So they said to him, "Who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" Sermons I. JOHN'S DISCLAIMER. No doubt there was an expectation, general and eager, of One who, in accordance with Hebrew prophecy, should be the Deliverer and Ruler of God's people Israel. From varying motives - in some cases with spiritual yearning, in other cases with political expectation - the Jews turned anxiously towards every personage of distinction and influence who arose among the people. Thus they turned to John, whose character was austere and inflexible as that of a Hebrew seer, and whose popular power was manifest from the multitude of his adherents and admirers. In these circumstances, John's first duty was to give an unequivocal answer to the inquiry of the Jews. This inquiry was pointed and particular. Was John Elias, again visiting the people who revered him as one of their holiest and mightiest saints? There was something in his appearance, his habits, his speech, that suggested this possibility. Or was he "the prophet," less definitely designated? Or could it be that he was none other than the Messiah? The times were ripe for the advent of the promised Deliverer; John evidently possessed a spiritual authority, a popular power, such as Israel had not seen for many a generation. To every such inquiry John had only one answer: "I am not." In this disclaimer we recognize both the intelligence and the candour of the forerunner. A weak mind might have been overpowered by interest so profound and widespread. A self-seeking and ambitious mind might have taken advantage of such an opportunity to assert a personal authority and to climb to the throne of power. John was superior to such temptations. Though greater than others born of women, he did not aspire to a position for which God had not destined him. In fact, he was too great to wish to be aught but the herald and the servant of him who was to come. II. JOHN'S CLAIM. A just and admirable modesty was not, indeed never is, inconsistent with a due assertion of position and duties assigned by God. He who knows what God has sent him into the world to do, will neither depreciate his own work nor envy another's. The claim made by John was very remarkable. He affirmed himself to be: 1. A fulfilment of prophecy. The circumstances of his birth and education, taken in conjunction with certain declarations of Old Testament Scripture, must have suggested to John that he held a place in the revealed counsels of eternal wisdom. 2. A voice. Often had God spoken to Israel. In John he spake yet again. To him it was given to utter by human lips the thoughts of the Divine mind. Not that this was mechanical function; John's whole soul was inflamed with the grandeur and the burning necessity of that message of repentance which he was called upon to deliver to his fellow countrymen. Nothing but the conviction that his voice was the expression of Divine thought, that he was summoning men in God's Name to a higher life of righteousness and faith, could have animated him to discharge his ministry with such amazing boldness. Nor could any other conviction have overcome the difficulty he must at first have felt in publicly witnessing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. 3. A herald, and one preparing the way of a great Successor. It was his to make straight the Lord's way. It was his to announce the Messiah's approach, and to direct the attention of Israel to the coming in lowly guise of Israel's King. It was his. to subside into comparative insignificance, to withdraw from publicity, in order that he might make room for One whose presence would bring the realization of the brightest hopes and the most fervent prayers. It was his to administer the humbler baptism with water - the symbol of a better baptism to be conferred by Christ, even that with the Holy Spirit. APPLICATION. 1. Learn the completeness and harmony of the Divine plan. The revelation of God proceeds upon an order which may be recognized both by the intellect and by the heart of man. The wisdom of the Eternal arranges that all preparation shall be made for the appearance of the world's Saviour; the morning star heralds the rising of the Sun of Righteousness. God's ways in grace are as regular and as orderly as his ways in providence. 2. Learn the dignity and preciousness of Immanuel. One so honourable as the Baptist yet deemed himself unworthy to serve the meek and lowly . Jesus - to act as his meanest attendant. Lowly was his attitude, and reverent his words, when the Son of God drew near. Surely he, who was so regarded and so heralded, demands our homage and deserves our love. - T.
