Class 5 from this series was used in GCT Episode 267.<\/p>\n
2
\n00:00:04,000 –> 00:00:06,880
\nbe calling upon our brother
\nDennis Gillett to deliver the <\/p>\n
3
\n00:00:06,880 –> 00:00:09,680
\n6th class in his series on Bible
\nMen. <\/p>\n
4
\n00:00:10,000 –> 00:00:16,200
\nThe way they were entitled,
\nJohn, Fearless and Faithful. <\/p>\n
5
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\nAs an introductory reading,
\nwe’ll be reading from Mark <\/p>\n
6
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\nchapter 6, commencing at verse
\n14 and reading through to verse <\/p>\n
7
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\n29.
\nGood morning, everyone. <\/p>\n
8
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\nAs a beginning this morning I
\nmake a RE proposition that is <\/p>\n
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\nsomething we’ve already pondered
\nearlier this week, that is. <\/p>\n
10
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\nThat when you are trying to see
\nthe characters of Bible men and <\/p>\n
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\nto see them the way they were,
\nit is sometimes profitable to <\/p>\n
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\ndiscover their characters in
\nobserving the way they live and <\/p>\n
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\nact in their relationship to
\nother people. <\/p>\n
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\nNow I think we found this to be
\ntrue, or I tried to do it in <\/p>\n
15
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\nrespect of Nehemiah.
\nAnother good example in the <\/p>\n
16
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\nBible, of course, is Pontius
\nPilate. <\/p>\n
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\nIt was through his contact with
\nthe man of Nazareth that we were<\/p>\n
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\nable to measure his character.
\nI dare say without that contact <\/p>\n
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\nhe would have been a non entity
\nand we should never have heard <\/p>\n
20
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\nof him.
\nBut because of it his name has <\/p>\n
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\nbeen proclaimed all then the
\nages. <\/p>\n
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\nFrom millions of lips he
\nsuffered under Pontius Pilate <\/p>\n
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\nand apart from that he would not
\nhave been known well. <\/p>\n
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\nThis is just an example.
\nMen are sometimes revealed in <\/p>\n
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\ntheir relationship with other
\npeople. <\/p>\n
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\nAnd this is the process I’d like
\nto follow today about John the <\/p>\n
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\nBaptist to watch the
\ndevelopment, the revelation of <\/p>\n
28
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\nhis character in his
\nrelationship with first of all <\/p>\n
29
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\nthe Pharisees and then with King
\nHerod. <\/p>\n
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\nWe are to try to examine this
\nprocess in this man, the son of <\/p>\n
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\nZacharias.
\nNow it seems to me that the life<\/p>\n
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\nof John can be divided into 3
\ndistinct periods. <\/p>\n
33
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\nThe 1st is that part of his life
\nwhich is described in Luke One <\/p>\n
34
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\nverse 18 as he was in the
\ndesert, still is showing unto <\/p>\n
35
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\nIsrael that period as you know
\nlasted 30 years. <\/p>\n
36
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\nHe was in the wilderness,
\nseeking God by the heart, <\/p>\n
37
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\nwithout the aid of rituals and
\ncreeds, away from the <\/p>\n
38
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\ninfallibility of the rabbis and
\naway from the controversies of <\/p>\n
39
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\nJudaism and the life of
\nJerusalem. <\/p>\n
40
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\nSo that was the first period
\nabout which we know nothing. <\/p>\n
41
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\nThe second period is shorter.
\nIt comprises a few months of his<\/p>\n
42
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\npublic ministry.
\nHe was now ready to be the <\/p>\n
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\nherald of the one who was to
\ncome shortly afterwards, and who<\/p>\n
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\nwas to baptize with spirit.
\nHe’d learned this John in the <\/p>\n
45
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\ndesert, that reality lies at the
\nroot of all true religious life.<\/p>\n
46
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\nAnd so to a nation of formalists
\nhe came preaching this one thing<\/p>\n
47
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\nthat they must be real.
\nHe said bring forth roots meat <\/p>\n
48
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\nfor repentance.
\nThat’s in Matthew 3, verse 8. <\/p>\n
49
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\nPersonal reformation is the
\npreparation for the Kingdom of <\/p>\n
50
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\nGod.
\nThis was His Clarion call. <\/p>\n
51
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\nLet each man be true.
\nLet each man do his duty. <\/p>\n
52
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\nLet the rich give to those who
\nare not rich. <\/p>\n
53
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\nLet Republicans accuse no man
\nfalsely. <\/p>\n
54
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\nLet the soldier be content with
\nhis wages, the reality of <\/p>\n
55
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\nserving God.
\nThis was his message. <\/p>\n
56
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\nChange yourselves, he was
\nsaying, or you will have no <\/p>\n
57
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\nKingdom at all.
\nAnd he delivered his message <\/p>\n
58
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\nmanfully, as you know.
\nAnd it’s just, his success was <\/p>\n
59
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\nastonishing, even to himself.
\nHe was a burning and a shining <\/p>\n
60
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\nlight.
\nThat’s how the record describes <\/p>\n
61
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\nhim.
\nIt’s sometimes easy to shine. <\/p>\n
62
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\nIt’s more difficult to burn.
\nAnd he burned his way into the <\/p>\n
63
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\nhearts of the Israelites and the
\nthe desert swarmed with crowds. <\/p>\n
64
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\nAnd the formalist was no longer
\nsatisfied with his formalism. <\/p>\n
65
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\nAnd the infidel was unable to
\nrest any longer upon his <\/p>\n
66
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\ninfidelity.
\nAnd when John saw the Pharisees <\/p>\n
67
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\ncoming to him for baptism, he,
\neven John, was astonished. <\/p>\n
68
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\nHe cried, Who had warned ye to
\nflee from the wrath to come, The<\/p>\n
69
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\nqualities which he had learned,
\nand those things which he had <\/p>\n
70
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\nnursed in the desert through him
\nbecame known to the world. <\/p>\n
71
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\nAnd I sense as I read the record
\nthat men felt that the greater <\/p>\n
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\nthan themselves was among them.
\nThey felt somehow that he was a <\/p>\n
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\ngreat prophet.
\nThe world around him was moved <\/p>\n
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\nwith admiration.
\nNow this was the trial, the <\/p>\n
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\nfirst trial which John had to
\nendure, and he he endured it <\/p>\n
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\nuninjured the trial of
\nadmiration, even indeed, as the <\/p>\n
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\nMessiah did later on.
\nBut of course, the great trial <\/p>\n
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\nis yet to come, as we shall
\nnotice later on. <\/p>\n
79
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\nBut let’s think a little bit
\nmore about the success which <\/p>\n
80
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\nattended.
\nJohn Baptist ministry, it says <\/p>\n
81
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\nthey went out, they went out to
\nhim Jerusalem and all Judea and <\/p>\n
82
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\nall the region round about
\nJordan, and were baptized by him<\/p>\n
83
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\nin Jordan, confessing their
\nsins. <\/p>\n
84
\n00:05:44,640 –> 00:05:48,320
\nThat means that all kinds of
\npeople came to John and they <\/p>\n
85
\n00:05:48,320 –> 00:05:52,880
\ncame to him with one malady.
\nThe aching of the hollow heart <\/p>\n
86
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\nwaited with sin, and when they
\nwere baptized. <\/p>\n
87
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\nThe man who bent over them was a
\nsolitary man who had LED a <\/p>\n
88
\n00:06:00,320 –> 00:06:05,200
\nhermit’s life, a man of spare
\ndiet, a man of austere habits, a<\/p>\n
89
\n00:06:05,200 –> 00:06:10,040
\nman of composure, A stern man, a
\nman who had been in lonely <\/p>\n
90
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\nplace, who is the most high God.
\nA prophet indeed, And though he <\/p>\n
91
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\nwas a hermit, he took no half
\nview of men and sins. <\/p>\n
92
\n00:06:20,240 –> 00:06:23,200
\nThere was nothing morbid in his
\nway of life. <\/p>\n
93
\n00:06:23,840 –> 00:06:28,560
\nThere was a sanctified common
\nsense in the advice he gave to <\/p>\n
94
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\nthe different classes of people
\nas we have remembered. <\/p>\n
95
\n00:06:32,280 –> 00:06:37,160
\nRepent with him didn’t mean come
\nwith me into the wilderness and <\/p>\n
96
\n00:06:37,160 –> 00:06:39,920
\nlive a solitary life away from
\nthe world. <\/p>\n
97
\n00:06:39,920 –> 00:06:45,320
\nDidn’t mean that Repent with him
\nmeant go back to the world and <\/p>\n
98
\n00:06:45,320 –> 00:06:50,400
\nlive above it, each man doing
\nhis worldly duty in an unworldly<\/p>\n
99
\n00:06:50,400 –> 00:06:54,720
\nspirit.
\nIn a sense, when you think about<\/p>\n
100
\n00:06:54,720 –> 00:06:57,680
\nit, it’s a remarkable thing.
\nIt’s a strange thing. <\/p>\n
101
\n00:06:58,360 –> 00:07:05,120
\nMen of the world coming with
\nimplicit reverence to learn the <\/p>\n
102
\n00:07:05,120 –> 00:07:11,320
\ntrue duty of life.
\nMen who were engaged in an <\/p>\n
103
\n00:07:11,320 –> 00:07:15,520
\nactive vibe in a busy world.
\nComing to a man whose world was <\/p>\n
104
\n00:07:15,520 –> 00:07:20,720
\nthe desert, who knew nothing of
\nactive life except my hearsay. <\/p>\n
105
\n00:07:21,760 –> 00:07:27,920
\nMen from the metropolitan life
\nof Jerusalem coming to this <\/p>\n
106
\n00:07:28,080 –> 00:07:30,680
\nhermit to learn the secret of
\nliving. <\/p>\n
107
\n00:07:32,520 –> 00:07:40,720
\nThat was a strange thing, and
\nthe secret of his power seems to<\/p>\n
108
\n00:07:40,720 –> 00:07:46,640
\nbe to me that men in their
\ndeepest heart knew that John was<\/p>\n
109
\n00:07:46,640 –> 00:07:49,600
\nreal.
