The Red Cloud chief. [volume] (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, 1912-12-19
INTERNATIONAL.
SUNDMSOI1O0L
LESSON
LESSON FOR DECEMBER q
FOR AND AGAINST HIM.
by n o. SELLERS, Director OF I'VE.
ming Department The Moody Bible In
stitute Of Chicago.)

This lesson naturally falls into
:hree divisions: I. The mistaken zeal
II the disciples Of Jesus. w. 1850; II.
rhe intrepid zeal Of Jesus. w. 61.be.
and III. The lack Of zeal on the part
II some wouldbe followers Of Jesus,
". 57.62.
Evidently monopolistic ideas are
aot q modern development. The do
lire to control all religious authority
nas given rise to the most damnable
olots on the history Of the Christian
church. Christian intolerance is one
II the devils sweetest morsels.
And John answered" not the i'm
petuous Peter. Who It was that had
spoken we do not know, but evidently
II was Jesus. Two things are without
dispute: U The unknown one was
doing the work. and (2) he was giving
Jesus the glory. Luke 1917. Whether
he ceased at the command Of John
We cannot say. Il has been suggested
that could we have heard the tone OF
Johns voice perhaps we should have
gathered that John was not quite sure
ne had done the right thing, but he 10
frank and tells Jesus why he gave his
command, viz. because he followed
not with U.S."
Work In Christie Name.
This spirit has always been one OF
the serious drawbacks in the advance
ment of the kingdom. Belong to our
party, follow our methods. or else
quit working. There are. Of course.
wrong methods which will never pro-
duce right results. but II man Is do.
Ing Christ's work and doing It In
Christ's name we need to beware OF
allowing selfshness. the traditions Of
men. or the fact that I'VE never saw
1t on this wise" to allow US to hinder
that man In his work. see Mark 9:39-
IL.
Scholars are divided as to the In.
.erval of time between verses so and
81, but the second section IL won.
derful illumination of the sort of zeal
Jesus desires in his followers. Verse
81 Is one of the most sublime In the
entire Bible. Where can we find any.
thing like It? Jesus saw not the bick.
erings OF the disciples as to place and
power: he saw not the sights cast
upon him by both Jew and Samaritan;
Jesus saw Jerusalem and beyond that
Calvary, and AZ steadfast as a flint
he set his face to go to jerusalem
All Of redemption, all Of Pentecost.
al of this age" and the glorious con-
summation Of this age" Is bound up
In that intrepid zeal Of him who when
the days were well nigh come that
he should be received up" set his face
"steadfastly."
Certain Of the Samaritans refused
70 receive him and his party. This
time John has another to speak with
him, James. They again show the
spirit of intolerance and to It they
add that of vindictiveness. As we go
before him to prepare the way are we
entirely free from making a similar
mistake? These Samaritans acted In
ignorance. Perhaps. as revealed In v.
50, they saw that he did not intend to
30 to their village anyway (see also
John 4:4042).
Stories Of Three Men.
In the third section we have before
40 the stories Of three men whom
Jesus met. each Of whom lacked suf'
acient zeal to become bis true follow
on. The first impulsively answers
some emotion Of his heart and -
sures Jesus that he will follow "whith
ersoever thou goest." Jesus did moi
rebuke him. for the man had but little
realization Of what was implied. III
30 with him through the garden" w
sing glibly. Let us pause and honest
" answer the question. "Will I gof'
Am willing to pay the pricef'
(John 1920 and !. Peter 2:31.) HI
who had set his face steadfastly sim
ply opens a. It were the deep loneli
ness OF his heart and gives this mai
. faint suggestion Of that poverty Of
him who was rich. yet for our sakei
became poor" q Cor. $50. This II
one Of the few references Jesus made
a. to his own condition. The second
man seems TO bs OF more importance
inferentially. ct least, for Jesus com
mands him to follow" Notice Jesus
does not say admire me. nor ever
worship me. but follow me-" Thii
man seems to have . very high sense
Of duty. his obligation to his parents
and to the amenities Of society. Thii
mans mistake was In placing any
thing. no matter how important. II
The place of the kingdom. Jesus doei
not mean for US to neglect such Z
plain duty. but this man 10 pleading
for q delay. and had It not been this
excuse 1t would have been some Other
one.
The third man also had something
ne wanted to do first. He expressed
great determination ". 6D. but like
Lots wife. he wanted one more lool
at the world he was going to leave
Christ's words are significant. Obey
the prompting of your heart. Do NOT
look backward to the world. but looh
forward to the kingdom. The only
possibility of your running the race