THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; (2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. (3) The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (4) John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (5) And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. (6) And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of skin about his loins and he did eat locusts and wild honey; (7) And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. (8) I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. (9) And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. (10) And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: (11) And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
It is remarkable, that in the opening of the Gospel according to Mark, he passes over the wonderful event of CHRIST's miraculous in carnation and birth. Probably the HOLY GHOST so appointed, as Matthew and Luke had been so circumstantial in the relation of the mystery of GOD manifest in the flesh. But the Reader will do well to turn to those scriptures, and connect them with what the Evangelist hath here related. Matt. Chapter s 1 & 2.Luke 1:1 and 2, John 1:1 throughout. 1 Timothy 3:16. When the Reader hath accomplished this service, I would refer him to the 3rd chapter of Matthew's Gospel, with the observations of the Poor Man's Commentary upon it, in relation to what is here said of John the Baptist. And also, in what follows in that chapter, in reference to the baptism of the, LORD JESUS CHRIST; both subjects being there so largely dwelt upon as to render any enlargement here unnecessary. But I beg to detain the reader one moment longer, just to observe, that both in the beginning of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST'S, and the preaching of the Baptist as the forerunner of the LORD JESUS, the great and leading point of all John's ministry, in holding forth JESUS, was to shew the necessity of CHRIST's baptism of his redeemed with the HOLY GHOST. Reader! do not, forget, that this vast and momentous principle in the gospel of salvation, as it concerns every individual heir of CHRIST's kingdom, is, after all, the great and distinguishing feature in the child of GOD. Paul put the question to the Church at Ephesus; and let you and I put it closely to our own consciences in the sight of GOD: have you received the HOLY GHOST since ye believed? Acts 19:1-6. Oh! for the precious testimony of that spirit of judgment, and spirit of burning, whereby every truly regenerated believer is savingly witnessed to, in his own heart and conscience, that he is born of GOD! Isaiah 4:2-4; Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6; John 1:12.