John the Baptist Looking Up in the WildernessBible World
3:2Matthew 3:2
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The verse is the voice of John the Baptist as the appointed forerunner preparing the way before Jesus began His public ministry. Its call to repent means a change of mind and heart, turning from sin, forsaking and confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration in order to exercise faith in Christ. The kingdom announced as near is not a political order or earthly empire gained by force or the sword, but God's reign established in people as a new principle is implanted in hearts obedient to His law. It pointed to the speedy coming of the Mightier One after John who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and separate the wheat from the chaff in judgment. That same call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near is to be borne again just before Christ's second coming in the clouds to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord.
Speaker, Setting, and Hearers
The call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand is the voice of John the Baptist, the appointed forerunner who was to prepare the way of the Lord before Jesus began His public ministry. He received that God-given message in the wilderness to bear as preparation for the Coming One. It shows him preaching to prepare the way of the Lord.
He preached it in the wilderness of Judea by the Jordan, not in the synagogues. The wilderness removed hearers from the distractions and bustle of ordinary life and from human customs and doctrines, so they could think for themselves rather than remain bound by mistaken teachings, attend to God, and understand what is required to enter God's kingdom. There the gospel reached the poor and oppressed, exposing moral darkness and giving people in humble circumstances their chance. Away from human customs and doctrines he could commune with God and be prepared as Christ's forerunner, rather than being shaped by Jerusalem's schools and leaders.
John was fitted for this high calling apart in the wilderness by thorough communion with God and searching the Scriptures in separation before regularly teaching others, by studying revelation and observing people so he could reach their hearts, and by having the Old Testament Scriptures, God Himself, and created nature as his study books. Nature exerted a refining, subduing influence upon him where the customs and doctrines of men could not mold his mind and where he could hold unobstructed communion with God, and no worldly engrossment was allowed to educate him or form his character. He was not fitted by association with the great men of the nation in the schools at Jerusalem, refusing to be molded by their customs, practices, and worldly ambition. His life was plain and simple with no outward display to attract admiration, resembling Elijah in coarseness of apparel, living on locusts and wild honey afforded by the wilderness with pure water from the hills, a mission prepared for him from childhood.
His wilderness preaching fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight, fulfilling his appointed mission to turn many of the children of Israel to God. It was the fulfillment of God's Word that no human effort can stop. His call went to people of every rank, high and low, rich and poor, including publicans and sinners, unlearned peasants and fishermen, Roman soldiers, tax-gatherers, chieftains, scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, phylacteried priests of the Sanhedrin, and rulers such as Herod. Repentance and submission to his requirements were necessary for all to participate in the kingdom he came to declare, and many scribes and Pharisees confessed their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan to obtain remission.
The message was plain and direct, with no elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories, startling and stern yet full of hope. It was earnest and forceful in appeals, denunciations, warnings, and reproofs, lifting his voice like a trumpet, flattering none and accepting no flattery, fearlessly denouncing sin with discernment of character and spiritual sight that read purposes and hearts. It was spoken with a new strange power that stirred the whole nation, thrilled hearers, stirred consciences, cut all classes to the heart with a sense of their sins, silenced the sneer of Pharisee and Sadducee and the cold scoffer, made Herod in his palace tremble, and drew multitudes from towns, cities, and villages into the wilderness to repent, confess, and be baptized. His plain way of life in simple clothing and food matched the unadorned character of his message, and people seeing in his singular dress a resemblance to the ancient seers thought he was one of the prophets risen from the dead.
It was spoken in a time of national oppression and unrest, unsettled public affairs, discord and insurrection, which with his fearless denunciation of sin gave force to the message. Widely dispersed Jews were generally expecting the speedy advent of the Messiah, and many visiting Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear him at the banks of the Jordan. They connected the nearing end of Daniel's seventy weeks with the expected era of national glory. John's message presented Christ's coming as imminent, not as an event far in the future, offering hope amid oppression while rebuking corruption and prevailing sin and demanding thorough conversion without which none could enjoy God's favor nor have part in the Messiah's kingdom.
Meaning of Repentance
Repentance in the call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near means a change of heart and a change of mind. It means turning to the Lord, forsaking sins as the first step in identifying with Jesus Christ, confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration, for outward appearances or vague assurances cannot replace this inward change. It is a call to one who has turned from God to return to Him, turning from transgression of God's law, humbly accepting God's yoke and burdens and learning Christ's meekness and lowliness where the soul finds rest, for God has not given such a one up. The call rang through Judea just before the first coming of Christ and is the message to be given today just before His second coming, directing people to look away from every human being to Christ the great Teacher, unitedly proclaimed by a peculiar people zealous of good works as the last message of mercy joined to the proclamation of remission of sins in His name for enrolment in His army and entrance into His kingdom. The warning applies to Battle Creek, whose people and institutions need thorough reformation, for without repentance God will turn away from the publishing house.
The preaching began with repentance for past sins and announced that the kingdom of heaven was at hand to prepare people to exercise faith in Christ who was about to reveal Himself. Truth had to cleanse their lives, and those who heard were to let it do so, for only those willing to be purged and cleansed from sin could enter into fellowship with Him. His presence reveals sin, while the corrupt in heart cannot abide or remain in His presence. For those who did not know the Scriptures this call to repent was enough, and it prepared the way for Christ's mission so that His words would find place in their hearts, putting sin away while loving the sinner.