\nYou see, in the long run, <\/p>\n
110
\n00:07:49,600 –> 00:07:52,440
\nbrother and sisters, reality is
\nthe secret of all. <\/p>\n
111
\n00:07:52,440 –> 00:07:57,320
\nSuccess and religion in
\nJerusalem had come to be a thing<\/p>\n
112
\n00:07:57,320 –> 00:08:01,880
\nof formalism.
\nMen had settled into a a routine<\/p>\n
113
\n00:08:01,880 –> 00:08:05,880
\nof formal, external things.
\nAnd really it was these things <\/p>\n
114
\n00:08:05,880 –> 00:08:08,640
\nthat form the substance of
\nJewish religion at that time. <\/p>\n
115
\n00:08:08,920 –> 00:08:13,240
\nAnd the truth is, it’s no good.
\nIt never satisfies. <\/p>\n
116
\n00:08:16,160 –> 00:08:21,840
\nIt’s an empty thing.
\nMen will sense, sooner or later,<\/p>\n
117
\n00:08:21,840 –> 00:08:24,920
\nthat true religion is not to be
\nfound in the mere performance of<\/p>\n
118
\n00:08:24,920 –> 00:08:30,720
\nexternal things, nor in the
\nkeeping of mere keeping of <\/p>\n
119
\n00:08:30,720 –> 00:08:35,880
\nrules, nor in the abstemious
\nrefusal of certain vices, nor in<\/p>\n
120
\n00:08:35,880 –> 00:08:38,360
\nthe punctilious performance of
\ncertain virtues. <\/p>\n
121
\n00:08:38,600 –> 00:08:41,960
\nNot this.
\nThis is an expression, of <\/p>\n
122
\n00:08:41,960 –> 00:08:47,400
\ncourse, but men sooner or later
\nare driven to realize that. <\/p>\n
123
\n00:08:49,160 –> 00:08:51,080
\nThere is something deeper than
\nthis. <\/p>\n
124
\n00:08:52,040 –> 00:08:56,000
\nIt’s the hidden things of the
\nSpirit, the hunger for the truly<\/p>\n
125
\n00:08:56,000 –> 00:09:00,040
\nspiritual life which satisfies
\nthat and nothing else. <\/p>\n
126
\n00:09:01,160 –> 00:09:05,120
\nNow you see, John Baptist
\nbrought this kind of faith to <\/p>\n
127
\n00:09:06,680 –> 00:09:10,520
\ntell them that all we see now
\nreally is but a shadow, and that<\/p>\n
128
\n00:09:10,520 –> 00:09:14,320
\nthe invisible life of the Spirit
\nwithin is is the real life. <\/p>\n
129
\n00:09:15,840 –> 00:09:19,040
\nAnd this man had seen the glory
\nof God in the desert, and he’d <\/p>\n
130
\n00:09:19,040 –> 00:09:22,520
\ndone it, and seen it without the
\naid of any formality, without <\/p>\n
131
\n00:09:22,520 –> 00:09:24,360
\nthe aid of any external
\nreligion. <\/p>\n
132
\n00:09:25,320 –> 00:09:28,760
\nAnd as I read it, it seems to me
\nthe people sensed it. <\/p>\n
133
\n00:09:28,920 –> 00:09:34,480
\nThis is what they understood.
\nThey knew that they could not go<\/p>\n
134
\n00:09:34,480 –> 00:09:37,880
\nto him as they they could to the
\nrabbis for some learned <\/p>\n
135
\n00:09:37,880 –> 00:09:40,960
\nsubtlety.
\nThey get no subtlety from John <\/p>\n
136
\n00:09:40,960 –> 00:09:44,920
\nBaptist Cliff.
\nThey wanted sophistry. <\/p>\n
137
\n00:09:45,520 –> 00:09:47,560
\nThey get none of that from John
\nBaptist. <\/p>\n
138
\n00:09:49,040 –> 00:09:53,200
\nThey knew that his words were
\nreal, and his words touched them<\/p>\n
139
\n00:09:53,200 –> 00:09:55,560
\ndeeply.
\nThey were incisive repentance, <\/p>\n
140
\n00:09:57,400 –> 00:10:02,320
\nspoke of wrath to Tom.
\nThe axis laid to the root of the<\/p>\n
141
\n00:10:02,320 –> 00:10:07,920
\ntree, he said, and he said,
\nfruitful tree, fruitless trees <\/p>\n
142
\n00:10:07,920 –> 00:10:13,800
\nwill be cast into the fire.
\nAnd he spoke. <\/p>\n
143
\n00:10:14,560 –> 00:10:22,800
\nAs a man who spoke earnestly,
\nthey may not have liked it, but <\/p>\n
144
\n00:10:23,320 –> 00:10:27,640
\nthey could not escape its
\nrealism, and they felt, I think,<\/p>\n
145
\n00:10:27,640 –> 00:10:31,280
\nthat John was true.
\nSay what you will, John was <\/p>\n
146
\n00:10:31,280 –> 00:10:34,760
\ntrue.
\nIndeed, in a way this is the <\/p>\n
147
\n00:10:34,760 –> 00:10:39,960
\ntest which is applied to all, I
\nthink, who listen to preachers. <\/p>\n
148
\n00:10:39,960 –> 00:10:46,560
\nIn the end, this is the test.
\nThe acid test. <\/p>\n
149
\n00:10:46,560 –> 00:10:50,840
\nYou may think that that men
\napply to people like ourselves. <\/p>\n
150
\n00:10:52,400 –> 00:10:57,320
\nIs this man true?
\nIs he, you know, this, this <\/p>\n
151
\n00:10:57,320 –> 00:11:02,080
\npreacher, wherever he is now?
\nThis is the one of the this is <\/p>\n
152
\n00:11:02,080 –> 00:11:04,280
\none of the secrets of a
\npreacher’s influence. <\/p>\n
153
\n00:11:07,000 –> 00:11:09,080
\nAnd then there is another thing
\nto be noticed. <\/p>\n
154
\n00:11:10,400 –> 00:11:15,720
\nJohn’s reaction to his success?
\nWe read of the soldiers and the <\/p>\n
155
\n00:11:15,720 –> 00:11:21,600
\npublicans and the poor coming to
\nyou and he was not surprised and<\/p>\n
156
\n00:11:21,600 –> 00:11:24,560
\nyou can understand why.
\nNo wonder the poor of this world<\/p>\n
157
\n00:11:24,560 –> 00:11:26,320
\nshould look wistfully for
\nsalvation. <\/p>\n
158
\n00:11:27,320 –> 00:11:30,600
\nNo wonder that soldiers with
\ntheir prompt habit of obedience <\/p>\n
159
\n00:11:30,600 –> 00:11:35,320
\nand and self devotion should
\nrecognise and reverence that the<\/p>\n
160
\n00:11:35,320 –> 00:11:38,640
\ntype of heroic life to which
\nJohn was calling men. <\/p>\n
161
\n00:11:39,440 –> 00:11:41,960
\nNo wonder that the guilty
\npublicans would come for <\/p>\n
162
\n00:11:41,960 –> 00:11:47,080
\npurification of heart.
\nHe was not surprised that these <\/p>\n
163
\n00:11:47,080 –> 00:11:50,440
\npeople came to him, he was.
\nHe was surprised about these <\/p>\n
164
\n00:11:50,440 –> 00:11:54,120
\nother two classes which we’ve
\nremembered that moved towards <\/p>\n
165
\n00:11:54,120 –> 00:12:00,440
\nJohn and this made him marvel.
\nThe first of course was the self<\/p>\n
166
\n00:12:00,440 –> 00:12:05,840
\nsatisfied formalist, the
\nPharisee, and the second was. <\/p>\n
167
\n00:12:06,320 –> 00:12:09,640
\nThe calm, reasoning infidel, the
\nSadducee. <\/p>\n
168
\n00:12:09,640 –> 00:12:15,040
\nAnd when he saw the Pharisees
\nand the Sadducees coming, he was<\/p>\n
169
\n00:12:15,040 –> 00:12:18,560
\nastonished.
\nNow consider these two classes <\/p>\n
170
\n00:12:18,560 –> 00:12:22,600
\nfor just a moment.
\nThe Pharisees were men who were <\/p>\n
171
\n00:12:22,600 –> 00:12:24,160
\nsatisfied with that which is
\noutward. <\/p>\n
172
\n00:12:25,520 –> 00:12:28,200
\nLet me just detain you for a
\nmoment to say I know that the <\/p>\n
173
\n00:12:28,200 –> 00:12:31,280
\nfantasies began at the highest
\nlevel. <\/p>\n
174
\n00:12:31,280 –> 00:12:34,440
\nI know that.
\nAnd they began in the days when <\/p>\n
175
\n00:12:34,440 –> 00:12:38,920
\nIsrael were exposed to the
\ninfluences of the Greek culture <\/p>\n
176
\n00:12:38,920 –> 00:12:41,960
\nand they stood for the defence
\nof the faith. <\/p>\n
177
\n00:12:42,000 –> 00:12:45,920
\nI know that they were then into
\nthat society, what the Puritans <\/p>\n
178
\n00:12:45,920 –> 00:12:49,960
\nwere to English society in the
\ndays of the Pilgrim fathers. <\/p>\n
179
\n00:12:52,480 –> 00:12:55,480
\nThey stood for purity of the
\nfaith at the time when the faith<\/p>\n
180
\n00:12:55,480 –> 00:12:57,480
\nwas assaulted by all wronged
\nforces. <\/p>\n
181
\n00:12:57,480 –> 00:13:00,520
\nI know that.
\nBut like so many other things, <\/p>\n
182
\n00:13:00,520 –> 00:13:05,440
\nthey started well and ended bad.
\nAnd in the day of Jesus they had<\/p>\n
183
\n00:13:05,440 –> 00:13:11,080
\ncome to be, as we’ve already
\nremembered, a group of <\/p>\n
184
\n00:13:11,080 –> 00:13:16,840
\nformalists only satisfied with
\nthat which was outward the inner<\/p>\n
185
\n00:13:16,840 –> 00:13:21,360
\nheart of religion, the things
\nwhich are unchangeable, justice <\/p>\n
186
\n00:13:21,360 –> 00:13:23,760
\nand mercy and truth.
