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