Genuine repentance produces conversion and transformation of character proved by bringing forth good fruit and good works, not a collection of rules and regulations, outward observance of forms, ancestry, or claim to personal piety. It confronted the haughty hypocritical self-righteousness of the Pharisees and the skepticism of the Sadducees, demanding lives that showed genuine repentance with plain rebuke of sin. It brings a healthy body and sound mind and cure for spiritual and physical disease, leading trembling sinners to lean on Christ who gave His life for those who accept life through Him as propitiation, Justifier and Righteousness, who knew no sin yet was made sin for them with all their iniquities laid on Him, so that partaking of the divine nature and clothed in the robe of His righteousness they escape the corruption in the world through lust, stand justified before the Father, accepted in the Beloved, and gain eternal life. Repentance was necessary for people of every rank as the means of preparing to share in that kingdom, and the response included confessing sins and being baptized.
Repentance and thorough conversion were necessary to share in the kingdom, to meet the prophet's requirements, to have God's favor and part in the Messiah's kingdom whose coming was announced, and to receive an inheritance in it. People of every rank responded, even scribes and Pharisees confessing sins and seeking remission through baptism, and John's call and baptism prepared the people for Christ's ministry. The unsettled public affairs and his fearless denunciation of sin gave force to the message, and multitudes came to hear him. Those who rejected the truths he preached became less able to recognize the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
Baptism in the Jordan symbolized cleansing from sin and served as evidence of inward repentance, showing that even those who claimed to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin and that without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah's kingdom. His warning challenged their sins and was meant to startle them into recognizing their wickedness, and multitudes responded by confessing their sins and receiving baptism in the Jordan. John's preaching of repentance and baptism thus prepared people for the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Repentance is an essential part of the gospel, requiring sinners to recognize transgression of God's law and their disobedience, to sorrow for sin, humble themselves before God, turn from self-exaltation, national pride, and reliance on natural advantages, confess sin, trust Christ's sacrifice, submit the will to God, and come to Christ in faith. True purity and obedience to God's commandments, not inherited status, prepare the way for the Lord. Revival that urges belief without repentance and confession does not produce genuine conversion. God is now calling each sinner, however sinful, to repent because His kingdom is close, with His hand still stretched out in gifts of the Spirit, pardon, consolation, help and love, which means ceasing opposition to God, opening the cold proud heart to the Saviour, laying hold of His strength, letting the heart break in love toward Him who gave His life, submitting the will to God's will, confessing one's own sins and making everything right between the soul and God, whereupon God receives, forgives and cleanses him, breaks the delusion upon his mind, and brings him to drink at a purer fountain, the fountain of living water.
The call shows that people are guilty and need a Saviour, with the gospel offering mercy and salvation to those who need them. It summons church members to turn from backslidings and each person individually to take hold of his own case, humble the heart before God, and repent. Repentance keeps the bright light of the Sun of righteousness and the hope that lays hold upon immortality and the life that measures with the life of God, but except a person repents Christ will take the candlestick out of its place. It turns from sinful indulgence of appetite, liquor, tobacco, and other unwholesome things that bring sickness, pain, suffering, and loss of brain power, and gives God all there is of a person so the humble and contrite can be overcomers in partnership with Jesus Christ.
Nature of the Kingdom
In John's day the kingdom of heaven was at hand because it was the next universal kingdom to come after the kingdoms shown in the prophetic sequence. That nearness did not mean the immortal kingdom of glory had already been established, and those who so held distinguished it from the kingdom of grace already present among God's people.
The kingdom so announced is not a political order of this world or an earthly empire set up by human armies or the sword, and no human power or enemy can overthrow it. The people answered the call by demanding a miracle because they expected the Messiah to establish such an empire through conquest, yet more than three years later many still saw no sign of an earthly kingdom and treated the mission as a failure. Its coming is not marked by outward display or earthly power or violent intervention, for it begins in the heart and prevails by implanting a new principle in human hearts. It is Christ's kingdom, established in people as they obey God's law.
Its subjects are the saints of the Most High, those enrolled as citizens of the heavenly country. They are justified by faith and have peace with God through Jesus Christ, receiving Christ and becoming God's children as they turn from sin to obedience and make His grace known. Those who receive and believe are responsible to help enlarge His church and to show the world the Lamb who takes away sin, and this work hastens the Lord's coming.
Christ gave His life so the world would have another opportunity to return to loyalty to God, beside which human praise has no lasting value. Those who accept Him are to live in a way worthy of the gospel, separate from the world, faithful in service, and free from selfishness, vainglory, strife, murmuring, impurity, and dishonesty.
John's wilderness message prepared the way of the Lord, and Jesus later proclaimed the same call to repent because the kingdom was near, giving it also in Galilee and to His disciples. Christ did not come as the Jews expected to glorify them as a nation, and they refused Him because He did not fit their long-held ideas. When acknowledged and received, the nearness of the kingdom brings a powerful manifestation of heaven on earth, as seen when Christ began His mission teaching and doing good.
