The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-02-26


Org vsrsss, ss-s0-0oldsn Text. Luke
IL. sS-Commsntary By the Rev. ID. M.
stearns.
49, And IL came to pass as He was
alone praying His disciples were with
Him. and He asked them, saying Whom
say the people that amp 1t Is probable
that between the last lesson and this we
are to think of the feeding of both the
8, 900 and the 1000, His walking on the
sea and His visit to the coast Of Tyre and
Sidon. and now He Is away north near
C@sarea Philippi, or Dan. He had been
hearing from home and sending word
thither-in other words. He had been pray
ing-and then He asks this question, not
that He cared what people thought of Him
or whom they thought He was, but He
was leading on to a confession from His
disciples for a purpose. II we tolerate o
care as to what people think or say of VS.
or have an ambition to have name
among men, we have not the spirit of Him
who empti I'd Himself for us and made
Himself of no reputation, coming here
mot to be ministered unto, but to minis
ter and TO give His life ransom for
many" The message of Jeremiah ITO Ba-
ruch Is always fitting, "Seekest thou great
things for thyself, seek them not" phil.
Ii, z, 8; Math. Xxx, IS; Jer. xlvf5).
10. "They answering said, John the
Baptist, but some say Elias, Ind others
say that one of the old prophets Is risen
again" Compare verses and s. To
know God in the greatest thing, but we
cannot know God apart from Jesus Christ
(Math. XII, 27), and when we think we
know Him we may well apply this word
to ourselves "If any man thinketh that
he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing
yet rs he ought to know" Ct Cor. viii, %
At best we know but in part now; not
till then shall we know as we are known
U Cor. xiii, Q, 12). The natural man can
not know the things of God at all q Cor.
ii, 14), but even the spiritual man is oft
times so carnal that he cannot discern
spiritual things.
20. HE said unto them, But whom say
ye that l am? Peter, answering, said, The
Christ of God, or as in Math. xvi, Is;
John vi, so, 1.-THE Christ, the Son of the
living God" Matthew says that Jesus re-
piled to this, Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar iona, for flesh and blood hath not re-
vealed it unto thee, but my Father, which
is in Heaven 1t is surely blessed to be
taught of God for "Who teacheth like
Him?" dob xxxvi, 22.) Before Jesus left
His disciples He said that the spirit whom
He would send would teach them all
things and guide them into all truth John
xiv, 20; xvi, 49,.
81. "And He straitly charged them, and
commanded them TO tell no man that
thing" In Math. xvi, 20, it Is written that
He said that they were to tell no man that
He was Jesus the Christ. In the begin
ming of His ministry He said very plainly
to the woman of Samaria that He was the
Christ (John iv, 25, 26), but now that they
have rejected Him, the next sign that He
is the Christ will be His resurrection from
the dead. We will never know till 1t is too
late how much we have lost by not sim
ply believing His word. We thus grieved
the spirit and hinder Him rom telling us
what He would like to- If, on the other
hand, we are filed with the spirit, we
shall hear His voice and know when to be
still and when TO speak.
90. Saying, The Son of Man must suf-
fer many things, and be rejected of the
elders and chief priests and scrbes and be
slain, and be raised the third day" There
is evidently some connection between this
and His forbidding them to say that He
was the Christ. On several different occa-
He must die and rise again the third day,
but they received 1t not. They did not be-
lieve that He meant just what He said,
and they could not put any other meaning
upon His words, therefore they lost it ALL
90. "And He said to them all, II any
man will come after Me. let him deny
himself and take up his cross daily and fol-
low Me-" The true Christian life is the
Christ life, the life of Jesus made manifest
in our mortal flesh (II Cor. iv, 10, III,
and this means the dying unto self, Away.
the constant reckoning dead of the self
life, the old man, the carnal mind which
must be put off and kept off-not put off
and on as we would our clothes. Christ
never lived unto Himself in any way
either as to His will or His glory or His
pleasure (Iohn vi, 3S; viii, 80; Rom. XIV,
b. To take up the cross Is not to wear
some kind of pretty cross, for there Is no
such thing as pretty cross recognized In
Scripture, but 1t Is just to die constantly
to ones own will and way and pleasure.
mot 1, but Christ"
"a "For whatsoever will save his life
shall lose It, but whatsoever will lose his
life for My sake, the same shall save 1t.
Our life may be said to be that which
takes up our attention, which chiefly oo-
cupies our minds and our time, that which
interests us most. We have to engage In
many and varied forms of business, but
even In these 1t may be our main thought
to glorify God, and thus God and not bust
ness will be our life. We shall be able TO
say "For me to live Is Christ"
Is. "For what Is q man advantaged II
he gain the whole world and lose himself
or be castawayy' Let man live for his
business, or his home, or for pleasure, or
for himself In any way and not receive
Christ, and he and all his life will be truly
lost, for he that hath not the Son OF God
hath not life. The word castaway" in
this verse Is wholly different from that In
Cor. TX, "a. There IL refers TO service re-
jected (see r. W. but here evidently to
the loss of the soul.
30. For whatsoever shall be ashamed of
Me and of My words, of him shall the Son
of Man be ashamed when He shall come in
His own glory and In His Fathers, and of
the holy angels" The one who prefers
his own life to the daily dying to self GER
tainly prefers self to Christ and may be
said to be ashamed of Christ. Such can
have no part In His kingdom. His COM
ing In glory here referred to IL His COM
ing with His saints q Thess. iii, IS; Col.
iii. A., they having previously met Him on
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