\nThey could not feel. <\/p>\n
187
\n00:13:24,280 –> 00:13:27,360
\nTheir souls had shrunk, as it
\nwere, from from this true <\/p>\n
188
\n00:13:27,360 –> 00:13:30,120
\nreligion, nobleness and goodness
\nand truth. <\/p>\n
189
\n00:13:31,560 –> 00:13:35,920
\nBut drained away from their
\nhearts until they were withered <\/p>\n
190
\n00:13:35,960 –> 00:13:40,920
\nand barren men, for instance,
\nthey could jangle about the <\/p>\n
191
\n00:13:41,280 –> 00:13:44,680
\nlength of a phylactic.
\nThey could discuss. <\/p>\n
192
\n00:13:45,320 –> 00:13:49,400
\nThey could discuss ties, as that
\nwas a matter of life and death. <\/p>\n
193
\n00:13:50,320 –> 00:13:54,720
\nThey could argue to a furlong
\nabout how far the man may travel<\/p>\n
194
\n00:13:54,720 –> 00:13:59,080
\non the Sabbath day, but they
\ncouldn’t look with mercy upon a <\/p>\n
195
\n00:13:59,080 –> 00:14:02,960
\nbroken and contrite heart.
\nSeeking divine forgiveness in <\/p>\n
196
\n00:14:02,960 –> 00:14:06,680
\nthe temple, they could not
\nsuffer a hungry man to rob out <\/p>\n
197
\n00:14:06,680 –> 00:14:10,360
\nan ear of corn on the Sabbath.
\nThey could not cover the shame <\/p>\n
198
\n00:14:10,360 –> 00:14:13,320
\nof some daughter of Israel who
\nfell from a high heritage and <\/p>\n
199
\n00:14:13,320 –> 00:14:15,280
\nwas caught in the very act of
\nsin. <\/p>\n
200
\n00:14:16,320 –> 00:14:21,200
\nMen from whose narrow hearts the
\ngrandeur of God’s truth had <\/p>\n
201
\n00:14:21,200 –> 00:14:26,040
\ndisappeared.
\nI’d become shut out now. <\/p>\n
202
\n00:14:26,040 –> 00:14:33,400
\nThese men came to John Baptist.
\nAnd the Sadducees? <\/p>\n
203
\n00:14:33,440 –> 00:14:37,120
\nThey came, and in a way, they’re
\nat the other end of the pendulum<\/p>\n
204
\n00:14:37,120 –> 00:14:38,600
\nswing there.
\nAt the other end of the <\/p>\n
205
\n00:14:38,600 –> 00:14:43,880
\nspectrum, they despise the
\nexclusiveness and the formalism <\/p>\n
206
\n00:14:43,880 –> 00:14:47,200
\nof the Pharisees religion.
\nThey regarded it as <\/p>\n
207
\n00:14:47,200 –> 00:14:50,760
\nsuperstitious.
\nIt was, for them, ultra strict <\/p>\n
208
\n00:14:51,480 –> 00:14:54,800
\nand consequently they reacted
\nagainst it strongly. <\/p>\n
209
\n00:14:56,560 –> 00:15:00,040
\nBut as is often the case, as you
\nknow, the reaction from one <\/p>\n
210
\n00:15:00,040 –> 00:15:02,280
\nthing is to go to the other
\nextreme. <\/p>\n
211
\n00:15:02,640 –> 00:15:07,840
\nThe reaction in this case from
\nsuperstition was infidelity, and<\/p>\n
212
\n00:15:07,840 –> 00:15:11,840
\nthe action from ultra strictness
\nwas laxity. <\/p>\n
213
\n00:15:12,400 –> 00:15:18,640
\nThe reaction from the piracy was
\nthe seduce and unbelievable who <\/p>\n
214
\n00:15:18,640 –> 00:15:21,600
\nadmitted neither spirit nor
\nResurrection, nor Angel. <\/p>\n
215
\n00:15:23,080 –> 00:15:27,200
\nWho had looked at the religion
\nof his day, and despising it, <\/p>\n
216
\n00:15:27,680 –> 00:15:31,840
\nand despising it, thinking there
\nwas no other with dreadful <\/p>\n
217
\n00:15:31,840 –> 00:15:35,520
\ndaring, had said, there is no
\nother life than this life. <\/p>\n
218
\n00:15:35,520 –> 00:15:40,120
\nAnd so they lived in accordance
\nwith that philosophy, the cold, <\/p>\n
219
\n00:15:40,600 –> 00:15:45,680
\nhopeless, barren creed of
\nseducism. <\/p>\n
220
\n00:15:47,160 –> 00:15:51,960
\nNow both these groups came to
\nJohn. <\/p>\n
221
\n00:15:53,400 –> 00:15:57,080
\nAnd John Marvel.
\nAnd from this brother and <\/p>\n
222
\n00:15:57,080 –> 00:16:01,800
\nsisters we may learn a lesson.
\nAnd it’s this that formalism, <\/p>\n
223
\n00:16:02,840 –> 00:16:07,560
\neven morality, will not really
\nsatisfy truly the man who is <\/p>\n
224
\n00:16:07,560 –> 00:16:11,240
\nseeking God.
\nNor will infidelity give any <\/p>\n
225
\n00:16:11,240 –> 00:16:16,840
\nrest of the hungry and troubled
\nspirit the formalist’s heart, <\/p>\n
226
\n00:16:17,320 –> 00:16:20,040
\nwhich is so pure according to
\nhimself. <\/p>\n
227
\n00:16:21,240 –> 00:16:25,240
\nPerhaps, after all, is not.
\nPerhaps after all it’s polluted <\/p>\n
228
\n00:16:25,240 –> 00:16:27,960
\nand miserable.
\nElse, why are these Pharisees <\/p>\n
229
\n00:16:27,960 –> 00:16:31,120
\ncoming to John for a symbol of a
\nnew life? <\/p>\n
230
\n00:16:31,120 –> 00:16:34,600
\nWhy are they coming, these men
\nwho know everything and have <\/p>\n
231
\n00:16:34,600 –> 00:16:38,080
\nevery answer and have discovered
\nthe right way of life? <\/p>\n
232
\n00:16:38,320 –> 00:16:41,000
\nBut in God’s name, why are they
\ncoming to this lonely prophet <\/p>\n
233
\n00:16:45,240 –> 00:16:48,760
\nand the skeptic who reached his
\nconclusions by such clear, <\/p>\n
234
\n00:16:48,960 –> 00:16:53,200
\nunbiased intellect?
\nPerhaps, after all, it’s not so <\/p>\n
235
\n00:16:53,200 –> 00:16:55,560
\nclear.
\nAnd perhaps, after all, it’s not<\/p>\n
236
\n00:16:55,560 –> 00:16:59,080
\nso unbiased.
\nPerhaps his heart is restless <\/p>\n
237
\n00:16:59,080 –> 00:17:02,880
\nand dark and desolate.
\nElse, why is he coming to stand <\/p>\n
238
\n00:17:03,400 –> 00:17:05,280
\ntrembling on the brink of the
\nRiver Jordan? <\/p>\n
239
\n00:17:05,280 –> 00:17:09,119
\nWhy, if they’re so satisfied,
\nwhy are they coming? <\/p>\n
240
\n00:17:11,720 –> 00:17:14,520
\nSo the lesson we must learn,
\nbrethren and sisters, is this. <\/p>\n
241
\n00:17:15,079 –> 00:17:17,079
\nAnd you can learn it here, if
\nyou will. <\/p>\n
242
\n00:17:17,520 –> 00:17:21,920
\nThere is no real joy.
\nAnd there is no real <\/p>\n
243
\n00:17:21,920 –> 00:17:27,319
\nsatisfaction and there is no
\nreal peace apart from the truth.<\/p>\n
244
\n00:17:28,560 –> 00:17:30,040
\nThat’s the thing you ought to
\nlearn. <\/p>\n
245
\n00:17:30,040 –> 00:17:33,320
\nYou’ve learned it, of course.
\nBut relearn it, my comrades. <\/p>\n
246
\n00:17:33,320 –> 00:17:38,280
\nRelearn it.
\nThese men are telling us, as it <\/p>\n
247
\n00:17:38,280 –> 00:17:40,880
\nseems to me.
\nThese men we are looking at <\/p>\n
248
\n00:17:40,880 –> 00:17:44,000
\ntoday, they are telling us as
\nthey wait there on the Bank of <\/p>\n
249
\n00:17:44,000 –> 00:17:46,600
\nJohn’s river.
\nThey are saying it is a lie. <\/p>\n
250
\n00:17:46,840 –> 00:17:48,960
\nIt is a lie.
\nWe are not happy. <\/p>\n
251
\n00:17:49,320 –> 00:17:52,880
\nWe are.
\nWe are dark and hopeless and <\/p>\n
252
\n00:17:52,880 –> 00:17:55,640
\nmiserable.
\nYou men of America, you women of<\/p>\n
253
\n00:17:55,640 –> 00:17:57,320
\nAmerica.
\nWe are not happy in our <\/p>\n
254
\n00:17:57,320 –> 00:17:59,880
\nformalism.
\nWe are not happy in our <\/p>\n
255
\n00:17:59,920 –> 00:18:04,280
\nintellectualism and our
\nscepticism. <\/p>\n
256
\n00:18:04,600 –> 00:18:07,280
\nThere is no joy, there is no
\nsatisfaction. <\/p>\n
257
\n00:18:07,360 –> 00:18:11,080
\nWe are miserable and that’s why
\nwe are coming to this great <\/p>\n
258
\n00:18:11,080 –> 00:18:17,040
\nprophet.
\nAnd there is no rest in the <\/p>\n
259
\n00:18:17,040 –> 00:18:19,840
\nworld, you see, which will
\nsatisfy us, except the rest <\/p>\n
260
\n00:18:19,840 –> 00:18:23,400
\nwhich God has provided.
\nAnd there is no refuge in the <\/p>\n
261
\n00:18:23,400 –> 00:18:27,320
\nworld which we may come to
\naccept the refuge which God has <\/p>\n
262
\n00:18:27,320 –> 00:18:31,440
\nprovided.
