Middletown transcript., 1917-01-20

| fOl!OW me.-JChn las.
| The words II see" or ''behold'' occur
fifteen times in this first chapter. John
| was witness to the Son of Man. This
term, "Son of Man," occurs eighty
| times in the gospel. The words "Come
and sec," or their equivalents, occur
| nine times in this lesson. This Is
| great invitation lesson. 1t would be
| interesting if the scholars would tell
| what the voices are which say.
| "Come," and those which are urging
| them to "stay' away from God. Beth
| ahara was probably two miles from
| the fords of the Jordan, where John
baptized. Jesus was thirty years old,
| just entering upon his ministry. Ii
berius Caesar was the emperor and
Pontius Plate the governor Of Judea.
I. The Son of Man Attracts Men.
wv. $500 not by his ethical teachings
| nor alone by his works and his charac-
ter, but what he was and inspired In
others attracted men to Jesus (John 10:
41). Crowds still gathered around the
baptizer who changed the hearts OF
men as by a SPELL" John, the Bap-
tizer, brought terror to men. He broke
through the crust of self-righteousness
and Indifference, and compelled men
to see their reed of forgiveness and
of q new life, but the time had come
when John must step aside, and Jesus
"to increase" to begin his ministry.
Four successive days are noticed in
this chapter. Andrew ". 40, and
doubtless the apostle John, who wrote
this account, were the two disciples
". 35) to whom John, the Baptizer,
speaks. 1t Is interesting to note the
different kinds of men who were at
tracted to Jesus; the aggressive Peter,
the reflective Thomas, the practical
Judas. He had what the souls OF
men needed, and they followed him
Aware of their questioning, Jesus
turns to them with the question:
"What think ye?" the first recorded
words Of his public ministry. This is
great testing question Of every mans
life. What is the aim and purpose of
your life? Jesus, the kingdom of God.
goodness, righteousness, usefulness or
on the other hand selfishness. worldli-
ness, success, ambition, money, pleas
ure2 These disciples who had listened
to this testimony of the baptizer, re-
piled that they wanted to know where
he dwelt, implying that they would
like to talk with him and discuss the
problems which were arising In their
minds. Three steps Of Christian expe-
rience are here suggested. These two
disciples heard, they looked and they
followed. Other steps must come
shortly, but we must first look at Jesus
as the Lamb, If we are to follow him
as our example. We must believe
what he has done (Rom. 8 :25) before
we can ask what would Jesus do or
try to initiate him. 1t Is by following
that we demonstrate that we have real.
ly looked unto him and been saved.
Teachers should pray for the same ef-
fective Holy Ghost witnessing as that
given by John John 4 4:39). The Son
of Man uses men to be his tools; the
Son of Man must and does use human
agencies. Men are saved through
saved men III Cor. 8 :1S). This work
Is effective through those that follow
". 81, and it is made permanent
through those who abide ". 29). The
great principle Of all missions, of all
Christian activities Is to work through
the hearing ear, the believing heart,
the confessing mouth. This work Is
made effective, through those who fol-
low (see Rom. 10:1D. The result Of
this interview appears to be that they
were convinced that Jesus was the
Messiah, and were filled with an i'm
pulse to spread the good news. This
interview was not the end, for they re-
mained with Jesus. and it was the be-
ginning of a lifelong abiding in him
which transformed their lives and
hearts.
II. The Son Of Man Cares for His
Own. wv. 39-42). The instruction |
which they received from abiding with |
him impelled them, as we have already |
indicated, to 60 out and spread the |
good news. The greatest act in the |
life Of Andrew was the bringing of his |
brother Peter to Jesus. Jesus changed |
Peters name, and gave him q proph-
ecy of his future life and career. He |
saw the possibilities within him,
though it took much instruction, bitter
experiences. prayer and long abiding |
with Jesus before he attained to those
possibilities. 1t is this passage which
gave rise to the organization of the
Brotherhood Of st. Andrew, which has
adopted, first, the "Rule of Prayer"
that of daily prayer for the spread Of
Christ's kingdom among young men;
second. "The Rule of Service" to
make an earnest effort each week to
bring at least one young man within
the hearing of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. On the morrow Jesus would
60 forth to Galflee, that is to the East
side, across the Jordan river, and on
the way he found Philip. 1t was Philip
who asked the question, "Show us the
Father" and of whom the question
was asked as to the resources suffi-
cient to feed the hangering multitude
(John 6:5). John, the Evangelist,
alone tells us about Philip. Philip saw
not only the resources of Jesus, but he
saw union Of the law of the prophets
". 45) in this Jesus, and therefore
could and did invite his brother to
Jesus.
Christianity would soon fill the earth
If Christians would put forth the per-
connl offort horo c11nnorfod /