PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER.
-JANUARY 21.-LUKE
3:1-17.-
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”
DOUBTLESS many
commenters on this lesson will claim that John the Baptizer’s ministry began
with the year AD 26, and by positiveness of assertion seek to make up for their
lack of evidence on this subject. Let all therefore bear in mind that such a
dating of John’s ministry will be purely arbitrary, to make it conform to the
erroneous view which prevails among scholars in respect to the date of our
Lord’s birth. It should not be forgotten, however, that, although it is well
established from the Scriptures that our Lord was six months younger than his
second-cousin, John, there is no other Scriptural date which so closely and
definitely connects the history of our Lord and of John the Baptizer with
general history, as does the statement of this very lesson, that John began his
ministry (when he was thirty years of age) in the fifteenth year of the reign
of Tiberius Caesar. Those who claim that Jesus began his ministry AD 27,
instead of AD 29, claim that John’s ministry began in AD 26; and in order to
make this fit with the statement of the first verse of this lesson, they are
obliged to count the reign of Tiberius Caesar two years before its admitted
date. For a particular discussion of this subject, however, we must refer our
readers to MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II., p.54.
Of John it is written that he was filled with the holy spirit from his
birth. But we must not misunderstand this to mean that he was begotten of the
holy spirit, in the sense that Christians are begotten of it, for he lived
before the time of spirit-begetting-in the Jewish age, not in the Gospel or
Christian age. Thus our Lord said of him that, although there had not arisen a
greater Prophet than John, nevertheless, the least in the Kingdom of God is
greater than he-the least one in the house of sons is on a higher plane than
the greatest one in the house of servants. (Matt. 11:11; Heb. 3:5,6.) The
Apostle again explains that “the holy spirit was not yet given, because
Jesus was not yet glorified.”-John 7:39.
In harmony with this we must understand that John was filled with the holy
spirit, holy power or influence from God from his birth, after the same manner
that the other prophets throughout the Jewish age had been under that holy
spirit. The expression would lead us to understand that, although John was not
borne immaculate, as was Jesus, he nevertheless was well born, under holy
influences, which tended to develop in him natural characteristics suitable to
the mission he was intended of God to fulfil. This does not involve the
thought of divine interference with the free will of the individual, for Paul
tells us that he also was chosen of God from his birth to be a special servant
to do a special work. (Gal. 1:15.) Nevertheless, the Lord did not interfere
with his exercising his own free will, even permitting him to go so far into
blind error as to become the persecutor of the Church. And even when the Lord
rebuked him in the way to Damascus, that was not an interference with his will
or nature, but merely a removal of his blindness, his ignorance, permitting his
true will to come into exercise. And so no doubt others of the Lord’s people
from time to time have been from earliest childhood special subjects of divine
Providence which has guided and shaped their experiences without interfering
with their wills, so as to make of them special instruments for
the accomplishment of divine purposes.
Of John’s life from infancy to manhood we know nothing except the bare
record, “The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the desert until
the day of his showing unto Israel” (Luke 1:80)-not in the sandy deserts, but
more properly in the wilds, the uncultivated regions, perhaps in the “hill
country,” where his parents resided at the time of his birth. Possibly a part
of the Lord’s providence in respect to John’s training for his work consisted
in the ordering of the affairs of his parents, so that possibly they were
forced by circumstances to reside in such a wilderness-home, where they would
have comparatively little intercourse with others, and where John, probably as
a forester, would have the experiences which the Lord saw would best fit him
for the work intended. All Christians should learn to trust to the Heavenly
Father’s guidance, remembering his special promise, which is applicable to each
one who is in Christ, viz., that “all things shall work together for
good to them that love God,” and remembering this they
should be content with the lot which Providence seems to mark out for them-not
indolent, but content, when they have done all that their hands find to do,-not
restless, peevish, dissatisfied, complainers against God and his providence. “Trust
in the Lord and do good.” It may be that the Lord is
fitting and preparing us individually for some special service, and that the
permitted experiences alone will prepare us for that service. Indeed,
we know from the Word that God designs his “elect” for joint-heirship with our
dear Redeemer in the glorious Millennial Kingdom; and we can well realize that
because of our imperfection we need much molding and fashioning, chiseling and
polishing to make us “meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.” We are to remember also that we are incompetent to judge of
our own imperfections, and hence incompetent to judge of the experiences which
would be most helpful to us. It is difficult for us sometimes even to
see ourselves as others see us; much more difficult, undoubtedly, it would be
to see ourselves from the divine standpoint. Here faith in God comes to the
front-“This is the victory which overcometh the world, even your faith.”
