease. These are always in the air; but when we are in good +health they are absolutely innocuous, our nature offers no hold or +resting place for them. The grouse disease only makes headway when +there has been a wet season, and the young birds are too weakened by +the damp to resist its attack. The potato blight is always lying in +wait, till the potato plants are deteriorated by a long spell of rain +and damp; it is only then that it can effect its fell purpose. The +microbes of consumption and cancer are probably never far away from us, +but are powerless to hurt us, till our system has become weakened by +other causes. So temptation would have no power over us, if we were in +full vigour of soul. It is only when the vitality of the inward man is +impaired, that we are unable to withstand the fiery darts of the wicked +one. + +This shows how greatly we need to be filled with the life of the Son of +God. In his life and death, our Lord, in our human nature, met and +vanquished the power of sin and death; He bore that nature into the +heavenly places, whence He waits to impart it, by the Holy Spirit, to +those who are united with Him by a living faith. Is not this what the +apostle John meant, when he said that his converts--his little +children--could overcome, because greater was He that was in them than +he that was in the world? He who has the greatest and strongest nature +within him must overcome an inferior nature; and if you have the +victorious nature of the living Christ in you, you must be stronger +than the nature which He bruised beneath his feet. + + +III. THE CONSENT OF THE WILL.--"The king was exceeding sorry." The +girl's request sobered him. His face turned pale, and he clutched +convulsively at the cushion on which he reclined. On the one hand, his +conscience revolted from the deed, and he was more than fearful of the +consequences; on the other, he said to himself, "I am bound by my oath. +I have sworn; and my words were spoken in the audience of so many of my +chief men, I dare not go back, lest they lose faith in me." "And +straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard and commanded to +bring the Baptist's head." + +Is it not marvellous that a man who did not refrain from doing deeds of +incest and murder, should be so scrupulous about violating an oath that +ought never to have been sworn? You have thought that you were bound +to go through with your engagement, because you had pledged yourself, +although you know that it would condemn you to lifelong misery and +disobedience to the law of Christ. But stay for a moment, and tell me! +What was your state of mind when you pledged your word? Were you not +under the influence of passion? Did you not form your plan in the +twilight of misinformation, or beneath the spell of some malign and +unholy influence, that exerted a mesmeric power over you? Looking back +on it, can you not see that you ought never to have bound yourself, and +do you not feel that if you had your time again you would not bind +yourself? Then be sure that you are not bound by that "dead hand." +You must act in the clearer, better light, which God has communicated. +Even though you called on the sacred name of God, God cannot sanction +that which you now count mistaken, and wrong. You had no right to +pledge half the kingdom of your nature. It is not yours to give, it is +God's. And if you have pledged it, through mistake, prejudice, or +passion, dare to believe that you are absolved from your vow, through +repentance and faith, and that the breach is better than the observance. + +"And he went and beheaded John in prison." Had the Baptist heard aught +of the unseemly revelry? Had any strain of music been waited down to +him? Perhaps so. Those old castles are full of strange echoes. His +cell was perfectly dark. He might be lying bound on the bare ground, +or some poor bed of straw. Was his mind glancing back on those +never-to-be-forgotten days, when the heaven was opened above him, and +he saw the descending Dove? Was he wondering why he was allowed to lie +there month after month, silenced and suffering? Ah, he did not know +how near he was to liberty! + +There was a tread along the corridor. It stopped outside his cell. +The light gleamed under the door; the heavy wards of the lock were +turned: in a moment more he saw the gleam of the naked sword, and +guessed the soldier's errand. There was no time to spare; the royal +message was urgent. Perhaps one last message was sent to his +disciples; then he bowed his head before the stroke; the body fell +helpless here, the head there, and the spirit was free, with the +freedom of the sons of God, in a world where such as he stand among +their peers. Forerunner of the Bridegroom here, he was his forerunner +there also; and the Bridegroom's friend passed homeward to await the +Bridegroom's coming, where he ever hears the voice he loves. + +"And the soldier brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the +damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother." There would not be so +much talking while the tragedy was being consummated. The king and +courtiers must have been troubled under the spell of that horror, as +Belshazzar when the hand wrote in characters of mystery over against +the sacred candlestick. And when the soldier entered, carrying in the +charger that ghastly burden, they beheld a sight which was to haunt +some of them to their dying day. Often Herod would see it in his +dreams, and amid the light of setting suns. It would haunt him, and +fill his days and nights with anguish that all the witchery of Herodias +could not dispel. + +Months afterwards, when he heard of Jesus, the conscience-stricken +monarch said: "It is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded; he is risen +from the dead." And still afterwards, when Jesus Himself stood before +him, and refused to speak one word, he must have associated that +silence and his deed together, as having a fatal and necessary +connection. + +So the will, which had long paltered with the temptress, at last took +the fatal step, and perpetrated the crime which could never be undone. +There is always a space given, during which a tempted soul is allowed +time to withdraw from the meshes of the net of temptation. Sudden +falls have always been preceded by long dallying with Delilah. The +crashing of the tree to the earth has been prepared for by the ravages +of the borer-worm, which has eaten out its heart. + +If you have taken the fatal step, and marred your life by some sad and +disastrous sin, dare to believe that there is forgiveness for you with +God. Men may not forgive, but God will. As far as the east is from +the west, so far will He remove our transgressions from us. Perhaps we +can never again take up public Christian work; but we may walk humbly +and prayerfully with God, sure that we are accepted of Him, and +forgiven, though we can hardly forgive ourselves. + +But if we have not yet come to this, let us devoutly thank God, and be +on the watch against any influences that may drift us thither. We may +yet retreat. We may yet disentangle ourselves. We may yet receive +into our natures the living power of the Lord Jesus. We may yet cut +off the right hand and right foot, and pluck out the right eye, which +is causing us to offend. Better this, and go into life maimed, than be +cast, as Herod was, to the fire and worm of unquenchable remorse. + + + + +XV. + +The Grave of John, and Another Grave + +(MATTHEW XIV. 12.) + + "When some beloved voice, that was to you + Both sound and sweetness, faileth suddenly, + And silence, against which you dare not cry, + Aches round you like a strong disease and new,-- + What hope, what help, what music will undo + That silence to your sense? Not friendship's sigh, + Not reason's subtle count.... Nay, none of these! + Speak, Thou availing Christ!--and fill this pause." + E. B. BROWNING. + + +"Tell Jesus"--The Sin-Bearer--The Resurrection of Jesus--The Followers +of John, and of Jesus--"He is Risen!" + + +We have beheld the ghastly deed with which Herod's feast ended--the +golden charger, on which lay the freshly-dissevered head of the +Baptist, borne by Salome to her mother, that the two might gloat on it +together. Josephus says that the body was cast over the castle wall, +and lay for a time unburied. Whether that were so, we cannot tell; +but, in some way, John's disciples heard of the ghastly tragedy, which +had closed their master's life, and they came to the precincts of the +castle to gather up the body as it lay dishonoured on the ground, or +ventured into the very jaws of death to request that it might be given +to them. In either case, it was a brave thing for them to do; an +altogether heroic exploit, which may be classed in the same category +with that of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, who travelled all night through +the country infested by the Philistines to rescue the bodies of Saul +and his sons from the temple of Bethshan. + +The headless body was then borne to a grave, either in the grim, gaunt +hills of Moab, or in that little village, away on the southern slopes +of the Judaean hills, where, some thirty years before, the aged pair +had rejoiced over the growing lad. God knows where that grave lies; +and some day it will yield up to honour and glory the body which was +sown in weakness and corruption. + +Having performed the last sad rites, the disciples "went and told +Jesus." Every mourner should go along the path they trod, to the same +gentle and tender Comforter; and if any who read these words have +placed within the narrow confines of a grave the precious remains of +those dearer than life, let them follow where John's disciples have +preceded them, to the one Heart of all others in the universe which is +able to sympathize and help; because it also has sorrowed unto tears at +the grave of its beloved, even though it throbbed with the fulness of +the mighty God. Go, and tell Jesus! + +The telling will bring relief. Though the great High-Priest knows all +the story, He loves to hear it told, because of the relief which the +recital necessarily imparts to the surcharged soul. He will tell you +that your brother shall rise again; that your child is safe in the +flowery meadows of Paradise; that those whom you have loved and lost +are engaged in high service amid the ministries of eternity; that every +time-beat is bringing nearer the moment of inseparable union. + +It is not, however, on these details that we desire to dwell, but to +use the scenes before us as a background and contrast to magnify +certain features in the death, grave, and abiding influence of Jesus of +Nazareth. + + +I. CONTRAST THE DEATH OF JOHN AND THAT OF JESUS.--There were many +points of similarity between their careers. These two rivers sprang +from the same source, in a quiet glen far up among the hills; lay in +deep lagoons during their earlier course; leapt down in the same mighty +torrent when their time had come; and for the first few miles watered +the same tract of country. + +It would be possible to enumerate a large number of identical facts of +the life-courses of the two cousins. Their births were announced, and +their ministries anticipated, under very special circumstances; Mary +was unmarried, and Elisabeth past age--and an angel of the Lord came to +each. John seemed, to the superficial view, the stronger and mightier +of the two; but Jesus followed close behind and took up a similar +burden, as He bade the people repent and believe the Gospel. They were +alike in attending no prophetic school, and avoiding each of the great +Jewish sects. Neither Hillel nor Shammai could claim them. They had +no ecclesiastical connections; they stood aloof from the Pharisees and +Sadducees, the Herodians and Essenes. They attracted similar +attention, gathered the same crowds, and protested against the same +sins. Rearing the same standard, they summoned men from formality and +hypocrisy to righteousness and reality. They incurred the same hatred +on the part of the religious leaders of their nation, and suffered +violent deaths--the one beneath the headsman's blade in the dungeons of +Herod's castle, the other on the cross, at the hand of Pilate and the +Roman soldiers. Each suffered a death of violence at the hand of men +whom he had lived to succour; each died when the life-blood throbbed +with young manhood's prime, and while there was sweet fragrance as of +early summer; each was loved and mourned by a little handful of devoted +followers. + +But there the similarity ends, and the contrast begins. With John, it +was the tragic close of a great and epoch-making career. When he died +men said--Alas! a prophet's voice is silenced. What a pity that in a +moment of passion the tyrant took his life! Let him sleep! Rest will +be sweet to one who expended his young strength with such spendthrift +extravagance! Such men are rare! Ages flower thus but once, and then +years of barrenness! But as we turn to the death of Jesus, other +feelings than those of pity or regret master us. We are neither +surprised, nor altogether sorry. We do not recognise that there is in +any sense an end of his work--rather it is the beginning. The corn of +wheat has fallen into the ground to die, that it may not abide alone, +but bear much fruit. Here, at the Cross, is the head of waters, rising +from unknown depths, which are to heal the nations; here the sacrifice +is being offered which is to expiate the sin of man, and bring peace to +myriads of penitents; here the last Adam at the tree undoes the deadly +work wrought by the first at another tree. This is no mere martyr's +last agony; but a sacrifice, premeditated, prearranged, the effects of +which have already been prevalent in securing the remission of sins +done aforetime. This is an event for which millenniums have been +preparing, and to which millenniums shall look back. John's death +affected no destiny but his own; the death of Jesus has affected the +destiny of our race. As his forerunner explained, He was the Lamb of +God who bore away the sin of the world. The Lord hath laid on Him the +iniquity of us all. + +But there is another contrast. In the case of John, the martyr had no +control on his destiny; he could not order the course of events; there +was no alternative but to submit. When he opened his ministry, he had +no thought that such a fate would befall. As he stood boldly forth +upon his rock-hewn pulpit, and preached to the eager crowds, do you +suppose that the idea ever flashed across his mind that his path, +carpeted with flowers and lined on either side with applause, could end +in the loneliness of a desert track, lying across a barren waste where +no man dwelt or came, and where the vast expanse engulphs the last cry +of the perishing? But, from the first, Jesus meant to die. If, eight +centuries ago, you had seen the first outlines drawn of the Cologne +Cathedral, whose noble structure has been brought to completion within +only the last decades, you would have been convinced that the completed +fabric would enclose a cross; so the life of Jesus, from the earliest, +portended Calvary. He had received power and commandment from the +Father to lay down his life. For this cause He was born, and for this +He came into the world. Others die because they have been born: Jesus +was born that He might die. + +In his great picture of the Carpenter's shop, Millais depicts the +shadow of the Cross, flung back by the growing lad, on the wall, +strongly-defined in the clear oriental light. Mary beholds it with a +look of horror on her face. The thought is a true one. From the +earliest, the Cross cast its shadow over the life of the Son of Man. +He was never deceived as to his ultimate destiny. He told Nicodemus +that He must be lifted up. He knew that as the Good Shepherd He would +have to give his life for the sheep. He assured his disciples that He +would be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, who would +condemn Him to death, crucify, and slay. Man does not need primarily +the teacher, the example, nor the miracle-worker; but the Saviour who +can stand in his stead, and put away his sin by the sacrifice of +Himself. When the soul is burdened with the weight of its sins, and +the conscience is ill at ease, whither can we turn save to the Cross, +on which the Prince of Glory died! + +What answer and explanation can be given to account for the marvellous +spell that the Cross of Christ exerts over the hearts of men? You +cannot trace it to the influence of early association merely, or to the +effect of heredity, or to the fact of our having come of generations +which have turned to the green hill far away, in life and death; +because if you take the preaching of the Cross to savage and heathen +tribes, who have no advantage of Christian centuries behind them, +whenever you begin to explain its significance, the sob of the soul is +hushed, and its dread dissipated. Tears of anguish are changed into +tears of penitence. The shuttles of a new hope begin to weave the +garments of a new purity. No other death affects us thus or effects so +immediate a transformation. And may not this be cited as the proof +that the death of Jesus is unique; the supreme act of love; the gift of +that Father-heart which knew the need of the world, and the only way of +appeasing it? + + +II. CONTRAST THE GRAVE OF JOHN AND THAT OF JESUS.--Men have alleged +that the Lord did not really rise from the dead, and that the tale of +his resurrection, if it were not a fabrication, was the elaboration of +a myth. But neither of these alternatives will bear investigation. On +the one hand, it is absurd to suppose that the temple of truth could be +erected on the quagmire and morass of falsehood--impossible to believe +that the one system in the world of mind which has attracted the true +to its allegiance, and been the stimulus of truth-seeking throughout +the ages, can have originated in a tissue of deliberate falsehoods. On +the other hand, it is a demonstrated impossibility that a myth could +have found time to grow into the appearance of substantial fact during +the short interval which elapsed between the death of Christ and the +first historical traces of the Church. + +In this connection, it is interesting to consider one sentence dropped +by the sacred chronicler. He tells us, that when Herod heard of the +works of Jesus, he said immediately, "It is John the Baptist--he is +risen from the dead." Herod could not believe that that mighty +personality was quenched, even for this life, by that one blow of the +executioner's sword. Surely he had risen! There was a feverish dread +that he would yet be confronted by the murdered man, whose face haunted +his dreams. His courtiers, ready to take the monarch's cue, would be +equally credulous. From one to another the surmise would pass--"John +the Baptist is risen from the dead." + +Why, then, did that myth not spread, until it became universally +accredited? Ah, there was no chance of such a thing, for the simple +reason that there was the grave of John the Baptist to disprove it. If +Herod had seriously believed it, or the disciples of John attempted to +spread it, nothing would have been easier than to exhume the body from +its sepulture, and produce the ghastly but indubitable refutation of +the royal delusion. + +When the statement began to spread and gain credence that Christ had +risen from the dead; when Peter and John stood up and affirmed that He +was living at the right hand of God; if it had been a mere surmise, the +fond delusion of loyal and faithful hearts, an hallucination of two or +three hysterical women--would it not have been easy for the enemies of +Christianity to go forthwith to the grave in the garden of Joseph, and +produce the body of the Crucified, with the marks of the nails in hands +and feet? Why did they not do it? If it be said that it could not be +produced, because it had been taken away, let this further question be +answered: Who had taken it away? Not his friends; for they would have +taken the cerements and wrappings with which Joseph and Nicodemus had +enswathed it. Not his enemies; for they would have been only too glad +to produce it. What glee in the grim faces of Caiaphas and Annas, if +at the meeting of the Sanhedrim, called to deal with the new heresy, +there could have been given some irrefragable proof that the body of +Jesus was still sepulchred, if not in Joseph's tomb, yet somewhere +else, to which their emissaries had conveyed it! + +It is difficult to exaggerate the significance and force of this +contrast. And the devout soul cannot but derive comfort from comparing +the allegation of the superstitious king, which could have been so +easily refuted by the production of the Baptist's body, with that of +the disciples, which was confirmed and attested by the condition of the +grave which, in spite of the watch and ward of the Roman soldiers, had +been despoiled of its prey on the morning of the third day. Herod +expected John to rise, and gave his royal authority to the rumour of +his resurrection; but it fell to the ground still-born. The disciples +did not expect Jesus to rise. They stoutly held that the women were +mistaken, when they brought to them the assurance that it was even so. +But as the hours passed, the tidings of the empty grave were +corroborated by the vision of the Risen Lord, and they were convinced +that He who was crucified in weakness was living by the power of God. +There could, henceforth, be no hesitation in their message to the +world. "The God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye +denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him +go.... But ye killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the +dead." Thank God, we have not followed cunningly-devised fables. "Now +is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that +slept. And as by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of +the dead." + + +III. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE EFFECTS OF THEIR TWO DEATHS ON THE +FOLLOWERS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AND OF JESUS RESPECTIVELY.--What a +picture for an artist of sacred subjects is presented by the +performance of the last rites to the remains of the great Forerunner! +There was probably neither a Joseph nor a Nicodemus among his +disciples; certainly no Magdalene nor mother. Devout men bore him to +his grave, and made great lamentation over him. He had taught them to +pray, to know God, to prepare for the Kingdom of God. They had also +fasted oft beneath his suggestion; but they were destined to experience +what fasting meant, after a new fashion, now that their leader was +taken away from them. + +The little band broke up at his grave. Farewell! they said to him; +farewell to their ministry and mission; farewell to one another. "I go +back to my boats and fishing-nets," said one; and "I to my farm," said +another; and "We shall go and join Jesus of Nazareth," said the rest. +"Good-bye!" "Good-bye!" And so the little band separated, never to +meet in a common corporate existence again. + +When Jesus lay in his grave, this process of disintegration began at +once among his followers also. The women went to embalm Him; the men +were apart. Peter and John broke off together--at least they ran +together to the sepulchre; but where were the rest? Two walked to +Emmaus apart; whilst Thomas was not with them when Jesus came on the +evening of Easter Day. As soon as the breath leaves the body +disintegration begins; and when Jesus was dead, as they supposed, the +same process began to show itself. Soon Peter would have been back in +Gennesaret; Nathanael beneath his fig-tree, Luke in his dispensary, and +Matthew at his toll-booth. + +What arrested that process and made it impossible? Why did the day, +which began with a certain amount of separation and decay, end with a +closer consolidation than ever, so that they were, for the most part, +gathered in the upper room; and forty days after they were all with one +accord in one place? Why was it that they who had been like timid +deer, before He died, became as lions against the storm of Pharisaic +hate, and stronger as the weeks passed? + +There is only one answer to these questions. The followers of Jesus +were convinced by irrefragable proofs that their Master was living at +the right hand of power; nay, that He was with them all the +days--nearer them than ever before, as much their Head and Leader as at +any previous moment. When the shepherd is smitten, the flock is +scattered; and this flock was not scattered, because the Shepherd had +recovered from his mortal wound, and was alive for evermore. + +And surely the evidence which sufficed for them is enough for us. +Again and again, in dark hours, when I have longed to have the +demonstration of sense added to that of faith, it has been an untold +comfort to feel that sufficient evidence was given to the Lord's +disciples to persuade them against their contrary expectations and +unbelief; to hold them together in spite of every possible inducement +to disperse, and to transform a number of units into the Church, +against which the gates of hell have not been able to prevail. If they +were convinced, we may be. If their eyes beheld and their hands +touched the body of the risen Lord, we may be of good cheer. Their +behaviour proves that they were thoroughly convinced. They acted as +only those can act whose feet are on a rock. They knew whom they had +believed; and they had no doubt that He would perfect the work which He +had begun. What He had begun in the flesh, He would perfect in the +Spirit. + +In after days Peter spoke of Him as the Prince, or File-leader of Life; +and suggests the conception, that through all the ages He is marching +on through the gates of death and the grave, unlocking them for us, and +opening the pathway into the realms of more and more abundant life. +Let us follow Him. It is not for us to linger around the grave: even +John's disciples forbore to do this. But let us join ourselves by +faith with our Prince and Leader, our Head and Captain, as He waits to +succour us from the excellent glory, sure that where He is, we too +shall be; but in the meanwhile we are assured that He is not in the +grave, where loving hands laid Him, but risen, ascended, glorified--our +Emmanuel, our Bridegroom, our Love and Life. "The Lord is my Shepherd, +I shall not want: ... He leadeth me, ... He maketh me to lie down; +... He restoreth my soul.... Though I walk through the valley of the +shadow of death, ... Thou _art_ with me." + + + + +XVI. + +Yet Speaking. + +(JOHN X. 40-42.) + + "Shine Thou upon us, Lord, + True Light of men, to-day; + And through the written Word + Thy very self display; + That so from hearts which burn + With gazing on Thy face, + Thy little ones may learn + The wonders of Thy grace." + J. ELLERTON. + + +Desert Solitudes--Modern Miracles--Our own Age--Nothing Common or +Unclean--How to Witness for Jesus--After Many Days + + +"Beyond Jordan!" To the Jews that dwelt at Jerusalem that was +banishment indeed. The tract of country beyond Jordan was known as +Perea, and was very sparsely populated. There were some tracts of +fertile country, dotted by a few scattered villages, but no one of +repute lived there; and the refinement, religious advantages, and +social life of the metropolis, were altogether absent. Perea was to +Jerusalem what the Highlands, a century ago, were to Edinburgh. There +our Lord spent the last few months of his chequered career. + +But why? Why did the Son of Man banish Himself from the city He loved +so dearly? Surely the home at Bethany would have welcomed Him? Or, +failing this, for any reason over which the sisters had no control, He +might have found a temporary home at Nazareth, where He had been +brought up; or Capernaum, in which He had wrought so many of his mighty +works, might have provided Him a palace, whose white marble steps would +have been lapped by the blue waters of the lake! Not so! The Son of +Man had not where to lay his head. The nation, whose white flower He +was, had rejected Him; and the world, for which He came to shed his +blood, knew Him not. The religious leaders of the age were pursuing +Him with relentless malice, and would have taken his life before the +predestined hour had arrived, had He not escaped from their hands, and +gone away "beyond Jordan into the place where John was at the first +baptizing; and there He abode: and many came unto Him." + +There was a peculiar fascination to the Lord Jesus in those solitudes, +because of their connection with the Forerunner. Those desert +solitudes had been black with crowds of men. Those hill-slopes had +been covered with booths and tents, in which the mighty congregations +tabernacled, whilst they waited on his words. Those banks had +witnessed the baptism of thousands of people, who, in the symbolic act +of baptism, had put away their sins. And the villagers, who lived +around, could tell wonderful tales of the radiant opening of that brief +but epoch-making ministry; they could speak for hours together about +the habits of the austere preacher, and the marvellous power of his +eloquence. + +As Jesus and his disciples wandered from place to place, Andrew would +indicate the spot where he was baptized; and John and he would recall +together the place where they were standing when their great teacher +and master pointed to Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold the Lamb of +God." Bartholomew would find again the spot where Jesus accosted him +as the guileless Israelite, a salutation for which also he had been +prepared by the preaching of the Forerunner. Two or three could +localize the scene where the deputation from the Sanhedrim accosted the +Baptist with the enquiry, "Who art thou?" + +It was as though, years after the Battle of Waterloo, some soldiers of +the Iron Duke had visited the historic cornfields, and had recited +their reminiscences of the memorable incidents of that memorable fight. +Here the long, thin red line stood during the whole day. There +Napoleon waited to see the effect of the last charge of his cavalry. +Yonder, through the wood, Blucher's troops hurried to reinforce their +brothers in arms. And down those slopes the old Guard broke with a +cheer, as the Duke gave the long-looked-for word. It was in some such +spirit that our Lord and his apostles revisited those scenes, where +many of them had seen the gate of heaven opened for the first time. + +Probably our Lord would resume his ministry of preaching the good +tidings. He could not be in any place where the sins and sorrows of +men called for his gracious words, without speaking them; and to Him +they probably brought the lame, the blind, the sick, and paralyzed--and +He healed them all. Many came to Him, and went away blessed and +helped. So much so, that the people could not help contrasting the two +ministries. There was a touch of disparagement in their comments on +the Baptist's ministry. "They said, John indeed did no miracle." No +lame man had leaped as an hart; the tongue of no dumb man had sung; no +widow had received her son raised to life from his hands; no leper's +flesh had come to him, as the flesh of a little child. It was quite +true--John had done no miracle. + +But with this slight disparagement, there was a generous tribute and +acknowledgment. "But all things whatsoever John spake of this Man were +true." He said that He was the Lamb of God, pure and gentle, holy, +harmless, and undefiled; _and it was true_. He said that He would use +his fan, separating the wheat from the chaff; _and it was true_. He +said that He would baptize with fire; _and it was true_. He said that +He was the Bridegroom of Israel; _and it was true_. He did no miracle, +but he spoke strong, true words of Jesus, and they have been abundantly +verified. And these simple-hearted people of Perea did what the +Pharisees and scribes, with all their fancied wisdom, had failed to do: +they put the words of the Baptist and the life of Jesus together, and +reasoned that since this had fitted those, as a key fits the lock, +therefore Jesus was indeed the Son of God and the King of Israel; and +"many believed on Him there." + + +I. LIFE WITHOUT MIRACLES.--The people were inclined to disparage the +life of John because there was no miracle in it. But surely his whole +life was a miracle; from first to last it vibrated with Divine power. +And did he work no miracle? If he did not open the eyes of the blind, +did not multitudes, beneath his words, come to see themselves sinners, +and the world a passing show, and the Eternal as alone enduring and +desirable? If he did not lay his priestly hand on leprous flesh, as +Jesus did, did not many a moral leper go from the waters of his +baptism, with new resolves and purposes, to sin no more? If he did not +raise dead bodies, did not many, who were immured in the graves of +pride, and lust, and worldliness, hear his voice, and come forth to the +life--which is life indeed? No miracles! Surely his life was one long +pathway of miracle, from the time of his birth of aged parents, to the +last moment of his protest against the crimes of Herod! + +This is still the mistake of men. They allege that the age of miracles +has passed. If they admit that such prodigies may possibly have +happened once, they insist that the world has grown out of them, and +that with its arrival at maturity the race has put them away as +childish things. God, they think, is either Absentee, or the Creature +of Laws, which He established, and which now hold Him, as the +graveclothes held Lazarus. No miracles! But last summer He made the +handfuls of grain, which the farmers cast on the fields, suffice to +feed all the population of the globe--as easily as He made five barley +loaves provide a full meal for more than ten thousand persons. No +miracles! But last autumn, in ten thousand vineyards, He turned the +dews of the night and the showers of the morning into the wine that +rejoices man's heart; as once, in Cana, He changed the water drawn from +the stone jars into the blushing wine. No miracles! Explain, then, +why it is, that though ice is of denser specific gravity than water, it +does not sink to the bottom of rivers and ponds, by which they would be +speedily transformed into masses of ice, but floats on the surface of +the water, affording a pathway across from bank to brae, as Jesus once +walked on the water from the shores of the Lake of Galilee! No +miracles! It was only yesterday that He cleansed a leper; and healed a +sin-sick soul; and raised from his bier a young man dead in trespasses +and sins; and took a maiden by the hand, saying, Talitha cumi, "Maid, +arise!" As I passed by, I saw Him strike a rock, and torrents of tears +gushed out: I beheld a tree, with its sacred burden, and the +serpent-poison ceased to inflame: I saw the iron swim against its +natural bent, and the lion crouch as though it beheld an angel of God +with a flaming sword. Again, the seas made a passage for the +sacramental hosts, and the waters shrank away before the touch of the +Priestly feet, making a passage through the depths. No; it is still +the age of miracles. + +_Let us not disparage the age in which we live_. To look back on the +Day of Pentecost with a sigh, as though there were more of the Holy +Spirit on that day than to-day; and as though there were a larger +Presence of God in the upper room than in the room in which you sit, is +a distinct mistake and folly. We may not have the sound as of a +rushing mighty wind, nor the crowns of fire; there is no miracle to +startle and arrest: but the Holy Spirit is with the Church in all the +old gracious and copious plenitude; the river is sweeping past in +undiminished fulness; though there may not be the flash of the electric +spark, the atmosphere is as heavily charged as ever with the presence +and power of the Divine Paraclete. The Lord said of the +Baptist--though he wrought no miracle--that there was none greater of +those born of woman; and perchance He is pronouncing that this age is +greater than all preceding ages in its possibilities. In His view, it +may be that greater deeds may be attempted and accomplished by the +Church of to-day than ever in that past age, when she grappled with and +vanquished the whole force of Paganism. + +If there is any failure, it is with ourselves. We have not believed in +the mighty power and presence of God, because we have missed the +outward and visible sign of his working. We have thought that He was +not here, because He has not been in the fire, the earthquake, or the +mighty wind which rends the mountains. We have become so accustomed to +associate the startling and spectacular with the Divine, that we fail +to discover God, when the heaven is begemmed with stars, and the earth +carpeted with flowers: as though the lightning were more to us than +starlight, and the destructive than the peaceful and patient +constructive forces, which are ever at work building up and repairing +the fabric of the universe. + +Do not look back on the Incarnation, or forward to the Second Advent, +as though there were more of God in either one or the other than is +within our reach. God is; God is here; God is indivisible: all of God +is present at any given point of time or place. He may choose to +manifest Himself in outward signs, which impress the imagination more +at one time than another; the faith of the Church maybe quicker to +apprehend and receive in one century than the next: but all time is +great--every age is equally his workmanship, and equally full of his +wonder-working power. Alas for us, that our eyes are holden! + +_Let us not disparage the ordinary and commonplace_. We are all taught +to run after the startling and extraordinary--the statesman who +accomplishes the _coup d'état_; the painter who covers a large canvas +with a view to scenic effects; the preacher who indulges in superficial +and showy rhetoric, the musician whose execution is brilliant and +astonishing. We like miracles! Whatever appeals to our love for the +sensational and unexpected is likely enough to displace our +appreciation of the simple and ordinary. When the sun is eclipsed, we +all look heavenward; but the golden summer days may be filled with +sunlight, which is dismissed with a commonplace remark about the +weather. A whole city will turn out to see the illuminations, whilst +the stars hardly attract a passing notice. Let there be a show of +curiously-shaped orchids, and society is stirred; but who will travel +far to see a woodland glade blue with wild hyacinths, or a meadow-lawn +besprent with daisies. Thus our tastes are vitiated and blinded. + +It is good to cultivate simple tastes. The pure and childlike heart +will find unspeakable enjoyment in all that God has made, though it be +as familiar as a lawn sparkling with dewdrops, a hay-field scented by +clover-blooms, a streamlet murmuring over the pebbles, or the drawl of +the shingle after a retreating wave. It is a symptom of a weak and +unstable nature to be always in search for some new thing, for some +greater sensation, for some more startling sign. "Show us a sign from +heaven," is the incessant cry of the Pharisee and Scribe: and when the +appetite has been once created, it can never be appeased, but is always +set on some novelty more marvellous and startling than anything which +has preceded. Be content with a holy ministry which does not dazzle by +its fireworks, but sheds a steady sunshine on the sacred page. +Cultivate familiarity with the grand, solid works of our English +literature. Avoid the use of extravagant adjectives. Take an interest +in the games of children; in the common round and daily task of +servants and employés; in the toils and tears of working-girls; in the +struggling lot of the charwoman who scrubs your floors, and the lad who +cleans your boots. Do not be always gaping at the window for bands to +come down the street; but be on the pavement before your house with a +helping-hand and kindly word for the ordinary folk that labour and are +heavy-laden. It is remarkable that in all these there are tragedies +and comedies; the raw material for novels and romances; the characters +which fill the pages of a Shakespeare or George Eliot. All life is so +interesting; but we need eyes to see, and hearts to understand. There +has been no age greater than this; there is no part of the world more +full of God than yours; there is no reason why you should not see +Madonnas in the ordinary women, and Last Suppers in the ordinary meals, +and Holy Families in the ordinary groups around you--if only you have +the anointed eyes of a Raffaelle or a Leonardo de Vinci. If the world +seems common or unclean to you, the fault lies in your eyes that have +made it so. + +_Let us not disparage ourselves_. We know our limitations; we are not +capable of working miracles--our best friends are well acquainted with +this, for no eyes are quicker than Love's. We are sparrows, not larks; +clay, not alabaster; deal, not mahogany. But if we cannot work +miracles, we can speak true, strong words about Jesus Christ; we can +bear witness to Him as the Lamb of God; we can urge men to repent and +believe the Gospel. The world would have been in a sorry plight if it +had depended entirely on its geniuses and miracle-workers. Probably it +owes less to them than to the untold myriads of simple, humble, +obscure, and commonplace people, whose names will never be recorded in +its roll-call, but whose lives have laid the foundations on which the +superstructure of good order, and government, and prosperity, has been +reared. + +Remember that God made you what you are, and placed you. Dare to be +yourself--a simple, humble, sincere follower of Jesus. Do not seek to +imitate this or the other great speaker or leader. Be content to find +out what God made you for, and be that at its best. You will be a bad +copy, but a unique original; for the Almighty always breaks the pattern +from which He has made one vase. Above all, speak out the truth, as +God has revealed it to you, distorting, exaggerating, omitting nothing; +and long after you have passed away, those who remember you will gather +at your grave and say, "he did no miracle--there was nothing +sensational or phenomenal in his life-work; but he spake true things +about Jesus Christ, which we have tested for ourselves, and are +undeniable. Indeed, they led us to believe in Him for ourselves." + + +II. THE WAYS IN WHICH WE MAY BEAR TESTIMONY TO THE LORD JESUS.--There +is no miracle in your life, my reader. You are no genius; you do not +know what it is to have the rush of thought, the power of brilliant +speech, the burst of song. You have no wealth, only just enough for +your bare sustenance, and nothing to spare. You have no rich blood in +your veins, come of a line of heroes or saints. As you look daily into +the common routine of your lot, it seems ordinary enough. Be it so; +there is at least one thing you can do, as we have seen--like the +Baptist, you may witness for Jesus. + +_Speak to others privately_. When only two disciples were standing +beside him, John preached the same sermon as he had delivered to the +crowd the day before, and both of them went to the frail lodging where +Jesus was making his abode. There is nothing that more deeply searches +a man than the habit of speaking to individuals about the love of God. +We cannot do it unless we are in living union with Himself. Nothing so +tests the soul. It is easy to preach a sermon, when the inner life is +out of fellowship with God, because you can preach your ideals, or +avenge on others the sins of which you are inwardly conscious; but to +speak to another about Christ involves that there should be an +absolutely clear sky between the speaker and the Lord of whom he +speaks. But as this practice is the most difficult, it is the most +blessed in its reflex influence. To lead another to Jesus is to get +nearer Him. To chafe the limbs of some frozen companion is to send the +warm blood rushing through your own veins. To go after one lost sheep +is to share the shepherd's joy. Whether by letters addressed to +relatives or companions, or by personal and direct appeal, let each one +of us adopt the sacred practice, which Mr. Moody followed and +commended, of allowing no day to pass without seeking to use some +opportunity given by God for definite, personal dealings with others. + +The apostle Andrew seems to have specially consecrated his life to +this. On each of the occasions he is referred to in the Gospels he is +dealing with individuals. He brought his own brother; was the first to +seek after a boy to bring to the Saviour's presence; and at the close +of our Lord's ministry he brings the seeking Greeks. Did he not learn +this blessed art from his master, the Baptist? + +It is requisite that there should be the deliberate resolution to +pursue this holy habit; definite prayer for guidance as one issues from +the morning hour of prayer; abiding fellowship with the Son of God, +that He may give the right word at the right moment; and a willingness +to open the conversation by some manifestation of the humble, loving +disposition begotten by the Holy Spirit, which is infinitely attractive +and beautiful to the most casual passer-by. + +_Speak experimentally_. "I saw and bare record." John spoke of what +he had seen, and tasted, and handled. Be content to say, "I was lost, +but Jesus found me, blind, and He gave me sight; unclean, and He +cleansed my heart." Nothing goes so far to convince another as to hear +the accent of conviction on the lips of one whose eyes survey the +landscape of truth to which he allures, and whose ears are open to the +eternal harmonies which he describes. + +_Speak from a full heart_. The lover cannot but speak about his love; +the painter can do no other than transfer to canvas the conceptions +that entrance his soul; the musician is constrained to give utterance +to the chords that pass in mighty procession through his brain. "We +cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard." + +Does it seem difficult to have always a full heart? Verily, it is +difficult, and impossible, unless the secret has been acquired of +abiding always in the love of God, of keeping the entire nature open to +the Holy Spirit, and of nourishing the inward strength by daily +meditation on the truth. We must close our senses to the sounds and +sights around us, that our soul may open to the unseen and eternal. We +must have deep and personal fellowship with the Father and the Son by +the Holy Ghost. We must live at first-hand on the great essentials of +our faith. Then, as the vine-sap arises from the root, its throb and +pulse will be irresistible in our behaviour and testimony. We shall +speak true things about Jesus Christ. Our theme will be evermore the +inexhaustible one of Christ--Christ, only Christ--not primarily the +doctrine about Him, or the benefits accruing from fellowship with Him, +but Himself. + +Thus, some day, at your burying, as men turn homewards from the +new-made grave, and speak those final words of the departed, which +contain the most unerring verdict and summing-up of the life, they will +say, "He will be greatly missed. He was no genius, not eloquent nor +profound; but he used to speak about Christ in such a way that he led +me to know Him for myself: I owe everything to him. He did no miracle; +but whatever he said of Jesus was true." + + +III. THE POWER OF POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.--John had been dead for many +months, but the stream he had set flowing continued to flow; the +harvests he sowed sprang into mature and abundant fruitage; the +wavelets of tremulous motion which he had started circled out and on. + +How many voices are speaking still in our lives--voices from the grave! +voices from dying beds! voices from books and sermons! voices from +heaven! "Being dead, they yet speak." Let us live so that, when we +are gone, our influence shall tell, and the accents of our voice +linger. No one lives or dies to himself. Each grain on the +ocean-shore affects the position of every other. Each star is needed +for the perfect balance of the spheres. Each of us is affecting the +lives of all that are now existing with us in the world, or will exist. +To untold ages, what we have been and said will affect all other beings +for good or ill. We may be forgiven for having missed our +opportunities, or started streams of poison instead of life; but the +ill effect can never be undone. + +Parents, put your hands on those young childish heads, and say pure, +sweet words of Christ, which will return to memory and heart long after +you have gone to your reward! Ministers of religion, and Sunday school +teachers, remember your tremendous responsibility to use to the +uttermost the opportunity of saying words which will never die! +Friend, be true and faithful with your friend; he may turn away in +apparent thoughtlessness or contempt, but no right word spoken for +Christ can ever really die. It will live in the long after years, and +bear fruit, as the seeds hidden in the old Egyptian mummy-cases are +bearing fruit to-day in English soil. + + + + +XVII. + +The Spirit and Power of Elias. + +(LUKE I. 17.) + + "Oh, may I join the choir invisible + Of those immortal dead who live again + In minds made better by their presence: live + In pulses stirred to generosity; + In deeds of daring rectitude; in scorn + For miserable aims that end with self; + In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, + And with their mild persistence urge man's search + To vaster issues." + + +The Old Covenant and the New--Elijah and the Baptist--A Parallel--The +Servant inferior to the Lord--The Baptism of the Holy Ghost--The +Indwelling Spirit + + +Great men are God's greatest gifts to our race; and it is only by their +interposition that mankind is able to step up to higher and better +levels of life. The doctrine of evolution is supposed to explain the +history of the universe. Men would have us believe that certain forces +have been set in motion which have elaborated this great scheme of +which we are a part, and the evolutionist would go so far as to say +that man himself has been evolved from protoplasm, and that the brains +of a Socrates, of a Milton, or of any genius who has left his mark upon +the world, have simply emanated from the whole process which culminates +in them. We believe, on the contrary, that at distinct points in the +history of the universe, there has been a direct interposition of the +will and hand of God; and it is remarkable that in the first chapter of +Genesis that august and majestic word _create_ is three times +introduced, as though the creation of matter, the creation of the +animal world, and the creation of man, were three distinct stages, at +which the direct interposition of the will and workmanship of the +Eternal was specially manifest. Similarly, we believe that there have +been great epochs in human history, which cannot be accounted for by +the previous evolution of moral and religious thought, and which must +be due to the fact that God Himself stepped in, and by the direct +raising up of a man, who became the apostle of the new era, lifted the +race to new levels of thought and action. It is in this light that we +view the two illustrious men who were, each in his own measure, the +apostles of new epochs in human history--Elijah in the old Covenant, +and John the Baptist in the new. + +It is remarkable that the prophet Malachi tells us that the advent of +the Messiah should be preceded and heralded by Elijah the prophet; and +that Gabriel, four hundred years after, said that John the Baptist, +whose birth he announced, would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. +This double prediction was referred to by our Lord when, descending +from the Mount of Transfiguration, in conversation with the apostles, +He indicated John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come. And, +indeed, there was a marvellous similarity between these two men, though +each of them is dwarfed into insignificance by the unique and original +personality of the Son of Man, who towers in inaccessible glory above +them. + + +I. LET US INSTITUTE A COMPARISON BETWEEN ELIJAH THE TISHBITE, AND JOHN +THE BAPTIST.