Preparing for Christ's First Coming
John announced that the Messiah was coming speedily and called for repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near. The One coming after him was mightier than he, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire and would separate the wheat from the chaff in judgment. His baptism in the Jordan symbolized cleansing from sin and declared that even those claiming to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin. Without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah's kingdom.
His call and baptism prepared the people for Christ's ministry, for repentance was necessary to share in that kingdom. Those who responded turned from sin, confessed their sins, and were baptized as evidence of repentance, so that Christ's words would find place in their hearts. Repentance meant putting sin away while loving the sinner. Those who rejected the truths he preached became less able to recognize the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
Widely dispersed Jews were generally expecting the speedy advent of the Messiah, and many visiting Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear John at the Jordan proclaiming Christ as the Promised One. On returning home they carried his tidings to all parts of the world, so that by providence this preaching prepared the way for the labors of the apostles in missionary fields like Corinth and Ephesus. In this way Jews who heard him at the Jordan helped prepare people in many lands for Christ and for the later preaching of the gospel.
His warning awakened people from worldly concerns and called backsliding Israel to repentance and to God, with urgency because the kingdom of heaven was near. His preaching was to recall their sins, shake confidence in human traditions, and turn them from superstition and false teaching so they could appreciate Christ's work. His declaration of truth exposed popular delusions and popular error about the coming Messiah, standing in contrast to the rabbis' false teachings. He taught that repentance and forsaking sin were necessary preparations for the kingdom, and this work prepared the way for the establishment of the true church.
John gave a plain rebuke of sin with a demand for lives showing genuine repentance, and he did not compromise with sin. He rebuked the sins of priests and rulers, exposing their refusal to obey their Father and do the work appointed to them, and many turned from unrighteousness. His call to repentance required even Herod to reform his life, and he faithfully declared that need to the king until his death silenced the voice that had called sinners to repentance. His was a pointed message that grew more and more pointed, given even at the cost of his life, so that the people would not be deceived.
The gospel message led people who had openly disobeyed God and refused His service to repent and confess their sins. His appeal succeeded among persons of all rank, high and low, rich and poor, with multitudes startled into recognizing wickedness, confessing sins, and receiving baptism in the Jordan unto remission. Even many scribes and Pharisees confessed their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan to obtain remission of sins. Those who genuinely repented were better prepared to do God's will than people who professed obedience but did not obey.
The Jewish nation answered this heavenly message by demanding a miracle rather than seeking a clearer understanding of the gospel, since they expected the Messiah to establish an earthly empire through conquest. Their demand for a sign did not arise from sincere desire to know the truth, and no evidence Christ could give would satisfy them. Christ did not come as the Jews expected and did not come to glorify them as a nation, and they refused Him because He did not fit their long-held ideas of national glory. Those who rejected John's light sank into deeper darkness and were prepared to reject the evidence that Jesus was the true Messiah.
John heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming. William Miller and those who joined with him did the same preparing work for the second advent of the Son of God, unfolding the mysteries of the kingdom of God and carrying hearers down through the prophecies to Christ's second coming. As John was raised up for a special mission heralding a new era, so Wycliffe was raised up as a herald for a special work.
Model for the Last Days
John's call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near is to be borne again just before the second coming in the clouds to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord and to prepare the way for a revival of God's work. As it rang through Judea just before the first coming, so it is the message to be given today just before the second coming, unitedly proclaimed as the last message of mercy to the world by a peculiar people zealous of good works, calling for repentance as a change of mind and heart necessary for enrollment in Christ's army and entrance into His kingdom, joined to the proclamation of remission of sins in His name. Through publications and other means that same call to repentance and preparation is to go to the world, awakening people from worldly concerns, calling backsliding Israel to repentance, exposing popular delusions, and preparing people to meet God and for the Saviour's second advent.
That last-days work must be as direct, plain, and faithful as John's, faithfully warning, rebuking sin and proclaiming God's word plainly even when life is imperiled, as he rebuked kings for iniquity. It is to be spoken without elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories, stern yet full of hope, with a new strange power that startles hearers, cuts them to the heart with a sense of sin, stirs the nation, and reaches every rank from publicans and sinners, peasants and fishermen, soldiers and tax-gatherers, to chieftains, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, priests of the Sanhedrin, scoffers, and rulers such as Herod trembling in his palace. Giving such a message requires the same spiritual experience and inward work John knew, beholding God until self is lost sight of.
It is to be given boldly with no whispering voice and no smooth message, but telling the truth of the situation amid fulfilled signs such as earthquakes in diverse places, wars and rumors of wars, and the judgments of God in the world before the day of the Lord. Its warning is to be heard in the present time in the setting of the third angel's message and the perils of the last days, heeding the true issues for this time and guarding against men who would divert minds with fallacies and scientific presentations of satanic origin, drawing souls aside and into centers such as Battle Creek, while the work must be carried on for those who still need the truth. As a startling message of truth in warnings calling to repentance, it makes a people ready to see Christ in His beauty of holiness, with truth going forth as a burning lamp and as clear living testimony like the great light in a lighthouse, sending sacred beams of warning throughout the world amid fallacy and the darkness of lightness, jesting, and joking.