The time of John’s “showing” or presentation to Israel was undoubtedly the
time when he reached the legally required thirty years of age; and then it was
that the word of the Lord came unto him, causing him to begin his mission. We
are not to think of this expression as having to John the same signification as
it has to us who are of this Gospel age. The word of God came to John as a
prophet, for our Lord declared,-“There hath not arisen a greater prophet than
John the Baptist.” The Lord made clear to John that the time had come for the
beginning of his ministry, not merely by an impression or surmise, but with
positiveness, as in the case of all the prophets. In harmony with his
commission he went to the thickly settled regions in the vicinity of the River
Jordan, preaching repentance-that the people should reform-and baptizing in the
Jordan those who professed a reformation. For this reason John sought the
pools or deep places of the river;-for instance, he went to Enon, near to
Salem, “because there was much water there”-a pool sufficiently deep for the
purposes of immersion.
We are not to fall into the too common error of supposing from the record
that John preached to the people that repentance and baptism would work
for them a remission of their sins. To so interpret these words would
put them in direct conflict with the entire testimony of the Scriptures, which
is to the effect that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of
sins. The usual representation of this subject is therefore clearly in error.
To the contrary, we are to understand this verse to mean that John preached a
baptism signifying repentance unto, or preparation for, a
remission of sins. The time had not yet come for the blotting out of the sins,
and John neither had nor could have obtained authority to declare sins remitted
because of repentance and baptism. Had it been possible for him to have made
such a proclamation, truthfully, it would have proven that there was no
necessity for the coming of our Lord Jesus to give himself a ransom for
Israel and for all the families of the earth. If repentance and immersion in
water would bring the forgiveness of sins, the “Savior and a great one” whom
God had promised to Israel for so long would have been wholly unnecessary. But
when we view John’s work and preaching as merely a preliminary one, to make
ready a repentant people, desiring to have their sins forgiven, desiring full
at-one-ment with God, and expecting a Savior to accomplish all this,-then all
is harmony.
And this thought, that the remission of sins was a work future from John’s
day, a work to be accomplished by Christ, is fully borne out by the succeeding
context, a quotation from Isaiah the Prophet, which has not even yet been
fulfilled, but includes the entire work of the Millennial age. That age will
be one for remission of sins and blotting out of sins, and
the full reconciliation of so many as will accept God’s grace in Christ under
the New Covenant. (Compare Acts 3:19-21.) In that time, under those favorable
conditions, and not before, will the statement be fulfilled, “All flesh shall
see the salvation of God.”
We are to bear in mind that John’s work as a messenger was exclusively to
Israel, and had nothing whatever to do with any of the Gentiles. To Israel he
acted as the Elijah or Forerunner of Messiah in the flesh, seeking to
induce that nation, in its “harvest” time, to accept the formal offer of
God’s Kingdom by accepting Jesus as the King. But John’s mission was not
successful to his nation, and profited only a few of the people; those few who
believed John’s testimony, and received it into good and honest and repentant
hearts, were prepared to receive Jesus and to appreciate and receive
the remission of sins offered by God through him. The remainder of that nation,
rejecting John’s teaching, and being in an unrepentant condition of heart, were
not properly exercised, were not ready for Jesus, and did not appreciate the
offer of remission of sins through his blood as a consequence, and as a nation
were rejected of God and wholly overthrown.
While John thus acted as the Elijah in introducing Jesus in the flesh to
fleshly Israel, and gathered out a certain class who were ready to receive
Jesus, and who were blessed by him, so we see that in God’s plan there is a
greater antitype of Elijah than was John, as there is a greater Christ than was
our Lord Jesus. The greater Christ is the spiritual one, “The Lord from
heaven”-“Now the Lord is that Spirit.” And this glorified spirit Lord is the
Head of “the Church which is his body,” and this body of many members will, in
“the first resurrection,” be made like him and to share his glory, and with him
and under him constitute the great Messiah, who shall take unto himself
his great power and reign, establishing God’s Kingdom amongst men, and causing
his will to be done “on earth as it is done in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10.) The
coming into power of this great Christ, the spiritual Christ (head and body)
constitutes the Second Advent to mankind-“the manifestation of the sons of God”
for the deliverance of the groaning creation. (Rom. 8:17-19.) Thus the Second
Advent of Christ the Head (with the Church his body) will be seen to be on a
very much higher plane than was the first advent of our Lord in the flesh,
although the first advent was all-important in that without it and its
sacrifice for sins there could have been no Second Advent of Jesus, the Head,
in the glory of Kingdom power, and there could have been no glorified members
of his body to be associated with him.
