Prisoner in the Third Cell

t first passed through the sovereign hand of God.

The question before the house is this: “Will you follow a God you do not understand? Will you follow a God who does not live up to your expectations?”

Faith in Him, trust that is in Him . . . not in His ways.
Today you are resentful of those who so callously hurt you. But no, not really. The truth is you are angry with God because, ultimately, you are not dealing with men, you are dealing with the sovereign hand of your Lord. Behind all events, behind all things, there is always His sovereign hand.

But, most of all, you are my kin. You are my own flesh and blood.

Not a single sound rose from the third cell. Whatever John might be thinking, he was keeping his own counsel. Protheus, on the other hand, could not help but wonder: “The prisoner in the first cell blames everything on men. The prisoner in the second cell blames everything on God. I wonder whom the prisoner in the third cell will blame. Man? God?
“Or perhaps his cousin?”

After all, these men saw themselves as authorities in God’s ways. John would not attempt to do the impossible: He would not call the leaders of the religious system to come out of that system.

making his way through the midst of the crowd, and discerned the ultimate weakness of each one. There was not one among them brave enough, on his own, to break with accepted religious traditions.

It was a glorious day. Yet no one seemed to have laid hold of the obvious. Conduct like this would get John killed.

But John saw more than this. He looked in the heart of every man now

People came to hear John because they were seeking something to fill a deep vacancy in their lives.