What sayest thou of thyself? He had come —I. TO ANNOUNCE THAT GOD WAS ABOUT TO COME AS HE NEVER CAME BEFORE. 1. This was Isaiah's belief, and when John accentuated it he knew that the Divine visitation was near. Had the prophet suspected the delay he would have wondered, and knowing it, doubtless John wondered. Do we? Let us then remember that God always takes His time. If He wants to make a weed, that does not take Him long: if He wants to make an oak, that is more tedious business; if He wants to save a world it takes Him longer still. 2. The Baptist did not imply that God was absent, but that He was about to be manifested. Hitherto it had been winter; the Sun of righteousness had been comparatively hidden. Now He was to arise with healing in His wings. 3. Christ came for — (1) (2) (3) II. TO BID MEN GET READY FOR HIM. "Make straight the way." That was man's work. If God had compelled men to prepare that would have ensured the frustration of His purposes. God's will is that men should do His will willingly. Three great barriers. 1. Thoughtlessness: It was troublesome to think about Christ sufficiently to see the validity of His claims; so now. 2. Pride: The Jews could not bring themselves to confess their need of a Saviour. 3. Worldliness. (H. W. Burgoyne, M. A.) I. WHERE THE VOICE CRIED. In the wilderness.1. Locally: (1) (2) 2. Metaphorically: in the moral desert of Judaea Israel was a wilderness, and Zion a desolation. The Hope of Israel survived only in the breasts of a few (Luke 1:25). The deepest corruption and the basest hypocrisy reigned among the priesthood (Matthew 23:13, 39). The people were sunk in social and moral degradation (Matthew 3:8; Luke 7:7-14). The intellectual classes were ostentatiously sceptical (Matthew 22:23; Acts 23:8). II. THE PROPHETIC VOICE IS SUITABLE FOR AND DEMANDED BY THE SPIRITUAL WASTES OF SOCIETY. There the prophet should cry aloud and spare not (Isaiah 58:1). III. THE QUALITY OF THE VOICE. 1. Lonely. 2. Authoritative. 3. Directive. 4. Arrestive. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.) Christ was a surprise to the world. God prepared the world for this by the ministry of the Baptist. The world has now become accustomed to the story of redemption. But the proclamation of the coming of the King in His glory is still a surprise. It runs counter to all human plans of development, is contradictory to the pride and self-confidence of men, and stands in the same relation to our ministry as did the coming of Christ as a Redeemer to that of the Baptist. That we may rightly fulfil this most responsible office, let us look at the outline of his work. These parallel and coincident offices are —I. AN ORDINANCE, NOT AN OUTGROWTH. Its origin is traced to mystery. It is not in harmony with the other voices of the world, but introduces a discord with other utterance, as students of history criticise the record. Heaven, not earth, is its source. It came by Divine ordinance, not through human development. The law of its appointment was such in John the Baptist, and is to be such in our living. 1. The motive of its fulfilment is of God. 2. The reward of fidelity is equally of Divine ordinance — does not come by natural outgrowth. The herald's work will have little accumulation of visible results. The reward is beyond. Soon shall we forget the ingratitude of earth. II. IT IS THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF ANOTHER'S INDIVIDUALITY. As if he had said, "I am the mouthpiece of one proclaiming." 1. The breath of God is the power by which our work is accomplished. Said Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." 2. The words are of God, though ours be the voice. And may I add to this thought, the very tone of such a voice is of God. III. Finally, ALL THIS IS COMBINED IN TESTIMONY. There was the simplicity of sincerity in this man. Christian workers, make it true in your own experience that ye are for Christ without qualification; and let man be helped by the testimony that springs from this deep sincerity. 1. Self-forgetful living is the first element in such testimony. 2. In such testimony there must be detaching influence. John the Baptist did not attach disciples to himself. He pointed to the Lamb of God, and his disciples left him and followed Jesus. 3. There must be plainest teaching. John the Baptist preached a single sermon, twice the same day; but while he had that sermon he needed no new one. "Behold the Lamb of God," etc. It was blessed to his hearers because it was emphasized by sincerity and consecration. Peter and Andrew knew his meaning, and comprehended that there was more in his utterance than even the words had phrased. Let us enter into this harmony of service, so that our speech shall be sustained by our silence; our conscious influence be in harmony with that which is unconscious and undesigned among our fellow-men.Conclusion: I speak to — 1. Christians that they may bear their testimony to the manifested and coming King. 2. Those who are not Christians. The voice of Christ speaks to you to-day. What answer will you give? (S. H. Tyng, D. D.) Rev. Dr. Andrew A. Bonar in "Christian Growth," an address to Christians at Glasgow, said: "Some years ago, a zealous and devoted eider, now gone to glory, was pushing his way one evening to be in time for a workers meeting. Taking his place in the meeting, he noticed how the conversation was going on, and rose to give a word. He said, 'In coming along I saw a crowd at a shop door in Argyle Street. I pressed in among the crowd to see what was attracting the attention. There was a large picture in the hands of the auctioneer; and he, with great skill, was holding it up to view; and, standing behind his picture so as to be completely hid, was inviting the attention of the company to every remarkable point in the painting. All the while I never got a glimpse of the man himself. That is the way to preach Christ. Self, out of sight — Christ held forth.'"A lady, who was in Richmond at the time of the siege, tells of the delight with which she received a note torn from a soldier's pocketbook, and grimed all over with gunpowder; but which assured of the safety of the town. The medium was nothing; the message was everything.