\nAnd that refuge is in Christ <\/p>\n
263
\n00:18:31,440 –> 00:18:36,040
\nJesus our Saviour, manifested
\nthe manifested love of God in <\/p>\n
264
\n00:18:36,040 –> 00:18:40,520
\nhim life without the truth.
\nPonder it sometime. <\/p>\n
265
\n00:18:41,240 –> 00:18:43,920
\nYou are always pondering it,
\nperhaps in this age. <\/p>\n
266
\n00:18:44,360 –> 00:18:48,440
\nThink what life would be without
\nthe truth, and I believe you <\/p>\n
267
\n00:18:48,440 –> 00:18:51,840
\nwould be as miserable as these
\nPharisees of these Sadducees. <\/p>\n
268
\n00:18:54,080 –> 00:18:56,120
\nThe message of John is not
\nvengeance. <\/p>\n
269
\n00:18:56,120 –> 00:18:59,640
\nIt is, behold, the Lamb of God,
\nwhich taketh away the sin of the<\/p>\n
270
\n00:18:59,640 –> 00:19:02,880
\nworld.
\nAnd that means a heart which is <\/p>\n
271
\n00:19:02,880 –> 00:19:07,000
\nrenewed, a loving heart, a
\npenitent heart, a humble heart. <\/p>\n
272
\n00:19:07,200 –> 00:19:10,680
\nIt means their sins forgotten,
\ncleansed. <\/p>\n
273
\n00:19:10,680 –> 00:19:13,440
\nIt is repentance unto a new
\nlife, and you know it. <\/p>\n
274
\n00:19:16,840 –> 00:19:19,440
\nWell, that, in case you’ve
\nforgotten it, was just a little <\/p>\n
275
\n00:19:19,440 –> 00:19:24,160
\nreview of the second period of
\nJohn’s life, his contact with <\/p>\n
276
\n00:19:24,160 –> 00:19:28,240
\nthe Pharisees and the Sadducees.
\nNow let’s come to the third <\/p>\n
277
\n00:19:28,240 –> 00:19:35,680
\nperiod of his life when he
\nleaves the desert and goes to <\/p>\n
278
\n00:19:35,680 –> 00:19:41,320
\nthe city when he quitted the
\nsimple life and finds the <\/p>\n
279
\n00:19:41,320 –> 00:19:47,240
\nartificial life.
\nYou know the facts well. <\/p>\n
280
\n00:19:47,240 –> 00:19:55,920
\nJohn has won the attention of
\nKing Herod, and now he stands in<\/p>\n
281
\n00:19:55,920 –> 00:19:59,520
\nthe magnificence of the court of
\nHerod. <\/p>\n
282
\n00:20:01,600 –> 00:20:05,040
\nBut we ought to notice one thing
\nFirst of all, he is still the <\/p>\n
283
\n00:20:05,040 –> 00:20:10,360
\nprophet of the wilderness.
\nHe is unseduced by the glory and<\/p>\n
284
\n00:20:10,360 –> 00:20:15,200
\nthe favours of royalty.
\nHe is prepared to confront even <\/p>\n
285
\n00:20:15,200 –> 00:20:20,840
\nhis patron and his Prince with
\nthe stern, unpalatable truth of <\/p>\n
286
\n00:20:20,840 –> 00:20:24,160
\nGod.
\nAnd there’s a lot to be learned <\/p>\n
287
\n00:20:24,160 –> 00:20:28,280
\nfrom a scene such as this.
\nIn a way, I suppose it it is <\/p>\n
288
\n00:20:28,280 –> 00:20:31,320
\nreally the highest moment of
\nJohn Baptist’s ministry. <\/p>\n
289
\n00:20:31,600 –> 00:20:35,240
\nIt is comparable in form, though
\nnot in degree, with the agony of<\/p>\n
290
\n00:20:35,320 –> 00:20:39,800
\nJesus in the garden.
\nJohn spoke the truth <\/p>\n
291
\n00:20:40,360 –> 00:20:43,200
\nunflinchingly.
\nThat’s why we called him <\/p>\n
292
\n00:20:43,720 –> 00:20:47,560
\nfaithful and fearless.
\nHe spoke the truth <\/p>\n
293
\n00:20:48,160 –> 00:20:52,000
\nunflinchingly.
\nNow this is what I want you to <\/p>\n
294
\n00:20:52,000 –> 00:20:57,520
\nthink about the meaning of that
\nyou see to lecture to those who <\/p>\n
295
\n00:20:57,520 –> 00:21:03,680
\nare weak about religion is not
\nhard. <\/p>\n
296
\n00:21:05,720 –> 00:21:09,440
\nTo speak upon worldliness.
\nTo those with whom we do not <\/p>\n
297
\n00:21:09,440 –> 00:21:12,240
\nusually associate, and therefore
\ndo not see our daily <\/p>\n
298
\n00:21:12,240 –> 00:21:19,480
\ninconsistencies is not hard.
\nTo speak contemptuously of the <\/p>\n
299
\n00:21:19,480 –> 00:21:22,440
\nworld when we have no power, of
\ncommanding its admiration. <\/p>\n
300
\n00:21:23,400 –> 00:21:28,760
\nIt’s not difficult to speak of.
\nSeparating ourselves from riches<\/p>\n
301
\n00:21:28,760 –> 00:21:32,960
\nwhen there is no possibility of
\never being wealthy, is not hard.<\/p>\n
302
\n00:21:34,960 –> 00:21:38,000
\nI know this.
\nI know all about this. <\/p>\n
303
\n00:21:38,720 –> 00:21:41,680
\nI know you can Thunder against
\nsin when nobody knows about your<\/p>\n
304
\n00:21:41,680 –> 00:21:48,000
\nprivate life.
\nIt’s when somebody does that you<\/p>\n
305
\n00:21:48,000 –> 00:21:54,480
\ntend to be careful what you say.
\nNo, these things are not <\/p>\n
306
\n00:21:54,480 –> 00:22:00,480
\ndifficult.
\nBut when a man receives powers <\/p>\n
307
\n00:22:00,840 –> 00:22:04,560
\nand accomplishments and
\nopportunities which would enable<\/p>\n
308
\n00:22:04,560 –> 00:22:09,080
\nhim to rise and shine in
\nsociety, when a man may receive <\/p>\n
309
\n00:22:09,080 –> 00:22:16,960
\nthe very highest estimation of
\nhuman glory and yet still remain<\/p>\n
310
\n00:22:16,960 –> 00:22:20,920
\nhimself, he’ll be the same man,
\nfirm and steady and <\/p>\n
311
\n00:22:20,920 –> 00:22:26,040
\nuncompromisingly true.
\nWhen he can be as undaunted <\/p>\n
312
\n00:22:26,040 –> 00:22:28,520
\nbefore kings as he is before
\npeasants. <\/p>\n
313
\n00:22:30,000 –> 00:22:35,240
\nWhen rank and fashion cannot
\nsubdue him into silence, when he<\/p>\n
314
\n00:22:35,240 –> 00:22:39,040
\nhates model evil as sternly as a
\nking as he does in the poorest <\/p>\n
315
\n00:22:39,040 –> 00:22:43,960
\ncommoner, then I tell you,
\nthere’s a mark of truth about <\/p>\n
316
\n00:22:43,960 –> 00:22:49,640
\nsuch a man.
\nNow you can think of John. <\/p>\n
317
\n00:22:49,640 –> 00:22:53,000
\nThen, when he stands before
\nHerod to deliver his rebuke. <\/p>\n
318
\n00:22:53,000 –> 00:22:56,560
\nWe’ve read about it.
\nYou can think of John in that <\/p>\n
319
\n00:22:56,560 –> 00:23:01,680
\nsituation.
\nNow I I want to try and imagine <\/p>\n
320
\n00:23:01,680 –> 00:23:05,480
\nfor you the kind of advice that
\nhe would be receiving. <\/p>\n
321
\n00:23:07,240 –> 00:23:12,600
\nImagine the advice he is going
\nto confront his king with this <\/p>\n
322
\n00:23:12,800 –> 00:23:15,520
\nunpalatable challenge of the
\ntruth. <\/p>\n
323
\n00:23:17,240 –> 00:23:21,160
\nAnd as he is ready to go, think
\nof the advice that he would be <\/p>\n
324
\n00:23:21,160 –> 00:23:28,120
\ngetting.
\nJohn, whatever you do, keep your<\/p>\n
325
\n00:23:28,120 –> 00:23:30,920
\nremarks within the limit of
\npoliteness. <\/p>\n
326
\n00:23:34,600 –> 00:23:39,440
\nJohn, if you cannot approve,
\nbetter say nothing. <\/p>\n
327
\n00:23:39,840 –> 00:23:42,200
\nYou’ll do no good by finding
\nfault. <\/p>\n
328
\n00:23:47,280 –> 00:23:49,480
\nThat’s the kind of advice he
\nwould receive. <\/p>\n
329
\n00:23:53,320 –> 00:23:56,680
\nAnd we can imagine also what
\nJohn would think of this, <\/p>\n
330
\n00:23:57,600 –> 00:24:04,240
\nbecause he goes, he goes, and he
\nsimply says to the king, it is <\/p>\n
331
\n00:24:04,240 –> 00:24:08,120
\nnot lawful for you to have this
\nwoman. <\/p>\n
332
\n00:24:09,840 –> 00:24:13,760
\nIt is not lawful.
\nIt is evil. <\/p>\n
333
\n00:24:13,840 –> 00:24:20,040
\nThat’s what he said.
\nNow that I mean, he said it <\/p>\n
334
\n00:24:20,040 –> 00:24:22,400
\nplainly.
\nI he said it politely, I’ve no <\/p>\n
335
\n00:24:22,400 –> 00:24:26,720
\ndoubt, but he said it plainly.
\nThere was no cashew history, no <\/p>\n
336
\n00:24:26,720 –> 00:24:32,400
\nsophistry.
\nSee, I I’ve known some men, I’ve<\/p>\n
337
\n00:24:32,400 –> 00:24:37,560
\nmet some men, and they are they
\nare capable of using certain <\/p>\n
338
\n00:24:37,560 –> 00:24:41,640
\nsubtle approaches which have a
\nway of excusing those who <\/p>\n
339
\n00:24:41,640 –> 00:24:46,640
\nthey’ve come to rebuke.
