and distinction of which the "children" were
sure. John's forceful assertion that God could raise up, from the stones
on the river bank, children to Abraham, meant to those who heard that
even the lowest of the human family might be preferred before themselves
unless they repented and reformed.[283] Their time of wordy profession
had passed; fruits were demanded, not barren though leafy profusion; the
ax was ready, aye, at the very root of the tree; and every tree that
produced not good fruit was to be hewn down and cast into the fire.

The people were astonished; and many, seeing themselves in their actual
condition of dereliction and sin, as John, with burning words laid bare
their faults, cried out: "What shall we do then?"[284] His reply was
directed against ceremonialism, which had caused spirituality to wither
almost to death in the hearts of the people. Unselfish charity was
demanded--"He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none;
and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." The publicans or
tax-farmers and collectors, under whose unjust and unlawful exactions
the people had suffered so long, came asking: "Master, what shall we do?
And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you."
To the soldiers who asked what to do he replied: "Do violence to no man,
neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."[285]

The spirit of his demands was that of a practical religion, the only
religion of any possible worth--the religion of right living. With all
his vigor, in spite of his brusqueness, notwithstanding his forceful
assaults on the degenerate customs of the times, this John was no
agitator against established institutions, no inciter of riot, no
advocate of revolt, no promoter of rebellion. He did not assail the tax
system but the extortions of the corrupt and avaricious publicans; he
did not denounce the army, but the iniquities of the soldiers, many of
whom had taken advantage of their position to bear false witness for the
sake of gain and to enrich themselves by forcible seizure. He preached,
what in the now current dispensation we call the first or fundamental
principles of the gospel--"the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God,"[286] comprizing faith, which is vitalized belief, in
God; genuine repentance, which comprizes contrition for past offenses
and a resolute determination to turn from sin; baptism by immersion in
water at his hands as the