After thus noting the relationship of the two events, it is proper for us
to note also that as the blessings of the first advent were offered to nominal
fleshly Israel so the presentation of the blessings of the Second Advent will
be to nominal Spiritual Israel (“Christendom”), and as a Forerunner or herald
was appropriately sent to fleshly Israel, to prepare them for the first advent,
likewise it would be appropriate that a proportionately greater Forerunner
should precede the Second Advent, and seek to make ready therefor all nominal
Spiritual Israelites. As we have already shown, this greater Elijah, who
heralds the spiritual Christ, is composed of many members; Jesus in the flesh
was himself the Head of this Elijah class, and all of his true followers, who
will be, when glorified with him, members of the glorious Christ, will have
previously been in their earthly lives members with him of the Elijah class,
whose mission it is to show forth the principles of righteousness and true
holiness, and to exhort both by word and conduct all men to repentance and to
preparation for the Second Advent-the glorious appearing, the setting up of the
Messianic Kingdom, the actual blotting out of sins, the straightening of every
crooked way, the leveling up of deep crevices of character, the leveling down
of the hills of pride to the proper level of humility; and in every sense of
the word seeking to prepare all flesh to see the salvation of God.
Nevertheless, we are to remember that the Scriptures distinctly indicate
that the testimony of this greater Elijah will be equally unsuccessful with
that of the lesser antitype of Elijah, John the Baptizer. The Church in the
flesh has not succeeded in making straight the paths of the Lord for a
triumphal entry to his Kingdom upon the earth. A few have heard, but the
message has utterly failed as respects the vast majority, even those who
profess respect for and to be waiting for the Kingdom. Nevertheless, all God’s
good purposes will be ultimately accomplished, though necessarily introduced by
troubles, calamities, distress upon “Christendom,” in the end of this age or
“harvest” time, similar to those troubles which came upon fleshly Israelites
who were unready for the Savior, and “knew not the time of their visitation,”
at his first advent. All this unreadiness, however, shall not hinder the work
of the Messiah. As at his first advent he gathered all Israelites indeed to
the new dispensation, so now he will gather his elect “little flock” to
himself; his Kingdom will be established; it shall rule over all; it will
accomplish the straightening of every crooked path; it will level up the path
of righteousness and holiness, and make of it “a highway” freed from stumbling
blocks of error and from Satan’s deception. (Isa. 35:8,9.) All mankind then
brought to a knowledge of the truth will have the privilege of
progressing through the times of restitution up this grand highway of obedience
to the grand perfection lost for himself and his race by father Adam’s
transgression, but redeemed for Adam and his race by the precious blood of
Christ. All flesh indeed shall see the salvation of our God, and so many as
will may share therein, for this is the blessing which God has provided for all
the families of the earth, through the true spiritual Seed of Abraham-Christ
and his elect Church.-Gal. 3:16,29.
It would seem that John’s ministry at first was somewhat popular,
notwithstanding his probably uncouth “backwoods” appearance and great plainness
of speech; so that great multitudes came to him: amongst these were some who
seemed to John to be so vile that he could not properly accept them until they
had given some proofs of reform. These he denominates “children of
vipers”-very harsh language, we would be inclined to say. We are not to
understand that such language is proper to be copied by the Lord’s people of
to-day. We are rather to suppose that there were special conditions at that
time which made this language appropriate, and that John, as a prophet, was
divinely guided into giving this sharp reproof. The Lord’s people of the Gospel
age are instructed on the contrary to speak with meekness, gentleness,
patience, long-suffering, etc.,-“in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves”-“reproving with all long-suffering.” The Lord’s people of today are
under general instructions of God’s Word, as regards all their conduct, and are
not to depart therefrom unless it would be under special divine direction, as
were the prophets of old-such as is not given to any at the present time so far
as we are aware.
