THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
421
December, 1938
I N T E R N A T I O N A L L E S S O N Commentary O utline and Exposition Blackboard L esson . . C hildren s D ivision G olden Text Illustration O b ject L esson B y B. B. S utcliffe B y G retchen S ibley B y H elen G ailey B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder P oints and P roblem s B y A lva J. M c C lain
their time, found, as Peter did, in the great draught of fishes, that when the Lord’s word is obeyed simply, power and strength and blessing follow, as night follows day. Peter came to realize more and more clearly that this Man before him, sup posedly only a carpenter, was none other than the living God. Instinctively feeling that before him stood One whose inherent holiness revealed and condemned all sinful ness, Peter confessed his own sinfulness be fore the Lord. III. P eter ’ s S urrender (Lk. 5:10, 11) In the Lord’s call of Peter to service, there was both a command and a promise. The command was "fear not.” And the promise was "thou shalt catch men,” that is, to draw them out of the world through the power of the gospel. In a spiritual sense, the same patience, understanding, care, and diligence as had been necessary for the na tural tasks of fishing would be required, and required in a larger measure, to do what they now were called to do. Peter, together with his companions, wasted no time in acknowledging their call and confessing their surrender to it. They were weak and unstable, poor and ignorant, but it was the Lord Himself who was to be their Teacher, and under His instruction they would become all they needed to be. As revealed in Peter’s experience, the steps to service for the Lord are: to come to Jesus and accept Him as personal Sav iour, to turn one’s property over to the Lord for His own use, and to surrender whole-heartedly to Him to be trained for the work to which He calls. Points and Problems 1. "Findeth - his o w n brother Sim on” (John 1:41). There were two factors in the conversion of Peter. The first was the faithful testimony of John the Baptist. Verse 37 tells us that when two of his own dis ciples “heard him speak . . . they followed Jesus.” One of these was'Andrew. Happy is the preacher who so preaches that his hearers follow Christ instead of the preach er. The second factor was the faithful service of Andrew. 2. "W e h a v e fou n d th e M essias” (v. 41). The word “Messias” is simply a Greek word spelled in English letters, and the Greek word represents- the Hebrew "Mashiah” which is applied prophetically to our Lord in Daniel 9:25. A proper trans lation of the word into Greek would be, as John tells us, “Christos.” Both the Hebrew and Greek words mean "an anointed one." Since both kings and priests of the Old Testament were invested with their re spective offices by the “anointing” cere-- mony, the term is really a title descriptive of our Lord’s office as the divine Priest- King.
JANUARY 1, 1939 PETER CALLED TO SERVE J ohn 1:35-42; L uke 5:1-11
thou now art, a saved man, one who is in structed, strengthened, and established. And this is what the Lord waits to say to every one who will turn to Him and allow Him to have His way with the life. This personal meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ was the beginning of Peter’s service as a follower of Christ and the source of Peter’s greatness. Many persons try to serve Christ without first being saved, but in so doing they not only bring dis credit upon the gospel but also bring dis appointment and despair upon themselves. A recognition of personal sinfulness and an acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour is God’s first requirement, for “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6). II. P eter ’ s O bedience (L k . 5:1-9) The Lord’s request for the use of Peter’s boat indicates that, in a sense, the Lord had become a partner of Peter’s. It must have been wonderful in after days for Peter to recall that his property had been used to bnng the truth to the people. Today, sim ilar opportunity awaits those who will give their possessions to the Lord for the fur therance of the truth. When the Lord finished speaking, He told Peter to launch out into the deep and let down his net. After a night of fishing (the night being the time when fish were taken), to let the net down again in the daytime would have appeared to be a prof itless undertaking. But Peter had been lis tening to the Lord Jesus, and a glimpse of His great power had come to him, and at once Peter replied, "Nevertheless at thy word . . . ” (v. 5). However foolish the action appeared, and however much against human learning and experience it was, Peter would do as he was told by the Lord. His obedience was full and prompt. This is always the secret of obtaining riches from the Lord. Noah might have thought it foolish to build the ark; Abram might have thought it folly to leave his home and coun try; Moses might have thought it too dar ing to appear before Pharaoh. But these, together with a host of God’s people since BLACKBOARD LESSON
John 1:40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. 42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into tne deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken noth ing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in tne other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from hence forth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. Lesson Text: John 1:40-42; Lk. 5:1-11. G olden Text: "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mk. 1:17). D evotion al R eading: Isa. 6:1-8. Outline and Exposition I. P eter ’ s C onversion (John 1:40-42) ' A NDREW, Peter’s brother, met the Lord Jesus and was convinced that J~ JL He was Messiah. At once Andrew, the ideal personal worker, went to his brother and brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw Peter, He said, "Thou art . . . thou shalt be . . He knew Peter through and through and said to him, "Thou art. . .” a sinner, unsaved, ignorant, weak, vacillating, and all else that man is by nature. But then He said also, knowing His own grace and power as they should be operative in Peter’s life, “Thou shalt be . . . ” an individual wholly different from the one [T h ese lesso n s are d ev elo p ed from out lin es p rep a red b y th e C omm ittee on Im p r o v ed Uniform L essons o f th e Interna tional Council. T he outlines a re co p y righ t ed b y th e International C ouncil o f R eligious Education and u sed b y perm ission. S crip tu re portion s q u oted are from th e K in g Jam es Version unless o th erw ise stated.]
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