The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-01-23
SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JANUARY 27.
Lesson Text: ssThe Great Confes-
sion," Math. xvi, 1928
Golden Text: Math. XVII,
16-Commentary.

sion," Math. xvi, 1928
Golden Text: Math. xvi,
16-Commentary.
IS. "When Jesus came unto the coasts OF
CBsarea Philippi, He asked His disciples.
saying, Whom do men say that I. the Soh
Of Man, amP" After feeding the 5000, walk
ing on the sea and discoursing about the
bread Of life, Jesus went toward Tyre and
Sldon and healed the daughter OF Syro-
phenician woman, fed 1000 and cautioned
Ills disciples against the leaven OF the Phari.
sees and Sadducees, or the false teachings OF
hypocrites and rationalists. Then, having
passed to another section. He asked the
question Of this verse.
ia. Sand they said. Some say Thou art
John the Baptist, some Elias, and others
Jeremias, or one Of the prophets" Just as
varied are the opinions OF men now concern
ing Him, for while many hate Him and turn
their backs upon Him many who profess to
be His friends will not believe 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 man,
He was mistaken or spoke according to the
mistaken notions OF His times, while others
who would not dare to say any OF these
one to sit on David's throne. 'sas
:, Is. she saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I amp" As far as we are tndivldu-
. ally 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 I think OF Cnrlst? What fs
II M rkAe to 1okt n
Is He my friend and Saviour, or do 1 act as It
1t was nothing to me whether He ever lived
or not?
Is. "And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son OF the living
God" BY comparing verses 2 and OF
Math, H., we see that ''the Christ" Is synony-
nous with "the King OF the Jews" By COM
pairing verses 33 and So of John Z. we see
that In their eyes 'the Son Of God" meant
'sequal with God" so that Peters confession
meant at least thus much: "'Thou art the
King of the Jews, the Divine Man to sit on
David's throne"
IL. "And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed arr thou, Simon Bar-Jona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed It unto
thee. but 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 I Cor. H., IL, 13. God only can
teach us OF Himself by His holy Spirit, but
He is ready to teach all who are ready to be
taught. r.
Is. "And say also unto thee that thou
art Peter, and upon this rock will build
my church, and the gates Of hell shall not
prevail against It." The Greek words trans
lated "Peter'' and "rock" are not quite the
same, for the word translated "Peter"
means bit Of rock, rolling stone, but the
word translated ''rock" means cliff or
hedge. solid rock. The church was not
to be built upon Peter, a rolling stone. but
upon the solid rock, Christ, whom Peter
confessed to be the Christ, the Son o. God.
Notice that the church was not, then, built
nor being builded, for he said, ~ will build
My church"
the kingdom OF heaven, and whatsoever
thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound In
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed IN heaven" We know
from Acts II. and Z. that Peter was the first
of all the apostles to preach tho gospel both
to Jews and gentiles, 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 as
a whole in chapter xvlii., 1S. Every be.
lever Is authorized to proclaim the gospel
(Rev. xii, I'D and to point the repentant
sinner to the passages which declare him
loosed from his sins and the impenitent to
the passages which declare him still bound
by his sins.
they should tell no man that He was Jesus.
the Christ" He had confessed to the woman
OF Ssmaria that He was the Messiah (John
siv., 25, 2S); He had to the Jews given many
proofs that He was their Messiah, and they
only turned their backs upon Him, so that
TT 49,
xii, 1913. II the truth Is not received when
simply presented, there Is the danger OF the
truth being withdrawn and q deluslon re-
ceiyed In its stead UI Thess. H., 10, III.
Jesus Himself Is the truth, and there Is none
other, for God can be known only In and
through Christ.
II21, 'From that time forth began Jesus to
show unto His disciples how that He must go
unto Jerusalum and suffer many things.ot the
elders and chief priests and scrtbes and be
killed and be raised again the third day"
See the same facts repeated BY Him In chap
tiers xviii, "a, %, and x1., 1S, 19, and notice
i'm verses "a, 25, OF our lesson chapter that
there Is no way to the kingdom but by the
cross and entire self renunoiation. While
the kingdom Is delayed, postponed because
of Israel's rejection OF her King, the helrs OF
the King. the members of His body, the
church, must be content to be treated as their
Master was and live as He lived, not unto
Himself, but unto God.
%. "Then Peter took Him and began to
rebuke Him, saying, Be 1t far from Thee,
Lord, this shall not be unto Thee" The
margin says, "Pity Thyself." 1t Is the
nature of the natural man to pity ones self
rather than deny self. 1t is too much the
case with Christians also that they live unto
themselves, indulge themselves, please
themselves, rather than please Him who
hath called them, 30 that God alone can tell
whether they are Christians at all or not.
Christians should bea: In mind that 1--WE
who live are always delivered unto death
for Jesus's sake, that the life also OF. Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal
flesh" "that we should not henceforth live
unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for
Us and rose again" CI Cor. iv., II ", 15).
2S. "But He turned and said unto Peter
IGet thee behind Me, satan. Thou art an
offense unto Me, for thou savorest not the
things that be OF God, but those that be OF
men," See what the Lord thinks OF plying
oneself. II is not from God, but from satan,
the adversary OF God and man. he hates
the Christ life, and II he cannot destroy will
do all he can to hinder It. "Not I, but
Christ, who liveth In me-" Is the true Chris
tian motto, and only those who thus live can
be a glory 10 God and blessing to their
fellows. It is like man to get and enjoy and
crafty himself; it Is like God to give and
minister unto and make others glad. "For
the Son OF Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to ministe. and to give His life q
ransom for many" CMath. xx., 2S).-Lesson
Helper.