When John speaks of his hearers “fleeing from the wrath to come,” we are
not to get the thought that he preached, or that the people believed in, the
doctrine of eternal torment, and that the words referred to this. Quite to the
contrary, there is no such teaching in the Scriptures. The “wrath to come”
referred to by John prophetically was the trouble that was about to come upon
that nation unless they would receive Messiah, who had not yet been offered to
them, but who would shortly appear, and for whose appearance they were to make
ready by true repentance and baptism. The “wrath to come” did come upon
the nation because of its rejection of Messiah, as our Lord and the Apostle
Paul specially testify. (See Luke 21:23; Rom. 9:22; 1 Thes. 2:16.) It burned
fiercely against them in the great time of trouble which led to the collapse of
their national polity in AD 69-70, and they have been under that wrath and
unable to reestablish themselves as a nation from that day to the present
time. We shall find confirmation of this interpretation of the “wrath to come”
further down in this lesson.
In John’s preaching he found one difficulty, and that was that his hearers
were imbued with the thought that they were God’s specially chosen, “elect”
people, whose glorification had been foretold in the prophets, and that since
there were no better people in the world it was unreasonable to suppose that
God would pass by the very best. They reasoned that he must take some, in
order to fulfil his promises; and that they were not only the most obedient to
his Law outwardly, but also were the natural seed of Abraham, to whom the
promises were made. Likewise the principal opposition to the teaching of
holiness, entire consecration to the Lord, today throughout “Christendom,” is
the same error. A false theory has gotten into the minds of Christian people,
which leads them to reason that holiness cannot be essential to the Lord’s
favor. Their process of reasoning is this: Out of the sixteen hundred millions
of the world’s population there are only about three hundred millions that make
the slightest profession of Christianity, and this includes all the Greek
Catholics, Roman Catholics, and what Bishop Foster (M.E.) designated the
“ring-straked and speckled” of Protestantism-infants and all. Now, say they,
God must certainly intend to have some, and if he takes all kinds of
Christians he will have only comparatively few, and if merely an ambition to be
ahead of the devil were to move him, he could scarcely reject any who claim to
be Christians, and who are even half-way decent. Consequently they reason that
holiness to the Lord, sanctification of thought and word and deed, cannot be
essential to divine favor, and is therefore rather carrying matters to an
extreme. The declaration that only “the pure in heart shall see God,” and that
“without holiness no man shall see the Lord,” are, to them, extreme statements,
and must be passed by, or else the word “holiness” must be considered as used
in olden times in a very restricted sense, as meaning not openly or violently
wicked.
Thus we see that the antitypical Elijah to the Jews encountered the same
difficulties that are encountered now by the antitypical Elijah ministering to
nominal spiritual Israel. But note John’s answer; he laid down the conditions
very strictly: Do not permit yourselves to be deceived into thinking that God
is under compulsion to accept such as you, and that otherwise his word would
become void; do not think that he could not get children of Abraham that would
be purer than you, and therefore that he must take you; God is unlimited in
power and unlimited in resource, and, if necessary, he could raise up children
to Abraham out of these stones-out of some that you consider as far from the
possibilities of being Abraham’s children as though they were these stones at
your feet. And similarly we answer “Christendom” today, that God utterly
rejects hypocritical Christianity, as represented by the vast majority of its
professors, still blinded by the god of this world, and ignorant of the true character
of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent; because not pure in heart, not
consecrated fully to the Lord. Would that we had a trumpet voice that we might
tell the millions of nominal Christendom the true state of the case, and would
that they had circumcised ears to hear and reform, and be prepared for the
glorious events now due to be ushered in,-without being obliged to pass through
the great trouble time. All we can assure them is that God will find the full
number of his elect, and that the full number is nearly complete now, and that
in all it is but a “little flock” to whom it is the Father’s good pleasure to
give the Kingdom; and that soon these will all be glorified with their glorious
Head and Lord, and that then the Kingdom established will be revealed to bless
all the families of the earth. Nevertheless, we deeply sympathize with them in
the fact that their condition necessitates that the introduction of the Kingdom
shall be with a time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, and,
thank God, shall never again be.-Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21.
John, proceeding with his discourse, points out to his Jewish hearers that
the time of judgment had come upon their nation. The axe was
laid at the root of the trees; every Israelite who was not an Israelite indeed
was to be overthrown, and to be cast into the “fire” of trouble with which that
age and national polity terminated. The three and a half years of our Lord’s
ministry to the Jewish nation, and their final rejection by him, are represented
by the barren fig tree parable, in harmony with the statement of John
foregoing.-See Luke 13:6-9.
