Page 188 - Demo

pagans; and, finally, when I examine and behold the effect184of the two ways of preaching upon the hearers and the final result, I understand the magnitude of the contrast between them, and of the significance of the words “He is more powerful than I!”When I contemplate the seizure and imprisonment of the helpless Baptist by Herod Antipas [1] and his cruel decapitation -or when I peruse the confused but tragical accountsoftheflagellationofJesus(pbuh) (orJudahIshariot) by Pilate, his coronation with a crown of thorns by Herod, and the catastrophe upon the Calvary- and then turn my eyesuponthe triumphal entryofthegreatAdon-theSultan of the John Prophets - into Makkah, the total destruction of all the ancient idols and the purification of the Holy Ka’ba; upon the thrilling scene of the vanquisheddeadly enemy headed by Abu Sufyān at the feet of the victorious Shīlohah- the Apostle of Allah –begging his clemency and making the profession of faith; and upon the glorious worship, devotion, and the final sermon of the Seal of the John Prophets in these solemn Divine words: “Alyauma akmaltu lakum dinakum” (“To-day I have completedfor you your religion”), etc., then I fully understand the weight and value of the Baptist’s confession, “He is more powerful than I!”3. “The Coming Wrath.” Have you ever met witha sensible, judicious, and convincing interpretation of this phrase in any of the commentaries numerous on the Gospels? What does John mean, or wish his audience to understand, by his expression: “Behold the axe is already set at the root of the tree” or his remark “He holds the van in his hand to purge out his threshing-floor” Or when he reduced the title “Children of Abraham (pbuh) ” to nothing?[1] There is anachronism in the account of John’s martyrdom concerning the family of Herod the Great in the Gospels (Matt. xiv, etc.); the reader can consult the Antiquities of Joseph Flavius. (The author).