The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1906-02-08

tCopyright, lsO6, by Joseph b. Bowles)
Lesson: Luke, SILL.
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 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 Cod"
The preaching of the Word OF God is
always a 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 fino 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 1t 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
we're preached in the open air. II the
people will not come to church. then
let us take the church to them. II Il
was not beneath the dignity OF Jesus
Christ to hold open air meetings, II
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, 20
OF into the open air and preach to the
crowds. The best way to reach the
MISSES is to go after them.
Obedience Required for Discipleship.
First Jesus requested of these men
the loan Of their boat; and they at
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 ia
seen In the miraculous draught OF
fishes. No man can surrender his busi-
ness to Jesus Christ without eventually
being a gamer by 1t. He shall receive
a hundredfold more In this life and in
the world to come life everlasting"
MARK, 10:28-30).
Requires Surrender Of Their Thoughts.
Next, Jesus requires that these men
recognize Him as knowing more about
their business than they do themselves.
He requires them to do what their own
common sense tells there Is no use in
doing. This is evident by the answer
Of Peter: Lord, we have toiled, all
night and caught nothing, neverthe-
less" etc. The word Lord" here
probably means "shipmaster," one set
over boat, and is remarkable as used
in this connection. The word, never
theless' indicates surrender of their
thoughts and plans to Christ
Requires the Surrender of Their Lives.
Finally, Christ required from these
men the surrender of their whole lives.
They forsook their nets and their
business and followed Him" That
was final and complete evidence.
Ever after they were to devote their
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 q member of the
kingdom of God who Is not willing to
make an absolute surrender of himself
and all that he has and expects to be
to the Christ and His service. 80
likewise, whosoever he be of you that
forsaketh not all that he hath, he can
not be my disciple" (Luke 1889. OF
course, Christ may not, in fact doe
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 harder-to
stay in business and use 1t for Him and
His kingdom. There can be no oues-
tion, however, but that ere we can be-
come Christ's disciples there must be
the absolute surrender of ourselves to
His absolute and authoritative control.
This is the crucial test of Christianity
All True Disciples Soul Winners.
Implied, yea clearly stated in His
call to membership in the kingdom was
the conservation of these fishermen to
the task of catching men. In some
Sunday schools there is kept what is
called "Fishermen's Roll" on which
there is recorded each Sunday the
names of those who have brought in
new members. 1t is great work 10
bring others to Jesus Christ. In the
first chapter of John we have de-
tailed account of how these discInles