It calls each person to a life-and-death decision whether to accept or reject Christ's sacrifice, since prophecies of His second coming are being fulfilled and God desires to save everyone through belief in His Son who gives everlasting life. That same message needed now is the plain Word stating present truth, calling to a life that prepares for future life measuring with the life of God, meaning to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, rather than turning aside to distracting questions Satan brings in through minds not worked by the Spirit, such as whether the world is round or flat.
Proclaiming the Message Today
The call to turn from wrong because heaven's rule is close is to be proclaimed widely in cities, towns and villages as preparation for the Lord's coming. It is to be met with by multitudes in world-renowned health resorts and centers of tourist traffic crowded with seekers after health and pleasure, where ministers and canvassers stationed there, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, are to arrest attention, watch for chances, hold meetings as opportunity offers, and be quick to speak, presenting the word of God with clearness and power so those who have ears to hear may hear the truth. As the message for this time, the gospel of present truth, it will be placed in the way of those who know it not, accepted by not a few, and carried by them to their own homes in all parts of the world. Men moved by the Holy Spirit are to carry again today to crowds and visitors who have never heard the truth the same message John carried, calling perishing souls to turn from sin because God's kingdom is near and inviting them to come to the Saviour as the last message of mercy while mercy still calls, and just this kind of work must be done now. In Southern California the same message is to be given as a clear warning and call to prepare for the Lord to the many visitors who come from across America, with men moved by the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles and San Diego meeting large numbers of tourists with the call to turn from sin because God's kingdom is near, and just such a work as John did can be done today there in connection with sanitarium work.
It is God's message for the wealthy classes in the large cities now, to be carried to them without delay as part of urgent mission work, and the most wealthy are not to be passed by but are to receive this call while souls are hungering for the bread of life and thirsting for the water of life. The Lord's workers for the last days are to proclaim that people must turn because heaven's rule is at hand, with the call sounded clearly and widely, both to those within the church and to those outside, and made known clearly and publicly despite opposition. Through publications the same call to turn and get ready is to go to the world, awakening people from worldly concerns, calling backsliding Israel to repentance, exposing popular delusions, and preparing people to meet God and for the second advent of the Saviour. That call is also to go through meetings spoken with clearness and power.
To the churches it is a call to every church to turn from sin and seek the remedy in God's Word, turning from backslidings, and as John's message prepared the way for Christ's first advent, this same call prepares people for the Saviour's second advent. Turning means turning to the Lord, confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration, for outward appearances or vague assurances do not replace this inward change, and the warning applies to Battle Creek, whose people and institutions need thorough reformation, for without repentance God will turn away from the publishing house. It calls God's people through a deep and thorough reform because heaven's rule is at hand, requiring that those who join the church show a change of principle, preserve the distinction between the church and the world, resist assimilation to worldly ways, and cherish Christ's character as a power in life. It means being born again to live the new life in Christ with His love abiding in the heart, in unity with one another and with God through Christ, with all rivalry quenched, heart bound to heart in Christian love, allegiance given to Christ and to the brethren for Christ's sake, and no mean, cheap actions grieving the Spirit of God.
Proclaiming it means declaring heaven's kingdom near as part of Christ's work of blessing people who need a new heart, a new life, and a new purpose. The message is to be proclaimed with startling clarity, addressing the need to turn from sin rather than covering it with philosophy or trivial talk, calling for practical godliness and for Christ to be made first in everything. Applied to people today, it calls them to turn from evil and reform their lives rather than resist truth because it condemns their practices and demands sanctification. The Word awakens conscience, exposes sin, and summons people to accept salvation in God's appointed way, and those who heed it must resist opposing influences and fight the battle of faith. God is now calling each sinner, however sinful, because His kingdom is close, with His hand still stretched out in gifts of the Spirit, pardon, consolation, help and love, and turning means ceasing opposition to God, opening the cold proud heart to the Saviour, laying hold of His strength, letting the heart break in love toward Him who gave His life, submitting the will to God's will, confessing sins and making everything right between the soul and God, whereupon God receives, forgives and cleanses, breaks the delusion upon the mind, and brings to drink at a purer fountain, the fountain of living water.
Each person is called individually to take hold of his own case, humble the heart before God, and turn, keeping the bright light of the Sun of righteousness and the hope that lays hold upon immortality and the life that measures with the life of God, for except a person repents Christ will take the candlestick out of its place. That turning leaves sinful indulgence of appetite, liquor, tobacco, and other unwholesome things that bring sickness, pain, suffering, and loss of brain power, and gives God all there is of a person so the humble and contrite can be overcomers in partnership with Jesus Christ. John's self-denial is the pattern for those preparing for the last days, who must control their desires, reject baseness and worldly ambition, and live by a higher, holy purpose from God. His preaching is the model distinct from fanciful preaching designed merely to attract a crowd. The same message given to Christ's disciples remains a work for believers, for the gospel is to be preached throughout the world before the end, and those who receive and believe in Christ are responsible for helping enlarge His church and for showing the world the Lamb who takes away sin, and this work hastens the Lord's coming, with God's kingdom established in people's hearts as they obey His law.
