Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-01-25
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ", FIRST QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 27.

Of CWsarca Philippi, He asked His disci
pies, saying, Whom do men say that l, the
Son of Man, ann" After feeding the
5000, walking on the sea and discoursing
about the bread of life Jesus went toward
Tyre and Sidun and healed the daughter
of II Syrophenician woman, fed 1000 and
cautioned His disciples against the leaven
of the Pharisces and Sadducces, or tho
false teaching of hypocrites and rational
lists. Then, having passed to another sec
ton, He asks the question of this verse.
IA. And they said, Some say thou art
John the Baptist some Elias, and Others
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. p" just
as varied are the opinions of men now
concerning Him, for while many hate Him
and turn their backs upon Him many
who profess to be His friends will not be-
lieve that He is God, and many more who
confess with the mouth that He is God as
we'll as man are not slow to say that in
some things, as q man, He was mistaken
or spoke according to the mistaken no.
tions of His times, while Others who would
not dare to say any of these things will
not believe that He is the coming one to
sit on David's throne.
10 "He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that l ann" AS far as we are individ-
ually concerned, the great question is not
what others think of Christ, but what
we think of Him, for every one of us
shall give account of Himself to God"
(Rom. xiv, 12). He will deal with each
one separately and personally, and the
great question for me is: 'What do think
of Christ? What is He to me?" What j.
my relation to Him? Is He my friend and
Saviour, or do l act as if it was nothing to
me whether He ever lived or not?
16. And Simon Peter answered and
said Thou art the Christ, the Son of tho
living God" by comparing verses and
| 4 of Math. ii we SEQ that the Christ Is
| synonymous with the King of the Jews
BY comparing verses 33 and 36 of John
we see that in their eyes the son of God"
meant equal with Cod so that Peters
confession meant at least thus much:
Thou art tho King of the Jews, the Di
vine Man to sit on David's throne"
Il. "And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona,
/ for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, bat My Father which is in
heaven" Flesh and blood, or the natural
man, cannot reveal unto US heavenly
things, even as it Is written in Cor ii, II,
/ ID. God only can teach us of Himself by
His holy Spiri:, but He is ready to teach
all who are ready to be taught.
thou art Peter and upon this rock viii
build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it," Tho Greek
words translated Peter" and rock arc
not quite the same, for the word translut
/ ed Peter means bit of rock, a rolling
stone, but the word translated rock 20
means cliff or ledge, n solid rock Tho
church was not to he built upon Peter, IA
rolling stone, but upon the solid rock
Christ, whom Peter confessed to be tho
Christ, the son of God. Notice that tho
church was not, then, built nor being
buildud, for He said, Il will build my
church. -
10. "And l will give unto thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and Whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall he loosed in heaven" We
know from Acts ii and that Peter was
the first of all the apostles to preach the
gospel both to Jews and gcnriles and thus
He opened the door to all, and this is the
power of keys. AS to the binding and
loosing, we know that the same power was
given to the church rs whole in chapter
xviii, Is. Every believer is authorized to
proclaim the gospel (Rev xxi, 10 and to
point the rercntant sinner to the passages
which declare him looscd from his sins
and the impcnitcnt to the passages which
declare him still bound 10y his sins.
20. Then charged He His disciples that
they should tell no man that He wa,
Jesus, the Christ" He had confessed t.
the woman of Samaria that He was tho
Messiah (John IT, %, 2G); He had to tn,
Jews given many proofs that He was thciI
Messiah, and they only turned their back.
upon Him, so that He will declare it ne
more Sec chapter Xii, 1919 If the truth
is not received when simply presented
there is the danger of the truth being with
drawn and "A dolUsion received in its stcat
Oil Thoss ii, 10, ID. Jesus Himself i.
the truth, and there is none other, for Goo
can be known only in and through Christ
81. From that time forth began Jesus
to shOW unto His disciples how that II,
must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests ans
scribcs and be killed and be raised agaif
the third day See the same facts repeated
by Him in chapters xvii, %, %, ana Xxx, Is
10, and notice in verses "a, 25, OF our lessor
chapter that there is no way to the kingdom
but by the cross and entire self renunca
ton. While the kingdom is delayed, post
ponod because Of lsrael's rejection of hc
king, the heirs of the kingdom, the member!
OF His body, the church, must De content t
+ be treated as their Master was and live "a
He lived, not unto Himself but unto God
t 22. Then Peter took Him and begar
to rebullo Him, saying Be it far from
Thee, Lord, this shall not be unto Thee. .
: The margin says, PITY Thysclf." 1t il
. the nature of the natural man to pit!
ones self rather than deny self 1t is toe
much the case with Christians also tina
they live unto themselves, indulge them
= selves, please themselves, rather THAI
v please Him who hath called them, so tina
I God alone can tell whether they are Chris
K tians at all or not. Christians should bea
in mind that we who live are Away dc
livered unto death for Jesus sake, tina
d the life also Of Jesus might be made mani
fest in our mortal flesh" that we shout,
not honceforth live unto ourselves, but un
+ to Him who died for us and rose again
l. I'll Cor. iY, II; Y, l5).
{ 23. But He turned and said unto Pc
ter Get thee behind me, satan. Thou ar
) an offense unto me, for thou savorest no
! the things that be Of God, but those tina