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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
JOHN, THE BAPTIST JULY 1, 1923 (May be used w ith Temperance Applications.)
Golden Text:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he h ath visited
Lu. 1:68. TEXT
and w rought redemption for his people. LESSON Lu. 3:3-8; 7:24-28. (Read Mai. 3: Outline: (1) The Messenger, Matt. 11:7-,15 (2) The Message, Luke 3:3-8. (3 ) The Meaning, Luke 7:24-28. In tro d u c tio n : ■It is very difficult to attem p t a les son concerning John th e Baptist and do justice to it in the lim ited tim e al lotted for a Sunday School class, but we have tak en up LESSON these th ree suggestive EXPOSITION heads in the hope th a t T. C. H orton they will pave th e way for a larg er vision of this man of God for those who are m inded to study his life. (1) \ THE MESSENGER, Matt. 11: 7-15. "Behold, I send my mes senger.” Our Lord pays a trib u te to John th a t is well worth m editating upon (Matt. 11:8, 9)
1-6.) Devotional Reading.— Is. 40:1-8. service. His methods are His own and often th e opposite of man’s; "My ways are not your ways,” He says. John th e B aptist was a wilderness man. We know bu t little concerning him. His b irth as th e son of Zach aries, th e priest, and his wife E lisabeth who had no children, was predicted by an angel of the Lord from Heaven who also foretold the character of his m in istry. E lisabeth was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. (Read Luke 1:5, 25, 39, 45, 57, 80.) John was to be a “ prophet of th e H ighest.” He was to give knowledge of the way of salva tion— to give light to those in darkness. 2. He was train ed by God in the wilderness (Luke 1 :8 0 ). His school ing was of th e strong, stern character essential for his w o rk ,S u n h in d ered by the sophistry of men and untramm el led by th e customs of the people. . 3. His call came to him while in the wilderness (Luke 3:2) 4. He had th e courage of his con victions, which had come to him by the Word of God, and he was fearless in his preaching. (2) THE MESSAGE, Luke 3:3-8 “ P repare ye the way of the Lord." His message was a prophetic procla mation from Jehovah. One word burns w ith white heat as it falls from th e lips of th e fore-runner,— one word claims our close attention,■H-the word REPENT! Seven times in the New Testament th e word is used when it means “to be concerned w ith,” or “ not to be care fu l,” and fifty-five times it is used, as “ T h e w o r d o f G o d c a m e u nt o J o h » o n o f Z a c h a r i a s i n the w ilderness.”
“ B u t wha t w e nt ye ou t fo r to see? A m a n clothed in s o f t raim en t Y b e h o l d , th ey t ha t w ear so f t c l o t h i n g : a r e i n king 's h ouses. But wha t w ent y e o u t for to s ee ? A p r o p h e t ? Y e a , I sa y u n to y o u , a n d m o r e th an a p r o p h e t .” John was a prophet, bu t more— he was a messenger to prepare the way for God’s Son; to open the way for His m inistry (Isa. 40:3) “ T h e voiee of h im t ha t crieth i n the w i l d e r n e s s * P re p a re ye the way o f th e L o r d , m ak e st r a ig h t in th e d es er t a hig h w a y for o u r G o d .” and Jesus says th a t among those born of women th e re is none greater. W hat were th e distinguishing char acteristics of John th e Baptist?
1. He was specially chosen of God for service. This was in the line of God’s plan from the beginning. God chooses men. He chooses men for def inite service. He train s men for th a t
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