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make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

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Thus in him was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” And the prophecy of Malachi, "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me." "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

St. John was "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness;" the messenger of the Lord; sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare His way before Him. And such was his preaching, such his baptism. "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For it was by this preaching of repentance that he was to prepare the way of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And most real, most practical, was the repent

ance which he preached; warning men of sin and danger; warning them not to trust to any outward state of privilege; warning them of the near approach of God's judgments; and calling them to break off their sins and repent; calling each man to break off his own sins, and to do works of righteousness and charity.

"Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise."

And to each man he spake words of warning; to each man he gave the lesson which he needed; rebuking the dishonest gains of the publican, the violence and oppression of the soldier.

"Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." And all this because of the near approach of the coming of the Lord. "And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: whose fan is in His hand, and Ile will throughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable."

But St. John Baptist was even yet more highly favoured. He was called to baptize the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In a spirit of deep humility St. John Baptist shrank from the office; yet it was the will of God that he should execute it, should baptize the Son of God, should hear the voice of God the Father speak

ing from heaven, should see the descent of God the Holy Ghost like a dove upon Him.

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered Him. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

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And, as St. John Baptist thus baptized our Lord, so also did he bear his witness to Him, as the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. Thus we read in St. John's Gospel: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto Him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for He was before me. And I knew Him nct: . . . but He that hath sent me to

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baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and

remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record that This is the Son of God!"

Such was St. John Baptist's ministry, such his preaching, such his baptism, such His witness unto Christ. And he was faithful in his preaching and ministry, constant to speak the truth, bold to rebuke vice, and patient to suffer for the truth's sake.

And thus it was that he met with his death in the way of duty. It was because he constantly spake the truth, boldly rebuked vice, that he was called to suffer for the truth's sake; to suffer, and at the last to die a martyr, for God and for His truth. As a prophet of God, as sent by God to preach repentance, St. John Baptist rebuked the sin of the king with no less boldness than the sin of the common man. Herod had taken unto him his brother's wife, and St. John Baptist rebuked him for his sin, and thus brought on himself the bitter hatred of the adulteress. Thus we read, "For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him

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