--They resembled each other in dress. We are told that +Elijah was a hairy man--an expression which is quite as likely to refer +to the rough garb in which he was habited, as to the unshorn locks that +fell upon his shoulders. And John the Baptist wore a coarse dress of +camel's hair. + +Each of them sojourned in Gilead. In the remarkable sentence, which, +for the first time, introduces Elijah to the Bible and the world, we +are told that he was one of the sojourners in Gilead, that great tract +of country, thinly populated, and largely given over to shepherds and +their flocks, which lay upon the eastern side of the Jordan. And we +know that it was there amid the shaggy forests, and closely-set +mountains, with their rapid torrents, that John the Baptist waited, +fulfilled his ministry, preached to and baptized the teeming crowds. + +Each of them learnt to make the body subservient to the spirit. Elijah +was able to live on the sparse food brought by ravens, or provided from +the meal barrel of the widow, was able to outstrip the horses of Ahab's +chariot in their mad rush across the valley of Jezreel; and after a +brief respite, given to sleep and food, went in the strength of it for +forty days and nights, through the heart of the desert until he came to +Horeb, the Mount of God. His body was but the vehicle of the fiery +spirit that dwelt within; he never studied its gratification and +pleasure, but always handled it as the weapon to be wielded by his +soul. And what was true in his case, was so of John the Baptist, whose +food was locusts and wild honey. The two remind us of St. Bernard, who +tells us that he never ate for the gratification of taking food, but +only that he might the better serve God and man. + +We remember also that each of these heroic spirits was confronted by a +hostile court. In the case of Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel, together with +the priests of Baal and Astarte, withstood every step of his career; +and in the case of John the Baptist, Herod, Herodias, and the whole +drift of religious opinion, with its repeated deputations to ask who he +might be, dogged his steps, and ultimately brought him to a martyr's +end. + +How distinctly, also, in each case there was the consciousness of the +presence of God. One of the greatest words which man has ever uttered +was that in which Elijah affirmed, in the presence of king Ahab, that +he was conscious of standing at the same moment in the presence of the +Eternal: "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, +said unto Ahab, 'As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I +stand'"--a phrase afterwards used by Gabriel himself when he told +Zacharias that he was one of the presence angels. "And the angel +answering, said unto him, 'I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of +God.'" This consciousness of the Divine presence in his life revealed +itself in his great humility, when he cast himself on the ground with +his face between his knees; and in the unflinching courage which +enabled him to stand like a rock on Mount Carmel, when king, and +priest, and people, were gathered in their vast multitudes around him, +sufficient to daunt the spirit that had not beheld a greater than any. +This God-consciousness was especially manifest in the Baptist, who +referred so frequently to the nearness of the kingdom of God. "The +kingdom of heaven," he said, "is at hand." And when Jesus came, +unrecognised by the crowds, his high spirit prostrated itself, and his +very visage was shadowed with the vail of intense modesty and humility, +as he cried; "In the midst of you standeth One whom ye know not, the +latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." +Coupled with this sense of God, there was, in each case, a marvellous +fearlessness of man. When Obadiah met Elijah, and was astonished to +hear that the prophet was about to show himself to Ahab, Elijah +overbore his attempts to dissuade him, saying: I will certainly show +myself to thy master: go, tell him Elijah is here. And when afterwards +the heavenly fire had descended, and the prophets of Baal were standing +bewildered by their altar, he did not flinch from arresting the whole +crowd of them, leading them down to the valley of the Kishon brook +beneath and there slaying them, so that the waters ran crimson to the +sea. This fearlessness was also conspicuous in the Forerunner, who +dared to beard the king in his palace, asserting that he must be judged +by the same standard as the meanest of his subjects, and that it was +not lawful for him to have his brother's wife. + +To each there came moments of depression. In the case of Elijah, the +glory of his victory on the brow of Carmel was succeeded by the weight +of dark soul-anguish. Did he not cast himself, within twenty-four +hours, beneath the juniper tree of the desert, and pray that he might +die, because he was no better than his fathers--a mood which God, who +pities his children and remembers that they are dust, combated, not by +expostulation, but by sending him food and sleep, knowing that it was +the result of physical and nervous overstrain? And did not John the +Baptist from his prison cell send the enquiry to Jesus, as to whether, +after all, his hopes had been too glad, his anticipations too great, +and that perhaps after all He was not the Messiah for whom the nation +was waiting? + +Both Elijah and John the Baptist had the same faith in the baptism of +fire. We never can forget the scene on Carmel when Elijah proposed the +test that the God who answered by fire should be recognised as God; nor +how he erected the altar, and laid the wood, and placed the bullock +there, and drenched the altar with water; and how, in answer to his +faith, at last the fire fell. John the Baptist passed through no such +ordeal as that; but it was his steadfast faith that Christ should come +to baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. + +Each of them turned the hearts of the people back. It was as though +the whole nation were rushing towards the edge of the precipice which +overhung the bottomless pit, like a herd of frightened horses on the +prairie, and these men with their unaided hands turned them back. It +would be impossible for one man to turn back a whole army in mad +flight--he would necessarily be swept away in their rush; but this is +precisely what the expression attributes to the exertions of Elijah and +John. The one turned Israel back to cry, Jehovah, He is God; the other +turned the whole land back to repentance and righteousness, so that +publicans and soldiers, Sadducees and Pharisees, began to confess their +sin, put away their evil courses, and return to the God of their +fathers. + +Each prophet was succeeded by a gentler ministry. Elijah was sent from +Horeb to anoint Elisha, who, for the most part, passed through the land +like genial sunshine--a perpetual benediction to men, women, and +children; while John the Baptist opened the door for the Shepherd, +Christ, who went about doing good, and whose holy, tender ministry fell +on his times like rain on the mown grass. + +From the solitudes beyond the Jordan, as he walked with Elisha, talking +as they went, the chariot and horses of fire which the Father had sent +for his illustrious servant from heaven bore him homeward, while his +friends and disciples stood with outstretched hands, crying: The +chariot and horses of Israel are leaving us, bearing away our most +treasured leader. In those same solitudes, or within view of them, the +spirit of John the Baptist swept up in a similar chariot. As the +headsman, with a flash of his sword, put an end to his mortal career, +though no mortal eyes beheld them, and no chronicler has told the +story, there must have been horses and chariots of fire waiting to +convey the noble martyr-spirit to its God. The parallel is an +interesting one--it shows how God repeats Himself; and, if time and +space permitted, we might elaborate the repetition of a similar +conception, either in Savonarola of Florence, or in Martin Luther, or +in John Knox, who had been baptized into the same Spirit, and inspired +to perform the same ministry. That Spirit is waiting still--waiting to +clothe Himself with our life; waiting to do in us, and through us, +similar work for the time in which we live. What these men did far +back in the centuries, it is probable that others Will have to do +before this dispensation passes utterly away. A man, or men, shall +again rise up, who will tower over their fellows, who will speak and +act in the spirit and power of Elijah--men like Edward Irving, but +without the mistakes that characterized his heroic life. Perhaps some +young life may be inspired by this page to yield itself to God, so that +it may be sent forth to turn back the hearts and lives of vast +multitudes from their evil way, turning the heart of the fathers to +their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, to make +ready a people prepared for the Lord. + + +II. NOTICE THE INFERIORITY OF THESE GREAT MEN TO THE LORD.--Neither +Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, nor the eloquent Apollos, the disciple +of John the Baptist, would have dared to say of their respective +masters what Philip and Andrew, Peter and Thomas, habitually said of +Christ. Greatly as they revered and loved their masters, they knew +that they were men like themselves; that their nature was made in the +same mould, though, perhaps, of finer clay; that there were limitations +beyond which they could not go, and qualities of mind and soul in which +they were not perfected. They dared not say of them, "My Lord and my +God." They never thought of prostrating themselves at their feet in +worship; they never appealed to them after their decease as able to +hear and answer prayer from the heaven into which they had passed. + +Neither Elijah nor John had what Jesus asserted--the consciousness of +an unique union with God; neither of them dared to affirm, as Jesus +did, that he was the Son of God, in the sense that made other use of +that term blasphemy; neither of them thought of anticipating a moment +when he should be seen sitting at the right hand of power, and coming +in the clouds; neither of them dared to couple himself with Deity in +the sublime and significant pronoun _we_--"We will come and make our +abode with Him." Neither of them would have dreamed of accepting the +homage which Jesus took quite naturally, when men worshipped Him, and +women washed and kissed his feet: and I ask how it could be that Jesus +Christ, so essentially meek and lowly, so humble and unwilling to +obtrude Himself, should have spoken and acted so differently, unless +his nature had been separated by an impassable gulf from that of other +men, however saintly and gifted? The very fact that these men, +acknowledged amongst the greatest of our race, drew a line, and said: +Beyond that we cannot pass; we are conscious of defilement and need; we +require forgiveness and grace, equally with those to whom we minister. +And this compels on our part the acknowledgment that Jesus Christ was +all He claimed to be, and that He is worthy to receive glory, and +honour, and riches, and power, and blessing; for He is Man of men, the +second Man, the Lord from Heaven. + +Neither of these dared to offer himself as the Comforter and Saviour of +men. Elijah could only rebuke sin, which he did most strenuously; but +he had no panacea for the sin and sorrow of his countrymen. He could +bid them turn to God; and he did. But he could say nothing of any +inherent virtue, or power, which could proceed from him to save and +help. It was never suggested for a moment that he could act as +mediator between God and men, though he might be an intercessor. And +as for John the Baptist, though he deeply stirred the religious +convictions of his countrymen, he could only point to One who came +after him, and say: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin +of the world." But within six months after the commencement of his +ministry, Jesus says; "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee"; "The Son of +Man hath authority on earth to forgive sins"; "Daughter, thy sins, +which are many, are forgiven thee: go in peace"; and presently: "This +is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood, shed for many, for the +remission of sins", and again: "The Son of Man came to give his life a +ransom for many." Tell me of any, either in the story of Elijah or of +John the Baptist, to compare with these words, spoken by the lowest and +humblest being that ever trod time's sands? Does that not indicate +that He stood in a relationship to God and man which has never been +realized by another? + +Besides, neither of them introduced a new type of living. Their own +method of life seemed to indicate that there was sin in the body, or +sin in matter; and that the only way of holiness was by an austerity +that lived apart in the deserts, dreading and avoiding the presence of +men. That was a type of holiness which every great religious teacher +has followed; for you remember that Buddha used to say that all the +present is an illusion and a dream, while the realities await us +beyond. On the other hand, Jesus taught that the Redeemer was also the +Creator; that there was nothing common or unclean in man's original +constitution; that sin consisted not in certain actions, functions, or +duties--but in man's heart, and will, and choice; and that if a man +were only right there, all his nature and circumstances would become +illumined and transfigured by the indwelling Spirit. Let it never be +forgotten that Christ taught that God is not going to cancel the nature +which He Himself has bestowed in all its human and innocent out-goings, +but only to eliminate the self-principle which has cursed it--as you +would wish to take small-pox from the body of the little child, or the +taint out of the rotting flesh of the leper. + +O Christ, Thou standest pre-eminent in thy unparalleled glory! Let +Elijah and John the Baptist withdraw, but oh, do Thou tarry! To whom +shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. All the prophets +and kings of men without Thee will not suffice; but to have Thee is to +have all that is strong, and wise, and good, gathered up into the +perfect beauty of a man, with the Divine glory of the Infinite God. + + +III. HOW MAY WE HAVE THAT SAME SPIRIT?--John the Baptist came in the +spirit and power of Elijah: that spirit and power are for us too. Just +as the dawn touches the highest peaks of the Alps, and afterwards, as +the morning hours creep on, the tide of light passes down into the +valley, so the Spirit that smote that glorious pinnacle Elijah, and +that nearer pinnacle the Baptist, is waiting to descend upon and +empower us. + +We are all believers in Jesus, but did we receive the Holy Ghost when +we believed? (Acts xix. 2). When the great apostle of the Gentiles met +the little handful of John's disciples, gathered in the great +idolatrous city of Ephesus, the first word he addressed to them was the +eager enquiry, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?" And +they replied, "Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost +was given." In other words: We heard from our master, John, that +Jesus, of whom he spake, would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with +fire; but we have never heard of the fulfilment of his prediction--we +only know of Him, concerning whom our great leader so often spake, as +the great Teacher, Miracle-worker, and Sacrifice for the sins of the +people--but what more there is to tell and know we wait to hear from +thee. + +Then Paul explained that John's baptism had stood only for confession +and repentance: "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying +unto the people that they should believe on Him, which should come +after him, that is, on Jesus." Those who descended the shelving banks +of Jordan to be plunged beneath its arrowy waters, declared their +discontent with the past, their desire to be free of it, and their +belief in the Messianic character of Jesus of Nazareth, who was to +introduce a new and better age. + +But the apostle hastened to explain that this Jesus, whom the Jews had +delivered up and slain by wicked hands, was the Prince of Life; that +God had raised Him from the dead; and that being by the right hand of +God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy +Ghost, He had poured Him forth in mighty power on the waiting Church, +anointing it for its ministry to mankind. It was as though he had +said: Our Lord, on his Ascension, baptized those that had believed with +the Spirit of which Joel spake. The water of John's baptism symbolised +a negation, but this baptism is positive; it is as cleansing, purifying +flame; it was good to know Jesus after the flesh, it is a thousand +times better to know Him after the Spirit: and this gift is to us and +to our children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord +our God shall call. + +When they heard this they were baptized into the name of the Lord +Jesus. They exalted Him to the throne of their hearts as the glorified +and ever-blessed Son of God. They directed their longing eyes towards +Him in his risen glory, that He should do for them as He had already +done for so many. And in answer to their expectant faith, the blessing +of Abraham came upon them--they received the promise of the Spirit by +faith; the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they were equipped for +witness-bearing in Ephesus by the very power which had rested once on +Elijah, and also on their first teacher and guide; and, as the result, +a revival broke out in that city of such magnitude that the magic books +were burned, and the trade of the silversmiths grievously injured. + +This power of the Holy Spirit is for us all. Of course we could not +believe in Jesus in the remission of sin, or the quickening of our +spiritual life, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit; but there is +something more than this, there is a power, an anointing, a gracious +endowment of fitness for service--which are the privilege of every +believer. The Holy Spirit is prepared, not only to be within us for +the renewal and sanctification of character, but to anoint us as He did +the Lord at his baptism. He waits to empower us to witness for Jesus, +to endure the persecution and trial which are inevitable to the +exercise of a God-given ministry, and to bring other men to God. It +would be well to tarry to receive it. It is better to wait for hours +for an express train than to start to walk the distance; the hours +spent in waiting will be more than compensated for by the rapidity with +which the traveller will be borne to his destination. Stay from your +work for a little, and wait upon the ascended, glorified Redeemer, in +whom the Spirit of God dwells. Ask Him to impart to you that which He +received on your behalf. Never rest until you are sure that the Spirit +dwells in you fully, and exercises through you the plenitude of his +gracious power. We cannot seek Him at the hand of Christ in vain. +Dare to believe this: dare to believe that if your heart is pure, and +your motives holy, and your whole desire fervent--and if you have dared +to breathe in a deep, long breath of the Holy Spirit--that according to +your faith so it has been done to you; and that you may go forth +enjoying the same power which rested on the Baptist, though you may not +be conscious of any Divine afflatus, though there may have been no +stroke of conscious power, no crown of flame, no rushing as of the +mighty wind. + +God is still able to vouchsafe to us as large a portion of his Spirit +as to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. We are not straitened in +Him, but in ourselves. The power of his grace is not passed away with +the primitive times, as fond and faithless men imagine; but his Kingdom +is now at hand, and Christ, standing on the threshold of the century, +waits to lead his Church to greater triumphs than she has ever known. +Oh that He would hasten to come forth from his royal chambers! Oh that +He would take his throne as Prince of the kings of the earth! Oh that +He would put on the robe of his majesty, and assume the sceptre of his +unlimited and almighty reign. Creation travails; the Spirit and the +Bride invoke; the mind of man has tried all possible combinations of +sovereignty, and in vain. + +"O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger +to prepare the way before Thee; grant that the ministers and stewards +of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by +turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; that, +at thy second coming to judge the world, we may be found an acceptable +people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the +Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN THE BAPTIST*** + + +******* This file should be named 25904-8.txt or 25904-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/0/25904 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: John the Baptist + + +Author: F. B. Meyer + + + +Release Date: June 26, 2008 [eBook #25904] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN THE BAPTIST*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Transcriber's note: + + In the original book, each right-hand page had its own header. + In this e-book, each chapter's headers have been collected into + an introductory paragraph immediately following that chapter's + introductory poem. (The left-hand pages' header was the + chapter's title.) + + + + + +JOHN THE BAPTIST + +by + +F. B. MEYER, B.A. + +Author of +Paul: A Servant of Jesus Christ +The Prophet of Hope +Saved and Kept +etc., etc + + + + + + + +London: Morgan and Scott +Office of The Christian +12, Paternoster Buildings, E.C. +And may be Ordered of any Bookseller +1911 + + + + +By Rev. F. B. MEYER, B.A. + + + THE "BIOGRAPHICAL" SERIES. + + ABRAHAM: Or, The Obedience of Faith. + ISRAEL: A Prince with God. + JOSEPH: Beloved--Hated--Exalted. + MOSES: The Servant of God. + JOSHUA: And the Land of Promise. + DAVID: Shepherd, Psalmist, King. + ELIJAH: And the Secret of his Power. + JEREMIAH: Priest and Prophet. + JOHN THE BAPTIST. + PAUL: A Servant of Jesus Christ. + + + + +Preface. + +The life and character of John the Baptist have always had a great +fascination for me; and I am thankful to have been permitted to write +this book. But I am more thankful for the hours of absorbing interest +spent in the study of his portraiture as given in the Gospels. I know +of nothing that makes so pleasant a respite from the pressure of life's +fret and strain, as to bathe mind and spirit in the translucent waters +of Scripture biography. + +As the clasp between the Old Testament and the New--the close of the +one and the beginning of the other; as among the greatest of those born +of women; as the porter who opened the door to the True Shepherd; as +the fearless rebuker of royal and shameless sin--the Baptist must ever +compel the homage and admiration of mankind. + +In many respects, such a life cannot be repeated. But the spirit of +humility and courage; of devotion to God, and uncompromising loyalty to +truth, which was so conspicuous in him, may animate us. We, also, may +be filled with the spirit and power of Elijah, as he was; and may +point, with lip and life, to the Saviour of the world, crying, "Behold +the Lamb of God." + + + + +Contents + + + I. THE INTEREST OF HIS BIOGRAPHY + II. THE HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS + III. HIS SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS + IV. THE PROPHET OF THE HIGHEST + V. THE FIRST MINISTRY OF THE BAPTIST + VI. BAPTISM UNTO REPENTANCE + VII. THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MESSIAH + VIII. NOT THAT LIGHT, BUT A WITNESS + IX. "HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE" + X. THE KING'S COURTS + XI. "ART THOU HE?" + XII. "NONE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, YET..." + XIII. A BURNING AND SHINING LIGHT + XIV. SET AT LIBERTY + XV. THE GRAVE OF JOHN, AND ANOTHER GRAVE + XVI. YET SPEAKING + XVII. THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS + + + + +JOHN THE BAPTIST. + + +I. + +The Interest of his Biography. + + "John, than which man a sadder or a greater + Not till this day has been of woman born; + John, like some iron peak by the Creator + Fired with the red glow of the rushing morn. + + "This, when the sun shall rise and overcome it, + Stands in his shining, desolate and bare; + Yet not the less the inexorable summit + Flamed him his signal to the happier air." + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +John and Jesus--Contemporary History--Anticipation of the Advent. + + +The morning star, shining amid the brightening glow of dawn, is the +fittest emblem that Nature can supply of the herald who proclaimed the +rising of the Sun of Righteousness--answering across the gulf of three +hundred years to his brother prophet, Malachi, who had foretold that +Sunrise and the healing in His wings. + +Every sign attests the unique and singular glory of the Baptist. Not +that his career was signalized by the blaze of prodigy and wonder, like +the multiplication of the widow's meal or the descent of the fire of +heaven to consume the altar and the wood; for it is expressly said that +"John did no miracle." Not that he owed anything to the adventitious +circumstances of wealth and rank; for he was not a place-loving +courtier, "clothed in soft raiment or found in kings' courts." Not +that he was a master of a superb eloquence like that of Isaiah or +Ezekiel; for he was content to be only "a cry"--short, thrilling, +piercing through the darkness, ringing over the desert plains. Yet, +his Master said of him that "among them that are born of women there +hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist"; and in six brief +months, as one has noticed, the young prophet of the wilderness had +become the centre to which all the land went forth. We see Pharisees +and Sadducees, soldiers and publicans, enthralled by his ministry; the +Sanhedrim forced to investigate his claims; the petty potentates of +Palestine caused to tremble on their thrones; while he has left a name +and an influence that will never cease out of the world. + +But there is a further feature which arrests us in the life and +ministry of the Baptist. He was ordained to be "the clasp" of two +covenants. In him Judaism reached its highest embodiment, and the Old +Testament found its noblest exponent. It is significant, therefore, +that through his lips the law and the prophets should announce their +transitional purpose, and that he who caught up the torch of Hebrew +prophecy with a grasp and spirit unrivalled by any before him, should +have it in his power and in his heart to say: "The object of all +prophecy, the purpose of the Mosaic law, the end of all sacrifices, the +desire of all nations, is at hand." And forthwith turning to the True +Shepherd, who stood at the door waiting to be admitted, to Him the +porter opened, bowing low as He passed, and crying: "This is He of whom +Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, who was +for to come." + +Few studies can bring out to clearer demonstration the superlative +glory of Christ than a thoughtful consideration of the story of the +forerunner. They were born at the same time; were surrounded from +their birth by similar circumstances; drank in from their earliest days +the same patriotic aspirations, the same sacred traditions, the same +glowing hopes. But the parallel soon stops. John the Baptist is +certainly a grand embodiment of the noblest characteristics of the +Jewish people. We see in him a conspicuous example of what could be +developed out of eight hundred years of Divine revelation and +discipline. But Jesus is the Son of Man: there is a width, a breadth, +a universality about Him which cannot be accounted for save on the +hypothesis which John himself declared, that "He who cometh from above +is above all." + +In each case, life was strenuous and short--an epoch being inaugurated, +in the one case in about six months, in the other some three years. In +each case, at first, there was abounding enthusiasm, bursting forth +around their persons as they announced the Kingdom of God, like the +flowers which carpet their own fair land after the rains; but side by +side the unconcealed hatred of the religious world of their time. In +each case, the brief sunny hours of service were soon succeeded by the +rolling up of the thunderous clouds, and these by the murderous tempest +of deadly hatred, even unto death: "Their dead bodies lay in the street +of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." In +each case, there was a little handful of detached disciples, who +bitterly mourned their master's death, and took up the desecrated +corpse to lay it in the tomb; whilst they that dwelt in the earth +rejoiced and made merry, and sent gifts to one another, because they +had been tormented by their words (Rev. xi. 10). + +But there the parallel ends. The life purpose of the one culminated in +his death; with the other, it only began. In the case of John, death +was a martyrdom, which shines brilliantly amid the murky darkness of +his time; in the case of Jesus, death was a sacrifice which put away +the sin of the world. For John there was no immediate resurrection, +save that which all good men have of their words and influence; but his +Master saw no corruption--it was not possible for Him to be holden by +it--and in his resurrection He commenced to wield his wide and mighty +supremacy over human hearts and wills. When the axe of Herod's +executioner had done its deadly work in the dungeons of Machaerus, the +bond which knit the disciples of John was severed also, and they were +absorbed in the followers of Christ; but when the Roman soldiers +thought their work was done, and the cry "It is finished!" had escaped +the parched lips of the dying Lord, his disciples held together in the +upper room, and continued there for more than forty days, until the +descent of the Holy Spirit formed them into the strongest organization +that this world has ever beheld. + +John's influence on the world has diminished as men have receded +further from his age; but Jesus is King of the ages. He creates, He +fashions, He leads them forth; He is with us always, to the end of the +age. We have not to go back through the centuries to find Him in the +cradle or in Mary's arms, in the fishing-boat or on the mountain, on +the cross or in the grave; He is _here_ beside us, with us, in us, "all +the days." John, then, was "a burning and shining torch," lifted for a +moment aloft in the murky air; but Jesus was THAT LIGHT. As the +star-light, which fails to illumine the page of your book or the +dial-plate of your watch, is to the sunlight, as the courier is to the +sovereign, as the streamlet is to the ocean--such was John as compared +with Him whose shoe-latchet he felt himself unworthy to stoop down and +unloose. Greatest born of women he might be; "sent from God" he was: +but One came after him who bore upon his front the designation of his +Divine origin and mission, behind whom the gates of the past closed as +when a king has passed through, and at whose girdle hang the keys of +the doors and gates of the Ages. + +To read the calm idyllic pages of the Gospels, apart from some +knowledge of contemporary history, is to miss one of their deepest +lessons--that such piety and beneficence were set in the midst of a +most tumultuous and perilous age. Those times were by no means +favourable to the cultivation of the deepest life. The flock of God +had long left the green pastures and still waters of outward peace, and +were passing through the valley of death-shadow, every step of the path +being infested by the enemies of their peace. The wolf, indeed, was +coming. The national life was already being rent by those throes of +agony which betokened the passing away of an age, and reached their +climax in the Fall of Jerusalem, of which Jesus said there had been +nothing, and would be nothing, like it in the history of the world. + +Herod was on the throne--crafty, cruel, sensual, imperious, and +magnificent. The gorgeous Temple which bore his name was the scene of +priestly service and sacramental rites. The great national feasts of +the Passover, of Tabernacles, and of Pentecost, were celebrated with +solemn pomp, and attracted vast crowds from all the world. In every +part of the land synagogues were maintained with punctilious care, and +crowds of scribes were perpetually engaged in a microscopic study of +the law, and in the instruction of the people. In revenue, and popular +attention, and apparent devoutness, that period had not been excelled +in the most palmy days of Solomon or Hezekiah. But beneath this +decorous surface the rankest, foulest, most desperate corruption throve. + +To the aged couple in the hill-country of Judaea, as to Mary and Joseph +at Nazareth, must have come tidings of the murder of Aristobulus, of +the cruel death of Mariamne and her sons, and of the aged Hyrcanus. +They must have groaned beneath the grinding oppression by which Herod +extorted from the poorer classes the immense revenues which he +squandered on his palaces and fortresses and on the creation of new +cities. That he was introducing everywhere Gentile customs and games; +that he had dared to place the Roman eagle on the main entrance of the +Temple; that he had pillaged David's tomb; that he had set aside the +great council of their nation, and blinded the saintly Jochanan; that +the religious leaders, men like Caiaphas and Annas, were quite willing +to wink at the crimes of the secular power, so long as their prestige +and emoluments were secured; that the national independence for which +Judas and his brothers had striven, during the Maccabean wars, was fast +being laid at the feet of Rome, which was only too willing to take +advantage of the chaos which followed immediately upon Herod's hideous +death--such tidings must have come, in successive shocks of anguish, to +those true hearts who were waiting for the redemption of Israel, with +all the more eagerness as it seemed so long delayed, so urgently +needed. Still, they made their yearly journeys to Jerusalem, and +participated in the great convocations, which, in outward splendour, +eclipsed memories of the past; but they realized that the glory had +departed, and that the mere husk of externalism could not long resist +the incoming tides of militarism, of the love of display, and the +corrupting taint of the worst aspects of Roman civilization. When the +feasts were over, these pious hearts turned back to their homes among +the hills, tearing themselves from the last glimpse of the beautiful +city, with the cry, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" + +The darkest hour precedes the dawn, and it was just at this point that +Old Testament predictions must have been so eagerly scanned by those +that watched and waited. That the Messiah was nigh, they could not +doubt. The term of years foretold by Daniel had nearly expired. The +sceptre had departed from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his +feet. Even the Gentile world was penetrated with the expectation of a +King. Sybils in their ancient writings, hermits in their secret cells, +Magi studying the dazzling glories of the eastern heavens, had come to +the conclusion that He was at hand who would bring again the Golden Age. + +And so those loyal and loving souls that often spake together, while +the Lord hearkened and heard, must have felt that as the advent of the +Lord whom they sought was nigh, that of his messenger must be nearer +still. They started at every footfall. They listened for every voice. +They scanned the expression of every face. "Behold, he shall come," +rang in their hearts like a peal of silver bells. At any moment might +a voice be heard crying, "Cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the +stones; lift up an ensign for the peoples. Say ye to the daughter of +Sion, Behold, thy salvation cometh." Those anticipations were realized +in the birth of John the Baptist. + + + + +II. + +The House of Zacharias. + +(LUKE I.) + + "There are in this loud stunning tide + Of human care and crime, + With whom the melodies abide + Of the everlasting chime; + Who carry music in their heart + Through dusky lane and wrangling mart + Plying their daily task with busier feet, + Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." + KEBLE. + + +Early History of the Baptist--God's Hidden Ones--The Hill Country of +Judea--A Childless Home--The Forerunner Announced. + + +To the evangelist Luke we are indebted for details of those antecedent +circumstances that ushered John the Baptist into the world. He tells +us that he had "traced the course of all things accurately from the +first." And in those final words, "from the first," he suggests that +he had deliberately sought to examine into those striking events from +which, as from a wide-spreading root, the great growth of Christianity +had originated. Who of us has not sometimes followed the roots of some +newly-discovered plant deep into the black mould, intent on pursuing +them to their furthest extremity, and extricating them from the +clinging earth without injuring one delicate radicle? So this good +physician, accustomed by his training to accurate research and +experiment, went back to scenes and events anterior to any which his +brother Evangelists recorded. He compensated for the authority of an +eye-witness by the thoroughness and care of his investigation. + +What were the sources from which the third Evangelist drew his +information? We cannot be sure, but may hazard a suggestion, which is +supported by the archaic simplicity, the indescribable grace, the +almost idyllic beauty of his two opening chapters. Critics have +repeatedly drawn attention to their unique character, and insisted that +they are due to some other hand than that which has given us the rest +of the story of "the Son of Man." And why should we not attribute them +to "the Mother" herself? It has been truly said that mothers are the +natural historians of their children's early days--never tired of +observing them, they never tire of recounting their prodigies; and, in +an especial manner, Mary had kept all things, pondering in her heart +those wonderful circumstances which had left so indelible an impression +on her life. She who, in her over-welling joy, uttered "the +Magnificat," was surely capable, even judging from a literary and human +standpoint, of the language in which the story is told; and the facts +themselves would only stand out the clearer in her closing years, as +many another memory faded from her mind. The granite remains when the +floods have swept away the light soil that filled the interstices of +the rocks. + +It were a theme worthy of a great artist to depict! Mary's face, +furrowed by deep lines of anguish, yet glowing with sacred fire and +holy memory. Luke, sitting at his manuscript, now letting her tell her +story without interruption, and again interpolating an inquiry, the +words growing on the page; while, nearer than each to either, making no +tremor in the hot summer air as He comes, casting no shadow in the +brilliant eastern light--He of whom they speak and write steals in to +stand beside them, bringing all things to their remembrance by the Holy +Spirit's agency, even as He had told them. + +The story of John the Baptist was so clearly part of that of Jesus, +that Mary could hardly recall the one without the other. And, besides, +Elisabeth, as the angel said, was her kinswoman--perhaps her cousin--to +whom she naturally turned in the hour of her maidenly astonishment and +rapture. Though much younger, Mary was united to her relative by a +close and tender tie, and it was only natural that what had happened to +Elisabeth should have impressed her almost as deeply as her own +memorable experiences. So it is possible that from the lips of the +mother of our Lord we obtain these details of the House of Zacharias. + + +I. THE QUIET IN THE LAND.--God has always had his hidden ones; and, +while the world has been rent by faction and war, ravaged by fire and +sword, and drenched with the blood of her sons, these have heard his +call to enter their chamber, and shut themselves in until the storm had +spent its fury. It was so during the days of Ahab, when the eye of +omniscience beheld at least seven thousand who had not bowed the knee +to Baal. It was so in the awful days of the Civil War, when Puritan +and Royalist faced each other at Naseby and Marston Moor, and the land +seemed swept in a blinding storm. Groups of ardent souls gathered to +spend their time in worship and acts of mercy--like those at Little +Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, under the direction of Mr. Nicholas +Ferrar. It was so when the thirty years' war desolated Germany, and +"the quiet in the land" withdrew themselves from the agitated scene of +human affairs to wait on God, embalming their hearts in hymns and poems +which exhale a perfume as from crushed flowers. + +It was eminently so in the days of which we write. Darkness covered +the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. Herod's infamous cruelties, +craft, and bloodshed were at their height. The country questioned with +fear what new direction his crimes might take. The priesthood was +obsequious to his whim; the bonds of society seemed dissolved. Theudas +and Judas of Galilee, mentioned by Gamaliel, were but specimens of the +bandit leaders who broke into revolt and harried the country districts +for the maintenance of their followers. Greed, peculation, and lawless +violence, had ample and undisputed opportunity to despoil the national +glory and corrupt the heart of the national life. + +Is it to be wondered that the godly remnant would meet in little groups +and secluded hiding-places to comfort themselves in God? We are told, +for instance, that Anna spake of the Babe, whom she had probably +embraced in her aged trembling arms, "to all them that were looking for +the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke ii. 38, R.V.). What would we not +give to know something more of the members of this sacred society, +which preserved the loftiest traditions, and embodied in their lives +some of the finest traits of the religion of their forefathers! The +gloom of their times only led them more eagerly to con the predictions +of their Hebrew prophets, and desire their accomplishment. Full often +they would climb the heights and look out over the desert wastes to +descry the advent of the Mighty One, coming from Edom, with his +garments stained with the blood of Israel's foes. When they met, the +burden of conversation, which flowed under vine or fig-tree, by the +wayside or in humble homes, would be of their cherished hope. And as +they beheld the hapless condition of their fatherland, the land of +Abraham, the city of David, the cry must often have been extorted; "How +long, O Lord, holy and true, will it be ere He shall come whose right +it is who shall sit on the throne of his father David, and of whose +kingdom there shall be no end? Come forth out of thy royal chambers, O +Prince of all the kings of the earth! Put on the visible robes of thy +imperial majesty; take up that unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty +Father hath bequeathed Thee; for now the voice of thy bride calls Thee, +and all creatures sigh to be renewed." So our great Milton prayed in +more recent days. + +We are not drawing on our imagination in describing these true-hearted +watchers for the rising of the Day-star. They are fully indicated in +the Gospel story. There was Simeon, righteous and devout, unto whom it +had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death +before he had seen the Lord's Christ; and Anna, the prophetess, who +departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and +supplications night and day; and the guileless Nathanael, an Israelite +indeed, who had perhaps already commenced to sit at the foot of the +ladder which bound his fig-tree to the highest heaven; and the peasant +maiden Mary, the descendant of a noble house, though with fallen +fortunes, who, like some vestal virgin, clad in snowy white, watched +through the dark hours beside the flickering flame; and last, but not +least, Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth, "who were both righteous +before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord +blameless." + +For us, too, the times are dark. It is as though the shadows were +being thrown far across the fields, and the light were becoming dim. +Let the children of God draw together, to encourage each other in their +holy faith, and to speak of their great hopes; for He who appeared once +to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself shall appear a second time +without sin unto salvation. We are, as the French version puts it, +_burgesses of the skies_, "whence we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus +Christ, who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may +be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby +He is able even to subject all things unto Himself." + +But this attitude of spirit, which dwells in the unseen and eternal, +which counts on the indwelling of the Son of God by faith, and which +ponders deeply over the sins and sorrows of the world around, is the +temper of mind out of which the greatest deeds are wrought for the +cause of God on the earth. The Marys who sit at Christ's feet arise to +anoint Him for his burying. Take, for instance, the Moravian Church, +born and cradled amid the pietism of which Spener of Berlin and Franke +of Halle were the acknowledged leaders; and it has given to the world a +far larger number of missionaries in proportion to its membership than +any church of the age. Or take the followers of George Fox, who have +maintained through unparalleled suffering their testimony for +spirituality of worship; and it is undeniable that some of the greatest +reforms which have characterised the century recently closed have found +their foremost advocates and apologists from their somewhat meagre +ranks. Those who wait on God renew their strength. The world ignores +them, scorning to reckon their tears and toils amid its renovating +energies; but they refuse to abate their endeavours and sacrifices on +its behalf. They repay its neglect by more assiduous exertions, its +ingratitude by more exhausting sacrifices; content if, from out their +ranks, there presently steps one who, like John the Baptist, opens a +new chapter in the history of the race, and accelerates the advent of +the Christ. + + +II. THE PARENTAGE OF THE FORERUNNER.--As the traveller emerges from +the dreary wilderness that lies between Sinai and the southern frontier +of Palestine--a scorching desert, in which Elijah was glad to find +shelter from the sword-like rays in the shade of the retem shrub--he +sees before him a long line of hills, which is the beginning of "the +hill country of Judaea" (Luke i. 39). In contrast with the sand wastes +which he has traversed, the valleys seem to laugh and sing. Greener +and yet greener grow the pasture lands, till he can understand how +Nabal and other sheep-masters were able to find maintenance for vast +flocks of sheep. Here and there are the crumbled ruins which mark the +site of ancient towns and villages tenanted now by the jackal or the +wandering Arab. Amongst these, a modern traveller has identified the +site of Juttah, the village home of the priest Zacharias and his wife +Elisabeth. + +To judge by their names, we may infer that their parents years before +had been godly people. _Zacharias_ meant _God's remembrance_; as +though he were to be a perpetual reminder to his fellows of what God +had promised, and to God of what they were expecting from his hand. +_Elisabeth_ meant _God's oath_; as though her people were perpetually +appealing to those covenant promises in which, since He could swear by +no greater, God had sworn by Himself, that He would never leave nor +forsake, and that when the sceptre departed from Judah and the +law-giver from between his feet, Shiloh should come. + +Zacharias was a priest, "of the course of Abijah," and twice a year he +journeyed to Jerusalem to fulfil his office, for a week of six days and +two Sabbaths. There were, Josephus tells us, somewhat more than 20,000 +priests settled in Judaea at this time; and very many of them were like +those whom Malachi denounced as degrading and depreciating the Temple +services. The general character of the priesthood was deeply tainted +by the corruption of the times, and as a class they were blind leaders +of the blind. Not a few, however, were evidently deeply religious men, +for we find that "a great number of the priests," after the +crucifixion, believed on Christ and joined his followers. In this +class we must therefore place Zacharias, who, with his wife, herself of +the daughters of Aaron, is described as being "righteous before God." + +The phrases are evidently selected with care. Many are righteous +before men; but they were righteous _before God_. Their daily life and +walk were regulated by a careful observance of the ordinances of the +ceremonial and the commandments of the moral law. It is evident, from +the apt and plentiful quotations from Scripture with which the song of +Zacharias is replete, that the Scriptures were deeply pondered and +reverenced in that highland home; and we have the angel's testimony to +the prayers that ascended day and night. In all these things they were +blameless--not faultless, as judged by God's infinite standard of +rectitude, but blameless--because they lived up to the fullest limit of +their knowledge of the will of God. They were blameless and harmless, +the children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and +perverse generation, among whom they were seen as lights in the world, +holding forth amid neighbours and friends the Word of Truth. + +But they lived under the shadow of a great sorrow. "They had no child, +because Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in +years." When the good priest put off his official dress of white +linen, and returned to his mountain home, there was no childish voice +to welcome him. It seemed almost certain that their family would soon +die out and be forgotten; that no child would close their eyes in +death; and that by no link whatsoever could they be connected with the +Messiah, to be the progenitor of whom was the cherished longing of each +Hebrew parent. + +"They had no child!" They would, therefore, count themselves under the +frown of God; and the mother especially felt that a reproach lay on +her. What a clue to the anguish of the soul is furnished by her own +reflection, when she recognised the glad divine interposition on her +behalf, and cried, "Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein +He looked upon me, to take away _my reproach among men_" (Luke i. 25). + +But had it not been for this sorrow they might never have been +qualified to receive the first tidings of the near approach of the +Messiah. _Sorrow_ opens our eyes, and bids us see visions within the +vail, which cannot be described by those who have not wept. _Sorrow_ +leads us up the steep mountain of vision, and opens the panorama which +lies beyond the view of those who dare not attempt the craggy steep. +_Sorrow_ prepares us to see angels standing beside the altar of incense +at the hour of prayer, and to hear words that mortal lips may not utter +until they are fulfilled. _Sorrow_ leads us to open our house to those +who carry a great anguish in their hearts, who come to us needing +shelter and comfort; to discover finally that we have entertained an +angel unawares, and that in some trembling maiden, threatened by +divorce from her espoused, we have welcomed the mother of the Lord +(ver. 43). Shrink not from sorrow. It endures but for the brief +eastern night; joy cometh in the morning, to remain. It may be caused +by long waiting and apparently fruitless prayer. Beneath its pressure +heart and flesh may faint. All natural hope may have become dead, and +the soul be plunged in hopeless despair. "Yet the Lord will command +his loving-kindness in the morning;" and it will be seen that the dull +autumn sowings of tears and loneliness and pain were the necessary +preliminary for that heavenly messenger who, standing "on the right +side of the altar of incense," shall assure us that our prayer is heard. + + +III. THE ANGEL'S ANNOUNCEMENT.