\nHave you noticed in the very <\/p>\n
340
\n00:24:46,640 –> 00:24:48,760
\nrebuke they provided the
\nexcuses? <\/p>\n
341
\n00:24:48,760 –> 00:24:52,440
\nHave you seen it?
\nNow? <\/p>\n
342
\n00:24:52,440 –> 00:24:55,640
\nJohn was not one of these.
\nAs Jesus said. <\/p>\n
343
\n00:24:55,640 –> 00:24:58,040
\nHe was no Reed shaken by the
\nwind. <\/p>\n
344
\n00:24:59,880 –> 00:25:03,400
\nHe does not, for instance, go to
\nthe King and say, well now, Your<\/p>\n
345
\n00:25:03,400 –> 00:25:07,840
\nMajesty, it would be better to
\ndo something different. <\/p>\n
346
\n00:25:09,080 –> 00:25:11,120
\nIt it would be better for the
\nsituation. <\/p>\n
347
\n00:25:13,960 –> 00:25:18,040
\nHe doesn’t go and say it would
\nbe unprofitable for your own <\/p>\n
348
\n00:25:18,040 –> 00:25:20,920
\nhappiness to do this.
\nIt will not bring you happiness.<\/p>\n
349
\n00:25:23,920 –> 00:25:27,920
\nNot saying that, he says
\nplainly. <\/p>\n
350
\n00:25:28,000 –> 00:25:31,640
\nIt is wrong.
\nIt is wrong for you to do this <\/p>\n
351
\n00:25:31,640 –> 00:25:34,440
\nevil thing.
\nYou see. <\/p>\n
352
\n00:25:34,440 –> 00:25:37,520
\nAs I said to you earlier in the
\nweek, in this in this world, <\/p>\n
353
\n00:25:37,520 –> 00:25:40,720
\nearnest men don’t have time for
\nthese kind of subtlety. <\/p>\n
354
\n00:25:43,120 –> 00:25:46,480
\nIf we dare not tell our patron
\nof his sin, then we best give up<\/p>\n
355
\n00:25:46,480 –> 00:25:55,600
\nhis patronage.
\nSo that was John, fearless and <\/p>\n
356
\n00:25:55,600 –> 00:25:59,520
\nfaithful.
\nAnd then there’s one other <\/p>\n
357
\n00:25:59,520 –> 00:26:04,320
\naspect of John’s character which
\nI think we ought to remember in <\/p>\n
358
\n00:26:04,320 –> 00:26:08,320
\nthis scene.
\nHe does his hard duty without, <\/p>\n
359
\n00:26:09,520 –> 00:26:12,000
\nit seems to me, as I read the
\npassage anyway, he does it <\/p>\n
360
\n00:26:12,000 –> 00:26:15,440
\nwithout any feeling or
\nconsciousness that he is being <\/p>\n
361
\n00:26:15,880 –> 00:26:19,480
\nfine.
\nThere’s no there’s no sort of <\/p>\n
362
\n00:26:19,480 –> 00:26:20,840
\nfeeling that he’s saying to
\nhimself. <\/p>\n
363
\n00:26:21,080 –> 00:26:26,000
\nI am doing a great scene.
\nI am doing a fine scene. <\/p>\n
364
\n00:26:28,960 –> 00:26:31,920
\nThere was no sidelong glance, as
\nit were. <\/p>\n
365
\n00:26:32,720 –> 00:26:34,920
\nIt’s in a mirror of admiration
\nfor himself. <\/p>\n
366
\n00:26:34,920 –> 00:26:37,320
\nHe’s not looking sideways to see
\nhow well he’s doing. <\/p>\n
367
\n00:26:39,160 –> 00:26:41,240
\nHe’s not feeling, oh, this is
\nbrave. <\/p>\n
368
\n00:26:43,560 –> 00:26:46,800
\nHis reproof, it seems to me,
\ncomes quite naturally out of an <\/p>\n
369
\n00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:52,600
\nhonest and an earnest heart.
\nSee, no, No man is conscious <\/p>\n
370
\n00:26:52,600 –> 00:26:56,160
\nthat he’s true when he no true
\nman, at least, is is. <\/p>\n
371
\n00:26:57,160 –> 00:27:00,880
\nSort of constantly conscious
\nthat he’s true, he’s rather <\/p>\n
372
\n00:27:00,880 –> 00:27:03,440
\nconscious of his insincerity.
\nHe’s often worried by his <\/p>\n
373
\n00:27:03,440 –> 00:27:07,240
\ninsincerity.
\nNo brave man is conscious of his<\/p>\n
374
\n00:27:07,240 –> 00:27:09,120
\nbravery.
\nI’ve noticed that very often <\/p>\n
375
\n00:27:09,120 –> 00:27:12,040
\nbravery is done in in a
\ncondition of fearfulness. <\/p>\n
376
\n00:27:13,640 –> 00:27:18,680
\nMany a brave man is full of
\nfear, and yet in spite of his <\/p>\n
377
\n00:27:18,680 –> 00:27:25,560
\nfear, he does his duty.
\nThe skin of Moses face shone <\/p>\n
378
\n00:27:25,600 –> 00:27:28,160
\nafter he’d been with God, but
\nMoses knew it. <\/p>\n
379
\n00:27:28,160 –> 00:27:32,160
\nNot now.
\nHonest men are like that. <\/p>\n
380
\n00:27:35,040 –> 00:27:41,480
\nI was thinking yesterday as I
\nwas just finally thinking what I<\/p>\n
381
\n00:27:41,480 –> 00:27:45,360
\nwould say to you today.
\nI was thinking how I would, how <\/p>\n
382
\n00:27:45,400 –> 00:27:49,240
\nI would have delivered the
\nmessage of rebuke to Herod. <\/p>\n
383
\n00:27:51,080 –> 00:27:53,120
\nYou might like to think how you
\nwould have done it. <\/p>\n
384
\n00:27:55,520 –> 00:28:01,320
\nI fear there are some of us, and
\nI I fear most that I won. <\/p>\n
385
\n00:28:02,960 –> 00:28:07,480
\nSome of us would have prefaced
\nthe rebuke with a long speech. <\/p>\n
386
\n00:28:07,520 –> 00:28:14,840
\nToo long, I’m sure.
\nA long speech before we came to <\/p>\n
387
\n00:28:14,840 –> 00:28:19,280
\nthe point.
\nWe should have begun, no doubt. <\/p>\n
388
\n00:28:19,640 –> 00:28:24,080
\nPerhaps I better not say we.
\nPerhaps I better say I I should <\/p>\n
389
\n00:28:24,080 –> 00:28:28,840
\nhave begun with saying how
\ndifficult it was for such a poor<\/p>\n
390
\n00:28:28,840 –> 00:28:33,560
\nman as I to speak to a great one
\nthat’s making the way a bit easy<\/p>\n
391
\n00:28:33,560 –> 00:28:39,480
\nto start with.
\nI would have said how delicate <\/p>\n
392
\n00:28:39,480 –> 00:28:43,920
\nthe subject was, how that we
\nwere. <\/p>\n
393
\n00:28:44,600 –> 00:28:48,600
\nWhat we were about to say was
\nreally proof of our devotion to <\/p>\n
394
\n00:28:48,600 –> 00:28:52,280
\nthe well-being of the King.
\nAfter all, we were only thinking<\/p>\n
395
\n00:28:52,280 –> 00:28:56,200
\nof him.
\nI fear that’s what I would have <\/p>\n
396
\n00:28:56,720 –> 00:29:04,840
\nhad in my opening address.
\nNo, John does nothing like this.<\/p>\n
397
\n00:29:05,960 –> 00:29:11,800
\nI am compelled to confess that
\nin my deepest heart I know that <\/p>\n
398
\n00:29:12,440 –> 00:29:17,080
\nsometimes long prefaces betray
\nan anxiety about self more than <\/p>\n
399
\n00:29:17,080 –> 00:29:21,400
\nanything else.
\nBut that was not John. <\/p>\n
400
\n00:29:22,120 –> 00:29:26,200
\nHe was thinking of God’s
\noffended law, and he was <\/p>\n
401
\n00:29:26,200 –> 00:29:29,120
\nthinking of the King’s
\nsalvation. <\/p>\n
402
\n00:29:29,920 –> 00:29:33,640
\nThere is a sickly habit that we
\nhave sometimes of looking at <\/p>\n
403
\n00:29:33,640 –> 00:29:37,560
\nourselves to see how we are
\nappearing, and when we do that, <\/p>\n
404
\n00:29:37,560 –> 00:29:43,760
\nwe are always truly unnatural.
\nThe facts are that John periled <\/p>\n
405
\n00:29:43,760 –> 00:29:45,920
\nhis life on the words that he
\nspoke. <\/p>\n
406
\n00:29:45,960 –> 00:29:50,040
\nNot many men do it, but he did.
\nHe periled his life on the words<\/p>\n
407
\n00:29:50,040 –> 00:29:55,040
\nthat he spoke, and he did it
\npolitely. <\/p>\n
408
\n00:29:55,600 –> 00:30:00,040
\nI mean, there is a there is a
\nsurly, bitter way of speaking <\/p>\n
409
\n00:30:00,040 –> 00:30:03,560
\nthe truth which says very little
\nfor a man’s heart. <\/p>\n
410
\n00:30:03,560 –> 00:30:06,800
\nI know, I know, that some people
\nare in their element when they <\/p>\n
411
\n00:30:06,800 –> 00:30:11,520
\ncan become censors of the great.
\nWhen little men are able to <\/p>\n
412
\n00:30:11,560 –> 00:30:13,760
\ncriticize big men, they revel in
\nit. <\/p>\n
413
\n00:30:18,280 –> 00:30:22,160
\nBut this was not so.
\nIt was the earnest, loving <\/p>\n
414
\n00:30:22,160 –> 00:30:28,840
\nnature of a man which made him
\nsay the stern things he had to <\/p>\n
415
\n00:30:28,840 –> 00:30:31,640
\nsay.
\nIt was he was a rugged true <\/p>\n
416
\n00:30:31,640 –> 00:30:34,520
\nnature.