John evidently struck the chord of fear to some extent, but he struck it
properly. There is a proper presentation of the truth, and a proper fear of
God and his retribution, which may properly be kept before the mind of the
transgressor; but this is wholly different from the terrorizing fear of eternal
torment, which plays so important a part in all the theological teaching,
directly and indirectly, today, and which has driven some to insanity, some to
skepticism and infidelity, and has hindered the great majority even of saints
from appreciating the true character and plan of our God. Let us present the
wrath to come, truthfully, not misrepresenting the character of our God; for
assuredly God will not hold them guiltless who blaspheme his holy name.
Under John’s preaching the people began to inquire what course they should
pursue, and summing the matter up John’s instruction was that they should practice
justice, mercy, love, generosity; they should avoid violence, extortion, etc.;
and should seek to be content with such things as they had. This was excellent
advice, and undoubtedly those who followed it would be in just the right
condition of heart and mind to welcome the Lord Jesus, and his good tidings of remission
of sins through his blood and thus to become reconciled with the
Father. And similarly if any now inquire respecting the coming trouble, the
wrath that is to come in the end of this age upon “Christendom,”-What must we
do? We answer them,-Practice righteousness, truth, godliness, kindness,
benevolence, justice, trust in the Lord, seek to walk in his ways. Or we may
quote them the words of the prophet, specially bearing upon this time, viz.,
“Seek meekness, seek righteousness; it may be that ye shall be hid in the day
of the Lord’s anger.” (Zeph. 2:3.) And furthermore, we may rely upon it that
those who thus seek righteousness, etc., will be the ones most ready to welcome
our King, and his Kingdom, and we may be sure that when in this harvest time
some fail to make their calling and election sure, and prove themselves
unworthy of the crowns apportioned to them, the Lord will be pleased to select
from among such penitent seekers of righteousness some as substitutes to
complete his elect Church.
So powerful was John’s presentation of the truth, that the people began to
wonder whether or not he might be the Coming One, the Messiah, but he set the
thought at rest speedily, assuring him that he was so inferior to the Messiah
that he would be unworthy the honor of doing toward him the most menial service
of removing his sandals. Then, having given them a little glimpse of the
character of Messiah, he proceeded to tell them respecting his work, that it
would be higher than his own, and that those who received him would receive a
higher baptism also: “He shall baptize you with the holy spirit and with
fire”-some of them (the few) with holy spirit, the remainder (the mass) with
the fire,-judgments, the great time of trouble which destroyed their national
life and many individual lives.
He gave them an illustration of the matter, showing them that they had
reached the harvest-time of their age, and that now a separating was to be
expected-the separating of the true wheat from the chaff; and he represented
our Lord’s work with Israel as being that of a reaper winnowing the “wheat,”
freeing it from the “chaff” element. How forceful was the figure! how true the
facts! Our Lord indeed gathered from that nation all the true “wheat,” we may
be sure that not a solitary grain was lost. All that wheat was gathered into
his barn, into a place of safety, into a higher dispensation,-they constituted
the beginning or first members of the Gospel Church. It was upon this wheat
class that the holy spirit came at Pentecost, and it has abode with this true
Church since. After the separating (winnowing) of the “wheat,” and the
gathering into the barn, and its baptism of the holy spirit, in due time, the
“chaff” of that nation was burned up with unquenchable fire-a time of
trouble which nothing could stop or hinder. It will be
remembered that various steps were taken to hinder the destruction of the
nation of Israel, but all failed: even the Roman Emperor was desirous of
preserving the nation, and of establishing order there, and the Roman army went
not to destroy them but to establish peace in their midst; but the Lord had
declared that the fire of trouble which he enkindled should not be quenched by
any power, that it should do its work to the full; and it did.
Likewise it will be with the great “fire” of trouble with which this
Gospel age shall end, and into which the “tare” class of Christendom will be
cast; it will not be an utter destruction of life (although many lives will
perish in the great trouble of this Day of Wrath), but it will completely
consume earthly governments and Churchianity in a fire of anarchy. Nothing
shall quench that fire, or hinder that utter destruction of present systems.
But praise God that when this fire shall have consumed the stubble and the
falsities and deceptions of present institutions, it will have but prepared the
way for the great blessing which he has designed and provided for in his coming
Kingdom. This “fire,” and the blessing to follow it, are particularly referred
to in Zeph. 3:8,9.