--One memorable autumn, when the land +was full of the grape-harvest, Zacharias left his home, in the cradle +of the hills, some three thousand feet above the Mediterranean, for his +priestly service. Reaching the temple he would lodge in the cloisters, +and spend his days in the innermost court, which none might enter save +priests in their sacred garments. Among the various priestly duties, +none was held in such high esteem as the offering of incense, which was +presented morning and evening, on a special golden altar, in the Holy +Place at the time of prayer. "The whole multitude of the people were +praying without at the time of incense." So honourable was this office +that it was fixed by lot, and none was allowed to perform it twice. +Only once in a priest's life was he permitted to sprinkle the incense +on the burning coals, which an assistant had already brought from the +altar of burnt-sacrifice, and spread on the altar of incense before the +vail. + +The silver trumpets had sounded. The smoke of the evening sacrifice +was ascending. The worshippers that thronged the different courts, +rising tier on tier, were engaged in silent prayer. The assistant +priest had retired; and Zacharias, for the first and only time in his +life, stood alone in the holy shrine, while the incense which he had +strewn on the glowing embers arose in fragrant clouds, enveloping and +veiling the objects around, whilst it symbolized the ascent of prayers +and intercessions not only from his own heart, but from the hearts of +his people, into the presence of God. "And their prayer came up to his +holy habitation, even unto heaven." + +What a litany of prayer poured from his heart! For Israel, that the +chosen people should be delivered from their low estate; for the cause +of religion, that it might be revived; for the crowds without, that God +would hear the prayers they were offering toward his holy sanctuary, +and, perhaps, for Elisabeth and himself, that, if possible, God would +hear their prayer, and, if not, that He would grant them to bear +patiently their heavy sorrow. + +"And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right +side of the altar of incense." Mark how circumstantial the narrative +is. There could be no mistake. He stood--and he stood on the right +side. It was Gabriel who stands in the presence of God, who had been +sent to speak to him, and declare the good tidings that his prayer was +heard; that his wife should bear a son, who should be called John, that +the child should be welcomed with joy, should be a Nazarite from his +birth, should be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, should +inherit the spirit and power of Elias, and should go before the face of +Christ to prepare his way, by turning the hearts of the fathers to the +children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just. + +He tarried long in the temple, and what wonder! The people would have +ceased to marvel at the long suspense, could they have known the cause +of the delay. Presently he came out; but when he essayed to pronounce +the customary blessing his lips were dumb. He made signs as he reached +forth his hands in the attitude of benediction; but that day no +blessing fell on their upturned faces. He continued making signs unto +them and remained dumb. Dumb, because he questioned the likelihood of +so good and gracious an answer. Dumb, because he believed not the +archangel's words. Dumb, that he might learn in silence and solitude +the full purposes of God, to set them presently to song. Dumb, that +the tidings might not spread as yet. Dumb, as the representative of +that wonderful system, which for so long had spoken to mankind with +comparatively little result, but was now to be superseded by the Word +of God. + +With the light of that glory on his face, and those sweet notes of +"Fear not" ringing in his heart, Zacharias continued to fulfil the +duties of his ministration, and, when his work was fulfilled, departed +unto his house. But that day was long remembered by the people, +prelude as it was to the time when their blessings would no longer come +from Ebal or Gerizim, but from Calvary; and when the great High Priest +would utter from heaven the ancient words: + + The Lord bless thee and keep thee. + The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. + The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. + + + + +III. + +His Schools and Schoolmasters. + +(LUKE 1.) + + "Oh to have watched thee through the vineyards wander, + Pluck the ripe ears, and into evening roam!-- + Followed, and known that in the twilight yonder + Legions of angels shone about thy home!" + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +Home-Life--Preparing for his Life-Work--The Vow of Separation--A Child of +the Desert + + +Zacharias and Elisabeth had probably almost ceased to pray for a child, +or to urge the matter. It seemed useless to pray further. There had +been no heaven-sent sign to assure them that there was any likelihood of +their prayer being answered, and nature seemed to utter a final No; when +suddenly the angel of God broke into the commonplace of their life, like +a meteorite into the unrippled water of a mountain-sheltered lake, +bringing the assurance that there was no need for fear, and the +announcement that their prayer was heard. It must have been like hearing +news that a ship, long overdue and almost despaired of, has suddenly made +harbour. + +It is not impossible that prayers that we have ceased to pray, and are in +despair about, will yet return to us with the words, _Thy supplication is +heard_, endorsed on them in our Father's handwriting. Not infrequently +dividends are paid on investments which we have given up as valueless. +Fruit that mellows longest in the sun is ripest. Such things may +transcend altogether our philosophy of prayer; but we are prepared for +this, since God is accustomed to do exceeding abundantly above all that +we ask or think. + +On his arrival in his home, the aged priest, by means of the +writing-table afterwards referred to, informed his wife, who apparently +had not accompanied him, of all that had happened, even to the name which +the child was to bear, She, at least, seems to have found no difficulty +in accepting the divine assurance, and during her five months of +seclusion she nursed great and mighty thoughts in her heart, in the +belief and prayer that her child would become all that his name is +supposed to signify, _the gift of Jehovah_. It was Elisabeth also who +recognised in Mary the mother of her Lord, greeted her as blessed among +women, and assured her that there would be for her a fulfilment of the +things which had been promised her. + +Month succeeded month, but Zacharias neither heard nor spoke. His +friends had to make signs to him, for unbelief has the effect of shutting +man out of the enjoyment of life, and hindering his usefulness. How +different this time of waiting from the blessedness it brought to his +wife's young relative, who believed the heavenly messenger. He was +evidently a good man, and well versed in the history of his people. His +soul, as we learn from his song, was full of noble pride in the great and +glorious past. He could believe that when Abraham and Sarah were past +age, a child was born to _them_, who filled their tent with his merry +prattle and laughter; but he could not believe that such a blessing could +fall to his lot. And is not that the point where our faith staggers +still? We can believe in the wonder-working power of God on the distant +horizon of the past, or on the equally distant horizon of the future; but +that He should have a definite and particular care for _our_ life, that +_our_ prayers should touch Him, that He should give us the desire of our +heart--this staggers us, and we feel it is too good to be true. + +During the whole period that the stricken but expectant priest spent in +his living tomb, shut off from communication with the outer world, his +spirit was becoming charged with holy emotion, that waited for the first +opportunity of expression. Such an opportunity came at length. His +lowly dwelling was one day crowded with an eager and enthusiastic throng +of relatives and friends. They had gathered to congratulate the aged +pair, to perform the initial rite of Judaism, and to name the infant boy +that lay in his mother's arms. Ah, what joy was hers when they came to +"magnify the Lord's mercy towards her, and to rejoice with her"! As the +people passed in and out, there was a new glow in the brilliant eastern +sunlight, a new glory on the familiar hills. + +In their perplexity at the mother's insistence that the babe's name +should be John--none of his kindred being known by that name--they +appealed to his father, who with trembling hand inscribed on the wax of +the writing tablet the verdict, "His name is John." So soon as he had +broken the iron fetter of unbelief in thus acknowledging the fulfilment +of the angel's words, "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue +loosed, and he spake, blessing God. And fear came on all that dwelt +round about them." All these sayings quickly became the staple theme of +conversation throughout all the hill-country of Judaea; and wherever they +came, they excited the profoundest expectation. People laid them up in +their hearts, saying, "What, then, shall this child be?" + +"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit." "And the hand of the +Lord was with him." + +There were several remarkable formative influences operating on this +young life. + + +I. THE SCHOOL OF HOME.--_His father was a priest_. John's earliest +memories would register the frequent absence of his father in the +fulfilment of his course; and, on his return, with what eagerness would +the boy drink in a recital of all that had transpired in the Holy City! +We can imagine how the three would sit together beneath their trellised +vine, in the soft light of the fading sunset, and talk of Zion, their +chief joy. No wonder that in after days, as he looked on Jesus as He +walked, he pointed to Him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God"; for, from +the earliest, his young mind had been saturated with thoughts of +sacrifice. + +When old enough his parents would take him with them to one of the great +festivals, where, amid the thronging crowds, his boyish eyes opened for +the first time upon the stately Temple, the order and vestments of the +priests, the solemn pomp of the Levitical ceremonial. The young heart +dilated and expanded with wonder and pride; but how little he realized +that his ministry would be the first step to its entire subversal. + +He would be also taught carefully in the _Holy Scriptures_. Like the +young Timothy, he would know them from early childhood. The song of +Zacharias reveals a vivid and realistic familiarity with the prophecies +and phraseology of the Scriptures; and as the happy parents recited them +to his infant mind, they would stay to emphasize them with impressive +personal references. What would we not have given to hear Zacharias +quote Isaiah xl. or Malachi iii., and turn to the lad at his knee, +saying--"These words refer to thee".-- + +"Yea, and thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High; for +thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." + +Would not the aged priest speak to his son in thoughts and words like +those with which his song is so replete; might he not speak to him in +some such way as this: "My boy, God has fulfilled his holy covenant, the +oath which He sware unto Abraham, our father; because of the tender mercy +of our God, the Dayspring from on high has visited us, to shine upon them +that sit in darkness, and to guide our feet into the way of peace." Then +he would proceed to tell him the marvellous story of his Kinsman's birth +in Bethlehem, and of his growing grace in Nazareth. "Blessed be the +Lord, the God of Israel," the old man said; "for He hath visited and +redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the +house of his servant David, as He spake by the mouth of his holy +prophets, which have been since the world began." Next the father would +tell as much of the story of Herod's crimes, and of his oppressive rule, +as the lad could understand; and explain how there would soon be +"salvation from their enemies, and from the hand of all that hated them." +And his young soul would be thrilled by the hopes which were bursting in +the bud, and so near breaking into flower. + +Sometimes when they were abroad together in the early dawn, and saw the +first peep of day, the father would say: "John, do you see that light +breaking over the hills? What that day-spring is to the world, Jesus, +thy cousin at Nazareth, will be to the darkness of sin." Then, turning +to the morning star, shining in the path of the dawn, and paling as they +gazed, he would say: "See thy destiny, my son: I am an old man, and shall +not live to see thee in thy meridian strength; but thou shalt shine for +only a brief space, and then decrease, whilst He shall increase from the +faint flush of day-spring to the perfect day." And might not the child +reply, with a flash of intelligent appreciation?--"Yes, father, I +understand; but I shall be satisfied if only I have prepared the way of +the Lord." + +_There were also the associations of the surrounding country_. The story +of Abraham would often be recited in the proximity of Machpelah's sacred +cave. The career of David could not be unfamiliar to a youth who was +within easy reach of the haunts of the shepherd-psalmist. And the story +of the Maccabees would stir his soul, as his parents recounted the +exploits of Judas and his brethren, in which the ancient Hebrew faith and +prowess had revived in one last glorious outburst. + +How ineffaceable are the impressions of the Home! What the father is +when he comes back at night from his toils, and what the mother is all +day; what may be the staple of conversation in the home: whether the +father is willing to be the companion of his child, answering his +questions, and superintending the gradual unfolding of his mind; how +often the Bible is opened and explained; how the weekly rest-day is +spent; the attitude of the home towards strong drink in every shape and +form, and all else that might injure the young life, as gas does +plants--all these are vital to the right nurture and direction of boys +and girls who can only wax strong in spirit when all early influences +combine in the same direction. + + +II. THERE WAS THE SCHOOL OF HIS NAZARITE-VOW.--The angel, who announced +his birth, foretold that he should drink neither wine nor strong drink +from his birth, but that he should be filled with the Holy Spirit. +"John," said our Lord, "came neither eating nor drinking." This +abstinence from all stimulants was a distinct sign of the Nazarite, +together with the unshorn locks, and the care with which he abstained +from contact with death. In some cases, the vow of the Nazarite might be +taken for a time, or, as in the case of Samson, Samuel, and John, it +might be for life. But, whether for shorter or longer, the Nazarite held +himself as peculiarly given up to the service of God, pliant to the least +indication of his will, quick to catch the smallest whisper of his voice, +and mighty in his strength. + +"Mother, why do I wear my hair so long? You never cut it, as the mothers +of other boys do." + +"No, my son," was the proud and glad reply; "you must never cut it as +long as you live: _you are a Nazarite_." + +"Mother, why may I not taste the grapes? The boys say they are so nice +and sweet. May I not, next vintage?" + +"No, never," his mother would reply; "you must never touch the fruit of +the vine: _you are a Nazarite_." + +If, as they walked along the public way, they saw a bone left by some +hungry dog, or a little bird fallen to the earth to die, and the boy +would approach to touch either, the mother would call him back to her +side, saying, "Thou must never touch a dead thing. If thy father were to +die, or I, beside thee, thou must not move us from the spot, but call for +help. Remember always that thou art separated unto God; his vows are +upon thee, and thou must let nothing, either in symbol or reality, steal +away his power from thy young heart and life." + +The effect of this would be excellent. It would give a direction and +purpose to the lad's thoughts and anticipations. He realized that he was +set apart for a great mission in life. The brook heard the call of the +sea. Besides which, he would acquire self-restraint, self-mastery. + +What is it to be "strong in spirit"? The man who carries everything +before him with the impetuous rush of his nature, before whose outbursts +men tremble, and who insists in all things on asserting his wild, +masterful will--is he the strong man? Nay! most evidently he must be +classed among the weaklings. The strength of a man is in proportion to +the feelings which he curbs and subdues, and not which subdue him. The +man who receives a flagrant insult, and answers quietly; the man who +bears a hopeless daily trial, and remains silent; the man who with strong +passions remains chaste, or with a quick sense of injustice can refrain +himself and remain calm--these are strong men; and John waxed strong, +because, from the earliest dawn of thought, he was taught the necessity +of refusing things which in themselves might have been permissible, but +for him were impossible. + +On each of us rests the vow of separation by right of our union with the +Son of God, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. +Remember how He went without the camp, bearing our reproach; how they +cast Him forth to the death of the cross; and how He awaits us on the +Easter side of death--and surely we can find no pleasure in the world +where He found no place. His death has made a lasting break between his +followers and the rest of men. They are crucified to the world, and the +world to them. Let us not taste of the intoxicating joys in which the +children of the present age indulge; let us allow no Delilah passion to +pass her scissors over our locks; and let us be very careful not to +receive contamination; to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of +darkness, but to come out and be separate, not touching the unclean thing. + +But while we put away all that injures our own life or the lives of +others, let us be very careful to discriminate, to draw the line where +God would have it drawn, exaggerating and extenuating nothing. It is +important to remember that while the motto of the old covenant was +Exclusion, even of innocent and natural things, that of the new is +Inclusion. Moses, under the old, forbade the Jews having horses; but +Zechariah said that in the new they might own horses, only "Holiness to +the Lord" must be engraven on the bells of their harness. Christ has +come to sanctify all life. Whether we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, +we are to do all to his glory. Disciples are not to be taken out of the +world, but kept from its evil. "Every creature of God is good, and +nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is +sanctified by the Word of God, and prayer." Natural instincts are not to +be crushed, but transfigured. + +This is the great contrast between the Baptist and the Son of Man. The +Nazarite would have felt it a sin against the law of his vocation and +office to touch anything pertaining to the vine. Christ began his signs +by changing water into wine, though of an innocuous kind, for the +peasants' wedding at Cana of Galilee. John would have lost all sanctity +had he touched the bodies of the dead, or the flesh of a leper. Christ +would touch a bier, pass his hands over the seared flesh of the leper, +and stand sympathetically beside the grave of his friend. Thus we catch +a glimpse of our Lord's meaning when He affirms that, though John was the +greatest of women born, yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater +than he. + + +III. THERE WAS THE SCHOOL OF THE DESERT.--"The child was in the deserts +till the day of his showing unto Israel." Probably Zacharias, and +Elisabeth also, died when John was quite young. But the boy had grown +into adolescence, was able to care for himself, and "the hand of the Lord +was with him." + +Beneath the guidance and impulse of that hand he tore himself from the +little home where he had first seen the tender light of day, and spent +happy years, to go forth from the ordinary haunts of men, perhaps hardly +knowing whither. There was a wild restlessness in his soul. A young +man, pleading the other day with his father to be allowed to emigrate to +the West, urged that whereas there are _inches_ here there are _acres_ +there; and something of this kind may have been in the heart of John. He +desired to free himself from the conventionalities and restraints of the +society amid which he had been brought up, that he might develop after +his own fashion, with no laws but those he received from heaven. + +Fatherless, motherless, brotherless, sisterless--a lone man, he passed +forth into the great and terrible wilderness of Judaea, which is so +desolate that the Jews called it the abomination of desolation. +Travellers who have passed over and through it say that it is destitute +of all animal life, save a chance vulture or fox. For the most part, it +is a waste of sand, swept by wild winds. When Jesus was there some two +or three years after, He found nothing to eat; the stones around mocked +his hunger; and there was no company save that of the wild beasts. + +In this great and terrible wilderness, John supported himself by eating +locusts--the literal insect, which is still greatly esteemed by the +natives--and wild honey, which abounded in the crevices of the rocks; +while for clothing he was content with a coat of coarse camel's hair, +such as the Arab women make still; and a girdle of skin about his loins. +A cave, like that in which David and his men often found refuge, sufficed +him for a home, and the water of the streams that hurried to the Dead +Sea, for his beverage. + +Can we wonder that under such a regimen he grew strong? We become weak +by continual contact with our fellows. We sink to their level, we +accommodate ourselves to their fashions and whims; we limit the natural +developments of character on God's plan; we take on the colour of the +bottom on which we lie. But in loneliness and solitude, wherein we meet +God, we become strong. God's strong men are rarely clothed in soft +raiment, or found in kings' courts. Obadiah, who stood in awe of Ahab, +was a very different man from Elijah, who was of the inhabitants of +Gilead, and stood before the Lord. + +Yes, and there is a source of strength beside. He who is filled and +taught, as John was, by the Spirit, is strengthened by might in the inner +man. All things are possible to him that believes. Simon Bar-Jona +becomes Peter when he touches the Christ. The youths faint and are +weary, and the young men utterly fall; but they that wait on the Lord +renew their strength: they who know God are strong and do exploits. + + + + +IV. + +The Prophet of the Highest. + +(LUKE I.) + + "Ye hermits blest, ye holy maids, + The nearest heaven on earth, + Who talk with God in shadowy glades, + Free from rude care and mirth; + To whom some viewless Teacher brings + The secret love of rural things, + The moral of each fleeting cloud and gale, + The whispers from above, that haunt the twilight vale." + KEBLE. + + +Formative Influences--A Historical Parallel--The Burning of the +Vanities--"Sent from God" + + +"Thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High"--thus +Zacharias addressed his infant son, as he lay in the midst of that +group of wondering neighbours and friends. What a thrill of ecstasy +quivered in the words! A long period, computed at four hundred years, +had passed since the last great Hebrew prophet had uttered the words of +the Highest. Reaching back from him to the days of Moses had been a +long line of prophets, who had passed down the lighted torch from hand +to hand. And the fourteen generations, during which the prophetic +office had been discontinued, had gone wearily. But now hope revived, +as the angel-voice proclaimed the advent of a prophet. Our Lord +corroborated his words when, in after days, He said that John had been +a prophet, and something more. "But what went ye out to see?" He +asked. "A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet." + +The Hebrew word that stands for _prophet_ is said to be derived from a +root signifying "to boil or bubble over," and suggests a fountain +bursting from the heart of the man into which God had poured it. It is +a mistake to confine the word to the prediction of coming events; for +so employed it would hardly be applicable to men like Moses, Samuel, +and Elijah, in the Old Testament, or John the Baptist and the apostle +Paul, in the New, who were certainly prophets in the deepest +significance of that term. Prophecy means the forth-telling of the +Divine message. The prophet is borne along by the stream of Divine +indwelling and inflowing, whether he utters the truth for the moment or +anticipates the future. "God spake _in_ the prophets" (Hebrews i. 1, +R.V.). And when they were conscious of his mighty moving and stirring +within, woe to them if they did not utter it in burning words, fresh +minted from the heart. + +With Malachi, the succession that had continued unbroken from the very +foundation of the Jewish commonwealth had terminated. Pious Israelites +might have found befitting expression for that lament in the words, "We +see not our signs: there is no more any prophet" (Psa. lxxiv. 9). + +But as the voice of Old Testament prophecy ceased, with its last breath +it foretold that it would be followed, in the after time, by a new and +glorious revival of the noblest traditions of the prophetic office. +"Behold," so God spake by Malachi, "I will send you Elijah the prophet +before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And he shall turn +the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children +to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. +iv. 5, 6). + + +I. THE FORMATIVE INFLUENCES BY WHICH THE BAPTIST'S PROPHETIC NATURE +WAS MOULDED.--Amongst these we must place in the foremost rank _the +Prophecies_, which had given a forecast of his career. From his +childhood and upwards they had been reiterated in his ear by his +parents, who would never weary of reciting them. + +How often he would ponder the reference to himself in the great +Messianic prediction--"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your +God.... The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; +make straight in the desert a highway for our God...." There was no +doubt as to the relevance of those words to himself (Luke i. 76; Matt. +iii. 3). And it must have unconsciously wrought mightily in the +influence it wielded over his character and ministry. + +There was, also, that striking anticipation by Malachi which we have +already quoted, and which directly suggested Elijah as his model. Had +not Gabriel himself alluded to it, when he foretold that the predicted +child would go before the Messiah, in the spirit and power of Elijah +(Luke i. 17)? And again his statement was confirmed by our Lord in +after days (Matt. xi. 14). + +Thus the great figure of Elijah was ever before the mind of the growing +youth, as his model and inspiration. He found himself perpetually +asking, How did Elijah act, and what would he do here and now? And +there is little doubt that his choice of the lonely wilderness, of the +rough mantle of camel's hair, of the abrupt and arousing form of +address, was suggested by that village of Thisbe in the land of Gilead, +and those personal characteristics which were so familiar in the +Prophet of Fire. + +But the mind of the Forerunner must also have been greatly exercised by +_the lawlessness and crime_ which involved all classes of his +countrymen in a common condemnation. The death of Herod, occurring +when John was yet a child, dependent on the care of the good Elisabeth, +had led to disturbances which afforded an excuse for the Roman +occupation of Jerusalem. The sceptre had departed from Judah, and the +lawgiver from between his feet. The high priesthood was a mere forfeit +in the deals of Idumaean tetrarchs and Roman governors. The publicans +were notorious for their exactions, their covetousness, their cheating +and oppression of the people. Soldiers filled the country with +violence, extortion, and discontent. The priests were hirelings; the +Pharisees were hypocrites; the ruling classes had set aside their +primitive simplicity and purity, and were given up to the +voluptuousness and licence of the Empire. "Brood of vipers" was +apparently not too strong a phrase to use of the foremost religious +leaders of the day--at least, when used, its relevance passed without +challenge. + +Tidings of the evil that was overflowing the land like a deluge of ink +were constantly coming to the ears of this eager soul, filling it with +horror and dismay; and to this must be traced much of the austerity +which arrested the attention of his contemporaries. The idea which +lies beneath the fasting and privation of so many of God's servants, +has been that of an overwhelming sorrow, which has taken away all taste +for the pleasures and comforts of life. And this was the thought by +which John was penetrated. On the one hand, there was his deep and +agonizing conviction of the sin of Israel; and on the other, the belief +that the Messiah must be nigh, even at the doors. Thus the pressure of +the burden increased on him till he was forced to give utterance to the +cry it extorted from his soul: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at +hand." + +But in addition to these we must add _the vision of God_, which must +have been specially vouchsafed to him whilst he sojourned in those +lonely wilds. He spoke once of Him "who sent him to baptize." +Evidently he had become accustomed to detect his presence and hear his +voice. Those still small accents which had fallen on the ear of his +great prototype had thrilled his soul. He, too, had seen the Lord high +and lifted up, had heard the chant of the seraphim, and had felt the +live coal touch his lips, as it had been caught from the altar by the +seraph's tongs. + +This has ever been characteristic of the true prophet. He has been a +seer. He has spoken, because he has beheld with his eyes, looked upon, +and handled, the very Word of God. The Divine Prophet, speaking for +all that had preceded Him, said: "We speak that which we know, and +testify that we have seen." + +In this we may have some share. It is permitted to us also to see; to +climb the Mount of Vision, and look on the glory of God in the face of +Jesus Christ; to have revealed to us things that eye hath not seen, nor +ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived. Let us remember that we are +to be God's _witnesses_ in the Jerusalem of the home, the Judaea of our +immediate neighbours, and to the uttermost parts of the earth of our +profession or daily calling. God demands not advocates, but witnesses; +and we must see for ourselves, before we can bear witness to others, +the glory of that light still flushing our faces, and the accent of +conviction minted in our speech. + +These are the three signs of a prophet: vision, a deep conviction of +sin and impending judgment, and the gushing forth of moving and +eloquent speech; and each of these was apparent, in an exalted and +extreme degree, in John the son of Zacharias. + + +II. AN ILLUSTRATIVE AND REMARKABLE PARALLEL.--As John came in the +spirit and power of Elijah, so, four hundred years ago, in the lovely +city of Florence, a man was sent from God to testify against the sins +of his age, who in many particulars so exactly corresponds with our +Lord's forerunner that the one strongly recalls the other, and it may +help us to bring the circumstances of the Baptist's ministry within a +measurable distance of ourselves if we briefly compare them with the +career of Girolamo Savonarola. It must, of course, be always borne in +mind that the great Florentine could lay no claim to the peculiar and +unique position and power of the Baptist. But, in many respects, there +is a remarkable parallel and similarity between them, which will help +us to translate the old Hebrew conceptions into our modern life. + +The physician's household at Ferrara, into which Savonarola was born on +September 21, 1452, was probably no more distinguished amid other +families of the town than that of Zacharias and Elisabeth in the hill +country of Judaea. + +And as we read of the invincible love of truth which characterized the +keen and intelligent lad, we are forcibly reminded of the Baptist, +whose whole life was an eloquent protest on behalf of reality. In one +of his greatest sermons Savonarola declared that he had always striven +after truth with all his might, and maintained a constant war against +falsehood. "The more trouble"--they are his own words--"I bestowed +upon my quest, the greater became my longing, so that for it I was +prepared to abandon life itself. When I was but a boy, I had such +thoughts; and from that time, the desire and longing after this good +has gone on increasing to the present day." + +We cannot read of Savonarola's saintly life, over which even the breath +of calumny has never cast a stain--of his depriving himself of every +indulgence, content with the hardest couch and roughest clothing, and +just enough of the plainest food to support life--without remembering +the camel's cloth, the locusts and wild honey of the Baptist. + +If John's lot was cast on evil days, when religion suffered most in the +house of her friends, so was it with Savonarola. The fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries witnessed the increasing corruption and +licentiousness of popes and clergy. The offices of cardinal and bishop +were put up to auction, and sold to the highest bidder. The bishop +extorted money from the priests, and these robbed the people. The +grossest immorality was prevalent in all ranks of the Church, and +without concealment. Even the monasteries and convents were often dens +of vice. "Italy," said Machiavelli, "has lost all piety and all +religion. We have to thank the Church and the priests for our +abandoned wickedness." + +As John beheld the fire and fan of impending judgment, so the burden of +Savonarola's preaching was that the Church was about to be chastised, +and afterwards renewed. So powerful was this impression on the +preacher's mind that it can best be described in his own words as a +vision. He tells us that on one occasion the heavens seemed to open +before him, and there appeared a representation of the calamities that +were coming on the Church; on another, he saw, in the middle of the +sky, a hand bearing a sword, on which words of doom were written. He +described himself as one who looked into the invisible world. + +The herald of Jesus possessed a marvellous eloquence, beneath which the +whole land was moved; and so it was with Savonarola. During the eight +years that he preached in the cathedral, it was thronged with vast +crowds; and as he pleaded for purity of life and simplicity of manners, +"women threw aside jewels and finery, libertines were transformed into +sober citizens, bankers and tradesmen restored their ill-gotten gains." +In Lent, 1497, took place what is known as the Burning of the Vanities. +Bands of children were sent forth to collect from all parts of the +city, indecent books and pictures, carnival masks and costumes, cards, +dice, and all such things. A pile was erected, sixty feet in height, +and fired amid the sound of trumpets and pealing bells. + +What Herod was to John the Baptist, the Pope and the magnificent +Lorenzo di Medici were to Savonarola. The latter seems to have felt a +strange fascination towards the eloquent preacher, tried to attach him +to his court, was frequent in his attendance at San Marco, and gave +largely to his offertories. To use the words of the New Testament, he +feared him, "knowing that he was a righteous man, and a holy" (Mark vi. +20). But Savonarola took care to avoid any sign of compliance or +compromise; declined to pay homage to Lorenzo for promotion to high +ecclesiastical functions; returned his gold from the offertories; and +when they ran to tell him that Lorenzo was walking in the convent +garden, answered, "If he has not asked for me, do not disturb his +meditations or mine." + +Like John, Savonarola was unceasing in his denunciation of the +hypocritical religion which satisfied itself with outward observances. +"I tell you," he said, "that the Lord willeth not that ye fast on such +a day or at such an hour; but willeth that ye avoid sin all the days of +your life. Observe how they go about--seeking indulgences and pardons, +ringing bells, decking altars, dressing churches. God heedeth not your +ceremonies." + +John's exhortation to "Behold the Lamb of God" finds an echo in the +noble utterance of this illumined soul, who, be it remembered, +anticipated Luther's Reformation by a hundred years. "If all the +ecclesiastical hierarchy be corrupt, the believer must turn to Christ, +who is the primary cause, and say: 'Thou art my Priest and my +Confessor.'" + +The fate of martyrdom that befell John was awarded also to Savonarola. +Through the impetuosity of his followers, he was involved in a +challenge to ordeal by fire. But by the manoeuvres of his foes, the +expectations of the populace in this direction were disappointed, and +their anger aroused. "To San Marco!" shouted their leaders. To San +Marco they went, fired the buildings, burst open the doors, fought +their way into the cloisters and church, dragged Savonarola from his +devotions, and thrust him into a loathsome dungeon. After languishing +there, amid every indignity and torture, for some weeks, on May 23, +1498, he was led forth to die. The bishop, whose duty it was to +pronounce his degradation, stumbled at the formula declaring--"I +separate thee from the Church, militant and triumphant." "From the +militant thou mayest, but from the triumphant thou canst not," was the +martyr's calm reply. He met his end with unflinching fortitude. He +was strangled, his remains hung in chains, burned, and the ashes flung +into the river. When the commissioners of the Pope arrived at his +trial, they brought with them express orders that he was to die, "even +though he were a _second John the Baptist_." It is thus that the +apostate Church has always dealt with her noblest sons. But Truth, +struck to the ground, revives. Hers are the eternal years. Within a +few years, Luther was nailing his theses at the door of the church at +Wittenberg, and the Reformation was on its way. + +There is a legend, which at least contains a true suggestion, that when +Savonarola was on his way to Florence from Genoa, as a young man, his +strength failed him as he was crossing the Apennines, but that a +mysterious stranger appeared to him, restored his courage, led him to a +hospice, compelled him to take food, and afterwards accompanied him to +his destination; but on reaching the San Gallo gate he vanished, with +the words, _Remember to do that for which God hath sent thee!_ + +The story recalls forcibly the words with which the evangelist John +introduces his notice of the Forerunner--"There was a man sent from +God, whose name was John." Men are always coming, sent from God, +specially adapted to their age, and entrusted with the message which +the times demand. See to it that thou too realize thy divine mission; +for Jesus said, "As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." +Every true life is a mission from God. + +And when we read the words of the apostle Paul about John "fulfilling +his course," we may well ask for grace that we may fill up to the brim +the measure of our opportunities, that we may realize to the full God's +meaning and intention in creating us: and so our lives shall mate with +the Divine Ideal, like sublime words with some heavenly strain, each +completing the other. + + + + +V. + +The First Ministry of the Baptist. + +(LUKE III.) + + "Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing, + Stirs on the earth and trembles in the air! + Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing? + Is it the music of his people's prayer? + + "Surely He cometh, and a thousand voices + Shout to the saints, and to the deaf and dumb; + Surely He cometh, and the earth rejoices, + Glad in his coming who hath sworn, I come." + F. W. H. MYERS. + + +The Preaching of Repentance--His Power as a Preacher--His +Message--Warning of Impending Judgment--The Wages of Sin + + +Thirty years had left their mark on the Forerunner. The aged priest +and his wife Elisabeth had been carried to their grave by other hands +than those of the young Nazarite. The story of his miraculous birth, +and the expectations it had aroused, had almost died out of the memory +of the countryside. For many years John had been living in the caves +that indent the limestone rocks of the desolate wilderness which +extends from Hebron to the western shores of the Dead Sea. By the use +of the scantiest fare, and roughest garb, he had brought his body under +complete mastery. From nature, from the inspired page, and from direct +fellowship with God, he had received revelations which are only +vouchsafed to those who can stand the strain of discipline in the +school of solitude and privation. He had carefully pondered also the +signs of the times, of which he received information from the Bedouin +and others with whom he came in contact. Blended with all other +thoughts, John's heart was filled with the advent of Him, so near akin +to himself, who, to his certain knowledge, was growing up, a few months +his junior, in an obscure highland home, but who was speedily to be +manifested to Israel. + +At last the moment arrived for him to utter the mighty burden that +pressed upon him; and "in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, +Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Herod the tetrarch of Galilee, +Annas and Caiaphas the high priests, the word of God came unto John, +the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness." It may have befallen thus. +One day, as a caravan of pilgrims was slowly climbing the mountain +gorges threaded by the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, or halted +for a moment in the noontide heat, they were startled by the appearance +of a gaunt and sinewy man, with flowing raven locks, and a voice which +must have been as sonorous and penetrating as a clarion, who cried, +"Repent! the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." + +It was as though a spark had fallen on dry tinder. The tidings spread +with wonderful rapidity that in the wilderness of Judaea one was to be +met who recalled the memory of the great prophets, and whose burning +eloquence was of the same order as of Isaiah or Ezekiel. Instantly +people began to flock to him from all sides. "There went out to him +Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan." The +neighbourhood suddenly became black with hurrying crowds--as Klondike, +when the news of the discovery of gold began to spread. From lip to +lip the tidings sped of a great leader and preacher, who had suddenly +appeared. + +He seems finally to have taken his stand not far from the rose-clad +oasis of Jericho, on the banks of the Jordan; and men of every tribe, +class, and profession, gathered thither, listening eagerly, or +interrupting him with loud cries for help. The population of the +metropolis, familiar with the Temple services, and accustomed to the +splendour of the palace; fishermen from the Lake of Gennesaret, dusky +sons of Ishmael from the desert of Gilead; the proud Pharisee; the +detested publican, who had fattened on the sorrows and burdens of the +people--were there, together with crowds of ordinary people that could +find no resting-place in the schools or systems of religious thought of +which Jerusalem was the centre. + + +1. MANY CAUSES ACCOUNTED FOR JOHN'S IMMENSE POPULARITY.--_The office +of the prophet was almost obsolete_. Several centuries, as we have +seen, had passed since the last great prophet had finished his +testimony. The oldest man living at that time could not remember +having seen a man who had ever spoken to a prophet. It seemed as +unlikely, to adopt the phrase of another, that another prophet should +arise in that formal, materialistic age, as that another cathedral +should be added to the splendid remains of Gothic glory which tell us +of those bygone days when there were giants in the land. + +Moreover, _John gave such abundant evidence of sincerity--of reality_. +His independence of anything that this world could give made men feel +that whatever he said was inspired by his direct contact with things as +they literally are. It was certain that his severe and lonely life had +rent the vail, and given him the knowledge of facts and realities, +which were as yet hidden from ordinary men, though waiting, soon to be +revealed; and it was equally certain that his words were a faithful and +adequate presentation of what he saw. He spoke what he knew, and +testified what he had seen. His accent of conviction was unmistakable. +When men see the professed prophet of the Unseen and Eternal as keen +after his own interests as any worldling, shrewd at a bargain, +captivated by show, obsequious to the titled and wealthy; when they +discover the man who predicts the dissolution of all things carefully +investing the proceeds of the books in which he publishes his +predictions--they are apt to reduce to a minimum their faith in his +words. But there was no trace of this in the Baptist, and therefore +the people went forth to him. + +_Above all, he appealed to their moral convictions, and, indeed, +expressed them_. The people knew that they were not as they should be. +For a long time this consciousness had been gaining ground; and now +they flocked around the man who revealed themselves to themselves, and +indicated with unfaltering decision the course of action they should +adopt. How marvellous is the fascination which he exerts over men who +will speak to their inner-most souls! This has always been the source +of power to the great orators of the Romish Church--men like Massillon, +for instance--and to refuse to use this method of approach is to forego +one of the mightiest weapons in the repertory of Christian appeal. If +we deal only with the intellect or imagination, the novelist or +essayist may successfully compete with us. It is in his direct appeal +to the heart and conscience, that the servant of God exerts his supreme +and unrivalled power. Though a man may shrink from the preaching of +repentance, yet, if it tell the truth about himself, he will be +irresistibly attracted to hear the voice that harrows his soul. John +rebuked Herod for many things; but still the royal offender sent for +him again and again, and heard him gladly. + +It is expressly said that John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming +to his baptism (Matt. iii. 7). Their advent appears to have caused him +some surprise. "Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from +the wrath to come?" The strong epithet he used of them suggests that +they came as critics, because they were unwilling to surrender the +leadership of the religious life of Israel, and were anxious to keep in +touch with the new movement, until they could sap its vitality, or +divert its force into the channels of their own influence. + +But it is quite likely that in many cases there were deeper reasons. +_The Pharisees_ were the ritualists and formalists of their day, who +would wrangle about the breadth of a phylactery, and decide to an inch +how far a man might walk on the Sabbath day; but the mere externals of +religion will never permanently satisfy the soul made in the likeness +of God. Ultimately it will turn from them with a great nausea and an +insatiable desire for the living God. As for _the Sadducees_, they +were the materialists of their time. The reaction of superstition, it +has been said, is to infidelity; and the reaction from Pharisaism was +to Sadduceeism. Disgusted and outraged by the trifling of the +literalists of Scripture interpretation, the Sadducee denied that there +was an eternal world and a spiritual state, and asserted that "there is +no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit." But mere negation can +never satisfy. The heart still moans out its sorrow under the darkness +of agnosticism, as the ocean sighing under a starless midnight. +Nature's instincts are more cogent than reason. It was hardly to be +wondered at, then, that these two great classes were largely +represented in the crowds that gathered on the banks of the Jordan. + + +II. LET US BRIEFLY ENUMERATE THE MAIN BURDEN OF THE BAPTIST'S +PREACHING.--(1) "_The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand_." To a Jew that +phrase meant the re-establishment of the Theocracy, and a return to +those great days in the history of his people when God Himself was +Lawgiver and King. Had not Daniel predicted that in the days of the +last of the great empires, prefigured in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the +God of heaven would set up a kingdom which should never be +destroyed--which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand +for ever? Had he not foreseen a time when One like unto a son of man +should come to the Ancient of Days to receive a dominion which should +not pass away, and a kingdom which should not be destroyed? Had he not +foretold that the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven +should be given to the saints of the Most High? Surely, then, all +these anticipations were on the eve of fulfilment. The long-expected +Messiah was at hand; and here was the forerunner described by Isaiah, +the prophet, saying:-- + + "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, + Make ye ready the way of the Lord, + Make his paths straight." + + +But some misgiving must have passed over the minds of his hearers when +they heard the young prophet's description of the conditions and +accompaniments of that long-looked-for reign. Instead of dilating on +the material glory of the Messianic period, far surpassing the +magnificent splendour of Solomon, he insisted on the fulfilment of +certain necessary preliminary requirements, which lifted the whole +conception of the anticipated reign to a new level, in which the inward +and spiritual took precedence of the outward and material. It was the +old lesson, which in every age requires repetition, that unless a man +is born again, and from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. + +Be sure of this, that no outward circumstances, however propitious and +favourable, can bring about true blessedness. We might be put into the +midst of heaven itself, and be poor, and miserable, and blind, and +naked, unless the heart were in loving union with the Lamb, who is in +the midst of the throne. He is the light of that city, his countenance +doth lighten it--from his throne the river of its pleasure flows, his +service is its delightful business; and to be out of fellowship with +Him would make us out of harmony with its joy. Life must be centred in +Christ if it is to be concentric with all the circles of heaven's +bliss. We can never be at rest or happy whilst we expect to find our +fresh springs in outward circumstances. It is only when we are right +with God that we are blest and at rest. Righteousness is blessedness. +Where the King is enthroned within the heart, the soul is in the +kingdom, which is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; +nay, perhaps more accurately, that kingdom is in the soul. And when +all hearts are yielded to the King; when all gates lift up their heads, +and all everlasting doors are unfolded for his entrance--then the curse +which has so long brooded over the world shall be done away. The whole +creation groaneth and travaileth for the manifestation of the sons of +God: but when they are revealed in all their beauty, then judgment +shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness shall abide in the +fruitful field, and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the +effect of righteousness quietness and confidence for ever; and the +mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water +(Isa. xxxii. 