The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-11-13
PASTOR RUSSELL'S
WEEKLY LESSON
The Great Question

Mark viii, PIN, l Nov II.
Thou art the Christ. the Son of the
Living God.H-Matthew xvi, 16.
For a considerable period of His min
istry our Lord did not declare Him
self, even to His disciples. to be the
Messiah Undoubtedly He chose the
wiser course. 1t was better that the
thought should gradually come upon
the minds of His followers, than that
He should have started in with max
Ing that claim-better that the people
should claim it for Him.
He did however, wish His disciples
to know, and He approached the ques-
ton by asking, who do men say that
j amp" He got the neply, that some
thought Him John the Baptist risen
from the dead that others considered
Him be Elijah risen from the dead;
and others thought of Him as being
perhaps one of the other prophets.
Then came the point of the ques-
ton: But who say ye that [ am?' st.
Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the Living God" Je-
sus admitted the correctness of this,
saying, Blessed art thou, Simon, son
of Jonah, for flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto thee, but My
Father which is in Heaven"
Forthwith Jesus began to explain to
the beloved twelve the experiences that
lay before Him-how the kingdom
would be formally proffered to the
Jews, and how through their repre-
sentatives, the elders, the chief priests,
they would reject Him; how He would
be killed. and after three days rise
gain.
Doubtless all of the apostles were
disappointed but only st. Peter had
the courage to express himself, saying
BE 1t far from Thee, Lord, this shall
not happen" You will, we all know,
as the Messiah, attain the throne Of
Israel and thus eventually the throne
OF the world, and bring blessing to the
whole human race: and as You have
promised, we will be with You in your
throne.
sect Thee Behind Me, Satan"
In this course st Peter was opposing
the divine vii and plan of which the
death of Jesus was the very center or
Hub. Jesus perceived that these in
fiuences were striving to hinder His
contamination of His sacrifice, even As
Satan tried to do in the beginning OF
His conservation.
TO make the matter very emphatic,
He said to st. Peter, Get thee behind
Me. adversary" thy words SAVIOR not
Of the things of Gods plan but of the
things of human Judgment and prefer
cnce. Then He began to make clear to
His followers what had not been meat
in due season" TO tell them before. in
such plain terms, namely, that who
ever desired to be counted in with Him
In any part of His work must real
ize that il would cost him all he pos
sessed of an earthly kinda he must
deny himself take up his cross and
follow in the footsteps of the Re-
deemer.
Any one solicitous of maintaining
his rights and holding on to the pres
ent life, unwilling to sacrifice all, Will
lose the great prize of the divine
nature, which will be given to those
who take up the cross and make full
sacrifice of earthly interests. And on
the other hand, he who will faithfully
hose his life for Jesus sake will save
twill gain the reward of life on
the spirit plane.
Moreover the same principle that
row thus operates will always oper-
are-that whoever is simply selfish low
| ing his own life and his own interests,
| will not be accounted worthy of ever
lasting life,
"What Shall 1t Profit MANI
! God has provided future life for
/ every soul of man through the re-
dempton accomplished by Jesus, but
only the noble of heart, of character,
OF life, who will accept this great bless
/ ing through the diVinely appointed way
1 viii get it, If they selfishly seek for
/ the whole world, the selfishness thus
developed will make them unfit for fhe
! eternal life For what would man
! take in exchange for the loss of his
| lifep Would he consider wealth or
f: fame or name for a few years in the
! present time worthy of exchange NJ
| profit, if it were TO cost him eternal
i glory and eternal life? Surely not. We
are therefore to have in mind that
character building is absolutely essen
tial 10 our attaining eternal life. a
Whoever becomes a follower OF the
Lord and hopes to gain the prize OF
everlasting life and glory on the spirit
plane must come out fully and cour-
aCeously and properly acknowledge
Jesus and His words. And Jesus puts
Himself and His words on party
! whoever is ashamed OF Me ana OF MY
words" Jesus words are Jesus doc
trines or teachings To be ashamed of
lie truth to be ashamed of the divine
,,lan. to be ashamed of what we IND
u
to be the teachings of Gods word. be-
cause 1t is unpopular with men, Is TO
offend the Lord and TO prove ourselves
J unworthy of His favor
| That the Lord addressed His words
specially to the disciples is shown by
His reference to others of that nation
1 who had not made such a conservation
as all of His disciples must make. the
/ others were called an adulterous ans
sinful generation. The followers of
Christ must hold up the light of truth
before the world and so doing faith
| fully they will be acknowledged by the
! Lord Jesus in due time. when He comes
4 in the glory of His Father with the
/ holy angels. He will not be ashamed
tc acknowledge them; He will present
them to the Father and to the holy
angels.
The Great Question
! The great question of Is centuries
ago is the great question of today; Who
/ is Jesus? If. as some claim He was
merely good man. most able teach
| er, then lie was not the Christ, for the
Christ, although the embodiment of all
those qualities was more, much more.
To be the Christ, He must have been
The Man Christ Jesus. who gave Him.
self a ransom price for all, to be tes-
tilted In due time Il Timothy ii, 5. 50
and that signifies that He must have