John the BaptistMeyer, F. B. (Frederick Brotherton)
Religion
John the Baptist
Meyer, F. B. (Frederick Brotherton)
Bible. New Testament -- Biography; John the Baptist, Saint
_Speak to others privately_. When only two disciples were standing
beside him, John preached the same sermon as he had delivered to the
crowd the day before, and both of them went to the frail lodging where
Jesus was making his abode. There is nothing that more deeply searches
a man than the habit of speaking to individuals about the love of God.
We cannot do it unless we are in living union with Himself. Nothing so
tests the soul. It is easy to preach a sermon, when the inner life is
out of fellowship with God, because you can preach your ideals, or
avenge on others the sins of which you are inwardly conscious; but to
speak to another about Christ involves that there should be an
absolutely clear sky between the speaker and the Lord of whom he
speaks. But as this practice is the most difficult, it is the most
blessed in its reflex influence. To lead another to Jesus is to get
nearer Him. To chafe the limbs of some frozen companion is to send the
warm blood rushing through your own veins. To go after one lost sheep
is to share the shepherd's joy. Whether by letters addressed to
relatives or companions, or by personal and direct appeal, let each one
of us adopt the sacred practice, which Mr. Moody followed and
commended, of allowing no day to pass without seeking to use some
opportunity given by God for definite, personal dealings with others.
The apostle Andrew seems to have specially consecrated his life to
this. On each of the occasions he is referred to in the Gospels he is
dealing with individuals. He brought his own brother; was the first to
seek after a boy to bring to the Saviour's presence; and at the close
of our Lord's ministry he brings the seeking Greeks. Did he not learn
this blessed art from his master, the Baptist?
It is requisite that there should be the deliberate resolution to
pursue this holy habit; definite prayer for guidance as one issues from
the morning hour of prayer; abiding fellowship with the Son of God,
that He may give the right word at the right moment; and a willingness
to open the conversation by some manifestation of the humble, loving
disposition begotten by the Holy Spirit, which is infinitely attractive
and beautiful to the most casual passer-by.
_Speak experimentally_. "I saw and bare record." John spoke of what
he had seen, and tasted, and handled. Be content to say, "I was lost,
but Jesus found me, blind, and He gave me sight; unclean, and He
cleansed my heart." Nothing goes so far to convince another as to hear
the accent of conviction on the lips of one whose eyes survey the
landscape of truth to which he allures, and whose ears are open to the
eternal harmonies which he describes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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