15, 16; xxxv. 7, R.V.). + +(2) Alongside the proclamation of the kingdom was the uncompromising +insistence on "_the wrath to come_." John saw that the Advent of the +King would bring inevitable suffering to those who were living in +self-indulgence and sin. + +There would be careful discrimination. He who was coming would +carefully discern between the righteous and the wicked; between those +who served God and those who served Him not: and the preacher enforced +his words by an image familiar to orientals. When the wheat is reaped, +it is bound in sheaves and carted to the threshing-floor, which is +generally a circular spot of hard ground from fifty to one hundred feet +in diameter. On this the wheat is threshed from the chaff by manual +labour, but the two lie intermingled till the evening, when the grain +is caught up in broad shovels or fans, and thrown against the evening +breeze, as it passes swiftly over the fevered land; thus the light +chaff is borne away, while the wheat falls heavily to the earth. +Likewise, cried the Baptist, there shall be a very careful process of +discrimination, before the unquenchable fires are lighted; so that none +but chaff shall be consigned to the flames--a prediction which was +faithfully fulfilled. At first Christ drew all men to Himself; but, as +his ministry proceeded, He revealed their quality. A few were +permanently attracted to Him; the majority were as definitely repelled. +There was no middle class. Men were either for or against Him. The +sheep on this side; the goats on that. The five wise virgins, and the +five foolish. Those who entered the strait gate, and those who flocked +down the broad way that leadeth to destruction. So it has been in +every age. Jesus Christ is the touchstone of trial. Our attitude +towards Him reveals the true quality of the soul. + +There would also be a period of probation. "The axe laid to the root +of the trees" is familiar enough to those who know anything of +forestry. The woodman barks some tree which seems to him to be +occupying space capable of being put to better use. There is no undue +haste. It is only after severe and searching scrutiny that the word +goes forth: "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" But when once +that word is spoken, there is no appeal. The Jewish people had become +sadly unfruitful; but a definite period was to intervene--three years +of Christ's ministry and thirty years beside--before the threatened +judgment befell. All this while the axe lay ready for its final +stroke; but only when all hope of reformation was abandoned was it +driven home, and the nation crashed to its doom. + +Perhaps this may be the case with one of my readers. You have been +planted on a favourable site, and have drunk in the dews and rain and +sunshine of God's providence; but what fruit have you yielded in +return? How have you repaid the heavenly Husbandman? May He not be +considering whether any result will accrue from prolonging your +opportunities for bearing fruit? He has looked for grapes, and lo, you +have brought forth only wild grapes; He may well consider the +advisability of removing you from the stewardship, which you have used +for your own emolument, and not for his glory. + +For all such there must be "wrath to come." After there has been +searching scrutiny and investigation, and every reasonable chance has +been given for amendment, and still the soul is impenitent and +disobedient, there must be "a certain fearful looking for of judgment +and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries." + +The fire of John's preaching had its primary fulfilment, probably, in +the awful disasters which befell the Jewish people, culminating in the +siege and fall of Jerusalem. We know how marvellously the little +handful of believers which had been gathered out by the preaching of +Christ and his disciples were accounted worthy to escape all those +things that came to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. But the +unbelieving mass of the Jewish people were discovered to be worthless +chaff and unfruitful trees, and assigned to those terrible fires which +have left a scar on Palestine to this day. + +But there was a deeper meaning. The wrath of God avenges itself, not +on nations but on individual sinners. "He that believeth not the Son +shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." The penalty +of sin is inevitable. The wages of sin is death. The land which +beareth thorns and thistles, after having drunk of the rain which +cometh often upon it, is rejected and nigh unto a curse, its end is to +be burned; under the first covenant, every transgression and +disobedience received a just recompense of reward; the man that set at +nought Moses' law died without compassion, on the word of two or three +witnesses--of how much sorer punishment shall he be judged worthy who +hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of +the covenant a common thing, and hath done despite to the Spirit of +grace! + +Even if we grant, as of course we must, that many of the expressions +referring to the ultimate fate of the ungodly are symbolical, yet it +must be granted also, that they have counterparts in the realm of soul +and spirit, which are as terrible to endure, as the nature of the soul +is more highly organized than that of the body. Fire to the body is +easy to bear in comparison with certain forms of suffering to which the +heart and soul are sometimes exposed even in this life. Have we not +sometimes said, "If physical suffering were concerned, we could bear +it; but oh, this pain which is gnawing at the heart--this awful inward +agony, which burns like fire!" And if we are capable of suffering so +acutely from remorse and shame, from ingratitude and misrepresentation, +in this life where there are so many distractions and temporary +alleviations, what may not be the possibility of pain in that other +life, where there is no screen, no covering, no alleviation, no cup of +water to slake the thirst! Believe me, when Jesus said, "These shall +go away into eternal punishment," He contemplated a retribution so +terrible, that it were good for the sufferers if they had never been +born. + +All the great preachers have seen and faithfully borne witness to the +fearful results of sin, as they take effect in this life and the next. +These threw Brainerd into a dripping sweat, whilst praying on a cool +day for his Indians in the woods; these drew John Welsh from his bed, +at all hours of the night, to plead for his people; these inspired +Baxter to write his _Call to the Unconverted_; these drew Henry Martyn +from his fellowship at Cambridge to the burning plains of India; these +forced tears from Whitefield as he preached to the crowding thousands; +these burn in the memorable sermon by Jonathan Edwards on "Sinners in +the hands of an angry God." The notable revival which broke out at +Kirk o' Shotts was due, under God, to Livingston congratulating the +people that drops of rain alone were falling, and not the fire of +Divine wrath. The sermons of Ralph Erskine, of McCheyne and W. C. +Burns, of Brownlow Northland Reginald Radcliffe, in the last +generation, were characterized by the same appeals. Though, on the +other hand, because God is not confined to any one method, the +preaching of the late D. L. Moody was specially steeped in the love of +God. It is for want of a vision of the inevitable fate of the godless +and disobedient, that much of our present-day preaching is so powerless +and ephemeral. You cannot get crops out of the land merely by summer +showers and sunshine; there must be the subsoil ploughing, the +pulverizing frost, the wild March wind. And only when we modern +preachers have seen sin as God sees it, and begin to apply the divine +standard to the human conscience; only when our eagerness and yearning +well over into our eyes and broken tones, only when we know the terror +of the Lord, and begin to persuade men as though we would pluck them +out of the fire, by our strenuous expostulation and entreaties--shall +we see the effects that followed the preaching of the Baptist when +soldiers, publicans, Pharisees, and scribes, crowded around him, +saying, "What shall we do?" + +All John's preaching, therefore, led up to the demand for repentance. +The word which was oftenest on his lips was "Repent ye!" It was not +enough to plead direct descent from Abraham, or outward conformity with +the Levitical and Temple rites. God could raise up children to Abraham +from the stones of the river bank. There must be the renunciation of +sin, the definite turning to God, the bringing forth of fruit meet for +an amended life. In no other way could the people be prepared for the +coming of the Lord. + + + + +VI. + +Baptism unto Repentance + +(MARK I. 4.) + + "The last and greatest herald of heaven's King, + Girt with rough skins, hies to the desert wild; + Among that savage brood the woods doth bring, + Which he more harmless found than man, and mild. + + "His food was locusts and what there doth spring, + With honey that from virgin hives distill'd, + Parch'd body, hollow eyes, some uncouth thing + Made him appear, long since from earth exiled." + W. DRUMMOND, of Hawthornden. + + +Repentance: its Nature--Repentance: how Produced--Repentance: its +Evidences--Repentance: its Results--John's Baptism: from Heaven + + +At the time of which we are speaking, an extraordinary sect, known as +the Essenes, was scattered throughout Palestine, but had its special +home in the oasis of Engedi; and with the adherents of this community +John must have been in frequent association. They were the recluses or +hermits of their age. + +The aim of the Essenes was moral and ceremonial purity. They sought +after an ideal of holiness, which they thought could not be realized in +this world; and therefore, leaving villages and towns, they betook +themselves to the dens and caves of the earth, and gave themselves to +continence, abstinence, fastings, and prayers, supporting themselves by +some slight labours on the land. Those who have investigated their +interesting history tell us that the cardinal point with them was faith +in the inspired Word of God. By meditation, prayer, and mortification, +frequent ablutions, and strict attention to the laws of ceremonial +purity, they hoped to reach the highest stage of communion with God. +They agreed with the Pharisees in their extraordinary regard for the +Sabbath. Their daily meal was of the simplest kind, and partaken of in +their house of religious assembly. After bathing, with prayer and +exhortation they went, with veiled faces, to their dining-room, as to a +holy temple. They abstained from oaths, despised riches, manifested +the greatest abhorrence of war and slavery, faced torture and death +with the utmost bravery, refused the indulgence of pleasure. + +It is clear that John was not a member of this holy community, which +differed widely from the Pharisaism and Sadduceeism of the time. The +Essenes wore white robes, emblematic of the purity they sought; whilst +he was content with his coat of camel's hair and leathern girdle. They +seasoned their bread with hyssop, and he with honey. They dwelt in +brotherhoods and societies; while he stood alone from the earliest days +of his career. But it cannot be doubted that he was in deep accord +with much of the doctrine and practice of this sect. + +John the Baptist, however, cannot be accounted for by any of the +pre-existing conditions of his time. He stood alone in his God-given +might. That he was conscious of this appears from his own declaration +when he said, "He that sent me to baptize in water, He said unto me." +And that Christ wished to convey the same impression is clear from his +question to the Pharisees: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven or +from men?" Moreover, the distinct assertion of the Spirit of God, +through the fourth Evangelist, informs us: "There came a man, sent from +God, whose name was John, the same came for witness, that all might +believe through him." "The Word of God came unto John, the son of +Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came." + + +I. THE SUMMONS TO REPENT.--John has a ministry with all men. In other +words, he represents a phase of teaching and influence through which we +must needs pass if we are properly to discover and appreciate the grace +of Christ. With us, too, a preparatory work has to be done. There are +mountains and hills of pride and self-will that have to be levelled; +crooked and devious ways that have to be straightened; ruggednesses +that have to be smoothed--before we can fully behold the glory of God +in the face of Jesus Christ. In proportion to the thoroughness and +permanence of our repentance will be our glad realization of the +fulness and glory of the Lamb of God. + +But we must guard ourselves here, lest it be supposed that repentance +is a species of good work which must be performed in order that we may +merit the grace of Christ. It must be made equally clear, that +repentance must not be viewed apart from faith in the Saviour, which is +an integral part of it. It is also certain that, though "God +commandeth all men everywhere to repent," yet Jesus is exalted "to give +repentance and the remission of sins." + +Repentance, according to the literal rendering of the Greek word, is "a +change of mind." Perhaps we should rather say, it is a change in the +attitude of the will. The unrepentant soul chooses its own way and +will, regardless of the law of God. "The mind of the flesh is enmity +against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, +can it be; and they that are in the flesh cannot please God." But in +repentance the soul changes its attitude. It no longer refuses the +yoke of God's will, like a restive heifer, but yields to it, or is +willing to yield. There is a compunction, a sense of the hollowness of +all created things, a relenting, a wistful yearning after the true +life, and ultimately a turning from darkness to light, and from the +power of Satan unto God. The habits may rebel; the inclinations and +emotions may shrink back; the consciousness of peace and joy may yet be +far away--but the will has made its secret decision, and has begun to +turn to God: as, in the revolution of the earth, the place where we +live reaches its furthest point from the sunlight, passes it, and +begins slowly to return towards its warm smiles and embrace. + +It cannot be too strongly emphasized that repentance is an act of the +_will_. In its beginning there may be no sense of gladness or +reconciliation with God: but just the consciousness that certain ways +of life are wrong, mistaken, hurtful, and grieving to God; and the +desire, which becomes the determination, to turn from them, to seek Him +who formed the mountains and created the wind, that maketh the morning +darkness and treadeth upon the high places of the earth. + +Repentance may be accounted as the other side of faith. They are the +two sides of the same coin: the two aspects of the same act. If the +act of the soul which brings it into right relation with God is +described as a turning round, to go in the reverse direction to that in +which it had been travelling, then _repentance_ stands for its desire +and choice to turn from sin, and _faith_ for its desire and choice to +turn to God. We must be willing to turn from sin and our own +righteousness--that is _repentance_; we must be willing to be saved by +God, in his own way, and must come to Him for that purpose--that is +_faith_. + +We need to turn from our own righteousnesses as well as from our sins. +Augustine spoke of his efforts after righteousness as splendid sins; +and Paul distinctly disavows all those attempts to stand right with God +which he made before he saw the face of the risen Christ looking out +from heaven upon his conscience-stricken spirit. You must turn away +from your own efforts to save yourself. These are, in the words of the +prophet, but "filthy rags." Nothing, apart from the Saviour and his +work, can avail the soul, which must meet the scrutiny of eternal +justice and purity. + +Repentance is produced sometimes and specially by the presentation of +the claims of Christ. We suddenly awake to realize what He is, how He +loves, how much we are missing, the gross ingratitude with which we +respond to his agony and bloody sweat, his cross and suffering, the +beauty of his character, the strength of his claims. + +At other times repentance is wrought by the preaching of John the +Baptist. Then we hear of the axe laid at the root of the trees, and +the unquenchable fire for the consuming of the chaff: and the heart +trembles. Then we are led to the brink of the precipice, and compelled +to see the point at which the primrose-path we are travelling ends in +the fatal abyss. Then our faith in our hereditary position and +privilege is shattered by the iconoclasm of the preacher; and we are +levelled to the position of stones which are lapped by the Jordan, but +are insensible to its touch. It is at such a time as this that the +soul sees the entire fabric of its vain confidences and hopes crumbling +like a cloud-palace, and turns from it all--as Mary from the sepulchre, +where her hopes lay entombed, to find Jesus standing with the +resurrection glory on his face and radiant love in his eyes. + +For purposes of clear thinking it is well to discriminate in our use of +the words Repentance and Penitence, using the former of the first act +of the will, when, energized and quickened by the Spirit of God, it +turns from dead works to serve the living and true God; and the latter, +of the emotions which are powerfully wrought upon, as the years pass, +by the Spirit's presentation of all the pain and grief which our sin +has caused, and is causing, to our blessed Lord. We repent once, but +are penitents always. We repent in the will; we are penitent in the +heart. We repent, and believe the Gospel; we believe the Gospel of the +Son of Man, and as we look on Him, whom our sins have pierced, we +mourn. We repent when we obey his call to come unto Him and live; we +are penitent as we stand behind Him weeping, and begin to wash his feet +with our tears, and to wipe them with the hair of our head. + +If John the Baptist has never wrought his work in you, be sure to open +your heart to his piercing voice. Let him fulfil his ministry. See +that you do not reject the counsel of God, as it proceeds from his +lips; but expose your soul to its searching scrutiny, and allow it to +have free and uninterrupted course. He comes to prepare the way of the +Lord, and to make through the desert of our nature a highway for our +God. Of course, if, from the earliest you have been under the nurture +of pious parents, and your young heart turned to God in the early dawn +of consciousness, you will not pass through these experiences as those +must who have spent years in the service of Satan. For these there is +but one word--Repent! They must, in a moment of time, take up an +entirely different attitude to God and holiness, to Christ and his +salvation. + +II. THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF REPENTANCE.--(1) _Confession_. "They +were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." What +this precisely means it is not possible to say in detail; but it is not +improbable that beneath the strong pressure of inward remorse and +bitterness of spirit, men of notoriously bad life, as well as those who +had never abandoned themselves to the mad currents of temptation, but +were none the less conscious of heart and hidden sins, stood up, +"confessing and declaring their deeds," as in a memorable scene long +afterwards (Acts xix. 17-20). + +The formalist confessed that the whited sepulchre of his religious +observances had concealed a mass of putrefaction. The sceptic +confessed that his refusal of religion was largely due to his hatred of +the demands of God's holy law. The multitudes confessed that they had +been selfish and sensual, shutting up their compassions, and refusing +clothing and food to the needy. The publican confessed that he had +extorted by false accusation and oppression more than his due. The +soldier confessed that his profession had often served as the cloak for +terrorizing the poor and vamping up worthless accusations. The +notoriously evil liver confessed that he had lain in wait for blood, +and destroyed the innocent and helpless for gain or hate. The air was +laden with the cries and sighs of the stricken multitudes, who beheld +their sin for the first time in the light of eternity and of its +inevitable doom. The lurid flames of "the wrath to come" cast their +searching light on practices which, in the comparative twilight of +ignorance and neglect, had passed without special notice. + +Upon that river's brink, men not only confessed to God, but probably +also to one another. Life-long feuds were reconciled; old quarrels +were settled; frank words of apology and forgiveness were exchanged; +hands grasped hands for the first time after years of alienation and +strife. + +Confession is an essential sign of a genuine repentance, and without it +forgiveness is impossible. "He that covereth his transgressions shall +not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain +mercy." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us +our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So long as we +keep silence, our bones wax old through our inward anguish; we are +burnt by the fire of slow fever; we toss restlessly, though on a couch +of down. But on confession there is immediate relief. "I said, I will +confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest me the +iniquity of my sin." + +Confess your sin to God, O troubled soul, from whom the vision of +Christ is veiled. It is more than likely that some undetected or +unconfessed sin is shutting out the rays of the true sun. Excuse +nothing, extenuate nothing, omit nothing. Do not speak of mistakes of +judgment, but of lapses of heart and will. Do not be content with a +general confession; be particular and specific. Drag each evil thing +forth before God's judgment bar; let the secrets be exposed, and the +dark, sad story told. Begin at the beginning, and go steadily through. +Only be very careful to leave no trace of your experiences for human +eyes or ears. To tell this story to another will rob it of its value +to yourself and its acceptableness to God. It is enough for God to +know it; and to tell Him all is to receive at once his assurance of +forgiveness, for the sake of Him who loved us and gave Himself a +propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for those of the +whole world. Directly the confession leaves our heart, nay, whilst it +is in process, the Divine voice is heard assuring us that our sins, +which are many, are put away as far as the east is from the west, and +cast into the depths of the sea. + +But such confession should not be made to God alone, when sins are in +question which have injured and alienated others. If our brother has +aught against us, we must find him out, while our gift is left +unpresented at the altar, and first be reconciled to him. We must +write the letter, or speak the word; we must make honourable reparation +and amends; we must not be behind the sinners under the old law, who +were bidden to add a fifth part to the loss their brother had sustained +through their wrong-doing, when they made it good. The only sin we are +justified in confessing to our brother man is that we have committed +against him. All else must be told in the ear of Jesus, that great +High Priest, whose confessional is always open, and whose pure ear can +receive our dark and sad stories without taint or soil. + +(2) _Fruit worthy of Repentance_. "Bring forth, therefore, fruit +worthy of repentance," said John, with some indignation, as he saw many +of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism. He insisted that +practical and vital religion was not a rule, but a life; not outward +ritual, but a principle; not works, but fruit: and he demanded that the +genuineness of repentance should be attested by appropriate fruit. "Do +men gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles?" + +Probably that demand of the Baptist accounted for the alteration in his +life of which Zaccheus made confession to Christ, when He became his +guest. The rich publican lived at Jericho, near which John was +baptizing, and he was probably amongst the publicans who were attracted +to his ministry. How well we can imagine the comments that would be +passed on his presence, as each nudged his neighbour and whispered. +"Is not that Zaccheus?" said one. "What is he doing here?" said +another. "It is about time _he_ came to himself," muttered a third. +"I wish the Baptist could do something for him," said a fourth. + +And something touched that hardened heart. A great hope and a great +resolve sprang up in it. He may have joined in the confessions of +which we have spoken, but he did more. On his arrival at Jericho he +was a new man. He gave the half of his goods to feed the poor; and if +he had wrongfully exacted aught of any man, he restored four-fold. His +servant was often seen in the lowest and poorest parts of the old city, +hunting up cases of urgent distress, and bestowing anonymous alms, and +many a poor man was delighted to find a considerable sum of money +thrust into his hands, with a scrap of paper signed by the rich +tax-gatherer, saying, "I took so much from you, years ago, to which I +had no claim; kindly find it enclosed, with fourfold as amends." +Should any ask him the reason for it all, he would answer, "Ah, I have +been down to the Jordan and heard the Baptist; I believe the Kingdom is +coming, and the King is at hand; and I want to make ready for Him, so +that, when He comes, He may be able to abide at my house." + +You will never get right with God till you are right with man. It is +not enough to confess wrong-doing; you must be prepared to make amends +so far as lies in your power. Sin is not a light thing, and it must be +dealt with, root and branch. + +(3) _The baptism of repentance_. "They were baptized ... confessing +their sins." The cleansing property of water has given it a religious +significance from most remote antiquity Men have conceived of sin as a +foul stain upon the heart, and have couched their petitions for its +removal in words derived from its use: "Purge me with hyssop, and I +shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." They have +longed to feel that as the body was delivered from pollution, so the +soul was freed from stain. In some cases this thought has assumed a +gross and material form; and men have attributed to the water of +certain rivers, such as the Ganges, the Nile, the Abana, the mysterious +power of cleansing away sin. + +There was no trace of this, however, in John's teaching. It was not +baptism _unto remission_, but _unto repentance_. It was the expression +and symbol of the soul's desire and intention, so far as it knew, to +confess and renounce its sins, as the necessary condition of obtaining +the Divine forgiveness. + +It is not necessary to discuss the much-vexed question of the source +from which the Baptist derived his baptism--some say it was from the +habits of the Essenes, or the practice of the Rabbis, who subjected to +this rite all proselytes to Judaism from the Gentile world. It is +enough for us to remember that he was _sent_ to baptize; that the idea +of his baptism was "from heaven"; and that in his hands the rite +assumed altogether novel and important functions. It meant death and +burial as far as the past was concerned; and resurrection to a new and +better future. Forgetting and dying to the things that were behind, +the soul was urged to realize the meaning of this symbolic act, and to +press on and up to better things before; assured as it did so that God +had accepted its confession and choice, and was waiting to receive it +graciously and love it freely. + +It is easy to see how all this appealed to the people, and specially +touched the hearts of young men. At that time, by the blue waters of +the Lake of Galilee, there was a handful of ardent youths, deeply +stirred by the currents of thought around them, who resented the Roman +sway, and were on the tip-toe of expectation for the coming Kingdom. +How they spoke together, as they floated at night in their fisherman's +yawl over the dark waters of the Lake of Galilee, about God's ancient +covenant, and the advent of the Messiah, and the corruptions of their +beloved Temple service! And when, one day, tidings reached them of +this strange new preacher, they left all and streamed with all the +world beside to the Jordan valley, and stood fascinated by the spell of +his words. + +One by one, or all together, they made themselves known to him, and +became his loyal friends and disciples. We are familiar with the names +of one or two of them, who afterwards left their earlier master to +follow Christ; but of the rest we know nothing, save that he taught +them to fast and pray, and that they clung to their great teacher, +until they bore his headless body to the grave. After his death they +joined themselves with Him whom they had once regarded with some +suspicion as his rival and supplanter. + +How much this meant to John! He had never had a friend; and to have +the allegiance and love of these noble, ingenuous youths must have been +very grateful to his soul. But from them all he repeatedly turned his +gaze, as though he were looking for some one who must presently emerge +from the crowd; and the sound of whose voice would give him the deepest +and richest fulfilment of his joy, because it would be the voice of the +Bridegroom Himself. + + + + +VII. + +The Manifestation of the Messiah + +(JOHN I. 31.) + + "Before me, as in darkening glass, + Some glorious outlines pass, + Of love, and truth, and holiness, and power-- + I own them thine, O Christ, + And bless Thee in this hour." + F. R. HAVERGAL. + + +The Herald's Proclamation--The Meeting of John and Jesus--Christ's +Baptism--"It Becometh Us."--"My Beloved Son." + + +John's life, at this period, was an extraordinary one. By day he +preached to the teeming crowds, or baptized them; by night he would +sleep in some slight booth, or darksome cave. But the conviction grew +always stronger in his soul, that the Messiah was near to come; and +this conviction became a revelation. The Holy Spirit who filled him, +taught him. He began to see the outlines of his Person and work. As +he thought upon Him, beneath the gracious teaching of Him who had sent +him to baptize (John i. 33), the dim characteristics of his glorious +personality glimmered out on the sensitive plate of his inner +consciousness, and he could even describe Him to others, as well as +delineate Him for himself. + +He conceived of the coming King, as we have seen, as the Woodman, +laying his axe at the root of the trees; as the Husbandman, fan in hand +to winnow the threshing-floor; as the Baptist, prepared to plunge all +faithful souls in his cleansing fires; as the Ancient of Days, who, +though coming after him in order of time, must be preferred before him +in order of precedence, because He was before him in the eternal glory +of his Being (John i. 15-30). + +It was this vision of the Sun before the sunrise, as he viewed it from +the high peak of his own noble character, that induced in the herald +his conspicuous and beautiful humility. He insisted that he was not +worthy to perform the most menial service for Him whose advent he +announced. "I am content," he said in effect, "to be a voice, raised +for a moment to proclaim the King, and soon dying on the desert air, +whilst the person of the crier is unnoticed and unsought for; but I may +not presume to unloose the latchet of his shoes.... There cometh after +me He that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not +worthy to stoop down and unloose." + +John was not only humble in his self-estimate, but also in his modest +appreciation of the results of his work. It was only transient and +preparatory. It was given him to do; but it would soon be done. His +course was a short one, and it would soon be fulfilled (Acts xiii. 25). +His simple mission was to bid the people to believe on Him who should +come after him (xix. 4.) He was the morning star ushering in the day, +but destined to fade in the glory of ruddy dawn, flooding the eastern +sky. + +But our impression of the sublime humility of this great soul will +become deeper, as we consider that marvellous scene in which he first +recognised the divine mission and claims of his Kinsman, Jesus of +Nazareth. Consider the meeting between the Sun and the star, and take +it as indicating an experience which must always supervene on the +cleansed and holy soul, which desires and prepares for it. + + +I. OUR LORD'S ADVENT TO THE JORDAN BANK.--For thirty years the Son of +Man had been about his Father's business in the ordinary routine of a +village carpenter's life. He had found scope enough there for his +marvellously rich and deep nature; reminding us of the philosopher's +garden, which, though only a dingy court in a crowded city, reached +through to the other side of the world on the one hand, and up to the +heaven of God on the other. Often He must have felt the strong +attraction of the great world of men, which He loved; and the wild +winds, as they careered over his village home, must have often borne to +Him the wail of broken hearts, asking Him to hasten to their relief. +On his ear must have struck the voices of Jairuses pleading for their +only daughters; of sisters interceding for their Lazaruses; of halt and +lame and blind entreating that He would come and heal them. But He +waited still, his eye on the dial-plate of the clock, till the time was +fulfilled which had been fixed in the Eternal Council Chamber. + +As soon, however, as the rumours of the Baptist's ministry reached Him, +and He knew that the porter had taken up his position at the door of +the sheepfold, ready to admit the true Shepherd (John x. 3), He could +hesitate no longer. The Shechinah cloud was gathering up its fleecy +folds, and poising itself above Him, and moving slowly towards the +scene of the Baptist's ministry; and He had no alternative but to +follow. He must tear Himself away from Nazareth, home, and mother, and +take the road which would end at Calvary. "Then cometh Jesus from +Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him." + +Tradition locates the scene of John's baptism as near Jericho, where +the water is shallow and the river opens out into large lagoons. But +some, inferring that Nazareth was within a day's journey of this +notable spot, place it nearer the southern end of the Lake of Galilee. + +It may have been in the late afternoon when Jesus arrived. An +expression made use of by the evangelist Luke might seem to suggest +that all the people had been baptized for that day at least (Luke iii. +21); so that perhaps the crowds had dispersed, and the great prophet +was alone with one or two of those young disciples of whom we have +spoken. Or, Jesus may have arrived when the Jordan banks were alive +with the eager multitudes. But, in either case, a sudden and +remarkable change passed over the Baptist's face as he beheld his +Kinsman standing there. + +Picture that remarkable scene. The arrowy stream, rushing down from +the Lake of Galilee to the Dead Sea; the rugged banks; the shadowy +forests; the erect, sinewy form of the Baptist; and Jesus of Nazareth, +as depicted by the olden traditions, with auburn hair, searching blue +eye, strong, sweet face, and all the beauty of his young manhood. At +the sight of Him, note how the high look on the Baptist's face lowers; +how his figure stoops in involuntary obeisance; how the voice that was +wont to ring out its messages in accents of uncompromising decision +falters and trembles! + +John said, "I knew Him not" (John i. 31); but this need not be +interpreted as indicating that he had no acquaintance whatever with his +blameless relative. Such may have been the case, of course, since +John's life had been spent apart from the haunts of men. It is more +natural to suppose that the cousins had often met, as boys and +afterwards. But the Baptist had never realized that Jesus was the +Messiah whose advent he was sent to announce. He had not recognised +his high descent and claims. It had never occurred to him that this +simple village Carpenter, so closely related to himself, whose course +of life was apparently so absolutely ordinary and commonplace, could be +He of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write. In this sense +John could truly say, "I knew Him not." + +But John knew enough of Him to be aware of his guileless, blameless +life. The story of his tender love for Mary; of his devotion to the +interests of his brothers and sisters; of his undefiled purity, of his +long vigils on the mountains till the morning called Him back to his +toils; of his deep acquaintance with Scripture; of his speech about the +Father--had reached the Baptist's ears. He had come to entertain the +profoundest respect amounting to veneration for his Kinsman; and, as He +presented Himself for baptism, John felt that there was a whole heaven +of difference between Him and all others. These publicans and sinners, +these Pharisees and scribes, these soldiers and common people--had +every need to repent, confess, and be forgiven; but there was surely no +such need for Him, who had been always, and by general acknowledgment, +"holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." "I have need," +said he, "to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (Matt. iii. +14). + +There may have been, besides, an indescribable presentiment that stole +over that lofty nature--like that knowledge of good men and bad which +is often given to noble women. He knew men; his eagle eye had searched +their hearts, as he had heard them confess their sins; and at a glance +he could tell what was in them. A connoisseur of souls was he. Among +all the pearls that had passed through his hands--some goodly ones +among them--none had seemed so rare and pure as this; it was a pearl of +great price, for which a man might be prepared to part with all he +possessed, if only to obtain it. There was an indefinable majesty, a +moral glory, a tender grace, an ineffable attractiveness in this Man, +which was immediately appreciated by the greatest of woman-born, +because of his own intrinsic nobility and greatness of soul. It needed +a Baptist to recognise the Christ. He who had never quailed before +monarch or people, directly he came in contact with Christ, cast the +crown of his manhood at his feet, and shrank away. The eagle that had +soared unhindered in mid-heaven seemed transfixed by a sudden dart, and +fell suddenly, with a strange, low cry, at the feet of its Creator. "I +have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" + + +II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRIST'S BAPTISM.--"Suffer it to be so now: +for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness"--with such words +our Lord overruled the objections of his loyal and faithful Forerunner. +This is the first recorded utterance of Christ, after a silence of more +than twenty years; the first also of his public ministry: it demands +our passing notice. He does not say, "I have need to be baptized of +thee"; nor does He say, "Thou hast no need to be baptized of Me." He +does not stay to explain why the greater should be baptized by the +less: or why a rite which confessed sin was required for one who was +absolutely sinless. It is enough to appeal to the Baptist as his +associate in a joint necessary act, becoming to them both as part of +the Divine procedure, and therefore claiming their common obedience. +"Thus it becometh us (you and me) to fulfil all righteousness." + +In his baptism, our Lord acknowledged the divine authority of the +Forerunner. As the last and greatest of the prophets, who was to close +the Old Testament era, for "the law and the prophets prophesied until +John"; as the representative of Elijah the prophet, before the great +and notable day of the Lord could come; as the porter of the Jewish +fold--John occupied a unique position, and it was out of deference to +his appointment by the Father, and as an acknowledgment of his office, +that Jesus sought baptism at his hands. + +John's baptism, moreover, was the inauguration of the Kingdom of +Heaven. In it the material made way for the spiritual. The old +system, which gave special privileges to the children of Abraham, was +in the act of passing away, confessing that God could raise up children +to Abraham from the stones at the water's edge; and demanding that +those who would enter the Kingdom must be born from above, of water and +of the Spirit. It was the outward and visible sign that Judaism was +unavailing for the deepest needs of the spirit of man, and that a new +and more spiritual system was about to take its place, and Christ said, +in effect, "I, too, though King, obey the law of the Kingdom, and bow +my head, that, by the same sign as the smallest of my subjects, I may +pass forward to my throne." + +There was probably a deeper reason still. That Jordan water, flowing +downwards to the Dead Sea, was symbolical. In the purity of its +origin, amid the snows of Hermon, and in the beauty of its earlier +course, it was an emblem of man's original constitution, when the +Creator made him in His own image and pronounced him very good; but in +these sullied and troubled waters hurrying on to the Sea of +Death--waters in which thousands of sinners had confessed their sins, +with tears and sighs--how apt an emblem was there of the history of our +race, contaminated by the evil that is in the world through lust, and +meriting the wages of sin--death! With that race, in its sin and +degradation, our Lord now formally identified Himself. His baptism was +his formal identification with our fallen and sinful race, though He +knew no sin for Himself, and could challenge the minutest inspection of +his enemies: "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" + +Was He baptized because He needed to repent, or to confess his sins? +Nay, verily! He was as pure as the bosom of God, from which He came; +as pure as the fire that shone above them in the orb of day; as pure as +the snows on Mount Hermon, rearing itself like a vision of clouds on +the horizon: but He needed to be made sin, that we might be made the +righteousness of God in Him. When the paschal lamb had been chosen by +the head of a Jewish household, it was customary to take it, three days +before it would be offered, to the priest, to have it sealed with the +Temple seal; so our Lord, three years before his death, must be set +apart and sealed by the direct act of the Holy Spirit, through the +mediation of John the Baptist. "Him hath God the Father sealed." + +"It becometh us"--I like that word, _becometh_. If the Divine Lord +thought so much about what was becoming, surely we may. It should +not be a question with us, merely as to what may be forbidden or +harmful, what may or may not be practised and permitted by our +fellow-Christians, or even whether there are distinct prohibitions in +the Bible that bar the way--but if a certain course is becoming. "Need +I pass through that rite?" _It is becoming_. "Need I perform that +lowly act?" _It is becoming_. "Need I renounce my liberty of action in +that respect?" _It would be very becoming_. And whenever some +hesitant soul, timid and nervous to the last degree, dares to step out, +and do what it believes to be the right thing because it is becoming, +Jesus comes to it, enlinks his arm, and says, "Thou art not alone in +this. Thou and I stand together here. It becomes us to fill up to its +full measure all righteousness." Ah, soul, thou shalt never step forth +on a difficult and untrodden path without hearing his footfall behind +thee, and becoming aware that in every act of righteousness Christ +identifies Himself, saying, "Thus it becometh _us_ to fulfil all +righteousness." + +A friend suggests that the Lord Jesus was here referring to the sublime +prophecy of Daniel ix. 24. That He might make an end of sin and bring +in everlasting righteousness, it was essential that the Lamb of God +should confess the sins of the people as his own (see Psa. lxix. 5). +This was his first step on his journey to the Cross, every step of +which was in fulfilment of all righteousness, in order that He might +bring in everlasting righteousness. + +"Then he suffered Him." Some things we have to _do_ for Christ, and +some to _bear_ for Him. Active virtues are great; but the passive ones +are rarer and cost more, especially for strong natures like the +Baptist's. But, in all our human life, there is nothing more +attractive than when a strong man yields to another, accepts a deeper +interpretation of duty than he had perceived, and is prepared to set +aside his strong convictions of propriety before the tender pleadings +of a still, soft voice. Yield to Christ, dear heart. Suffer Him to +have his way. Take his yoke, and be meek and lowly of heart--so shalt +thou find rest. + + +III. THE DESIGNATION OF THE MESSIAH.--It is not to be supposed that +the designation of Jesus as the Christ was given to any but John. It +was apparently a private sign given to him, as the Forerunner and +Herald, through which he might be authoritatively informed as to the +identity of the Messiah. To say nothing of the impossibility of +ordinary and unanointed eyes beholding the descent of the Holy Spirit, +John's own statements seem to point clearly in this direction. He +says, "I knew Him not" (_i.e._, as Son of God), "but He that sent me to +baptize with water, He said unto me, 'Upon whomsoever thou shalt see +the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, the same is He that +baptizeth with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen, and have borne +witness that this is the Son of God" (John i. 32-34). The same thought +appears from putting a perfectly legitimate construction on the words +of the first evangelist: "Lo, the heavens were opened unto him" +(_i.e._, the Baptist), "and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a +dove, and coming upon Him" (Matt. iii. 16). + +What a theophany was here! As the Man of Nazareth emerged from the +water, the sign for which John had been eagerly waiting and looking was +granted. He had believed he would see it, but had never thought to see +it granted to one so near akin to himself. We never expect the great +God to come to us! And the exclamation, Lo, indicates his startled +surprise. He saw far away into the blue vault, which had opened into +depth after depth of golden glory. The vail was rent to admit of the +coming forth of the Divine Spirit, who seemed to descend in visible +shape--as a dove might, with gentle, fluttering motion--and to alight +on the head of the Holy One, who stood there fresh from his baptism. +The stress of the narrator, as he told the story afterwards, was that +the Spirit not only came, but _abode_. Here was the miracle of +miracles, that He should be willing to _abide_ in any human temple, who +for so many ages had wandered restlessly over the deluge of human sin, +seeking a resting-place, but finding none. Here, at least, was an ark +into which this second Noah might pull in the fluttering dove, unable +to feed, like the raven, on corruption and death. + +The voice of God from heaven proclaimed that Jesus of Nazareth was his +beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased; and the Baptist could have no +further doubt that the Desire of all Nations, the Lord whom his people +sought, the Messenger of the Covenant, had suddenly come to his temple +to act as a refiner's fire and as fullers' soap. "John bare witness, +saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; +and it abode upon Him." "John beareth witness of Him and crieth" (John +i. 15, 32). + +How much that designation meant to Christ! It was his Pentecost, his +consecration and dedication to his life-work; from thenceforth, in a +new and special sense, the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and He was +anointed to preach. But it was still more to the Baptist. He knew +that his mission was nearly fulfilled, that his office was ended. He +had opened the gate to the true Shepherd, and must now soon consign to +Him all charge of the flock. Jesus must increase, while he decreased. +He that was from heaven was above all; as for himself, he was of the +earth, and spake of the earth. The Sun had risen, and the day-star +began to wane. + + + + +VIII. + +Not that Light, but a Witness. + +(John I. 8.) + + "Nothing resting in its own completeness + Can have worth or beauty; but alone + Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness, + Fuller, higher, deeper than its own. + + "Spring's real glory dwells not in the meaning, + Gracious though it be, of her blue hours; + But is hidden in her tender leaning + To the summer's richer wealth of flowers." + A. A. PROCTOR. + + +Resentment of the Sanhedrim--The Baptist's Credentials--Spiritual +Vision--"Behold the Lamb of God"--The Baptism of the Spirit + + +The baptism and revelation of Christ had a marvellous effect on the +ministry of the Forerunner. Previous to that memorable day, the burden +of his teaching had been in the direction of repentance and confession +of sin. But afterwards, the whole force of his testimony was towards +the person and glory of the Shepherd of Israel. He understood that for +the remainder of his brief ministry, which perhaps did not greatly +exceed six months, he must bend all his strength to announcing to the +people the prerogatives and claims of Him who stood amongst them, +though they knew Him not. "There came a man, sent from God, whose name +was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the +Light, that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but +came that he might bear witness of the Light." + +Our subject, therefore, naturally divides itself into two divisions: +John's admissions about himself, and his testimony to the Lord. And it +is interesting to notice that they were given on three successive days, +as appears from the twofold use of the phrase, "On the morrow." "On +the morrow" (_i.e._, after he had met and answered the deputation from +the Sanhedrim), "he seeth Jesus coming unto him..." (i. 29). "Again, +on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples..." (35). + +These events took place at Bethany, or Bethabara, on the eastern bank +of the Jordan. The river there is one hundred feet in width, and, +except in flood, some five to seven feet deep. It lies in a tropical +valley, the verdure of which is in striking contrast to the desolation +which reigns around. + + +I. THE BAPTIST'S ADMISSIONS ABOUT HIMSELF.--When the fourth Evangelist +uses the word _Jews_, he invariably means the Sanhedrim. John had +become so famous, and his influence so commanding, that he could not be +ignored by the religious leaders of the time. In their hearts they +derided him, and desired to do with him "whatsoever they listed." His +preaching of repentance, and his unmeasured denunciation of themselves +as a brood of vipers, were not to be borne. But they forbore to meet +him in the open field, and resolved to send a deputation, which might +extract some admission from his lips that would furnish them with +ground for subsequent action. "The Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem +priests and Levites to ask him, 'Who art thou?' ... 'Why baptizest +thou?'" The first question was universally interesting; the second +specially so to the Pharisee party, who were the high ritualists of +their day, and who were reluctant that a new rite, which they had not +sanctioned, should be added to the Jewish ecclesiastical system. + +It is a striking scene. The rushing river; the tropical gorge; the +dense crowds of people standing thick together; the Baptist in his +sinewy strength and uncouth attire, surrounded by the little group of +disciples; while through the throng a deputation of grey-beards, the +representatives of a decadent religion, makes its difficult way--these +are the principal features of a memorable incident. + +There was a profound silence, and men craned their necks and strained +their ears to see and hear everything, as the deputation challenged the +prophet with the inquiry, "Who art thou?" There was a great silence. +Men were prepared to believe anything of the eloquent young preacher. +"The people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts +concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ" (Luke iii. 15). If +he had given the least encouragement to their dreams and hopes, they +would have unfurled again the tattered banner of the Maccabees; and +beneath his leadership would have swept, like a wild hurricane, against +the Roman occupation, gaining, perhaps, a momentary success, which +afterwards would have been wiped out in blood. "And he confessed, and +denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ." + +If a murmur of voices burst out in anger, disappointment, and chagrin, +as this answer spread from lip to lip, it was immediately hushed by the +second inquiry propounded, "What then? Art thou Elijah?" (alluding to +the prediction of Malachi iv. 5). If they had worded their question +rather differently, and put it thus, "Hast thou come in the power of +Elias?" John must have acknowledged that it was so; but if they meant +to inquire if he were literally Elijah returned again to this world, he +had no alternative but to say, decisively and laconically, "I am not." + +There was a third arrow in their quiver, since the other two had missed +the mark: and amid the deepening attention of the listening multitudes, +and in allusion to Moses' prediction that God would raise up a Prophet +like to himself (Deut. xviii. 15; Acts iii. 22; vii. 37), they said, +"Art thou the Prophet?" and he answered, "No." + +The deputation was nonplussed. They had exhausted their repertory of +questions. Their mission threatened to become abortive, unless they +could extract some positive admission. They must put a leading +question; and their spokesman, for the fourth time, challenged the +strange being, whom they found it so hard to label and place on any +shelf of their ecclesiastical museum. "They said therefore unto him, +'Who art thou?