December, 1941
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S T N E S S
475
And It came tb him “ in the wilderness,” because tire state of the people made ' that; the only place the Word could be received. It was the Word of truth and promise, and came to the one who had been chosen, equipped, and commis- sionl’d by the Lord. Thus also does the Word come now to every believer who is ready to receive it and to act upon it. John’s response is seen in his readi ness for service and in his faithfulness to the mission intrusted to him. John was upon Old Testament ground, preaching the baptism' of repentance unto the remission of sins, and fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the voice that would be heard crying in the wilderness. He was the last of the prophets, for they “were until John” (Lk. 16:16). The baptism of repentance Which he preached could hardly be in tended for those outside\the boundaries of Israel, for the preaching was in preparation for the coming of Messiah; God’s dealings with Israel must be ful filled and finished before “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” II. T he P rophecy through J ohn (15-17) Because of his reputation, John easily could have secured the highest place in the nation. If ever a man had oppor tunity to usurp another’s place, John had. But he was there to prepare the way of the Lord, and no temptation to seize a place of honor could spoil the integrity and humility of his mind. When, therefore, the people began to think that John might be Messiah, he at once disabused their minds of that idea by uttering his prophecy concern ing Jesus.. He spoke of One mightier than he, the latchet of whose shoes John was un worthy to loose. While John baptized them with water, the coming One would baptize with the Holy Spirit; this com ing One wbuld be as superior to John as the Spirit was superior to water. He also spoke of both the first and second advents of the Lord. At .the first coming, there would be the baptism of the Spirit; at' the second, there would ' be the purging fan and the burning chaff and the wheat gathered into the storehouse. Hence at the end, when Messiah comes the second time, there will be but the two classes, the chaff to be burned with unquenchable fire, and the wheat to be safely kept in God’s garner—the place of each to be decided by the treatment each one gives to the One of whom John spoke. III. T he B aptism by J ohn (21, 22) The Old Testament emphasized con tinually the promise of a coming One. In the Lord Jesus Christ, that One was now present, and in the very nature of the case the testimony of the Old Testa ment was complete (cf. Lk. 16:16). John not only prepared the way of the Lord, but he also introduced the Lord to that way.
■Jesus came to John for baptism at a definite time, for a definite purpose, and with a definite meaning. The time was the completion of the old economy; the purpose was to “fulfill all righteous ness” (cf. Matt. 3:13-17) ; and the mean ing was that Jesus was now entering officially upon His service in the world as the One sent by God. The heaven was opened, the Spirit descended as a dove', and a voice was heard, saying, “Thou art my beloved Son." Thus, humanly speaking, Jesus was fully assured of His divine Sonship and thoroughly equipped for service. The
baptism of John was for the people gen erally; the baptism by John was for the Lord who needed no repentance. Points and Problems 1. “Now In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Lk. 3:1). In verses 1 and 2 we have clear evidence of the care with which Luke dealt with the facts of Christian history. He has named here no less than seven prom inent public officials, all of whom held office at this particular date which marked the beginning, of the ministry
J E W I S H M I S E R Y a nd C H R I S T I A N I N D I F F E R E N C E Since hi» return from Europe the writer of these column* has addressed many thousands of Christians in the United States and Canada to put before them the unutterably tragic condition of- the Je\ym and Jewish Christians. Amongst some Christian circles he has received much sympathy and support for the work of the International Hebrew Christian Alliance.'But he has been dumbfounded to find so matty Christians' who are utterly, indifferent to Jewish sufferings and some who even gloat over Jewish misery and persecutions and say the Jew deserves all his sufferings» for thus prophecy is being fulfilled.
What, indeed, is to be the Christian’s attitude toward the overwhelm ing m is ery of the Jews in >w ar-torn Europe to day? God telJs us: “C om fort ye, com fort ye m y people, saith the Lord. Cry unto her that her iniquity is'pardoned, for. she hath received oC the-’ Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Isa. 40:1-2. And our Lord
“ too slow ly-” And so w e can continue this chronicle o f endless Jewish su ffe r ings. Paramount Jewish Need In Hhis blackest period o f Jewish h is tory the paramount need is fo r Christians to pour their sym pathy and prayers and
says, “ Father forg iv e them” : and in .bidding His fo llow ers to feed, the hungry, visit those in prison arid give com fort to the fatherless, He adds, “ Inasmuch as ye have done, it unto one o f the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto Me.” Should not this.be the Chris tian attitude to the Jews today?
practical help in the rpscue o f sufferirig Israel. To »this end the International H e brew Christian A lliance have been laboring on be half p f Jewish Christian v ic tims o f N a z i persecutions' since 1933. During the past eight years, the Alliance, under God, has saved thou sands who otherw ise m ight have starved; despaired or comm itted suicide. Our la bors, as a relief society and as a Jew ish w itness fo r Christ have extended to 20 countries o f the world. A t this w ritin g w ord has reached us from England tellin g us that our R efugee homes are fu ll; letters from our refugees in internment camps in Canada and Aus tralia are fu ll o f gratitude
Nazi Terror Strikes Jews
As the Nazi terror spread over the Continent o f E u rope the Jews became the first victim s and the w orst sufferers. In the Jewish quarters Of Poland cholera and typhoid are spreading
Rev. Jacob Peltz
for our help.
to alarm ing proportions. The reduction o f bread rations to the three-ounce-perr day level and the increase .of fam ine are taking their toll am ong the Jews. Bodies o f dead victim s o f hunger are lining ghetto streets; relatives nave no funds to bury the Jewish dead. In Paris hungry Jewish women (their husbands in concentration camps) storm ed relief centers demanding bread. In Rourpania 8,000 Jews w ere recently ex ecuted. In Sarajevo Nazis murdered Jews in labor camps, charging they w orked
Appeals' From Europe r But the cries from starving homeless Jews and Jew ish Christians are heart rending. There are m any countries where it is quite safe to send relief: to Great B ritain and Palestine where there are thousands in distress,; to P or tugal where there are countless strand ed refugees in starvation and despair; to Poland where we send, food packages, and where m isery o f Jew s is indescrib able; and elsewhere.
It costs us $2 per week to support each refugee in our Hotels in England; for $8.6A we can send a substantial food package to a starving Missionary family in Poland; $10.00 will support a family of three, for two weeks in another country. $50 will maintain one of our Refugee Hostels for a week.
Please send your gift at once. Make checks or money orders payable to International Hebrew Christian Alliance THE REV. JACOB PELTZ, Ph. B.v B. D., General Secretary
Dept. KB-13
4919 North Albany Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.
Made with FlippingBook Online document