Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 10, Number 48, DeMotte, Jasper County, 17 October 1940 — IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson [ARTICLE]

IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson

By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST, D. D.

Dean of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.)

Lesson for October 20 Lesson subjects and Scripture texts selected and copyrighted bv International Council of Religious Education: used by permission. THE MESSAGE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST LESSON TEXT—Luke 3:3, 8-17, 21. 22. GOLDEN TEXT—Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentence.—Luke 3:8. Four'centuries of silence! God made a loving appeal to His people through Malachi. the prophet (see lesson of June 23), but they failed to respond, and for about 400 years no prophet had appeared with an authoritative message from God. But now “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets” was ready in the “last days” to speak by “his Son” CHeb. 1:12). Before the Lord should come, however, the prophet Isaiah (40:35) had declared that a voice was to come out of the wilderness to cry, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” The great honor of that ministry did not fall upon the religious or political leaders mentioned in Luke 3:1, but “the word of God came unto John . .in the wilderness.” When God calls a preacher, something vital and interesting is about to happen. I. The Preacher—His Call and Character. It is significant that the call of God for this ministry passed by the mighty of Rome, which was politically powerful, holding sway over the world of its day. It is doubly significant that it passed by Jerusalem, the religious center of the Jewish nation. God was not looking for influence, prestige, or position. He was looking for a man, and He found him, though He had to seek him in the wilderness. Where is

God’s man for our day? The character of John is revealed to us by Scripture as unique and rugged. He was a striking figure as he came suddenly out of the wilderness, but the outstanding qualification of John was that he vfas humble and obedient to God’s will. Upon such a man thepporerw r er of God may fall in all its fullness. 11. His Message—lts Nature and the Reaction (vv. 3, 8-14). Repentance, as evidenced by baptism, this was John’s word to his day. He did not grant them absolution from their sins, but in repentance they were to look forward to the cleansing from sin by the washing of the blood of Christ who was to come. John was the forerunner of Christ. His message of repentance was a preparation for the coming message of redemption. The reaction of the people is expressed in the question, “What must we do?” Much more would be accomplished for Christ in our day if that were the response of people to the preaching of the truth. Instead of criticizing or commending the preacl/er, or the sermon, let us ask, “What shall I do about it?” and then let us do it. The answer of John was that each one should, by his works, show the reality of his repentance in the details of his daily work and life. Of course, the all-important thing is that a man should believe in Christ, and by faith receive Him as Saviour, but that faith must show itself in

daily living or it is meaningless, and, in fact, nonexistent. The world is full of those who need to answer our Lord’s own question, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). 111. His Ministry to Jesus—the Baptism and Heavenly Response (vv. 15-17, 21, 22). The forthright honesty and the humility of John appeared in his immediate correction of the people’s mistaken idea that he was the Christ. He made clear that his baptism with water, indicating their change of mind concerning sin, would only have real meaning as the coming One—his Lord and ours —would change their natures by the baptism of fire and of the Spirit. Jesus, who knew no sin of which to repent, took the place of a penitent sinner and was baptized by John. Thus He, the sinless One, entered upon His public ministry and His work of redemption by taking the place of fallen humanity. What infinite grace and condescension! As He prayed, after John had baptized Him, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit, taking the form of the gentle dove, rested upon Him. God the Father spoke forth heaven’s estimate of our Saviour; He was declared to be the “beloved Son” of God, in whom the Father was “well pleased.” This attestation of His divinity and recognition of His spotless life and character was for Him, but not for Him alone. It speaks to us, even as it has spoken to all men through the centuries, of the One who is Saviour and Lord. “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Heb 7:25, 26).