--that we may give an answer to them that sent us.' What +sayest thou of thyself?" "He said, 'I am the voice of one crying in +the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the +prophet.'" + +How infinitely noble! How characteristic of strength! A weak man +would have launched himself on the flowing tide of enthusiasm, and +allowed himself to be swept away by its impetuous rush. What a +mingling of strength and humility! When men suggested that he was the +Christ, he insisted that he was only a voice--the voice of the herald, +whom men hardly notice, because they strain their eyes in the direction +from which he has come, to behold the King Himself. When they +complimented him on his teaching, he told them that He who would winnow +the wheat from the chaff was yet to appear. And when they crowded to +his baptism, he reiterated that it was only the baptism of negation, +_of water_, but the Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with +fire. + +Why was this? Ah, he knew his limitations! He was the greatest-born +of woman, yet he knew that his bosom was not broad enough, nor his +heart tender enough, to justify him in bidding all weary and +heavy-laden ones to come to him for rest; he could not say that he and +God were one, and include himself with the Deity, in the majestic +pronoun, we; he never dared to ask men to believe in himself as they +believed in the Father: but there came after him One who dared to say +all these things; and this is the inevitable conclusion, that either +Jesus was inferior to John in all that goes to make a strong and noble +character, or that Jesus was all that John said He was, "The Son of +God, and King of Israel." There is no third suggestion possible. We +must either estimate Jesus as immeasurably inferior, or incomparably +superior, to the strong, sane, Spirit-filled prophet, who never wearied +in declaring the impassable chasm that yawned between them. + +Such humility always accompanies a true vision of Christ. If we view +it from the low ground, the mountain may appear to reach into the sky; +but when we reach the mountain-top, we are immediately aware of the +infinite distance between the highest snow-peak and the nearest star. +To the crowds John may have seemed to fulfil all the essential +conditions of the prophetic portraiture of the Messiah; but _he_ stood +on the mountain, and knew how infinitely the Christ stood above him. +This is apparent in his reply to the final inquiry of the Sanhedrim, +"And they asked him, and said unto him, 'Why, then, baptizest thou, if +thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the Prophet?'" And +John said in effect, "I baptize because I was sent to baptize, and I +know very well that my work in this respect is temporary and transient; +but what matters that? In the midst of you standeth One whom ye know +not, even He that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not +worthy to unloose. The Christ is come. Have not I seen Him, standing +amid your crowds, yea, descending these very banks?" + +The people must have turned one to another, as he spoke. What! Had +the Messiah come! It could hardly be. There had been no prodigies in +earth or sky worthy of his advent. How could He be amongst them, and +they unaware! But it was even so, and it is so still. The Christ is +in us, and with us still. There may be no transcendent symptoms of his +blessed presence, as He stands in the little groups of two and three +gathered in his name; but the eye of faith detects Him. Where others +see only the bare cliffs of Patmos, or the mines with their gangs of +convicts, the anointed gaze beholds a face brighter than the sun, the +purged ear catches the accents of a voice like the murmur of waters on +the still night air. Remember how He said, "He that loveth Me shall be +loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to +him." As the Holy Spirit revealed Him to John, so He will reveal Him +to us, if only, like John, we will be content with nothing less, and +wait expectant with the heart on the outlook for the manifestation of +the Son of God; for so He promised, saying, "He shall take of mine, and +shall declare it unto you." And when the child of faith speaks thus, +with the accent of conviction, of what he has seen, and tasted, and +handled, of the Word of life, it is not strange that the children of +this world, whose eyes are blinded, begin to question and deride. What +is there to be seen that they cannot see? What heard that they cannot +detect? Ah, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of +God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, +because they are spiritually discerned." "There standeth One among +you," said the Baptist, "whom ye know not." + + +II. THE BAPTIST'S WITNESS TO THE LORD.--Six weeks passed by from that +memorable vision of the opened heaven and the descending Spirit, and +John had eagerly scanned every comer to the river-bank to see again +that divinely beautiful face. But in vain: for Jesus was in the +wilderness, being tempted of the devil, for forty days and nights, the +companion of wild beasts, and exposed to a very hurricane of temptation. + +At the end of the six weeks, the interview with the deputation from the +Sanhedrim took place, which we have already described; and on the day +after, when his confession of inferiority was still fresh in the minds +of his hearers, when some were criticising and others pitying, when +symptoms that the autumn of his influence had set in were in the air, +his eye flashed, his face lit up, and he cried, saying: "This is He of +whom I said, 'After me cometh a man who is become before me, for He was +before me.' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the +world." + +Did all eyes turn towards the Christ? Was there a ripple of interest +and expectancy through the crowd? Did any realize the unearthly beauty +and spiritual power of his presence? We know not. Scripture is +silent, only telling us that on the following day, when, with two +disciples, he looked on Jesus as He walked, and repeated his +affirmation, "Behold the Lamb of God," those two disciples followed +Him, never to return to their old master--who knew it must be so, and +was content to decrease if only _He_ might increase. + +Let us notice the successive revelations which were made to John, and +through him to Israel, who, you remember, held him, as they had every +warrant for doing, to be in the deepest sense a prophet of the Lord. +This conviction has been definitely endorsed by succeeding ages, which +have classed him as one of the six greatest men that ever left their +mark on the world. + +(1) _He rightly conceived of Christ's pre-existence_. "He was before +me" (John i. 30). The phrase resembles Christ's own words, when He +said: "Before Abraham was, I am." In John's case it developed soon +after into another and kindred expression: "He that cometh from above, +is above all" (John iii. 31). With such words the Baptist taught his +disciples. He insisted that Jesus of Nazareth had an existence +anterior to Nazareth, and previous to his birth of the village maiden. +He recognised that his goings had been of old, even from everlasting, +that He was the mighty God, the Father of the Ages, and the Prince of +Peace. As for himself, he was of the earth, and of the earth he spoke; +as for this One, He came from above, and was above all. It is not +surprising, therefore, that one of his disciples, catching his Master's +spirit, wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with +God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. +All things were made by Him." + +(2) _He rightly apprehended the sacrificial aspect of Christ's work_. +"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Was +it that his priestly lineage gave Him a special right to coin and use +this appellation? It was, without doubt, breathed into his heart by +the Holy Spirit; but his whole previous training, as the son of a +priest, fitted him to receive and transmit it. An attempt has been +made to limit the meaning of these words to the personal character of +Jesus, his purity, and gentleness; but, to the Jews who listened, the +latter part of his exclamation could have but one significance. They +would at once connect with his words, those of the Law, the Prophets, +and the Psalms. "The goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities +unto a solitary land." "He bare the sin of many." "He is led as a +lamb to the slaughter." + +From the slopes of Mount Moriah, a young voice has expressed the +longing of the ages, "Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the +lamb?" This has been the cry of the human heart in all generations. +From the days of Abel men have brought the firstlings of their flocks, +laying them on the altar, and consuming them with fire; but there was +always a sense of failure and insufficiency. Through the ages, and in +every clime, priest after priest offered the lamb upon the altar, but +by the very fact of continual repetition, bore witness to the +insufficiency of its propitiation. "Every priest, indeed," is the +comment of inspiration, "standeth day by day ministering and offering +oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins." +Must not the hearts of hundreds of saintly priests have been filled +with the same inquiry, Where is the lamb? As the prophets understood +more clearly the nature of God's dealing with man--as, for instance, +Micah saw that even the offering of the first-born could never atone +for the sin of the soul--may we not suppose that from their lips also +the same inquiry was elicited, Where is the lamb? Nature cannot answer +that cry. She is fascinating, especially when she dimples with the +smile of spring, and unveils her face in summer to receive the caresses +of the sun. But with all her beauty and fascination she cannot answer +the entreaty of the conscience that the penalty of sin may be removed, +its power broken, so that man may walk with God with a fearless heart. +Animals at the best are only symbols of the complete solution to the +ever-recurring problem of human sin: thus from all the ages goes forth +the cry, Where is the lamb? Then from his heaven God sends forth his +Son to be the sufficient answer to the universal appeal: and the +heaven-sent messenger, from his rocky pulpit, as he sees Jesus coming +to him, cries, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of +the world." + +Dear soul, thou mayest venture on Him. He is God's Lamb; on Him the +sin of our race has been laid, and He stood before God with the +accumulated load--"made sin"; the iniquity of us all was laid upon Him; +wounded for our transgressions; bruised for our iniquities; chastised +for our peace; stricken for our transgression; bearing the sin of many. +As the first Adam brought sin on the race, the second Adam has put it +away by the sacrifice of Himself. Men are lost now, not because of +Adam's sin, nor because they were born into a race of sinners, but for +the sin which they presumptuously and wilfully commit, or because by +unbelief they contract themselves out of the benefits of Christ's +death. The servant who had been forgiven by his king, but took his +brother by the throat, brought back upon himself the full penalty from +which the royal warrant had freed him; and if any one of us cling to +sin, rejecting and trampling under foot the Saviour's work on our +behalf, we cancel so far all those benefits of our Saviour's passion +which otherwise would accrue, and bring back upon ourselves the +penalties from which He would fain have delivered us. + +(3) _He understood the baptism of the Holy Spirit_. "The same is He +that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." As Son of God, our Saviour from +all eternity was one with the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the blessed +Trinity; but as "the one Man," He received in his human nature the +fulness of the Divine Spirit. It pleased the Father that in Him should +all the fulness of the Godhead dwell, that He might be able to +communicate Him to all the sons of men who were united to Him by a +living faith. Thus it fell that He was able to assure his disciples +that if they waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, as John +baptized with water, they should be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts +i. 4, 5). + +The term _baptism_, as applied to the Holy Spirit, had better be +confined to those marvellous manifestations of spiritual power which +are recorded in Acts ii., viii., x., xix., whilst the word _filling_ +should be used of those experiences of the indwelling and anointing of +the Divine Spirit which are within the reach of us all. Still, we may +all adopt the words of the Baptist, and tell our living Head that we +have need to be baptized of Him--need to be plunged into the fiery +baptism; need to be searched by the stinging flame; need to be cleansed +from dross and impurity; need to be caught in the transfiguring, +heaven-leaping energy of the Holy Spirit, borne upon his bosom into the +rare atmosphere where the seven lamps burn always before the throne of +God. The blood of the Lamb and the fire of the Holy Spirit are thus +inextricably united. + +(4) _He beheld the mystery of the Holy Trinity_. For the first time +this was made manifest to man. On the one hand there was the Father +speaking from heaven; on the other the Spirit descending as a dove--and +between them was the Son of Man who was proclaimed to be the Son of +God, the beloved Son. Surely John might say that flesh and blood had +not revealed these things, but they had been made known to him by a +divine revelation. + +The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is a profound mystery, hidden from the +intellect, but revealed to the humble and reverent heart; hidden from +the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. Welcome Jesus Christ as +John did; and, as to John, so the whole wonder of the Godhead will be +made known to thy heart. Thou wilt hear the Father bearing witness to +his Son; thou wilt see how clearly the Son reveals the Father, and +achieves redemption; thou shalt know what it is to stand beneath the +open heaven and behold and participate in the Divine anointing. Of +what good is it to reason about the Trinity if thou hast no spiritual +appetite for the gifts of the Trinity? But if this is thine, and thou +openest thine heart, thou wilt receive the gift and understand the +doctrine. + +(5) _He appreciated the Divine Sonship of Christ_. "I have seen and +have borne witness that this is the Son of God." This witness counts +for much. John knew men, knew himself, knew Christ. He would not have +said so much unless he had been profoundly convinced; and he would not +have been profoundly convinced unless irrefragable evidence had been +presented to him. What though, when on the following day he repeats +his exclamation, his whole congregation leaves him to follow the Man of +Nazareth to his home? The heart of the Forerunner is satisfied, for he +has heard the Bridegroom's voice. The Son of God has come, and has +given him an understanding that he might know Him that is true. + + + + +IX. + +"We must increase, but I must decrease." + +(JOHN III. 30.) + + "Where is the lore the Baptist taught, + The soul unswerving and the fearless tongue? + The much-enduring wisdom, sought + By lonely prayer the haunted rocks among? + Who counts it gain + His light would wane, + So the whole world to Jesus throng?" + KEBLE. + + +The Moral Greatness of the Baptist--Thoughts on Envy--Christian +Consecration--The Baptist's Creed--The Voice of the Beloved + + +From the Jordan Valley our Lord returned to Galilee and Nazareth. The +marriage feast of Cana, his return to Jerusalem, the cleansing of the +Temple, and the interview with Nicodemus, followed in rapid succession. +And when the crowds of Passover pilgrims were dispersing homewards, He +also left the city with his disciples, and began a missionary tour +throughout the land of Judaea. + +This tour is not much dwelt upon in Scripture. We only catch a glimpse +of it here in the 22nd verse, and again in the address of the apostle +Peter to Cornelius, where he speaks of Christ preaching good tidings of +peace throughout all Judaea (Acts x. 36, 37). How long it lasted we +cannot tell; but it must have occupied some months, for He tarried from +time to time at different points. + +It is not likely that our Lord unfolded his Messianic character, or +taught with the same clearness as in after days. For the most part, He +would adopt the cry of the Baptist. Of the commencement of his +ministry it is recorded: "Jesus came, ... preaching the Gospel of God, +and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: +repent ye, and believe in the Gospel'" (Mark i. 14, 15). But his deeds +declared his royalty. + +Wherever He went He was welcomed with vast enthusiasm. The scenes +which had occurred a few months before to inaugurate the Baptist's +ministry were re-enacted. The progress of the heaven-sent Teacher +(John iii. 2) was accompanied by immense throngs of people, who, +wearied with the tiresome exactions of Pharisee and scribe, turned with +eagerness to the humanness and holiness of the True Shepherd. It is +said that cattle, sick and harried with the voyage across the Atlantic, +will show signs of revival as they sniff the first land breezes laden +with the breath of the clover fields. + +During all this time the Baptist was continuing his preparatory work in +the Jordan Valley, though now driven by persecution to leave the +western bank for Aenon and Salim on the eastern side, where a handful +of followers still clung to him. "John was not yet cast into prison," +but the shadow of his impending fate was already gathering over him; +and so he was baptizing in Aenon, near to Salim, where the Jordan +sweeps out into broad sheets of water, eminently suitable for his +purpose. Thither they came and were baptized. The morning star +lingers in the same heavens with the sun, whom it has announced; but +its lustre has paled, and its glories are shorn. + +It would appear from the R.V. (ver. 25) that a Jew, probably an +emissary of the Sanhedrim, brought tidings to that little circle of +true-hearted disciples of the work that Jesus was doing in Judaea, and +drew them into a discussion as to the comparative value of the two +baptisms. It was acknowledged that Jesus did not, with his own hands, +perform the rite of baptism, probably for reasons afterwards cited by +his great apostle (iv. 2; compare 1 Cor. i. 14-17): but it would be +administered by his disciples, at his direction, and with his +countenance, and therefore it could be reported to the Baptist by his +disciples, who came to him with eyes flashing with indignation, and +faces heated with the excitement of the discussion: "Rabbi, He that was +with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, the same +baptizeth, and all men come to Him" (ver. 26). + +It was as though they said, "Master, is it not too bad? See how thy +generous testimony has been requited! In the day of thy glory thou +wert too profuse in thy acknowledgments, too prodigal in thy +testimonials. Now this new Teacher has taken a leaf out of thy +programme; He too is preaching, baptizing, and gathering a school of +disciples." But there was no tinder in that noble breast which these +jealous sparks could kindle. Nothing but love dwelt there. He had +been plunged into the baptism of a holy love, which had burnt out the +selfishness and jealousy, which were as natural to him as to us all. +It was as when a spark falls into an ocean and is instantly +extinguished. Thus his reply will ever rank among the greatest +utterances of mortal man. The Lord said that of those born of woman +none was greater than John; and, if by nothing else, by these words his +moral stature and superlative excellence were vindicated. He seemed +great when his voice rang like a clarion through Palestine, attracting +and thrilling the mighty throngs; great, when he dared to tell Herod +that it was unlawful for him to have his brother's wife, uttering words +which those palace walls must have been startled to hear; great, when +he baptized Him for whom the world was waiting, and who was declared to +be the Son of God with power; but he never seemed so great as when he +refused to enter into those acrimonious altercations and discussions, +and said simply, "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him +from heaven." + + +I. JOHN COUNTED INFLUENCE AND POSITION AS DIVINE GIFTS.--What +startling differences obtain among men--Peter and John, Calvin and +Melancthon, John Knox and Samuel Rutherford, Kingsley and Keble! Each +of these has left his imprint on human history; each so needful to do +his own special work, but each so diverse from all others. We are +sometimes tempted to attribute their special powers and success to +their circumstances, their times, their parents and teachers; but there +is a deeper and more satisfactory explanation. Adopting the words of +the Forerunner, we may say--They had nothing that they had not received +from heaven, by the direct appointment and decree of God. + +It was thus that the Baptist reasoned: "Whatever success and blessing I +had are due to the appointment of Him who sent me to preach his Gospel +and announce the advent of his Son. Every man has his work and sphere +appointed him of God. If this new Teacher meet with such success, we +have no right to be jealous of Him, lest we sin against God, who has +made Him what He is. And if we have not the same crowds as once, let +us be content to take this, too, as the appointment of Heaven, glad to +do whatever is assigned to us, and to leave all results with God." + +This is a golden sentence, indeed!--"A man can receive nothing, except +it be given him from heaven." Hast thou great success in thy +life-work? Do crowds gather around thy steps and throng thy +audience-chamber? Do not attribute them to thyself. They are all the +gifts of God's grace. He raiseth up one and setteth down another. +Thou hast nothing that thou hast not received; and if thou hast +received it, see to it that thou exercise perpetually the faculty of +receptiveness, so that thou mayest receive more and more, grace on +grace. The river in its flow should hollow out the channel-bed through +which it flows. Be thankful, but never vain. He who gave may take. +Great talents bestowed imply great responsibility in the day of +reckoning. Be not high-minded, but fear. Much success can only be +enjoyed without injury to the inner life by being considered as the +dear gift of Christ, to be used for Him. + +Hast thou but one talent, and little success?--yet this is as God has +willed it. He might have given more had He willed it so; be thankful +that He has given any. Use what thou hast. The five barley loaves and +two small fishes will so increase, as they are distributed, that they +will supply the want of thousands. Do not dare to envy one more +successful and used than thyself, lest thou be convicted of murmuring +against the appointment of thy Lord. Here, too, is the cure of +jealousy, which more than anything else blights the soul of the servant +of God. To an older minister, who has passed the zenith of his +popularity and power, it is often a severe trial to see younger men +stepping into positions which he once held and has been compelled to +renounce. He is mightily tempted to disparage their power, and condemn +them by faint praise; or, if he praise, to add one biting comment which +undoes the generosity and frankness of the eulogium. Why should this +younger man, who was not born when his own ministry was at full tide, +now carry all before him, while the waves are quietly withdrawing from +the margin of seaweed they once cast up! Thoughts like these corrode +and canker the soul; and there is no arrest to them, unless, by a +definite effort of the Spirit-energised will, the soul turns to God +with the words: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from +heaven. I had my glad hours of meridian glory, and have still the +mellow light of a summer sunset. It was God's gift to me, as rest is +now; and I will rejoice that He raises up others to do his work. I +will rejoice that the Kingdom is coming, that Christ is satisfied, that +men are being saved; this shall be my joy, and it shall be fulfilled." + +How much misery, heart-burning, and disappointment would be saved if, +at the beginning of life, each of us inquired seriously what that +special work in the world might be to which he was called, and for +which he is fitted. Then, instead of being poor imitations, we might +be good originals. Instead of spending our time in going off on side +issues, we might bend all our strength to the main purpose of our +existence. God has meant each of us for something; incarnating in us +one of his own great thoughts, and equipping us with all material that +is necessary for its realization. We may probably discover its meaning +by the peculiarities of our mental endowments or the advice of friends; +by the necessity of our circumstances or the prompting of the Holy +Spirit. Otherwise we must be content to go on making each day +according to the pattern shown us--not as a whole, but in detail--sure +that some day each bit and scrap, each vail and hanging, will find its +place, and the tabernacle of our life stand complete. + +Every name is historic in God's estimate. The obscurest among us has +his place in the Divine plan, his lesson to learn, his work to do. The +century opening before us can no more dispense with us than an +orchestra with the piccolo. A pawn on God's chessboard may take a +knight, or give check to a king. "We are his workmanship, created in +Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before prepared (R.V.), that +we should walk in them" (Eph. ii. 10). + + +II. JOHN CAUGHT SIGHT OF A FULLER AND RICHER IDEAL THAN HIS +OWN.--Tidings had, without doubt, been brought to him of our Lord's +first miracle in Cana of Galilee. We know that it had made a great +impression on the little group of ardent souls, who had been called to +share the village festivities with their newly-found Master; and we +know that some of them were still deeply attached to their old friend +and leader. From these he would learn the full details of that +remarkable inauguration of this long-expected ministry. How startled +he must have been at the first hearing! He had announced the +Husbandman with his fan to thoroughly winnow his floor; the Baptist +with his fire; the Lamb of God, holy, harmless, and separate from +sinners. But the Messiah opens his ministry among men by mingling with +the simple villagers in their wedding joy, and actually ministers to +their innocent mirth, as He turns the water into wine! The Son of Man +has come "eating and drinking"! What a contrast was here to the +austerity of the desert, the coarse raiment, the hard fare! "John the +Baptist came neither eating nor drinking." Could this be He? And yet +there was no doubt that the heaven had been opened above Him, that the +Dove had descended, and that God's voice had declared Him to be the +"Beloved Son." But what a contrast to all that he had looked for! + +Further reflection, however, on that incident, in which Jesus +manifested forth his glory, and the cleansing of the Temple which +immediately followed, must have convinced the Baptist that this +conception of holiness was the true one. His own type could never be +universal or popular. It was not to be expected that the mass of men +could be spared from the ordinary demands of daily life to spend their +days in the wilderness as he had done; and it would not have been for +their well-being, or that of the world, if his practice had become the +rule. It would have been a practical admission that ordinary life was +common and unclean; and that there was no possibility of infusing it +with the high principles of the Kingdom of Heaven. Consecration to God +would have become synonymous with the exclusion of wife and child, of +home and business, of music and poetry, from the soul of the saint; +whereas its true conception demands that nothing which God has created +can be accounted common or unclean, but all may be included within the +encircling precincts of the Redeemer's Kingdom. The motto of Christian +consecration is, therefore, given in that remarkable assertion of the +apostle; "Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, +if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the +Word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5). + +John saw, beneath the illuminating ray of the Holy Spirit, that this +was the Divine Ideal; that the Redeemer could not contradict the +Creator; that the Kingdom was consistent with the home; and the +presence of the King with the caress of woman and the laughter of the +child, and the innocent mirth of the village feast. This he saw, and +cried in effect: "That village scene is the key to the Messiah's +ministry to Israel. He is not only Guest at a bridegroom's table, but +the Bridegroom Himself. He has come to woo and win the chosen race. +Of old they were called Hephzibah and Beulah; and now those ancient +words come back to mind with newly-minted meaning, with the scent of +spring. Our land, long bereaved and desolate, is to be married. Joy, +joy to her! The Bridegroom is here. He that hath the bride is the +Bridegroom. As for me, I am the Bridegroom's friend, sent to negotiate +the match, privileged to know and bring together the two parties in the +blessed nuptials--blessed with the unspeakable gladness of hearing the +Bridegroom's manly speech. Do you tell me that He is preaching, and +that all come to Him? That is what I have wanted most of all. This my +joy, therefore, is fulfilled. 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'" + + +III. JOHN HAD ENLARGED PERCEPTION OF THE TRUE NATURE OF CHRIST.--It +has been questioned whether the paragraph which follows (John iii. +31-36) was spoken by the Baptist, or is the comment of the Evangelist. +With many eminent commentators, I incline strongly to the former view. +The phraseology employed in this paragraph is closely similar to the +words addressed by Christ to Nicodemus, and often used by Himself, as +in John v.; and they may well have filtered through to the Baptist, by +the lips of Andrew, Peter, and John, who would often retail to their +venerated earliest teacher what they heard from Jesus. + +Consider, then, the Baptist's creed at this point of his career. He +_believed_ in the heavenly origin and divinity of the Son of Man--that +He was from heaven and above all. He _believed_ in the unique and +divine source of his teaching--that He did not communicate what He had +learnt at second-hand, but stood forth as one speaking what He knows, +and testifying what He has seen--"For He whom God has sent, speaketh +the words of God." He _believed_ in his copious enduement with the +Holy Spirit. Knowing that human teachers, at the best, could only +receive the Spirit in a limited degree, he recognised that when God +anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit there was no limit, no +measuring metre, no stint. It was copious, rich, unmeasured--so much +so that it ran down from his head, as Hermon's dews descend to the +lonely heights of Zion. He _believed_ in his near relationship to God, +using the well-known Jewish phrase of sonship to describe his +possession of the Divine nature in a unique sense, and recalling the +utterance of the hour of baptism, to give weight to his assurance that +the Father loved Him as Son. Lastly, He _believed_ in the mediatorial +function of the Man of Nazareth--that the Father had already given all +things into his hand; and that the day was coming when He would sit on +the throne of David, yea, on the mediatorial throne itself, King of +kings, and Lord of lords, the keys of Death and Hades, of the realms of +invisible existence and spiritual power, hanging at his girdle. + +To that creed the Baptist added a testimony, which has been the means +of light and blessing to myriads. Being dead, he yet has spoken +through the ages, assuring us that to believe on Jesus is to have, as a +present fact, eternal life, the life which fills the Being of God and +defies time and change. Faith is the act by which we open our heart to +receive the gift of God; as earth bares her breast to sun and rain, and +as the good wife flings wide her doors and windows to let in the spring +sunshine and the summer air. Ah, reader, I would that thou hadst this +faith! The open heart towards Christ! The yielded will! Thou needst +only will to have Him, and He has already entered, though thou canst +not detect his footfall, or the chime of the bells around his garment's +hem. And to shut thy heart against Him not only excludes the life +which might be thine, but incurs the wrath of God. + +_There are two concluding thoughts_. First: The only hope of a +decreasing self is an increasing Christ. There is too much of the +self-life in us all, chafing against God's will, refusing God's gifts, +instigating the very services we render to God, simulating humility and +meekness for the praise of men. But how can we be rid of this accursed +self-consciousness and pride? Ah! we must turn our back on our shadow, +and our face towards Christ. We must look at all things from his +standpoint, trying to realize always how they affect Him, and then +entering into his emotions. It has been said that "the woman who loves +thinks with the brain of the man she loves", and surely if we love +Christ with a constraining passion, we shall think his thoughts and +feel his joys, and no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him. + + "Love took up the Harp of Life + And smote on all its chords with might; + Smote the chord of self, that trembling, + Passed in music out of sight." + + +Second: we must view our relationship to Christ as the betrothal and +marriage of our soul to our Maker and Redeemer, who is also our +Husband. "Wherefore, my brethren," says the apostle, "ye also were +made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be +married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we +should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4). + +The Son of God is not content to love us. He cannot rest till He has +all our love in return. "He looketh in at the windows" of the soul, +"and showeth Himself through the lattice." Our Beloved speaks, and +says unto us, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." And, as +our response, He waits to hear us say: + + "My Beloved is mine, and I am his; + He feedeth his flock among the lilies. + Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, + Turn, my Beloved!" + + + + +X. + +The King's Courts + +(MARK VI.) + + "The number of thine own complete, + Sum up and make an end; + Sift clean the chaff, and house the wheat; + And then, O Lord, descend. + + "Descend, and solve by that descent + This mystery of life; + Where good and ill, together blent, + Wage an undying strife." + J. H. N. + + +Under Royal Surveillance--"It is not Lawful."--The Revenge of +Herodias--The Upbraidings of Conscience--Devotion to Truth--"A Sin unto +Death." + + +Our story brings us next to speak of the Baptist's relations with Herod +Antipas, son of the great Herod, a contemptible princeling who +inherited a fourth part of his father's dominions (hence known as the +Tetrarch), ruling over Galilee and part of Perea. For the most part he +lived at Tiberias, in great state, which he had imported from Rome, +where he had spent part of his early life. From an early age he had +been entrusted with despotic power, and, as the natural and inevitable +result, had become sensual, weak, capricious, and cruel. + +It is of the collision between this man, whom our Lord compared to a +fox, and John the Baptist, that we have now to treat. We need only +notice here that every great character on the page of history has had +his vehement antagonist. Moses, Pharaoh; Elijah, Ahab; Jeremiah, +Jehoiakim; Paul, Nero; Savonarola, the Medici; Luther, the Emperor +Charles V.; John Knox, Queen Mary. + + +I. THE CAUSE OF THE COLLISION.--All the world had flocked to see and +hear John the Baptist. Every mouth was full of his eccentricities and +eloquence. Marvellous stories were being told of the effect which he +had produced on the lives of those who had come under his influence. +All this was well known to Herod. His spies were present in every +great gathering, and served the purpose of the newspaper of to-day; so +that he was well informed of all the topics that engaged the popular +mind. + +For some months, also, Herod had watched the career of the preacher. +When he least expected it, he was under the surveillance of the closest +criticism. A fierce light, like that which beats about a throne, fell +strongly on his most secret actions. And the result had been perfectly +satisfactory. Herod felt that John was a true man. He observed him, +and was satisfied that he was a just man and a holy. Reasons of state +forbade the king from going in person to the Jordan Valley; but he was +extremely eager to see and hear this mighty man of God: and so, one +day, at the close of a discourse, an argument with the Pharisees, or +the administration of the rite of baptism, John found himself accosted +by one of the court chamberlains, and summoned to deliver his message +before the court. Herod "sent for him." + +We might wonder how it could happen that a man like Herod, who +notoriously lived in a glass house, so far as character went, should be +so willing to call in so merciless a preacher of repentance as John the +Baptist was--before whose words, flung like stones, full many a glass +house had crashed to the ground, leaving its tenant unsheltered before +the storm. But it must be remembered that most men, when they enter +the precincts of the court, are accustomed to put velvet in their +mouths; and, however vehement they may have been in denouncing the sins +of the lower classes, they change their tone when face to face with +sinners in high places. Herod, therefore, had every reason to presume +that John would obey this unwritten law; and, whilst denouncing sin in +general, would refrain from anything savouring of the direct and +personal. + +Another reason probably actuated Herod. He knew that the land was +filled with the fame of the Baptist, and it seemed an easy path to +popularity, and likely to divert attention from his private sins, which +had made much scandal, to patronize the religion of the masses. At +this point he probably entertained much the same feeling toward the +desert-prophet that led Simon the Pharisee to invite Jesus to eat with +him. "Yes, let John the Baptist come. Court life is dreary and +monotonous enough. It will make a little diversion, like a breath of +fresh air on a sultry day. It is worth risking a little roughness in +his speech, and uncouthness in his manner, if only he while away an +afternoon. Besides, it will please his following, which is +considerable. Let him come, by all means." + +We are reminded of a similar scene in Old Testament history, when, at +the solicitation of Jehoshaphat, Ahab sent for Micaiah. "The messenger +that went to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, 'Behold, the words of +the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth; let thy word +therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.'" + +One interpretation of Mark vi. 20 suggests that the Baptist's first +sermon before Herod was followed by another, and yet another. The +Baptist dealt with general subjects, urged on the King's attention some +minor reforms, which were not too personal or drastic, and won his +genuine regard. We are told that he used to hear (the _imperfect +tense_) him gladly, and "did many things." It was a relief to Herod's +mind to feel that there were many things which he could do, many wrongs +which he could set right, while the main wrong of his life was left +untouched. Ah! it is remarkable how much men will do in the direction +of amendment and reform, if only, by a tacit understanding, nothing is +said, or hinted at, which threatens the one sin in which the heart's +evil has concentrated itself. But John knew that his duty to Herod, to +truth, to public morality, demanded that he should go further, and +pierce to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and +marrow; and therefore on one memorable occasion he accosted the royal +criminal with the crime of which men were speaking secretly everywhere, +and uttered the memorable sentence which could not be forgiven: "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." + +We can imagine how some room in the palace, which had often been the +scene of wild riot, would be improvised as an audience chamber, filled +with seats, and crowded on each occasion of the Baptist's appearance +with a strange and brilliant throng. In the midst, the king and the +woman with whom he was living in illicit union; next them her daughter, +Salome; around them courtiers and ladies, nobles and pages, soldiers +and servants. On all sides splendid dresses, magnificent uniforms, +rare jewels, luxurious upholstery, added light and colour to the scene. + +The sermon began. As was John's wont, he arraigned the sin, the +formalism, the laxity of the times; he proclaimed the advent of the +Kingdom, the presence of the King; he demanded, in the name of God, +repentance and reform. Herod was, as usual, impressed and convinced; +he assented to the preacher's propositions; already he had settled +himself into his usual posture for hearing gladly. It was as when we +watch summer-lightning playing around the horizon; we have no fear so +long as it is not forked. + +Presently, however, John becomes more personal and direct than ever +before. He begins, in no measured terms, to denounce the sin of men in +high places, and holds up the dissoluteness which disgraced the court. +As he proceeds, a breathless silence falls on the crowd sitting, or +hanging around him, their dresses in curious contrast to his severe +garment of camel's hair, their nervous dread in as great contrast to +his incisive and searching eloquence. Here were the people clothed in +soft raiment, and accustomed to sumptuous fare, bending as reeds before +the gusts of wind sweeping fiercely across the marsh. + +Finally, the preacher comes closer still, and pointing to the princess +who sat beside Herod, looking Herod in the face, he exclaims: "It is +not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." + +We need not dwell on all the terrible details of that disgraceful sin. +But every circumstance which could deepen its infamy was present. +Herod's wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of Arabia, was still living; +as was Philip, the husband of Herodias. The _liaison_ commenced at +Rome, when Herod was the guest of his brother Philip, while apparently +engaged on a mission of holy devotion to the religious interests of the +Jewish nation. + +The ground of John's accusation calls for a heavier emphasis than +appears in a superficial consideration of the words. He might have +said: "It is not expedient; your wife's father will rise in arms +against you, and threaten the Eastern border of your kingdom. It is +not expedient to run the risk of war, which may give Rome a further +excuse against you." He might have said: "This is an unwise step, as +it will cut you off from your own family, and leave you exposed to the +brunt of popular hate." He might have said: "It is impolitic and +incautious to risk the adverse judgment of the Emperor." But he said +none of these things. He took the matter to a higher court. He +arraigned the guilty pair before God; and, laying his axe at the root +of the tree--calling on Herod's conscience, long gagged and silent, to +take part in the impeachment--he said, in effect: "I summon you before +the bar of God, and in the pure light which streams from his holy +Oracle, your consciences being witnesses against you, you know +perfectly well that it is not right for you to be living as you are +living. 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'" + +Every hearer stood aghast. A death-like hush fell on the assembly, +which probably broke up in dismay. So paralyzed was every one that no +hand was laid on the preacher. We are expressly told that "Herod _sent +forth_ and laid hold upon John" (Mark vi. 17); from which we infer that +the fearless preacher passed out through the paralyzed and +conscience-stricken assemblage, leaving dismay, like that which befell +the roysterers in Belshazzar's court, when the hand of the Almighty +traced the mysterious characters on the palace wall in lines of fire. + +The first feeling of awe and conscience-stricken remorse would, +however, soon pass off. Some would hasten to condole with Herodias; +some to sympathize with Herod. Herodias would retire to her +apartments, accompanied by her high ladies, vowing fiery vengeance on +the preacher--a very Jezebel, thirsting for the blood of another +Elijah. Throughout Herod's court there would be an effort to dismiss +the allusion as "Altogether uncalled for;" as "What might have been +expected from such a man;" as "A gross breach of manners," as "An +affront against delicacy of taste." + +But Herodias would give her paramour no rest; and, perhaps one evening, +when John had retired for meditation and prayer, his disciples being +off their guard and the people absent, a handful of soldiers arrested +him, bound him, and led him off to the strong castle of Machaerus. + + +II. JOHN'S IMPRISONMENT AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES.--The castle of +Machaerus was known as "the diadem," or "the black tower." It lay on +the east side of the Dead Sea, almost on a line with Bethlehem. The +ruins of the castle are still to be seen, in great masses of squared +stone, on the top of a lofty hill, surrounded on three sides by +unscaleable precipices, descending to such depths that Josephus says +the eye could not reach their bottom. The fourth side is described as +only a little less terrible. Wild desolation reigned far and near. A +German traveller mentions the masses of lava, brown, red, and black, +varied with pumice-stone, distributed in huge broken masses, or rising +in perpendicular cliffs; whilst the rushing stream, far below, is +overgrown with oleanders and date-palms, willows, poplars, and tall +reeds. Here and there, thick mists of steam arise, where the hot +sulphur springs gush from the clefts of the rocks. + +On this impregnable site, Dr. Geikie tells us that Herod had erected a +great wall, enclosing the summit of the hill, with towers two hundred +feet high at the corners, and in the space thus gained had built a +grand palace, with rows of columns of a single stone apiece, halls +lined with many-coloured marbles, magnificent baths, and all the +details of Roman luxury, not omitting huge cisterns, barracks, and +store-houses, with everything needed in case of a siege. From the +windows there was a magnificent view of the Dead Sea, the whole course +of the Jordan, Jerusalem, Hebron, the frowning fortress of Marsaba, and +away to the north, the wild heights of Pisgah and Abarim. Detached +from the palace was a stern and gloomy keep, with underground dungeons +still visible, hewn down into the solid rock. This was the scene of +John's imprisonment. + +The Evangelist says expressly that they _bound_ the child of the +desert-wastes, with his love for dear liberty--sensitive to the touch +of the sunshine and the breeze, to the beauty that lay over the hills, +accustomed to go and come at his will--as though it were the last +indignity and affront to fetter those lithe and supple limbs, and place +them under constraint. Ah, it is little short of a sin to encage a +wild bird, beating its heart against the bars of its narrow cage, when +the sun calls it to mount up with quivering ecstasy to the gates of +day; but what a sin to bind the preacher of righteousness, and imprison +him in sunless vaults--what an agony! What a contrast between the gay +revelry that reigned yonder within the palace, and the slow torture +which the noble spirit of the Baptist was doomed to suffer through +those weary months! + +Is there anything like that in your life, my reader? In many an old +castle the attention of the visitor is directed to a haunted room, +where ghosts are said to walk at night; but in how many hearts there +are dark subterranean apartments, where conscience, gagged and bound, +lies imprisoned! Outwardly there is the gaiety and mirth as of a +palace; but inwardly there is remorse, misery, unrest. In lonely hours +there is a voice which pierces the thickest walls of your assumed +indifference, and rings up into the house of your life, where the soul +seeks to close its ear in vain. It is a sad, monotonous, +heart-piercing cry which that voice repeats: "It is not lawful, not +lawful, not lawful." Whenever there is a moment of silence and +respite, you hear it--"Not lawful, not lawful." And nothing can stay +it but repentance, confession, restitution, so far as may be, and the +blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, which cleanseth from all sin. + +From time to time it would seem as though the strictness of John's +imprisonment was relaxed. His disciples were permitted to see him, and +tell him of what was happening in the world without; but stranger than +all, he was summoned to have audiences with Herod himself. + +Another rendering of Mark vi. 19, 20, which is perfectly legitimate, +and is favoured by the R.V., suggests that the king was ill at ease, +and swept to and fro by very different currents. + +First, he was deeply incensed. As he thought of the manner in which +the Baptist had treated him, denouncing him before his court, the fire +of anger burnt fiercely within his breast; and he had beside him a Lady +Macbeth, a beautiful fiend and temptress, who knew that while the +Baptist lived, and dared to speak as he had done, her position was not +safe. She knew Herod well enough to dread the uprising of his +conscience at the appeals of truth. And perpetually, when she saw her +chance, she whispered in Herod's ear, "The sooner you do away with that +man the better. You don't love me perfectly, as long as you permit him +to breathe. Unmannerly cur!" "Herodias set herself against him, and +desired to kill him; but she could not." + +On the other side, Herod was in fear. He feared John, "knowing that he +was a righteous man and a holy." He feared the people, because they +held him for a prophet. And, beneath all, he feared God, lest he +should step in to avenge any wrong perpetrated against his servant. + +Between these two influences he was "much perplexed" (Mark vi. 20, +R.V.). When he was with Herodias, he thought as she did, and left her, +almost resolved to give the fatal order; but when he was alone, the +other influence made itself felt, and he would send for John: + +"I would like to see him again, chamberlain--tell the gaoler to send +the Baptist hither; let his coming to my private room be, however, kept +secret. I don't want all my court blabbing." + +And the gaoler would come to the cell door, and call to his prisoner, +with a mixture of effrontery and obsequiousness, "Up, man; the king +wants you. Put on your softest speech. It will serve you better than +that rasping tongue of yours. Why cannot you leave the king and his +private affairs alone? They are no business of yours or mine." + +And might not Herod attempt to induce the prophet to take back his +ruthless sentence? "Come," he might say, "you remember what you said. +If you unsay that sentence, I will set you free. I cannot, out of +respect for my consort, allow such words to remain unretracted. There, +you have your freedom in your own hands. One word of apology, and you +may go your way; and my solemn bond is yours, that you shall be kept +free from molestation." + +If such an offer were made, it must have presented a strong temptation +to the emaciated captive, whose physique had already lost the +elasticity and vigour of his early manhood, and was showing signs of +his grievous privation. But he had no alternative; and, however often +the ordeal was repeated, he met the royal solicitation with the same +unwavering reply: "I have no alternative. It is not lawful for thee to +have thy brother's wife. I should betray my God, and act treacherously +to thyself, if I were to take back one word which I have spoken; and +thou knowest that it is so." And as he reasoned of righteousness, +temperance, and a judgment to come, the royal culprit trembled. + +John could do no other; but it was a sublime act of devotion to God and +Truth. He had no thought for himself at all, and thought only of the +choice and destiny of that guilty pair, from which he would warn and +save them, if he might. Well might the Lord ask, in after days, if +John were a reed shaken with the wind. Rather he resembled a forest +tree, whose deeply-struck and far-spreading roots secure it against the +attack of the hurricane; or a mighty Alp, which defies the tremor of +the earthquake, and rears its head above the thunder-storms, which +break upon its slopes, to hold fellowship with the skies. + +How many men are like Herod! They resemble the superficial ground, on +which the seed springs into rapid and unnatural growth; but the rock +lies close beneath the surface. Now they are swayed by the voice of +the preacher, and moved by the pleadings of conscience, allowed for one +brief moment to utter its protests and remonstrances; and then they +feel the fascination of their sin, that unholy passion, that sinful +habit, that ill-gotten gain--and are sucked back from the beach, on +which they were almost free, into the sea of ink and death. + +You may be trying, my reader, to steer a middle course between John the +Baptist and Herodias. Now you resolve to get free of her guilty +charms, and break the spell that fascinates you. Merlin will +emancipate himself from Vivien, before she learn his secret, and dance +with it down the wood, leaving him dishonoured and ashamed. But, +within an hour, the Syren is again singing her dulcet notes, and +drawing the ship closer and closer to the rocks, with their black +teeth, waiting to grind it to splinters. Oh that there might come to +you the voice that spoke with such power to Augustine, and that like +him you might now and here yield yourself to it; so that when the +temptress, whatever form she may assume, approaches you with the +whisper: "I am _she_, Augustine," you may answer: "But I am not _he_!" + +So John was left in prison. Month after month he languished in the +dark and stifling dungeon, wondering a little, now and again, why the +Master, if He were the Son of God, did not interpose to work his +deliverance. But of that anon. + + +III. HEROD'S INEVITABLE DETERIORATION.