Matt. 3:2, “In those days came John the Baptist, saying, Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
These words enforce national Repentance, which the near approach of the Kingdom of Heaven rendered peculiarly imperative: “Repent ye, for,” etc. They have no reference to the mediation of Jesus and the pardon of sin through His name. The whole testimony of John was to rebuke the moral condition into which the nation had sunk, and to demand the abandonment of sin, and the reformation of life.