The verse is the voice of John the Baptist as the appointed forerunner preparing the way before Jesus began His public ministry. Its call to repent means a change of mind and heart, turning from sin, forsaking and confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration in order to exercise faith in Christ. The kingdom announced as near is not a political order or earthly empire gained by force or the sword, but God's reign established in people as a new principle is implanted in hearts obedient to His law. It pointed to the speedy coming of the Mightier One after John who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and separate the wheat from the chaff in judgment. That same call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near is to be borne again just before Christ's second coming in the clouds to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord.
Speaker, Setting, and Hearers
The call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand is the voice of John the Baptist, the appointed forerunner who was to prepare the way of the Lord before Jesus began His public ministry. He received that God-given message in the wilderness to bear as preparation for the Coming One. It shows him preaching to prepare the way of the Lord.
He preached it in the wilderness of Judea by the Jordan, not in the synagogues. The wilderness removed hearers from the distractions and bustle of ordinary life and from human customs and doctrines, so they could think for themselves rather than remain bound by mistaken teachings, attend to God, and understand what is required to enter God's kingdom. There the gospel reached the poor and oppressed, exposing moral darkness and giving people in humble circumstances their chance. Away from human customs and doctrines he could commune with God and be prepared as Christ's forerunner, rather than being shaped by Jerusalem's schools and leaders.
John was fitted for this high calling apart in the wilderness by thorough communion with God and searching the Scriptures in separation before regularly teaching others, by studying revelation and observing people so he could reach their hearts, and by having the Old Testament Scriptures, God Himself, and created nature as his study books. Nature exerted a refining, subduing influence upon him where the customs and doctrines of men could not mold his mind and where he could hold unobstructed communion with God, and no worldly engrossment was allowed to educate him or form his character. He was not fitted by association with the great men of the nation in the schools at Jerusalem, refusing to be molded by their customs, practices, and worldly ambition. His life was plain and simple with no outward display to attract admiration, resembling Elijah in coarseness of apparel, living on locusts and wild honey afforded by the wilderness with pure water from the hills, a mission prepared for him from childhood.
His wilderness preaching fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight, fulfilling his appointed mission to turn many of the children of Israel to God. It was the fulfillment of God's Word that no human effort can stop. His call went to people of every rank, high and low, rich and poor, including publicans and sinners, unlearned peasants and fishermen, Roman soldiers, tax-gatherers, chieftains, scribes and Pharisees, Sadducees, phylacteried priests of the Sanhedrin, and rulers such as Herod. Repentance and submission to his requirements were necessary for all to participate in the kingdom he came to declare, and many scribes and Pharisees confessed their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan to obtain remission.
The message was plain and direct, with no elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories, startling and stern yet full of hope. It was earnest and forceful in appeals, denunciations, warnings, and reproofs, lifting his voice like a trumpet, flattering none and accepting no flattery, fearlessly denouncing sin with discernment of character and spiritual sight that read purposes and hearts. It was spoken with a new strange power that stirred the whole nation, thrilled hearers, stirred consciences, cut all classes to the heart with a sense of their sins, silenced the sneer of Pharisee and Sadducee and the cold scoffer, made Herod in his palace tremble, and drew multitudes from towns, cities, and villages into the wilderness to repent, confess, and be baptized. His plain way of life in simple clothing and food matched the unadorned character of his message, and people seeing in his singular dress a resemblance to the ancient seers thought he was one of the prophets risen from the dead.
It was spoken in a time of national oppression and unrest, unsettled public affairs, discord and insurrection, which with his fearless denunciation of sin gave force to the message. Widely dispersed Jews were generally expecting the speedy advent of the Messiah, and many visiting Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear him at the banks of the Jordan. They connected the nearing end of Daniel's seventy weeks with the expected era of national glory. John's message presented Christ's coming as imminent, not as an event far in the future, offering hope amid oppression while rebuking corruption and prevailing sin and demanding thorough conversion without which none could enjoy God's favor nor have part in the Messiah's kingdom.
Meaning of Repentance
Repentance in the call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near means a change of heart and a change of mind. It means turning to the Lord, forsaking sins as the first step in identifying with Jesus Christ, confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration, for outward appearances or vague assurances cannot replace this inward change. It is a call to one who has turned from God to return to Him, turning from transgression of God's law, humbly accepting God's yoke and burdens and learning Christ's meekness and lowliness where the soul finds rest, for God has not given such a one up. The call rang through Judea just before the first coming of Christ and is the message to be given today just before His second coming, directing people to look away from every human being to Christ the great Teacher, unitedly proclaimed by a peculiar people zealous of good works as the last message of mercy joined to the proclamation of remission of sins in His name for enrolment in His army and entrance into His kingdom. The warning applies to Battle Creek, whose people and institutions need thorough reformation, for without repentance God will turn away from the publishing house.
The preaching began with repentance for past sins and announced that the kingdom of heaven was at hand to prepare people to exercise faith in Christ who was about to reveal Himself. Truth had to cleanse their lives, and those who heard were to let it do so, for only those willing to be purged and cleansed from sin could enter into fellowship with Him. His presence reveals sin, while the corrupt in heart cannot abide or remain in His presence. For those who did not know the Scriptures this call to repent was enough, and it prepared the way for Christ's mission so that His words would find place in their hearts, putting sin away while loving the sinner.
