the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

 John was one of the world's supremely effective preachers. Once Chalmers was congratulated on a sermon. "Yes," he said, "but what did it do?" It is clear that John preached for action and produced it. He did not deal in theological subtleties but in life. 