--Again and again John was +remanded to his cell. Probably twelve months passed thus. But each +time the king failed to act on the preacher's remonstrances; he became +more impervious to his appeals, more liable to the sway of passion. +Thus, when a supreme moment came, in which he was under the influence +of drink and unholy appetite, and the reign of such moral nature as +remained was greatly enfeebled, it is not to be wondered at that +Herodias had her way, and before her murderous request the last thin +fence of resistance broke down, and he gave orders that it should be as +she desired. + +The story does not end here. He not only murdered John the Baptist, +but he inflicted a deadly wound on his own moral nature, from which it +never recovered, as we shall see. Ultimately he had no thought in the +presence of Christ other than to see Him work a miracle; and when his +desire was refused, set him at nought with his mighty men, mocked his +claims to be the King of Israel, did not scruple to treat Him with +indignity and violence, and so dismissed Him. + +Is it wonderful that our Lord was speechless before such a man? What +else could He be? The deterioration had been so awful and complete. +For the love of God can say nothing to us, though it be prepared to die +on our behalf, so long as we refuse to repent of, and put away, our +sin. We remember some solemn words, which may be applied in all their +fearful significance to that scene: "There is a sin unto death; not +concerning this do I say that he should make request." + + + + +XI. + +"Art Thou He?" + +(MATTHEW XI.) + + "He fought his doubts and gathered strength, + He would not make his judgment blind, + He faced the spectres of the mind + And laid them;--thus he came, at length, + + "To find a stronger faith his own, + And Power was with him in the night, + Which makes the darkness and the light, + And dwells not in the light alone." + TENNYSON. + + +John's Misgivings--Disappointed Hopes--Signs of the Christ--The +Discipline of Patience--A New Beatitude + + +It is very touching to remark the tenacity with which some few of +John's disciples clung to their great leader. The majority had +dispersed: some to their homes; some to follow Jesus. Only a handful +lingered still, not alienated by the storm of hate which had broken on +their master, but drawn nearer, with the unfaltering loyalty of +unchangeable affection. They could not forget what he had been to +them--that he had first called them to the reality of living; that he +had taught them to pray; that he had led them to the Christ: and they +dare not desert him now, in the dark sad days of his imprisonment and +sorrow. + +What an inestimable blessing to have friends like this, who will not +leave our side when the crowd ebbs, but draw closer as the shadows +darken over our path, and the prison damp wraps its chill mantle about +us! To be loved like that is earth's deepest bliss! These heroic +souls risked all the peril that might accrue to themselves from this +identification with their master; they did not hesitate to come to his +cell with tidings of the great outer world, and specially of what He +was doing and saying, whose life was so mysteriously bound up with his +own. "The disciples of John told him of all these things" (Luke vii. +18, R.V.). + +It was to two of these choice and steadfast friends that John confided +the question which had long been forming within his soul, and forcing +itself to the front. "And John, calling unto him two of his disciples, +sent them to the Lord, saying, Art Thou He that cometh, or look we for +another?" + + +I. JOHN'S MISGIVINGS.--Can this be he who, but a few months ago, had +stood in his rock-hewn pulpit, in radiant certainty? The brilliant +eastern sunlight that bathed his figure, as he stood erect amid the +thronging crowds, was the emblem and symbol of the light that filled +his soul. No misgiving crossed it. He pointed to Christ with +unfaltering certitude, saying, This is He, the Lamb of God, the Son of +the Father, the Bridegroom of the soul. How great the contrast between +that and this sorrowful cry, "Art Thou He?" + +Some commentators, to save his credit, have supposed that the embassy +was sent to the Lord for the sake of the disciples, that their hearts +might be opened, their faith confirmed--and that they might have a head +and leader when he was gone. But the narrative has to be greatly +strained and dragged out of its obvious course to make it cover the +necessities of such an hypothesis. It is more natural to think that +John the Baptist was for a brief spell under a cloud, involved in +doubt, tempted to let go the confidence that had brought him such +ecstatic joy when he first saw the Dove descending and abiding. + +The Bible does not scruple to tell us of the failures of its noblest +children: of Abram, thinking that the Egyptians would take his life; of +Elijah, stretching himself beneath the shadow of the desert bush, and +asking that he might die; of Thomas, who had been prepared to die with +his Lord, but could not believe that He was risen. And in this the +Spirit of God has rendered us untold service, because we learn that the +material out of which He made the greatest saints was flesh and blood +like ourselves; and that it was by Divine grace, manifested very +conspicuously towards them, that they became what they were. If only +the ladder rests on the low earth, where we live and move and have our +being, there is some hope of our climbing to stand with others who have +ascended its successive rungs and reached the starry heights. Yes, let +us believe that, for some days at least, John's mind was overcast, his +faith lost its foothold, and he seemed to be falling into bottomless +depths. _He sent them to Jesus, saying, Art Thou He that should come_? +We can easily trace this lapse of faith to three sources. + +(1) _Depression_. He was the child of the desert. The winds that +swept across the waste were not freer. The boundless spaces of the +Infinite had stretched above him, in vaulted immensity, when he slept +at night or wrought through the busy days; and as he found himself +cribbed, cabined, and confined in the narrow limits of his cell, his +spirits sank. He pined with the hunger of a wild thing for liberty--to +move without the clanking fetters; to drink of the fresh water of the +Jordan, to breathe the morning air; to look on the expanse of nature. +Is it hard to understand how his deprivations reacted on his mental and +spiritual organization, or that his nervous system lost its elasticity +of tone, or that the depression of his physical life cast a shadow on +his soul? + +We are all so highly strung, so delicately balanced. Often the lack of +spiritual joy and peace and power in prayer is attributable to nothing +else than our confinement in the narrow limits of a tiny room; to the +foul, gaseous air we are compelled to breathe; to our inability to get +beyond the great city, with its wilderness of brick, into the country, +with its blossoms, fields, and woodland glades. In a large number of +spiritual maladies the physician is more necessary than the minister of +religion; a holiday by the seaside or on the mountains, than a +convention. + +What an infinite comfort it is to be told that God knows how easily our +nature may become jangled and out of tune. He can attribute our doubts +and fears to their right source. He knows the bow is bent to the point +of breaking, and the string strained to its utmost tension. He does +not rebuke his servants when they cast themselves under juniper bushes, +and ask to die; but sends them food and sleep. And when they send from +their prisons, saying, Art Thou He? there is no word of rebuke, but of +tender encouragement and instruction. + +(2) _Disappointment_. When first consigned to prison, he had expected +every day that Jesus would in some way deliver him. Was He not the +opener of prison-doors? Was not all power at his disposal? Did He not +wield the sceptre of the house of David? Surely He would not let his +faithful follower lie in the despair of that dark dungeon! In that +first sermon at Nazareth, of which he had been informed, was it not +expressly stated to be part of the Divine programme, for which He had +been anointed, that He would open prison-doors, and proclaim liberty to +captives? He would surely then send his angels to open his +prison-doors, and lead him forth into the light! + +But the weeks grew to months, and still no help came. It was +inexplicable to John's honest heart, and suggested the fear that he had +been mistaken after all. We can sympathize in this also. Often in our +lives we have counted on God's interfering to deliver us from some +intolerable sorrow. With ears alert, and our heart throbbing with +expectancy, we have lain in our prison-cell listening for the first +faint footfall of the angel; but the weary hours have passed without +bringing him, and we have questioned whether God were mindful of his +own; whether prayer prevailed; whether the promises were to be +literally appropriated by us? + +(3) _Partial views of Christ_. "John heard in the prison the works of +Jesus." They were wholly beneficent and gentle. + +"What has He done since last you were here?" + +"He has laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them; has +gathered a number of children to his arms, and blessed them; has sat on +the mountain, and spoken of rest and peace and blessedness." + +"Yes; good. But what more?" + +"A woman touched the hem of his garment, and trembled, and confessed, +and went away healed." + +"Good! But what more?" + +"Well, there were some blind men, and He laid his hands on them, and +they saw." + +"Is that all? Has He not used the fan to winnow the wheat, and the +fire to burn up the chaff? This is what I was expecting, and what I +have been taught to expect by Isaiah and the rest of the prophets. I +cannot understand it. This quiet, gentle life of benevolence is +outside my calculations. There must be some mistake. Go and ask Him +whether we should expect _another_, made in a different mould, and who +shall be as the fire, the earthquake, the tempest, while He is as the +still small voice." + +John had partial views of the Christ--he thought of Him only as the +Avenger of sin, the Maker of revolution, the dread Judge of all. There +was apparently no room in his conception for the gentler, sweeter, +tenderer aspects of his Master's nature. And for want of a clearer +understanding of what God by the mouth of his holy prophets had spoken +since the world began, he fell into this Slough of Despond. + +It was a grievous pity; yet let us not blame him too vehemently, lest +we blame ourselves. Is not this what we do? We form a notion of God, +partly from what we think He ought to be, partly from some distorted +notions we have derived from others; and then because God fails to +realize our conception, we begin to doubt. We think, for instance, +that if there be a righteous God, He will not permit wrong to triumph; +little children to suffer for the sins of their parents; the innocent +to be trodden beneath the foot of the oppressor and the proud; or the +dumb creatures to be tortured in the supposed interest of medical +science. Surely God will step out of his hiding-place and open all +prisons, emancipate all captives, and wave a hand of benediction over +all creation. Thus we think and say; and then, because the world still +groans and travails, we question whether God is in his high heaven. +Like John, men have a notion, founded on some faulty knowledge of +Scripture, that God will act in a certain preconceived way, in the +thunder, the whirlwind, and the fire; and when God does not, but +pursues his tender, gentle ministries, descending in summer showers, +speaking in soft, still tones, distilling in the dew-drops, winning his +empire over men by love, they say--"Is this He?" + +II. THE LORD'S REPLY.--"In that hour He cured many of diseases, and +plagues, and evil spirits; and on many that were blind He bestowed +sight." Through the long hours of the day, the disciples stood in the +crowd, while the pitiable train of sick and demon-possessed passed +before the Saviour, coming in every stage of need, and going away +cleansed and saved. Even the dead were raised. And at the close the +Master turned to them, and with a deep significance in his tone, said, +"Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; the +blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and +the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings +preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall find none +occasion of stumbling in Me." + +(1) _It was Indirect_. He did not say, I am He that was to come, and +there is no need to look for another. Had He done so, He might have +answered John's intellect, but not his heart. After a few hours the +assurance would have waxed dim, and he would have questioned again. He +might have wondered whether Jesus were not Himself deceived. One +question always leads to another, so long as the heart is unsatisfied; +hence the refusal on the part of our Lord to answer the question, and +his evident determination to allay the restlessness and disquietude of +the heart that throbbed beneath. + +God might, had He so willed, have written in starry characters across +the sky the Divine words, "I am Jehovah, and ye shall have no other +gods beside Me"; or He might have flashed it, and obliterated it to +flash it again, as the electric cylinders which serve the purposes of +advertisements in our large cities by night. This might have awed the +intellect, but it would not have convinced the heart. Were this God's +method, we should miss the benediction on those who have not seen and +yet have believed. We should miss the discipline of waiting until our +doubts are dissolved by the Spirit of God. The intellect might be +temporarily overpowered with the evidence; but the soul, the heart, and +the spirit, would miss the true knowledge that comes through purity, +faith, and waiting upon God--the deepest knowledge of all. Besides, +though one were to rise from the dead, and come to men with the awe of +the vision of the other world stamped on his face, they would not +believe. The evidence of the unseen and eternal must be given, not to +the startled physical sense, but to the soul. Some other deeper method +must be adopted; the heart must be taught to wait, trust, and accept +those deep intuitions and revelations which establish the being of God. + +(2) _The Answer was Mysterious_. Surely, if He were able to do so +much, He could do more. The power that healed the sick and lame and +blind, and cast out demons, could surely deliver John. It made his +heart the more wistful, to hear of these displays of power. He had to +learn that the Lord healed these poor folks so easily because the light +soil of their nature could not bear the richer harvests; because their +soul could not stand the cutting through which alone the brilliant +facets which were possible to his could be secured. It was because +John was a royal soul, the greatest of woman born, because his nature +was capable of yielding the best results to the Divine culture, that he +was kept waiting, whilst others caught up the blessing and went away +healed. Only three months remained of life, and in these the +discipline of patience and doubt must do their perfect work. + +That is where you have made a mistake. You have thought God was hard +on you, that He would help everybody but you; but you have not +understood that your nature was so dear to God, and so precious in his +sight, and so capable of the greatest development, that God loved you +too much to let you off so lightly, and give you what you wanted, and +send you on your way. God could have given you sight, made that lame +foot well, restored the child to health, and opened the iron prison +door of your circumstances. _He could_; but for all eternity you will +thank Him He did not, because you are capable of something else. We +are kept waiting through the long years--not that He loves us less, but +more; not that He refuses what we ask, but that in the long strain and +tension He is making us partakers of his blessedness. John's nature +would presently yield a martyr and win a martyr's crown: was not that +reason enough for not giving him at once the deliverance he sought? + +(3) _The Answer was Sufficient_. Together with the works of +beneficence, the Lord drew John's attention to words he seemed in +danger of forgetting; "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the +feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong; fear +not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of +God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be +opened; and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the +lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in +the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." +"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath anointed +Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the +broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of +the prison to them that are bound." The Lord strove to convince the +questioner that his views were too partial and limited, and to send him +back to a more comprehensive study of the old Scriptures. It was as +though Jesus said, "Go to your master, and tell him to take again the +ancient prophecy and study it. He has taken the sterner predictions to +the neglect of the gentler, softer ones. It is true that I am to +proclaim the day of vengeance; but first I must reveal the acceptable +year. It is true that I am to come as a Mighty One, and my arm shall +rule for Me; but it is also true that I am to feed my flock like a +Shepherd, and gather the lambs in my arm." + +We make the same mistake. We have but a partial view of Christ, and +need to get back to the Bible afresh, and study anew its comprehensive +words; then we shall come to understand that the present is the time of +the hiding of his power, the time of waiting, the time of the gentler +ministries. Some day He will gird on his sword; some day He will +winnow his floor; some day He will ride in a chariot of flame; some day +He will sit upon the throne and judge those who oppress the innocent +and take advantage of the poor. We have not yet seen the end of the +Lord: we have not all the evidence. This is our mistake. But our +Saviour is offering us every day evidences of his Divine and loving +power. Last week I saw Him raise the dead; yesterday, before my eyes, +He struck the chains from a prisoner; at this hour He is giving sight +to the blind; to-morrow He will cast out demons. The world is full of +evidences of his gracious and Divine power. They are not so striking +and masterful as deeds of judgment and wrath might be--they need a +quicker eye, a purer heart to discern; but they are not less +significant of the fact that He liveth who was dead, and that He is +alive for evermore. And these are sufficient, not only because of the +transformations which are effected, but because of their moral quality, +to show that there is One within the vail who lives in the power of an +indissoluble life. + + +III. A NEW BEATITUDE.--"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended +in Me." Our Lord put within the reach of his noble Forerunner the +blessedness of those who have not seen and yet have believed; of those +who trust though they are slain; of those who wait the Lord's leisure; +and of those who cannot understand his dealings, but rest in what they +know of his heart. This is the beatitude of the unoffended, of those +who do not stumble over the mystery of God's dealings with their life. + +This blessedness is within our reach also. There are times when we are +overpowered with the mystery of life and nature. The world is so full +of pain and sorrow, the litany of its need is so sad and pitiful, +strong hearts are breaking under an intolerable load; while the battle +seems only to the strong and the race to those who, by some mysterious +providence, come of a healthy, though not specially moral or religious, +stock. And if the incidence of pain and sorrow on the world be +explained by its ungodliness, why does nature groan and travail? why +are the forest glades turned into a very shambles? why does creation +seem to achieve itself through the terrific struggle for survival? + +God's children are sometimes the most bitterly tried. For them the +fires are heated seven times; days of weariness and nights of pain are +appointed them; they suffer, not only at the hand of man, but it seems +as though God Himself were turned against them, to become their enemy. +The heavens seem as brass to their cries and tears, and the enemy has +reason to challenge them with the taunt, "Where is now your God!" The +waters of a full cup are wrung out in days like these; and the cry is +extorted, "How long, O Lord, how long?" + +You and I have been in this plight. We have said, "Hath God forgotten +to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up his tender mercies?" From our +prison-cell we send up the appeal to our Brother in the glory: "Help +us; for if Thou leavest us to our fate, we shall question if Thou art +He." We are tempted to stumbling. We are like to fall over the +mysteries of God's dealings with us. We are more able than ever before +to appreciate the standpoint occupied by Job's wife, when she said to +her husband, "Curse God, and die." + +Then we have the chance of inheriting a new beatitude. By refusing to +bend under the mighty hand of God--questioning, chafing, murmuring--we +miss the door which would admit us into rich and unalloyed happiness. +We fumble about the latch, but it is not lifted. But if we will quiet +our souls like a weaned child, anointing our heads, and washing our +faces, light will break in on us as from the eternal morning; the peace +of God will keep our hearts and minds, and we shall enter on the +blessedness which our Lord unfolded before the gaze of his faithful +Forerunner. + + + + +XII. + +None greater than John the Baptist, yet... + +(MATTHEW XI.) + + "Search thine own heart. What paineth thee + In others, in thyself may be; + All dust is frail, all flesh is weak; + Be thou the same man thou dost seek! + + "Where now with pain thou treadest, trod + The whitest of the saints of God! + To show thee where their feet were set, + The light which led them shineth yet." + WHITTIER. + + +Christ's Appreciation--His Independence--The Simplicity of his +Life--His Place in the Devine Economy--The Spirit of Meekness--The +Greatness of Humility + + +While John's disciples were standing there, our Lord said nothing in +his praise, but as soon as they had departed, the flood-gates of his +heart were thrown wide open, and He began to speak to the multitudes +concerning his faithful servant. It was as though He would give him no +cause for pride by what He said. He desired to give his friend no +additional temptation during those lonely hours. We say our kind +things before each other's faces; our hard things when the back is +turned. It is not so with Christ. He passes his most generous +encomiums when we are not there to hear them. Christ may never tell +you how greatly He loves and values you; but while you lie there in +your prison, with sad and overcast heart, He is saying and thinking +great things about you yonder. + + +I. THE TIME CHOSEN FOR THE LORD'S COMMENDATION OF THE BAPTIST.--It was +when John had fallen beneath his usual level, below high-water mark, +that Jesus uttered his warmest and most generous words of +appreciation--"Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen +a greater than John the Baptist." + +"But, dost Thou really mean, most holy Lord, that this one is the +greatest born of woman?" + +"Certainly," saith Christ, in effect. + +"But he has asked if Thou art really the Messiah." + +"I know it," saith the Lord. + +"But how canst Thou say that he is to be compared with Moses, Isaiah, +or Daniel? Did they doubt Thee thus? And how canst Thou say that he +is not a reed shaken with the wind, when, but now, he gave patent +evidence that he was stooping beneath the hurrying tread of gales of +doubt and depression?" + +"Ah," the Master seems to say, "Heaven judges, not by a passing mood, +but by the general tenor and trend of a man's life; not by the +expression of a doubt, caused by accidents which may be explained, but +by the soul of man within him, which is as much deeper than the +emotions as the heart of the ocean is deeper than the cloud-shadows +which hurry across its surface." + +Yes, the Lord judges us by that which is deepest, most permanent, most +constant and prevalent with us; by the ideal we seek to apprehend; by +the decision and choice of our soul; by that bud of possibility which +lies as yet furled, and unrealized even by ourselves. + +There is a remarkable parallel to this incident in the Old Testament. +When we are first introduced to Gideon, the youngest son of Joash the +Abi-ezrite, he is not in a very dignified position. He is threshing +wheat by the wine-press, to hide it from the hosts of Midian, which +devoured the produce of the entire country. There was no moral wrong +in eluding the vigilance of the Midian spies, in transporting the wheat +from the open country, where the wind might fan away the chaff, to the +comparative seclusion and unlikeliness of the wine-press; but there was +nothing specially heroic or inspiring in the spectacle. Yet, when the +angel of the Lord appeared unto him, he said, "The Lord is with thee, +thou mighty man of valour." + +"Mighty man of valour!" At first there is an apparent incongruity +between this high-sounding salutation and the bearing of the man to +whom it was addressed. Surely such an address is far-fetched and +fulsome; yet subsequent events prove that every syllable of it was +deservedly true. Gideon was a mighty man of valour, and God was with +him. The heavenly messenger read beneath the outward passing incident, +and saw under the clumsy letters of the palimpsest the deep and holy +characters which were awaiting the moment of complete discovery. + +Is not this, in fact, the meaning of the apostle, when he says that +faith is reckoned to us for righteousness? In the fullest sense, of +course, we know that to each believer in Jesus there is reckoned the +entire benefit of his glorious person and work, so that we are accepted +in the Beloved, and He is "made unto us ... Righteousness." But there +is another sense in which faith is reckoned to us for righteousness, +because it contains within itself the power and potency of the perfect +life. It is the seed-germ from which is developed in due course the +plant, the flower, the bud, the seed, and the reproduction of the plant +in unending succession. God reckoned to Abraham all that his faith was +capable of producing, which it did produce, and which it would have +produced had he possessed all the advantages which pertain to our own +happy lot. There is thus the objective and the subjective: in virtue +of the first, through faith in Jesus, all his righteousness is +accounted to us; in virtue of the second, God reckons to us all that +blessed flowering and fruitage of which our faith will be capable, when +patience has had its perfect work and we are perfect and entire, +wanting nothing. + + +II. THE OUTSTANDING FEATURES OF JOHN'S CHARACTER AND MINISTRY TO WHICH +OUR LORD DREW ATTENTION.--(1) _His Independence_. "What went ye out +into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken with the wind?" The +language of the Bible is so picturesque, so full of natural imagery, +that it appeals to every age, and speaks in every language of the +world. If its descriptions of character had been given in the language +of the philosopher or academist, what was intelligible to one age would +have been perplexing or meaningless to the next. Remember that the +long gallery in the Pyramids, which was directed to the pole-star when +they were constructed, is now hopelessly out of course, because the +position of the pole-star, in relation to the earth, has so entirely +altered; and what is true among the spheres is true in the use of +terms. But the Word of God employs natural figures and parables, which +the wayfaring man, though a fool, comprehends at a glance. + +Who, for instance, on a gusty March day, has not watched the wind +blowing lustily across a marsh or the reedy margin of a lake, +compelling all the reeds to stoop in the same direction? Has one +resisted the current or stood stoutly forth in protesting +non-compliance? Has one dared to adopt an unbending posture? Not one. +They have been as obsequious as were all the king's servants that were +in the king's gate to the imperious Haman when he happened to enter the +palace. + +Thus, when our Lord asked the people whether John resembled a reed +shaken by the wind, and implied their answer in the negative, could He +have more clearly indicated one of the most salient characteristics of +John's career--his daring singularity, his independence of mere custom +and fashion, his determination to follow out the pattern of his own +life as God revealed it to him? In this he resembles the good +Nehemiah, when he refers to the usual practice of men of his position, +and says, "So did not I, because of the fear of the Lord"; or the three +young men who, when all the myriads fell down and worshipped +Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, remained erect. In the singularity of +his dress and food; in the originality of his message and demand for +baptism; in his independence of the religious teachers and schools of +his time; in his refusal to countenance the flagrant sins of the +various classes of the community, and especially in his uncompromising +denunciation of Herod's sin--he proved himself to be as a sturdy oak in +the forest of Bashan, or a deeply-rooted cedar in Lebanon, and not as a +reed shaken by the wind. + +Many a saintly soul has followed him since along this difficult and +lonely track. Indeed, it is the ordinary path for most of the choicest +spirits of these Christian centuries. I do not say of all, because the +great Gardener has his violets and lilies in sheltered spots; but +certainly most of the trees of his right-hand planting have not stood +thickly-planted in the sheltered woodland, but have braved the winds +sweeping in at the gates of the hills. + +You, my reader, admire, but feel you cannot follow. When your +companions and friends are speaking depreciating and ungenerous words +of some public man whom you love; when unkind and scandalous stories +are being passed from lip to lip; when a storm of execration and hatred +is being poured on a cause, which in your heart you favour and +espouse--you find it easier to bow before the gale, with all the other +reeds around you, than to enter your protest, even though you stand +alone. Yet the reed thrust by the soldiers into the hands of Christ +may become the rod of iron with which He rules the nations. He can +take the most pliant and yielding natures, and make them, as He made +Jeremiah, "a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, +against the whole land." Thou canst not; but He can. He will +strengthen thee; yea, He will help thee; yea, He will uphold thee with +the right hand of his righteousness. Keep looking steadfastly up to +Him, that He may teach thy hands to war, and thy fingers to fight; for +thou shalt be able to do all things through Him that strengtheneth thee. + +(2) _His simplicity_. A second time the Master asked the people what +they went forth into the wilderness to behold; and by his question +implied that John was no Sybarite clothed in soft raiment, and feasting +in luxury, but a strong, pure soul, that had learnt the secret of +self-denial and self-control. Too many of us are inclined to put on +the soft raiment of self-indulgence and luxury. We are the slaves of +fashion, or we are perpetually considering what we shall eat, what we +shall drink, and with what we shall be clothed: or we act as though we +supposed that life consisted in the number of things we possessed, and +the variety of servants that waited upon us: whereas the exact contrary +is the case. The real happiness of life consists not in increasing our +possessions, but in limiting our wants. + +To all my young brothers and sisters who may read this page, and who +have yet the making of their lives in their own hands, I would say, +with all my heart, learn to do without the soft clothing and the many +servants which characterise kings' courts. At table have your eye on +the simpler dishes, those which supply the maximum of nutriment and +strength, and do not allow your choice to be determined by what pleases +the palate or gratifies the taste. A young friend stood me out the +other day against some article of diet, which was acknowledged to be +the more nutritious (it was whole-meal bread), because another was +sweeter and more palatable (some white, light French rolls, from which +all the nutriment had been extracted). This is the deliberate +preference of the fare of kings' courts to Daniel's pulse and the +Baptist's locusts and wild honey. Please note, here, that there was +nothing inconsistent in his taking honey. We are not to refuse a +certain diet because it is pleasant; but we are not to choose it +because it is so. + +So with dress. Our Master does not require of us to dress grotesquely, +or to attract notice by the singularity and grotesqueness of our +attire. We must dress suitably and in conformity with that station in +life to which He has called us. But what a difference there is between +making our dress our main consideration, and considering first and +foremost the attire of the soul in meekness and truth, purity and +unselfishness. They who are set upon these may be trusted to put the +other in the right place. But, on the whole, the truly consecrated +soul should study simplicity. It should not endeavour to attract +notice by glaring colours or extravagant display. It ought not to seek +a large variety of dresses and costumes, but be satisfied with what may +be really needed for the exigencies of climate and health. Let it take +no pleasure in vying with others, because dress is a question of +utility and not of pride. On the whole, we should set our faces +against the soft raiment which enervates the health, and unfits us to +stretch out our hands in ready help to those who need assistance along +the highways of life. + +So with service. It is not well to depend on others. If it is part of +our lot to be surrounded by servants, let us accept their offices with +grace and kindliness, but never allow ourselves to lean on them. We +should know how to do everything for ourselves, and be prepared to do +it whenever it is necessary. Of course, with some of us, it is +essential that we should have servants, that we may be set free to do +the special work of our lives. Nothing would be more unfortunate than +that those who are highly gifted in some special direction should +fritter away their time and strength in doing trifles which others +could do for them equally well. To think of a physician whose +consulting room was crowded with patients needing help which he alone, +of all men living, could give, spending the precious morning hours in +the minutiae of household arrangements, blacking his boots, or +preparing his food! Let these things be left to those who cannot do +the higher work to which he is called. + +This is the secret of making the best of your life. Discover what you +can do best--the one thing which you are called to do for others, and +which probably no one else can do so well. Set yourself to do this, +devolving on voluntary or paid helpers all that they can do as well as, +and perhaps better than, yourself. It was in this spirit that the +apostles said, "It is not fit that we should forsake the Word of God +and serve tables. Look ye out, therefore, men ... whom we may appoint +over this business; but we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in +the ministry of the Word." + +It is specially the temptation of Eastern life, where the climate is +enervating and service is cheap and plentiful, to seek the soft raiment +and the large assistance of attendants, and it is almost impossible to +yield to one or the other without relaxing the fibre of the soul. The +temptation is always around us; and it is well to look carefully into +our life from time to time, to be quite sure, lest almost insensibly +its strong energetic spirit may not be in process of deterioration--as +the soldiers of Hannibal in the plains of Capua. If so, resolve to do +without, not for merit's sake, but to conserve the strength and +simplicity of your soul. + +(3) _His noble office_. "But wherefore went ye out?--to see a prophet? +Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet." Nothing is more +difficult than to measure men while they are living. Whilst the +fascination of their presence and the music of their voice are in the +air, we are apt to exaggerate their worth. The mountain towers so far +above us that we are apt, in the absence of other mountains, or in our +too great proximity to it, to think of it as the greatest of all the +mountain-range. But it is not so, as we discover when we remove +further. But subsequent ages, so far from correcting, have only +confirmed our Saviour's estimate of his Forerunner. We are able to +locate him in the Divine economy. He was a prophet, yes, and much +more. To employ the predictive words of Malachi, he was Jehovah's +messenger, the courier who announced the advent of the King, the last +of the prophets--for all the prophets and the law prophesied until +John--and the herald of that new and greater era, whose gates he +opened, but into which he was not permitted to enter. + +But our Lord went further, and did not hesitate to class John with the +greatest of those born of woman. He was absolutely in the front rank. +He may have had peers, but no superiors; equals, but no over-lords. +Who may be classed with him, we cannot, dare not, say. But probably +Abraham, Moses, Paul. "There hath not arisen a greater than John the +Baptist." No brighter star shines in the celestial firmament than that +of this brief young life, which had only time enough to proclaim the +advent of the Lord, and after some brief six months of ministry by the +Jordan, followed by twelve months in the gaol, waned here to shine in +undimming brilliancy yonder. + +There was a further tribute paid by our Lord to his noble servant. +Some two or three centuries before, Malachi had foretold that Elijah, +the prophet, would be sent before the great and terrible day of the +Lord came; and the Jews were always on the outlook for his coming. +Even to the present day a chair is set for him at their religious +feasts. This is what was meant when they asked the Baptist, at the +commencement of his ministry, if he were Elijah. He shrank, as we have +seen, from assuming so great a name, though he could not have refused +the challenge, had it been worded to include the spirit and power of +the great prophet of Thisbe. But here our Lord went beyond John's own +modest, self-depreciating estimate, and declared, "If ye are willing to +receive it, this is Elijah which is to come." As He descended from the +Mount of Transfiguration, He returned to the same subject: "And they +asked Him, saying, The scribes say that Elijah must first come. And He +said unto them, Elijah indeed cometh first, and restoreth all +things.... But I say unto you that Elijah is come, and they have also +done unto him whatsoever they listed, even as it is written of him" +(Mark ix. 9-13). + + +III. THE MASTER'S RESERVATION. Let us again quote His memorable +words: "Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a +greater than John the Baptist; yet he that is but little in the Kingdom +of heaven is greater than he" (Matt. xi. 11, R.V.). + +The greatness of John the Baptist shone out in conspicuous beauty in +his meek confession of inferiority. It is always a sign of the +greatest knowledge, when its possessor confesses himself to be as a +child picking up shells on the shores of a boundless ocean. And the +Baptist's greatness was revealed in the lowliness of his self-estimate. + +When the Lord Jesus summarized his own character He said, "I am meek +and lowly in heart." In doing so He expressed the character of God; +for He was the Revealer of God, "the brightness of his glory, and the +express image of his person." He was "God manifested in flesh." He +was not only the Son of God, He was God the Son: "He that hath seen Me +hath seen the Father. I and the Father are one." The greatness of +John was proved in this, that like his Lord he was meek and lowly in +heart. Neither before nor since has a son of Adam lived in whom these +divine qualities were more evident. No sublimer, no more God-like +utterance ever passed the lips of man than John's answer to his +disciples: "A man can receive nothing except it have been given him +from heaven. He must increase, but I must decrease" (see the whole +passage, John iii. 27-36). The very same spirit of meekness was +speaking in John as acted in his Lord, when, knowing that the Pharisees +had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John +(though Jesus Himself baptized not, but his disciples), "He left Judea +and departed into Galilee." What divisions might have been avoided in +the Church had his people followed his example! But there was no man, +not even the apostle John or Paul, whose spirit accorded more exactly +with the Master's than his faithful and self-effacing herald and +forerunner, John the Baptist. It might well be said, that of them that +were born of women there had not arisen a greater than he. + +But what was in our Lord's thought when He made the reservation, "_Yet +he that is but little in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he_"? +It has been suggested that the Lord was speaking of John not only as a +man, but as a prophet, and that this declaration applies more +particularly to John as a prophet. The words of the evangelist Luke +are noticeable--"There hath not risen a greater prophet than John the +Baptist": because to balance the sentence it seems needful to supply +the word _prophet_ in the second clause--"The least prophet in the +Kingdom of heaven is a greater prophet than he." John could say, +"Behold the Lamb of God"; but the least of those who, being scattered +abroad, went everywhere proclaiming the word of the Kingdom, preached +"Jesus and the resurrection." + +But there is another way of interpreting Christ's words. John ushered +in the Kingdom, but was not in it. He proclaimed a condition of +blessedness in which he was not permitted to have a part. And the Lord +says that to be in that Kingdom gives the opportunity of attaining to a +greatness which the great souls outside its precincts cannot lay claim +to. There is a greatness which comes from nature, and another +greatness from circumstances. The child on the mountain is higher than +the giant in the valley. The boy in our village schools knows more on +certain subjects than Socrates or Confucius, the greatest sages of the +world. The least instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is privileged to +see and hear the things which prophets and kings longed and waited for +in vain. The least in the higher dispensation may know and understand +more than the loftiest souls of the dispensations that have preceded. + +And may there not be even more than this? The character of John was +strong, grand in its wild magnificence--like some Alpine crag, with the +pines on its slopes and the deep dark lake at its foot; he had courage, +resolution, an iron will, a loftiness of soul that could hold commerce +with the unseen and eternal. He was a man capable of vast heights and +depths. He could hold fellowship with the eternal God as a man speaks +with his friend, and could suffer unutterable agonies in +self-questioning and depression. But is this the loftiest ideal of +character? Is it the most desirable and blessed? Assuredly not; and +this may have been in the Saviour's mind when He made his notable +reservation. To come neither eating nor drinking; to be stern, +reserved, and lonely; to live apart from the homes of men, to be the +severe and unflinching rebuker of other men's sins--this was not the +loftiest pattern of human character. + +There was something better, as is manifest in our Lord's own perfect +manhood. The balance of quality; the power to converse with God, mated +with the tenderness that enters the homes of men, wipes the tears of +those that mourn, and gathers little children to its side; that has an +ear for every complaint, and a balm of comfort for every heart-break; +that pities and soothes, teaches and leads; that is able not only to +commune with God alone in the desert, but brings Him into the lowliest +deeds and commonplaces of human life--this is the type of character +which is characteristic of the Kingdom of heaven. It is described best +in those inimitable beatitudes which canonize, not the stern and +rugged, but the sweet and tender, the humble and meek; and stamp +Heaven's tenderest smile on virtues which had hardly found a place in +the strong and gritty character of the Baptist. + +Yes, there is more to be had by the humble heart than John possessed or +taught. The passive as well as the active; the glen equally with the +bare mountain peak; the feminine with the masculine; the power to wait +and be still, combined with the swift rush to capture the position; the +cross of shame as well as the throne of power. And if thou art the +least in the Kingdom of God, all this may be thine, by the Holy Spirit, +who introduces the very nature of the Son of Man into the heart that +loves Him truly. "He that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater +than he." + + + + +XIII. + +A Burning and Shining Lamp. + +(JOHN V. 35.) + + "Men as men + Can reach no higher than the Son of God, + The Perfect Head and Pattern of Mankind. + The time is short, and thus sufficeth us + To live and die by; and in Him again + We see the same first starry attribute, + '_Perfect through suffering_,' our salvation's seal, + Set in the front of His humanity...." + MRS. HAMILTON KING. + + +The Rest-Day--The Light of Life--Shining, because Burning--"Let your +Light Shine"--A Light in the Darkness + + +Our Master, Christ, was on his trial. He was challenged by the +religious leaders of the people because He had dared to heal a man and +to command him to carry his bed--his straw pallet--on the Sabbath day. +He was therefore accused, and, so to speak, put in his defence. + +Of course we must not for a moment think that our Lord was lax in his +observance of the Sabbath, but simply that He desired to emancipate the +day from the intolerable burdens and restrictions with which the Jewish +leaders had surrounded it. It was his desire to show, for all after +time, that the Sabbath was made for useful purposes, and specially for +deeds of mercy, beneficence, and gentle kindness. The Lord Jesus was +maligned and persecuted because He was the Emancipator of the Sabbath +day from foolish and mistaken notions of sanctity. + +It is of the greatest importance that we should do what we may to +conserve one rest-day in seven to our country and our world; and I +cannot help noticing in the story of the life of the great statesman +and Christian, who recently passed from us, how careful he was to guard +the day from unnecessary intrusion. It has been attested by those who +knew him well, that physically, intellectually, and spiritually, the +Lord's day to him was a priceless blessing. Let your rest on the one +rest-day consist, not in lolling idly and carelessly, but in turning +your faculties in some other direction; because the truest rest is to +be found, not in luxurious ease, but in using the fresh vigour of your +life in other compartments of the brain than those which have been worn +by the demands of the six days. Then, fresh from the Sunday-school +class, the worship of the church, and the sermon, you will return to +the desk or office, or whatever may be your toil, with new and +rejuvenated strength. + +There is a great distinction between shining and burning: shining is +the light-giving, the illuminating, that comes forth from the enkindled +wick; but it cannot shine unless it burns. The candle that gives light +wastes inch by inch as it gives it. The very wick of your lamp, that +conducts the oil to the flame, chars, and you have to cut it off bit by +bit until the longest coil is at length exhausted. We must never +forget that, if we would shine, we must burn. Too many of us want to +shine, but are not prepared to pay the cost that must be faced by every +true man that wants to illuminate his time. We must burn down until +there is but an eighth of an inch left in the candlestick, till the +light flickers a little and drops, makes one more eager effort, and +then ceases to shine--"a burning and shining light." + +Obviously, then, we have first _the comparison between John and the +candle, or lamp_; then we have _the necessary expenditure, burning to +shine_; and, thirdly, we have _the misuse that people may make of their +opportunities_. + + +I. THE LORD'S COMPARISON.