Genuine repentance produces conversion and transformation of character proved by bringing forth good fruit and good works, not a collection of rules and regulations, outward observance of forms, ancestry, or claim to personal piety. It confronted the haughty hypocritical self-righteousness of the Pharisees and the skepticism of the Sadducees, demanding lives that showed genuine repentance with plain rebuke of sin. It brings a healthy body and sound mind and cure for spiritual and physical disease, leading trembling sinners to lean on Christ who gave His life for those who accept life through Him as propitiation, Justifier and Righteousness, who knew no sin yet was made sin for them with all their iniquities laid on Him, so that partaking of the divine nature and clothed in the robe of His righteousness they escape the corruption in the world through lust, stand justified before the Father, accepted in the Beloved, and gain eternal life. Repentance was necessary for people of every rank as the means of preparing to share in that kingdom, and the response included confessing sins and being baptized.
Repentance and thorough conversion were necessary to share in the kingdom, to meet the prophet's requirements, to have God's favor and part in the Messiah's kingdom whose coming was announced, and to receive an inheritance in it. People of every rank responded, even scribes and Pharisees confessing sins and seeking remission through baptism, and John's call and baptism prepared the people for Christ's ministry. The unsettled public affairs and his fearless denunciation of sin gave force to the message, and multitudes came to hear him. Those who rejected the truths he preached became less able to recognize the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
Baptism in the Jordan symbolized cleansing from sin and served as evidence of inward repentance, showing that even those who claimed to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin and that without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah's kingdom. His warning challenged their sins and was meant to startle them into recognizing their wickedness, and multitudes responded by confessing their sins and receiving baptism in the Jordan. John's preaching of repentance and baptism thus prepared people for the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Repentance is an essential part of the gospel, requiring sinners to recognize transgression of God's law and their disobedience, to sorrow for sin, humble themselves before God, turn from self-exaltation, national pride, and reliance on natural advantages, confess sin, trust Christ's sacrifice, submit the will to God, and come to Christ in faith. True purity and obedience to God's commandments, not inherited status, prepare the way for the Lord. Revival that urges belief without repentance and confession does not produce genuine conversion. God is now calling each sinner, however sinful, to repent because His kingdom is close, with His hand still stretched out in gifts of the Spirit, pardon, consolation, help and love, which means ceasing opposition to God, opening the cold proud heart to the Saviour, laying hold of His strength, letting the heart break in love toward Him who gave His life, submitting the will to God's will, confessing one's own sins and making everything right between the soul and God, whereupon God receives, forgives and cleanses him, breaks the delusion upon his mind, and brings him to drink at a purer fountain, the fountain of living water.
The call shows that people are guilty and need a Saviour, with the gospel offering mercy and salvation to those who need them. It summons church members to turn from backslidings and each person individually to take hold of his own case, humble the heart before God, and repent. Repentance keeps the bright light of the Sun of righteousness and the hope that lays hold upon immortality and the life that measures with the life of God, but except a person repents Christ will take the candlestick out of its place. It turns from sinful indulgence of appetite, liquor, tobacco, and other unwholesome things that bring sickness, pain, suffering, and loss of brain power, and gives God all there is of a person so the humble and contrite can be overcomers in partnership with Jesus Christ.
Nature of the Kingdom
In John's day the kingdom of heaven was at hand because it was the next universal kingdom to come after the kingdoms shown in the prophetic sequence. That nearness did not mean the immortal kingdom of glory had already been established, and those who so held distinguished it from the kingdom of grace already present among God's people.
The kingdom so announced is not a political order of this world or an earthly empire set up by human armies or the sword, and no human power or enemy can overthrow it. The people answered the call by demanding a miracle because they expected the Messiah to establish such an empire through conquest, yet more than three years later many still saw no sign of an earthly kingdom and treated the mission as a failure. Its coming is not marked by outward display or earthly power or violent intervention, for it begins in the heart and prevails by implanting a new principle in human hearts. It is Christ's kingdom, established in people as they obey God's law.
Its subjects are the saints of the Most High, those enrolled as citizens of the heavenly country. They are justified by faith and have peace with God through Jesus Christ, receiving Christ and becoming God's children as they turn from sin to obedience and make His grace known. Those who receive and believe are responsible to help enlarge His church and to show the world the Lamb who takes away sin, and this work hastens the Lord's coming.
Christ gave His life so the world would have another opportunity to return to loyalty to God, beside which human praise has no lasting value. Those who accept Him are to live in a way worthy of the gospel, separate from the world, faithful in service, and free from selfishness, vainglory, strife, murmuring, impurity, and dishonesty.
John's wilderness message prepared the way of the Lord, and Jesus later proclaimed the same call to repent because the kingdom was near, giving it also in Galilee and to His disciples. Christ did not come as the Jews expected to glorify them as a nation, and they refused Him because He did not fit their long-held ideas. When acknowledged and received, the nearness of the kingdom brings a powerful manifestation of heaven on earth, as seen when Christ began His mission teaching and doing good.
