The Holt County sentinel., 1912-03-01

/
! y" th"rcfor.. the Lord OF the harvest.
! at b" will send forth labor.Ts into his
harvest Matt. s.31.3>.
This exposi ion Of the lesson Is
! based on the narrative In Luke ): l.1l.D
Already in our previous lessons We
| have seen Christ as the founder OF
the Kingdom OF Heaven upon the earth.
He was born king: his baptism was
| in sense the Inauguration OF the
| king; the temptation. the testing OF
| the king Being himself thus pre-
| pared. We see him starting out to re-
: cruit the first members OF his king.
] dom. who. In addition TO being mem
bers OF the kingdom themselves.
should also he instrumental in enlist.
ing others under it's banner.
In the call Of these first disciples.
! We recognize the essential conditions
/ which were to underlie all subsequent
calls Of discinleship. To discover these
/ conditions should be the purpose OF
all who teach this lesson. The
/ fundamental condition. or condi.
tions underlying entrance into the
| Kingdom OF God. are forever The same
with each succeeding generation. The
gifts and calling OF God are without
/ change"
We are told that the crowds press.
cd upon Jesus TO hear the Word or
| God" The preaching Of tho Word 81
/ God IL always drawing card The
! crowds have not wcaried Of the preach.
q ing Of the gospel. but only OF the aver.
/ age preacher who fails to preach the
gospel. Wherever you find u man WHO.
like Moody. Torrey. Sturgeon. and
many others, breaches the Word ~
God. there you will find the streets full
Of men and women still pressing 20
hear the message. Fire will always AT.
tract those who are cold. and food
those who are hungry. So VIII the
preaching of the simple GOSPEL attract
i the hearts OF men Tor whom IL IL pre-
J pared. The world was made ior the
/ gospel and the gospel for the world.
4 All great sermons In the bible w.r"
/ preached IN the open AIR. II the peO-
pie will not come 10 church. then let
us take the church to them. n " was
/ not beneath the dignity Of Jesus Christ
/ TO hold open air meetings. II surely
/ cannot be beneath any pretended and
/ assumed dignity We may profess to pos.
( sess. Let son 2 ministers who. dur
ing the hot months OF The year. preach
to but a corporars guard. 20 ont into
the open air and preach to the crowds.
The best way TO reach the masses Is to
10 after them.
I Jesus requested Of these Eien tho
loan Of their boats, and they u, once
! complied with the Masters request. In
other words. he asked these men to
surrender their business for little
while to him. And they did. How
magninccntiy he repaid them In seen
In the miraculous draught Of fishes.
No man can surrender his business 10
Jesus Christ without eventually be.
Ing a gamer by II. lie shall receive
n hundredfold more In this life. and
In the world to come life everlasting"
Next. Jesus requires that th~se mon
recognize him a. knowing more about
their business than they do them.
selves. He requires them to do what
their own common sense tells them
there 10 no use In doing. This Is cvi.
dent by the answer OF Peter: Lord
We have toiled oil night and caught
nothing. nevertheless" etc. Tho word
Lord" meaning "shipmastcr."
Christ required from these men the
surrender Of their whole lives. They
forsook their nets, and their business.
and followed him. This was final and
complete obedience. Ever after thry
were to devote their lives to catching
men. not Ash.
No man can enlist under the ban.
ner Of Christ. nor become q member
OF the Kinedom OF God. who is not
willing to make an absolute surrender
OF himself and all that he has and
expects to be to the Chris, AMI his
service. so likewise, whatsoever no
be OF You that forsaketh not ali that no
hath, he cannot be my disciple" or
course, Christ may not. In fact does
not call upon us all TO leave Cur daily
vocation and become preachers or mis-.
sionaries. No; oftlimes he calls upon
us to do what 10 very much harder
to stay In business and use II for him
and his kingdom. There can be no
question, however, but that ere VIC can
become Christ's disciples there must
be the complete surrender Of ourselves
to his absolute and authoritative con-
troll. This is the crucial test OF Chris.
tianity. And II Is Just at this point of
unconditional surrender that many peo.
PIE hesitate and ofttimes refuse 10
comply with the terms OF disciple
ship.
implied, Yea. clearly stated, In this
cal to membership In the kingdom,
was was the conservation Of these
fishermen to the task Of catching men.
In some Sunday schools, there 10 kept
what 10 called "F1shermen's Roll" on
which there 10 recorded each Sunday
the names OF those who have brought
IN new members. II 10 q great work
to bring others to Sunday school and