Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-02-09

cago) SUNDAY School Associa-
ton on the International
s. s LessonsJ
Copyright 1906 by Joseph b Bowles)
Lesson: Luke, 5:1-1l.
Golden Text: BE ye therefore fol
lowers of God as dear children"
Already in our previous lessons We
have seen Christ as the Founder Of the
kingdom Of Heaven upon the earth.
He was born "a king" His baptism
was in a sense the Inauguration Of the
king; the temptation. the testing Of
the king. Being himself thus prepared.
we see Him now starting out TO recruit
the first members of His kingdom,
who in addition to being members Of
the kingdom themselves, should also be
Instrumental in enlisting others under
its banner.
Same Call Extended To-Day.
In the call of these first disciples we
recognize the essential conditions
which were to underlie all subsequent
calls to discipleship. To discover these
conditions should be The purpose of all
who teach this lesson. The fundamen-
tai condition or conditions underlying
entrance into the Kingdom of God are
forever the same with each succeeding
generation. "The gifts and calling OF
God are without change"
Preaching Still Draws Crowds.
We are told that the crowds pressed
upon Jesus to hear the Word of God"
The preaching of the Word of God is
always drawing card. The crowds
have not wearied of the preaching OF
the Gospel, but only of the average
preacher who fails to preach the Cos
pei. Wherever you ina a man who
like Moody, Torrey, Spurgeon and
many others. breaches the Word of
God there you will find the streets full
of men and women still pressing to
hear the message. Fire will always
attract those who are cold. and food
those who are hungry. So will the
preaching of the simple Gospel attract
the hearts of men for whom it was
prepared. The world was made for
the Gospel and the Gospel for the
world.
Preaching in the Open Air.
All the great sermons in the Bible
were preached in the open air. If the
people will not come to church. then
let us take the church to them. If ii
was not beneath the dignity of Jesus
Christ to hold open air meetings, it
surely cannot be beneath any pretend
ed and assumed dignity we may pro-
fess to possess. Let some preachers
who doing the hot months of the year
preach to but a corporal's guard. &c
4 out into the open air and preach to the
crowds. The best way to reach the
masses is to go after them.
Obedience Required for Discipleship.
First Jesus requested of these men
the loan of their boat; and they al
once complied with the Masters re-
quest In other words. He asked these
men to surrender their business for a
little while to Him. And they did
how magnifcently He repaid them is
| seen in the miraculous draught OF
! fishes. No man can surrender his busi-
ness TO Jesus Christ without eventually
being a gamer by it. He shall receive
! hundredfold more in this life and il
/ the world to come life everlasting
! Mark, 10:2S-30l.
| Requires Surrender of Their Thoughts
Next. Jesus requires that these mer
/ recognize Him as knowing more abou
their business than they do themselves
He requires them to do what their owl
! common sense tells there is no use il
/ doing. This is evident by the answer
of Peter: Lord we have toiled. al
night and caught nothing. neverthe
! less" ETC. The word Lord" here
probably means "shipmaster. one sci
over a boat, and is remarkable as used
in this connection The word, never
theless' indicates surrender of theiI
thoughts and plans to Christ.
Requires the Surrender of Their Lives.
Finally. Christ required from thest
men ;he surrender Of their whole lives
They forsook their nets and th2il
| business and followed Him. Tha
| was nnal ana complete evidence
Ever after they were to devote theil
lives, not to catching fish but to catch
/ ing men.
Same Conditions Must Be Met To-day
No man can enlist under the banner
of Christ. nor become a member of the
kingdom of God VINO is not willing to
make an absolute surrender OF himself
and all thai he has and expects TO be
to the Christ and His service. SO
likewise. whosoeyer he be Of you that
lorsaketh not all hat he hath. he can
not be my disciple tLuke 14:33). OF
course Christ may not. in fact doss
not. call upon us all to leave our daily
vocation and become preachers or mis-
sionaries. No. ofttimes He calls upon
us to do what is very much hardeT-tC
stay in business and use it for Him ans
His kingdom. There can be no ques
ton. however. but that ere we can be-
come Christs disciples there must be
the absolute surrender of ourselves tC
His absolute and authoritative control
This is the crucial test of Christianity