Preparing for Christ's First Coming
John announced that the Messiah was coming speedily and called for repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near. The One coming after him was mightier than he, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire and would separate the wheat from the chaff in judgment. His baptism in the Jordan symbolized cleansing from sin and declared that even those claiming to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin. Without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah's kingdom.
His call and baptism prepared the people for Christ's ministry, for repentance was necessary to share in that kingdom. Those who responded turned from sin, confessed their sins, and were baptized as evidence of repentance, so that Christ's words would find place in their hearts. Repentance meant putting sin away while loving the sinner. Those who rejected the truths he preached became less able to recognize the evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
Widely dispersed Jews were generally expecting the speedy advent of the Messiah, and many visiting Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear John at the Jordan proclaiming Christ as the Promised One. On returning home they carried his tidings to all parts of the world, so that by providence this preaching prepared the way for the labors of the apostles in missionary fields like Corinth and Ephesus. In this way Jews who heard him at the Jordan helped prepare people in many lands for Christ and for the later preaching of the gospel.
His warning awakened people from worldly concerns and called backsliding Israel to repentance and to God, with urgency because the kingdom of heaven was near. His preaching was to recall their sins, shake confidence in human traditions, and turn them from superstition and false teaching so they could appreciate Christ's work. His declaration of truth exposed popular delusions and popular error about the coming Messiah, standing in contrast to the rabbis' false teachings. He taught that repentance and forsaking sin were necessary preparations for the kingdom, and this work prepared the way for the establishment of the true church.
John gave a plain rebuke of sin with a demand for lives showing genuine repentance, and he did not compromise with sin. He rebuked the sins of priests and rulers, exposing their refusal to obey their Father and do the work appointed to them, and many turned from unrighteousness. His call to repentance required even Herod to reform his life, and he faithfully declared that need to the king until his death silenced the voice that had called sinners to repentance. His was a pointed message that grew more and more pointed, given even at the cost of his life, so that the people would not be deceived.
The gospel message led people who had openly disobeyed God and refused His service to repent and confess their sins. His appeal succeeded among persons of all rank, high and low, rich and poor, with multitudes startled into recognizing wickedness, confessing sins, and receiving baptism in the Jordan unto remission. Even many scribes and Pharisees confessed their sins and were baptized by him in Jordan to obtain remission of sins. Those who genuinely repented were better prepared to do God's will than people who professed obedience but did not obey.
The Jewish nation answered this heavenly message by demanding a miracle rather than seeking a clearer understanding of the gospel, since they expected the Messiah to establish an earthly empire through conquest. Their demand for a sign did not arise from sincere desire to know the truth, and no evidence Christ could give would satisfy them. Christ did not come as the Jews expected and did not come to glorify them as a nation, and they refused Him because He did not fit their long-held ideas of national glory. Those who rejected John's light sank into deeper darkness and were prepared to reject the evidence that Jesus was the true Messiah.
John heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming. William Miller and those who joined with him did the same preparing work for the second advent of the Son of God, unfolding the mysteries of the kingdom of God and carrying hearers down through the prophecies to Christ's second coming. As John was raised up for a special mission heralding a new era, so Wycliffe was raised up as a herald for a special work.
Model for the Last Days
John's call to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near is to be borne again just before the second coming in the clouds to prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord and to prepare the way for a revival of God's work. As it rang through Judea just before the first coming, so it is the message to be given today just before the second coming, unitedly proclaimed as the last message of mercy to the world by a peculiar people zealous of good works, calling for repentance as a change of mind and heart necessary for enrollment in Christ's army and entrance into His kingdom, joined to the proclamation of remission of sins in His name. Through publications and other means that same call to repentance and preparation is to go to the world, awakening people from worldly concerns, calling backsliding Israel to repentance, exposing popular delusions, and preparing people to meet God and for the Saviour's second advent.
That last-days work must be as direct, plain, and faithful as John's, faithfully warning, rebuking sin and proclaiming God's word plainly even when life is imperiled, as he rebuked kings for iniquity. It is to be spoken without elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories, stern yet full of hope, with a new strange power that startles hearers, cuts them to the heart with a sense of sin, stirs the nation, and reaches every rank from publicans and sinners, peasants and fishermen, soldiers and tax-gatherers, to chieftains, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees, priests of the Sanhedrin, scoffers, and rulers such as Herod trembling in his palace. Giving such a message requires the same spiritual experience and inward work John knew, beholding God until self is lost sight of.
It is to be given boldly with no whispering voice and no smooth message, but telling the truth of the situation amid fulfilled signs such as earthquakes in diverse places, wars and rumors of wars, and the judgments of God in the world before the day of the Lord. Its warning is to be heard in the present time in the setting of the third angel's message and the perils of the last days, heeding the true issues for this time and guarding against men who would divert minds with fallacies and scientific presentations of satanic origin, drawing souls aside and into centers such as Battle Creek, while the work must be carried on for those who still need the truth. As a startling message of truth in warnings calling to repentance, it makes a people ready to see Christ in His beauty of holiness, with truth going forth as a burning lamp and as clear living testimony like the great light in a lighthouse, sending sacred beams of warning throughout the world amid fallacy and the darkness of lightness, jesting, and joking.