--"John was a burning and shining lamp." In +the original a great contrast is suggested between _lamp_, as it is +given in the Revised Version, and _light_. The Old Version put it +thus: "He was a burning and shining light"; but the Revised Version +puts it thus: "He was a burning and shining lamp"; and there is a +considerable difference between the two. In the first chapter of the +Gospel, the apostle John tells us, speaking of the Baptist, that he was +not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light, that all +men through him [John] might believe. "That was the True Light, which +lighteth every man coming into the world." + +Jesus Christ is the Light of the World; and I believe that in every age +He has been waiting to illumine the hearts and spirits of men, +reminding us of the expression in the Book of Proverbs--and it is +wonderfully significant--"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." + +Here is a candle, yonder is the wick; but it gives no light. The air +may be full of luminousness, but as yet it has found no point on which +to kindle and from which to irradiate. But, see, of a sudden the light +gathers to the candle-wick, which had stood helpless and useless, +touches it, and it begins to shine with a light not its own. It is +borrowed light, caught from some burning cone of flame. + +Men are born into the world like so many unlighted candles. They may +stand in chaste candlesticks, all of gold or silver, of common tin or +porcelain. But all are by nature unlit. On the other hand, Jesus +Christ, the Light of men, waits with yearning desire, and, as each +successive generation passes across the stage of human life, He is +prepared to illumine the spirits which are intended to be the candles +of the Lord. In these ages He illumines us with the Gospel; but I +believe that all moral intuitions, all instincts of immortality, all +cravings after God, all gropings in the dark for the true Light, all +helpful moral revolutions which have swept over mankind, have been the +result of his influence, who, as the true Light, lighteth every man +coming into the world. Whenever and wherever a man has flamed up with +unusual fervour and spiritual power, with a desire to help his fellows, +and has shone like a torch, we must believe that he was illumined by +the Son of God, the Wisdom of the Book of Proverbs, whom he may not +have known, but whom he would recognise as soon as he crossed the +portal of the New Jerusalem. He lighteth every man; He is willing to +illumine every man that comes into the world. + +This conception casts a considerable light on some of the enigmas of +human experience. We have known illiterate, uncultured men, without +many gifts of style or grace of speech, yet they have shone to such an +extent that every one in their neighbourhood has been lit by the +radiance that has streamed from them. On the other hand, we have met +men who have passed through a college course and been carefully trained +for their life-work; important pulpits and opportunities of great +usefulness have been opened to them; but their lives have been a +disappointment. Why? Ah, the answer is easy. The former class were +as candles, made of ordinary wax, and placed in inconspicuous +candle-sticks, which had been ignited by the fire of God through the +Holy Spirit; and the latter were like exquisitely prepared +candlesticks, the candles in which had never been kindled by the fire +of God. There are hundreds of professing Christians, and some may read +these pages, who have never really been kindled; who have never been +touched by the Son of God; who do not know what it is to shine with his +light and to burn with his fire. + +What is the process of lighting? The wick of the candle is simply +brought into contact with the flame, and the flame leaps to it, kindles +on it, without parting with any of its vigour or heat, and continues to +burn, drawing to itself the nourishment which the candle supplies. So +let Jesus Christ touch you. Believe in the Light, that you may become +a child of the Light. Take off the extinguisher; cast away your +prejudice; put off those misconceptions; have done with those unworthy +habits; putting them all aside, let Jesus kindle you. "Arise, shine; +for thy light is come." "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the +dead, and Christ shall give thee light." + +We were kindled that we might kindle others. I would like, if I might +have my choice, to burn steadily down, with no guttering waste, and as +I do so to communicate God's fire to as many unlit candles as possible; +and to burn on steadily until the socket comes in view, then to light, +in the last flicker, twenty, thirty, or a hundred candles at once; so +that as one expires they may begin burning and spreading light which +shall shine till Jesus comes. Get light from Christ, then share it; +and remember that it is the glory of fire that one little candle may go +on lighting hundreds of candles--one insignificant taper may light all +the lamps of a cathedral church, and yet not be robbed of its own +little glow of flame. Andrew was lit by Christ Himself, and passed on +the flame to Simon Peter, and he to three thousand more on the Day of +Pentecost. Every Christian soul illumined by the grace of God thus +becomes, as John the Baptist was, a lamp. But there is always the same +impassable chasm between these and the Lord. They are derived; He is +original. They need to be sustained and fed; He is the fountain of +Light: because, as the Father hath life in Himself, He hath given to +Him also to have life in Himself, and his life is the light of men. + + +II. THE INEVITABLE EXPENDITURE.--"He was a burning and shining lamp." +_If you would shine, you must burn_. The ambition to shine is +universal; but all are not prepared to pay the price by which alone +they can acquire the right to give the true light of life. There are +plenty of students who would win all the prizes, and wear all the +honours, apart from days and nights of toil; but they find it a vain +ambition. Before a man can become Senior Wrangler he must have burnt, +not only the midnight oil, but some of the very fibre of his soul. +Conspicuous positions in the literary and scientific world are less the +reward of genius than of laborious, soul-consuming toil. The great +chemist will work sixteen hours out of twenty-four. The illustrious +author acquires, by profound research, the materials which he weaves +into his brilliant page. Such men shine because they burn. + +But this is pre-eminently the principle in the service of Christ. It +was so with the Lord Himself. He shone, and his beams have illumined +myriads of darkened souls, and shall yet bring dawn throughout the +world; but, ah, how He burned! The disciples remembered that it was +written of Him: "The zeal of thy house hath eaten Me up." He suffered, +that He might serve. He would not save Himself, because He was bent on +saving others. He ascended to the throne because He spared not Himself +from the cruel tree. Pilate marvelled that his death came so soon, and +sent for the centurion to be certified that in so few hours He had +succumbed. But he did not realize that in three short years He had +expended his vital strength so utterly, that there was no reserve to +fall back upon. There had been an inward consumption, an exhaustion of +nervous power, a wearing down of the springs of vitality. He shone +because of the fire that burned within Him. + +It was so with the great apostle, who said that he filled up that which +was lacking in the afflictions of Christ, not of course that there was +any lack in the work of propitiation which required his further help, +but that the saints are called to share with their Lord his sorrows for +men, his tears, to lift the burdens and crosses of others, to give of +their very life-blood for the replenishing of the exhausted fountains +of human faith, and hope, and love. Paul gave freely of his best. He +shone because he never hesitated to burn. Remember how he affirmed +that he was pressed down, perplexed, pursued, and always bore about in +his body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus might be +manifested in his mortal flesh. The price paid for the life that +wrought in the hearts of his converts was that death should work in +himself. + +All the saints have passed through similar experiences. They knew, as +Cranmer said, that they could never hope to kindle a fire that should +never be put out, unless they were prepared to stand steadily at the +stake and give their bodies to be burned. But they counted not their +lives dear unto them, if they might but finish their course with joy, +and the ministry which they had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify +the Gospel of the grace of God. The men and women who shine as +beacon-lights across the centuries are those whose tears were their +meat day and night, whose prayers rose with strong cryings and tears; +while, as with Palissy, the Huguenot potter, the very furniture of the +house was brought out to feed the flame in which the precious glaze was +being precipitated. + +If the Christian worker longs to benefit the poor slum district in +which he is located, he must be prepared to live amongst the people and +expend himself. Presently, in his hollow cheeks, his sallow +complexion, his attenuated form, his diminishing strength, you will see +that he is paying the price for his 100-candle illuminating power, +because he is being consumed. Every successful worker for God must +learn that lesson. You must be prepared to suffer; you can only help +men when you die for them. If you desire to save others you cannot +save yourself; you must be prepared to fall into the ground and die, if +you would not abide alone: there must be with you, as with Paul, the +decaying of the outward man, that the inward man may be renewed day by +day. You must be prepared to say with him, "Death worketh in us, but +life in you." + +_If you burn, you will shine_. The burning and the shining do not +always go together; often the burning goes on a long time without much +illumination resulting from the expenditure. Those who are rich in +gifts and natural endowments cast in much, and the poor cast in all +their living; this they continue to do, year after year, and none seems +to heed the awful cost at which their testimony is given. Moreover, to +use a well-known phrase, the game hardly seems worth the candle. The +area they influence is so limited, the souls affected so few, the +glimmer of their light, like a street-lamp in a fog, hardly reaches +across the street or to the ground. Sometimes it appears only to make +the darkness denser and thicker. In many cases, the saints of God have +burnt down to the last film of vital energy and expired, and there has +been no shining that the world has taken cognisance of. Their bitter +complaint has been, "I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength +for nought, and in vain." But even these shall shine. They shall +shine as the stars for ever and ever in that world where all holy and +faithful souls obtain their due. + +Let us see to the burning; God will see to the shining. It is ours to +feed the sacred heaven-enkindled flame with the daily fuel of the Word +of God and holy service; and God will see to it that no ray of power or +love is wasted. He will place reflectors around us, to catch up and +repeat the influences that proceed from us. "The Lord was with Samuel, +and did let none of his words fall to the ground." It is ours to keep +in company with the risen Lord, listening to Him as He opens to us the +Scriptures, until our hearts burn within us; then, as we hasten to tell +what we have seen, tasted, and handled of the Word of Life, there will +be a glow on our faces, whether we know it or not; and men shall say of +us: "They have been with Jesus." If we think only of the shining, we +shall probably miss both it and the burning. But if we devote +ourselves to the burning, even though it involve the hidden work of the +mine, the stoke-hole, and the furnace-room, there will be the raying +forth of a light that cannot be hid. Where there is the burning heat, +there must be the soft, gleaming light. Let there be but summer, and +the flowers cover the land. + +_For the burning and the shining, God will provide the fuel_. The fire +which burnt in the bush needed no fuel; "the bush was not consumed." +With us there is perpetual need for the nourishment of the fire of love +and the light of life by the administration of appropriate fuel. The +oil must be supplied to the lamp. The fire cannot be kept burning on +the altar apart from the incessant care and attention of the priests. +But be of good cheer; He who hath begun a good work in you will perfect +it unto the day of Jesus Christ. All grace will be made to abound +towards you, that you may have all sufficiency for all things, and +abound to every good work. The Lord will give grace and glory; no good +thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. God will supply +all your need, according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. It +is especially helpful to ponder the full import of the phrase--"the +supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." It is as though we had access +to one of those oil-wells of the west, which seem practically +inexhaustible. + +It is a wonderful thing how often God puts his lighted candles in the +cellar. We would have supposed that He would have placed a man like +John on a pedestal or a throne, that his influence might reach as far +as possible. Instead of that He allowed him to spend the precious +months of his brief life in prison. And the lamp flickered somewhat in +the pestilential damp. It may be that this is your place also. In the +silence of a sick chamber, in the obscurity of some country parish, +amid obloquy and hatred, you are doomed to spend your slowly-moving +years. It seems such a waste. Loneliness and depression are hard to +endure; but the consciousness of accomplishing so little, though at +such cost, is very painful. This is your cellar-life, your dungeon +experience. Remember that Joseph and Rutherford, John Bunyan and +Madame Guyon, have been there before you. Probably, because the cellar +is so very dark, God wants to station a candle there, and has placed +you there because you can accomplish a work for Him, and for others, of +priceless importance. Where is the light needed so much as on a dark +landing or a sunken reef? Go on shining, and you will find some day +that God will make that cellar a pedestal out of which your light shall +stream over the world; for it was out of his prison cell that John +illuminated the age in which his lot was cast, quite as much as from +his rock-pulpit beside the Jordan. "I would have you know, brethren," +said the apostle, "that the things which happened unto me have fallen +out rather unto the progress of the Gospel, so that my bonds became +manifest in Christ throughout the Praetorian guard" (Phil. i. 12, 13, +R.V.). + + +III. CHRIST'S WARNING AGAINST THE MISUSE OF OPPORTUNITIES.--"Ye were +willing for a season to rejoice in his light." The Greek word rendered +_rejoice_ has in it the idea of moths playing around a candle, or of +children dancing around a torch-light, as it burns lower and lower. It +is as though a light were given to men for an hour, for them to use for +some high and sacred purpose, but they employ it for dancing and +card-playing, instead of girding up their loins to serious tasks. "You +were willing," says the Master, in effect, "to rejoice, to dance and +sing, in his light. You treated his ministry as a pastime. As long as +he spoke to you about the coming Kingdom, you listened and were glad; +but when he began to call you to repentance and warn you of wrath to +come, you left him." He is now like an almost extinguished lamp. His +hour is all but done. The brief space he was sent to occupy has been +fulfilled. "Behold, the night cometh, when no man can work." + +The ministry of the Gospel is but for "an hour." The story of man may +be compared to a brief day (1 Cor. iv. 3, _marg._, R.V.); and in that +day the proclamation of the good news from God occupies but a very +limited space. The hour-glass was turned when Jesus ascended, and it +is more than likely that the last grains are running through; then the +cry of the herald shall be hushed, and the servants' voices will be no +more heard in the streets inviting to the marriage supper, and there +shall be none to break or distribute the bread of life. + +With what eager care men should prize these fleeting opportunities, not +listening to the preacher's voice, as of one that can make a pleasant +sound from the harp or organ--not seeking merely the delight of the ear +or intellect; but taking heed to hear for eternity, receiving in meek +and retentive hearts the precious grain as it falls from the sower's +hand, and giving diligence that the best possible results may accrue. + +Oh, children of the sunny market-place, playing giddily throughout the +long afternoon, take heed lest your opportunities of preparing for the +serious work of life slip away unimproved, and you find yourselves face +to face with death and judgment without a screen, without hope, and +without God. John murdered in prison; Jesus nailed to the cross; the +apostles and martyrs done to death on the scaffold and at the +stake--and the ship drifting on the rocks, without a warning voice to +arouse the thoughtless crowd of dice-throwers and dancers to the +certainty and nearness of their doom! + + + + +XIV. + +Set at Liberty. + +(MARK VI. 27.) + + "Hush my soul, and vain regrets be stilled; + Now rest in Him who is the complement + Of whatsoe'er transcends our mortal doom, + Of baffled hope and unfulfilled intent; + In the clear vision and aspect of whom + All longings and all hopes shall be fulfilled." + ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. + + +The Genesis of a Great Crime--The Strength of Evil Influences--An +Accomplice of Satan--The Triumph of Hate--The Baptist Beheaded--A Place +of Repentance + + +The evangelist Mark tells us, in the twenty-first verse of this +chapter, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the +high captains, and the chief men of Galilee. Now, of course, Galilee, +over which Herod had jurisdiction, and where, for the most part, he +dwelt, in the beautiful city of Tiberias, the ruins of which are still +washed by the blue waters of the lake, was a considerable distance from +the Castle of Machaerus, which, as we have seen, was situated in the +desolate region on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. There would +probably, therefore, have been a martial and noble procession from +Galilee, which followed the course of the Jordan to the oasis of +Jericho, and then branched off to the old, grim fortress, which, like +one of those ruined castles on the Rhine, had been for many years the +scene of brigandage, pillage, and bloodshed. + +It is not difficult to imagine that sumptuous and splendid retinue. +Roman soldiers and officials in all the splendour of their +accoutrements and mounting; carriages conveying the royal consort, +Herodias, Salome, and their ladies; large numbers of native soldiers; +swarthy Bedouin and Greek traders; priests and levites, who lived on +the smile of the Court; court officials, camp-bearers, a motley +following of servants and slaves. In the front of the cavalcade, +Herod, on a magnificent steed. The line of march, enlivened by the +sound of martial music, and the flaunting of innumerable banners. +Slowly they made their way through those desert solitudes, across the +pasture-lands, and finally swept up through the little village that lay +at the foot of the hill to the castellated fortress which covered the +summit, edging its mighty walls to the brink of the steep cliffs. Soon +the last straggler would be lost to view, the heavy portcullis fall, +and the massive iron gate swing to, and the first step would be taken +towards the tragedy, which lay right before Herod's path. One +sometimes wonders whether the whole of these circumstances had not been +planned by the cunning device of Herodias. In any case, nothing could +have been arranged more exactly to suit her murderous schemes. + +The days that preceded the celebration of Herod's birthday were +probably filled with merry-making and carouse. Groups of nobles, +knights, and ladies, would gather on the terraces, looking out over the +Dead Sea, and away to Jerusalem, and in the far distance to the +gleaming waters of the Mediterranean. Picnics and excursions would be +arranged into the neighbouring country. Archery, jousts, and other +sports would beguile the slowly-moving hours. Jests, light laughter, +and buffoonery would fill the air. And all the while, in the dungeons +beneath the castle, lay that mighty preacher, the confessor, +forerunner, herald, and soon to be the martyr. + +But this contrast was more than ever accentuated on the evening of +Herod's birthday, when the great banqueting-chamber was specially +illuminated; the tables decked with flowers and gold and silver plate; +laughter and mirth echoing through the vaulted roof from the splendid +company that lay, after the Eastern mode, on sumptuous couches, +strewing the floor from one end to the other of the spacious hall. +Servants, in costly liveries, passed to and fro, bearing the rich +dainties on massive salvers, one of which was to be presently +besprinkled with the martyr's blood. + +In such a scene, I would have you study the genesis of a great crime, +because you must remember that in respect to sin, there is very little +to choose between the twentieth century and the first; between the sin +of that civilization and of ours. This is why the Bible must always +command the profound interest of mankind--because it does not concern +itself with the outward circumstances and setting of the scenes and +characters it describes, but with those great common facts of +temptation, sin, and redemption, which have a meaning for us all. + +This chapter is therefore written under more than usual solemnity, +because one is so sure that, in dealing with that scene and the +passions that met there in a foaming vortex, words may be penned that +will help souls which are caught in the drift of the same black +current, and are being swept down. Perhaps this page shall utter a +warning voice to arrest them, ere it be too late, and be a life-buoy, +or rope, or brother's hand reached out to save them as they rush past +on the boiling waters. For there is help and grace in God by which a +Herod and a Judas, a Jezebel and a Lady Macbeth, a royal criminal or an +ordinary one, may be arrested, redeemed, and saved. + +In this, as in every sin, there were three forces at work:--First, the +predisposition of the soul, which the Bible calls "lust," and "the +desire of the mind." "Among whom," says the apostle, "we also all once +lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of +the mind, and were by nature children of wrath." Second, the +suggestion of evil from without. Finally, the act of the will by which +the suggestion was accepted and finally adopted. + +It is, in this latter phase, that sin especially comes in. There may +be sin in being able and disposed to sin. The possession of a sinful +nature needs the atonement and propitiation of the precious blood. +There may be sin, also, in dallying with temptation, in not +anticipating its advent at a further distance. But, after all, that +which is of the essence of sin is in the act of the will, which allows +itself to admit and entertain some foul suggestion, and ultimately +sends its executioner below to carry its sentence into effect. + + +I. THE PREDETERMINATION TOWARDS THIS SIN.--The word "lust" is now +universally employed and understood in one direction only. It is a +pity and a mistake; because we fail to appreciate many of the warning +signals which the Spirit of God stations along our path. Any +inordinate desire for sensual and pleasurable excitement, whether fixed +on a right object, or directed towards a wrong one, comes under the +denomination of "lust." Strong and ill-regulated desire or passion, in +whatever direction it expresses itself, will work our ruin, and not +that alone of impurity, to which this old word is now specially +confined. + +In dealing with temptation and sin, we must always take into account +the presence in the human heart of that sad relic of the Fall, which +biases men towards evil. Every one that has handled bowls on the green +is familiar with the effect of the bias. The bowls are not perfect +spheres, and are weighted on one side in such a way that, as they leave +the hand, they will inevitably turn off from a straight course; and on +this account the greater skill is required from the hands that +manipulate and impel them. Such a bias has come to us all: first, from +our ancestor Adam; and, secondly, by that law of heredity which has +been accumulating its malign and sinister force through all the ages. +God alone can compute the respective strength of these forces; but He +can, and He will, as each separate soul stands before his judgment bar. + +Herod was the son of the great Herod, a voluptuous, murderous tyrant; +and, from some source or other, he had inherited a very weak nature. +Perhaps, if he had come under strong, wholesome influences, he would +have lived a passably good life; but it was his misfortune to fall +under the influence of a beautiful fiend, who became his Lady Macbeth, +his Jezebel, and wrought the ruin of his soul. It is a remarkable +thing, how strong an influence a beautiful and unscrupulous woman may +have over a weak man. And for this reason, amongst others, weakness +becomes wickedness. The man who allows himself to drift weakly before +the strongest influence is almost certain to discover that, in this +world, the strongest influences are those which make for sin; these +touch him most closely, and operate most continuously, and find in his +nature the best _nidus_, or nest, in which to breed. + +The influences that suggest and make for sin in this world are so +persistent--at every street corner, in every daily newspaper, among +every gathering of well-dressed people, or ill--that if my readers have +no other failing than that they are weak, I am bound to warn them, in +God's name, that unless they succeed in some way, directly or +indirectly, in linking themselves to the strength of the Son of. God, +they will inevitably become wicked. Remember that the men, and +especially the women, who are filling our gaols as criminals, were, in +most cases, only weak, but they therefore drifted before the strong, +black current which flows through the world, and have become objects +against whom all parents warn their children. With all my soul--and I +have had no small experience of myself and of others--I implore that if +you are conscious of your weakness, you shall do what the sea-anemone +and the limpet do, which cling to the rock when the storms darken the +sky. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." + +Herod was reluctant to take the course to which his evil genius urged +him. He made a slight show of resistance, as we have seen--but he did +not break with her; and so she finally had her way, and dragged him to +her lowest level. Here was the cause of his ruin, as it may be of +yours. You, too, have become allied with one who is possessed by a +more imperious will, and dominated by a stronger passion, than yours. +You suppose, however, that you can act as a make-weight, a drag on the +chariot-wheel; that you will be able to keep and steady the pace; and +that, when you like, you may arrest the onward progress. Ah, it is not +so! Herodias will have her way with you. You may be reluctant, will +falter and hesitate, will remonstrate, will resist, but ultimately you +will drift into doing the very sins, the mention of which in your +presence brings the red blood to your face. + +Beware, then, of yourself. If you are so impressible to John the +Baptist, remember that you may be equally so to evil suggestion: take +heed, therefore, to guard against anything in your life that may open +the gates of your sensitive nature to a temptation, which you may not +be able to withstand. If you are weak in physical health, you guard +against draught and fatigue, against impure atmosphere and +contagion--how much more should you guard against the scenes and +company which may act prejudicially on the health of your soul? Of all +our hours, none are so fraught with danger as those of recreation. In +these we cast ourselves, with the majority of Gideon's men, on the bank +of the stream, with relaxed girdles, drinking at our ease, without a +thought of the proximity of the foe; and, therefore, in these we are +more likely to fall. The Christian soldier is never off duty, never +out of the enemy's reach, never at liberty to relax his watch. The +sentries must always be posted, and the pickets kept well out on the +veldt. + +It was the most perilous thing that Herod could do, to have that +banquet. Lying back on his divan, lolling on his cushions, eating his +rich food, quaffing the sparkling wine, exchanging repartee with his +obsequious followers, it was as though the petals and calyx of his soul +were all open to receive the first insidious spore of evil that might +float past on the sultry air. That is why some of us dare not enter +the theatre, or encourage others to enter. This is not the place to +enter into a full discussion of the subject; but, even when a play may +be deemed inoffensive and harmless, the sensuous attractions of the +place, the glitter, the music, the slightly-dressed figures of the +actors and actresses, the entire atmosphere and environment, which +appeal so strongly to the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and +the pride of life, break down some of the fortifications, which would +otherwise resist the first incidence and assault of evil. The air of +the theatre, the ball-room, the race-course, seem so impregnated with +the nocuous germs and microbes of evil, that it is perilous for the +soul to expose itself to them, conscious as it is of predisposing bias +and weakness. It is this consciousness, also, which prompts the daily +prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." + + +II. TEMPTATION. In the genesis of a sin we must give due weight to +the power of the Tempter, whether by his direct suggestion to the soul +or by the instrumentality of men and women whom he uses for his fell +purpose. In this case Satan's accomplice was the beautiful +Herodias--beautiful as a snake, but as deadly. She knew the influence +that John the Baptist wielded over her weak paramour, that he was +accustomed to attach unmeasured importance to his words, and do "many +things." She realized that his conscience was uneasy, and therefore +the more liable to be affected by his words when he reasoned of +righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. She feared for the +consequences if the Baptist and Herod's conscience should make common +cause against her. What if her power over the capricious tyrant were +to begin to wane, and the Baptist gain more and more influence, to her +discredit and undoing? She was not safe so long as John the Baptist +breathed. Herod feared him, and perhaps she feared him with more +abject terror, and was bent on delivering her life of his presence. + +She watched her opportunity, and it came on the occasion we have +described. The ungodly revel was at its height. Such a banquet as +Herod had often witnessed in the shameless court of Tiberius, and in +which luxury and appetite reached their climax, was in mid-current. +The strong wines of Messina and Cyprus had already done their work. +The hall resounded with ribald joke and merriment. Towards the end of +such a feast it was the custom for immodest women to be introduced, +who, by their gestures, imitated scenes in certain well-known +mythologies, and still further inflamed the passions of the banqueters. +But instead of the usual troupe, which Herod probably kept for such an +occasion, Salome herself came in and danced a wild nautch-dance. What +shall we think of a mother who could expose her daughter to such a +scene, and suggest her taking a part in the half-drunken orgy? To what +depths will not mad jealousy and passion urge us, apart from the +restraining grace of God! The girl, alas, was as shameless as her +mother. + +She pleased Herod, who was excited with the meeting of the two strong +passions, which have destroyed more victims than have fallen on all the +battlefields of the world; and in his frenzy, he promised to give her +whatever she might ask, though it were to cost half his kingdom. She +rushed back to her mother with the story of her success. "What shall I +ask?" she cried. The mother had, perhaps, anticipated such a moment as +this, and had her answer ready. "Ask," she replied instantly, "for +John the Baptist's head." Back from her mother she tripped into the +banqueting-hall, her black eyes flashing with cruel hate, lighted from +her mother's fierceness. A dead silence fell on the buzz of +conversation, and every ear strained for her reply. "And she came in +straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that +thou forthwith give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist." + +Mark that word, "forthwith." Her mother and she were probably fearful +that the king's mood would change. What was to be done must be done at +once, or it might not be done at all. "Quick, quick," the girl seemed +to say, "the moments seem like hours; now, in this instant, give me +what I demand. I want my banquet, too; let it be served up on one of +these golden chargers." The imperious demand of the girl showed how +keenly she had entered into her mother's scheme. + +It is thus that suggestions come to us; and, so far as I can +understand, we may expect them to come so long as we are in this world. +There seems to be a precise analogy between temptation and the microbes +of disease. These are always in the air; but when we are in good +health they are absolutely innocuous, our nature offers no hold or +resting place for them. The grouse disease only makes headway when +there has been a wet season, and the young birds are too weakened by +the damp to resist its attack. The potato blight is always lying in +wait, till the potato plants are deteriorated by a long spell of rain +and damp; it is only then that it can effect its fell purpose. The +microbes of consumption and cancer are probably never far away from us, +but are powerless to hurt us, till our system has become weakened by +other causes. So temptation would have no power over us, if we were in +full vigour of soul. It is only when the vitality of the inward man is +impaired, that we are unable to withstand the fiery darts of the wicked +one. + +This shows how greatly we need to be filled with the life of the Son of +God. In his life and death, our Lord, in our human nature, met and +vanquished the power of sin and death; He bore that nature into the +heavenly places, whence He waits to impart it, by the Holy Spirit, to +those who are united with Him by a living faith. Is not this what the +apostle John meant, when he said that his converts--his little +children--could overcome, because greater was He that was in them than +he that was in the world? He who has the greatest and strongest nature +within him must overcome an inferior nature; and if you have the +victorious nature of the living Christ in you, you must be stronger +than the nature which He bruised beneath his feet. + + +III. THE CONSENT OF THE WILL.--"The king was exceeding sorry." The +girl's request sobered him. His face turned pale, and he clutched +convulsively at the cushion on which he reclined. On the one hand, his +conscience revolted from the deed, and he was more than fearful of the +consequences; on the other, he said to himself, "I am bound by my oath. +I have sworn; and my words were spoken in the audience of so many of my +chief men, I dare not go back, lest they lose faith in me." "And +straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard and commanded to +bring the Baptist's head." + +Is it not marvellous that a man who did not refrain from doing deeds of +incest and murder, should be so scrupulous about violating an oath that +ought never to have been sworn? You have thought that you were bound +to go through with your engagement, because you had pledged yourself, +although you know that it would condemn you to lifelong misery and +disobedience to the law of Christ. But stay for a moment, and tell me! +What was your state of mind when you pledged your word? Were you not +under the influence of passion? Did you not form your plan in the +twilight of misinformation, or beneath the spell of some malign and +unholy influence, that exerted a mesmeric power over you? Looking back +on it, can you not see that you ought never to have bound yourself, and +do you not feel that if you had your time again you would not bind +yourself? Then be sure that you are not bound by that "dead hand." +You must act in the clearer, better light, which God has communicated. +Even though you called on the sacred name of God, God cannot sanction +that which you now count mistaken, and wrong. You had no right to +pledge half the kingdom of your nature. It is not yours to give, it is +God's. And if you have pledged it, through mistake, prejudice, or +passion, dare to believe that you are absolved from your vow, through +repentance and faith, and that the breach is better than the observance. + +"And he went and beheaded John in prison." Had the Baptist heard aught +of the unseemly revelry? Had any strain of music been waited down to +him? Perhaps so. Those old castles are full of strange echoes. His +cell was perfectly dark. He might be lying bound on the bare ground, +or some poor bed of straw. Was his mind glancing back on those +never-to-be-forgotten days, when the heaven was opened above him, and +he saw the descending Dove? Was he wondering why he was allowed to lie +there month after month, silenced and suffering? Ah, he did not know +how near he was to liberty! + +There was a tread along the corridor. It stopped outside his cell. +The light gleamed under the door; the heavy wards of the lock were +turned: in a moment more he saw the gleam of the naked sword, and +guessed the soldier's errand. There was no time to spare; the royal +message was urgent. Perhaps one last message was sent to his +disciples; then he bowed his head before the stroke; the body fell +helpless here, the head there, and the spirit was free, with the +freedom of the sons of God, in a world where such as he stand among +their peers. Forerunner of the Bridegroom here, he was his forerunner +there also; and the Bridegroom's friend passed homeward to await the +Bridegroom's coming, where he ever hears the voice he loves. + +"And the soldier brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the +damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother." There would not be so +much talking while the tragedy was being consummated. The king and +courtiers must have been troubled under the spell of that horror, as +Belshazzar when the hand wrote in characters of mystery over against +the sacred candlestick. And when the soldier entered, carrying in the +charger that ghastly burden, they beheld a sight which was to haunt +some of them to their dying day. Often Herod would see it in his +dreams, and amid the light of setting suns. It would haunt him, and +fill his days and nights with anguish that all the witchery of Herodias +could not dispel. + +Months afterwards, when he heard of Jesus, the conscience-stricken +monarch said: "It is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded; he is risen +from the dead." And still afterwards, when Jesus Himself stood before +him, and refused to speak one word, he must have associated that +silence and his deed together, as having a fatal and necessary +connection. + +So the will, which had long paltered with the temptress, at last took +the fatal step, and perpetrated the crime which could never be undone. +There is always a space given, during which a tempted soul is allowed +time to withdraw from the meshes of the net of temptation. Sudden +falls have always been preceded by long dallying with Delilah. The +crashing of the tree to the earth has been prepared for by the ravages +of the borer-worm, which has eaten out its heart. + +If you have taken the fatal step, and marred your life by some sad and +disastrous sin, dare to believe that there is forgiveness for you with +God. Men may not forgive, but God will. As far as the east is from +the west, so far will He remove our transgressions from us. Perhaps we +can never again take up public Christian work; but we may walk humbly +and prayerfully with God, sure that we are accepted of Him, and +forgiven, though we can hardly forgive ourselves. + +But if we have not yet come to this, let us devoutly thank God, and be +on the watch against any influences that may drift us thither. We may +yet retreat. We may yet disentangle ourselves. We may yet receive +into our natures the living power of the Lord Jesus. We may yet cut +off the right hand and right foot, and pluck out the right eye, which +is causing us to offend. Better this, and go into life maimed, than be +cast, as Herod was, to the fire and worm of unquenchable remorse. + + + + +XV. + +The Grave of John, and Another Grave + +(MATTHEW XIV. 12.) + + "When some beloved voice, that was to you + Both sound and sweetness, faileth suddenly, + And silence, against which you dare not cry, + Aches round you like a strong disease and new,-- + What hope, what help, what music will undo + That silence to your sense? Not friendship's sigh, + Not reason's subtle count.... Nay, none of these! + Speak, Thou availing Christ!--and fill this pause." + E. B. BROWNING. + + +"Tell Jesus"--The Sin-Bearer--The Resurrection of Jesus--The Followers +of John, and of Jesus--"He is Risen!" + + +We have beheld the ghastly deed with which Herod's feast ended--the +golden charger, on which lay the freshly-dissevered head of the +Baptist, borne by Salome to her mother, that the two might gloat on it +together. Josephus says that the body was cast over the castle wall, +and lay for a time unburied. Whether that were so, we cannot tell; +but, in some way, John's disciples heard of the ghastly tragedy, which +had closed their master's life, and they came to the precincts of the +castle to gather up the body as it lay dishonoured on the ground, or +ventured into the very jaws of death to request that it might be given +to them. In either case, it was a brave thing for them to do; an +altogether heroic exploit, which may be classed in the same category +with that of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, who travelled all night through +the country infested by the Philistines to rescue the bodies of Saul +and his sons from the temple of Bethshan. + +The headless body was then borne to a grave, either in the grim, gaunt +hills of Moab, or in that little village, away on the southern slopes +of the Judaean hills, where, some thirty years before, the aged pair +had rejoiced over the growing lad. God knows where that grave lies; +and some day it will yield up to honour and glory the body which was +sown in weakness and corruption. + +Having performed the last sad rites, the disciples "went and told +Jesus." Every mourner should go along the path they trod, to the same +gentle and tender Comforter; and if any who read these words have +placed within the narrow confines of a grave the precious remains of +those dearer than life, let them follow where John's disciples have +preceded them, to the one Heart of all others in the universe which is +able to sympathize and help; because it also has sorrowed unto tears at +the grave of its beloved, even though it throbbed with the fulness of +the mighty God. Go, and tell Jesus! + +The telling will bring relief. Though the great High-Priest knows all +the story, He loves to hear it told, because of the relief which the +recital necessarily imparts to the surcharged soul. He will tell you +that your brother shall rise again; that your child is safe in the +flowery meadows of Paradise; that those whom you have loved and lost +are engaged in high service amid the ministries of eternity; that every +time-beat is bringing nearer the moment of inseparable union. + +It is not, however, on these details that we desire to dwell, but to +use the scenes before us as a background and contrast to magnify +certain features in the death, grave, and abiding influence of Jesus of +Nazareth. + + +I. CONTRAST THE DEATH OF JOHN AND THAT OF JESUS.--There were many +points of similarity between their careers. These two rivers sprang +from the same source, in a quiet glen far up among the hills; lay in +deep lagoons during their earlier course; leapt down in the same mighty +torrent when their time had come; and for the first few miles watered +the same tract of country. + +It would be possible to enumerate a large number of identical facts of +the life-courses of the two cousins. Their births were announced, and +their ministries anticipated, under very special circumstances; Mary +was unmarried, and Elisabeth past age--and an angel of the Lord came to +each. John seemed, to the superficial view, the stronger and mightier +of the two; but Jesus followed close behind and took up a similar +burden, as He bade the people repent and believe the Gospel. They were +alike in attending no prophetic school, and avoiding each of the great +Jewish sects. Neither Hillel nor Shammai could claim them. They had +no ecclesiastical connections; they stood aloof from the Pharisees and +Sadducees, the Herodians and Essenes. They attracted similar +attention, gathered the same crowds, and protested against the same +sins. Rearing the same standard, they summoned men from formality and +hypocrisy to righteousness and reality. They incurred the same hatred +on the part of the religious leaders of their nation, and suffered +violent deaths--the one beneath the headsman's blade in the dungeons of +Herod's castle, the other on the cross, at the hand of Pilate and the +Roman soldiers. Each suffered a death of violence at the hand of men +whom he had lived to succour; each died when the life-blood throbbed +with young manhood's prime, and while there was sweet fragrance as of +early summer; each was loved and mourned by a little handful of devoted +followers. + +But there the similarity ends, and the contrast begins. With John, it +was the tragic close of a great and epoch-making career. When he died +men said--Alas! a prophet's voice is silenced. What a pity that in a +moment of passion the tyrant took his life! Let him sleep! Rest will +be sweet to one who expended his young strength with such spendthrift +extravagance! Such men are rare! Ages flower thus but once, and then +years of barrenness! But as we turn to the death of Jesus, other +feelings than those of pity or regret master us. We are neither +surprised, nor altogether sorry. We do not recognise that there is in +any sense an end of his work--rather it is the beginning. The corn of +wheat has fallen into the ground to die, that it may not abide alone, +but bear much fruit. Here, at the Cross, is the head of waters, rising +from unknown depths, which are to heal the nations; here the sacrifice +is being offered which is to expiate the sin of man, and bring peace to +myriads of penitents; here the last Adam at the tree undoes the deadly +work wrought by the first at another tree. This is no mere martyr's +last agony; but a sacrifice, premeditated, prearranged, the effects of +which have already been prevalent in securing the remission of sins +done aforetime. This is an event for which millenniums have been +preparing, and to which millenniums shall look back. John's death +affected no destiny but his own; the death of Jesus has affected the +destiny of our race. As his forerunner explained, He was the Lamb of +God who bore away the sin of the world. The Lord hath laid on Him the +iniquity of us all. + +But there is another contrast. In the case of John, the martyr had no +control on his destiny; he could not order the course of events; there +was no alternative but to submit. When he opened his ministry, he had +no thought that such a fate would befall. As he stood boldly forth +upon his rock-hewn pulpit, and preached to the eager crowds, do you +suppose that the idea ever flashed across his mind that his path, +carpeted with flowers and lined on either side with applause, could end +in the loneliness of a desert track, lying across a barren waste where +no man dwelt or came, and where the vast expanse engulphs the last cry +of the perishing? But, from the first, Jesus meant to die. If, eight +centuries ago, you had seen the first outlines drawn of the Cologne +Cathedral, whose noble structure has been brought to completion within +only the last decades, you would have been convinced that the completed +fabric would enclose a cross; so the life of Jesus, from the earliest, +portended Calvary. He had received power and commandment from the +Father to lay down his life. For this cause He was born, and for this +He came into the world. Others die because they have been born: Jesus +was born that He might die. + +In his great picture of the Carpenter's shop, Millais depicts the +shadow of the Cross, flung back by the growing lad, on the wall, +strongly-defined in the clear oriental light. Mary beholds it with a +look of horror on her face. The thought is a true one. From the +earliest, the Cross cast its shadow over the life of the Son of Man. +He was never deceived as to his ultimate destiny. He told Nicodemus +that He must be lifted up. He knew that as the Good Shepherd He would +have to give his life for the sheep. He assured his disciples that He +would be delivered up to the chief priests and scribes, who would +condemn Him to death, crucify, and slay. Man does not need primarily +the teacher, the example, nor the miracle-worker; but the Saviour who +can stand in his stead, and put away his sin by the sacrifice of +Himself. When the soul is burdened with the weight of its sins, and +the conscience is ill at ease, whither can we turn save to the Cross, +on which the Prince of Glory died! + +What answer and explanation can be given to account for the marvellous +spell that the Cross of Christ exerts over the hearts of men? You +cannot trace it to the influence of early association merely, or to the +effect of heredity, or to the fact of our having come of generations +which have turned to the green hill far away, in life and death; +because if you take the preaching of the Cross to savage and heathen +tribes, who have no advantage of Christian centuries behind them, +whenever you begin to explain its significance, the sob of the soul is +hushed, and its dread dissipated. Tears of anguish are changed into +tears of penitence. The shuttles of a new hope begin to weave the +garments of a new purity. No other death affects us thus or effects so +immediate a transformation. And may not this be cited as the proof +that the death of Jesus is unique; the supreme act of love; the gift of +that Father-heart which knew the need of the world, and the only way of +appeasing it? + + +II. CONTRAST THE GRAVE OF JOHN AND THAT OF JESUS.--Men have alleged +that the Lord did not really rise from the dead, and that the tale of +his resurrection, if it were not a fabrication, was the elaboration of +a myth. But neither of these alternatives will bear investigation. On +the one hand, it is absurd to suppose that the temple of truth could be +erected on the quagmire and morass of falsehood--impossible to believe +that the one system in the world of mind which has attracted the true +to its allegiance, and been the stimulus of truth-seeking throughout +the ages, can have originated in a tissue of deliberate falsehoods. On +the other hand, it is a demonstrated impossibility that a myth could +have found time to grow into the appearance of substantial fact during +the short interval which elapsed between the death of Christ and the +first historical traces of the Church. + +In this connection, it is interesting to consider one sentence dropped +by the sacred chronicler. He tells us, that when Herod heard of the +works of Jesus, he said immediately, "It is John the Baptist--he is +risen from the dead." Herod could not believe that that mighty +personality was quenched, even for this life, by that one blow of the +executioner's sword. Surely he had risen! There was a feverish dread +that he would yet be confronted by the murdered man, whose face haunted +his dreams. His courtiers, ready to take the monarch's cue, would be +equally credulous. From one to another the surmise would pass--"John +the Baptist is risen from the dead." + +Why, then, did that myth not spread, until it became universally +accredited? Ah, there was no chance of such a thing, for the simple +reason that there was the grave of John the Baptist to disprove it. If +Herod had seriously believed it, or the disciples of John attempted to +spread it, nothing would have been easier than to exhume the body from +its sepulture, and produce the ghastly but indubitable refutation of +the royal delusion. + +When the statement began to spread and gain credence that Christ had +risen from the dead; when Peter and John stood up and affirmed that He +was living at the right hand of God; if it had been a mere surmise, the +fond delusion of loyal and faithful hearts, an hallucination of two or +three hysterical women--would it not have been easy for the enemies of +Christianity to go forthwith to the grave in the garden of Joseph, and +produce the body of the Crucified, with the marks of the nails in hands +and feet? Why did they not do it? If it be said that it could not be +produced, because it had been taken away, let this further question be +answered: Who had taken it away? Not his friends; for they would have +taken the cerements and wrappings with which Joseph and Nicodemus had +enswathed it. Not his enemies; for they would have been only too glad +to produce it. What glee in the grim faces of Caiaphas and Annas, if +at the meeting of the Sanhedrim, called to deal with the new heresy, +there could have been given some irrefragable proof that the body of +Jesus was still sepulchred, if not in Joseph's tomb, yet somewhere +else, to which their emissaries had conveyed it! + +It is difficult to exaggerate the significance and force of this +contrast. And the devout soul cannot but derive comfort from comparing +the allegation of the superstitious king, which could have been so +easily refuted by the production of the Baptist's body, with that of +the disciples, which was confirmed and attested by the condition of the +grave which, in spite of the watch and ward of the Roman soldiers, had +been despoiled of its prey on the morning of the third day. Herod +expected John to rise, and gave his royal authority to the rumour of +his resurrection; but it fell to the ground still-born. The disciples +did not expect Jesus to rise. They stoutly held that the women were +mistaken, when they brought to them the assurance that it was even so. +But as the hours passed, the tidings of the empty grave were +corroborated by the vision of the Risen Lord, and they were convinced +that He who was crucified in weakness was living by the power of God. +There could, henceforth, be no hesitation in their message to the +world. "The God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye +denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him +go.... But ye killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the +dead." Thank God, we have not followed cunningly-devised fables. "Now +is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that +slept. And as by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of +the dead." + + +III. