Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1917-01-20
Lesson for January q
FIRST DISCIPLE OF THE LORD
JESUS

LESSON Tr,NT-John I.35-99
GOLDEN TENT-Jesus satin unto him
follow John LAS
The words 81 see or behold" occur
fifteen times ia this first chapter. JOHN
was IA Witness to the Son of Man This
term. "Sru of Man, occurs eighty
times ia the gospel. The words Come
and see" or their equivalents occur
nine times ga this lesson. This is
great Invitation lesson. Ii Wouid be
IutrTe>jlL. if the scholars would tell
what thg voices are which say
Come and those which are urging
them 10 stay" away from God Beth
ablra WAS probably two mile, from
The iordo of the Jordan. whore john
baptized. Jesus was thirty years old
just entering upon his ministry. II
bcTiuS Caesar was the emperor and
fOAjiuS PLATE the governor of Judea.
|. The Son OF Man Attracts Men.
wv. 1880 not by his ethical teachings
nor alone by his works and his churuc-
ter but what he was amt inspired In
others attracted men To Jesus (John 10:
40. Crowds still gathered around the
haptizer who changed the hearts OF
men as by q spell John the Bap-
tier, brought terror 20 men. lie broke
through the crust of Scii-rightpuuSueSS
and Indifference. and compelled men
e.. a g. O
Of a new life. but the time had come
when John must step aside and Jesus
to increase" 20 begin hi> ministry.
-Four successive days are noticed In
this chapter. Andrew ". iO), and
doubtless the apostle John. who wrote
this account were the two disciples
". 80 10 whom John. the Baptizer.
speaks. II is interesting 10 note The
different kinds Of men who were at
tracted IN Jesus; the aggressive Peter,
the reflective Thomas. the practical
Judas. lie had what the souls OF
men needcj, and they followed him.
Aware Of their questioning. Jesus
turns to them with the question ::
what think YET" the first recorded
words of his public ministry. This Is
Il 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 seltiShneSs, wOrldli-
ness. success. ambition, money, pleas
ure? These disciples who had listened
to this testimony of the baptizer. re-
piled that they wanted 10 know where
he dwClt, 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. II we are 10 follow him
as our example. We must believe
what ne has done UiOm. 3 :2j) before
we can ask what would Jesus do or
try To initiate him. II is by following
thar we demonstrate that we have real
~ looked unto him and been saved.
Teachers should pray for the same eff
fective Holy Ghost witnessing as that
given by John (John I 800. 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 Gil Cor. 5:1S). This work
is effective through those that follow
". 30, 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 earring ear. the believing heart,
the confessing mouth. This work Is
made effective, through those who fol-
low (see Rom. 1910. The result Of
this interview appears TO be that they
were convinced that Jesus was the
Messiah. and were filed with an i'm
pulse to spread the good news. This
interview was not the end, for they re-
manned with Jesus, and IL was the be-
ginning of lifelong abiding In him
which transformed their lives and
hearts.
u. 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 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 1t 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
Chr.st'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 Gallee. that is TO the East
side. across the Jordan river. and on
the way he found Philip. II was Philip
who asked the question. "ShOw us the
Father" and Of whom the question