January, 1,939
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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PETER’S TEN SPIRITUAL CRISES [Continued from page 10] We have then these first four spiritual experiences in Peter’s life: 1. He expe rienced a childhood faith, which included faith in the coming Redeemer. 2. He be came a son of the law at thirteen, and a full member of God’s people Israel. 3. He accepted the message of John the Baptist and along with others looked forward to the coming Messiah. 4. He met the Lord Jesus in the flesh, and became His disciple in personal faith and confidence. Called to Service This personal call of the disciples as re corded in John is quite distinct from the call to full-time discipleship, which came several months later. Only John records the Judean ministry, which followed after the baptism and temptation of our Lord (John 2:13 to 4:3). Matthew and Mark begin the ministry of Christ after He returned to Galilee, following the death of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12). The first notable event recorded by Matthew and Mark in that ministry is the calling of Peter and Andrew with that wonderful word: “Fol low me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matt. 4:19). When we read, “And they straightway left their nets, and followed him,” this statement means that they gave up their business and gave their whole time to His service. Luke begins the record of Christ’s Gali lean ministry with the visit to Nazareth and His rejection there (Lk. 4:14-31). From Nazareth He went to Capernaum. After the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother and many others at Capernaum, Luke records the miraculous draught of fishes and the call to Andrew and Peter, and to James and John, to forsake all and follow Christ. Some scholars regard this as an experience sub sequent to the call to full-time discipleship. In that case, it would mean that the dis ciples did not completely give up their business on the first occasion, but went back to it. It seems better to regard the account in Luke as referring to the same call, but describing it in an altogether dif ferent way, in connection with the miracle. Ordained to Apostleship There was, however, another great crisis for these disciples in connection with their call to service. It was on that occa sion when Christ went into the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God (Lk. 6:12). "And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named, apostles” (Lk. 6:13). We are counting this as a- sixth great spiritual crisis in the life of Simon Peter. What was the significance of the call of thèse twelve apostles? It was after the re
jection of Christ in Nazareth, a rejection which foreshadowed both His rejection by the rulers of the nation and His crucifixion, that our Lord chose the disciples who after wards were appointed as apostles. It was His answer to Israel's rejection of her Mes siah. The kingdom was to be taken away from Israel and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof (Matt. 21:43). Thus quietly did this tremendous revolution be gin. There are today six hundred millions of professing Christians. In a real sense Simon Peter was the first of this number. The twelve apostles were to be foundation stones of the Christian church. They had no official standing in Israel, no part in the priesthood which had been ordained of God. But the Son of God was to turn aside completely from the false shepherds, and on these twelve men (with the exception of the betrayer, who later was replaced) He built His church. Significance of "The Great Confession" One other spiritual crisis is recorded be fore the cross, and that is what is rightly called “the Great Confession.” The notable turning point is indicated clearly in\ the account by Matthew. In Matthew 4:17 we read, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the king dom of heaven is at hand.” From that verse on through Matthew 16:20 is record ed the ministry of Messiah in His teachings and works, and it is a ministry of proclaim ing the kingdom. In Matthew 16:21 we read, "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” From that time we have the ministry of the rejected King, and in this ministry He proclaims His death. That turning point was introduced by Peter’s confession, and the prophecy of the building of the church, and the transfig uration of Christ. Our Lord had given His teachings and had worked miracles, and had manifested Himself in every way as the promised Messiah. What was the re sult? When He asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am? then the answer came, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the proph ets (Matt. 16:13, 14). All of these com pliments were intended to exalt Christ. Then came the searching question, "But whom say ye that I am?” The disciples already, at the very beginning, had ac knowledged Him as the Christ. But many things had happened since then. Many of their expectations concerning Messiah had proved false. They had walked and talked with the Lord, and now they were to give
their heart’s conviction as to who He was, in view of this personal knowledge and ex perience. This is the significance of Simon Peter’s great declaration, as he spoke for all the disciples except Judas, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord’s answer indicated that this confession was of the Spirit. Then Christ makes a confession concerning Simon. Our Lord states, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). When equally devoted scholars take dif ferent views as to the meaning of a verse, it is often found that there is truth in all the various views. What was the rock? Some answer that it was the confession that Peter made. Others say that Christ Himself is the Rock. Others answer that Peter is the rock. This last view usually is rejected because of the false claims of Rome concerning Peter as the first Pope. But if we recog nize that Peter was speaking for the other disciples, that he did not have a primacy over them, but was one of the foundation stones, then we can agree that the rock on which Christ is building His church is not merely the confession, but the person who is making the confession, who, of course, becomes united to Christ and is one with Him who is the Rock. In any case, we have here a great spirit ual crisis in Peter’s experience, his commit tal to the Lord and his responsibility as a leader of the church Christ was to build. But how poorly fitted Peter was after all of these seven crises! We might indeed add that last crisis before the cross: Peter’s great denial. We are not counting this among the ten spiritual crises in Peter’s experience. It may be thought of as the denial of all of these other experiences that had gone before, and we may link it with the coming crisis of his restoration. [To be continued] “Back . . . To an Incarnate Christ” “The only hope of Christianity, accord ing to the late Francis L. Patton, “is in the rehabilitating of the Pauline theology. It is back, back, back, to an incarnate Christ and the atoning blood, or it is on, on, on, to atheism and despair.” With this quota tion on an introductory page of his new book, Romans —Verse by Verse, William R. Newell proceeds to give an intensely practical aid to an understanding of this "grandest of all doctrinal books.” Lending freshness to his approach by means of per tinent illustrations, Dr. Newell has produced an exposition of 477 pages that points un mistakably on every page “to an incarnate Christ.” Published by the Grace Publica tions, Inc., Chicago, 111., the book, cloth bound, sells for $1.50 a copy.
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