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE EFFECTS OF THEIR TWO DEATHS ON THE +FOLLOWERS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST AND OF JESUS RESPECTIVELY.--What a +picture for an artist of sacred subjects is presented by the +performance of the last rites to the remains of the great Forerunner! +There was probably neither a Joseph nor a Nicodemus among his +disciples; certainly no Magdalene nor mother. Devout men bore him to +his grave, and made great lamentation over him. He had taught them to +pray, to know God, to prepare for the Kingdom of God. They had also +fasted oft beneath his suggestion; but they were destined to experience +what fasting meant, after a new fashion, now that their leader was +taken away from them. + +The little band broke up at his grave. Farewell! they said to him; +farewell to their ministry and mission; farewell to one another. "I go +back to my boats and fishing-nets," said one; and "I to my farm," said +another; and "We shall go and join Jesus of Nazareth," said the rest. +"Good-bye!" "Good-bye!" And so the little band separated, never to +meet in a common corporate existence again. + +When Jesus lay in his grave, this process of disintegration began at +once among his followers also. The women went to embalm Him; the men +were apart. Peter and John broke off together--at least they ran +together to the sepulchre; but where were the rest? Two walked to +Emmaus apart; whilst Thomas was not with them when Jesus came on the +evening of Easter Day. As soon as the breath leaves the body +disintegration begins; and when Jesus was dead, as they supposed, the +same process began to show itself. Soon Peter would have been back in +Gennesaret; Nathanael beneath his fig-tree, Luke in his dispensary, and +Matthew at his toll-booth. + +What arrested that process and made it impossible? Why did the day, +which began with a certain amount of separation and decay, end with a +closer consolidation than ever, so that they were, for the most part, +gathered in the upper room; and forty days after they were all with one +accord in one place? Why was it that they who had been like timid +deer, before He died, became as lions against the storm of Pharisaic +hate, and stronger as the weeks passed? + +There is only one answer to these questions. The followers of Jesus +were convinced by irrefragable proofs that their Master was living at +the right hand of power; nay, that He was with them all the +days--nearer them than ever before, as much their Head and Leader as at +any previous moment. When the shepherd is smitten, the flock is +scattered; and this flock was not scattered, because the Shepherd had +recovered from his mortal wound, and was alive for evermore. + +And surely the evidence which sufficed for them is enough for us. +Again and again, in dark hours, when I have longed to have the +demonstration of sense added to that of faith, it has been an untold +comfort to feel that sufficient evidence was given to the Lord's +disciples to persuade them against their contrary expectations and +unbelief; to hold them together in spite of every possible inducement +to disperse, and to transform a number of units into the Church, +against which the gates of hell have not been able to prevail. If they +were convinced, we may be. If their eyes beheld and their hands +touched the body of the risen Lord, we may be of good cheer. Their +behaviour proves that they were thoroughly convinced. They acted as +only those can act whose feet are on a rock. They knew whom they had +believed; and they had no doubt that He would perfect the work which He +had begun. What He had begun in the flesh, He would perfect in the +Spirit. + +In after days Peter spoke of Him as the Prince, or File-leader of Life; +and suggests the conception, that through all the ages He is marching +on through the gates of death and the grave, unlocking them for us, and +opening the pathway into the realms of more and more abundant life. +Let us follow Him. It is not for us to linger around the grave: even +John's disciples forbore to do this. But let us join ourselves by +faith with our Prince and Leader, our Head and Captain, as He waits to +succour us from the excellent glory, sure that where He is, we too +shall be; but in the meanwhile we are assured that He is not in the +grave, where loving hands laid Him, but risen, ascended, glorified--our +Emmanuel, our Bridegroom, our Love and Life. "The Lord is my Shepherd, +I shall not want: ... He leadeth me, ... He maketh me to lie down; +... He restoreth my soul.... Though I walk through the valley of the +shadow of death, ... Thou _art_ with me." + + + + +XVI. + +Yet Speaking. + +(JOHN X. 40-42.) + + "Shine Thou upon us, Lord, + True Light of men, to-day; + And through the written Word + Thy very self display; + That so from hearts which burn + With gazing on Thy face, + Thy little ones may learn + The wonders of Thy grace." + J. ELLERTON. + + +Desert Solitudes--Modern Miracles--Our own Age--Nothing Common or +Unclean--How to Witness for Jesus--After Many Days + + +"Beyond Jordan!" To the Jews that dwelt at Jerusalem that was +banishment indeed. The tract of country beyond Jordan was known as +Perea, and was very sparsely populated. There were some tracts of +fertile country, dotted by a few scattered villages, but no one of +repute lived there; and the refinement, religious advantages, and +social life of the metropolis, were altogether absent. Perea was to +Jerusalem what the Highlands, a century ago, were to Edinburgh. There +our Lord spent the last few months of his chequered career. + +But why? Why did the Son of Man banish Himself from the city He loved +so dearly? Surely the home at Bethany would have welcomed Him? Or, +failing this, for any reason over which the sisters had no control, He +might have found a temporary home at Nazareth, where He had been +brought up; or Capernaum, in which He had wrought so many of his mighty +works, might have provided Him a palace, whose white marble steps would +have been lapped by the blue waters of the lake! Not so! The Son of +Man had not where to lay his head. The nation, whose white flower He +was, had rejected Him; and the world, for which He came to shed his +blood, knew Him not. The religious leaders of the age were pursuing +Him with relentless malice, and would have taken his life before the +predestined hour had arrived, had He not escaped from their hands, and +gone away "beyond Jordan into the place where John was at the first +baptizing; and there He abode: and many came unto Him." + +There was a peculiar fascination to the Lord Jesus in those solitudes, +because of their connection with the Forerunner. Those desert +solitudes had been black with crowds of men. Those hill-slopes had +been covered with booths and tents, in which the mighty congregations +tabernacled, whilst they waited on his words. Those banks had +witnessed the baptism of thousands of people, who, in the symbolic act +of baptism, had put away their sins. And the villagers, who lived +around, could tell wonderful tales of the radiant opening of that brief +but epoch-making ministry; they could speak for hours together about +the habits of the austere preacher, and the marvellous power of his +eloquence. + +As Jesus and his disciples wandered from place to place, Andrew would +indicate the spot where he was baptized; and John and he would recall +together the place where they were standing when their great teacher +and master pointed to Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold the Lamb of +God." Bartholomew would find again the spot where Jesus accosted him +as the guileless Israelite, a salutation for which also he had been +prepared by the preaching of the Forerunner. Two or three could +localize the scene where the deputation from the Sanhedrim accosted the +Baptist with the enquiry, "Who art thou?" + +It was as though, years after the Battle of Waterloo, some soldiers of +the Iron Duke had visited the historic cornfields, and had recited +their reminiscences of the memorable incidents of that memorable fight. +Here the long, thin red line stood during the whole day. There +Napoleon waited to see the effect of the last charge of his cavalry. +Yonder, through the wood, Blucher's troops hurried to reinforce their +brothers in arms. And down those slopes the old Guard broke with a +cheer, as the Duke gave the long-looked-for word. It was in some such +spirit that our Lord and his apostles revisited those scenes, where +many of them had seen the gate of heaven opened for the first time. + +Probably our Lord would resume his ministry of preaching the good +tidings. He could not be in any place where the sins and sorrows of +men called for his gracious words, without speaking them; and to Him +they probably brought the lame, the blind, the sick, and paralyzed--and +He healed them all. Many came to Him, and went away blessed and +helped. So much so, that the people could not help contrasting the two +ministries. There was a touch of disparagement in their comments on +the Baptist's ministry. "They said, John indeed did no miracle." No +lame man had leaped as an hart; the tongue of no dumb man had sung; no +widow had received her son raised to life from his hands; no leper's +flesh had come to him, as the flesh of a little child. It was quite +true--John had done no miracle. + +But with this slight disparagement, there was a generous tribute and +acknowledgment. "But all things whatsoever John spake of this Man were +true." He said that He was the Lamb of God, pure and gentle, holy, +harmless, and undefiled; _and it was true_. He said that He would use +his fan, separating the wheat from the chaff; _and it was true_. He +said that He would baptize with fire; _and it was true_. He said that +He was the Bridegroom of Israel; _and it was true_. He did no miracle, +but he spoke strong, true words of Jesus, and they have been abundantly +verified. And these simple-hearted people of Perea did what the +Pharisees and scribes, with all their fancied wisdom, had failed to do: +they put the words of the Baptist and the life of Jesus together, and +reasoned that since this had fitted those, as a key fits the lock, +therefore Jesus was indeed the Son of God and the King of Israel; and +"many believed on Him there." + + +I. LIFE WITHOUT MIRACLES.--The people were inclined to disparage the +life of John because there was no miracle in it. But surely his whole +life was a miracle; from first to last it vibrated with Divine power. +And did he work no miracle? If he did not open the eyes of the blind, +did not multitudes, beneath his words, come to see themselves sinners, +and the world a passing show, and the Eternal as alone enduring and +desirable? If he did not lay his priestly hand on leprous flesh, as +Jesus did, did not many a moral leper go from the waters of his +baptism, with new resolves and purposes, to sin no more? If he did not +raise dead bodies, did not many, who were immured in the graves of +pride, and lust, and worldliness, hear his voice, and come forth to the +life--which is life indeed? No miracles! Surely his life was one long +pathway of miracle, from the time of his birth of aged parents, to the +last moment of his protest against the crimes of Herod! + +This is still the mistake of men. They allege that the age of miracles +has passed. If they admit that such prodigies may possibly have +happened once, they insist that the world has grown out of them, and +that with its arrival at maturity the race has put them away as +childish things. God, they think, is either Absentee, or the Creature +of Laws, which He established, and which now hold Him, as the +graveclothes held Lazarus. No miracles! But last summer He made the +handfuls of grain, which the farmers cast on the fields, suffice to +feed all the population of the globe--as easily as He made five barley +loaves provide a full meal for more than ten thousand persons. No +miracles! But last autumn, in ten thousand vineyards, He turned the +dews of the night and the showers of the morning into the wine that +rejoices man's heart; as once, in Cana, He changed the water drawn from +the stone jars into the blushing wine. No miracles! Explain, then, +why it is, that though ice is of denser specific gravity than water, it +does not sink to the bottom of rivers and ponds, by which they would be +speedily transformed into masses of ice, but floats on the surface of +the water, affording a pathway across from bank to brae, as Jesus once +walked on the water from the shores of the Lake of Galilee! No +miracles! It was only yesterday that He cleansed a leper; and healed a +sin-sick soul; and raised from his bier a young man dead in trespasses +and sins; and took a maiden by the hand, saying, Talitha cumi, "Maid, +arise!" As I passed by, I saw Him strike a rock, and torrents of tears +gushed out: I beheld a tree, with its sacred burden, and the +serpent-poison ceased to inflame: I saw the iron swim against its +natural bent, and the lion crouch as though it beheld an angel of God +with a flaming sword. Again, the seas made a passage for the +sacramental hosts, and the waters shrank away before the touch of the +Priestly feet, making a passage through the depths. No; it is still +the age of miracles. + +_Let us not disparage the age in which we live_. To look back on the +Day of Pentecost with a sigh, as though there were more of the Holy +Spirit on that day than to-day; and as though there were a larger +Presence of God in the upper room than in the room in which you sit, is +a distinct mistake and folly. We may not have the sound as of a +rushing mighty wind, nor the crowns of fire; there is no miracle to +startle and arrest: but the Holy Spirit is with the Church in all the +old gracious and copious plenitude; the river is sweeping past in +undiminished fulness; though there may not be the flash of the electric +spark, the atmosphere is as heavily charged as ever with the presence +and power of the Divine Paraclete. The Lord said of the +Baptist--though he wrought no miracle--that there was none greater of +those born of woman; and perchance He is pronouncing that this age is +greater than all preceding ages in its possibilities. In His view, it +may be that greater deeds may be attempted and accomplished by the +Church of to-day than ever in that past age, when she grappled with and +vanquished the whole force of Paganism. + +If there is any failure, it is with ourselves. We have not believed in +the mighty power and presence of God, because we have missed the +outward and visible sign of his working. We have thought that He was +not here, because He has not been in the fire, the earthquake, or the +mighty wind which rends the mountains. We have become so accustomed to +associate the startling and spectacular with the Divine, that we fail +to discover God, when the heaven is begemmed with stars, and the earth +carpeted with flowers: as though the lightning were more to us than +starlight, and the destructive than the peaceful and patient +constructive forces, which are ever at work building up and repairing +the fabric of the universe. + +Do not look back on the Incarnation, or forward to the Second Advent, +as though there were more of God in either one or the other than is +within our reach. God is; God is here; God is indivisible: all of God +is present at any given point of time or place. He may choose to +manifest Himself in outward signs, which impress the imagination more +at one time than another; the faith of the Church maybe quicker to +apprehend and receive in one century than the next: but all time is +great--every age is equally his workmanship, and equally full of his +wonder-working power. Alas for us, that our eyes are holden! + +_Let us not disparage the ordinary and commonplace_. We are all taught +to run after the startling and extraordinary--the statesman who +accomplishes the _coup d'etat_; the painter who covers a large canvas +with a view to scenic effects; the preacher who indulges in superficial +and showy rhetoric, the musician whose execution is brilliant and +astonishing. We like miracles! Whatever appeals to our love for the +sensational and unexpected is likely enough to displace our +appreciation of the simple and ordinary. When the sun is eclipsed, we +all look heavenward; but the golden summer days may be filled with +sunlight, which is dismissed with a commonplace remark about the +weather. A whole city will turn out to see the illuminations, whilst +the stars hardly attract a passing notice. Let there be a show of +curiously-shaped orchids, and society is stirred; but who will travel +far to see a woodland glade blue with wild hyacinths, or a meadow-lawn +besprent with daisies. Thus our tastes are vitiated and blinded. + +It is good to cultivate simple tastes. The pure and childlike heart +will find unspeakable enjoyment in all that God has made, though it be +as familiar as a lawn sparkling with dewdrops, a hay-field scented by +clover-blooms, a streamlet murmuring over the pebbles, or the drawl of +the shingle after a retreating wave. It is a symptom of a weak and +unstable nature to be always in search for some new thing, for some +greater sensation, for some more startling sign. "Show us a sign from +heaven," is the incessant cry of the Pharisee and Scribe: and when the +appetite has been once created, it can never be appeased, but is always +set on some novelty more marvellous and startling than anything which +has preceded. Be content with a holy ministry which does not dazzle by +its fireworks, but sheds a steady sunshine on the sacred page. +Cultivate familiarity with the grand, solid works of our English +literature. Avoid the use of extravagant adjectives. Take an interest +in the games of children; in the common round and daily task of +servants and employes; in the toils and tears of working-girls; in the +struggling lot of the charwoman who scrubs your floors, and the lad who +cleans your boots. Do not be always gaping at the window for bands to +come down the street; but be on the pavement before your house with a +helping-hand and kindly word for the ordinary folk that labour and are +heavy-laden. It is remarkable that in all these there are tragedies +and comedies; the raw material for novels and romances; the characters +which fill the pages of a Shakespeare or George Eliot. All life is so +interesting; but we need eyes to see, and hearts to understand. There +has been no age greater than this; there is no part of the world more +full of God than yours; there is no reason why you should not see +Madonnas in the ordinary women, and Last Suppers in the ordinary meals, +and Holy Families in the ordinary groups around you--if only you have +the anointed eyes of a Raffaelle or a Leonardo de Vinci. If the world +seems common or unclean to you, the fault lies in your eyes that have +made it so. + +_Let us not disparage ourselves_. We know our limitations; we are not +capable of working miracles--our best friends are well acquainted with +this, for no eyes are quicker than Love's. We are sparrows, not larks; +clay, not alabaster; deal, not mahogany. But if we cannot work +miracles, we can speak true, strong words about Jesus Christ; we can +bear witness to Him as the Lamb of God; we can urge men to repent and +believe the Gospel. The world would have been in a sorry plight if it +had depended entirely on its geniuses and miracle-workers. Probably it +owes less to them than to the untold myriads of simple, humble, +obscure, and commonplace people, whose names will never be recorded in +its roll-call, but whose lives have laid the foundations on which the +superstructure of good order, and government, and prosperity, has been +reared. + +Remember that God made you what you are, and placed you. Dare to be +yourself--a simple, humble, sincere follower of Jesus. Do not seek to +imitate this or the other great speaker or leader. Be content to find +out what God made you for, and be that at its best. You will be a bad +copy, but a unique original; for the Almighty always breaks the pattern +from which He has made one vase. Above all, speak out the truth, as +God has revealed it to you, distorting, exaggerating, omitting nothing; +and long after you have passed away, those who remember you will gather +at your grave and say, "he did no miracle--there was nothing +sensational or phenomenal in his life-work; but he spake true things +about Jesus Christ, which we have tested for ourselves, and are +undeniable. Indeed, they led us to believe in Him for ourselves." + + +II. THE WAYS IN WHICH WE MAY BEAR TESTIMONY TO THE LORD JESUS.--There +is no miracle in your life, my reader. You are no genius; you do not +know what it is to have the rush of thought, the power of brilliant +speech, the burst of song. You have no wealth, only just enough for +your bare sustenance, and nothing to spare. You have no rich blood in +your veins, come of a line of heroes or saints. As you look daily into +the common routine of your lot, it seems ordinary enough. Be it so; +there is at least one thing you can do, as we have seen--like the +Baptist, you may witness for Jesus. + +_Speak to others privately_. When only two disciples were standing +beside him, John preached the same sermon as he had delivered to the +crowd the day before, and both of them went to the frail lodging where +Jesus was making his abode. There is nothing that more deeply searches +a man than the habit of speaking to individuals about the love of God. +We cannot do it unless we are in living union with Himself. Nothing so +tests the soul. It is easy to preach a sermon, when the inner life is +out of fellowship with God, because you can preach your ideals, or +avenge on others the sins of which you are inwardly conscious; but to +speak to another about Christ involves that there should be an +absolutely clear sky between the speaker and the Lord of whom he +speaks. But as this practice is the most difficult, it is the most +blessed in its reflex influence. To lead another to Jesus is to get +nearer Him. To chafe the limbs of some frozen companion is to send the +warm blood rushing through your own veins. To go after one lost sheep +is to share the shepherd's joy. Whether by letters addressed to +relatives or companions, or by personal and direct appeal, let each one +of us adopt the sacred practice, which Mr. Moody followed and +commended, of allowing no day to pass without seeking to use some +opportunity given by God for definite, personal dealings with others. + +The apostle Andrew seems to have specially consecrated his life to +this. On each of the occasions he is referred to in the Gospels he is +dealing with individuals. He brought his own brother; was the first to +seek after a boy to bring to the Saviour's presence; and at the close +of our Lord's ministry he brings the seeking Greeks. Did he not learn +this blessed art from his master, the Baptist? + +It is requisite that there should be the deliberate resolution to +pursue this holy habit; definite prayer for guidance as one issues from +the morning hour of prayer; abiding fellowship with the Son of God, +that He may give the right word at the right moment; and a willingness +to open the conversation by some manifestation of the humble, loving +disposition begotten by the Holy Spirit, which is infinitely attractive +and beautiful to the most casual passer-by. + +_Speak experimentally_. "I saw and bare record." John spoke of what +he had seen, and tasted, and handled. Be content to say, "I was lost, +but Jesus found me, blind, and He gave me sight; unclean, and He +cleansed my heart." Nothing goes so far to convince another as to hear +the accent of conviction on the lips of one whose eyes survey the +landscape of truth to which he allures, and whose ears are open to the +eternal harmonies which he describes. + +_Speak from a full heart_. The lover cannot but speak about his love; +the painter can do no other than transfer to canvas the conceptions +that entrance his soul; the musician is constrained to give utterance +to the chords that pass in mighty procession through his brain. "We +cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard." + +Does it seem difficult to have always a full heart? Verily, it is +difficult, and impossible, unless the secret has been acquired of +abiding always in the love of God, of keeping the entire nature open to +the Holy Spirit, and of nourishing the inward strength by daily +meditation on the truth. We must close our senses to the sounds and +sights around us, that our soul may open to the unseen and eternal. We +must have deep and personal fellowship with the Father and the Son by +the Holy Ghost. We must live at first-hand on the great essentials of +our faith. Then, as the vine-sap arises from the root, its throb and +pulse will be irresistible in our behaviour and testimony. We shall +speak true things about Jesus Christ. Our theme will be evermore the +inexhaustible one of Christ--Christ, only Christ--not primarily the +doctrine about Him, or the benefits accruing from fellowship with Him, +but Himself. + +Thus, some day, at your burying, as men turn homewards from the +new-made grave, and speak those final words of the departed, which +contain the most unerring verdict and summing-up of the life, they will +say, "He will be greatly missed. He was no genius, not eloquent nor +profound; but he used to speak about Christ in such a way that he led +me to know Him for myself: I owe everything to him. He did no miracle; +but whatever he said of Jesus was true." + + +III. THE POWER OF POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.--John had been dead for many +months, but the stream he had set flowing continued to flow; the +harvests he sowed sprang into mature and abundant fruitage; the +wavelets of tremulous motion which he had started circled out and on. + +How many voices are speaking still in our lives--voices from the grave! +voices from dying beds! voices from books and sermons! voices from +heaven! "Being dead, they yet speak." Let us live so that, when we +are gone, our influence shall tell, and the accents of our voice +linger. No one lives or dies to himself. Each grain on the +ocean-shore affects the position of every other. Each star is needed +for the perfect balance of the spheres. Each of us is affecting the +lives of all that are now existing with us in the world, or will exist. +To untold ages, what we have been and said will affect all other beings +for good or ill. We may be forgiven for having missed our +opportunities, or started streams of poison instead of life; but the +ill effect can never be undone. + +Parents, put your hands on those young childish heads, and say pure, +sweet words of Christ, which will return to memory and heart long after +you have gone to your reward! Ministers of religion, and Sunday school +teachers, remember your tremendous responsibility to use to the +uttermost the opportunity of saying words which will never die! +Friend, be true and faithful with your friend; he may turn away in +apparent thoughtlessness or contempt, but no right word spoken for +Christ can ever really die. It will live in the long after years, and +bear fruit, as the seeds hidden in the old Egyptian mummy-cases are +bearing fruit to-day in English soil. + + + + +XVII. + +The Spirit and Power of Elias. + +(LUKE I. 17.) + + "Oh, may I join the choir invisible + Of those immortal dead who live again + In minds made better by their presence: live + In pulses stirred to generosity; + In deeds of daring rectitude; in scorn + For miserable aims that end with self; + In thoughts sublime that pierce the night like stars, + And with their mild persistence urge man's search + To vaster issues." + + +The Old Covenant and the New--Elijah and the Baptist--A Parallel--The +Servant inferior to the Lord--The Baptism of the Holy Ghost--The +Indwelling Spirit + + +Great men are God's greatest gifts to our race; and it is only by their +interposition that mankind is able to step up to higher and better +levels of life. The doctrine of evolution is supposed to explain the +history of the universe. Men would have us believe that certain forces +have been set in motion which have elaborated this great scheme of +which we are a part, and the evolutionist would go so far as to say +that man himself has been evolved from protoplasm, and that the brains +of a Socrates, of a Milton, or of any genius who has left his mark upon +the world, have simply emanated from the whole process which culminates +in them. We believe, on the contrary, that at distinct points in the +history of the universe, there has been a direct interposition of the +will and hand of God; and it is remarkable that in the first chapter of +Genesis that august and majestic word _create_ is three times +introduced, as though the creation of matter, the creation of the +animal world, and the creation of man, were three distinct stages, at +which the direct interposition of the will and workmanship of the +Eternal was specially manifest. Similarly, we believe that there have +been great epochs in human history, which cannot be accounted for by +the previous evolution of moral and religious thought, and which must +be due to the fact that God Himself stepped in, and by the direct +raising up of a man, who became the apostle of the new era, lifted the +race to new levels of thought and action. It is in this light that we +view the two illustrious men who were, each in his own measure, the +apostles of new epochs in human history--Elijah in the old Covenant, +and John the Baptist in the new. + +It is remarkable that the prophet Malachi tells us that the advent of +the Messiah should be preceded and heralded by Elijah the prophet; and +that Gabriel, four hundred years after, said that John the Baptist, +whose birth he announced, would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. +This double prediction was referred to by our Lord when, descending +from the Mount of Transfiguration, in conversation with the apostles, +He indicated John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to come. And, +indeed, there was a marvellous similarity between these two men, though +each of them is dwarfed into insignificance by the unique and original +personality of the Son of Man, who towers in inaccessible glory above +them. + + +I. LET US INSTITUTE A COMPARISON BETWEEN ELIJAH THE TISHBITE, AND JOHN +THE BAPTIST.--They resembled each other in dress. We are told that +Elijah was a hairy man--an expression which is quite as likely to refer +to the rough garb in which he was habited, as to the unshorn locks that +fell upon his shoulders. And John the Baptist wore a coarse dress of +camel's hair. + +Each of them sojourned in Gilead. In the remarkable sentence, which, +for the first time, introduces Elijah to the Bible and the world, we +are told that he was one of the sojourners in Gilead, that great tract +of country, thinly populated, and largely given over to shepherds and +their flocks, which lay upon the eastern side of the Jordan. And we +know that it was there amid the shaggy forests, and closely-set +mountains, with their rapid torrents, that John the Baptist waited, +fulfilled his ministry, preached to and baptized the teeming crowds. + +Each of them learnt to make the body subservient to the spirit. Elijah +was able to live on the sparse food brought by ravens, or provided from +the meal barrel of the widow, was able to outstrip the horses of Ahab's +chariot in their mad rush across the valley of Jezreel; and after a +brief respite, given to sleep and food, went in the strength of it for +forty days and nights, through the heart of the desert until he came to +Horeb, the Mount of God. His body was but the vehicle of the fiery +spirit that dwelt within; he never studied its gratification and +pleasure, but always handled it as the weapon to be wielded by his +soul. And what was true in his case, was so of John the Baptist, whose +food was locusts and wild honey. The two remind us of St. Bernard, who +tells us that he never ate for the gratification of taking food, but +only that he might the better serve God and man. + +We remember also that each of these heroic spirits was confronted by a +hostile court. In the case of Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel, together with +the priests of Baal and Astarte, withstood every step of his career; +and in the case of John the Baptist, Herod, Herodias, and the whole +drift of religious opinion, with its repeated deputations to ask who he +might be, dogged his steps, and ultimately brought him to a martyr's +end. + +How distinctly, also, in each case there was the consciousness of the +presence of God. One of the greatest words which man has ever uttered +was that in which Elijah affirmed, in the presence of king Ahab, that +he was conscious of standing at the same moment in the presence of the +Eternal: "And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead, +said unto Ahab, 'As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I +stand'"--a phrase afterwards used by Gabriel himself when he told +Zacharias that he was one of the presence angels. "And the angel +answering, said unto him, 'I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of +God.'" This consciousness of the Divine presence in his life revealed +itself in his great humility, when he cast himself on the ground with +his face between his knees; and in the unflinching courage which +enabled him to stand like a rock on Mount Carmel, when king, and +priest, and people, were gathered in their vast multitudes around him, +sufficient to daunt the spirit that had not beheld a greater than any. +This God-consciousness was especially manifest in the Baptist, who +referred so frequently to the nearness of the kingdom of God. "The +kingdom of heaven," he said, "is at hand." And when Jesus came, +unrecognised by the crowds, his high spirit prostrated itself, and his +very visage was shadowed with the vail of intense modesty and humility, +as he cried; "In the midst of you standeth One whom ye know not, the +latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." +Coupled with this sense of God, there was, in each case, a marvellous +fearlessness of man. When Obadiah met Elijah, and was astonished to +hear that the prophet was about to show himself to Ahab, Elijah +overbore his attempts to dissuade him, saying: I will certainly show +myself to thy master: go, tell him Elijah is here. And when afterwards +the heavenly fire had descended, and the prophets of Baal were standing +bewildered by their altar, he did not flinch from arresting the whole +crowd of them, leading them down to the valley of the Kishon brook +beneath and there slaying them, so that the waters ran crimson to the +sea. This fearlessness was also conspicuous in the Forerunner, who +dared to beard the king in his palace, asserting that he must be judged +by the same standard as the meanest of his subjects, and that it was +not lawful for him to have his brother's wife. + +To each there came moments of depression. In the case of Elijah, the +glory of his victory on the brow of Carmel was succeeded by the weight +of dark soul-anguish. Did he not cast himself, within twenty-four +hours, beneath the juniper tree of the desert, and pray that he might +die, because he was no better than his fathers--a mood which God, who +pities his children and remembers that they are dust, combated, not by +expostulation, but by sending him food and sleep, knowing that it was +the result of physical and nervous overstrain? And did not John the +Baptist from his prison cell send the enquiry to Jesus, as to whether, +after all, his hopes had been too glad, his anticipations too great, +and that perhaps after all He was not the Messiah for whom the nation +was waiting? + +Both Elijah and John the Baptist had the same faith in the baptism of +fire. We never can forget the scene on Carmel when Elijah proposed the +test that the God who answered by fire should be recognised as God; nor +how he erected the altar, and laid the wood, and placed the bullock +there, and drenched the altar with water; and how, in answer to his +faith, at last the fire fell. John the Baptist passed through no such +ordeal as that; but it was his steadfast faith that Christ should come +to baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. + +Each of them turned the hearts of the people back. It was as though +the whole nation were rushing towards the edge of the precipice which +overhung the bottomless pit, like a herd of frightened horses on the +prairie, and these men with their unaided hands turned them back. It +would be impossible for one man to turn back a whole army in mad +flight--he would necessarily be swept away in their rush; but this is +precisely what the expression attributes to the exertions of Elijah and +John. The one turned Israel back to cry, Jehovah, He is God; the other +turned the whole land back to repentance and righteousness, so that +publicans and soldiers, Sadducees and Pharisees, began to confess their +sin, put away their evil courses, and return to the God of their +fathers. + +Each prophet was succeeded by a gentler ministry. Elijah was sent from +Horeb to anoint Elisha, who, for the most part, passed through the land +like genial sunshine--a perpetual benediction to men, women, and +children; while John the Baptist opened the door for the Shepherd, +Christ, who went about doing good, and whose holy, tender ministry fell +on his times like rain on the mown grass. + +From the solitudes beyond the Jordan, as he walked with Elisha, talking +as they went, the chariot and horses of fire which the Father had sent +for his illustrious servant from heaven bore him homeward, while his +friends and disciples stood with outstretched hands, crying: The +chariot and horses of Israel are leaving us, bearing away our most +treasured leader. In those same solitudes, or within view of them, the +spirit of John the Baptist swept up in a similar chariot. As the +headsman, with a flash of his sword, put an end to his mortal career, +though no mortal eyes beheld them, and no chronicler has told the +story, there must have been horses and chariots of fire waiting to +convey the noble martyr-spirit to its God. The parallel is an +interesting one--it shows how God repeats Himself; and, if time and +space permitted, we might elaborate the repetition of a similar +conception, either in Savonarola of Florence, or in Martin Luther, or +in John Knox, who had been baptized into the same Spirit, and inspired +to perform the same ministry. That Spirit is waiting still--waiting to +clothe Himself with our life; waiting to do in us, and through us, +similar work for the time in which we live. What these men did far +back in the centuries, it is probable that others Will have to do +before this dispensation passes utterly away. A man, or men, shall +again rise up, who will tower over their fellows, who will speak and +act in the spirit and power of Elijah--men like Edward Irving, but +without the mistakes that characterized his heroic life. Perhaps some +young life may be inspired by this page to yield itself to God, so that +it may be sent forth to turn back the hearts and lives of vast +multitudes from their evil way, turning the heart of the fathers to +their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, to make +ready a people prepared for the Lord. + + +II. NOTICE THE INFERIORITY OF THESE GREAT MEN TO THE LORD.--Neither +Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, nor the eloquent Apollos, the disciple +of John the Baptist, would have dared to say of their respective +masters what Philip and Andrew, Peter and Thomas, habitually said of +Christ. Greatly as they revered and loved their masters, they knew +that they were men like themselves; that their nature was made in the +same mould, though, perhaps, of finer clay; that there were limitations +beyond which they could not go, and qualities of mind and soul in which +they were not perfected. They dared not say of them, "My Lord and my +God." They never thought of prostrating themselves at their feet in +worship; they never appealed to them after their decease as able to +hear and answer prayer from the heaven into which they had passed. + +Neither Elijah nor John had what Jesus asserted--the consciousness of +an unique union with God; neither of them dared to affirm, as Jesus +did, that he was the Son of God, in the sense that made other use of +that term blasphemy; neither of them thought of anticipating a moment +when he should be seen sitting at the right hand of power, and coming +in the clouds; neither of them dared to couple himself with Deity in +the sublime and significant pronoun _we_--"We will come and make our +abode with Him." Neither of them would have dreamed of accepting the +homage which Jesus took quite naturally, when men worshipped Him, and +women washed and kissed his feet: and I ask how it could be that Jesus +Christ, so essentially meek and lowly, so humble and unwilling to +obtrude Himself, should have spoken and acted so differently, unless +his nature had been separated by an impassable gulf from that of other +men, however saintly and gifted? The very fact that these men, +acknowledged amongst the greatest of our race, drew a line, and said: +Beyond that we cannot pass; we are conscious of defilement and need; we +require forgiveness and grace, equally with those to whom we minister. +And this compels on our part the acknowledgment that Jesus Christ was +all He claimed to be, and that He is worthy to receive glory, and +honour, and riches, and power, and blessing; for He is Man of men, the +second Man, the Lord from Heaven. + +Neither of these dared to offer himself as the Comforter and Saviour of +men. Elijah could only rebuke sin, which he did most strenuously; but +he had no panacea for the sin and sorrow of his countrymen. He could +bid them turn to God; and he did. But he could say nothing of any +inherent virtue, or power, which could proceed from him to save and +help. It was never suggested for a moment that he could act as +mediator between God and men, though he might be an intercessor. And +as for John the Baptist, though he deeply stirred the religious +convictions of his countrymen, he could only point to One who came +after him, and say: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin +of the world." But within six months after the commencement of his +ministry, Jesus says; "Son, thy sins are forgiven thee"; "The Son of +Man hath authority on earth to forgive sins"; "Daughter, thy sins, +which are many, are forgiven thee: go in peace"; and presently: "This +is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood, shed for many, for the +remission of sins", and again: "The Son of Man came to give his life a +ransom for many." Tell me of any, either in the story of Elijah or of +John the Baptist, to compare with these words, spoken by the lowest and +humblest being that ever trod time's sands? Does that not indicate +that He stood in a relationship to God and man which has never been +realized by another? + +Besides, neither of them introduced a new type of living. Their own +method of life seemed to indicate that there was sin in the body, or +sin in matter; and that the only way of holiness was by an austerity +that lived apart in the deserts, dreading and avoiding the presence of +men. That was a type of holiness which every great religious teacher +has followed; for you remember that Buddha used to say that all the +present is an illusion and a dream, while the realities await us +beyond. On the other hand, Jesus taught that the Redeemer was also the +Creator; that there was nothing common or unclean in man's original +constitution; that sin consisted not in certain actions, functions, or +duties--but in man's heart, and will, and choice; and that if a man +were only right there, all his nature and circumstances would become +illumined and transfigured by the indwelling Spirit. Let it never be +forgotten that Christ taught that God is not going to cancel the nature +which He Himself has bestowed in all its human and innocent out-goings, +but only to eliminate the self-principle which has cursed it--as you +would wish to take small-pox from the body of the little child, or the +taint out of the rotting flesh of the leper. + +O Christ, Thou standest pre-eminent in thy unparalleled glory! Let +Elijah and John the Baptist withdraw, but oh, do Thou tarry! To whom +shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. All the prophets +and kings of men without Thee will not suffice; but to have Thee is to +have all that is strong, and wise, and good, gathered up into the +perfect beauty of a man, with the Divine glory of the Infinite God. + + +III. HOW MAY WE HAVE THAT SAME SPIRIT?--John the Baptist came in the +spirit and power of Elijah: that spirit and power are for us too. Just +as the dawn touches the highest peaks of the Alps, and afterwards, as +the morning hours creep on, the tide of light passes down into the +valley, so the Spirit that smote that glorious pinnacle Elijah, and +that nearer pinnacle the Baptist, is waiting to descend upon and +empower us. + +We are all believers in Jesus, but did we receive the Holy Ghost when +we believed? (Acts xix. 2). When the great apostle of the Gentiles met +the little handful of John's disciples, gathered in the great +idolatrous city of Ephesus, the first word he addressed to them was the +eager enquiry, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost when ye believed?" And +they replied, "Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost +was given." In other words: We heard from our master, John, that +Jesus, of whom he spake, would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with +fire; but we have never heard of the fulfilment of his prediction--we +only know of Him, concerning whom our great leader so often spake, as +the great Teacher, Miracle-worker, and Sacrifice for the sins of the +people--but what more there is to tell and know we wait to hear from +thee. + +Then Paul explained that John's baptism had stood only for confession +and repentance: "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying +unto the people that they should believe on Him, which should come +after him, that is, on Jesus." Those who descended the shelving banks +of Jordan to be plunged beneath its arrowy waters, declared their +discontent with the past, their desire to be free of it, and their +belief in the Messianic character of Jesus of Nazareth, who was to +introduce a new and better age. + +But the apostle hastened to explain that this Jesus, whom the Jews had +delivered up and slain by wicked hands, was the Prince of Life; that +God had raised Him from the dead; and that being by the right hand of +God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy +Ghost, He had poured Him forth in mighty power on the waiting Church, +anointing it for its ministry to mankind. It was as though he had +said: Our Lord, on his Ascension, baptized those that had believed with +the Spirit of which Joel spake. The water of John's baptism symbolised +a negation, but this baptism is positive; it is as cleansing, purifying +flame; it was good to know Jesus after the flesh, it is a thousand +times better to know Him after the Spirit: and this gift is to us and +to our children, and to all that are far off, even as many as the Lord +our God shall call. + +When they heard this they were baptized into the name of the Lord +Jesus. They exalted Him to the throne of their hearts as the glorified +and ever-blessed Son of God. They directed their longing eyes towards +Him in his risen glory, that He should do for them as He had already +done for so many. And in answer to their expectant faith, the blessing +of Abraham came upon them--they received the promise of the Spirit by +faith; the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they were equipped for +witness-bearing in Ephesus by the very power which had rested once on +Elijah, and also on their first teacher and guide; and, as the result, +a revival broke out in that city of such magnitude that the magic books +were burned, and the trade of the silversmiths grievously injured. + +This power of the Holy Spirit is for us all. Of course we could not +believe in Jesus in the remission of sin, or the quickening of our +spiritual life, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit; but there is +something more than this, there is a power, an anointing, a gracious +endowment of fitness for service--which are the privilege of every +believer. The Holy Spirit is prepared, not only to be within us for +the renewal and sanctification of character, but to anoint us as He did +the Lord at his baptism. He waits to empower us to witness for Jesus, +to endure the persecution and trial which are inevitable to the +exercise of a God-given ministry, and to bring other men to God. It +would be well to tarry to receive it. It is better to wait for hours +for an express train than to start to walk the distance; the hours +spent in waiting will be more than compensated for by the rapidity with +which the traveller will be borne to his destination. Stay from your +work for a little, and wait upon the ascended, glorified Redeemer, in +whom the Spirit of God dwells. Ask Him to impart to you that which He +received on your behalf. Never rest until you are sure that the Spirit +dwells in you fully, and exercises through you the plenitude of his +gracious power. We cannot seek Him at the hand of Christ in vain. +Dare to believe this: dare to believe that if your heart is pure, and +your motives holy, and your whole desire fervent--and if you have dared +to breathe in a deep, long breath of the Holy Spirit--that according to +your faith so it has been done to you; and that you may go forth +enjoying the same power which rested on the Baptist, though you may not +be conscious of any Divine afflatus, though there may have been no +stroke of conscious power, no crown of flame, no rushing as of the +mighty wind. + +God is still able to vouchsafe to us as large a portion of his Spirit +as to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. We are not straitened in +Him, but in ourselves. The power of his grace is not passed away with +the primitive times, as fond and faithless men imagine; but his Kingdom +is now at hand, and Christ, standing on the threshold of the century, +waits to lead his Church to greater triumphs than she has ever known. +Oh that He would hasten to come forth from his royal chambers! Oh that +He would take his throne as Prince of the kings of the earth! Oh that +He would put on the robe of his majesty, and assume the sceptre of his +unlimited and almighty reign. Creation travails; the Spirit and the +Bride invoke; the mind of man has tried all possible combinations of +sovereignty, and in vain. + +"O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger +to prepare the way before Thee; grant that the ministers and stewards +of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by +turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; that, +at thy second coming to judge the world, we may be found an acceptable +people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the +Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN THE BAPTIST*** + + +******* This file should be named 25904.txt or 25904.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/0/25904 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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