One Hundred Per Cent /$J2 s ) a FW -A - s Address delivered at the Commencement of the Class of 1949 , Bihle Institute of Los Angeles
Christians By M. R. De Haan, M.D.
Three Calls of Peter We see the same thing illustrated in the life of the Apostle Peter. Three calls of Peter are recorded in the Scrip tures. The first is described in the first chapter of John, where at the preaching of John the Baptist, Peter came TO Jesus at the invitation of his brother, Andrew. Here Peter, I am sure, was saved, and became a thirty per cent believer. He paid nothing and left noth ing, but came only to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive from Him that which He had to offer. But in the first chapter of Mark, there is the account of another later call; for Mark tells us: Now after that John was put in pri son, Jesus came into Galilee . . . [and said to Peter ] Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men (Mark 1:17). Here you will notice that Peter is called to come AFTER the Lord Jesus Christ. This was not the same as the call in John, for in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist was still preaching, but in this instance John had already been cast in prison. This second call to come AFTER the Lord Jesus was not for salvation, but for service. It was not to come TO Jesus but to come AFTER the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first instance, Peter paid nothing. Here he is expected to pay the price, to leave something, and to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming TO Christ costs nothing, but coming AFTER Christ in disciple ship means sacrifice. Jesus said: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23). Peter's Third Call But there is also a third call of Peter, which many have missed. It is found in Matthew, chapter 10, where Jesus chooses twelve to forsake everything and go with Him to the end, to go all the way, to go all out for Him. This meant suffering and finally death for Christ’s sake. Coming TO Christ for salvation, coming AFTER Christ for service, go ing FOR Christ in the fellowship of His suffering. The Bible abounds in many illustra tions of this very same truth. In Gid eon’s army there were three classes of people. First, there were the thirty-two thousand who were only thirty per cent ers. Then it was reduced to a company of only ten thousand, whom we may classify as the sixty per centers. But Gideon gained the victory with the hand- T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hun dred (Murk b:20). T HIS is our Lord’s own classifica tion of all believers who, hearing and receiving the Word, bring forth fruit. There are, according to this verse, three kinds of believers in the world: those who bring forth the mini mum of fruit, called thirty percent; the average fruit-bearing Christians called the sixty percent; or the very maximum of fruit-bearing, called one hundred per cent. This is the threefold classification of Christians as given by the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul also classifies believers, but he does it in two groups — carnal and spiritual. But Paul’s classification has to do with conduct rather than with fruit-bearing. Jesus’ classification recog nizes, therefore, three possibilities of Christian progress and growth and bringing forth fruit. When Jesus, said that the good ground would bring forth thirty, sixty, and an hundredfold, He was by no means endorsing anything less than the maximum of one hundred per cent. But He knew that many be lievers would be content with being only thirty or sixty per cent fruitful for Him, and makes this statement only as a prediction of fact, without giving any endorsement for anything less than the maximum. Certainly nothing less than the very best, the very maximum of one hundred per cent, should ever sat isfy the true believer. This Order Runs Through All Scripture This threefold classification of be lievers runs all the way through the Bible. It was so in Jesus’ own ministry. There were three kinds of people who came to Christ for salvation. First, there was that great multitude who came to Christ and believed on Him, but they never went any farther, and we hear no more about them in all of the gospels. Then the second group was much smaller, and these are called dis ciples. There were seventy of these, seventy who had not only come TO Christ for salvation but had come AF TER Christ for service. These were better than the thirty per cent, but still came short of the maximum ideal of one hundred per cent, for these dis ciples followed Him only part of the way, and only for a time. While all was Page Six
fair and prosperous and the hope of the kingdom shone brightly upon them, they were enthusiastic and active, but when Jesus began to reveal the way of the cross and the price of discipleship, they would not pay the full price, and left Him, for they were only sixty per cent. Of these disciples we read one of the saddest records in all of Scripture. John tells us in John 6:66, after Jesus had revealed the cross to them: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Dr. M. R. DeHaan, Radio Minister of the Radio Bible Class Grand Rapids, Michigan
They were only sixty per cent effi cient and when it meant suffering, they ceased to serve the Lord Jesus. But there is a third group for which we do thank God. There were only twelve, (and one was a devil) who had not only come TO Jesus, (the thirty per centers) and had come AFTER Jesus, (the sixty peb centers) but who were willing to go FOR JESUS as well. Though they wavered for a time at the cross, they were still there after the resurrection and became the nucleus of that group at Pentecost through which the gospel was introduced into the whole world. Here, then, are the three groups in the ministry of our precious Lord Jesus Christ: First, those who came TO Him and then those who came AFTER Him, and finally, those who were willing to go all the way FOR Him. They were believers, disciples and apostles.
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