_THE WORD OF GOD_ ‘Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar … the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.’ Luke 3:1 Jewish religionism, as expressed in its decadent representatives, had opportunity afterwards of expressing what they thought of John, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE BAPTIST’S MESSAGE_ ‘And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.’ Luke 3:3 What is repentance? I. REPENTANCE IS THAT CHANGE OF MIND which turns away with sorrow from anything that is wrong, which owns it, and amends it, and i... [ Continue Reading ]
_EARNESTNESS IN RELIGION_ ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough wags shall be made smooth; and all fle... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘WHAT SHALL WE DO?’_ ‘And the people asked Him, saying, What shall we do then?’ Luke 3:10 The final stage of religion is duty. Everything else, however comforting, however holy, however true, is only its cradle. It is doing what is right towards God, or what is right towards man, for God’s sake.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A MIGHTIER THAN JOHN_ ‘And as the people were in expectation … John answered … one mightier than I cometh.…’ Luke 3:15 From these verses several practical truths emerge. I. ONE EFFECT OF A FAITHFUL MINISTRY IS TO SET MEN THINKING.—‘The people … mused in their hearts.’ The cause of true religio... [ Continue Reading ]
_A SHARP CONTRAST_ ‘Herod the tetrarch … John in prison.’ Luke 3:19 There could hardly be a sharper contrast than that presented in the careers of Herod Antipas and John the Baptist. I. HEROD A LOFTY AND JOHN A LOWLY POSITION.—Yet John was loved, and Herod was hated. In the heart of Herod, bitt... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE FIRST CALVARY_ ‘How when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well... [ Continue Reading ]