(H. O. MacKey.) My barque is but a little fishing boat, whose business it is to fish for the souls of men; my gifts fit me only to be such a coasting vessel as may carry corn from port to port to feed those who hunger for satisfying bread.(C. H. Spurgeon.) I. JOHN HAD LEARNED TO READ HIS BIBLE. It is a good thing to be able to quote from Scripture. To buy a Bible and treasure it as an ornament is good as far as it goes; but the book must be read so as to be remembered if it is to be of service. It is just possible that had we been in the Baptist's place we should have had some difficulty in making our memory of Scripture serve us. The Bible is crowded out by the multiplication of books, the very best of which is not to be named beside it.II. JOHN BELIEVED IN PROPHECY. The question arose, doubtless, as to whether the New Teacher was orthodox. His testimony, however otherwise disagreeable, showed that he was loyal to the traditions of his religion and country. It is a great trouble to some people to believe in the Jewish prophets. III. John believing in prophecy REGARDED HIMSELF AS THE FULFILMENT OF IT. It is not every man who, being asked who and what he is, can turn to the Scripture and find the answer there. The remembrance that God was working according to a great plan, and that he was part of that plan, must have given him a noble self-consciousness. In this the Baptist was not wholly singular. Although our names may not be in the Bible, we are as much a part of God's plan as John was. Believe, then, that as truly as God sent the Baptist He sent you. (H. W. Burgoyne, B. A.) — Losing the solaces of an earthly home, he found in God an everlasting portion. Like a single trunk of an Alpine tree rising solitary from between the interstices of some lonely rock and throwing its branches over the cataract. You look for soil, there is scarcely any to be seen; and yet that gnarled root has fastened its tenacious grasp on the bare stone, and tossed its green branches in the air, as if it needed nothing but the breath of heaven for its support. So this soul flourished where less hardy spirits would have starved, and breathed freely the atmosphere of heaven while yet upon earth.(F. W. Robertson, M. A.) This is what the sun says. He comes to us every morning, and stays with us all day long, but if it were not for the preparation and reception in the way of opening shutters and raising blinds, we should lose very much of his blessing. All the world over, before a blessing can be enjoyed there must be a fitness to receive it. If you take a blind man into a picture-gallery, what good do you do? The beauty of the pictures is there, but the man is unaffected by it; its way into the man's soul has not been made straight. You may play all manner of beautiful music, but if your audience is deaf, you play only for yourself; the way of the music is not made straight except into your heart. And the result will be just the same if the blindness and deafness are not natural but assumed. If the man in the picture-gallery is only covering his eyes with his hands, he is as good as blind; and if the people in the concert-room are only putting their fingers into their ears, they are as good as deaf. So it was, alas! so it is, with the people and Jesus.(H.W. Burgoyne.) People Andrew, Cephas, Elias, Elijah, Esaias, Isaiah, Jesus, John, Jona, Jonah, Jonas, Joseph, Levites, Nathanael, Peter, Philip, SimonPlaces Bethany Beyond Jordan, Bethsaida, Galilee, Jordan River, NazarethTopics Account, Pressed, Question, Sayest, Sending, ThyselfOutline 1. The divinity, humanity, office, and incarnation of Jesus Christ.15. The testimony of John. 39. The calling of Simon and Andrew, Philip and Nathanael Dictionary of Bible Themes John 1:19-31Library GraceEversley. 1856. St. John i. 16, 17. "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." I wish you to mind particularly this word GRACE. You meet it very often in the Bible. You hear often said, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Now, what does this word grace mean? It is really worth your while to know; for if a man or a woman has not grace, they will be very unhappy people, and very disagreeable … Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons June 25 Morning January 20 Morning September 24 Evening October 21 Morning March 12 Morning November 21 Evening February 23 Morning April 28 Morning May 29 Morning January 16 Evening May 19 Evening November 15 Morning March 8 Morning March 20 Morning October 11 Evening February 26 Morning May 24 Evening November 12 Morning December 23 Morning June 24 Evening February 15 Morning The Son of Thunder 'Three Tabernacles' Links John 1:22 NIVJohn 1:22 NLT John 1:22 ESV John 1:22 NASB John 1:22 KJV John 1:22 Bible Apps John 1:22 Parallel John 1:22 Biblia Paralela John 1:22 Chinese Bible John 1:22 French Bible John 1:22 German Bible John 1:22 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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