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and so he, too, began to improve on the divine plan by eliminating the cross. His presumption brought forth that stern,- if loving, rebuke, and the man to whom had been granted a wonderful revelation from God, is charged with being Satan’s mouth piece. Our moments o f spiritual exalta tion are our moments o f spiritual peril. One o f the saddest sights in the church today is the preacher or Christian yrorker who has lost his God-given revelation and message, who speaks without power and whose ministry is fruitless in definite soul winning. Such an one is not o f God, but o f man. IV. Jesus’ Call to the Colors, w . 34-38. Recruiting is in the air today and Jesus, also, is calling for soldiers. His followers A CAREFUL study o f this lesson as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke, is necessary for the best analysis. The les sons are so vital and so varied that their condensation is essential. There are four heads under which thè great truths may be gathered : (1) The Revelation o f the Father. (2) The Rebuke to Satan. Luke tells us : “And it came to pass as He was alone praying, His disciples were with H im ; and He asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?” This is the background for the searching lessons which follow. It was when He was pray ing that He gave the disciples’ prayer ; when He was alone praying that He saw the distressed disciples on the sea; when He was praying, that He was transfigured ; and when He was alone praying that He was treading the winepress alone in the garden—and in each instance His praying was in intimate relation to the lives of His followers. The great foundation fact o f the church, (3) The Renunciation of Self. (4) The Reward for Sacrifice.
are all volunteers, not a drafted man among them. Denying self is not the ordinary self-denial indulged in at Easter time. It means turning one’s back on 1 one’s self. Saying goodbye to self-will, self-confidence, self-exaltation- Throwing one’s own plan overboard and surrendering wholly to God to carry out His plan. It is dethroning self and enthroning Jesus. To do this is the sure way to save one’s life; to refuse to do it is the sure way to lose one’s life. Consider verses 36 and 37 and make the decision accordingly. If anyone is ashamed to confess Christ now before men, has he any right to expect Jesus to confess him then before His Father? Where do you stand? Where will you stand? and the Rock upon which “ it is built,, is that Jesus Christ is the Son o f the living God, and as He so lovingly styled Him self—the Son o f Man; His perfect. Deity and His perfect •humanity. “ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). The Father reveals this, and faith puts us upon the rock. Every one who makes this earnest confession is' built upon this rock. . Having laid the foundation o f the Chris tian life, Christ now proceeds to declare the fundamental principle which should characterize a follower o f Himself : He must be a cross-bearer. He cannot follow unless he comes under the inexor able law to .which Christ subjected Him self ; “The Son o f Man must be lifted up.” He must suffer, the just for the unjust. He must be led as a lamb to the slaughter. He must be wounded, bruised, chastised. He must die, but He must be raised again. This doctrine is obnoxious to the flesh. Peter voices the . heart o f man in his rebuke; but the denial o f the Cross is Satanic, and so Jesus rebukes Peter by
HEART OF THE LESSON
By T. C. Horton.
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