ey bring together their
scattered sheep, and the man begins to preach to these shepherds.
The kingdom of heaven, he says, is about to be set up on the earth;
and he urges them to set their houses in order--to repent and turn
away from their sins. Having delivered his message, he tells them
that he will come back the next day and speak again.

When he had disappeared in the desert, I can suppose one of the
shepherds saying to another:

"Was he not a strange man? Did you ever hear a man speak like that?
He did not talk as the rabbis or the Pharisees or the Sadducees do.
I really think he must be one of the old prophets. Did you notice
that his coat was made of camel's hair, and that he had a leathern
girdle round his loins? Don't the Scriptures say that Elijah was
clothed like that?"

Says another: "You remember how Malachi says that before the great
and dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah should come? I really believe
this man is the old prophet of Carmel."

What could stir the heart of the Jewish people more than the name of
Elijah?

The tidings of John's appearance spread up and down the valley of
the Jordan, and when he returned the next day, there was great
excitement and expectation as the people listened to the strange
preacher. Perhaps till Christ came he had only that

ONE TEXT:

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Day after day you
could hear his voice ringing through the valley of the Jordan:

"Repent! repent! repent! The King is at the door. I do not know the
day or the hour, but He will be here very soon."

By and by some of the people who flocked to hear him wanted to be
baptized, and he took them to the Jordan and baptized them.

The news spread to the surrounding villages and towns, and it was
not long before it reached Jerusalem. Then the people of the city
began to flock into the desert to hear this prince among preachers.
His fame soon reached Galilee, and the people in the mountains began
to flock down to hear him. Men left their fishing-smacks on the
lake, that they might listen to this wonderful preacher. When he was
in the zenith of his popularity, as many as twenty or thirty
thousand people perhaps flocked to his ministry day after day.

No doubt there were some old croakers who said it was

ALL SENSATION.

"Catch me there! No, sir; I never did like sensational preaching."

Just as some people speak nowadays when any special effort is made
to reach the people!

"Gr