\nBut in that rugged true nature <\/p>\n
417
\n00:30:34,520 –> 00:30:38,640
\nthere was a depth of tenderness.
\nFor instance, consider how he <\/p>\n
418
\n00:30:38,800 –> 00:30:42,200
\nreceived the news of his that
\nhis ministry has been superseded<\/p>\n
419
\n00:30:42,200 –> 00:30:46,920
\nby the ministry of the Messiah.
\nThey came to him, and said, <\/p>\n
420
\n00:30:47,120 –> 00:30:52,080
\nRabbi, he to whom thou bearest
\nwitness beyond Jordan, baptized <\/p>\n
421
\n00:30:52,080 –> 00:30:56,840
\nit, and all men come to him, two
\nof his personal friends, <\/p>\n
422
\n00:30:56,840 –> 00:30:59,880
\napparently some of the last he
\nhad left him, and went to the <\/p>\n
423
\n00:30:59,880 –> 00:31:03,920
\nnew teacher.
\nAnd what was the Prophet’s <\/p>\n
424
\n00:31:03,920 –> 00:31:08,200
\nanswer?
\nCalmly, humbly, the great <\/p>\n
425
\n00:31:08,200 –> 00:31:14,000
\nprophet recognizes his destiny.
\nHe said he must increase, but I <\/p>\n
426
\n00:31:14,000 –> 00:31:17,600
\nmust decrease, and he rejoices
\nto be forgotten. <\/p>\n
427
\n00:31:17,760 –> 00:31:22,320
\nHe rejoices to be nothing.
\nHe rejoices to disappear so that<\/p>\n
428
\n00:31:22,320 –> 00:31:28,240
\nhis king and his Lord can be
\neverything you see, Brother <\/p>\n
429
\n00:31:28,240 –> 00:31:32,160
\nsisters, we are really thinking
\ntoday of one of God’s heroes. <\/p>\n
430
\n00:31:32,160 –> 00:31:39,280
\nThere is no doubt a rare man,
\nThe great man, the great <\/p>\n
431
\n00:31:39,280 –> 00:31:43,080
\nprophet, and the true conqueror
\nstand by the master as more than<\/p>\n
432
\n00:31:43,080 –> 00:31:46,280
\na prophet.
\nThe friend of the bridegroom <\/p>\n
433
\n00:31:46,280 –> 00:31:51,560
\nrejoices, because he heareth the
\nbridegroom’s voice, and this my <\/p>\n
434
\n00:31:51,560 –> 00:32:01,840
\njoy is fulfilled.
\nBut today, and now reading we we<\/p>\n
435
\n00:32:01,840 –> 00:32:08,280
\nwe heard that it were almost in
\nparenthesis of the sequel to his<\/p>\n
436
\n00:32:08,280 –> 00:32:12,640
\nFaithfulness.
\nHerod cast him into prison, that<\/p>\n
437
\n00:32:12,640 –> 00:32:17,040
\nfree spirit which had been in
\nthe wilderness, whose true home <\/p>\n
438
\n00:32:17,040 –> 00:32:20,880
\nwas in the open desert.
\nAmong the locusts in the wild, <\/p>\n
439
\n00:32:20,960 –> 00:32:26,760
\nhoney was confined within the
\ndark walls of a dungeon, and <\/p>\n
440
\n00:32:26,760 –> 00:32:31,440
\nHerod, driven on by the
\ncumulative effect of cumulative <\/p>\n
441
\n00:32:31,440 –> 00:32:36,120
\neffect of his first sin, commits
\nhis last grade actor folly and <\/p>\n
442
\n00:32:36,120 –> 00:32:40,840
\nmurders the prophet, the very
\nman who had been sent for his <\/p>\n
443
\n00:32:40,840 –> 00:32:45,480
\nsalvation.
\nIn a way, the story of Joach <\/p>\n
444
\n00:32:48,360 –> 00:32:52,120
\nrepeated, he kills the man who
\nmight have saved him. <\/p>\n
445
\n00:32:54,480 –> 00:32:56,880
\nStrange it is there.
\nSome men have one supreme <\/p>\n
446
\n00:32:56,880 –> 00:33:00,600
\nopportunity to repent, and if it
\nis spurned, it may not recur. <\/p>\n
447
\n00:33:01,040 –> 00:33:03,960
\nAs I said to you once before, I
\nthink this week Felix trembled <\/p>\n
448
\n00:33:03,960 –> 00:33:06,160
\nwhen Paul spoke to him of
\njudgement. <\/p>\n
449
\n00:33:06,160 –> 00:33:08,760
\nThat was Felix’s great
\nopportunity. <\/p>\n
450
\n00:33:09,120 –> 00:33:12,520
\nHe let it slip, and as far as we
\nknow, Paul didn’t make him <\/p>\n
451
\n00:33:12,520 –> 00:33:15,880
\ntremble again.
\nStrange it is, how one willful <\/p>\n
452
\n00:33:15,880 –> 00:33:21,080
\nsin will by its consequences,
\nthough it perhaps be small at <\/p>\n
453
\n00:33:21,080 –> 00:33:24,440
\nfirst, lead up, lead us on to
\ngreater and more heinous sins, <\/p>\n
454
\n00:33:24,440 –> 00:33:28,000
\nalmost against their own will.
\nAnd this was the case with <\/p>\n
455
\n00:33:28,000 –> 00:33:31,120
\nHerod.
\nAnd David is another example. <\/p>\n
456
\n00:33:33,400 –> 00:33:36,880
\nAnd the converse is true.
\nYou see, thank God, that that <\/p>\n
457
\n00:33:36,880 –> 00:33:46,200
\nthat one act of righteousness, 1
\nrefusal to sin, one overcoming <\/p>\n
458
\n00:33:46,200 –> 00:33:50,960
\nof temptation, be it ever so
\nsmall, will lead us on by its <\/p>\n
459
\n00:33:50,960 –> 00:33:53,000
\nconsequences to greater
\nvictories. <\/p>\n
460
\n00:33:54,560 –> 00:33:56,720
\nThink of Daniel.
\nHe’s a good example. <\/p>\n
461
\n00:33:57,360 –> 00:34:00,760
\nHe was the young man sitting at
\nthe King’s table, but for <\/p>\n
462
\n00:34:00,760 –> 00:34:03,120
\nconscience sake he refused the
\nKing’s meat. <\/p>\n
463
\n00:34:03,840 –> 00:34:08,000
\nPolitely and and respectfully,
\nhe said he would not defile his <\/p>\n
464
\n00:34:08,000 –> 00:34:11,840
\nbody and his conscience.
\nNow it may seem a very small <\/p>\n
465
\n00:34:11,840 –> 00:34:17,239
\nthing about which one act of
\ncompromise might have been <\/p>\n
466
\n00:34:17,239 –> 00:34:19,239
\njustifiable under the
\ncircumstances. <\/p>\n
467
\n00:34:19,679 –> 00:34:23,080
\nA glass of wine?
\nThe eating of some dainty. <\/p>\n
468
\n00:34:25,920 –> 00:34:29,639
\nBut because Daniel refused the
\nKing’s meat, in the end he had <\/p>\n
469
\n00:34:29,639 –> 00:34:34,320
\nto face the King’s lions.
\nBut here is the principle. <\/p>\n
470
\n00:34:34,520 –> 00:34:38,880
\nIf he had not refused the King’s
\nmeat at the beginning, perhaps <\/p>\n
471
\n00:34:38,880 –> 00:34:41,639
\nhe would not have had the
\nstrength to refuse or to face <\/p>\n
472
\n00:34:41,639 –> 00:34:46,120
\nthe King’s lions at the end.
\nYou see, sometimes big doors <\/p>\n
473
\n00:34:46,120 –> 00:34:50,560
\nturn on very small hinges.
\nPerhaps if Herod had hearkened <\/p>\n
474
\n00:34:50,560 –> 00:34:55,280
\nto John’s voice at first, he
\nwould never have murdered the <\/p>\n
475
\n00:34:55,280 –> 00:35:01,400
\nman who would have been his
\nsalvation and would not have <\/p>\n
476
\n00:35:01,400 –> 00:35:04,600
\ncondemned at last even the
\nMessiah himself. <\/p>\n
477
\n00:35:05,240 –> 00:35:10,440
\nWho knows?
\nBut so it is we read about it. <\/p>\n
478
\n00:35:10,920 –> 00:35:17,440
\nThe Great Prophet dies privately
\ninherited the dungeon dungeon by<\/p>\n
479
\n00:35:17,440 –> 00:35:22,800
\nHerod’s consent and command, and
\nwe have no record of his last <\/p>\n
480
\n00:35:22,800 –> 00:35:26,880
\nword to this great man.
\nThere were no crowds to watch <\/p>\n
481
\n00:35:26,880 –> 00:35:29,840
\non.
\nThere was nobody to sympathize. <\/p>\n
482
\n00:35:30,520 –> 00:35:32,840
\nWe don’t really know how he
\nreceived the sentence. <\/p>\n
483
\n00:35:32,840 –> 00:35:37,040
\nWas he calm, the fearless and
\nfaithful man? <\/p>\n
484
\n00:35:37,040 –> 00:35:40,200
\nWas he calm?
\nDid he bless his murderer? <\/p>\n
485
\n00:35:40,840 –> 00:35:44,680
\nWell, all that is hidden.
\nAll we know is the ACT flashed <\/p>\n
486
\n00:35:44,680 –> 00:35:49,760
\ndown and a noble life came to
\nits end, but not its full end. <\/p>\n
487
\n00:35:49,760 –> 00:35:53,160
\nOf course, let’s be sure
\nremember how it’s coming into <\/p>\n
488
\n00:35:53,160 –> 00:35:57,000
\nthe world is recorded in the New
\nTestament. <\/p>\n
489
\n00:35:57,240 –> 00:36:01,680
\nThere was a man sent from God
\nwhose name was John. <\/p>\n
490
\n00:36:02,640 –> 00:36:05,960
\nThink of that.
\nThere was a man sent from God <\/p>\n
491
\n00:36:06,440 –> 00:36:09,560
\nwhose name was John.
\nAnd there is a sense in which he<\/p>\n
492
\n00:36:09,560 –> 00:36:13,480
\nhas returned to.
