_CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BAPTIST_ ‘There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.’ John 1:6 There are two things about John which we have to remember:— I. HE WAS A FEARLESS MAN.—In those days, as now, people were very fond of having their own way; and John went into the midst of these peopl... [ Continue Reading ]
_BLINDNESS OF HEART_ ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.’ John 1:10 These are the words in which the last of the Apostles summed up the direct and visible results of the Incarnation. He is above all impressed with the awful paradox that, when God becam... [ Continue Reading ]
_EMMANUEL!_ ‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ John 1:14 This verse refers to the most important event in the history of the world. ‘The Word was made flesh.’ I. A PERFECT SAVIOUR.—And He became not only flesh, but a perfect Saviour. You can trust Him, for He was God of God, Lig... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF RELIGION_ ‘We beheld His glory … full of grace and truth.’ John 1:14 In what does the attractiveness of our religion consist? There are multitudes to whom the Christian religion has no attractiveness whatever. There are others to whom it is the supremest attraction of their... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON_ ‘The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.’ John 1:18 So writes John, in this glorious introduction to his Gospel. He is about to tell, in the following Chapter s, of what the Man Christ Jesus did, and said, and suffered; how He called His disciples, how... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE REVELATION OF GOD TO MAN_ ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.’ John 1:18 What is meant by Revelation.—Etymologically the term means the drawing aside of a veil. I. CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT ALL KNOWLEDGE IS REVEL... [ Continue Reading ]
_A MESSAGE FOR TO-DAY_ ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ John 1:23 An old message; yet one for our own day. Lacking now, indeed, the dramatic surroundings of its first delivery: the man from the desert, with the frame of an ascetic, the eye of a seer, the garb of a prophet, with a reputation f... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE UNKNOWN CHRIST_ ‘There standeth One among you, Whom ye know not.… The same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.’ John 1:26; John 1:33 Is the charge still true. Is Christ still unknown in His special prerogative as He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost? I. CHRIST IS NOT AN ABSENT FORCE.... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LAMB OF GOD_ ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world.’ John 1:29 John stands before the ministry in the same attitude as that in which the herald angel stands before the infancy, both the one and the other appe... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE UNKNOWN CHRIST_ ‘There standeth One among you, Whom ye know not.… The same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.’ John 1:26; John 1:33 Is the charge still true. Is Christ still unknown in His special prerogative as He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost? I. CHRIST IS NOT AN ABSENT FORCE.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A REPEATED EFFORT_ ‘Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.’ John 1:35 But yesterday the Baptist stood to bear that testimony which contain... [ Continue Reading ]
_EXPERIENCE THE TEST OF TRUTH_ ‘Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth,’ etc. John 1:45 Philip, believing in Christ himself, immediately endeavours to make a believer of Nathanael. I. THE MAN WHO... [ Continue Reading ]