It calls each person to a life-and-death decision whether to accept or reject Christ's sacrifice, since prophecies of His second coming are being fulfilled and God desires to save everyone through belief in His Son who gives everlasting life. That same message needed now is the plain Word stating present truth, calling to a life that prepares for future life measuring with the life of God, meaning to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, rather than turning aside to distracting questions Satan brings in through minds not worked by the Spirit, such as whether the world is round or flat.
Proclaiming the Message Today
The call to turn from wrong because heaven's rule is close is to be proclaimed widely in cities, towns and villages as preparation for the Lord's coming. It is to be met with by multitudes in world-renowned health resorts and centers of tourist traffic crowded with seekers after health and pleasure, where ministers and canvassers stationed there, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, are to arrest attention, watch for chances, hold meetings as opportunity offers, and be quick to speak, presenting the word of God with clearness and power so those who have ears to hear may hear the truth. As the message for this time, the gospel of present truth, it will be placed in the way of those who know it not, accepted by not a few, and carried by them to their own homes in all parts of the world. Men moved by the Holy Spirit are to carry again today to crowds and visitors who have never heard the truth the same message John carried, calling perishing souls to turn from sin because God's kingdom is near and inviting them to come to the Saviour as the last message of mercy while mercy still calls, and just this kind of work must be done now. In Southern California the same message is to be given as a clear warning and call to prepare for the Lord to the many visitors who come from across America, with men moved by the Holy Spirit in Los Angeles and San Diego meeting large numbers of tourists with the call to turn from sin because God's kingdom is near, and just such a work as John did can be done today there in connection with sanitarium work.
It is God's message for the wealthy classes in the large cities now, to be carried to them without delay as part of urgent mission work, and the most wealthy are not to be passed by but are to receive this call while souls are hungering for the bread of life and thirsting for the water of life. The Lord's workers for the last days are to proclaim that people must turn because heaven's rule is at hand, with the call sounded clearly and widely, both to those within the church and to those outside, and made known clearly and publicly despite opposition. Through publications the same call to turn and get ready is to go to the world, awakening people from worldly concerns, calling backsliding Israel to repentance, exposing popular delusions, and preparing people to meet God and for the second advent of the Saviour. That call is also to go through meetings spoken with clearness and power.
To the churches it is a call to every church to turn from sin and seek the remedy in God's Word, turning from backslidings, and as John's message prepared the way for Christ's first advent, this same call prepares people for the Saviour's second advent. Turning means turning to the Lord, confessing specific sins, and seeking cleansing and restoration, for outward appearances or vague assurances do not replace this inward change, and the warning applies to Battle Creek, whose people and institutions need thorough reformation, for without repentance God will turn away from the publishing house. It calls God's people through a deep and thorough reform because heaven's rule is at hand, requiring that those who join the church show a change of principle, preserve the distinction between the church and the world, resist assimilation to worldly ways, and cherish Christ's character as a power in life. It means being born again to live the new life in Christ with His love abiding in the heart, in unity with one another and with God through Christ, with all rivalry quenched, heart bound to heart in Christian love, allegiance given to Christ and to the brethren for Christ's sake, and no mean, cheap actions grieving the Spirit of God.
Proclaiming it means declaring heaven's kingdom near as part of Christ's work of blessing people who need a new heart, a new life, and a new purpose. The message is to be proclaimed with startling clarity, addressing the need to turn from sin rather than covering it with philosophy or trivial talk, calling for practical godliness and for Christ to be made first in everything. Applied to people today, it calls them to turn from evil and reform their lives rather than resist truth because it condemns their practices and demands sanctification. The Word awakens conscience, exposes sin, and summons people to accept salvation in God's appointed way, and those who heed it must resist opposing influences and fight the battle of faith. God is now calling each sinner, however sinful, because His kingdom is close, with His hand still stretched out in gifts of the Spirit, pardon, consolation, help and love, and turning means ceasing opposition to God, opening the cold proud heart to the Saviour, laying hold of His strength, letting the heart break in love toward Him who gave His life, submitting the will to God's will, confessing sins and making everything right between the soul and God, whereupon God receives, forgives and cleanses, breaks the delusion upon the mind, and brings to drink at a purer fountain, the fountain of living water.
Each person is called individually to take hold of his own case, humble the heart before God, and turn, keeping the bright light of the Sun of righteousness and the hope that lays hold upon immortality and the life that measures with the life of God, for except a person repents Christ will take the candlestick out of its place. That turning leaves sinful indulgence of appetite, liquor, tobacco, and other unwholesome things that bring sickness, pain, suffering, and loss of brain power, and gives God all there is of a person so the humble and contrite can be overcomers in partnership with Jesus Christ. John's self-denial is the pattern for those preparing for the last days, who must control their desires, reject baseness and worldly ambition, and live by a higher, holy purpose from God. His preaching is the model distinct from fanciful preaching designed merely to attract a crowd. The same message given to Christ's disciples remains a work for believers, for the gospel is to be preached throughout the world before the end, and those who receive and believe in Christ are responsible for helping enlarge His church and for showing the world the Lamb who takes away sin, and this work hastens the Lord's coming, with God's kingdom established in people's hearts as they obey His law.