\nWhen she came, Salome took his <\/p>\n
493
\n00:36:13,480 –> 00:36:16,840
\nhead, but his life is hid with
\nChrist in God. <\/p>\n
494
\n00:36:17,960 –> 00:36:21,440
\nNow some people have looked at
\nit and said it was a hard or <\/p>\n
495
\n00:36:21,440 –> 00:36:23,760
\nstill life which ended in
\nfailure. <\/p>\n
496
\n00:36:24,880 –> 00:36:26,600
\nBut that isn’t true.
\nWe know it. <\/p>\n
497
\n00:36:26,600 –> 00:36:30,040
\nIn our heart it isn’t true.
\nHe was heralded the King from <\/p>\n
498
\n00:36:30,040 –> 00:36:32,280
\nheaven.
\nHe was the prophet of the <\/p>\n
499
\n00:36:32,280 –> 00:36:36,720
\nKingdom of God.
\nAll his life long he had panted <\/p>\n
500
\n00:36:36,720 –> 00:36:39,480
\nfor that.
\nHis task was to prepare man for <\/p>\n
501
\n00:36:39,480 –> 00:36:41,840
\nthe prepare men for the coming
\nof Messiah. <\/p>\n
502
\n00:36:42,480 –> 00:36:46,000
\nHe tried to make the soldiers
\nmerciful, the publicans honest, <\/p>\n
503
\n00:36:46,480 –> 00:36:50,840
\nPharisees sincere, and when the
\nKingdom comes, and all the <\/p>\n
504
\n00:36:50,840 –> 00:36:53,920
\nthings which John wished for,
\nand hoped for, and prayed for <\/p>\n
505
\n00:36:53,920 –> 00:36:57,040
\nand worked, when they are all
\nbrought to pass. <\/p>\n
506
\n00:36:57,320 –> 00:37:01,640
\nWhen the great superstructure of
\nthe Ecclesia and Christ becomes <\/p>\n
507
\n00:37:01,840 –> 00:37:05,960
\nthe bride of the Bridegroom, a
\nHouse of God which has been <\/p>\n
508
\n00:37:05,960 –> 00:37:09,320
\nbuilt upon the foundation of the
\napostles and prophets, with <\/p>\n
509
\n00:37:09,320 –> 00:37:13,360
\nChrist as the chief cornerstone.
\nLet’s be sure in our deepest <\/p>\n
510
\n00:37:13,360 –> 00:37:17,960
\nheart that deep down in the
\nfoundation of that great House <\/p>\n
511
\n00:37:17,960 –> 00:37:22,600
\nof God that is the noble and
\ntriumphant work of John, the man<\/p>\n
512
\n00:37:22,600 –> 00:37:29,160
\nwho was faithful and fear.
\nNow that sounded. <\/p>\n
513
\n00:37:29,160 –> 00:37:34,400
\nI know that sounded like the
\nflourishing end of the and it <\/p>\n
514
\n00:37:34,400 –> 00:37:40,720
\nwasn’t.
\nIt wasn’t just a bit longer. <\/p>\n
515
\n00:37:42,840 –> 00:37:46,440
\nThere’s one other aspect of the
\nlife of John which might help us<\/p>\n
516
\n00:37:47,120 –> 00:37:52,000
\nthink of this.
\nThink how closely he was <\/p>\n
517
\n00:37:52,000 –> 00:37:56,200
\nassociated with the miracles.
\nThere were miracles. <\/p>\n
518
\n00:37:56,200 –> 00:37:59,560
\nAt his birth an Angel appeared
\nto his father, as you know, and <\/p>\n
519
\n00:37:59,560 –> 00:38:03,120
\nannounced his birth.
\nZacharias was miraculously dumb <\/p>\n
520
\n00:38:03,120 –> 00:38:05,040
\nuntil the prophecy was
\nfulfilled. <\/p>\n
521
\n00:38:05,920 –> 00:38:08,680
\nUnto his mother there comes a
\nvision of angels. <\/p>\n
522
\n00:38:09,560 –> 00:38:12,360
\nBoth his parents are filled with
\nthe Holy Spirit and spoke <\/p>\n
523
\n00:38:12,360 –> 00:38:15,880
\nthereby.
\nJohn was one of the few in the <\/p>\n
524
\n00:38:15,880 –> 00:38:20,040
\nBible who were named before they
\nwere born, a signal that they <\/p>\n
525
\n00:38:20,040 –> 00:38:24,200
\nwere especially chosen by God.
\nJohn was in a sense the <\/p>\n
526
\n00:38:24,200 –> 00:38:28,120
\nreincarnation of Elijah the
\nprophet, the great miracle <\/p>\n
527
\n00:38:28,120 –> 00:38:31,440
\nworker of the Old Testament.
\nJohn himself was full of the <\/p>\n
528
\n00:38:31,440 –> 00:38:34,320
\nHoly Spirit, the source of
\ndivine power. <\/p>\n
529
\n00:38:34,560 –> 00:38:39,680
\nNotice, then, how closely he was
\nassociated with the miraculous. <\/p>\n
530
\n00:38:40,360 –> 00:38:44,520
\nAnd yet the remarkable feature
\nof John’s ministry is that he <\/p>\n
531
\n00:38:44,520 –> 00:38:50,160
\nhimself did no miracle.
\nHe was the herald of the king, <\/p>\n
532
\n00:38:51,240 –> 00:38:56,200
\nbut he did no miracle.
\nThe sick were all around him, <\/p>\n
533
\n00:38:56,480 –> 00:39:00,920
\nbut none of them did he heal.
\nThere were blind people and deaf<\/p>\n
534
\n00:39:00,920 –> 00:39:04,240
\npeople, and dumb people and
\nbroken people. <\/p>\n
535
\n00:39:05,000 –> 00:39:10,400
\nThey’re all there.
\nBut not once did John stretch <\/p>\n
536
\n00:39:10,400 –> 00:39:15,600
\nfor his hand, either to change
\nthe situation, or to unbind <\/p>\n
537
\n00:39:15,600 –> 00:39:18,760
\nthose who were imprisoned, or to
\nrelieve them of their <\/p>\n
538
\n00:39:18,760 –> 00:39:20,880
\ninfirmities or the solace of
\ntheir life. <\/p>\n
539
\n00:39:21,160 –> 00:39:29,880
\nThis great man, encompassed by
\nso much which is miraculous, did<\/p>\n
540
\n00:39:29,880 –> 00:39:34,560
\nno miracles.
\nNow remember this. <\/p>\n
541
\n00:39:35,200 –> 00:39:40,400
\nOur Lord’s testimony about John
\nplaces him above all the heroes <\/p>\n
542
\n00:39:40,400 –> 00:39:42,160
\nand heroines of the Old
\nTestament. <\/p>\n
543
\n00:39:42,160 –> 00:39:47,480
\nIf we’ve understood the words
\nrightly, he did no miracle. <\/p>\n
544
\n00:39:48,480 –> 00:39:51,640
\nAnd yet he achieved the
\nmiraculous along the plain of <\/p>\n
545
\n00:39:51,640 –> 00:39:56,120
\nnatural power.
\nHis preaching awakened the <\/p>\n
546
\n00:39:56,120 –> 00:39:59,520
\nnation.
\nHe turned hard and sinners to <\/p>\n
547
\n00:39:59,520 –> 00:40:02,920
\nrepentance.
\nHe knew the times in which he <\/p>\n
548
\n00:40:02,920 –> 00:40:05,720
\nlived.
\nHe discovered and proclaimed the<\/p>\n
549
\n00:40:05,720 –> 00:40:09,200
\nChrist of Israel, and he
\nprepared the way of the Lord. <\/p>\n
550
\n00:40:09,520 –> 00:40:14,280
\nHe did all this but no miracle.
\nAnd what is the lesson? <\/p>\n
551
\n00:40:15,680 –> 00:40:17,360
\nWell, the lesson, it seems to
\nme, is this. <\/p>\n
552
\n00:40:17,360 –> 00:40:21,280
\nMiracles are important.
\nI don’t want to deprecate <\/p>\n
553
\n00:40:21,280 –> 00:40:28,600
\nmiracles, one wit, but they are
\nsigns, and they are secondary. <\/p>\n
554
\n00:40:29,920 –> 00:40:32,160
\nThe reality is greater than the
\nsign. <\/p>\n
555
\n00:40:33,080 –> 00:40:35,240
\nJohn did no miracle, but he was
\ntrue. <\/p>\n
556
\n00:40:36,080 –> 00:40:37,720
\nThat’s the point I want to
\nemphasize. <\/p>\n
557
\n00:40:38,840 –> 00:40:40,480
\nThat is a great thing to
\nobserve. <\/p>\n
558
\n00:40:41,000 –> 00:40:46,440
\nTruth is greater than strength.
\nTruth is greater than signal. <\/p>\n
559
\n00:40:47,440 –> 00:40:49,240
\nCharacter acts higher than
\nwonder. <\/p>\n
560
\n00:40:49,240 –> 00:40:52,400
\nWorking outward, things are
\nimportant, I know that. <\/p>\n
561
\n00:40:53,320 –> 00:40:56,520
\nBut they are very often symbols
\nof the inward and the eternal <\/p>\n
562
\n00:40:56,520 –> 00:41:00,120
\nreality.
\nTo show us that all men who are <\/p>\n
563
\n00:41:00,120 –> 00:41:04,960
\nfilled with the Spirit do not
\nwork miracles, But to realize <\/p>\n
564
\n00:41:04,960 –> 00:41:09,840
\nthat every man may live the
\nspiritual life, as one man put <\/p>\n
565
\n00:41:09,840 –> 00:41:11,480
\nit once I heard it put once,
\nlike this. <\/p>\n
566
\n00:41:11,480 –> 00:41:13,520
\nTrue character is better than a
\nbig whistle. <\/p>\n
567
\n00:41:15,880 –> 00:41:18,440
\nWe cannot work miracles, but we
\ncan all be true. <\/p>\n
568
\n00:41:18,680 –> 00:41:22,840
\nWe can be a true witness to the
\noutcome of the moral and the <\/p>\n
569
\n00:41:22,840 –> 00:41:25,760
\nspiritual qualities of the life
\nof God. <\/p>\n
570
\n00:41:26,800 –> 00:41:30,120
\nA mere repetition of empty
\nplatitudes is one thing, but <\/p>\n
571
\n00:41:30,720 –> 00:41:33,440
\nthere’ll be a true witness
\ndemands great qualities of soul.<\/p>\n
572
\n00:41:34,280 –> 00:41:36,240
\nChicheman was John, the son of
\nElizabeth. <\/p>\n
573
\n00:41:37,960 –> 00:41:41,280
\nToday I say it especially
\nbecause in the world in which we<\/p>\n
574
\n00:41:41,280 –> 00:41:47,440
\nlive, people are impressed by
\nwonder workers, and I fear <\/p>\n
575
\n00:41:47,440 –> 00:41:53,600
\nsometimes we are.
