The Green Forest tribune., 1917-01-19
Lesson for January 21
FIRST DISCIPLE OF THE LORD
 JESUS.

LESSON TEXT-John 1:35-49.
 GOLDEN TEXT-Jesus saith unto him, follow me.-John 1:43.
 The words q 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 see," or their equivalents, occur nine times in this lesson. This is a great invitation lesson. It 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 abara was probably two miles from the lords of the Jordan, where John baptized. Jesus was thirty years old, just entering upon his ministry. Iii berius Caesar was the emperor and iPontius Pilate the governor of Judea.
 1. The Son of Man Attracts Men. (vv. 35-39) 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 :: 4D. 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 a 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 (v. 40), and doubtless the apostle John, who wrote this account, were the two disciples (v. 35) to whom John, the Baptizer, speaks. It 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 ure? 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 CRom. 8 :25) before we can ask what would Jesus do or try to initiate him. It 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 :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 GIT Cor. 5 :1S). This work is effective through those that follow (v. SD, and it is made permanent through those who abide (v 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. 10:14). 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 lifelong abiding in him which transformed their lives and hearts.
 II. The Son of Man Cares for His Own. (vv 39-42) The instruction which they received from abiding with him impelled them, as we have already indicated, to go 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 a 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. It 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 go forth to Galilee, that is to the East side, across the Jordan river, aRd on the way he found Philip. It 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 hungering multitude (John 6:5). John, the Evangelist, alone tells us about Philip. Philip saw not only the resources of Jesus, but he saw a union of the law of the prophets (v. 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 sonal effort here suggested.