A Tale of Three Kings Read online

  But John was not finished.

  “Your tree! An axe has been laid to your tree. The wrath of God is upon you. The axe will cut down your tree and destroy its root. The day is not far when all that you are shall be destroyed under the wrath of God.”

  With that the delegation, as one, gathered up their outer robes and hurried back toward their carriages, each devising in his heart some form of vengeance to take against John.

  Someone in the crowd began to cheer. Someone else clapped. With that, the whole multitude stood and took up the applause. Everywhere men and women felt shackles falling from their souls. At last, someone had dared to challenge the religious system!

  Spontaneously, the multitude moved toward John. It seemed that every soul present who had not been baptized wanted very much to do so now. They had all, as one, glimpsed something deeper of John’s message, something they had never understood before.

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

  And then there was that other very memorable day.

  Chapter 7

  The door from the other realm opened, like a window, just over the Jordan River. Out from the very center of the being of God the Father came forth His own sacred Spirit, the Holy Spirit, somewhat as a dove might, fluttering out through the open door and coming to rest on one of the spectators who was listening to John speak.

  John’s eyes scanned the crowed, his fierce gaze catching every face. What was that? A light of unnatural origin, appearing out of nowhere, like a dove flying out of a window and coming to rest on someone out there in the crowd.

  John realized he was seeing what no other eye could see. This was the sign of the Messiah. John fell silent. His only thought was, “Where landed the lighted dove? Who is out there?”

  Murmuring whispers swept across the crowd. Many followed John’s searching gaze.

  Spontaneously, John roared

  “Behold the Lamb of God!

  “I am nothing. This man is everything. Look no more to me, look to him. As for me, I am not even worthy to stoop down and unlatch the sandals that are on the feet of this one.”

  The Father seemed to agree. Standing in the door between the two realms, He called out.

  “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

  And as God was pleased, so John was pleased. Nor did it bother John as he watched the multitudes forsake him and begin to follow Jesus. After all, John knew he had come into the world for this very reason.

  What John did not know was that the easiest days of his work were now behind him. The harder were yet to come.

  About the Author

  Gene Edwards was born and raised in east Texas, the son of an oil-field roughneck. He was converted to Christ in his junior year in college. He graduated from East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas, at the age of eighteen, with majors in English literature and history. His first year of postgraduate work was taken at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschlikon, Switzerland. He received his master’s degree in theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas at the age of twenty-two. He served as a Southern Baptist pastor and then as an evangelist for ten years.

  Today his ministry includes conferences on the deeper Christian life and on living that life in the context of a practical experience of church life. There have been seventy translations of his books in eighteen languages.

  Gene and his wife, Helen, now make their home in Jacksonville, Florida. The author can be reached at the following address:

  Gene Edwards

  P. O. Box 3450

  Jacksonville, FL 32206

  www.geneedwards.com

  A Tale of Three Kings and its sequel, The Prisoner in the Third Cell, have become modern Christian classics, and readers everywhere have acclaimed The Divine Romance as one of the finest pieces of Christian literature of our time and a magnificent saga that will take your breath away. Here is an incomparable love story told in almost childlike simplicity, yet revealing some of the deepest truths of the Christian faith.

  Also in the same genre is the spellbinding story of the history of God’s people . . . as seen by the angels—The Chronicles of Heaven series (The Beginning, The Escape, The Birth, The Triumph, The Return). In addition, The First-Century Diaries series presents the sweeping panorama of the entire saga of the first-century church.

  Gene Edwards has written three books that serve as an introduction to the deeper Christian life: Living by the Highest Life, The Secret to the Christian Life, and The Inward Journey. For a complete list of books by Gene Edwards, see the page opposite the title page.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Preface to the Second Edition

  Author’s Preface

  Introduction

  Prologue

  PART 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  PART 2

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Book Discussion Guide

  About the Author