\nThey clamour for signs. <\/p>\n
576
\n00:41:54,280 –> 00:41:57,760
\nThe craze for that which is
\nstartling is greater today than <\/p>\n
577
\n00:41:57,760 –> 00:42:00,760
\never.
\nPeople are attracted by what has<\/p>\n
578
\n00:42:00,920 –> 00:42:05,600
\na semblance of the supernatural,
\nbut the truth is that being is <\/p>\n
579
\n00:42:05,600 –> 00:42:09,120
\nbetter than doing, and character
\nis better than wonder works. <\/p>\n
580
\n00:42:10,760 –> 00:42:14,280
\nWe all know in their deepest
\nheart that the great deeds that <\/p>\n
581
\n00:42:14,280 –> 00:42:18,560
\nmen do are discredited if if
\ntheir character is not true. <\/p>\n
582
\n00:42:18,840 –> 00:42:21,560
\nIt’s better to do the will of
\nGod than to do any amount of <\/p>\n
583
\n00:42:21,560 –> 00:42:24,640
\nwonders.
\nBecause someday, one day, some <\/p>\n
584
\n00:42:24,640 –> 00:42:28,560
\npeople are going to plead that,
\nthat, that, that in the name of <\/p>\n
585
\n00:42:28,560 –> 00:42:30,480
\nthe Lord they’ve done many
\nmighty works. <\/p>\n
586
\n00:42:30,480 –> 00:42:32,080
\nThat’s going to be their great
\ndefence. <\/p>\n
587
\n00:42:32,080 –> 00:42:36,760
\nWe did the white mighty works in
\nmy name, Lord, and to that plea <\/p>\n
588
\n00:42:36,760 –> 00:42:40,800
\nthe Kingdom of God will not be
\nopened, Paul says. <\/p>\n
589
\n00:42:40,800 –> 00:42:44,840
\nIf I have faith so that I can
\nremove mountains, that’s a <\/p>\n
590
\n00:42:44,840 –> 00:42:48,200
\npretty wonderful thing.
\nIf I have faith so that I can <\/p>\n
591
\n00:42:48,200 –> 00:42:52,120
\nremove mountains have not love,
\nI am nothing. <\/p>\n
592
\n00:42:53,360 –> 00:42:57,040
\nWhen the 70 returned exuberant
\nover the power that they had to <\/p>\n
593
\n00:42:57,040 –> 00:43:01,120
\nwork miracles, the king said,
\nHowbeit in this rejoice not that<\/p>\n
594
\n00:43:01,120 –> 00:43:05,080
\nthe spirits are subject unto
\nyou, but rejoice that your names<\/p>\n
595
\n00:43:05,080 –> 00:43:08,640
\nare written in heaven.
\nLearn the lesson then, brothers <\/p>\n
596
\n00:43:08,640 –> 00:43:15,480
\nand sisters, If sometimes you
\nfeel frustrated that you cannot <\/p>\n
597
\n00:43:15,480 –> 00:43:20,280
\nalter circumstances, if
\nsometimes you feel paralysed in <\/p>\n
598
\n00:43:20,280 –> 00:43:25,120
\nthe faith of in the face of so
\nmuch which has to be done, and <\/p>\n
599
\n00:43:25,120 –> 00:43:26,920
\nyou seem to be impotent to do
\nit. <\/p>\n
600
\n00:43:27,600 –> 00:43:32,880
\nIf in an age of bustle and
\nsensationalism your life seems <\/p>\n
601
\n00:43:32,880 –> 00:43:39,720
\nstrangely incompetent, remember
\nthat the truth stands 1st, and <\/p>\n
602
\n00:43:39,720 –> 00:43:44,840
\nthe truth stands fast, the
\nharvest of a true and faithful <\/p>\n
603
\n00:43:44,840 –> 00:43:50,000
\nlife, be it ever so seemingly
\ninsignificant, be it ever so <\/p>\n
604
\n00:43:50,000 –> 00:43:58,120
\nunnoticed.
\nNever mind that cannot fail at <\/p>\n
605
\n00:43:58,120 –> 00:44:03,800
\nlast it will not be launched.
\nWe may die, as did John, but the<\/p>\n
606
\n00:44:03,800 –> 00:44:08,240
\ntruth lives, and the fruit of
\nfaithfulness may not come all at<\/p>\n
607
\n00:44:08,240 –> 00:44:11,120
\nonce, but it will come.
\nIt will come. <\/p>\n
608
\n00:44:11,400 –> 00:44:14,520
\nNothing can alter it.
\nThere is no power in heaven, on <\/p>\n
609
\n00:44:14,560 –> 00:44:17,240
\nearth, in heaven or earth that
\ncan change it. <\/p>\n
610
\n00:44:18,520 –> 00:44:20,880
\nThe harvest of the truth is in
\nexcellent. <\/p>\n
611
\n00:44:23,160 –> 00:44:27,240
\nYou may do nothing wonderful,
\nbut if your names are written in<\/p>\n
612
\n00:44:27,240 –> 00:44:29,160
\nheaven, you will not have lived
\nin vain. <\/p>\n
613
\n00:44:30,360 –> 00:44:35,320
\nJohn Baptist’s life seemed to
\nhave ended in failure, and very <\/p>\n
614
\n00:44:35,320 –> 00:44:39,520
\nfew people appear to have cared.
\nBut we know that it was crowned <\/p>\n
615
\n00:44:39,520 –> 00:44:42,880
\nwith victory.
\nSo let us learn, like John, to <\/p>\n
616
\n00:44:42,880 –> 00:44:46,480
\nseek the truth for the truth’s
\nsake, and to live it. <\/p>\n
617
\n00:44:47,120 –> 00:44:49,240
\nNever mind about what other men
\nmay say. <\/p>\n
618
\n00:44:50,120 –> 00:44:52,080
\nNever mind about what other men
\nhave said. <\/p>\n
619
\n00:44:54,360 –> 00:44:56,760
\nNever mind what cherished
\nopinions may have to be <\/p>\n
620
\n00:44:56,760 –> 00:45:02,360
\ndiscarded or repudiated.
\nSeek the truth at all costs. <\/p>\n
621
\n00:45:02,800 –> 00:45:05,320
\nSeek it quietly and
\nunflinchingly. <\/p>\n
622
\n00:45:06,000 –> 00:45:09,880
\nAnd I tell you, there is no
\npower in the long run can harm <\/p>\n
623
\n00:45:09,880 –> 00:45:12,000
\nyou.
\nNot a wit. <\/p>\n
624
\n00:45:14,320 –> 00:45:18,880
\nNow this is the supreme lesson
\nof the life of John the faithful<\/p>\n
625
\n00:45:18,880 –> 00:45:24,160
\nand the fearless man, the herald
\nof the Messiah, the prophet of <\/p>\n
626
\n00:45:24,160 –> 00:45:29,800
\nthe wilderness, who was sent
\nfrom God.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Class 5 from this series was used in GCT Episode 267. 1 00:00:00,240 –> 00:00:04,000 We’re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":786,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/s\/8765608\/podcast\/play\/78049978\/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2023-10-2%2F86665f5e-378a-e3c0-6306-cd1147d8ac7d.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:45:30","filesize":"31.16M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"tags":[26],"series":[18],"class_list":["post-1032","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-season-6","series-gct-ext"],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/1319730-1546836077275-ad9b1fa65b482-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/1319730-1546836075997-e4feb369d8bf.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1","download_link":"https:\/\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/podcast-download\/1032\/dennis-gillett-bible-men-the-way-they-were-class-6-john-fearless-and-faithful","player_link":"https:\/\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/podcast-player\/1032\/dennis-gillett-bible-men-the-way-they-were-class-6-john-fearless-and-faithful","audio_player":"https:\/\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/podcast-player\/1032\/dennis-gillett-bible-men-the-way-they-were-class-6-john-fearless-and-faithful<\/a>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"anchor":{"key":"anchor","url":"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/gct-extended","label":"Anchor","class":"anchor","icon":"anchor.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/good-christadelphian-talks-extended\/id1451458376?mt=2&uo=4","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"breaker":{"key":"breaker","url":"","label":"Breaker","class":"breaker","icon":"breaker.png"},"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"https:\/\/castbox.fm\/channel\/id1440738","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/www.google.com\/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy84NzY1NjA4L3BvZGNhc3QvcnNz","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"overcast":{"key":"overcast","url":"https:\/\/overcast.fm\/itunes1451458376\/good-christadelphian-talks-extended","label":"Overcast","class":"overcast","icon":"overcast.png"},"pocketcasts":{"key":"pocketcasts","url":"https:\/\/pca.st\/s6u6","label":"PocketCasts","class":"pocketcasts","icon":"pocketcasts.png"},"podbean":{"key":"podbean","url":"","label":"Podbean","class":"podbean","icon":"podbean.png"},"radio_public":{"key":"radio_public","url":"https:\/\/radiopublic.com\/good-christadelphian-talks-extend-8X4LpA","label":"Radio Public","class":"radio_public","icon":"radio-public.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/572NtU94bGKGknHF4gmlM6","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/anchor-podcasts\/good-christadelphian-talks-extended","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/GoodChristadelphianTalksPodcast","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/goodchristadelphiantalks.com\/feed\/podcast\/gct-ext","embedCode":"Dennis Gillett – Bible Men The Way They Were – Class 6 – John – Fearless and Faithful<\/a><\/blockquote>