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hold th e fire and th e wood, b u t where is th e lamb for a b u rn t offering?' And Abraham said, My son, God will pro vide H imself a lamb for th e b u rn t offer ing. So they w ent both of them to geth er.” (1 Pet. 1:19 ) “But w ith th e pre cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb w ith out blem ish and w ithout sppt.” Also, Rev. 5:6-8; Isa. 5 3 :7 ; Heb. 10:5. He was a faith fu l w itness for he died in defence of the tru th . He was a hum ble w itness, for he said “ I am not th e Coming One” ; “He must increase, bu t I must decrease” ; “Whose shoe’s latchet I' am not w orthy to unloose” . He sought no earth ly honors,— a sure sign th a t he was sent of God. He was a voice of prophecy fulfilled, and of pre diction, “H e shall baptize yog w ith the Holy Ghost and w ith fire.” He was a sign post,-^-pointing the way to Jesus, th e Lamb of God. 4. The F acts Testified. John was a kinsm an of our Lord, but he did not recognize Him as th e Messiah un til th e anointing of th e Holy Spirit: “ I saw th e Sp irit.” The Holy Spirit was a sign and seal. The sign was His separation for service, and was for th e world. The seal was for God, (John 6 r27 ). “L abour not for th e m eat which per- isheth, b u t for th a t m eat which endur- eth unto everlasting life, which th e Son of Man shall give unto you; for him h ath God, th e F a th e r, sealed.” The Holy Spirit has sealed us. (2 Cor. 1 : 22 ), and He has also sep arated us (2 Cor. 6 :17 ) and we should rem ain sep arated as a sign to the world. John testified (v. 34) “ I saw and b are record.” The world should look on us, and bear record. John had two w itnesses given him ,—- th e F a th e r and the Spirit. The w itness of th e Spirit was in th e form of a dove — th e only bodily shape ever assumed
tion. F o r instance, Saul of Tarsus, (Acts 2 6 :1 6 ); “ But rise and stand upon thy feet; for 1 have appeared unto thee for th is purpose, to make thee a m inister and a w itness both of these things which thou h ast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto th ee.” Testimony is lim ited by experience. We need experiences deep and wide w ith John was a m ighty w itness. He testi fied w ith such power th a t th e re “went out to him Jerusalem , and all Judea, and all the region round about Jo rd a n ” (Matt. 3 :5 ). The whole country was stirred . He was unceremonious,— no titles, no frills. Ju s t a w ilderness man, dressed in camel’s h air and a leath er girdle, unheralded, no train , no assist an t—-one man. He was unp reten tiou s and uncom prom ising, as shown in his testimony to th e Pharisees, th e Sadducees and the publicans. 3. The F a ith fu l W itness. He testified as to himself,— “ I am not th e Christ; I am no t th a t P rophet; I am not E lias.” John did not claim even to be a messenger,— only a voice. W illiam Carey said in his dying moments to Dr. Duff,— “You have been speaking of C arey; when I am gone, speak not of me, b u t of Carey’s Saviour.” John stood between two dispensa tions,— th e Law and th e Gospel, and th e word “B ethabara” means “house of pas sage”— th a t is, between th e Law and th e Gospel. When God chose a man to introduce H is Son to the world, He chose John th e Baptist. When He chose a title for His Son, He chose th e title “Lamb of God.” (Gen. 22:7, 8 ). “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his fath e r and said, My fath e r; and he said, H ere am I, my son. And he said, Be Christ in order to testify. 2. The F o rce of Testimony.
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