Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-01-30
The SABBATH SCHOOL
International Lesson Comments For
January 81.
Subject: Jesus Calls Four Disciples. Lake v
ILL Golden Text. John vlil.. N-M:m.
DRY Verses. l'6-Commentary
on the Days Lesson.

.
reth our Lord went to Capcrnan:n and per
haps abode IN the house OF Peter The
power OF His preaching drew crowds
which pressed upon Him He was wax
ing along the white beach which forms he
margin OF Lake GenneSarct To hear"
There was a good prospect for a g;orious
revival =; religion. There were tunes IN
The life nj sur Lord when thousands were
anxious to hea- Him. tor the common PEG
pie heard Him gladly Lake OF Genncsa.
ret, The most sacred sheet NJ water
winch this earth contains. Called also the
Sea Of t'alIlec. the Sea al TihcriaS. and III
the Old Testament the Sea oi Chnncroth
t;Iosh- l2:A IL is clear. sweet lake
about twelve miles ion~ and FIVE broad
with the Jordan River flowing through It
Its fish were valuable In ChrSt's time II
was covered with 4 fleet OF 1000 vessels
from fishing boats 10 >hiDs OF war THE
was the rceio" OF the early llhorS Of ont
Lord. Here He nerform"d SONG al His
most wonderful miracles: here He Sc.cctch
His disciples Bui II The present time a.
j. dcsciatr around csli.ec. and the ic>o,a
ton will increase until the aggressive now
or OF Christ's gospel carries Christianity &c
that now hcnich;cd AMI
Two >hips' Fishing boats They
must have been small This j. car from
the acfounts given of then \ few men
oou'd handle orc ard = sing" 'aree draYght
"t fishes endangered them Standing hy.
.'t''i'ltu. OF drawn IN nfa,G me nF1C1.
w HShin" their net. Th"v bad spent the
right in fr,itlc<s effort and now thrv wee
reaning the filth OF the y, iron, he
'hrrids of the nets aud r~"n.iirg any de
frCtivc or broken narts u j. Interesting
10 noi'c" how often CHRIS. 'p~"a-el To
men VIII" they wore n" V with heir tc'',.
p1ral affairs. ard how their worldly condi.
tinns were mad the rlca"s II giving them
4 better ""de-Sia~"irc "i Hin. 2 Ono
oG the >hlns Thc snir al .Iam"s and
John a"nearci - hc =, ~" distance
.av 'P~aved Hin" Asked Hin Jesus
~ a familiar manner Tx. nn>s'sS;on ri
Peters boat i"i makes i H'~ 'ui nit While
He speaks to he peon'e 80; down The
comn'"1 nos ture - lev = :tlcherS. Com.
rart Matt 81 Taught" II : nrohah,c
hat this was small brv - The cove and
that when He waS in tho '.pit III" people
on the shor" stood rour1 lim IN tar form
of an amphitneat-e NJ dauni the lake
was still 80 that His voice wa> nnds;ur0ed
In sven a situation He oou'h j." easily
heard aad NJ spectacle cod BE- more
beautiful than Tire Son ri God sreaisinc 10
the poor. 'gnorlnt and attentive mutt.
tudes assembled on the shore
II. The draueht al fishes Tvs ~ :
LAUNCH out Christ forgot His own
WEAKNESS aud oniv seemed to remember
the DISAPPOINTMENT 81 His followers ~
t"'inc ali night IN vain. This verse mas
often been rSed II illustrate the fact that
Chris would have IL leave the shore OF
seltishness. wrrid'iness and sin and aunch
oat into the denih af His pots Tor the tax.
ing OF fish. ). "Master' This is the
E-st time the; IL" word here Translated
Master * used in the New Testament and
II IS used on'v nv Lake The other evan
re,ists call Him Rabbi or Lord Mo-" how
famiiarlv Peter addresses Jesus. ''Toiled
unlikely II was that they wOald catch any
thing. and ii is no doubt reported ly Luke
To cause tho miracle to appear all the moe
striking. There were certain kinds OF fish
ing always carried on At nigh: At Thy
word No doubt Peter was weary and
somewhat discouraged. but he had faith
enough, in Christ TO lead him to 90 at the
direction of his divine Master.
6. Their net brake Their nets were
breaking'-R v There was such !, mul-
titudc OF fishes that a snap in some veal,
part OF the net warned them that they
must have assistance or lose tho entire
catch. The miracle was an acted para
bic. OF which the significance is explained
ia Matthew 1897 This breaking net is
explained by ST. Augustine as the symbol
OF the church which nov is. He compares
the unrent net to the church OF the future
which shall know no schisms." :. Beck
oned." Made signals. The distance evi-
IDENTIFY being too great for the VOICE to
reach. They came" James and John
with their ship. Began TO sink :. The
boats would hardly hold as much as the
nets. Trench refers to Il shoal ri mlckPre..
at Brighton, in 1908. 50 srca; that the net
could not be- brought IN. and fishes aud
net remained in the sea together fy this
vast draught Of fishes Christ intended. J.
To show His dominion in the seas rs we'll
a on the dry land (Psa. SIS ,. 10
confirm the doctrine He had Just preached
2. To give those who were TO b. His am
bassadors To the world specimen OF he
success they might eyDec:
III. The disciples astonshed Tvs. 2. 81.
s. Saw. 1t seems that IL was NOT till
Peter saw the boats beginning to sink that
he realized the greatness OF the miracle.
Fell down. lie common posture o! a
supp.icant In amazemeat he tell at the
feet oil Jesus trembling and afraid He no
doub; had a knowledge OF many OF the
miracles which Christ had performed but
none had so directly touched i,mscif as
this one. Depart from Ne Peter saw
that the same knowledge and power that
could Dcrvadc the depths OF the sea could
pervsde the depths OF his human heart
and know its secret sins. ~ sinful man"
Peter saw himself very sinful creature
When NE get near Christ we will see that
III our unregencrate state we are without
moral beauty or holiness. O. Was aston.
ished. Was amazed. Humanity stands
amazed" before the power of God.
~. Forsaken all for Christ Tvs 10. ~
10. Sons OF Zcbedce' The children and
wlie ot Ienedee are often referred TO. but
in this transaction only do we meet with
He claimed their fears and stiled all their
troubled feelings From henceforth."
Hereafter. Catch men, Literally. thou
shalt be catching alive. This seems to i'm
ply the contrast between the fish that Law
glittering there in dead heaps and men
who should be captured not Tor death but
for life
H. ''Ships to land They drew them
up on the beach for final abandonment
'Forsook all. Although it was not much
which they had to leave. vet it was all they
had. even all their living. Followed
Him" They returned again to their occu.
patton a fishermen after the crucifxion.
and were again called to abandon it and
devote themselves by 4 second miraculous
draught OF fishes and by the direct preeept
OF Jesus. After Pentecost they never re-
sumed their former secular calling.