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your place in God’s • “garner” or in the “fire unquenchable” ? It is for you to determine. 9. Every sinner must face the Lord Jesus sooner or later. , He may meet Him now, at the cross, and obtain mercy. The alternative is to meet Him at the judg ment and be told, “Depart from me.” 10. Sin1 is a hard master, but the Lord Jesus is a mighty Saviour from its penalty and its power. 11. There are two great motives for repentance, the “terror of the Lord” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:11) and “the goodness of God” (cf. Rom. 2:4). Neither should be over looked or neglected (cf. Rom. 11:22). * * * G o l d e n T e x t I l l u s t r a t io n Perhaps the quaintest letter in the whole White House collection is one which came from a child, addressed to President Cleveland, written in September, 1895. This is what it says: “To His Majesty President Cleveland. Dear President: I am in a dreadful state of mind, and I thought I would write and tell you all. About two years ago—as near as I can remember, it is two years—I used two postage stamps that had been used before on letters; perhaps more than two stamps, but I can only remember of doing it twice. I did not realize what I had done until lately. My mind is constantly turned on that subject, and I think of it night and day. Now, dear President, will you please forgive me, and I will promise you I will never do it again. Enclosed find cost of three stamps, and please forgive me, for I was then but thirteen years old, for I am heartily sorry for what I have done. From one of your subjects.” . —o— The Work of John the Baptist Luke 3:7-17 Memory Verse— “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy o f repentance” (Lk.3:8). Approach. —All the time that Jesus was growing up, getting ready for His great work, John the Baptist, who was six months older than Jesus, was growing up
in vivid contrast. In the presence of Mes siah, he was prepared to sink out 6f sight, He revealed his true greatness by this self-abnegation. The latchet o f whose shoes. The “latchet” was a leather thong or shoe lace which held the sandal upon the foot. The task of carrying one’s san dals or unloosing one’s shoe latchet was usually given to the most menial slaves. John means, therefore, that he was not worthy to be Messiah’s bondslave. He shall baptise you in the Holy Spirit, Mes siah’s baptism differed from that of John because o f the new medium—fire instead of water. The cleansing by the Spirit is inward aS cleansing by water is outward. Fire, as an emblem o f the Spirit, alSo sug gests the idea of judgment, V. 17. Whose fan is in his hand. The winnowing-fan was a large shovel with which the: grain, was thrown up so that the wind could separate the chaff from the kernel. Cleanse his threshing floor. The threshing floor was a piece of level ground upon which the sheaves of grain were heaped, to be trampled by the oxen and crushed, by heavy threshing boards which the oxen dragged. Gather the wheat into his garner. Jesus several times used a similar illustration (cf. Matt. 13: 30; Lk. 22:31). The chaff he will burn up. The Saviour is also the judge. Each soul must determine in the presence o f Christ whether he, like the wheat, will be gath ered into the garner, or, like the chaff, be cast into the fire, t i*- * * * L e s s o n Q u e s t io n s V. 7. What drew ,the multitudes to John? Why did they want to be baptized? What did he mean by his designation of them as “offspring of vipers” ? Who had told them about “the wrath to come” ? Were they making preparations in the right way to escape from this impending judgment ? V. 8. What is meant by “ fruits worthy o f repentance” ? Did the Jews cherish false .hopes because, o f their descent from Abraham? Was it of no advantage at all to them to be children o f Abraham (cf. Rom, 3 :1, 2) ? In what lay their er ror? V. 9,. What figure did John use to show the imminence of the judgment? Whom did he have in mind when he used the figure of the fruitless tree? What happens to fruitless professing Christians (cf. John 15:6) ? V. 10. What did the multitudes ask? Did they ask the question sincerely? How had they come to realize their need and their danger ? V. 11. In what ways did John demand proof of a generous, compassionate spirit? Do you think a selfish, greedy miser gives any evidence that he is a Christian (cf. 1 John 3 :17) ? V. 12. Who were the Publicans? Were they generally honest men? Were they loved'.or despised by the people? What We Thank Thee, Lord For Thy sweet sunshine after nights o f rain, For Thy siveet balm o f comfo'rt after pain, For Thy sweet peace that ends a long-drawn strife, For Thy sweet rest that ends a ' burdened life ,— We thank Thee, Lord! —John Oxenham. answer indicate that he knew the tempta tions that were common to soldiers? Vs. 15, 16. O f what were the people in expectation? Did many beside Jews look for the coming o f Messiah? Who came to ask John if he were the Messiah (cf. John 1; 19-28) ? How did John describe the difference between himself and Mes siah? In what words did he express his humility? V. 17. Had the prophets foretold that Messiah would come as a judge (cf. Mai. 4 :1 )? Did the Lord Jesus claim authori ty to execute judgment upon all sinners (cf. John 5 :22, 26, 27) ? What kind of people may be likened to “wheat” ? When will they be gathered into God’s “garner” ? Who may be likened to “ chaff” ? What will be their fate (cf. Matt. 13:30) ? ♦ * * P r a c t ic a l P o in t s 1. John was a thoroughly orthodox preacher. He had no sympathy with the doctrine that all men are by natural birth sons o f God (cf. John 8:44). He ac cepted the. messages o f the prophets con cerning “the wrath to come.” He de manded genuine repentance of those who desired salvation. He had no difficulty in believing in miracles—that God could create children o f Abraham out of the stones in the field. He expected final and unending judgment for unrepentant sin ners. taught the necessity :of baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is not necessary to suppose that these doctrines were as clear to John the Baptist as they were to the disciples after Pentecost. Indeed, there is proof that this was not the case (cf. Acts 19:1-4). But John’s faith was built upon the Scriptures and not upon any uncertain philosophies. 2. John’s religion was not a matter of mere form and ceremony. Ethics and re ligion were properly combined. 3. John was a true prophet, a forth- teller and a seer or foreteller of things to come. 4. Humility is a rare virtue. The late John Dean, Quaker evangelist, used to say: “Humility is the last thing thee learns. When thee thinks thee has it, it is sure proof thee hasn’t.” 5. Preaching or teaching that does not cause condemned sinners to cry out, “What shall we do ?” lacks' a vital element. . 6;: The ;Kolyi Spirit,. operating through the Word of God, can break the ¡hardest hearts. 7. Repentance is more than sorrow for past sin and its consequences. It is a change of mind concerning God, concern ing His law, concerning self, etc. 8. The great “harvest” at the end o f the age is approaching. Will you have 111111 too, fari'd getting ready to tell the peo ple that Jesus, God’s great gift to the world, had come. In our lesson today, John has begun to tell his message to the people. If we have a guest coming to stay in our home, we pre pare for him, don’t < W < > * we? We sweep the house clean and dec orate it as best we can so that the guest will be pleased and comfortable when he arrives. And that is just what John the Baptist told the people that they must do. Lesson Story. —He said, “Jesus is com ing, and you must get your lives ready to receive Him. If any o f you have-bean ^elfish,, you ¡must stopjjieing selfish,and be generous. If .you have two-coats, give one away to some one who has none. Be hon est to all men. Cleanse your hearts of wicked thoughts.” These were some of the ways in, which the people must cleanse their lives in or der to make them ready for Jesus. Then John told them something about the great
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