Luke iii. 10 — 14. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then ? He ansivereth 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 liketvise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall tve 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 ivages.
WHATEVER want of human learning men may feel, they are, for the most part, well satisfied with their attainments in religious knowledge. If they are conscious of some faults, they do not suspect any want of just information, but only a defect in prac- tising what they already know. But when persons begin to see their guilt and danger, they find that they need to be instructed in the very first principles of religion ; and they are glad to make inquiries, which formerly they would have utterly disdained. This was the effect produced by the ministry of John the Baptist. The Scribes and Pharisees, being filled with self-conceit, rejected his word, and represented him as no better than a demoniac : but multitudes of others came to him with great solicitude, not to obtain answers to any speculative questions, but to ask, What they must do, to escape the wrath which he had so forcibly set before them.
We shall find it profitable to consider, I. His answers to their inquiries —
Those who successively applied to him, and to whom he gave his answers, were,
1. The people —
[As these must of necessity comprehend a great variety of characters, the Baptist gave his answer generally, so as to strike at the characteristic evil of our -fallen nature, selfishness. The natural man lives neither for God nor for his fellow-crea- tures, but for himself alone. If he has great superfluities, he